Savannah

Savannah giggled as she opened the door and didn't stop through the entire shoot.  With hearing loss she used sign language but mostly she just used the language of a 2 year old, squealing and moving to pose, or not pose, at her own free will and choice.

To create her 'under the surface' flip side image I actually used texture from the current malformation on her arm (with permission from her mother) as the background.

See the finished results here:

Savannah's Flip Side


Read more about Savannah's back story here:

http://www.brenslade.com/backgroundstories

The Flip Side- Under the Surface

The situations of these children can be very complex, not only for the children but often their caregivers or entire families as well.  Yet if you met these children, and watched and interacted with them you would see laughter, silliness and play.  I want to create images that explore these contrasting emotions.  For the first image of the twins I wanted to represent the transition from their dysfunctional home and their stay in foster care.  Here is my image:

For a child such transitions are unsettling and full of confusion.  They are surrounded by adults but trust is unsure.  The children are represented as shadows only since Foster Children are the invisible refugees in their own country. 

I realized that this image is more powerful in juxtaposition with the Healing Heart images to bring out their true contrast but instead of just showing them side by side the idea evolved into making one image an appendage of the other.  I have some interesting ideas of images I can do this way in the future and I am excited to see how the project progresses.

You can see the final combined image here:

http://www.brenslade.com/theflipside

And So It Begins...

First Shoot- Luke and Livvy 
Here are some SOOC images (straight out of camera) from the photo shoot:

 It takes many (many!) images to create one finished piece.  The cats were particularly easy to work with (insert sarcasm here- cats were crazy maniacs).  After hours of editing I was happy with the results- you can see the finished images here:


http://www.brenslade.com/

Two Saturdays later I had the opportunity to travel to shoot a very special boy- Logan born at 27 weeks weighing barely over 1 lb and now celebrating a healthy 8th birthday!  Word grew and at the end of the day I had 4 kids scheduled to shoot (Adorable Savannah who suffers with vascular malformations and hearing limitations, Quincy with his big eyes and FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) and sweet David who was diagnosed 2 years ago with Autism.  That is more than I would typically plan on in a single day but since distance was a factor I was grateful for the opportunity.  It took some intense planning as I have to have the pictures firmly set up in my mind before shooting.  And in the rush I forgot to make the list of shots to take (rookie mistake!) I ended up missing one shot I needed and had to improvise a little bit.  Here are some of the SOOC:

You can see a lot of my issues are budget oriented.  Limited lighting is my biggest weakness.  I try to take advantage of large windows to go with my limited flash system.  I don't bother to set up a backdrop.  I find it makes kids nervous and unnatural and as long as I have something of a solid wall behind I can extract pretty decently.

You can watch for progress of these images here:
http://www.brenslade.com/

Healing Heart Images- Oral Presentation

Healing Heart Images, Oral Presentation 2018

Peer Commissioned Micro Project

     This week we have taken a look at both chance and serendipity as well as creative restraint.  Chance often plays a role in my own practice simply because I choose to shoot with a variable of unpredictable proportions: Children.  As with most composite photographers, it is vital for me to carefully plan and lay out each image well before shooting begins.  However with the wildcard of working with Children you have to be willing to keep an open mind toward 'anything goes.'  Because working with children anything really can happen.  Expressions are key in my images and many times the children present me with what I was expecting-not-expecting faces that often result in me changing the flow, composition, even the storytelling in my image.  Sometimes they are harder to work with, sometimes they create opportunities for an even better image than originally planned.  For example, this image started as a fairy creation but her whimsical expression soon led me to Christmas instead.

                                                                                           B.Slade 2017

     For our 'Peer Commissioned Micro Project' this week I teamed up with Clodagh Moreland.  Clodagh remembered America being mentioned more commonly for road trips than walking so she issued me the invitation for a micro series 'on the road' with the creative restraint of the color BLUE.  

     The project progressed in an interesting manner for me.  At first, the restraint of blue was a bit daughting as blue seemed to be the only color missing as I drove.  But soon enough the project took on a life of its own.  The 'blue' that first caught my eye was a simple American flag.  Love this country!  Interestingly enough the next several items of blue that I came across also seemed to represent America and the rights and freedoms of my daily life.  From the freedom of the press to the opportunity for clean water, take a look at the images I collected and see if you can distinguish how they are tied symbolically to life in America.

 

 

 

To Capture The Emotions of Childhood

Loretta Lux1, a fine art photographer known for her surreal portraits of young children, is a very talented photographer who portrays children who don't seem to like childhood much.  Still poses and dreamy expressions seem to be her trademark (dreamy, not as in 'Christmas-is-coming' dreamy but more like 'I'm quite bored with life' dreamy).  Her images are simple with simple colors and negative space. And they are quite captivating and interesting to look at. 

Katie Watson2 has a similar style, but where Loretta's images are muted and painterly, Katie's are more like a real life version of Lorretta's. With a twist of non-reality. Again very interesting to look at. 

Hellen van Meene3 captures like Loretta and Katie, but advanced to the teenage years.  Specializing in teenage girls with the same sort of still and dreary appearance.  All of them tell a great story. 

Wendy McMurdo4 is like Loretta crossed with a bit of abstract.  Something lovely and purposely off at the same time.  Also wonderful storytelling. 

I don't mean to suggest Loretta as the inspiration of all the others, as I truly believe similar ideas can be born to multiple people, that is just the order that I viewed them in and therefore my own personal connection of them. 

I enjoyed studying all the above photographers, and I very much enjoy and appreciate their talent and unique styles, and am inspired by their work.  I find a connection to them in my own work but in a surprising way.  In capturing the emotions of children I want to capture the opposite.  One of the reasons their work is so captivating is because they go against the natural disposition of children- which is something we are not used to seeing, particularly in photography.  In my photography I want to capture a child's light and fight for joy- amidst difficult life circumstances.  This too can be captivating and interesting.  But I want to bring to life those difficult circumstances as well. 

My plan is to consult with the children themselves about their situation.  Their frustrations and fears as well as what brings them hope and joy.  I want to create an illustrated image to represent their darkness, and then using the same base, transform it into an illustrated image that represents their joy and hope.  These images, in juxtaposition will illustrate both sides of childhood struggles.  Anxiety filled life experiences, and the natural disposition of children to smile and dream. 

1 Lux, Loretta at:  http://lorettalux.de/
2 Watson, Katie at: https://www.katiejanewatson.com/
3 van Meene, Hellen at: http://hellenvanmeene.com/photos
4 McMurdo, Wendy at: https://wendymcmurdo.com/