...A New Visual Code

BioFuels Meets ICAR: World Collide
Multiple shots were taken to capture the moment.
Students: Engagement, Understanding = Collaboration

2011 CU TEACH-IN   Shoot, shoot and shoot.  Regardless the technical availability, an increase in meaningful photographic documentation has not. The stark record of subject matter and composition rarely holds interest.  The mechanical adjustments of pose, lighting and framing conveys an unauthentic moment.  While, my travel photos have content,  the idea: a mere backdrop for my moment is disturbing.  In short, I am frustrated by the gulf between my photography and my reality.

Photo series transition Speaker to Listener
Compositional balance transmits a connection & equity 

Previous to the digital age, this "shoot, shoot, shoot " strategy for photographic success was a deal killer.  The camera: expensive, the film: expensive, the processing: expensive: Photography was for the people with very deep pockets.  The photographic equivalent of the "Gutenberg Shift", digital photography and web based photo sharing leveled the technology playing field accessibly.

 "Photography has the capacity to provide images of man & his environment that are both works of art & moments in history". 

Cornell Capa

Camera angles and textures create interest, but... 

Most (of my) photographic technical faux pas added to the "canned" snapshot group studies does not satisfy my visual appetite. The new digital visual recording and "visual code" merits further exploration. As image consumption increases, so must the contextual evaluation of subject matter. Perhaps, the complexities of life are incapable of conveyance through a single image.

...human responses to objects create meaning

While the sustainability community meets on regular basis, human interactions and responses remain "invisible".  The expressions of the attendees and the interactions holds the most visual potential. I have found that photography rarely captures and conveys the emotion or experience  without some artistic intervention.  

Photography like sustainability is a process.  Good guidance and strategics make for successful efforts.  Without the inclusion of the human element, the composition holds a fleeting interest.

Thanks for the tips Pat.

* All photos were taken at the Clemson University Environmental Teach In held 

on tuesday February 22, 2011.  This event has been held for the past 4 years 

under several different names - the event evolution has mirrored the CU

 sustainability evolution.