Week 8 - Photo Recreation and Inspiration

This week, I examined the work of Italian photographer Lorenzo Castore. After looking through his collections of works, I decided to choose the photo below.

Lorenzo Castore, Sogno #5

In this photo, Castore captures shelves that are housing old and falling apart books side by side. Almost all of the books have covers and pages that are ripped and falling apart, presumably from wear and tear from usage over many years. There is light coming from the right hand side of the frame, likely natural sunlight from a nearby window. This casts a shadow on the books in the left side of the frame, create a contrast of light throughout the photo. The photo is taken at the level of the books, not from above or below, giving the perspective that the viewer is standing looking at this bookshelf at eye level. The mood that is conveyed in this photograph is one of curiosity and melancholy. Curiosity for what information these books hold, whether they are fictional books from years past or textbooks in a school. Melancholy in that these books are falling apart and capture the passage of time, with potential knowledge and stories being lost to time.

In the process of recreating Castore's photo, it became very apparent to me the vision and meticulously thought out plans that are necessary to capture the image I wanted to capture in this case. Slight changes in lighting, angle, and other compositional factors greatly change the way in which the image looks. To recreate Castore's angle, I had to change my angle to ensure the books were captured at eye level. I also had to ensure that there was adequate natural lighting coming in through the window to ensure a similar lighting effect. Of course my recreation was not shot in black and white so the contrast in lighting given in the original is not captured to the same extent in my photo. I like the way in which the books are arranged in my photo, with the middle and upper shelves being color coordinated, creating a structured layer look. Overall, recreating Castore's photo taught me the work that goes in behind the scenes of capturing an image like this is much more than one might original realize. Below is my photo inspired by Castore's work.

After pitching my original photo series idea, which was based around capturing under appreciated workers of London, I have decided to pivot to a new idea. After brainstorming some new ideas I decided that my original idea was too broad and not entirely feasible in a couple week period. My new idea that I decided to move forward with centers around capturing traces of repeated usage of objects and areas in London. I was inspired for this idea through seeing a path being formed in the grass in a park from people repeatedly walking on it over time. After continuing to walk around my surrounding area I discovered a couple other examples of this idea, reinforcing that this is feasible to capture before the end of the semester. This idea relies less on good photography skills and capturing the right moment, which was a common critique of previous ideas. To move forward with this idea I need to do some further research on areas where traces of use over time would potentially be common. Focusing on old buildings or walkways, in churches or parks, could be a productive way to move forward with this idea. I also need to do some further thinking on what will connect the photos thematically as well as how I would potentially sequence the photos once I have taken them.