Where Time Stood Still

With the sunny weather coming, I thought I would make a post about one of my favorite places where I usually spend my summers: my grandparents’. They live in the mountains, in a remote little village, called “Pottyand”. If I was to translate the name, it would mean something like “dropped”, a place that appeared out of nowhere, small and secluded. And that is the spirit I have tried to seize with my photographs I took last summer.

When I took this picture I was trying to give a sense of distance along with the feeling of the small village being in a valley. I have tried to find a perspective that shows just how low down it is in the dale. So I went down on my knees and took the picture in a way that the flowers would appear along with the houses. To have a bigger field depth I have set a smaller aperture, and set the focal length to 55mm-s so the distance would appear more compressed.

Another landscape-ish picture I took was when we went to collect hay with my grandparents. I was trying to show the steepness of the place, so I used positioned the camera vertically, including some part of the activity we were doing. 

During the day I have made some pictures of my grandparents too, trying to capture their relationship in the surroundings they live in. In the picture taken in the car, I have tried to work with a new perspective that made it more interesting: it is the sight I have seen during all my childhood when we packed up and got going to some new, exciting place.

An important thing I have learned about taking portraits is the importance of closeness. I don't think there is anyone who is connected to photography and haven't heard the all famous Capa quote "If your pictures aren't good enough, you are not close enough", but in the case of this kind of photography it is extremely important. And also it is essential to include elements that characterize that particular person (clothing, objects that show profession, typical facial expressions), because it adds a lot to the interpretation.

The last pictures are again bits and pieces of my grandparent’s home. The shadow of the curtain really gave back the feeling of the late afternoon, and the colors of the leaf with the still green background have the suspense of the forth-coming end of summer. These photos are more mood setting, and suggestive than showing or capturing something important, but it can work in a series of photographs, where other elements of the same world are shown as well.