Cian Fields Final Project Proposal

1. Concept/Subject 

I will photograph a series of self-portraits and/or portraits that accompany a series of photographs of cars. My intention will be to match groups of the portraits with groups of photographs of cars — in terms of style, feel and the emotion exuded. My intention is two-fold: to explore the frenetic stillness of the moment that I and others are feeling, and to hone my skill around bringing forth such a feeling from photographs of inanimate objects (i.e., cars, given my interest). 

I feel more comfortable with capturing moments that feel light or cheery (e.g., car photographs emulating a marketing ad, photographs of friends and their dog) and so with this series would hope to capture the more somber emotions of the moment. And through the photographs of cars I hope to similarly capture some of this sense, where possible playing with the anthropomorphic aspects of a car (e.g., face-like front end) or the way a certain car may be culturally synonymous with a certain theme (e.g., an SUV and toughness, a muscle car and masculinity). I will also employ the larger scene and background to this end. Given logistical limitations, I may instead also just use photographic aspects to apply these feelings. 

2. Technical approach (input) 

I will shoot this project with my Nikon D3500 and 55mm lens. I will use a tripod, likely for some of the car photographs and self-portraits. One technical aspect I hope to focus on is slow shutter speed and movement — I find the effects to be both aesthetically pleasing and thematically interesting, a way to convey or distort motion. This moment during the pandemic also feels so frenetically still to me, and I hope to be able to capture some of that. 

3. Technical approach (output) 

I will need to see the images before deciding, but I imagine I may process the images in black and white. I also imagine the series as prints, perhaps on a large scale.

RESPONSE FROM REBECCA:

Cian,

Thank you for your detailed proposal. It’s exciting to read about your plans to expand the scope of the tone and mood that you’re creating in your work.

I’m trying to get my head around the matching of images. You so clearly articulate what you envision for both the portraits and the car images (and both are compelling), but you trail off a bit when it comes to describing how you imagine the images relating to each other. I’ll be anxious to see an example of an image pairing that accomplishes your goal, to better understand the ways in which those images might interact and nourish each other. In the meantime, consider the possibility that you may not need the pairings at all. You may end up finding that the pairs weaken rather than enhance each other, while creating a set of restrictions on your process that hinder your creative elbow room.

In terms of your portrait subjects, what is the unifying factor? People in your bubble? People your own age? Your friends and family? You mention the possibility of self-portraits. I wonder if focusing on the self-portrait only might streamline the project and allow you more latitude. The different people, different cars, and the pairings create a complex set of variables for such a short-term project.

Is it possible that the images of people and cars might live together but separately in the same project? Rather than acting as partners to your portraits, the car may simply be a recurring motif throughout the work. Since you’re interested in the “frenetic stillness” of this pandemic moment, perhaps the car acts as a foil, in that it represents freedom and movement. Of course, a car is also a bubble, and can be a place for isolation and self-containment. While I’ve never been a car lover, I was personally incredibly grateful for mine right after the Covid shutdown in March, because it became my only way to escape (or extend) my quarantine and be reminded that there was still a world outside of my home. As someone who does love vehicles, I think you might be able to create an extended self-portrait through single images that work together as a larger group.

Consider the longstanding, prominent role that cars have played in (especially American) photography, from vernacular portraits to major, canonical photographic works, particularly of the 20th century (though a vehicle even played a prominent role as a photographic tool during the Crimean war). It shows up as a recurring motif all over Robert Frank‘s seminal book project from the 1950’s, The Americans. Lee Friedlander, an iconic American photographer, spent the first decade of the millennium on his project America by Car, which you should absolutely check out; you can read a bit about it here. Take a look at Matthew Monteith’s series Cars, and especially consider the relationships there between the landscape and the vehicle itself that he creates by shooting from the inside out (like Friedlander). That series in particular makes me think that you could take us on a personal journey by doing a deeply focused project on yourself and your own vehicle only, shooting hundreds of images in, from, of, and around your car, including yourself (and fragments of yourself) in some of those images, finely crafting each one. This would free you from the burden of having to find and schedule lots of different people and vehicles, and allow you to instead do an intense photographic study of one person and one thing. If other people do show up in your work, separating yourself and your camera from them by shooting from inside the car may actually speak quite poignantly about this moment of bubbles and isolation. Examples of the car in contemporary work include Troy Paiva’s nightscapes that use lightpainting, as well as Jack de Caluwé’s witty, deadpan series Cars That Float.

Happy to discuss further if you’d like. Looking forward to seeing the results of your first shoots.

-R