Beyond the Frame 32/
The unexpected benefits of isolation and Mark Hollis on the value of silence.
I spent sixty minutes in an isolation tank this week. It sounds like a punishment but the flotation session was actually a birthday gift from Mrs. G.
Well, I don’t think it was intended to be a punishment! 🤔
Isolation and Sensory Deprivation
The flotation cocoon is soundproof and lightproof, filled with salt-rich water kept at a steady 36.4ºC.
The aim is to provide almost complete sensory deprivation, which might not sound like the definition of a generous birthday gift, but there is some science to it.
The salt water provides buoyancy, negating gravity’s pull. At body temperature, the water is virtually intangible. It is claimed that the absence of virtually all external stimuli can leave the mind free, inducing a deep, meditative state.
The prospect of floating in a closed cocoon might seem claustrophobic. In my experience, the opposite is true. Without any frame of reference, silence and darkness extend infinitely in all directions. Free of all distractions and interruptions, your thoughts are the only thing left to explore.
The friendly assistant at the flotation emporium recited the potential benefits to me as she checked my liability waiver.
“Also, the Epsom salt water is very good for your hair.” She looked up, realised that this was not a benefit I would be taking full advantage of, “Oh, and, err, it’s also very good for the skin.”
Although I didn’t experience the hallucinogenic effect that some users report, the sixty minutes passed surprisingly quickly and it was a lot more restful than I had anticipated. I slept very soundly that night and I’ve booked another session this week.
So, isolation and silence — not all bad?
Isolation in photography — briefly
I had intended to write at length about isolation in terms of photographic composition. I have copious notes, ready to describe how isolating a subject against a contrasting or plain background can bring emphasis to the subject.
However, I think that if you’re reading this, you’re likely to be familiar with that kind of concept so I’ll summarise the idea with some example photos and move on to what I really want to write about.
Sometimes a subject will isolate themselves, making their isolation a statement in itself. This lady stepped beyond protestors’ barricades and faced a line of Thai police preparing to defend a strategic position.
Incidentally, James Nachtwey was working in Bangkok during this period of civil unrest. He had been shot in the leg the day before our paths crossed but, true to his word, was back on the beat the following day.
Soon after this photo was made, I found myself sprinting down the street beside Mr. Nachtwey as we ran from the scene of more shooting.
(I’m proud to say that I had the presence of mind to keep clicking the shutter as the sound of gunfire echoed down the street but the resulting blurred image of a protester with a Thai flag is a good illustration of one of the many reasons why I will never be a war photographer!)
Nachtwey is 20 years older than me and was recovering from a bullet wound on that occasion but I can tell you, he’s no slouch.
I made a point of avoiding James Nachtwey after that!
Perspective
Choice of perspective can help isolate subjects, distancing them from more distracting backgrounds. Moving around the public spaces in Marrakesh and Lecce, I was able to place these young footballers in front of contextual, but not competing, backgrounds.
Finally, a simple example that comes from Beginners’ photo classes in Bangkok. On field trips to the market, we compare photos of colourful chilli peppers of one colour alone alongside images where one chilli of a contrasting colour has been introduced.
You can see how a picture of green chillies alone immediately becomes a picture of a red chilli against a green chilli background, even though it’s greatly outnumbered. Our eyes instinctively pick out the thing that’s different in a scene — I’m told it comes from an evolutionary skill at being able to spot a predatory tiger in the grass. Whatever the reason, it’s useful to remember this fact when choosing perspectives and making compositions.
Finally, from a story about climate change, telegraph poles stand isolated on a street lost to advancing sea water.
So, you get the picture! To make a subject stand out for the viewer, isolate it against a contrasting background. Almost invariably, that demands that you move and reposition your camera, which brings us back to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ballet-like dance.
As I often say, it always comes back to Henri.
My experience in the flotation chamber got me thinking about a Mark Hollis quote about the value of silence.
Mark Hollis
Mark Hollis was Talk Talk’s lead singer and songwriter. He released one eponymously titled solo album before leaving the music business, becoming something of a mythical figure.
I’ve compiled a short playlist, summarising the evolution of Hollis’s musical output from early, chart-friendly albums to the “masterpiece”, Spirit of Eden, and finishing with two tracks from the solo Mark Hollis release. Click cassette to activate.
After two commercially successful albums, Hollis was given complete artistic freedom for Talk Talk’s next project.
“Hollis proceeded to record his masterpiece Spirit of Eden. It was purely improvised and took a year and a half to record. Musicians would come in and jam for hours at a time in a darkened studio lit with incense and candles.”
Spirit of Eden was not what EMI were expecting. They sued Hollis (unsuccessfully) for being “wilfully obscure and un-commercial”. Readers of this newsletter might appreciate how they felt.
36 years later, Spirit of Eden is regularly mentioned as a source of inspiration for chart-topping artists like Radiohead, Elbow, Blur, Sigur Rós and Taylor Swift.
Mark Hollis could be awkwardly taciturn in interviews and was never one to play the music industry game.
However, Danish journalist Rune Schjøtt-Wieth caught Hollis in a talkative mood in 1998, prompted, no doubt, by Schjøtt-Wieth’s knowledgeable and intelligent questions.
The VHS video is poor quality and still shows the time stamp. Nevertheless, there is a short section that I have adopted as a mantra, and which I try to emulate.
“Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note.
And don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.”
— Mark Hollis
It’s a quote that I had printed on the back of my business cards.
Conclusion?
Isolation as a compositional tool in photography is one thing and that’s all well and good. Conscious isolation for a short period in a flotation tank might be physically and emotionally beneficial. I believe there’s some truth to that.
Isolation in life, however, is not so straightforward. The conscious introduction of isolation and silence into our lives, our work, and our art requires, I think, an act of bravery. Perhaps it’s a product of our age that many of us are uncomfortable with silence, with the absence of “stuff”.
Perhaps that’s why Mark Hollis’s music is now often defined as “inspirational”? Whether or not his music appeals to you — and I accept it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea — his apparently unshakeable faith in the process and his willingness to make art that satisfied his own aspirations, without collapsing beneath the weight of other people’s expectations, is admirable.
It’s a journey. We’re all on it. I’m certainly on that journey. Being comfortable with silence and allowing it to exist, until and unless we have a good reason to break into it, is challenging. It requires a level of self-belief that is hard won.
Talking of silence…
What’s next?
I have some trips and assignments coming up, including making portraits of speakers at Europe’s first TED AI conference.
I’ll be photographing behind the scenes, doing my best to make speakers feel relaxed as I make their portrait before they deliver their talk. It’s so much easier to photograph people after they come off stage.
So it’s possible that I shall be silent for a week or two. If so, paid newsletter subscriptions will be frozen and extended until I return.
Until then, go well, in silence or otherwise.
Beyond the Frame 31/
The daylight hours are shrinking in this part of our world; the warmth of summer days has faded; the energising season has departed.
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Your words and photos always make me consider new ways to compose images. Love the isolation shots. Added bonuses, exposure to other photographers, musicians and your own life experiences etc.
Since you wrote about the BBC shipping forecast I’ve heard it in two UK detective shows, Unforgotten and Grace. And yesterday in a shop Jumpin’ Jack Flash was playing. No doubt will hear Talk Talk or Mark Hollis somewhere unexpected. The universe is with you 😉