I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ by Chris Slabber is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award የብር ሽልማት in የፎቶግራፊ እና የፎቶ ማስተካከያ ዲዛይን Competition Category.

ብርፎቶግራፊ· 2021

I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ

by Chris Slabber

Client: Chris Slabber

A' Design Award የብር ሽልማት Winner in ፎቶግራፊ Category

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Colors

The Design

About I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ

I am Nesia የ2020 ዓ.ም. የመዘጋት ጊዜ በሰው መንፈስ ላይ ስላሳደረው ተጽዕኖ የሚያሳይ የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ ነው። እያንዳንዱ ምስል የሌንሱን ትኩረት ወደ ተሳሳተ አቅጣጫ በማዞር የተሠራ ነው፣ ስለዚህም መልክዓ ምድሮች የውሃ ቀለም ሥዕሎችን የሚመስሉ ለስላሳ የቀለም ሜዳዎች ሆኑ። ከዚያም እያንዳንዱ ትዕይንት ላይ ለፍርሃትና ለጭንቀት ምሳሌ የሚሆን ጨለማ ምስል ተጨመረ፣ የቅንጣት ሸካራነትም ቅንብሮቹን ያሟላል። ስብስቡ 1200 በ2000 ሚሊሜትር በሆኑ ትልቅ ቅርጸት የብርሃን ሳጥኖች የተዘጋጀ ነው። ዓላማውም የእርግጠኝነት ማጣት ጊዜን መመዝገብና ሰዎች ሊላመዱና ሊያሸንፉ እንደሚችሉ ማሳየት ነው።

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award የብር ሽልማት

I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ የA' Design Award የብር ሽልማት አሸናፊ ነው፤ ይህም ለምርጥ ደረጃ፣ ውብ እና አስደናቂ ዲዛይኖች የሚሰጥ ያልተለመደ ከፍተኛ ክብር ያለው እውቅና ነው። የብር አሸናፊዎች የዲዛይነሮቻቸውን የላቀ ልምድ፣ ተሰጥኦ እና ጥልቅ ማስተዋል የሚያሳዩ እጅግ ብሩህ እና እጅግ ፈጠራ የተሞላባቸው ሥራዎች ናቸው። I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ እጅግ ሙያዊና ጥልቅ ፈጠራ የተሞላበት አስደናቂ ማሳያ ሥራ እንደሚሆን ይጠበቃል። ይህ የA' Design Award የብር ሽልማትን ያሸነፈ ዲዛይን የኪነ ጥበብ፣ የሳይንስ፣ የዲዛይን እና የቴክኖሎጂ ድንበሮችን የሚጠቅምና የሚያስፋፋ ትኩረት የሚስብ፣ የሚደነቅ ፈጠራ ነው። I am Nesia የፎቶግራፍ ስብስብ ፍላጎትን የሚቀሰቅስ፣ በጎ ስሜት የሚያመጣ እና መደነቅንና መገረምን የሚያቀጣጥል በብዙዎች የሚቀኑበት ፈጠራ ነው።

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This series of images is an interpretation of the effects that the recent lockdown had on the human spirit. It documents how loneliness effected human behaviour. The big uncertainty produced by the pandemic has seen a spike in anxiety and depression on a global scale. There was a blanket of fear draped across society. This is represented by the out of focus images and emphasised by the dark figure looming in the background.
Dimensions & Packaging: The end product will be produced as large format light boxes. Width 1200mm x Height 2000mm. The light box will enhance the emotional value of the pieces.
Tags: colour scapes, landscape photography, lockdown, pandemic, out of focus, fear, challenge,
Production Technology: The idea was to create water colour scapes using photography. This was achieved by turning the focus completely in the wrong direction in order to manipulate pixels. While looking through the viewfinder, the idea was to find a good composition of colours instead of background, foreground and background elements. Afterwards the dark figure was inserted into the selected colour scapes in photoshop. Each piece was then finished with a grain texture to boost the emotional value of the pieces.
Design Challenge: The biggest challenge was to make a rather ominous theme come across as aesthetically pleasing. This was resolved by using well balanced colour palettes along with the right composition for each image. In most of the images there is a lot of sky. This gives the idea of space or the unknown. The dark figure is a metaphor for the fear and anxiety aspect of the lockdown, but this poses the question to the viewer. Will you run in fear or will you walk towards the figure and engage with your fear? To finish off the work, the light box will create movement and dynamics in the compositions.
Research: To create these colour scapes I had to shift my focus from looking at landscapes in terms of foreground, middle ground and background. Instead the I had to find colour scapes. This meant that the compositions were dictated by the right balance of colours within the viewfinder. The end result should be a completely abstract interpretation of the actual landscapes. Each image should have its own emotional value, achieved by the colour palettes. This started to incorporate colour theory on a psychological level. Once produced as a light box, the work will reach a higher level of engagement on an emotional and visual level.
Inspiration: The moment of inspiration came when trying to photograph a moth against a dirty window. The actual photo of the moth didn't look great, but the out of focus background really evoked emotion. Using this as inspiration, I photographed various landscapes by opening up the aperture and cranking the focus all the way in the wrong direction. The end result was a photograph that looked like a blurry water colour painting. Instead of landscape photography, the exercise became colours cape photography.
Project Duration: The was created in June 2020 during hard lockdown. I had to sneak out during curfew to take the photos.
Operation Flow: The series was created as a reminder of the 2020 lockdown during the Covid 19 pandemic. The images is firstly meant to remind us of how uncertain our future became in a matter of months. It is a reminder of the fear felt on a global scale. Most important, it is there to remind us that we can prevail and adapt in order to survive and ultimately overcome the damage done by the pandemic. So even though the images might come across as dark, they are in fact a celebration of the human spirit.
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Chris Slabber, Manipulation Chris Slabber, 2020
Image #2: Photographer Chris Slabber, Manipulation Chris Slabber, 2020
Image #3: Photographer Chris Slabber, Manipulation Chris Slabber, 2020
Image #4: Photographer Chris Slabber, Manipulation Chris Slabber, 2020
Image #5: Photographer Chris Slabber, Manipulation Chris Slabber, 2020