MOVE IT! (Intentional Camera Movement)
Photography by Edwin S Loyola
Text by Wilfred Marbella
Capturing an image has always carried with it the burden of its static state. In 1912, Giacomo Bella tried to go past that “staticity” of an image when he painted his now iconic “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash.” With the feet of the dog and its owner in a series of paintings, just what animators do today, Bella was not only “suggesting” the movement, but was actually “portraying” the movement in one fell swoop!
With Edwin Loyola’s technique, he captures this movement in a most deliberate manner. Called – Intentional Camera Movement – Loyola deliberately moves the camera in a particular manner in order to create a most “eerie” image of his subject. Using both static and dynamic subjects, the effects are simply remarkable.
In a series of ducks that he photographed, what Bella was trying to achieve is captured vividly in Loyola’s lens. As the name implies, Loyola will have to move the camera in a certain manner, degree or angle in order to get his shot. But what makes it most impressive is the the fact that each one is perfectly framed despite that fact that the camera was in motion at the time the shot was taken. It goes against the very nature of what and how the camera is and should be used. So, as these fouls take flight, the movement of their wings can distinctively be defined and thus showing the dynamism of the subject.
If he can capture this series of movements to engage his viewers with the vigor of his subject matter, its a totally different effect for his more static subjects. With a penchant for nature, Loyola’s images of trees or grass against the snow-covered ground makes for images that look like drawings by hand. Mysterious, sometimes abstract, the genius behind these works are undeniable. Banal in title, “The Four Seasons,” there is nothing commonplace about the images. Spring is as magical as can be expected with flowers, and brooks, and skies in their glorious colors, while summer is grass and clouds in eternal motion. Fall is somber and mysterious but still delightful with all the different hues while winter is desolate and sullen. Different emotions for 4 different seasons, it could very well be the visualization of Vivaldi’s classic of the same title.
Intentionally moving the camera while taking a photograph doesn’t make much sense. But it is not only the movement of the camera that will create these images. There is the direction – up or down?, left or right? Then there is the speed of the photographers hand while moving the camera, as well as the aperture openings, the shutter’s speed and a host of other technical factors that come into play. But with Edwin Loyola, he’s constant experimentation and innovation have pushed the boundaries of the images he takes. With this new technique “I will never be able to duplicate these images and this is what excites me, this is what compels me”
Published: Manila Bulletin . Picture Perfect Section
Page E-2 Special Feature. June 16, 2015
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