The Boatmakers Daughter

My photo references August Sanders The Architects Wife, 1926. In my photo The Boatmakers Daughter I wanted to play with the softness and the inferred silence in the image.

Sander’s photo has texture in the walls and since my walls are flat I chose to be seated on my bed to show the movement in the duvet cover. After my first round of photos I found that the light from the window was too harsh and I had to adapt and change my set up slightly. When photgraphing the new lighting a lot of the texture in the blanket was softened, along with the rest of the image. I still felt as though I needed that texture, so I played with the drapery in my sweater to create a depth to the piece rather than leave it feeling flat. The second round of photos also differed in my pose slightly. Originally I wanted to be similar to the “wifes” pose, in that my face was more visible to the lens, however I found myself looking too washed out since the window is not far from my face and the grey sky, though murky, was rather bright in photos. I feel as though I achieved a balance in tonal range nontheless, since the bare skin of my back compensates for my hidden face.

My “sketch” is a compilation of thumbnails as well as some photos from the first set that i worked with compositionally prior to my second shoot. This is generally how my process works, sometimes more or less well thought out sketches than just simple thumbnails though. However, for this project my idea was relatively clear and simple and since I was working off inspiration from an already existing photo I felt as though my sketches didn’t need to be unnecessarily embellished.

I am content with my final photo, I feel it radiates the thoughtful silence I was aiming for, while still being clearly inspired from Sanders original 1926 photograph. I chose to stick with continuity in the title as well, and since i am no wife, I chose to claim the title of daughter. If i were to further edit however, I would definietly toy with the light bouncing off the wall since in the top left hand corner, as this is definitely not to my liking, and I feel as though it pulls away from the intended space I was creating for the world the photo is in.