February 14, 2013. 100mm, f/8, 1/160, ISO 1600.
This is part of a new series based on a new technique, which I figured out on Wednesday. It’s part in-camera and part Photoshop. With black and whites, some judicious overexposure, and a bit of postprocessing, I end up with something that’s a bit of a crossover between a photograph and a drawing. While both media have the concept of negative space, in practice they deal with it much differently, and I wanted to get more of the imaginative art idea of negative space into my photographs. I’ve done some of that with chiaroscuro, but I’m happy to have a high-key version as well.
I thought this was a good one to start with because it’s transitional, and features one of my favorite subjects lately, the Minnesota Zoo’s Canada lynx kitten. He’s very playful and explorative, and I like the way he’s exiting the very concrete background into the negative space at the bottom. There’s kind of a dimensional transfer feeling going on there, like he’s walking into a more abstracted universe.
I need to do some more experimentation before I figure out if this is going to be an animal-only series or not, but as with Animal Geometries, I feel like something ought to go back to the institutions that make it possible, so I’ll donate 10% of print sales to the Minnesota Zoo.