Unit 2: Pt 13 Peacock Feathers T 1 LO 1.1

The peacock feathers I ordered recently arrived. I took them out of the packaging & was quite struck by the natural beauty of the colours. I still wasn’t quite sure what to do with these at this stage of the creative process.

 

 

Then I remembered something that Ria showed the class during the last session – grain.

On photographs, it can be seen as an ‘irritant’, especially on images taken with a high ISO. However, it can also be used creatively.

I tried this recently with a photograph I took of the recent Supermoon on 31st January 2018. It was taken with an ISO of 20,000 & a shutter speed of 1/20″. I then adjusted the colours in Camera Raw. It does give quite a ‘painterly’ effect, but is quite a crude way of producing an image.

 

 

When I had a tweak using Grain in Camera Raw, this is the result with an additional vignette effect.

 

Unit 2: Pt 14 Symbolism of Feathers T 1 LO 1.1

While feathers are beautiful as a photographic subject, there are a lot meanings associated with them. To help me with my creative process, I thought I should take a closer look at their symbolic meaning.

Feathers can represent a lot of things to a lot of different people – for example:

• Truth
• Speed
• Spirit
• Travel
• Heaven
• Levity
• Flight
• Messages
• Ascension
• Fertility

 

The feather is also a symbol found within many cultures that represents ascension & spiritual evolution to a higher plane. For example, for Native American Indians, feathers represent the power of the thunder gods, along with the power of air & wind.

In order to symbolise their communication with Spirit & to express their celestial wisdom, feathers were worn by Native American Chiefs. (1)

 

 

Another example is that of Native American Hopi Indians & one of their major deities, Tawa (2):

 

 

The feather is also a Celtic symbol, with Druids wearing ornate feathered robes to invoke the sky gods & gain knowledge of the celestial realm. The combination of these two elements was believed to allow the Druid to enter the ethereal plane, transcending the earthly plane (3).

There is another, very strong connection, with feathers & angels. For example, there is a common-held belief that, if you find a feather, especially a white one, it can be seen as a message of hope or sign that a loved one is near.

 

 

Having looked some general feather symbolism, I went a bit deeper into the symbolism of the feathers in my possession.

 

Crow Feather Symbolism

As the feather could be thought of as an indexical symbol of a bird, I read up on the meaning of the creature first. The crow has been revered as a spiritual animal plus a symbol of magic & mystery for many years. It can be symbolic of intelligence, flexibility, destiny & personal transformation.

Here are some alternative meanings:

• Magic
• Life Mysteries
• Wisdom
• True Identity
• Omens of Death
• The Power of Insight
• Fearlessness
• Changes

 

A further meaning is when one dreams of a crow. A flying crow can depict that it is necessary to express feelings that are hidden deep in one’s subconscious mind. Alternately, dreaming of a crow can be a portent of positive changes about to happen in one’s life. (4)

So, the crow feather itself can represent quite a few things.

 

Peacock Feather Symbolism

As with the crow, the peacock also has a wide-ranging symbolic meaning within many religions & cultures (5):

• Hindu
  • Associated with Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity
  • Benevolence
  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Compassion
  • Good luck
• Babylonian & Persia
  • Guardian to royalty
• Ancient Greek
  • Hera – transformed the 100 eyes of Argus to that of the peacock’s feathers
  • Eyes of the stars
• Kwan-yin
  • Emblem of love
  • Compassionate
  • Watchfulness
  • Good will
  • Nurturing
  • Kind-heartedness
• Christian:
  • All-seeing church
  • Holiness
  • Sanctity
  • Resurrection
  • Renewal
  • Immortality
• Phoenix
  • Transformation
  • Rise out of our darkest hours
  • Re-birth onto a new life of awareness
  • Spirituality
  • Illumination

 

With this information in hand, back to the mind maps. I started writing some notes.

 

 

My next step – let these concepts & constructs stew for a bit. Then return with fresh eyes.

1. http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbol-meaning-of-feathers.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology
3. http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbol-meaning-of-feathers.html
4. https://dreamingandsleeping.com/crow-raven-spiritual-animal-symbolism-and-meaning/
5. http://www.whats-your-sign.com/peacock-symbolism.html

Unit 2: Pt 15 Feather Thoughts T 1 LO 1.1

With peacock feathers now received & an initial image taken, it was time for the interim crit with Ria & the class.

Before setting off for college, I took a few shots of one feather using my sketch book as a background & the flash on my Nikon D5500.

 

 

What became immediately apparent is that if the feathers are on a flat surface is that I would have to photo them from above. Something to take into consideration.

The Interim Crit itself was a very useful process. By presenting my thoughts & ideas to the class then listening to reactions & feedback is quite alchemical. My idea initial of producing a portrait using the feathers as a prop was definitely on the wane. Focusing on the feathers themselves was becoming a stronger instinct. As for how they could be shot this was going to be where the creative processes encouraged in this unit will come into play.

The reaction to my first concept wasn’t that well received. In a constructive way. Just having the feathers with a grainy effect & a vignette plonked round is not the way forward. Which is what I expected, considering it was more of a ‘suck-it-&-see’ starting point.

 

 

There was a galvanising point later in the afternoon when I had an edit of the feather photos I had took in the morning. This shows the process of cropping, increasing the exposure, tweaking the highlights, shadows, white & black levels then sharpening.

 

 

This is the final image.

 

 

What is apparent, is that photographing feathers isn’t an easy option. There are lots of particular elements to take into consideration, including background, lighting, angle of shot, depth of field & composition. I’ll need to do a bit of research to get some tips on this.

I also had an idea of how to shoot my feathers. One possibility is creating Night of 100 Eyes. One symbolic aspect of peacock feathers is the eyes, said to be the eyes of Argus transformed by Hera in Greek mythology. I also had the song by Bobby Vee pop into my head.

 

 

I was thinking of creating a circular image (following on from the circles I saw at the V&A, plus Tawa (the Native American Hopi Indians deity) & the concept of the ‘feathered sun’.

But I only have 30 feathers. How can I make an image of 100? While walking home along the riverside from Richmond to Twickenham, I started to make some calculations. When I got home, I made the following sketch.

 

 

Create a quarter then combine it to make a whole circle. However, there could be issues with edges, numbers of ‘eyes’ & size of eyes. My next stage? Arranging feathers.