Pushmi-pullu

Pushmi-pullu

Learning. Do you do it for its own sake, or because you have a specific reason to find out about something, possibly how to do something?

If you’re a scientist, you will find beauty in learning for its own sake, in blue sky research. You may well have an airy confidence that somewhere along the line there will be a practical application, but you know that if you don’t explore, you’ll never find anything.

If you’re an accountant, you will want to have some assurance that whatever happens, it can be monetarised. The idea of multiple lines of enquiry (or many different types of vaccine in development) may well appal you, as it means a poor return on investment.

A humanitarian will seek to improvement and development of all: a politician will want to know if there are votes in it (or if there might be, in future).

And an artist will want to look at everything, and see how many different lenses she can view the world through… At which point, I’m tempted to start chanting ‘Lens, Lens, Baby!’ You might write a book about a man who can talk to a two-headed llama along the way.

I’m working on Layers in my digital processing. I have, at times, wondered if there’s much application for the technique in the work I do – and yesterday I found it. The pull to go with the push of trying something new and pointless (like learning to touch-type).

Four hours in a studio. A declaration of facts and temperature (taken with the studio thermometer: I cleaned my hands immediately afterwards, of course). And two things that mean I really need to get Layers sorted. A lot of pictures to practice with.

Because – large as the studio was – the background was a bit mixed for two of the sets of pictures we shot – with a parachute skirt, and with an aerial hoop.

Of course, I want to go back and do it again with more kit (a big black backdrop!) so that the edit is easy. I might also see if I can find a second photographer to help with throwing the dress, and stabilising the hoop (it turns, so that – with a fixed background – you have to keep rushing to reset the position, because the model hanging from it can’t control it!)

Today, you get two utterly unprocessed images. If you’d like to play with a RAW file, please get in touch…