These photographs represent work that started for me during the pandemic to keep creative during that difficult time of forced isolation and contemplation. They have continued since.
I wasn’t a photographer, although I had worked for years as a director of film and television. So, I did understand storytelling through pictures, just mine were normally moving. In some ways, photography is like the shortest of short films. Try and tell a story in as little time as necessary. It’s a fun challenge.
As I had no real practical photographic experience, it was left to me to learn by doing. Luckily, the pandemic created plenty of time for that. That lack of experience offered one other dilemma. Most photography today is done digitally. I had no working knowledge of Photoshop or any other computer-generated photo editing software. I either had to spend a great deal of time learning, or I could go about it with a more analog approach. I chose the latter.
What that means is that these photographs have neither been digitally created, nor altered in a computer. Instead, once I figure out what story I want to tell with a picture, I figure out how to create it all in camera. I build everything by hand or find readily found objects, like toys, games, or garbage, set them into my desired scenario, and then shoot them. Aside from some color correction, the only digital manipulation done is what’s known as “stacking,” which is essentially shooting multiple images at different focal lengths and then combining them into one shot. The effect is an enhanced depth of field resulting in greater detail from foreground to background.
Even though my understanding of the digital world has evolved. I prefer to keep my analog approach. In a world dominated by digital distortion, one where we question what’s real, it has become even more important to me to see the hand of the artist rather than a hand on a keyboard.
My subject matter varies from simple images that amuse me to difficult subjects of today, whether environmental, political, or otherwise. I try to execute with an ironic twist, like taking an innocuous item, such as a puzzle, and reinterpreting its intended purpose. The effect, hopefully, is to speak to some of today’s most pressing issues without a heavy-handed approach. Other photos are more about taking ironic images, or familiar objects, and imagining them in a new light. All of it is my attept to keep engaged and creative in a world that often makes you want to just hide.
Shawn Alex Thompson 2024