Blurry Lines...

Welcome back to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place! Another rainy and cold Hohenfels Monday brings shivering into the new week and a new theme.

Our new theme for the week is “Blurring the Lines (Not in Polite Society!).” It won with 2 votes. So onward we ride toward a description.

For centuries, societies have been stratified. You had the upper class, the middle class, the untouchables, the eta, and numerous ways to keep societies organized. Today is not much different. Only instead of class per se, we have things like employer and employee, service persons and the served, leaders and followers. The list is limited only by your vision.

The purpose of this week’s theme is to show interactions between the “classes” or groups. It could be a waiter serving a meal, a shoeshine in progress, or simply a store clerk ringing up a customer. It could be something that shows the transition from one level to another, previously unattainable. Create an image perhaps showing a graduation or promotion, or someone preparing to begin their day at work. We all transition several times a day from server to served, from leader to follower, etc.

No longer are we limited to one layer of society and that, in itself, could be an image. Hence, we have the blurring the lines part. Here’s the kicker, sharpest focus or concentration should be on the interaction or transition, not the people involved. This highlight could come from high contrast lighting or sharpness, perhaps from compositional elements like color, or even a shallow DOF. Explain the contrast without words, using just your image. Remember, there are also many societies within our society. Gender roles, marital roles, workplace roles, the options are as limitless as your ability to see how the roles and layers within a society can be crossed or transitioned.

Don’t forget to get your images for last week’s theme in tonight. I didn’t do one, as I was too busy trying out some old cameras and trying out my skills. I won’t have any results until all the film is developed next week! I’ll be shooting something this week for the theme, though; as I’m back on schedule and hopefully time will be slightly more available.

Don’t forget to post any of your images you’d like to see here at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page and to get your vote in for next week’s theme. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!