Film Composition

FILM WITH VAHID DAVIDSF

F“Documentation of the

interpersonal relationships I have with the subjects - within a world created through a scene.”

“I’m obsessed with cinema. Most of my work is reminiscent of stills from cinema. I use techniques from cinematographers to compose the subjects, implementing a similar process of post production that is done with colour grading to footage on my still images.” Vol. 4

The Harmony Issue

Photography, much like many disciplines of art that have existed across centuries, is quite a saturated art form. Yet it is not absent of new pioneers, as anyone who dares pick up a camera offers a unique take of the world. Vahid Davids, from Bloemfontein South Africa is one such pioneer.

“Most of my work is a documentation of the interpersonal relationships I have with my subjects within a world created through a scene. As a film enthusiast, Vahid approaches his work as if immortalizing a moment from a film. “Often during shoots there’s more direction of a feeling rather than an action or pose.” It’s almost like jumping into a scene and preserving all movement and emotion. “I’ve always felt that with any emotion, eye contact intensifies the feeling and demands more honesty.”

Style evolves over time as an artist familiarises themselves with the various media. “I first started photography in high school, mainly for the school magazine - taking photographs of sports and cultural events held at the school,” Vahid recalls. “I moved into portrature during my time at Wits with friends that I was spending a lot of time with. Most of them were musicians and designers.”

You might think it’s quite easy to go into a photoshoot without indepth conceptualization or planned poses, but it takes a great deal of intuition to master film composition. “I try to capture a still of something happening, like a frame from a film.” Vahid is influenced by photographers such as Yii Ooi and Cho Gi-soek through “a mind blowing balance of art direction and technical skill.”

FILM COMPOSITI

So over the years I’ve been having a battle between film and digital photography. I think, naturally, shooting on film gives this “cinematic vibe”. But shooting on digital, I feel I have more room to play around.

“ Inspiration is funny because as artists we have to constantly be inspired to reclaim the flame that burns within us. Sometimes I can’t pin point exactly where the inspiration comes from but my flame still burns. Photographers such as Yii Ooi and Cho Gi-soek create these fantastical works through a mind blowing balance of art direction and technical skill. These surreal environments which they fabricate and document give me a sense of wonder and leave me gasping, “AYOOO! How THE F**K are they doing that?!” I seek to implement these projections into the context of Africa. The scenes are able to become more than just scenes - more like world making.

COMPOSITION

Outside of the scope of photographs, my inspiration comes from observation. Most of the subjects in my photographs are people I see almost everday. And in these frames, they play characters close to their personalities. I’m constantly surrounded by other creative beings, so the transition from real life to a scene is almost automated. A Lot of the frames I’ve taken are from music videos/films that we are involved in so I find my subjects in their scene already.”