Captured & Left Behind
Posted by Craig | Filed under photos, projects
I was asked to create an online piece for Skewed Visions on the concept of identity. Other than that, there were no rules or boundaries. I’ll be honest, panic set in. I didn’t want to do something just for the sake of doing it and was having a hard time finding inspiration. I first started thinking in very literal terms, taking photos of things from my childhood or things that reminded me of my brother who passed away 3 years ago.
Nothing felt quite right until I went into an antique store. I was struck by all of the photos for sale; photos that have lost their meaning and sense of place. While I found the photographs interesting on their own, what I felt from them was an emptiness. These photographs are simply objects that have been left behind and now exist out of context.
The audio used was generated from a photo of my brother. More details on that below.
Note: If you view at full screen on a large monitor, please turn off scaling to view the images at best quality.
The details
I shot over 1,000 photos at antique stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Arizona over the course of 6 months. To keep the piece under 4 minutes, I narrowed my selection down to about 60 photographs, arranged them and started looking for a way to make them into something more than a simple slideshow.
I was thinking about mixing in images of my brother to somehow show the contrast between photos that do and don’t have meaning to me, but that felt forced and like I’d be using taking advantage of my brother somehow.
I decided that I wanted to use audio to string everything together, but struggled with what to use. There’s a picture of my brother that sits in my dresser drawer and is etched into my memory. I wanted to use it somehow, so I found software that renders audio from the photo’s contrast and saturation information. The result was just what I wanted and compliments the photos well.
The audio used was generated from this photo of my brother.
I’m not entirely sure that I’m done with this project, but I feel good about where it’s at for now. I’ve got a lot of outtakes and other photos of weird antique store finds that I may put in a follow up post.
I’d love to know what you think.
Tags: antique, old photos, skewed visions
Gear for sale
Posted by Craig | Filed under cameras
I’m going to be selling some gear on Ebay soon, but wanted to post a list in case anyone that I know wants to buy any of it directly. I’m open to offers, but the prices listed are about what I’d like to get.
Email me for pics or more details.
Canon 5D w/ battery grip and four batteries – SOLD
$1,000
I’ve got the box, warranty card and all accessories. I’ve had it for about 2 years and it has around 6,800 shots on it. I’ve used it mainly in the studio. There are visible dust spots at high apertures and I’ve never cleaned the sensor, but it should clean up nicely.
Canon 24mm f/1.4L USM
$900
This lens is near perfect. I sent it to Canon for service in March to replace the barrel assembly because it was soft at wide apertures. It’s working great now. Box, warranty card, soft case and manuals are included.
Olympus OM-1 MD w/ 28mm and 50mm Zuiko lenses
$120
Great condition with leather case and strap.
Garmin Foretrex 101 GPS receiver – SOLD
$100
Virtually unused with wrist strap and manual.
Canon RS-80N3 remote switch – SOLD
$20
Near perfect condition with box.
Art-A-Whirl 2011
Posted by Craig | Filed under studio
It’s hard to believe that Art-A-Whirl was three weeks ago (and that I haven’t posted anything since January!). For those of you not in Minneapolis, Art-A-Whirl is a three day open studio event and claims to be the largest open studio and gallery tour in the United States. Thanks to everyone who came out to visit, purchase prints and check out my work. It was a great time!
I wanted to capture the flow of people coming in and out of my studio, so I made this time-lapse, using a Canon Timer Remote Controller (TC-80N3). I took one photo every 10 seconds for about 8 hours. If I remember correctly, there are over 2,800 images.
Minneapolis Art-A-Whirl 2011 from Craig VanDerSchaegen on Vimeo.
Tags: aaw, art-a-whirl, open house, studio, timelapse
Ila Handbags
Posted by Craig | Filed under photography, products, studio
A few months ago I had the privilege of shooting in the studio all day for Ila Handbags, a Minneapolis company whose products are all handmade, using new and vintage fabrics.
This weekend we’re doing another shoot and I remembered that I never blogged any of the photos from the last one, so here they are!
More photos and some behind the scenes shots after the jump.
Tags: handbags, ila, minneapolis, product photography, studio