Taylor's Proposal: Waking.

If you've ever viewed viewed Gregory Crewdson's images, you'd be quick to note the dreamlike quality of his images. Ghostly, lonely moments of transition are no strangers to his lens. I've always been fascinated with the idea of this transitional period in which all humans are neither sleeping, nor awake, and I've been contemplating how to best capture it visually. I've decided to photograph images of models (either all self portraits or just one), completing early morning tasks in states of undress in unfamiliar locations for such tasks. The first image, for example, is of myself in my pajama bottoms, lethargically bringing down my garbage to the curb. However, in my half awake state, I fail to realize that I'm actually descending the back stairs of an abandoned theater. Do I live in this theater, and I'm merely completing an everyday task before sanitation arrives, or am I a misplaced, unknowing passenger of some force, teleported from the world I know and still yet to realize it. I leave this answer to the viewer. I plan on shooting everything in black and white film for total processing control, and to photograph both indoor and outdoor images in order to better portray my point. I'm still debating whether I want the models to be either large or small scale, but I do plan to have the shallow depth of field fall directly onto part or all or of the figure. This is actually what keeps me from answering my question of scale, as the smaller and further away my figure is, the more difficult it is to properly manipulate the bellows without creating excess vignetting.

I plan on shooting and processing at least two images a week, with on image shot either Thursday (my first night off of work all week) or friday (have the majority of the day to shoot), while the other will fall on either Saturday or Sunday. In the event of poor weather or inability to secure location on Thursday, I plan to either shoot a backup idea or the original idea over the weekend. What's most important is that I have both images shot and processed by the following Tuesday to ensure any questions or concerns can be properly addressed during or after class time.

Props are fairly easy to come by for this assignment, as all they require are the garments the models sleep in, and some artifact of daily morning life with which to execute during the image. The nature of the subject's state of post-bedtime dismisses the need for any dramatic makeup or hair, embracing the much more convenient method of either putting the hair up, wrapping it, or leveling it completely disheveled altogether. The props I can garner from my own home, if necessary, but I'd much rather use the exact products or items that the individual models actually make use of in the morning. I'm hoping this decision will aid in convincing the viewer that this moment in time is very real and very intimate, as are most everyone's early morning routine.

I plan on shooting throughout Sarasota on either overcast days or in the early morning. Direct sunlight creates to much harsh contrast with the shadows, but the quality of early morning and diffused sunlight can act quite similar depending on the direction one's facing. I feel both elevate the mood with soft, dissolving shadows and the organic, exposed figures of the models. I'm hoping to use the sky as one giant soft box. This brings up the issue of how to handle the indoor locations, which I'm still trying to figure out.