FARM FRESH GOODNESS

 FARM FRESH GOODNESS

Most Mondays we take the train down to Espinho to shop at the market, an enormous mercado encompassing about two American city blocks. After visiting the Vivian Maier photography exhibit a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by her ability to capture hundreds of meaningful candid images of people in black and white, and I wondered how one might do the same in watercolor. So, challenge accepted.

Fresh off of spending an afternoon looking at black and white prints, and their ability to express a mood or idea without the burden of color to distract you, I considered the Espinho Market as a place to find "meaningful candid images". It is a target rich environment.

The experiment here was to bring the focus of the image to the exchange of money with sharp line work and a hint of color, softening the background. Techniques evolved and changed while putting this together. This did not finish satisfactorily, but may be a path worth exploring in the future. 

The challenge, as I see it, is that typically the market is under fabric canopies, softening the light leaving few if any shadows. Everything has an equal light value and nothing in particular comes to prominence.

These are studies based on parts of photographic images I took from the market, exploring how best to bring focus to a scene without being distracted by all of the busy-ness in the background.

This study looks at ignoring or eliminating the background clutter so we see the transaction; the elderly woman fumbling with her change, the protective daughter assisting, the vendor waiting patiently. 

So, how do we see the chaos and clutter of the mercado while at the same time drawing the eye to where we want our focus to be. 

This study uses a finer lineweight, presents the activity of the mercado to fade into the background so we have context. The color brings our eye to the subject matter.

Stay tuned for further explorations.