Photographs you can create at home part two- seven days of isolation
As our #creativitylifts2020 project was so well received, I wanted to create a new one for you. In the Uk we have just had the news of another 3 weeks in lockdown, which is completely understandable. However If I’m sensing things right, a lot of us are feeling a little itchy to get going with something, or are just wanting to sleep through it! I’m fluctuating between the two on alternate days to be honest! Either way, let’s find something that will keep us motivated!
We’re moving into week 5 in isolation as I write this and feel to have gone through all kinds of thoughts and emotions in that time. I really want to give you a way to express yourself and with these prompts, create a photo diary of your next seven days.
1 - shoot your connection with the outdoors, indoors.
Try collecting something on your daily walk, use it to shoot through, a prop in your hands or set it up on a table. Think about your connection with the outside and how being free outdoors makes you feel.
2- Same people, same rooms, different days.
Shoot a series of images of the same person/subject, in the same room/s, but on different days of the week. Maybe keep some similarities, but change one thing each day.
3- Focus on the light in one corner of your home. photograph it in the morning, in the afternoon and before nightfall.
Use this project to ONLY concentrate on photographing one place. Think about the light, how it changes the mood, is this place important to you? or is it somewhere you have not paid attention to much before?
4- Take a portrait either of yourself, or someone you live with, looking out of the window.
Think about what you are saying in this photograph? what would you like to portray? can you see your own reflection when you are photographing someone else? is there rain or dust on the window? or even drawings? Be creative.
5- Photograph one of the simple things that brings you daily joy.
This exercise is to help you focus in on the small things. It’s hard to think about any of the big things at the moment without a huge question mark appearing over most of it. Focussing on one thing that brings you joy can make a big difference to your mood. What makes you happy daily, however small, photograph it. Give it it’s own space and beauty.
6- Capture your mood in a photograph.
Think about the composition, the story, the light, what do you want your audience to see in your picture? and can you make it clear?
7- Reflections. Use a picture in your home or a mirror to try to capture what you can see reflected from outside.
for eg, we have a picture in our living room and everyday I can see the reflection of the trees and blossom in it along with the picture inside it. It’s such a sign of the times to me, each day I see it, inside and outside, and I’m reminded of our humanity as it is part of our home, and the reflection is our connection to the outside world.
We really hope you enjoy these prompts. They are meant to help you to feel creative each day and to tell a story of your own ‘seven says of isolation’.
After you have taken each image, why not pop on instagram or your stories with the #creativitylifts2020 hashtag?
For those of you who would like to add these to your website, or perhaps try your hand at creating a post even if you don’t have a website, you could have a go at creating your own post with your own thoughts. Whether it’s for your own website or just a collection you can showcase and share. Here are some ideas of how to put all those images together.
Blogstomp
Blogstomp is a great app for arranging your images and resizing them so they are suitable for a website. We have used on both wordpress and Squarespace and they really help your posts come alive. Try matching images and placing portrait photographs next to each other side by size and mixing things around a bit. Think about how you would like your viewer to read your story.
Spark
Spark is our most favourite branding tool. But you can also use it to create your own blogposts and share the link.
Narrative
’Simple, intuitive and powerful’ is their own description of this great platform. You can arrange an image heavy blog post easily and create beautiful posts.
If you would like to share your posts with us, please email them over to hello@themelias.co, or join our free photo club We would love to see them!
J&J x
If you enjoyed this challenge, you could take a look at our other post ‘photographs you can take at home’ where there are another 14 prompts for you to try!
