At Wit's End

This image is very significant to my photographic career. The concept of the "eye and hand" series began with this idea. It took me from still life photography into a new realm. The "Eye and Hand" series also brought me several honours in international salons.

The period when I was conceptualizing the "Eyes and Hands" series was one of the most creative periods of my photographic career. Many times, my mind would be filled with images. Some were ambiguous, while others were clear. I was surprised and confused by why these images appeared in my mind, but at the same time, I found them very intriguing. I also felt as if I had a mission to bring these images, floating in my consciousness, from the surreal dimension into reality.

This was also the work I produced after buying my first digital camera, and film officially entered the history of my photographic career.

It was an interesting experience to shoot this image.

The concept had been brewing in my mind for a few weeks. The hardest part was not the photography, but the search for eye props. I looked everywhere, including optometrists and doctors.

"Sir, do you sell eyeballs?" I asked.

Probably because I was so eager, they reacted with surprise, disbelief, and a "What are you doing with them, dude?" look on their faces.

I laughed at my own impulsiveness.

After searching in vain, some people suggested that I use a bull's eye. But when I told my model about the idea, she was strongly against it before I could even finish. In fact, I felt quite disgusted too. At that time, online shopping was not yet popular. Eventually, I obtained the eye props online. While waiting, I continued to look for other props and started setting up the scene. To enhance the visual effect, I painted a background.

In terms of lighting, I did not have any lighting equipment at that point, only a large window in my humble studio. Natural light became my main source of light. To make it diffused and soft, I covered the window with a thin piece of fabric.

When the eye props finally arrived, the scene was ready to be shot.

“I also felt as if I had a mission to bring these images, floating in my consciousness, from the surreal dimension into reality.”

I asked the model to pose on a decayed log, with the eyeballs about to be pushed down. After that pose, I photographed the other hand. The posture was like trying to catch the falling eyes.

It took three sessions over three days, and more than 250 shots in total, to complete the image.

Thanks to the preview mode of my digital camera, I found that I could get a perfect exposure with little effort. Unlike the scans I had after shooting film, there was virtually no grain or noise in the files. It was a bit of a culture shock for someone who had shot film and then moved into the digital world.

I do not know how I came up with such a composition. Technically, I could probably tell you how to shoot it, but I believe it takes a crazy amount of enthusiasm to turn surreal inspiration into a real piece of work.

Update: July 21, 2007

Although this was the first image in the "Hand and Eye" series, I did not submit it to any international salons at first. Fortunately, it started to gain some recognition after participating.