Wake up!

First, I must apologize for holding these photos captive for a couple of weeks now. Thank you to the gracious participants for your patience in what is already a lengthy process. But as they say, it was worth the wait. This time around I was struck by the classic, timeless quality of these photographs. Lots of black and white, lots of sentiment, an air of eeriness, and beautiful, as always.

This group of photos has the strongest sense of emotion yet, and I think that is what links them all so closely together. Previously, I’ve noted photographic elements like depth of field, texture, and repetition, but I think this group is set apart by that extra quality that can’t be defined as an element of composition or design – it’s about mood, and these photos have it.

Here’s what our photographers have to say:

Renee (Cincinnati, OH) – “It was nice to be the first person this time and not have any restrictions on what to photograph. I was actually at the Cincinnati Home and Garden Show when I noticed these garden sticks made out of utensils. It wasn’t until I converted it into a black and white that it made me really love the photograph.”

Tiffany (Cupertino, CA) – “For my photo, I used the shadow of several objects and reflected it off of a wall mirror. I tried several silhouettes and thought this image was interesting ”

Kristen (Goleta, CA) – “When I received Tiffany’s image I immediately thought, besides the fact that it is a solid abstract image, that it reminded me of a Hitchcock film, or Rorschach test: you take your pick. I love the texture, the shadows that look like grotesque profiles, and of course, black and white. I tried to respond with something as abstract, but quickly scratched that. My interpretative response is that my image incorporates texture and shadows, and hopefully is a little unsettling or haunting. Wind makes me nervous, so it was a great day to shoot.”

Lindsey (Wilmington, DE) – “I liked how Bethany’s photo included different elements of nature and how well they blended with the bench. I found different patterns of lines in her picture and tried to find something in nature (or man made) that reflected that. I found this bench in our local park and it was perfect. The soft curve of the bench arm looks like a vine and somewhat softens the photo, the detail of designer/manufacturer stamp simply added a bit of nostalgia.”

I was happy to be at the end of the line this time and to have the opportunity to respond with purpose. When I got Lindsey’s photograph, I first noticed the repetition and wanted that to be the base of my photo. The second element that stood out to me was the old-fashioned look of the photo. So instead of going old-fashioned, I just went with old. This is the old fence next to my apartment with repeating lines, rich texture, and age.

Well done, ladies!

It turns out that I know a lot of lovely ladies who like to take photographs, so I was happy to have an entirely different group of people to participate in another round of Telephone Photo. If the first round focused on texture, this round was all about spatial relationships. I love how the wire in Andreas photo mimics the bendy line of the grassy path in my photo. And Gina’s photo follows the same flow as Andrea’s photo and with almost the same color palette. Jenna’s photo shifts us from a focus on depth of field to a charming scene of juxtaposition and texture. Chelsey picked right up on that, throws in brilliant color, and adds the element of repetition. And Angela’s photo, bringing it all together, beautifully incorporates repetition and depth of field.

I am once again so thrilled and pleased with the results of this group project. It’s really fun seeing where each person goes with her photo and incorporates her own unique vision. Thank you so much to all of you for sharing your talent and vision with the group!

Here are responses and explanations from a couple of these lovely ladies:

Andrea (Monterrey, Mexico) – “Well the first thing I saw in your tree picture was a path and depth of field. I took the idea and ran with it.”

Chelsey (Richmond, Virginia) – “The first thing I noticed when I opened up Jenna’s photo was the textured background. From there, I took in the fact that the picture was fairly close-up, and I loved the burst of color from the flower on an otherwise gray/black/white scene. I also liked that it was a nature scene. So I tried to incorporate all of those things into my own photo and take them to the next level. Texture from the strawberry seeds, an even closer zoom, and 100% color.”

I love it when the stars align to create something so pretty it makes my heart flutter. All it takes are some colorful spring flowers, a rusty aqua-blue classic car and open shade.