Take Photo

I am professor of contemporary French literature and literary theory in a university in northern Quebec. My research in recent years focuses on fictional characters who who remain a little behind the world, contemplative or simply disappear. This is far  removed from iPhoneography - and it is true also that I use iPhoneography precisely to take some time off from my job. But if I think about it, I see a link between my research interests and my new passion. These characters that interest me are deeply melancholic, have a difficult relationship with the loss, with the passage of time, and try to be in the present moment only. So these subjects are attentive to the present moment and the grace of the places where they are, but also aware of the next unescapable disappearance of the beings and the world they love.  In a way, this is what I try to express through the subjects of my photos, the composition and the editing.

Whenever I'm on social networks dedicated to iPhoneography, I am always amazed at the number of extraordinarily talented people whose work is an inspiration to me. My earliest influences were the works of landscape iPhoneographers Gianluca Ricoveri and Wayne Greer. I found their work on Flickr. I love their intuition of space, their sense of composition, their use of color and beautiful golden textures. Their work, in my view perfectly reflects the grace and melancholy that interest me. I speak here of them because their influence is so present in this photo.

The textures are also a way to indicate the temporary nature of a photo. For this one, I used Mextures and Stackables. By adding some purple or golden hues, these two apps have added some density to the photo, particularly to the sky. They have also helped to increase the twilight brightness created by the Retrolux effect, showing the passing of time in the present moment.  

The editing was complete with this final step. For me, the picture expressed the balance and the beauty of a part of the world and of a moment and its inevitable future disappearance already underway.