Title: Flight and Flow
The Portsmouth Kite Festival happened just after the other two narrative projects and was a great opportunity to carry on with some trial and error in terms of capturing the story of my experience of the event. The weather was very mixed ranging from brilliant sun to thick, dense cloud. This forced me to work hard in terms of getting the right exposure and as a result some shots were definitely more successful than others.
I really liked the shapes and forms and colours with everything from stunt and fighting kites to cherubs and pink elephants, though they were quite difficult to do justice against such a variable sky. I did however become interested in watching the kite flyers in their comfort zones, they were completely in the flow (Czikszentmihalyi, 1997), absolutely absorbed in their kites.
Having seen these elements I tried to capture images that told a narrative of contrasts between crowds and chaos, and individuals absorbed in their own space.
References:
Czikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.
