I released a new piece this weekend at Wicked Faire (shown above) — and sold out of them on the first day! I haven’t had a piece sell out this quickly since releasing it’s sister piece, The Ravenous Lady.

….which makes a boy think, to be sure.

It seems my drive across country to Wicked Faire has run me a few days late of my composition exercises. Perhaps it was the long multi-day drive, or the crowd of people surrounding me all day in their delightful costumes, perhaps it is just the exercise itself….but today, I chose to go back to the square format, while choosing to focus on a different collection of elements within the same negative.

Now, obviously, these look like different photographs, but the question to ask yourself is, do they feel different? Do you see some essential photographic truth contained in all these images so far?

Switching to a Panoramic format for today’s installment. Notice the way I’ve managed to add a sense of length and space to this image, even though it is the exact same negative?

This is one of the reasons why I am so vehemently opposed to the notion of “photographic truth.” The very act of photography applies a bias to our perceptions.

Today’s iteration of the same image switches over to 4×5 format, crops out some of the vertical elements, and pushes the hand distorted by glass over to the far edge of one of the “rule of thirds” lines.

What do you think of the differences between today’s and yesterday’s?

I feel like there’s a greater sense of impending motion in this image compared to the previous one. It also seems a little more crowded to me, a little more intimate.

(Note, if you’re seeing this somewhere besides my blog at amulkumar.com, you’ll need to click the thumbnail to see the full-size, uncropped image.)

While reviewing my lomography-style photographs from Capricon last night, I made some oblique “rule of thirds” joke which was totally lost on my companion. So, I started demonstrating the effects of composition and cropping on a photograph for her.

The idea appeals to me on a greater level, intertwining nicely with my “Photographic Truth, The Myth of” class. And thus begins my Composition Exercise, which I encourage you to join me for.

Dinner with some friends

Today’s composition is meant to be a very still-seeming image. I chose a 1×1 ratio because I’ve been particularly enamored of the square format lately. How does this image speak to you?

Currently Unnamed Piece

I think this image looks good. I employed those “cheats” to rough in an acceptable geometic composition quickly and then focus in on color composition theory. Again, for those of you who haven’t been keeping track, I’ve been talking to painters, specifically artists who work in oil or watercolor, about their color composition habits and trying to apply the lessons to my photography.

I tell ya, those conversations really seem to pay off in an image like this. But the geometric composition still feels like I cheated. So that’s a lesson all in itself: if you rush in past the opening details in order to get to the part that you’re interested in, then the final piece will feel stained by your decision to cut corners. It’s funny, I tell that to my friends’ kids all the time, and now I have to remind myself of that in my artwork.

There’s a term used in kumihimo, a Japanese fiber art, which is “ito sabaku.” This is the stage after you’ve finished your preparations, but before you actually begin, when you take a deep breath, and look at every single strand of the fiber you’re about to work with, and make sure it is in exactly the place you need it to be. Kumihimo artists refer to this as “brushing life into the threads.” I’m starting to feel like there’s a similar process that happens in photography.

Talking about fear and consequence with Canadian photographer/graphic designer Michael Sander. Mike and I get straight to brass tacks and quickly connect to some really universal fears about exhibitions, rejection, and the need to let yourself fall off the horse gracefully.

A discussion with Nigel Sade on “Deserve” and “Being Good Enough.” Recorded while on the road to Central Canada Comic Con in Winnipeg.

I’ve been having a lot of fun photographing flowers as summer draws to a close and autumn begins. I wake up every morning and just focus on color and line.

(This post is also testing my new cross-posting system so that all my friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc, etc can keep up with my photo-blog.)