Adolescence

Todays theme is Adolescence.   My son was hanging about watching me set up my studio equipment, and asked if he could have his photo taken.  He is a few weeks shy of being a teenager, and has the spots to prove it, so I thought he would fit my theme perfectly. 

Adolescence
Originally uploaded by Rob Johnstone

Those of you who regularly follow my blog (russian search engines, and insurance claim website mainly) may have noticed a more staged approach to my photography of late.  In the post Christmas/New year slump I decided I needed to kickstart my photography aspirations.  My vehicle for this revival is the dreaded 365 day project.  A 365 day project is one where you take one photograph each day and exhibit it for all to see.  Some people love these projects, and see it as a framework to help them improve their photography whilst having an inbuilt timeline to benchmark their progress by.  Others hate them claiming they stifle creativity, and all you end up with is piles of images of fey looking teenage girls in floaty dresses staring wistfully at imaginary vampire lovers.  I'm going to sit on the fence on whether they are a good or bad thing for the art world, but for me it is a useful tool for gripping hold of my sanity.  Rather than doing self portraits, which is a popular theme (and to be honest I don't look that good in a floaty frock), I downloaded a list of 365 themes.  The results of my efforts are posted on flickr.  I have owned a mish mash of studio strobes for a few years but have never really put them to much use.  This project had given me the impetus to get them out, and put them to work.  I also recently treated myself to a backdrop stand and a couple of backdrop curtains.  I have been fortunate to have room to use this equipment for a while as we are without furniture for the moment.  This is why yesterday I decided Charles Dickens, our resident skeleton, would get a birthday surprise for his 200th anniversary.  I felt he was a big fan on 1960's call girls and so we decided to do a shoot reminiscant of the famous Christine Keeler photo, by Lewis Morley.  It's not going to bring down any govenments but it was fun.  I had a photoshoot planned with a friend who wanted to get some shots of his tattoos,  and to see if we could do some album cover style images.  He is a singer in a local band, and would dearly love to live the rockstar lifestyle.  I was completely happy to oblige, as my usual supply of models (my family) as a bit tired of me begging them to pose!!  A great time was had by all, and hopefully some good shots taken.  Watch this space!

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