Personal favourite images from 2016: or, a year in curation, part II

Arisen from nought
Despite the implied humble origins of the structure, it manages to be dominant, powerful and solid. The architecture is stark, yet functional, and in a way – beautiful for it. It also asserts the feeling of man’s imposition of dominance and order over nature.

Continued from part I: a curation and analysis of my favourite work from 2016.

Caught red handed
This image is the first of the more personal work; it was probably the first time I managed to successfully capture my daughter’s personality: mischievous, curious, still just a little shy.

Over Australia I
For some odd reason, I’ve always thought of this image as a particularly intriguing and detailed carpet; the muted complimentary tones are soothing, and the bonus is that land somehow transitions to sea to the impression of sky – but there’s no sky anywhere.

Over Australia II
The consummate reason to check your B roll: I remember the images shot on either side of this one, but not this one specifically. The shooting environment was fast paced and somewhat pressured (airplane time is expensive).

Decay
Porto in a nutshell for me: at a macro level, attractively patinated, and with some great details and fantastic light; yet somehow on closer inspection, just a little sad.

People at the Atlantic coast
Popular culture has always made a huge difference between the warm, inviting beaches and blue seas of the Pacific and the grey-green, cold, rough Atlantic; this being the first time I’ve shot on the Atlantic coast, I can see why. There’s some magnetism that draws people to watch, but not go too close; a bare hint of power and drama, but danger lurks.

Lisbon melancholy
There are so many things about this scene that appeal to me: light, texture, spatial arrangement, the slightly undefined looming foreground threat, people who do not communicate or face each other, some degree of anonymity – and the bird; the personal albatross that hangs around all of our necks. It’s at odds with the cheery afternoon, and is probably an accurate representation of the mix of feelings that only increases in complexity and deepens with age.

Depression in a nutshell
Life recedes, people around us are slightly awkward and don’t quite know how to handle it, despite being slightly out of sorts or perhaps facing the same thing on their own. There are degrees, and spirals – and the albatross again, which in this case – has been devolved by the depression into something even less.

Strength and unity
I thought the arrangement and color in themselves were visually strong enough, but what I find remarkable is both the age of the participants and the personal touches of style: common values aren’t at odds with individuality; something my own country really needs to learn…

The source of all things
If I’d shot this a year or two earlier, it’d have probably been the title image for the ‘Idea of Man’; something radiates from an intensely purposeful and focused individual, who on top of that is heading into the light: it’s a positive, uplifting image that oddly also has a sense of those wartime propaganda/motivation images…

Retirement
The two protagonists face off: but it seems as though it’s the inanimate, un-retireable one that doesn’t want to work. Escaping from both is a bonus (younger) individual shirking their duty in the middle of the frame.

Selection (Thaipusam 2016)
Focus, atmosphere, color, mood, a little sheepish social media – faith and life in 2016.

Lange 1815 Chronograph, top plate
As many of us have discovered, there’s a whole universe inside a watch. And perhaps non better representing the artistic renaissance of modern post-quartz watchmaking as the Lange chronograph movements; they look archaic, but were specifically designed that way and are really the non plus ultra of the type: a lot of features are there because they can, not because they need to. And if you’re going to basically make art: why not go all the way? Shown here is the full, uncropped frame, shot with bellows and stacking. One blue screw is ~0.5mm in diameter.

Untitled
I couldn’t think of a title for this one. There are simply too many things happening: decay, hipsterification, something being passed by – or being the observer; simple aesthetic abstraction made possible by technology (stabilisers, ND filters). I keep coming back to photography as being a metaphor of observations to life; this image is no exception.

Storm cloud over Indonesia
A memorable experience both through viewing a storm from 36,000ft, but also because it was shot out of the cockpit. Pilots really do have the best office in the world.

Still life with fruit
Something highly classical I’d always wanted to try; also the precursor to some evolutionary experiments I’ve (alas) yet to find the time to complete. I look at this one as hope through looking backwards…

Conformity
100% unplanned; uniting structure, geometry, anonymity, abstraction, different attitudes conveyed through body language – and even a bonus polar bear. 🙂

This caps off my 2016 – happy new year everybody!

__________________

Ultraprints from this series are available on request here

__________________

Visit the Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including workshop and Photoshop Workflow videos and the customized Email School of Photography. You can also support the site by purchasing from B&H and Amazon – thanks!

We are also on Facebook and there is a curated reader Flickr pool.

Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved