THE AESTHETIC
Munkowitz
has always been drawn to textured silhouettes, color gradients, and
sculpting light in volumetric ways –– so as his desire to get into
Studio Photography developed, it was only natural he would explore those
same principles in the medium. Throughout the photo series, each
chapter of the narrative began to take on its own aesthetic, palette,
and presence – as though dictating the mood required for the unique role
it had to play in our story arc. Drawing inspiration from the portfolio
of ultra-talented collaborator James Zwadlo,
who is incredibly skilled at manipulating studio strobes and
speedlights, Munkowitz and his team sought to create gradients of light
that would contrast with the darkness of the King’s coat and the creamy
flesh tones of his Queen. Rivers of smoke and haze were used to build
volume and pair with the musky texture of fur and the drama of
silhouettes to break up ambient planes. An impressionistic lens lets us
into the inner life of this creature, layering meaning and mystery atop
the physical form through rich atmospheric symbolism. We see the beast’s
moment of discovery –– we meet the girl beneath the fog, latent and
waiting – we move through his tender concern – the growing connection –
the union – and finally the rebirth of both characters through one
another. The way the fog obscures parts of an image while revealing
other parts, the wash of light over faces or shadows left unseen, the
shapes of bodies, skin, and fur against misty darkness...all elevate the
narrative out of time and space itself. Studio strobes yielded clean,
dynamic images that seem to freeze motion within the strobes, capturing
emotion in the still frames and enabling a simple sequence of stills to
tell a clear story.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 1 - THE KING
Chapter
One introduces us to a captivating beast, awakening from a deep slumber
in a sea of fog. Like a creature that might emerge from the shrouded
danger of an ancient wood, he is at once vividly realistic yet cloaked
in a touch of the mythical. His thick, expressive muzzle seems to
tremble in the enchanted red-pink moonlight. His fur shines bright,
silky bristles evoking musk. This, is The Munky King. His form holds the
promise of a power and might that we long to see him display. Yet his
eyes are downcast, lifeless. His powerful body is deflated, blank,
sedated – as though he is under a spell of dormancy that he can’t break.
We see him rumble through volumes of smoke, the fog so thick it seems bewitched. His majestic form evokes awe... but he seems deactivated, dormant, even vulnerable; a shadow of himself. What he is searching for in the fog he doesn’t know. But search he does, nonetheless – for life, for sustenance, for some treasure in the abyss that might ignite his soul.
We see him rumble through volumes of smoke, the fog so thick it seems bewitched. His majestic form evokes awe... but he seems deactivated, dormant, even vulnerable; a shadow of himself. What he is searching for in the fog he doesn’t know. But search he does, nonetheless – for life, for sustenance, for some treasure in the abyss that might ignite his soul.
CHAPTER 2 - THE TREASURE
Through
the fog – a vitreous female face emerges. Glass-like eyes staring into
the night, delicate features glistening. A shining treasure, perfect –
yet comatose – Briar Rose stuck in her eternal slumber. She lays,
half-buried in the fog. Motionless. Drowning or perhaps drowned. No
light sparks in her dull eyes, no life seems to stir within. Yet her
lips are parted. Her cheeks flush. She is halfway between the world of
the living and the world of the dead, much like our King. He approaches
the apparition, his weary eyes examining the vision enrobed in white
lace – is she real, or merely a mirage? He approaches, smells her scent,
feels the heat emanating from her body; alive she most certainly is.
His hand brushes her cheek, cups her head, with a gentleness that seems
impossible. But she is impervious to his touch. Still: she is alive. He
lifts her up out of the fog.
CHAPTER 3 - THE NOURISHING
She
emerges from the mist transformed, now attired in elegant formal
evening wear that glitters with sparkling black crystals. Her energy,
too, is changed – and changes him in turn. From the moment he stands
upright with this being in his arms, the Munky King becomes charged with
energy – an electric light suddenly burning brightly in his eyes. She
stirs, as she too receives the visceral current of their embrace – she
twitches; blinks; wakes. She sees him...her strength returning, growing,
boiling. She reaches an outstretched hand to stroke his face, his fur, a
pure line of energy linking them as they become emboldened by each
other’s power. No longer is she a delicate jewel, breakable and frail.
Looking into his face, we see this as a meeting of equals – charging and
recharging the intimate space between them.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق