Once again I am pleased to present this years ’24 Mobile Photographers Til Christmas’. It is a series that has been run throughout December for the last couple of years and has always been successfully received. In part, it is to celebrate the forthcoming festive season but also to celebrate another year in the timeline of Mobiography.
In the series I ask 24 hand picked mobile photographers to offer an insight into their work, to reflect on their year gone by or plans for the coming year ahead. Each featured photographer is someone who has inspired or supported me in one way or another during the course of the past year. One photographer will be showcased each day until Christmas Eve in a sort of online advent calendar so to speak.
Today’s featured photographer is Lee Atwell
The photo I am most proud of is…
‘Soul Journey’ – self portrait
“Well, there is time left — fields everywhere invite you into them. And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away from wherever you are, to look for your soul?” Mary Oliver.
Of all the photos I took last year, this self portrait is one of the most significant for me. It is part of a series I worked on where I am wearing my mom’s vintage coat from the 1950s – an honoring of her life (she passed just over two years ago). It was during the 50s that she and my father were avid photographers (my father has also passed). They were both outdoor enthusiasts and instilled a love of nature within their children.
This area is in the Palouse area of eastern Washington – which reminded me of where my parents took many of their photos in the prairie landscapes of Manitoba, Canada.
It is times when I am in solitude in nature taking photos that I can feel their presence most profoundly. Also, when I am in places with sweeping landscapes and big skies I often feel an inner peace and connection to something larger than myself – where I can feel most connected to my soul.
It has been quite a journey taking this series and often comical at times, too. Setting up the mini 6” high tripod and trying to balance it on uneven terrain, or in this photo, on the sloped hood of my car was quite a challenge in itself. In the bright outdoor light it was difficult to even see in the viewfinder what I was aiming at or whether the horizon was straight. There was also a strong wind to add to the comedy – the iPhone on the mini tripod catching the wind like a sail.
Trying to figure out where to place myself in the landscape to even be within the frame of the photo itself was the final challenge. I was happy that I had a photo worth keeping after this adventure in the wind.
I used the iPhone 5S camera with a BlueTooth remote initially. I then used Snapseed to convert it to black and white and then ‘Photocopier’ and it’s ‘Photo’ option to give it some texture, highlighting, and a soft vignetting. I also used ‘Mextures’ with the ‘Emulsion’ option to add to the vintage look.
Big fan!
Wonderfully wild and free shot with a beautiful backstory. Love this Lee.