Chelsea London 52 Week Challenge 2022
Starting at the beginning of 2022 on a whim I decided to give this photo challenge a shot. The basic format is each week has a prompt that you then need to go out and take a picture for during the week.
You can see all the prompts on Chelsea London’s site. I didn’t make it all the way through but I’m glad I gave it a good try and got some photos out of it I never otherwise would have taken.
Here’s the highlights…
Week 2 - Your Passion
Here’s a shot of one of my many different passions and hobbies… This particular pic happened while I was testing a couple different ideas. I love the sense of energy it conveys with the motion blur which is just a little taste of the great feeling it is to play
Week 3 - Artist Spotlight : Astrid Kirchherr
This week’s prompt was to take inspiration from Astrid’s photos. She’s best known for photographing The Beatles in their early Hamburg days. The last two in the set are her photos I liked the best from her work.
This one was a bit challenging to think of what to do. I ended up going to one of the local skate parks on a cold night looking to try get some slice of the “rebel without a cause” vibe she had.
The shots I ended up getting weren’t what I originally was thinking of and aren’t the closest interpretation but I think they still ended up coming out pretty cool :)
Week 5 - Something Familiar
The prompt: Something a lot of photographers struggle with is inspiration. This often manifests from the mundane droll of everyday life.
To that I say: that’s your everyday life, and what may be uninspiring to you may be fascinating to another. All our life experiences are different. So to recalibrate a little, find something that you interact with every day (thing, place, person, animal, etc.) and photograph that. Try photographing it from at least ten different angles, play with lighting (reflecting light, table lamps, or if you’re fancy whatever photographic lighting set-up you have.) Choose the one best from what you’ve created and share that.
Can you guess what this is?
Week 6 - A day in the life
I ended up taking over 500 long exposures throughout the day with the idea to blend them all together. That turned out not to be that great so ended up just picking 12 of them and manually blending them together.
Week 7 - Artist Spotlight : Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper is known for his slice of life paintings. You may already be familiar with one of his most recognizable work, Nighthawks, depicting into the window of a corner diner from the outside. An expert in realism, Hopper creates scenes of everyday life in a captivating and thought-provoking way.
Think I could have done a bit better with this one if I spent more time getting the perfect moment with the people inside, but ah well. I’ll have to settle for not being a world famous artist lol
Week 8 - Open for interpretation: Domestic
Cooking and baking are a big part of the soul of a home to me so it was a natural first thought this given this week’s prompt.
The news of Russia invading Ukraine broke the week I took this. Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and one of the larger exporters of wheat in the world which inspired the photo. If you have the means I’d encourage you to find an organization to lend your support to and help out those affected.
Week 9 - Outside
Very nice to have a beach accessible by public transport, even when it’s below freezing outside!
Had fun trying some tracking shots even though very few came out.
Week 10 - High Noon
Prompt below, but nothing clever with the light here, just the reminder we need to change our ways before we’re underwater.
“High noon is one of the more despised time of day for many photographers. The sun is, well, high, and that light is harsh, so I understand how this may lend itself to be a major challenge. But remember, with harsh light come harsh shadows, maybe intentional lens flare, artfully blown out highlights, etc etc. Have fun experimenting with conditions you may not be comfortable with - look for light reflecting off windows, or cascading over a fence creating patterned shadows. Make the like work for you, not you having to work around it.”
Week 11 - Artist Spotlight : Fan Ho
Fan Ho was not afraid of strong light and shadows - his work bent whatever light was given to him in graphic and compositionally unique ways. His depiction of everyday life was elevated to fine art with silhouettes, rim lighting, and bright backlit glows around his subjects.
As we’re getting into spring temps here it’s fun to see everyone emerging and enjoying the nice weather and this pair made a nice subject out on the esplanade
Week 12 - Open for interpretation: Beaming
Perhaps a loose interpretation, but light can play all sorts of fun tricks as it beams around. I love the complexity that arises from just simple principles of reflection
Week 13 - Color Theory
I love the colors of our pineapple glasses so this was an easy choice of subject once I realized it last minute!
Week 14 - Color Schemes
Referring back to the introduction to color theory, this week you should pick one color scheme and utilize it in your image.
Nature helped out with this classic complementary color scheme with the warm orange and peach colors complimented by the cool blues and grays at sunset.
Week 15 - Artist Spotlight Martin Parr
If you’re like me and hadn’t heard of Martin Parr before do yourself a favor and look up some photo’s of his. They’re a good slice of life and the man clearly loves bright colors like pink so I couldn’t help myself when I saw this scene.
And looking the other direction there was this lovely spring time scene
Week 16 - Open for Interpretation : Saturated
I went with the classic orange and blue, old and new, shot of the Trinity Church in front of the John Hancock Tower
