Defying reason is associated with the art movement, surrealism. It is more common to art on canvas than it is to the art of photography. Nonetheless, I sometimes like to introduce it in my photography. It's the perfect medium to present something either out of context or in a way that takes a while for viewers to realize exactly what it is they're seeing. I like to play with, mess with common visual expectations.
The beauty of art is that we don't have to always document what we see, or expect to see. To think outside the box is to see outside our selves (sic), our known associations, our expected associations. For example, we don't think of tulips and ice together. The notion is surreal, defying reason.
This month, I want to take you into the world of the unexpected. Why does this sound like Rod Serling introducing The Twilight Zone? 😊
We've heard of ghosts, right? But, we don't really expect to see one when we see a photograph. Or do we? Do you see a ghost, a faint ghostly figure of a woman, toward the lower center part of this image?
I asked a friend of mine to serve as my "ghost" for several images, both inside and outside this beautiful 1887 hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I asked her to wear a white dress, a white dress, and white shoes. For this one, I asked her to start moving slowly in place when I gave her the signal. What I captured was her subtle movements, for about ten seconds, while keeping everything sharp at f/11.
Part of the mystery and mystique of surrealism is the "bending of the mind," or catching the viewer off-guard, if only for a few seconds. Some images make you pause for a second until the brain puts all the pieces together. Such was the case when I saw this scene. I knew what I was looking at because I was there, and I had seen this scene before in broad daylight, but.....
There were walls around downtown that were in such bad shape that they were deteriorating. Some had been exposed to the elements for decades. There were large gaping geometric holes, where there were once windows. It was through one of those holes that I saw lights from a boutique shining through the windows.
This next scene, even to me, looks like I was on a different planet.
This is actually a city park, yes, a city park, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's called Garden of The Gods. Most photographs of it are during the day, but over several years I had fun going there after the sun went down just to see what I could create when people were, for the most part, no longer there. It was shot with my lens set at 32 mm, aperture at f/4.5, and with the shutter at 30 seconds, and ISO 400. I liked the dark formations against the late sunset colors and the sparkling stars in the sky.
I am always on the lookout for the unexpected; for the juxtaposition of elements we don't expect to see together, at the same place, at the same time.
There is an eatery in Longmont, Colorado called CHeBA Hut. In front of their business is an interesting string of great old VW buses. It just so happened that the building next to theirs had a wall-to-wall mural painted on the said. Click!!! Without an explanation, this scene defies reason.
Sometimes a humorous combination of elements makes for great surrealism.
Another mural. I found this one inside a bicycle shop in Boulder, Colorado. I loved the staggered bikes against the backdrop of a rider in the mountains--the mural. By the way, my personality is such that I don't hesitate to ask for permission when I find something worth shooting. As I learned years ago, if you ask, you might get it. If you don't, you won't.
When a friend saw this next image, he said, "It looks like there's a dragon inside shooting fire from inside the tunnel."
For these kinds of shots, timing, and patience are critically important. It was late evening. The surrounding mountains hid the late-setting sun. With my camera on my tripod, set for a 20-second exposure and f/16, I waited for several minutes until that special moment when vehicles were going toward the tunnel while others were coming out of the tunnel. I knew that by waiting for that strategic moment I would get a lot of red and yellow light streaks coming across my view. The high red streaks were from a bus entering the tunnel.
By the way, when it's dark like it was that evening, fast-moving vehicles do not register (record) on film and sensors. They're moving too fast. The only thing that registers are the continuously moving lights, which appear as colored streaks.
Speaking of light streaks, this last example also had light streaks. However, they were motorcycle light streaks, not cars and trucks.
Yes, through photography, we can create images that, unless you peak "behind the curtain," defy reason. It's surrealism. This was a 12-second exposure at f/14. ISO was 100. I love the red sweeping S-shape created by the beautifully crafted motorcycles as they whizzed by.
So, go and either find those perplexing, mind-bending scenes or create them yourself. Sometimes, you will need to think outside the box that's outside the box. I don't see with my eyes. I see with my imagination.
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me if you ever want an in-person or virtual one-on-one to learn more about this genre of photography.
