A Pious Photojournalism Project

I'm sitting here at Oolong enjoying the last of my tea after finishing my analysis project, and thinking about new ideas for photos. Particularly, about an idea for a project I've been bouncing around in my skull for some weeks now.

It's a photojournalism idea that's slowly evolved in complexity since it first popped into my head with the creation of my deviation, Allahu Akbar:


It centers on the various religions that inhabit our fairly diverse city of Calgary, Alberta. We have Orthodox Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Catholics of every variation and myriad other Christian derivatives. We have Buddhist monks, we have a few ascetics, we have a local group of Shinto and a dozen other Eastern religions. We even have a group of Aryans; distasteful as they may be.

What I'm interested in, and have been for many, many years, is the mysticism associated with religion. The various mantras, chants, hymns and smoke-shrouded rituals. You know, the stuff that makes a religion different from every other. I'm talking about the prostration in the direction of Mecca, the incense-laden procession of bishops, the myriad impossible poses of a Yogi.

I want to do this for a dozen different reasons. I want to hone my craft; I want to learn how to take more photojournalistic (new word!) images in real-life settings. I want to experience the rituals of a dozen different religions from a first-person perspective. I've read about most of them, and have been fascinated by them all; now I want to capture them with my art and passion.

The question I put to you, my myriad readers, is this:

What do you think the reactions will be of the various clergy and leaders? Perhaps more importantly, what will be the reaction of the congregations?

Will I be immediately persecuted as an outsider interefering? Will I be viewed as just a gawking tourist with a camera trying to get a souvenir to show my friends? Will they try to throw me out or slur me?

Or will I be accepted as a curious person who is trying to learn about their religion; not for purposes of conversion, but for the goal of understanding someone else's perspective? Will it be friendly, constructive and a good experience for both parties; one learning and one teaching and eliminating misconceptions.

If I ever get to do this, I plan on writing a blurb to go with the photos to describe the experience, no holds barred.

I had a wonderful experience doing this once, and it led me to hunger for more.

What do you think?

Nathan

Clubs:

What do you do when you question your own art?

Of late, I have been doing a significant amount of "playing" with my new D200, and have shot well over a couple thousand images. I know this isn't much, but it's more than I've ever shot in that short of a period before.

I have reached the point where I feel I don't think I can teach myself too much more about photography and the camera. Of course, by shooting and shooting and shooting, I am still learning more things every day, but I'm getting frustrated by the way some of my images turn out. My colors never seem quite as sharp or fully defined, my focus is always that c-hair off, the composition is good, but not great. Call it a case of my mind's eye far outstripping
my ability to produce the photos I want.

What I really, really want is to speak and possibly assist an experienced photographer, portrait or otherwise, and get some help on some of the basics I've never even approached, like studio photography, flash photography and some long-glass work like sports and wildlife (I worked in a "studio", but it wasn't anything like I would want to do as either a hobby or a profession; it was Sears...).
I don't know how to learn stuff like this on my own, and while I could read every article on the web, it still has a tough time comparing to the experience of a seasoned professional who I can actually speak to.

Another recent development is that I know less and less what niche I would like to fit in as a photographer. I feel different about it every day. My friends ask me what my goal or dream in life would be, and I tell them I would love to end up as a staff photographer at National Geographic, Time, Mcleans or some other major publication that has a focus on photography. I know these are lofty goals for an amateur, but I was asked what my dreams were, and those are my answers.

I see photographers all over DA who make stunning, wonderful and awe-inspiring photography. Their galleries are filled with images I love and want to know how to create.



I see ^Davenit's gallery, and want to make colorful, sharp and mentally engaging photos. Photos that make you think and feel very specific things. Photos like:
and



Or I click past ~roleychiu's page. I see dozens and dozens of images of gorgeous women, but gorgeous women captured in a smooth, carefully considered way that reminds me of every magazine shoot I've ever seen. Images like these two make me wonder if glamour photography is what I want to make my goal:
and



Then I think about documentary photography and photojournalism. I see deviants like `cweeks and ~Shankpony make wonderful images of people and things that occur all through our daily lives, and I want to know how to capture the moments they do.
and are two fine examples.


I don't know. Maybe I'm just depressed and stressed because of exams. Maybe I've got the wrong hobby. Maybe I should keep plugging away and hope I improve with time.

Who knows?

- Nathan Wood

Clubs: