British cinemagraph artist and photographer, Marie Edwards, began her cinemagraph work as an assignment in college. Combinging video and photo elements into one piece, Edwards is able to enhance the mysteriously dream-like tone of her work- pulling inspiration from J.K. Rowling's
Harry Potter series as well as Lewis Carroll's
Alice in Wonderland. I enjoy her use of street lamp lighting in to backlight the subject which dramatizes the scene. Though movement in the cinemagraph does not necessarily aid in the impact of the image overall, it does not take away from it either. The cinemagraph would have been just as successful if it were a photograph but I find that the movement of the smoke plays on the mystery of the scene. I'm hoping to be able to bring the same amount of intensity into my own work for this project.
Kazakhstan based photograher and cinemagraph artist, Marat Sembayev, creates visually dynamic cinemagraphs that are both action filled and female based. Though little is shared about the work that is created, Sembayev expresses that good equipement is not as important as "the idea of what you shoot". Though I only have one example here, many of Sembayev's work seems to show strong and empowered women- shotting guns, standing in front of burning fields, etc.- but also women in more helpless and lonely scenes- smoking by themselves, looking up at empty stairwells, and walking alone with a flashlight. In my own project, I would like to show both my own weakness and strength in juxtaposition with eachother; toggling back and forth between the two.