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| "Lucid Dreaming" |
I love bokeh! Shallow depths of field are prominent in all my work - there's something sublime and beautiful about them. Lucid Dreaming is an ode to my love of bokeh. Lacking a "real" subject, the focus here is on the colors, shapes, and the mood of the photograph. For a lot of people these types of photographs mean very little, or don't come off as appealing. However, they are my favorite; the abstract architecture tells a story of its own and the most beautiful piece is that the story is unique to each viewer.
I shot this while on vacation last summer. The sun was high in the sky and I was beneath the canopy of a tree looking up at the light. The idea was simple: capture the light. When you photograph just bokeh you have to base your shot off of the previous shot. Each shot is unique as the light is constantly changing, especially when you're on a wind-ridden beach. I tried composing the shot with the light coming in from the top left of the frame and spilling into the rest - which I eventually got. Obviously the blue monotone of the photograph was done in post-processing, all with the intent of creating a certain mood.
The title "Lucid Dreaming" refers to the idea that this photograph can come across as unique for each viewer - just as we experience dreams in our own ways. It also reflects on the mood of the photograph; something surreal, unusual, yet vivid - much like a dream.
The title, for myself, literally refers to what I see when I look at this photograph: dreams. The numerous interactions of colors, shapes, and light appears to me like scattered ideas, thoughts, and dreams. Lucid dreaming means you're aware you're dreaming while dreaming - a strange concept, and even stranger thing to experience. Like many photographs covered in DECODE, Lucid Dreaming is a comment on myself at a particular time in my life. If Ephemeral Love was a comment on my personal relationships then Lucid Dreaming is a comment on my photography, or the stage I was at in my career when the photo was created. The title becomes a double entendre; meaning I'm aware of my dreams and where I want myself to be career-wise, while at the same time holding up to the meaning previously stated..
"A person starts dying when they stop dreaming."
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Stay tuned for Part IV, find the previous here. Share this post!
James Elliott
