Esi Jóhannes G.

Blog

Winter Packaging Prototyping 18 Jul 2011

Natas at Neskaupstaður 15 Jul 2011

Strákar 28 Jun 2011

Strákar, can be translated (based on Icelandic folklore) as a troll graveyard.

Photography for me has been for the past 10 years or so an obsessive amateur hobby. The reasons behind it perhaps a little bit different than for most people as It’s probably close to the same reason as we sometimes feel like we have to hold a glass/container of liquid while chatting to people at the bar/club, or for some people how they need to hold a cigarette while talking to other smokers, even if there is no actual underlying nicotine craving at the moment. Without a camera in my hand, and even without a camera in front of my face, I start feeling awkward. The camera is my stress ball. This odd “drive to photograph” often resulted in a high amount of photographs (especially at big social gatherings, so I could experience it passively) which often were below mediocre. To remedy this I thought back to the days when I was probably around 10 years old and my mother gave me a film camera which I had to wind to snap a photo. This extra step along with limited amount of photographs made me respect each frame more, and I took photographs for the photographs sake, not for the sake of getting rid of stress.

At work, couple of weeks ago, I found a CF card in the storage shed which had probably been left there years ago. The interesting thing about it was that it’s only 32mb’s. That’s just enough space to hold perhaps 2 photographs from my camera. Solution was found!

It's Wet Outside 14 May 2011

Couple of years ago, in 2009 to be more exact, the sun hid behind the clouds, who used their chance to gently rinse the earth with raindrops throughout the day. Visually, rain is an amazing thing which brings out completely different light both from the atmosphere and the objects on the ground. It darkens the sky and evens it out into a single balanced hue of gray, while the ground sucks in the water and intensifies its colors. Green becomes greener and black becomes blacker. I went outside, though not far, to photograph the colors and light of my favorite weather and the result was the photo I obviously named “It’s Wet Outside”. A photo showcasing the raindrops collecting on a metal bar, slowly gathering enough weight to be able to make it to the ground and provide nutrition into the soil. What I did not expect was that couple of months later I revisited that photo as I was looking for desktop pictures for my computer. I cropped the metal bar away, only showcasing the background, the bokeh of the landscape that hid behind the metal bar. Little did I know that I would use this desktop picture for the next 3 years, sometimes trying to change to new ones but usually after a short period, always returning back to “It’s Wet Outside”.

I’ve long wondered what it is about this picture that makes it work so well for me. Maybe it’s the perfect balance between foreground and background, subtle enough to keep me undistracted but with enough color & compositional tension to “tickle” my senses. I’ve tried recreating this photograph in various other conditions but every try seems to be failure and I always return to this good old photograph. It seemed to me that it would be a good idea to start this blog by sharing this desktop picture with you, the reader. Hoping that there are some like-minded individuals out there that might enjoy this image as much as I’ve done for the past 3 years or so.

Winter, Ambient/Drone Vs. Post-Rock, Rúnatal and Korean drawings 21 Mar 2011

The projects are lining up and I gladly announce that there should be a reasonable amount of releases in the coming months for you to feast on. I am not going to make any big announcements yet, nor give out any too specific information but the variety of these projects should ensure something for everyone.

Attached are audial, and visual samples to sooth your interest and curiosity. Although they are a bit unusual as they showcase a small bit of every project, but overlaid on each other. Make note that this method of showcasing work was simply chosen for my love of experimenting. This is far from recommended as the standard method of showcasing audial and visual work.

All Posts