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"Exhibition" Pictures for Discussion and Questions Final Thesis - Echoes from a Distant Landscape

Zeeshan Ali

New member
I think I chose the wrong prefix for the thread. Would request the mods to correct it since I cant change it now.

Thanks.

Zee
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I think I chose the wrong prefix for the thread. Would request the mods to correct it since I cant change it now.

Thanks.

Zee


Don't worry. Your work is worthy. Just post the best pictures here from your exhibit! Then we can decide together.

Asher
 

John Wolf

New member
Zee,

Congratulations. It must have been great to see your work come together like this. I really enjoyed the video presentation. Strong images and fitting music. (And a can't-miss verse from Rumi.)

The final shot is arresting for its apparent incongruity. What's your thinking about including a person and putting that shot last?

Were you pursuing this course of study with professional or personal intentions?

John
 

Zeeshan Ali

New member
Don't worry. Your work is worthy. Just post the best pictures here from your exhibit! Then we can decide together.

Asher

Thanks Asher. I'm not sure how many to pick from the 25 photographs but here you go:


the-curve1.jpg


dsc_0925.jpg


alien-face1.jpg


old-building.jpg


graffiti.jpg

I think the photographs work together as a series since they were taken with that objective in mind. Anyone looking at these here in the forum should also look at the video presentation to understand the complete perspective and the vision with which these images were taken.

Zee
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Zeeshan,

I cannot say I have understood you, as I've no dictionary I can rely on, as yet, to translate your body of work. Still, I do get meaning and lots of it from the obvious reference to eyes and seeing as well as the appearance of a motif, every so often of thighs and then in the end of a man on a journey.

I'd love to have your guided tour so that I can come to understand better your own ideas and how they progressed from the beginning to the end of this thesis project.

Asher
 

Zeeshan Ali

New member
Congratulations. It must have been great to see your work come together like this. I really enjoyed the video presentation. Strong images and fitting music. (And a can't-miss verse from Rumi.)

Thanks John. You'd be happy that I actually took your advice and didnt post the presentation before the exhibit. The exhibition was alright. Since it was all student work, there werent many gallery owners or collectors present. However the work was greatly appreciated. Unfortunately we dont have a culture yet where people collect/buy photography as enthusiastically as paintings. Its changing but I think it will take time. I am more interested in getting this work known internationally and still finding out ways how to go about it.

Music did play a big role. I have always been inspired by film and music. Its strange but I cant think of many photographers that have inspired me too much aside from maybe Ansel Adams, HCB, Alex Webb and a few more. Most of my visual inspiration comes from people like Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Melville, and most of the legendary film makers where music played an immense role in captivating the audiences in their films. The combination of an image with music makes me express a certain emotion far better than just the image itself. It could be argued though but thats generally how I feel about my work. Thats precisely why the music is carefully chosen.

The final shot is arresting for its apparent incongruity. What's your thinking about including a person and putting that shot last?

I've had people ask me the same question. Some said it doesnt fit rest of the photographs. Its the only image which is black and white and has a human figure. For me its a self portrait and represents the concept of departure from this world. After we have lived our part in this world, we leave alone with nothing but our deeds and in the final moments we remember all that we regret and cherish. It ties up to the overall concept of the thesis which is my state of being and how I see the world around me. The sense of detachment to the material world is perhaps immense in the final moments and hence it’s the final image of the presentation. The presentation starts with an image of a closed window and the next image resembles an alien face. Perhaps these are the only three images that have a narrative where we begin the journey by entering into my space which is very private and reserved, a face that resembles how I feel with the world around me and the final image where I leave the world with nothing but a suit which represents what I have said and done in the world. Everything else in between is a journey through my state of being and how I try and express different feelings.

Were you pursuing this course of study with professional or personal intentions?

I entered the program knowing nothing but the fact that I want to pursue photography professionally. The realization that I want to do the thesis on my existence came at a later stage where I actually realized why I shoot what I shoot. I cant comprehend fashion or any other commercial means of photography, for me its a personal journey and hence fine art is the only way for me to progress. If I do intend to take commercial projects, they would be industrial or architecture based as I can relate to those things at a personal level. So lets see where my luck takes me.

Zee
 

Zeeshan Ali

New member
Zeeshan,

I cannot say I have understood you, as I've no dictionary I can rely on, as yet, to translate your body of work. Still, I do get meaning and lots of it from the obvious reference to eyes and seeing as well as the appearance of a motif, every so often of thighs and then in the end of a man on a journey.

I'd love to have your guided tour so that I can come to understand better your own ideas and how they progressed from the beginning to the end of this thesis project.

Asher

I hope my answers to John's queries might clear things up a bit. However like I said, you will not find a narrative in most of the pictures. They are visual representations of feelings associated with loneliness, isolation and abandonment. I would very much like you to interpret these images based on your associations with the things shown in the pictures. There is no definite dictionary to interpret these images visually. Its a personal journey and there could be different responses from different people which I am willing to accept. I think if someone says that they did not connect at all with the images, it'd be a very fitting response as their struggles in life may be different and may have nothing to do with what I am trying to represent. The work is symbolic in nature and thats where I think I have found my forte. Even the minor thesis that I have done is symbolic in nature.

I hope that helps. If not, please let me know and I will try to clarify it more.

Zee
 
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