How does the human body move when interacting with artificial intelligence technologies? This is the question that my collaborator Carly Lave embarks on a year-long Fulbright grant to research. A talented dancer, choreographer, and scholar, Carly will present her research findings in visual form via a self-choreographed dance solo performance. I approached her to collaborate on a photography series informed by her research goals and artistry as a dancer. We explored several visual themes, each related to the timely question of how we humans will be transformed by increasing immersion into advanced technologies, including virtual reality, robotics, and interconnectivity. To complete this ongoing project, we will continue to collaborate across two continents during Carly’s research fellowship. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, I’d like to share a few early images from this work-in-process along with some words about how they were made. It can be tricky to imagine a visual concept and realize it via photography, and all the more challenging when the concept is abstract like the ones Carly and I selected. I’ll present four of our initial concepts, each illustrated with an image and a description of the techniques required to execute it.
- Virtual Reality Motion Study: Virtual meets reality as Carly’s body floats through the physical world while her motion is informed by her interactions with the virtual world playing inside her headset.
This concept sounds simple but is quite difficult to execute photographically. We wanted to capture Carly’s physical motion in the real world as she reacts to the experience of the VR world. Images like these require a long time exposure (here about 15 seconds), which in turn necessitates shooting in a darkened photography studio. I used a black backdrop and continuous LED lighting to illuminate Carly as she moved across the studio, with a single studio strobe light at the front right part of the set to capture her final pose at the end of the exposure. The strobe was set to trigger as the camera’s shutter closed at the end of each shot (“rear curtain sync”). Using this technique, Carly’s motion can be traced during the whole exposure but the vivid exposure is what we see last. Considerable post-processing is then required to clean up the scene. - Interconnectivity: Carly shared, “I found myself visualizing my body wrapped in cables coiled around my limbs and torso. I was thinking about the body in relation to embedded systems here, and how now all of our world is connected through cables either in the air or sea.”
To shoot this visual concept, we used a dance studio with a mirrored wall. Using different angles to obtain a variety of perspectives, I shot both Carly and her reflection as she improvised motion along the wall. The technique conveys the impression of the interconnectedness between a human and a similar being across a network. Post-processing was required to remove clutter and render the background as white. - Human (de-)Evolution Series: A whimsical re-imagining of the classic ape-to-human evolution series, this montage asks us to consider whether technology contributes to or detracts from human evolution.
This striking montage is actually quite straightforward to execute. In a photography studio against a black backdrop, I shot images of Carly in each stage of the evolution series and then combined them using layers in Photoshop. - Robotic Motion: Machines often perform the same tasks traditionally undertaken by humans, but the robot’s motion is constrained by its programming. How might the human dancer’s motion become similarly constrained if her movement is choreographed by programming instructions?
For this concept, my job was fairly easy and Carly had to do the heavy lifting. She choreographed movement indicative of robotic motion while I captured a series of images using a studio strobe light and a black fabric backdrop.
I hope this behind-the-scenes peek at my ongoing passion project will help inspire your own creative process. It’s important to be personally and deeply invested in a project before you begin. Select your partner(s) carefully and plan thoroughly. Then the process becomes joyful and exhilarating as you begin to bring your concept to life!
Have you carried out a photography project? Please share your key learnings–positive and otherwise–here!
Want to read more posts about what to photography while traveling or near home? Find them all here: Posts about What to Shoot.