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Inspiration for imagery can come from many sources. Reading is a big source of inspiration for me. I have a vivid minds eye and see scenes playing out while reading. I'm not alone in this certainly. I often think about how I could recreate those mental scenes in a photographic image, and that's what this entry is all about.

The Why

I read #TheShining for the first time back in 2010. The movie had always been one of my favorites, but anyone who has read the novel knows it is radically different from the film. Without spoiling for those who haven't read #StephenKing 's novel, there is a moment in the movie, the famous Here's Johhny scene, that I felt was a pivotal moment; the moment when Jack Torrance loses the last vestige of his humanity to the entity possessing him.

The moment of inspiration

In the novel the moment of absolute possession occurs near the very end of the tale. In this passage, Jack Torrance engages in a brutal act of self mutilation; a final desperate act, allowing his son Danny to escape. Reading the book gave me a much clearer picture of not only the true nature of the characters, but also the true struggle Jack Torrance faces. Drinking used to fuel his writing, and sobriety has caused a serious writers block! Add to that the stress of taking on the stewardship of The Overlook, chock full of evil paranormal entities and you have a recipe for disaster! Just add alcohol. And this is precisely what good old Lloyd provides. Below is an excerpt from the novel highlighting what I regard as the parallel moment to the Here's Johnny scene in the movie. It was also my initial inspiration; how could I represent this moment in a photographic image?

from page 483 of The Shining

instead of aiming at Danny, it reversed the handle, aiming the hard side of the roque mallet at its own face. […] Then the mallet began to rise and descend, destroying the last of Jack Torrance's image. […] What remained of the face became a strange and shifting composite.

The How

This image was created from a still of Nicholson's face leering through the busted bathroom door and displayed on my desktop monitor. A #Canon Rebel was the camera, and I exposed for 30 seconds. During the exposure I changed position, moving both side to side and leaning in an out. A manual zoom if you will. At certain points, I would place my hand over the lens to create negative space in the composition. The exposure for a normal still was three seconds. Expose three seconds, cover lens, move, burn in another three second exposure, leave hand off and lean forward/slightly to the side, burn in three more seconds. And so on. It was dark outside of course. Do you think I was successful in my goal of capturing the moment?

A window to hidden realities
One of the most fascinating aspects of the camera is its ability to see in ways we do not, or cannot! As artists we can, and should, use this peculiarity to our advantage. Experimentation, long exposures, panning, breaking rules......doing things with your camera you wouldn't normally do. This can lead to some happy accidents. And, if you pay attention to what you are doing and can repeat it, you might develop some interesting new approaches to image making. If you are using a DSLR, card space is cheap. Do some experimentation and try new things with your camera, you never know what strange worlds you might discover! Check out my pop up art shop from my last entry for your free art! A pop up on this post will be coming soon.

I am a photographic educator and my goal is to bring you insight to my process in hopes of helping you along in your photographic journey.