I am Nesia Fotografiserie by Chris Slabber

I am Nesia Fotografiserie by Chris Slabber is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award i Silver in Fotografi- och Fotomanipulationsdesign Competition Category.

SilverFotografi· 2021

I am Nesia Fotografiserie

by Chris Slabber

Client: Chris Slabber

A' Design Award i Silver Winner in Fotografi Category

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Colors

The Design

About I am Nesia Fotografiserie

I am Nesia är en fotografiserie om nedstängningens effekter på den mänskliga anden under 2020. Varje bild skapades genom att vrida linsens fokus i fel riktning, så att landskapen förvandlades till mjuka färgfält som påminner om akvarellmålningar. En mörk gestalt lades sedan till i varje scen som en metafor för rädsla och ångest, och en kornig textur fullbordar kompositionerna. Serien produceras som storformatiga ljuslådor på 1200 gånger 2000 millimeter. Avsikten är att dokumentera en period av osäkerhet och att visa att människor kan anpassa sig och segra.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Silver

I am Nesia Fotografiserie är vinnare av A' Design Award i Silver, ett utomordentligt prestigefyllt erkännande som tilldelas förstklassiga, hänförande och imponerande designverk i toppskiktet. Silvervinnare är oerhört briljanta och utomordentligt kreativa verk som illustrerar sina formgivares enastående expertis, talang och skarpsinne. I am Nesia Fotografiserie förväntas vara ett underbart paradexempel som är anmärkningsvärt professionellt och djupt innovativt. Detta vinnande verk i A' Design Award i Silver är en mycket uppmärksammad, beundrad uppfinning som gagnar och flyttar fram gränserna för konst, vetenskap, design och teknik. I am Nesia Fotografiserie är en skapelse som avundas starkt, som väcker längtan, förmedlar positiva känslor och väcker förundran och häpnad.

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