Covid Creativity: 1Jul2020

by Francois Desjardins

What if we use photography as a medium to channel the same kind of imagination and creative energy that we would’ve had as kids before rules would dictate what we should have in our photographs? This is where for me creating multilayered photographs is different to taking photographs.  It allows me to express ideas by using parts of what I see, connecting the visible to the imagined. 

In the current context of pandemic induced social isolation, this new project is a way for me to deal with what we as human beings are doing to our environment, to each other, and to ourselves.  Maybe a way to highlight the sometimes distant but mostly ignored challenges facing each and everyone of us and what we will leave behind.

Et si nous utilisions la photographie comme médium pour canaliser le même genre d’imagination et d’énergie créative que nous avions comme enfants avant que les “normes d’esthétique” dictent ce que nous devrions avoir dans nos photographies? C’est là que pour moi, «créer des photographies» est différent de «prendre des photos».  Cela me permet d’exprimer des idées en utilisant des parties de ce que je vois, reliant le visible à l’imaginé.

Dans le contexte actuel d’isolement social induit par la pandémie, ce nouveau projet est une façon pour moi de gérer ou de m’expliquer ce que nous, les êtres humains, nous faisons à notre environnement, aux autres et à nous-mêmes; une façon de mettre en relief les défis parfois lointains mais trop souvent ignorés auxquels chacun d’entre nous est confronté, ainsi que les traces que nous laisserons derrière nous.

Human print in earth and clouds #50
Human print in earth and clouds #54
Human print in earth and clouds #55
Human print in earth and clouds #62
Human print in earth and clouds #80

Collectif members, send an image (or a few) of very recent work to cagac.ca@gmail.com with up to 100 words describing what you did, materials used, inspiration, etc. Maybe share how you’re feeling & how creativity helps. We’d like an informative, inspiring show & tell.Writers, send us poetry, lyrics, a short piece or excerpt.

5 comments

  1. Francois, Thank you for posting these strange, beautiful and evocative images. They are quite different from previous work and so it seems that you have used these times to generate new exciting work. Brenda

    Like

  2. Francois, nicely done. I really like the submerged look the cloud layer gives. It makes the imprint look like it is underwater.

    Like

  3. Thank you Brenda and Milo! I was tempted to title the whole project (still ongoing) « I read the news today, oh boy ». (From A Day in the Life, by the Beatles) – so yes, maybe feeling a little « under water » Milo!

    Like

  4. I enjoy looking at these over and over – trying to catch the feeling of each layer of meaning. I love the idea of calling the series – I Read the News Today, Oh Boy… very fitting!

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s