William Oldacre Photography

Tag: flow state

  • It Started With Beauty

    It Started With Beauty

    Light Signatures series, day, colour photograph, art, abstract, abstract expressionism, creative, city street, urban, downtown, cityscape, speed, blur, movement, motion, fuchsia, orange, muted, waves, patterns
    Green Pink Orange Red Wisps, 2012 – Light Signatures :: (click to see more)

    When I first began talking about the images I was making, I used to say I was searching for beauty with my work. But as time passed, as I gave it more thought, as I matured (chuckle), I came to realize that although beauty was an element it certainly wasn’t the driving force behind my images.

    I can’t say for sure what I was doing before I began working on the Metro Motion series except to say that I saw things that resonated within me and so I would photograph them and attempt to portray my inner vision. But with the Metro Motion work, I made a conscious effort to find a new way of seeing the city – one I could be happy with – and with this I began to think differently about what I was doing. I experimented with different techniques I liked, including long exposures, camera movement and pinhole photography. Around this time I saw some amazing pinhole work by Michael Wesely – Open Shutter at the MOMA in New York that validated my interest in finding a different way to portray the city.

    Everything I’ve done since has, in my mind at least, followed some kind of evolution from that original idea of seeing the city differently. As to why the city – I realize now that I photograph as part of my daily life and so I photograph where I live and travel. Up until Metro Motion I had been slightly nomadic and driving a lot and so I was able to photograph landscapes in the countryside.

    Between 1988-93 or so I lived and worked in Hamilton and Windsor but drove a lot around southern Ontario and traveled elsewhere. I would photograph mostly while I was driving and traveling but also began to explore the industrial landscape of Hamilton, Windsor and Detroit too.

    It wasn’t until 1994 when I moved to Toronto and stopped traveling and driving so much that I was fully confronted with a need to find an interesting and fulfilling way to photograph city life – since that was pretty much all the photographic material I had at my disposal. Up to that point I had predominantly shot landscapes in black and white and tried the same when photographing the city and industrial areas but I was dissatisfied with this – it wasn’t interesting enough. This was also around when I converted from a black and white darkroom to colour transparency film, scanning my film, digital image processing and ultimately digital printing. It was an exciting period of learning and discovery – exploring new production and image processing possibilities.

    I still don’t have a clear handle on what I’m doing but I do know that music is an essential part. I always work with my favourite music playing and for the Coloured City series, while I was shooting also. I find the right music facilitates a flow state while I work – a kind of mental disconnect from my surroundings or perhaps a hyper-connect with the image I’m working on – whichever, it allows me to enter into the image. I don’t know how to describe this clearly without sounding hokey but suffice it to say, the flow state enables me to identify and amplify elements within the image – to build the image up in a succession of layers using painterly techniques, until I have something that feels complete.

    Interestingly, in writing this post I checked the Michael Wesely book I have about his Open Shutter project. In his book I found two images I didn’t remember that are clearly influential precursors for my Light Signatures series. One is from his New York Vertical series and the other is from the series American Landscape – both of which contain strong elements of what I’m exploring now.

  • Flow State

    Flow State

    Light Signatures series, day, colour photograph, art, abstract, abstract expressionism, creative, city street, urban, downtown, cityscape, speed, blur, movement, motion, green, blue, vibrant, streaks, circles, patterns, shapes
    Ochre Navy Green Hooked Lines, 2012 – Light Signatures :: (Click to see more)

    I was reading an interesting article in NewScientist which caught my eye about an elusive mental state commonly known as “flow”. It seems for some time now people have reported achieving this flow state typically after they have become fairly proficient at whatever it is they’re doing. When they enter a flow state their task becomes effortless and time passes unnoticed.

    For some time scientists thought this was hokey nonsense but apparently recent research indicates that it is in fact real and can with some electrodes on the head etc be invoked at will, even if the requisite proficiency doesn’t exist.

    What caught my eye was the description of flow – “that feeling of effortless concentration that characterizes outstanding performance in all types of skills.” There have been times when I’m processing image files – retouching, masking, finessing, what have you – that I feel this same way. I recall working for what seemed like only minutes on images for the Metro Motion series late into the night – completely absorbed and intuitively honing the images to the place I wanted. The same thing happened while working on Coloured City.

    I’ve always considered these working sessions joyful and pleasant. They were accompanied by music that perfectly matched my groove and mood – so much so I decided to title some of Coloured City after the music I was listening to while working. I think these sessions were flow.

    When you’re in a flow state, everything just works perfectly. There is no disappointment or second guessing, you just work decisively, confidently and happily on your task. I had always thought music was the key to activating this for me – perhaps it is to some degree and perhaps it isn’t the only essential element. But now that I’ve read more about flow I think I’m going to have to experiment a little to see how I can more easily and readily enter a flow state while working.

    At the risk of sounding foolish – I’ll say it feels euphoric and fulfilling to work this way and somewhat boundless – like anything is achievable. All very satisfying components for working on what you love.