This past Saturday the Central Park Conservancy hosted the 4th annual Ice Sculpting Festival. As I had never seen this done in person, I wanted to observe for myself ice-carving artists wielding electric chain-saws. The craftsman were to transform a block of hard water into a replica of the one of the parks most famous statues, Romeo and Juliet. And it was going to snow…
So I went there to document the event. That is one of the genres of photography that I am drawn to, my personal form of photojournalism. While I did do my coverage of the festival in photo’s, I also captured other images. It was snowing after all, and I couldn’t think of a better place to be than Central Park.
When I got home and downloaded my photos I thought, “Oh, great, now what… I have these other pictures that just don’t fit with the theme”… that’s when it hit me, a real aha moment. My different photographic approaches seem to emerge depending on how I see the subject and what I am feeling, why must I only have one? While trying to develop my own recognizable style, I can’t limit it to only one look or technique. That is like telling an artist to use oil paints and not watercolors or only draw with a pencil. Each one has its place and I realized that I truly take 3 distinct photographic paths:
-photojournalism / street photography
-graphic / artistic
-abstract
This is my venture in photojournalism at the Central Park Ice Festival, live ice craving by Okamoto Studio. What I enjoy most about this genre is wanting to tell a story through my images and make the viewer feel like they were at the event, or at the very least see it through my eyes.
ICE FESTIVAL SNOWFLAKE
CHISELING THE 3,000 POUND BLOCK
FOLLOWING THE DESIGN GRID
BREAKING THE ICE
ICE SPRAY
FINISHING TOUCHES
EVERYONE HAS A CAMERA
CROWDS GATHERED FOR THE FESTIVITIES
YOU WILL BE MY VALENTINE
Sometimes you just run into something ironic, I really got a chuckle out of this one. With everyone having a cellphone with a camera, unending selfie’s and the real life backdrop of a beautiful Central Park landscape in the snow, why would you need to take a photo in front of a photographed scene of Central Park in the snow? Too, too paradoxical… Guess it was just photo booth fun.
JUST KEEP MOVING TO THE RIGHT TO GET THE SHOT
SAY CHEESY
At 5PM the plaza in front of the Naumburg Bandshell turned into a silent disco. Participants all wore earphones and the colored lights indicated what music channel they were listening to: 80’s, top 40 or their favorite artist.
THE COLOR OF MUSIC
So I hope you enjoy this adventure of discovery with me. I plan to post the other images in a separate blog, it is after all another exhibit, as I find my way through photographic creative expression. Maybe one of my techniques will emerge as the one I am most drawn to, but for now I’m still exploring and enjoying the process.
SEEING THROUGH THE SNOWFLAKE
The End,
Susan Marie