We recently shared some thoughts about the power of audio, and how audio can be a powerful tool in delivering reality.
In this post we’re going to add another element - photography.
THE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Really, it was photography that got us going as a business. A passion for capturing real moments in the lives of ordinary people over the past few years that just kept on growing.
Pictures like these - captured in the Hawker Centres of Singapore:
Looking at them now, we can still hear the sounds - the clattering woks and fierce gas burners a constant under the shouted Singlish from ‘Auntie’ or ‘Uncle’ to their customer. We can still smell the incredible range of scents… from durian to carrot cake, satay to Bak Kwa… oh my God… the BAK KWA!
But only we can remember those sounds and smells because we were behind the lens when the moment was captured.
The photography becomes an entry point for our memories to go back and feel the moment.
But what about you - the reader - who wasn’t there? How can you feel more beyond a photograph?
"Imagination is the essence of photography. Beyond the lens, it's the mind's eye that truly captures the essence of a moment." - Ansel Adams
WHY NOT JUST USE VIDEO?
Of course, if we had filmed the moments above we’d be able to capture the sounds at least (unfortunately not the smells - yet).
But we’d also lose those individual split-seconds in time above. We’d be presented with 24 of those snapshots every single second.
Which - in the right situation - has a lot of benefits.
But those moments above… The fleeting glances. The expressions. The energy captured. They’d be stretched out and homogenised if we relied on film too much.
A VISIT TO THE ARCADES
Recently we visited Seaton Carew. A traditional British seaside town (and our ‘local’ fun day out when we were growing up). And yes, it is the place where the canoe guy lived…
Instead of taking a video camera, we took the microphones and took some photographs as an experiment.
PLAYING AIR HOCKEY
Here is a clip of my wife and daughter playing Air Hockey… with me joining in… and the voices of my dad, his partner and my auntie and uncle in the background.
Now, as you listen to that and look at that static image, your imagination is joining the dots. You’re more aware of the energy of the discs, the energy of my daughter(!), the number of discs, maybe you even build up a picture of who is winning.
Your brain is creating the story from the static image and the sounds. If this were a film of the same moment your brain doesn’t need to do that, it just needs to watch and passively take in the information.
Yet because you’re having to piece the reality together yourself, you’re invested in it. You’re guessing if your version of the reality is the ‘true’ version of reality.
THE BALLS GAME
Now - listen to the below. It’s my daughter inside a cubicle with my dad stood outside speaking to her.
Now, because the image I’ve chosen is the actual moment the balls are released, you’re anticipating that moment. You know it’s coming, so the moments that lead up to it you’re taking in but knowing they will pass.
The image is telling your brain to wait for the energetic release moment.
This moment would be lost if it was moving images as you’d move into the next moment immediately and focus more on the question of “will she pick up all the balls or not?”
The photograph is influencing what you take from the audio.
IF I ONLY HAVE A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL
Every debrief is different, and different clients benefit from a different mix of the mediums we’ve been talking about to deliver the reality they are seeking.
Some want ‘the answer’ laid out as clearly as possible, some want the reality and some observations and provocations.
Either way, understanding the relative merits of different mediums and how they blend together is something we’re always thinking about and experimenting with.