Your Shot: Editor's Insight
On Your Shot we work with a variety of guest editors from the photographic industry. During the assignment submission process a few images always stand out as great examples to our editors. For the series Your Shot: Editor's Insight, our guest curators react to some of their favorite submissions from the assignment so far and give a behind the scenes to the thought process on why these images from our community stand out.
The ambiguity of this assignment makes it challenging—but it also opens up endless possibilities in how you choose to interpret it, and how you choose to communicate that interpretation visually. I wanted to share three images that caught my eye that are each very different in their approach to the assignment.
See Your Shot photograph by Clara K. above.
I was touched by the intimacy and grace captured in this image. There’s a sense of harmony established in the mirroring of the faces, and the cascade of red hair further adds cohesion as well as a nice pop of color (which is especially effective against the green background). Very poetic. This photo is an excellent example of incorporating one’s family as part of an identity.
I often look at an image first and try to really see it on its own without the caption. I turn to captions for additional context, not to sell me on the photo. This photographer’s caption reads, “I created this image during a time where I was facing a deep depression. It represents my inner self and how all my feelings and thoughts just seem to repeat themselves over and over again in perfect never-ending pattern. The perfect glitch.”
If you’re able to evoke any kind of emotion in your image— let alone those that come with an illness such as depression (and as someone with depression, this resonates)—then that in itself is a success.
See Your Shot photograph by Holly Thompson above.
Here is another image that makes great work of light and shadow. Effective use of so much darkness and negative space adds tension to the photo. The soft light hitting half of the face adds to the feeling of vulnerability, and that catch light in the eye is like a cherry on top.
Finally, one more note as you continue working on this assignment: try to resist the urge to over-process an image. There are some photos that are so edited that it’s hard to see past the added effects. Instead, challenge yourself to practice some of the compositional elements mentioned above.
— Your Shot Guest Editor, Kholood Eid
