But What Is It? was a 365-day task, beginning on January 1, 2017, and concluding on December 31, 2017, of observing the world around myself.
Presented as a series of black and white square photos, they offer a different perspective of the small beauties in the world that remain unnoticed during our busy lives. By playing with positive and negative space, light and shadow, and composition, I abstract the mundane, allowing my audience to explore it as if it were foreign. As the year progressed, however, I found myself focusing more and more on situations where the light is creating the eye-catching scenes, turning my project into a study of light. To quote American photographer Minor White, “The path my feet took was lined with images, whole gardens of pictures. With exposures I picked bouquets, each more vivid than the previous… finally a gathering of gem-like flames in the low tide.”
All photos are taken on my iPhone 5s, and later on my iPhone 7 Plus. All the photos were exclusively edited using the iOS' "Photos" app and then posted to my Instagram, @lizziemoophoto, once every day.
As one examines them, they view the things that I have noticed during my day-to-day life. A common misconception is that this series consists of macro shots, however, that is not the case. The abstraction is being created through the use of black and white edits. Often, I am anywhere between three and thirty feet from my subjects. As you go through the series, you may be able to recognize the subjects. Some may be easier to guess than others, but all of them were something before, and are now something else- at least until you ask, “But what is it?”
The series in its entirety can be viewed on my Instagram: @lizziemoophoto.
To view this work in exhibition: https://www.lizziemoophoto.com/photo-abstraction-show
