My idea to do my work in progress portfolio on religious buildings made me much more focused on my task than during the previous module. Even so, having a clear idea of what I want to photograph, didn't help me to get clear what aspects of it I want to photograph.
Religious buildings, especially those in the city center, have a long and tangled history intertwined with that of the surrounding buildings. I am usually the type of person that starts telling the story of the surroundings so I wanted to have places that tell a story in my portfolio. However, since the overreaching theme was religion, I also wanted to try my hand out at creating more serene images that convey the feeling of communion with God. However, shooting inside the churches was not an option so I had to work out another way to convey that sense.
It turned out that the serene approach worked with some locations better than others. For example, this place is the biggest church in Sofia and a symbol of Bulgaria too. It is such a famous place that it is somewhat if a cliche. However, I managed to capture this image - a reflection in a puddle that I love very much.
I love the way this image looks because it definitely shows the place from a unique perspective - as a reflection in a puddle. I have a soft spot for puddles and whenever I see one, I try to find a reflection in it. The light in this image (shot handeld during the blue hour and in a snow storm) and the water give the impression of serenity and make the image surreal. It is not only a picture of a church and depicting its architecture. This is a replica of an older image I created, more or less in the same style but at different time during the day.
However, it turned out that this was the only place I managed to photograph and get this effect. Not because there are too few puddles on the streets of Sofia but because only this pic worked out that well.
All other places looked different and had different stories to tell. Still, my initial idea was to try and find a similar way to represent the other places of worship. The next place I tried to photograph like this was the Russian church in Sofia - it is an amazing place in terms of architecture and I very much hoped that I can find some reflections around it to achieve the same effect.
I saw this reflection of the church in a nearby shop window and was attracted to the contrast between the church and the surveillance camera sign in the right corner. The only problem in this image was that it had totally different impact and idea. This image is more about the contrast between the old and the modern, the religious and the secular, whereas the previous one is more serene, not so straightforward and more open to interpretation.
At that point during the module, I had no idea what exactly to focus on. Truth be told, I wanted to have it all. To show the different aspects of religious buildings. To create a coherent portfolio, however, I needed to focus on one aspect.
Still, I had no idea on which aspect to choose. I wanted very much to create serene images like the first one BUT somehow things didn't always work out well. So, when I had the chance to visit Bucharest, all of a sudden, inspiration struck.
It is a Catholic church in the centre of Bucharest, one of the places that made me think the first time I visited. The reason why this place speaks to me, is that the church is squeezed in between blocks of flats, obviously created during the Communist era, and looks a bit out of place. Imagine people living there, looking through the window and seeing the bell tower. It reminded me of a church in the centre of Sofia so this place was totally on my to-shoot list.
When I took this image it dawned on me that most of the images I already had are similar to this. There is some contrast, there is a story. The places I wanted to photograph all had dramatic stories and weren't simply places of worship but buildings that needed to have their stories told. I've always been a fan of history so anywhere I go, I try to learn more about the things I see.
This image changed my mind and I decided to go with the flow and create the images I wanted and focus on the contrast between the old and the new in the modern city. I found an approach but I was yet to find out what I needed.
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