The Prompt

For the second project of my Intro to Photography class, we were prompted to take a series of photos of people.

The Idea

Lacking the confidence to take candid photos of strangers or to direct subjects for staged photos of their faces/overall bodies, I turned my interest toward hands and how they help define the individuals who wield them.

The Process

Knowing that hands would be the primary subject of each photo, I started by listing the different tasks that hands were used for. As I included more activities I had done or continue to do, it evolved into a partial self-portrait. Photos #03 - #06 fell into these categories as I had played baseball for 12 years and I own the pocket watch and selection of pens.

In addition to those activities, I stumbled upon multiple compositions that reflected me more metaphorically. Where Photo #01 was admittedly a happy accident, the cigarette smoker in #02 reminded me of the absurdity (from an external point of view) of activities that actively harm oneself and how addicting that habit of self-toxicity can become. #08 focuses on the intimacy and safety one can feel through an action as simple as holding a companion’s hand. In contrast, #07 embodies the feeling of watching something slip through your fingers with no way to change the outcome.

At this point, I had stumbled upon the secondary theme of time, specifically within the constraints of a day. The photos had fallen into a sequential structure based on the time of day I had taken them. Furthermore, they somewhat accurately represented the trains of thought that I often follow when there is nothing else to actively occupy my attention. For better or for worse, these frequently somber thoughts create rather extreme fluctuations in mood throughout a given day.

The Reflection

With the day divided into 8 photographs, I felt that a central photo was necessary to tie them to an individual. Keeping with the theme, I avoided including my face, instead opting for a shot with the two arms that would wield these 8 yearning hands. This particular jacket of mine made a fitting match to the solemn tone of this series of photos and what they meant to me as a reflection of me.

What started as an investigation of the hands of others became an echo of the road on which my hands have traveled and the things they’ve done since I became aware of the path I have unknowingly followed.

Additional considerations