Space Quest

"Surface of the Sun"

During shoot week Sarah gave us an "outer space" assignment to do. Yes, the same instructor who gave us our potato assignment earlier in the fall( see my archives for reference). I don't know where she comes up with these assignments but I would definitely say they do fall under the umbrella of creative imaging! This particular assignment was to create space scenes without actually photographing space.  I gave it some thought and the next morning I woke up at 4:00a.m.( I hoped that the darkness would inspire me) and wondered into my kitchen ( It's away from the bedrooms and the sleeping family).  In solitude and the quiet of the night I contemplated  how I was going to get this assignment completed or even started! I walked around the kitchen and decided I would start by setting up my mini studio. My black cloth stuck into my cupboards above the stove and my trusty Ikea lamp. I then began rummaging through my cupboards and fridge to see if anything reminded me of space. I noticed some flat bread lying on my counter-hummm- could those be craters I'm seeing???? (One sees a lot of different things at 4:00 a.m.!) With the right lighting it could become a planet or the surface of the sun as in the photo above. Then I moved on to my fruit bowl.......That orange- I like the texture, a planet? A comet? I know a Nebula! (Photo below)

                                                     "Nebula"

Next I went to my cupboard and found some pancake mix I hadn't used in a while. I mixed it with some water put it in a quiche dish because it's shallow and proceeded to create stars by poking holes in black cardboard and backlighting it with my lamp. It created a cool Moon surface and a cloud-like earth from space!

 Okay, at this point I'm having flashbacks to my grade 4 , Lord of the Flies, project where I constructed an island out of papermache and proceeded to make approximately 200 matchstick palm trees that I painstakingly drilled and glued in to cover the entire island. The project was so large my parents could hardly fit it into the back of the families station wagon! (and they say I have an A type personality-you think?) 

I really didn't believe I would have this much fun doing this assignment, but surprisingly, I did! It forced me to go where I haven't gone before( Ha Ha),  and relive great memories from my childhood. I think as adults it's really important to embrace challenges and to reflect on precious moments and once in a while- just play like you did in your childhood! 

"Surface of the Moon"

                                                                                       "The Earth"

My "studio" How I did it!