Smoke Collection

While working in Winding Creek, I continued looking for answers to the question how motion can be expressed. Smoke was one of the answers that I found really appealing. So I dove into it and over the next three years explored many avenues to help develop this idea. The summer of 2011, I studied sunsets while in Santa Fe learning how clouds held color. I created many different stories, ideas and ways of expressing them with smoke as the constant element. I built the set and spent months creating test images. Ways of wrangling smoke had to be explored along with learning its textures and how to light it. Inspiration came from more that hundreds places like looking out the window of a plane, a quote about the pantheon, Georgia O'Keefe, dance performances, conversations about religion, Greek mythology, MOMA, The Met, architecture and of course observing nature.

When I began looking for dancers I met three artists who among other things were aerialists. This allowed me to borrow from one of my many other project ideas I had been developing. New concepts quickly started to take shape from the moment we began working on set. One of the critical things that works for me is to do an extraordinary amount of preparation before going on set. Then be aware of what is happening on set and be willing to let go of your plans so you can improvise with the artists you have been fortunate enough to find. Allow the ideas and stories you started with take new forms as the artists breathe life into the characters you imagined.

Looking back on my smoke journal I find there are still more sets to build and many more ideas to explore with smoke. If things go well, this next year will see more projects with smoke.

Aside from the slight lighting or darkening of an area there is no post production, meaning Photoshop, on these images. What you are seeing is what was created in real life on set. This is also true for the Winding Creek and Smoke collections.

Sights and sounds from the original Smoke set.