Alone

www.kiciak.fr
The photo won the Gold medal at the TRIERENBERG SUPER CIRCUIT 2012, in the "Unusual" category.

I like Poe's work a lot, I really do. I particularly admire how his writings are methodically crafted, how the mood and feelings are calculated, how everything is bent in the intention of emphasizing a peculiar effect.

In his poem "Alone", he described how his perception of the world was different from the common view, and how that made him feel lonesome at times. In order to illustrate it, I knew from the beginning that I would have to choose a normal scene, and turn it into something that would represent his own experience of it.

After many hours of research on the Internet, I finally found that tree-lined road, one hour away from home. The weather was relatively poor that day, but I went there and shot it nonetheless. Back at home, I began to bend the trees to create the oppressing atmosphere I had in mind. It worked quite nicely, but there were many holes between the branches, due to the foliage being non dense enough. So I decided to clone leaves everywhere around the picture, in order to completely hide the sky, and create that relative darkness that would suit the mood I wanted to achieve. After a few hours of work, I had the background there, in front of my eyes, and I knew this was going well. I added the tombstones and the bird for some more details, and it was that.

At this stage, I still had no idea about how would Poe interact with the scene. It was quite unusual for me, as I often plan everything from day one, but it just didn't happen there. After reading the poem again and again, it was obvious a cloud would have been great, but how to show one without showing the sky? This is where the pipe idea appeared, and its cloud of smoke shaped as a demon (which finally became a skull, since it was the most convincing shape I managed to create). Of course, I had no pipe, so one was quickly bought, and I disguised myself as Poe the best I could for a studio shooting session. I also shot the smoke that day, using the classical incense sticks method. After that, some more hours of processing, and the scene was almost done.

Almost... because I spent many, I mean many hours on the final step. I tried so many curves, colored filters, saturated and desaturated moods, B&W, greenish, blueish, yellowish atmospheres that I kinda lost myself among all the options. Nothing was really good in my eye. So again, I read the poem a few times. Finally, the "autumn tint of gold" gave me the key, and I went for a darkish approach of such colors. As soon as it was done, it really popped there in front of me, and it became obvious this was the way to go.
I am quite proud of the result I must say!

I would like to finish -of course!- with the poem itself.


Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

--Edgar Allan Poe