Shades of Blue
Author: Tobias M. Schiel
Abstract arts lover, Jazz enthusiast, mystery buff, compulsive reader - and how do I get it all into pictures? Photography has been a good way over the last couple of years.1. .
Mustang Sally
Area 23: The Fence
Area 23
Finishing The Zone in 2019, did not mean I was done. I still feel drawn to this kind of scene (and scenery). And when I saw Annabelle Amoros’ film Area 51, Nevada, USA in a museum, it clicked. I was intrigued even though the movie has its disconcerting moments. I have been taking its imagery as a departure point for a couple of pictures – mostly working from memory to capture the atmosphere in 1/87 scale.
Clothesline Rope Walk
A scene we might encounter in real life – or rather, an idealized version of such a scene. Which is why I like toy photography: In reality, I would walk along the alley, see a potential photo, and then find that reality gets in the way of the picture I had in mind. I might get other pictures I like instead. And afterwards, with miniature toy photography, I can also make the picture I imagined.
Since it’s Monday, and this is definitely a walk, I think this might be a nice contribution for Jo‘s Monday Walks.
Defiance
Five Years, Ten Toy Photos
Whenever I talk about toy photography, a couple of my own pictures inadvertently come to mind. It’s not that I consciously picked or even made some sort of list to remember them. It rather feels like they never really got out of sight after I made them; they seem to be here to stay. Here are ten of those pictures off the top of my head.
Take the ‘A’ Train, 2022. I feel like I found a nice balance between abstraction and realism here. The harsh lighting – light bouncing off a ‘brick’ wall behind the rail car – emphasizes the graphic quality of this shot, and a composition defined by the symmetry of the windows and the asymmetrical arrangement of the figures inside the car. And the figures, I think, tell their own story.
Prelude to a Kiss, 2022. One thing I like about music, and jazz in particular, is that it brings people together; and one thing I love about this picture is the arrangement of the crowd. When I look at this picture, I seem to hear the soundtrack of dance music, conversational murmur, shuffling feet and clinking glasses. And there’s so much going on in this picture. Did you notice the gaze of the guy to the right?
Continue reading “Five Years, Ten Toy Photos”Good Luck!
Season‘s Greetings
Balance and joy, peace and entertainment,
both to our friends in the northern hemisphere
and to our friends in the southern hemisphere.
(This year’s last post. See you in 2023?)
Happy Reunion
Night Train
This picture was in equal parts inspired by the Blues Brothers’ apartment just opposite the El tracks and by the buildings I see commuting to work. Since the train runs through the picture diagonally (to evoke a dynamic feeling) I hope this might qualify as an entry for the Lens Artists’ Challenge.
Some Other Blues
Prelude to a Kiss
If you like black and white photography, check out this blog.
Flying Home
Flights of Fancy
Toy photography and flights of fancy: it almost seems like a defining combination. Wouldn‘t it be nice to just have a huge wall with a couple of tiny windows and a backlit „Tickets“ sign? Then I could show a long line of people waiting to get one. And can I translate the jazz music played at a concert into a picture?
Flights of fancy indeed, and when I build these 1/87 scale dioramas or set up scenes, it often seems like they will remain just that. Other times, things turn out quite well (if not always the way I would have expected). These two pictures are from my jazz series. The titles are Broadway Blues and Jumpin’ at the Woodside, after the respective songs composed by Ornette Coleman and Count Basie.
Museum Views XII (Duisburg)
Museum Views XI (München)
Leaving?
Treasure Hunt?
This week’s contribution for the Lens-Artists’s Challenge #219: Treasure Hunt: two reflections. Originally hunting for a picture that would somewhat illustrate the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and be photographed through things (for yet another challenge), I first tried what I could do with this figure and a glass vase. The pictures turned out to be nothing like what I’d had in mind. However, I came to like these ‘test’ pictures better than the one actually showing “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes” through a piece of cellophane. So always hold on to your test shots! They may turn out to be treasures you found without immediately realizing.
The Thirsty Ear
“Minton’s was just a place for cats to jam. People didn’t pay too much attention to what was going on, I mean the people there that weren’t musicians. So when you went in, you’d see cats half-stewed who weren’t paying much mind to what was happening on stage. But the musicians were.” Carmen McRae
empire of lights 