“I don’t know how else to express this idea, but we are talking about something that grows and develops without being dependent on an organization for it’s very existence. Individuals collaborate to make it a reality. There’s nothing wrong with organizations. They have a place. But I feel that there’s also a need for initiatives that are carried out by us, the ‘regular’ people of this world. We have learned to depend on governments and organizations, but there is beauty created when people, for no personal gain whatsoever, try to make this world a better place to live. That’s inspiring and we need a lot of that.”

I have a guest post up yesterday at the Visual Advocate.  It’s a poignant post about beginnings and the magic that happens when we invest our lives in each other. I hope you like it and that I can keep counting with your support in this initiative.

Thanks.

© The ONE-SHOT Project. First closing ceremony for our workshop in Iraq 2011.

It’s not that I don’t have fond memories to recall. But I have a haunting memory that I need to get out of me. I’ve been thinking about my childhood; I’ve been trying to reconcile with my past, a past that I try to put together a piece at a time for my children to understand.  But my mind returns again and again to these haunting thoughts.

Even now, after so many years since I left the narrow-shaped country of Chile that I call home, I am still reminded of my past. Although, I’ve been on the other side of the world for nine years, it seems that people, situations and especially places scheme to get these memories off my chest.  So here I am once again, revisiting my childhood.

Maybe it’s because we are in the middle of one of those unique moments in time when people, tired of the meanness of their rulers, have come together to say “No More!”. That’s the environment that surrounds me these days in the Middle East.  There is a viral attitude that is spreading to the rest of world; people are aware that future generations are depending on them to stand up for their beliefs today. I guess it’s spreading to me too. When I try to think about my childhood, there is one moment in time that stands out like no other.

I can’t remember the exact year that this event took place, although I’m sure it was between 1989 and 1991, years that were crucial to the future of my country. I was 12 or 13 years old, and I was vacationing with my family.  When I say ‘family’ I mean more than just my immediate circle; it includes my parents, two sisters, two uncles, two aunts, and four cousins. And this was the minimum number of family members who would vacation together every summer for at least 10 years. Each summer was another adventure, a time to explore new things, to get to know new people, and to basically enjoy life. Among my cousins, there was Andres.  He was only 4 months older than me, so we became like twins for those 10 long years. He was the brother that life neglected to give me; he was my partner during those important years. One of the things that Andres brought to my life was the great gift of music. He had a guitar and a good voice, so it was a frequent thing for us to sit on the beach at night, or under some bushes during the day, and start singing like it was the only way to live.

Music, as with other kinds of art, came mostly from local artists during those days. Those folk musicians had a message that was too deep to be absorbed by my juvenile soul. When we sang, the lyrics were just words for me during those years. At least that was what I thought. But  after listening to them for years they started to penetrate, and began to do justice to their authors.  They began to raise an awareness of the situation of thousands of other Chileans just like me. Those songs pierced my consciousness and caused pain I had never felt before. I thought my childhood was taking place in a calm environment, but I woke up one day to understand that the innocence of my young years had only blinded me to the pain and horror that hit my nation, my own people.

So I have these haunting memories of a summer when, besides being awoken by those songs, I got a book in my hands that forever took the innocence I once had. That book was forbidden by the government; was on the black list. There’s something about intellectual work that is so dangerous to these rulers. There isn’t a bullet or a gun that can harm them as badly as a book, a song, or an image. The book that changed my life is call “Los Zarpazos del Puma”. It is the story of a general that traveled throughout Chile, along with his “caravana de la muerte” (caravan of death), and put to death all political prisoners that had been held at detention facilities in 1973 and 74, the first years of a long dictatorship in my country. That book finished the work that was started by the folk songs that Andres brought to my life. Everything seemed to be destroyed by the stories in that book. All the idealism about this world, and especially about my own country, fell dead to the floor. It seemed that with every drop of blood in those stories my own existence was coming to an end. That was the turning point in life, when I went from being a child that enjoys life to an adult that breathes hate. There was a song years later that explains perfectly how I felt that day. It says… “I have never wish harm to anyone, but this is my first time”.

The emptiness of that moment will stay with me forever. That moment was so enormous, so vast. I’m really thankful for that summer. Although it was hard, it helped me become the person I am today. My awareness of this world is due to those moments.

Now, after more than twenty years, and after having moved to Iraq, I feel that that last season of my childhood is coming to life again. The work of those songs, the book, the artists, and the environment, I feel it all coming to life. Especially in the year that just passed.  I wonder about the children today living in the same situations. I wonder about the next one in line; the child not killed by a bullet, but who loses his innocence to the horrors and decisions that some leaders  choose to give as a heritage. I hope that child will encounter an inner voice that will grow, and go out, and speak out to the world about these issues. And hopefully that child will become one of those artists that will awaken the consciousness of other children before is too late.

In the memory of all the artists that have given their lives to bring about justice… to each of them, thank you!

NOTE: I’m re-publishing this article here this time, as the Blog where I published it previously, for unknown reasons, has been deleted. Here’s another post about the process behind this story.

NOTE 2: After Matt Brandon (@digitaltrekker) reminded me that the original post had a video with one of the greatest singers in Chile, during those decades, Victor Jara. He was assassinated in a detention facility, as the one I have photographed in Iraq. “In the hours and days that followed, many of those detained in the stadium were tortured and killed there by the military forces. Jara was repeatedly beaten and tortured; the bones in his hands were broken as were his ribs.^[5] Fellow political prisoners have testified that his captors mockingly suggested that he play guitar for them as he lay on the ground with broken hands. Defiantly, he sang part of “Venceremos” (We Will Win), a song supporting the Popular Unity coalition.^[5]“

Okay, I just wanted to put this out there, especially to photographers that own an iPad. There are fantastic new resources to inspire you and keep you fed in photography. I’m not talking about the usual gear-centric photography magazines that we all read and enjoy. No, I’m talking about a new genre of magazines offering something deeper; inspiration and education for those of us interested in more than just a bunch of gear ads and setting recipes–what’s become the norm for most of the photography magazines today.

Three of these new magazines are:
Photographer’s i
Once
Light it

NOTE: This is not going to be a review, but a recommendation of what I’m reading these days and what I believe would help you as photographer. Both of these magazines are extremely addictive and great for keeping us inspired at this craft.

1. Photographer’s i Magazine. Is a collection of multimedia articles from seasoned, well-known photographers, such as Michael Freeman, Bob Krist, Jay Maisel, Steve Simon just to name a few.

As their website says: “It offers innovative content in the form of text video, and audio. You’ll see articles by top photographers come to life on video, hear them talk about the creative process in audio recordings, and participate in the learning process with interactive tutorials.”
Their website is: http://photographersi.co.uk/
And they have “free taster issues”, so you can test-drive an issue before you decide to subscribe or buy an issue at the newsstand.

Here’s a video:

2. Once Magazine is more about storytelling and photojournalism where the Photographer’s i is more about photographers, assignment, vision, etc. At the heart of Once Magazine are the stories, beautifully narrated by multimedia essays. This is what they say at their website: “We believe that photo stories can be better. They can be long and interactive. They can be narrative and profitable. Photo stories can change the way we see the world. Our vision is to publish these stories every month and every month to pay our contributors what they deserve.”

Website: http://oncemagazine.com/
Here’s a video they put together to explain in more detail:

Both magazines have stated that are working on publishing these magazines in other platform as well. (Photographer’s i mentioned Android at their website per se)

3. The last magazine I want to share is Light it. This one is excellent if you want to get immersed in studio lighting or off-camera flash. It is full of tutorials and has some insights from great photographers as to how they approach their shoots. It includes interviews and videos as well.

Website: http://kelbytraining.com/lightit
Here is their video:

These magazines are great resources for today’s photographers and make excellent use of the photographer’s newest tool, the iPad. Check out the links and see if there’s something there that you’d like to learn more about. And if you have another suggestion, let me know in the comments and I will update this post.

Thanks.

PS. I wrote, edited and uploaded this Blog post m my iPad. WordPress works perfect!

Last week was the biggest holiday for this part in Iraq. It’s called Nowruz (New Year) and I got invited for a picnic at a small village named Mawat.

As I knew I was going to have a great time with local friends, and that we were going to spend some time together in a beautiful location, I decided to bring most of my gear with me. I know it sounds crazy and probably out of place, but you never know when you will find a great location or subject to photograph.

In my case I did not want to interrupt time spent visiting friends or with my own family (my kids were having a blast) so I waited for the right moment, and then gently asked about it. As with most people in this part of the world, where photography is a embraced and appreciated, they all agreed to take a break and have some fun with the camera. I was able to have some fun with a speedlight in a softbox too.

The whole shoot was done in less than 20 minutes, but that was enough time to capture a great moment for our families, and especially for these friends who will be receiving a print to show my appreciation for their generosity and being great models.

While I was going through the images I have shot during the last 2 years, I found a peculiar set of images that drew my attention. I don’t know why I didn’t take notice before, but I’ve decided to publish them under one of the portfolios that I’m currently building up, based on portraiture. I think that this set of photographs is very interesting in the sense that I’m sharing a very intimate and important moment with each person pictured here. These are the kind of profoundly personal moments when you don’t want to be interrupted, and you don’t want to be distracted, but for some reason that eludes me today, we all agreed to make it happen.

These images were made in a heart surgery facility in Iraq, where I followed these surgeons and assistants, who were running for twelve straight days in order to save lives of children with congenital heart diseases. This was a first attempt to fight back at the lack of help available for Iraqi children born with these heart conditions (for more information see, Preemptive Love Coalition). If I’m not wrong on this, three of those little guys died during the campaign, which added tension of the situation.

For some reason I decided to make portraits of the people working there, either on their way in or out of the operating room.

I remember there was the OR, then a small corridor and an office where the medical staff could go to try to relax and perhaps smoke, before going back to fight between life and death. I used that corridor, with a window and curtain as the background, and taped my softbox to a tripod and a reflector (on the other side of the corridor) to the wall. That was it. Done in 5 minutes, and with not much time to finesse the settings to deal with the poor lighting there.

I remember the faces of doctors and assistants who could not believe that I was setting up a studio in a place like that. Maybe I was wrong in my intention, I don’t know, but I knew I had to give it a shot. And so I did.

These are some of the photographs from that day. As you can see, they are an abstraction from what was really happening in those long, tense hours where children were fighting for their lives, where parents were praying to God and where this group of doctors were trying to do what they have been prepared for…

Last week, we had the opportunity to enjoy an international theatre festival, where groups from different European countries performed in locations throughout the city of Sulaymaniyah. It was a first for Iraq.

One of the festival sponsors hired me to cover some of the performances, which was a new challenge for me. I haven’t done much work with events, and my only previous experience photographing events was my sister’s wedding (2009) and a Preemptive Love campaign (2010).

The brief from my clients was: to capture as much of the performances as I could during the assigned hours, and to produce pictures to be used for archiving purposes and promoting their sponsorship on their website and social media. Nothing fancy, like magazine or press coverage. I wasn’t given details about the aesthetic they were going for, or a shot list. What that means for a photographer, is that it was basically up to me to be art director on the field. To add a bit more of a challenge, I was contacted only 24 hours before my assignment, so there was not much time to figure things out.
(Tip: When things like this happen to you–little communication or artistic guidelines–do your own research. Try to understand the kind of photography that pros create in events such as this. In my case, I had the benefit of looking to the work of other photographers who had covered similar events in the past.)

This is the gear that I expected to use, and what went well:

• I prepared two Nikon D700’s, because of their good ISO capabilities. I knew I was going to be working in dark places and shutter speed was going to be an issue. (Note: It so great to use two of the same type of camera on an assignment. I was able to ’sync’ all the menus with the CF card in less than a minute and it’s always great to change the same buttons with no difference in response. In the past I have done assignments with two different bodies and it can become an issue sometimes.)
• I prepared two main lenses that I used the whole week. A 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 and a 70-200mm ƒ/2.8. The exception was during a presentation inside of a very old and traditional tea house in Sulaymaniyah. There I used a wide angle lens and a 50mm ƒ/1.4.
• I also had to use a speedlight for a party that was part of the closing ceremony. (Note: A monopod would have helped me a lot, but I did not have one with me.)

Situations I didn’t expect, and were a problem:

• The first day the 70-200mm lens sucked a lot of juice from my grip, and I didn’t have spare batteries with me. I switched grips with the camera/24-70mm combo and survived the day. Uff. After that I had plenty of spare batteries with me -For the first performance I tried shooting in Aperture Priority mode. Wrong! My exposures were all over the place and it was difficult to relax and focus on composition. I switched to Manual mode, and was fine again. Once I established the proper ISO and shutter speed I was able to work better and concentrate more on what was happening with the artists.
• In some presentations, I was restricted from moving around, and I had to remain sitting. The good thing is that I arrived early enough to pick a good spot. Then I used breaks to move to other locations. (Tip: I was paid by the hour, so I was called just in time for performances. That can be a problem for logistics. So you have two options here: they can pay you for extra time to set up before the event, or just go with the flow and do what you can and know that you might not be creating portfolio-quality work.)

Things I learned, photographically speaking:

1. In performances or events where you cannot ‘pose’ or direct your subjects, it’s all about timing and capturing ‘gestures’ or moments. Every performance has its peaks, and if you can capture those moments you will be successful. It’s very hard if you only have one chance, but achievable.
2. To capture these moments, you have to ‘lock’ your system (exposure + focus) and then concentrate on what’s happening on the stage. Don’t take your eye from the viewfinder, especially with a long zoom.
3. If you can move around, don’t do it too much. Pick 2-3 spots, and then try to stay in those locations while the action is happening.
4. Capture the faces of the actors. There’s nothing like a good gesture to graphically show a moment. Pay attention to hands, body language and expression. They’re very important.
5. When you are photographing a group of dancers, try to find patterns and symmetry. It looks great when you capture the whole group doing the same thing, making one movement.

A last comment on the assignment: After the first couple performances, I was a bit disappointed with myself. I thought I was making images that were okay, but I wasn’t leaving any ‘mark’ that said that I was the one taking those shots. I know it can be quite difficult in jobs such as this, where you need to cover an event, and you can’t arrange things or interact with your subject. If you relax, slow down, breathe deeply and take all the images that are required by your clients, then there is usually space/time/room for you to experiment, and do your own thing. Enjoy the assignment, don’t let doubts steal the moment. You will find space for your own style. In the end I won’t be using these images for my portfolio but I will enjoy them, with all the incredible people I was shooting, and especially the ones that hired me. Their response to my work is key and they’re quite happy. That’s what is important at the end of the day, because it means my telephone will keep ringing for other jobs.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave me a comment.

It took me longer than I wanted, but this post is finally here. With this post I’m closing a series, written mainly about creativity and inspiration, but also the process behind creating a specific project. Here are the previous posts in the series:

1. Connecting the ‘Why and the ‘How’. (Process/vision through to execution of a project)

2. Training our Creativity. (Exercises for our inspiration)

3. The Benefit of Challenge. (Improvement/growing of skills through adversity)

© Heber Vega 2012 | Photograph part of the story of the last Kurdish antique cleaner.

This week we have Open to Collaborative Work.
It’s not a secret that the life and work of photographers sometimes get pretty lonely, and therefore we get used to the idea of creating and working alone. This is not a bad thing, and I’d say it’s necessary for the journey. The problem begins when we think that’s the only way to do things in our craft. That attitude has a flaw; with time we don’t listen to other artists or photographers who may have experience and skills that would enrich our work. How are we making artistic decisions for our work? Are they based only on our own thoughts and opinion? Worse yet, are we the only ones critiquing our work?

Unless we are the next Beethoven in photography we’ll have a problem with this approach. We’ll end up with a crappy website design because we think it’s a cool template. We’ll end up losing some jobs or revenue because we don’t know how to deal with contracts, and try to be our own reps and lawyers. What about the accounting part? Yeah, those red numbers don’t look good, do they? And I haven’t even touched the artistic side of creating photographs. When was the last time someone reviewed your portfolio? Have you ever spoken with a photo editor or art director? Ok, let’s get more basic; have you ever talked to a painter and asked how to improve the ‘light’ in our frames? Have you talked to other experienced photographers about what they think about our ongoing projects? You can guess my point with all these questions: we are not alone in this world. Surprise!

Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
“All I’m saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

It should not be a surprise to us that we can improve our work by sharing and working with other creatives. Most of our work can improve dramatically if we ask the right questions of the right people. If you still have doubts, check the leaders in our industry today: McNally, Jarvis and Arias, to name a few. You will discover a team working with most of them.

Joe McNally said this two post ago:
“The above is of [dancer] Alexis Fletcher, who is truly magnificent. She is particular, as
classical dancers tend to be, and she can float through the air as effortlessly as the rose petals we blew into the frame with her. She would look at every frame we shot together, and effectively, she coached me through it. She remarked on my timing, and her form, critically, but also wonderfully. Because of her devotion to craft, she, effectively, pushed me to be a better photographer on the set that day.”

When was the last time we allowed our subject to ‘coach’ us through a shoot? Well, McNally sometimes does. Are we afraid of losing our own vision by working with others? Afraid of losing our own identity as artist?

Jim Jordan, explained a good balance here:
“That’s what sets good photographers [in this field] apart. Instead of throwing in the stylist or makeup artist to do all the work, I show them what I want. The direction needs to come from the photographer so that it fits with their vision.”



Working in a team doesn’t mean you will lose your vision, instead it will be enriched by the skills of other artists.

If there’s one thing I want to build into my life, it’s having friends and colleagues who can contribute to my soul and hone my vision. As I give to others, I also try to ‘stay close’ to people that I can learn from. This is a list of people that you may have around you that can help to make your business better: designers, accountants, videographers, painters, singers, musicians, art directors, editors, photographers, journalists, storytellers, dancers, athletes, etc. You can learn far more from each of them than you ever learned in school. So give them a call, listen to them, and ask good questions. Study their creativity, inspiration, discipline, etc.

Let me give you 5 ideas that I’m starting to use that I think can improve our work. If you have a better idea (I know you do) please share it in the comments.

1. Work on a multimedia project. Create a project that is bigger than what you can put into place yourself, and therefore find people interested in working along side you. Benefit from each other’s skills. Consider partnering with a videographer, musician, singer, editor, sound engineer, designer, etc. You can direct, and of course provide the images.

2. Find a photo editor. If you are on a tight budget, find someone who has talent to describe what s/he sees in photographs, someone who understand photography and has ‘good taste’ (in your opinion). Ask that person to critique your latest projects, and see what you think about the process. If you trust her/his opinion then you have found your editor. The key here is once you have
placed your trust in that person, allow them influence your future work.

3. Find a designer. If you have someone who knows their way around design, ask for advice on your logo, personal website, portfolio, brand, etc. Again, once you have found someone who you trust, start building a long-term relationship, so that person can influence your future work. The same for a ‘retoucher’. If you suck at Photoshop (like me) then find someone you can work with.

4. Interview artists, and learn from their experience. Ask questions about inspiration, creativity, concept, execution, etc. Want to go a step further? Make a photo essay based on their work. That way you get to shoot and learn as well.

5. In your next photography project, don’t make it ‘personal’ work but a collaborative work. Shoot the project with someone else. Define the goal, vision and process but essentially go with another photographer and learn from his/her approach. Want to make it even better? Gather a group of photographers around the project and watch the synergy that happens.

Bonus: Invite friends and family to an ‘personal exhibit’ at your house. Print your work and let them talk about it; what they like, what they don’t like, why, etc. Invite critique; praise from a room full of people who love you won’t help you improve your craft.

Finally, the most important part of collaborative work: give. If people perceive you as someone only interested in ‘taking’, you will be avoided. Generosity always comes first. Let me know how these ideas work for you. Thanks!

A month ago when I was scheduling posts for my blog, I didn’t think that some of these posts were necessarily related. But now after publishing the last two, I can see that there’s a back bone joining them all together.
Here are the posts I’m talking about:

Connecting the ‘Why’ and the ‘How’. (Process/vision through to execution of a project)

Training our Creativity. (Exercises for our inspiration)

© Heber Vega 2012 | Photograph part of the story of the last Kurdish antique cleaner.

Next I want to explore the ideas of challenge and collaborative work, and how they can benefit us as photographers. When I say ‘challenge’, I am talking about activities that take us out of our comfort zones, that introduce us to a different way of creating. For ‘collaborative work’, I’d include any type of activity where we exchange ideas and work along other artists in the process of creating a project. I’m going to explore these subjects a bit deeper and have some examples that we can apply in our work.

The important thing to remember here, is that challenges & collaborations are an important element in the growth of artists, and without them our talent and skills are not going to reach their full potential.

Challenge: “a task or situation that tests someone’s abilities.”

Last year, while working on the ONE-SHOT workshop, I remember talking to Erin Wilson about how much I like the adrenaline that comes with assignment work. I love the challenge, although it doesn’t feel that great in the moment. Every time I get hired for a specific task as photographer, I like the feeling of making things happen within certain limitations, like time, funds, circumstances, etc. The reason? They have made me a more creative photographer in the process, and have allowed me to explore new things that have become valuable for my work, but that I’d never have discovered otherwise. It’s a journey of personal discovery; there’s so much inside of us that we don’t tap into for various reasons, including fear. Taking on challenges gives us a reason to face the fear. Lastly, constrains are always good if you make them work for you, just keep that in mind.

Here is a list of challenges that can make you a better photographer and that I have experienced myself. These activities have really enriched my work.

1. Limit your gear. Use your cellphone camera or your iPhone for this project. Or use your DSLR, but with only one lens at one focal length. Explore how you see the world at that perspective; go out and shoot for a couple days to really explore the limitation. Whatever happens, don’t add more gear. Just keep shooting.
2. Take a pro-bono assignment. Find a non-profit that identifies with your values and offer to work for a couple of weeks, or for a specific project. Better yet, don’t bring your camera at the beginning, listen to them carefully, and then create a project that could help them promote their cause. To make this effective, give yourself time restrictions.
Let’s say you will do this assignment in x number of days but no longer than that. Treat it as if it’s a paid assignment with a deadline.
3. Step into multimedia. Create a project where you will build with more elements than just your photography. Start with audio. Take the time to record people, ambient sound, etc. Perhaps music? Where can you collaborate with some musician and create something unique for your work? What about putting together a whole website for that project, with interactive materials, then finding some good designers interested in something like that? What about video? Read some basic information about video and storytelling and then give it a shot. Nothing to lose, and so much to gain in the process.
4. Write a column. Find someone who might be interested in publishing a story of yours, and pitch a story. Complement your photography with a longer article that explains the context of your images. Try to work either with another writer, to proof-read your work or better yet, a real editor. You’ll see how they can cut to the chase quickly.
5. Explore another culture for a photography project. Save some money and then go to a distant location where people don’t speak your language, live in a different culture and where you don’t have any expertise at all. This is the closest thing to being reborn. I’m telling you, you become a baby again, and it’s ridiculous how you have to depend on other people to carry out a project in a place like that. But that challenge, and the desire to understand with eyes and ears open to new experiences, beside making you a better photographer, will make a better person.

In my next post I will talk more about collaborative work, and how that can benefit our photography. In the meantime if you want to add another suggestion for a challenge that has improved your craft, please feel free to add them on the comments. And if you take up one of the challenges listed here, please leave a link so we can follow your progress. Thanks.

This last Monday, I put together a blog post about connecting the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ for a story or project. I was basically outlining the creativity process that goes from a concept, idea or vision, through the tools or elements that are needed to transform that concept into a final product. Well, I want to continue with this idea for a bit longer.

About inspiration: it is an important element for creativity, but as others have stated, it doesn’t come to us while we lay down on the couch and we just wait for it. No, more often than not it comes when we are in a process of pursuing it, in a process of cultivating of ideas. Inspiration usually comes when our souls are stimulated by something that’s meaningful to us.

The following video is a good example of how successful artists have trained their minds and their creativity, to start flowing based on prompts. In this case Moby, the singer, had been given certain images and later certain words, to compose and record a whole song within 48 hours.

I think this is a very good training method for photographers (I will talk on this later next week). Imagine having the challenge of composing a photography project based on certain assigned words or music or images. Let’s force creativity, therefore inspiration and our art.

Two weeks ago I submitted a story for a guest post, called “Haunted Memories”. It was published in this place. Today I want to talk about the process behind those images, not just the ‘how’ but also the ‘why’. What distinguishes an artist and photographer is the ‘why’, or his/her vision behind the work. That is what sets apart the great photographers that you and I admire. Throughout this entire assignment, I felt connected to the story in a way that I’ve rarely experienced before, and I think that one of the reasons is that I was able to successfully merge the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of this story.

© Heber Vega | Images from the 'Haunted Memories' story.

The ‘Why’:
First, I must admit that this story represents a real milestone in my personal life. It marks an ending, as well as the beginning of a new Heber. So one of my motivations was to create a visually strong story, because I experienced the story in such a strongly visually way. What I saw in my mind during that time has stayed with me in such a powerful way, that it forever changed my perspective on life. It pierced my soul, so I had to put emphasis on that in the images.

I had that clear concept fixed in my mind, and then began to write the story in a way that would strike a cord with my readers. I wanted the illustrating images to add to the experience, to evoke the feelings of repression and hopeless that I felt in childhood. Because I had this powerful experience while reading a book, most of the images I associate with the story I created in my mind. To illustrate my own story, I wanted to create images that would evoke the feeling of being in a dream.

So that’s basically the ‘Why’, the concept… the way I envisioned this work.

The ‘How’:
There are two main elements in the illustration of this story: the location I chose for the images, and the way I post-processed them. I decided to use my iPhone instead of my DSLR because of the post-processing technique I wanted to use. When I started this project, it was only available as an iOS app that I was using on my iPhone. Now it’s also available for Mac, but I’ll say more about that in a minute.

Element One: The Red Prison (location). Choosing this location is totally related to the ‘Why’ of this story. I have been in the Red Prison more than 10 times, and am still impacted by that place every time I go. I normally end up being really quiet, full of thoughts. Now that I think about it, I guess I’ve been connecting the Red Prison with those difficult thoughts from my past, and that’s why this story became so moving for me. Once I was able to connect contemporary elements with the emotional theme of the main story (the ‘why’), I was able to “get into the zone”. I know that sounds really zen, but once you make the connection between your vision and concept for a story, with the visual elements around you, you are ready to portray a story.

Element Two: Post-processing. Last December I began to use an app on my iPhone call Snapseed, and I fell in love with it because of several of its features. One of them is a filter called “grunge”. When I was thinking about illustrating ‘Haunted Memories’, I couldn’t stop thinking about this grunge look. It is edgy, dreamy, and has a lot of texture; ideal for what I wanted to convey in these images. The best part is that by the time I was ready to process the images, this app had become available for Mac. This meant that I could use it on my computer as well. Without that, I would have used the iPhone exclusively to capture and post-process the images.

Well, that’s the process behind “Haunted Memories”. The most important lessons?

1. Identify a concept or a vision before you even start to work on a project. Think about how you want this story to make your reader feel. Know in your own mind why you want to work on this story. Close your eyes, and become aware of the visual images that come to mind when you think about the story. Pre-visualize.

2. Look for the elements that can best represent your story. Think in terms of what kind of reaction you want to provoke in the readers; think of elements that will generate that kind of emotional response.

3. Finally, think about how you can use those elements in the best way possible, so they become the interpreter of your story. In this example, visually. But it can also be through another type of sense, like using sound in a multi-media piece.

I hope this post will be useful for your stories as well. Have a great week.