Umbrella Series
Henry G.
-
My whole life I’ve been trying to find a passion. I’ve always put myself into a proverbial box by doing things I thought would make the people around me happy. Photography to me was always an afterthought. Something I did mindlessly, without thinking just by clicking a button on a phone screen. Photography was not art, it was an action. It took a teacher of mine to show me what more it could be, to show me that photography takes control, creativity, and an ever thinking mind. He showed me the way to my true passion, the one that makes me happy, not anyone else. The umbrella series originates from a singular photo I took when I was just beginning photography, less than a year ago. The series focused on vintage photos, and I felt umbrellas added a kind of mysterious vintage look. Through this project I learned that umbrellas are much more than what I thought before. Umbrellas are masks, they hide us. You will see that many of the photos in this collection involve people facing away from the camera, and holding the umbrella either above or behind them. I believe this pose illustrates both umbrellas ability to mask our identities and hide us from things we are not yet ready to see.
-
To me, creativity means pushing yourself beyond what you've previously been comfortable with, and trying new things. For me, this means trying new genres and styles of photography that I haven't done before, so I can diversify my artwork.
