Driving Home a Deadline


A Car At Last, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

I made my deadline! I made my deadline! Thanks to all of those who were encouraging me, it really means a lot to me.

The big project this year was pretty hard. It’s very hot here in Texas right now, but I so needed something to get my creativity going. I have to admit, while I’m not 100% sure it’s my best work, I had a load of fun doing it. Dressing up like The Stig was both challenging and very fun. I’ve thought all along that The Stig would make a great character for a photo project. It’s really interesting to do something with a character so out-of-place like The Stig. Once you get him outside of a car, he’s really an oddity, and that will always make for some interesting images, don’t you think?

The great thing about doing conceptual/staged photography is that, once somebody “buys into” the concept, once somebody gets emotionally attached to a character, a scene, a place or a piece of it, it’s almost hard to mess it up. Sure there might be little things off, here and there, and not everything always technically “perfect,” but, once you get that buy-in, once you create that bond, it moves into the realm of “emotional impact.” People respond to it, not because it’s technically perfect, not because every little “odd and end” is in place, no, because they “get” the concept. That’s what they respond to, right?

That’s how I think this project will be received. Either you love The Stig and you’ll laugh when you read my project, or you just don’t get him. If you love him, there’s almost nothing I could do to him to make you stop and, if you don’t get it, there’s almost nothing I can say or do to help explain it. Conceptual photography is often like this. I think that’s what makes it interesting for me.

That and, well, it’s a little bit like acting, which I cannot do, but I’m so willing to, you know, at least try for the sake of the project. I mean, who doesn’t like to play with props, right?

Until next time…

2 Comments

  1. mythopolis
    Author
    July 27, 2009 / 9:18 pm

    What people see in art is quite interesting (cool project by the way), people buy into a piece sometimes for totally personal reasons other than the artist's intentions. I did a found-object piece once consisting of a dried fish head that I had added a set of false teeth to. A big grinning fish with teeth. The woman who bought it said it reminded her of her aunt who always laid her false teeth on the night stand before turning in at night.

  2. Carol
    Author
    July 28, 2009 / 12:11 pm

    That's so funny. I can't imagine a dried fish head with teeth. But then, if anybody were to make one and have it come out cool, it would be you!

    Yes, I know what you mean about personal reasons too, though I can't imagine anybody having a personal connection with the Stig (unless maybe they are stuffed in the trunk of his car while he drives!)

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