At this point, we’ve all seen so many of these fancy little time-lapse films and tilt-shift photographs that most of us turn away with a yawn when we see yet another. Few people seem to have a genuine idea of what these techniques really can do and just use them because they are pretty. However, there are exceptions. Take a moment to check out these truly wonderful works of Keith Loutit, a Sydney-based photographer who has mastered both tilt-shift and time lapse technique like few others before. In his short films, he creates perfect illusions of little miniature worlds – but everything you see is real. A fact that I have to constantly remind myself of when I watch his films (and I watch them a lot!).
In Keith’s own words, these “photographs and short films were made in ordinary places, probably not too unlike where you live. Combining a variety of techniques, I aim to help people take a second look at places that are familiar to them.” I couldn’t agree more… But enough said – judge for yourself!
February 10, 2010
Being fed up and frustrated with the distanced and removed nature of my recent photography and inspired by a dear friend, I have decided to take a step back in time to when photography for me was not merely a tool to tell stories, but rather a little miracle, a slowly revolving series of secrets, without a delete button and a display for instant results. A time when a picture wasn’t born out of the feeling that what’s in front of me is an important part of the story that I am expected to capture, but simply out of a mere impulse, a feeling of space, time, light and moment all coming together that makes my finger push down the button.
Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t think that telling stories in pictures isn’t good. In fact, I believe that it’s one of the most wonderful forms of communication, otherwise I couldn’t be doing what I do. But I do believe that with going digital, I have lost part of my passion for this medium, and lately I was approaching photography very stiff and methodically. Going back to shooting analog black-and-white is my form of therapy to regain what I’ve lost somewhere along the way – and ideally what I find will carry over and enrich my “professional” photography.
These are just some random images from a day out at Devil’s Backbone with Sibylle and Marine last week and some shots of a hilarious night of Ping Pong and Karaoke last Thursday. It was the first roll of film that I shot in almost four years, and I loved it…
February 6, 2010