The Fusion Series is a pairing of my fondness for playing with multiple exposures with the aspects of connectivity in nature. With spring wildflower season well underway, it is important to remember a wildflower doesn’t exist in isolation. It is a product of the soil around it, how much light is coming through the tree canopy above, the climate of the region, habitat, etc.
“To the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. By and by, it finds how to join two things, and see in them one nature; then three, then three thousand; and so, tyrannized over by its own unifying instinct, it goes on tying things together, diminishing anomalies, discovering roots running under ground, whereby contrary and remote things cohere, and flower out from one stem.“
Ralph Waldo Emerson in The American Scholar
The basic compositional premise in photography is to try to isolate your subject as much as possible. This is understandable as too much distraction leads to visual stress and the photo loses impact. The downside of doing this is you tend to lose some of the connections to the surrounding habitat or some other contributing part of your subject’s story. So a common solution is to use a series of photographs to tell that story – like you’d see in a National Geographic feature.
Multiple exposures, or simply a double exposure can have the same problems, perhaps more so, as you are now layering multiple subjects on top of each other. I’ve had more failures than successes as the technique can be unpredictable. Oddly, this is actually part of the appeal (except with film it was costly!). The joy of surprise and discovery is always something I’ve craved. But if you end up with a cluttered mess, it’s a cluttered mess no matter how you approached creating the photo.
The Fusing: Double Exposure
This spring I started playing with a “What If?”, thinking about the connectivity of everything, and if I could use a double exposure to incorporate this into a photo. Two subjects, inseparably linked in nature in some way. But, I must still be conscious of the fact that it has to work visually. Color is powerful but can be a distraction. Black and white offers a lot of latitudes, but it gets more difficult with multiple exposures.
So my idea was to try black and white for one exposure, and color for the other, in camera. Notably, something that was impossible in the film days.
My first few attempts yielded some interesting results, enough to say “This could work!” Certainly, this can also be done using layers in Photoshop, perhaps offering more flexibility overall. People have done this with textures, silhouettes, and all sorts of things. But blending things later in Photoshop defeats the principle message of the series, the aspect that these connections in nature are inseparable.
I wanted to reflect the same in the resulting image. There is a foreground subject and a background subject, and they cannot be separated digitally. Even “smart” AI select-subject or select background tools have a hard time. They are … fused.
Exploring Internal and External Connections through Nature Art
In addition to connections to the surrounding habitat, I’ve often thought about the various features of a very large subject, like a tree. Short of doing a very long vertical panoramic (as has been done in National Geographic!), it is a bit difficult to portray different features of a tree up close in a single image. Yet, both the light-collecting tips of the canopy and the protective aspects of bark on the forest floor tell a story of this single living thing. Both are elements of its character.
Connections are vast
Even these attempts to look at two connected subjects cannot possibly portray everything there is to show. Some type of visual harmony is still important. You don’t really get a feel for how big these trees are, or what much of the surrounding habitat looks like. But their bark gives hints as to their age and presence in the habitat.
It’s likely I’ll let these images simmer for a little while before deciding how to proceed with this series. I am still exploring the possibilities with the basic concept. Sometimes my initial excitement starts out at a high level but then wanes over a period of months and it fizzles out. I’ve learned that time is one of the best ways of testing myself and any crazy ideas. If the project has a solid foundation, I’ll be able to build upon it.
Thanks for following along with this initial look. A few other variants are in the special projects gallery for this series here: Fusion Series
Good luck with the fusion project. As it happens, I started a layering project (not a double exposure one), but I haven’t gotten very far with it yet.
For some reason I only got this post in my feeder today. My first comment is WOW! I so like your idea/concept and how these have turned out. I see you as a talented photographer and a very creative photographer. I like this series and hope you continue to play with it. It also has stirred within me an interest to maybe explore this for myself. It does resonate with the idea of connectedness. I can see where “some type of visual harmony is still important” and that could be a challenge for me.
The interwebs continue to work in mysterious ways Monte – not sure why the delay either. But no worries, I know I have an oversaturated inbox that is largely overflowing, behind on blog reads, etc. I hope you do give it a try, maybe it will spark some new ideas with familiar places which was an ignitor in part for my own. Thanks much Monte.
I did a couple of those last spring then life took over and I felt I spreading myself too wide. The appeal is to me being able to create something quite unique without having to go to far away and complicated places. Like you, I have obtained little success with black and white. I like your images.
I understand completely. These photos were either all made in my yard or in the woods 5 minutes drive away. So some of it is born out of wanting to do different things with habitats I already know so well. It’s odd, just when you think you have exhausted all of the potential, something creeps in. I haven’t given up hope on a full B&W version yet, I just haven’t found the right technical approach to make it work visually.
I very much like the concept, Mark. We are aware of these relationships as we observe nature, and I think your ‘Fusion Series’ is a creative and appealing effort to display this. As you indicated, your creative mind will no doubt continue to work to determine if this is the final expression or only the beginning of something greater.
If you take it another step, you would certainly have no lack of material, what with the complex web of interconnections between various organisms, each playing a unique role in the ecosystem. The beauty of these relationships is their balance, complexity, and harmony. But how to capture and depict this in visual art? Your only limits might be your imagination. ~wink~
I went back and forth on the concept at first because I kept telling myself – well, a photo is not SUPPOSED to show everything. So I have these little internal arguments that can last quite a while! 🙂 Thank you for the thoughtful remarks Earl. I know there are people that *get* it – and you are certainly one of them.
Yeah, I dumped a lot into that comment, and I hope I didn’t imply your beautiful results in “Fusion Series” as lacking in any way. I sometimes need to ‘haul in’ my enthusiasm. ?
Not at all – I appreciate the enthusiasm! And I appreciate the time anyone takes to leave a comment even if it is to say “these aren’t for me” which I know
yours wasn’t. 🙂
Wow, I’m blown away. The idea is really fantastic and is matched by the images. I think you are truly on to something. Look forward to seeing more.
It’s something that opens itself up a lot of experimentation for sure. Thanks Howard!!
Your writing is as lovely as your photographs, Mark. Hope you keep going with your Fusion series. I think you’re on to something.
Writing is still difficult for me. It doesn’t come easy at all, probably part of the reason I don’t post that often. But I take your kind words to heart. Thank you Linda, I’ll keep working at it.