Retreat

The word retreat has mostly two meanings.

1. An act of leaving or backing away especially from something dangerous, difficult or disagreeable.
2. A place of privacy or safety

I wished to create a photograph and story that would embody both, as sometimes we need to do both when life throws too much at us. I wanted to create a photograph that would make you feel safe and calm, but also set you off on the right foot again.

In regards to colour psychology, I knew green would be the colour I needed, the one and only colour. I searched around my property at the millions of shades of green until I found the right one.

The green I was looking for needed to be bright but also subdued, it needed to be generous but also reserved, it needed to call you in but also send you back on your way… On my property there is an absolute abundance of green. We have pines, gums, wattle leaves, oak and grape leaves, bottle brush leaves, grevillea leaves… all of different shades of green and different shapes.

I had flowers in my back garden

With the perfect shade and also the perfect shape, and as a bonus it also had visable lines embedded in the leaf structure, a grain as such.

I knew I wanted a portrait/vertical orientation for this story so the viewer would be looking up and down as opposed of course, to looking from left to right. I wanted the viewer to look up and down as a reflection of their possible mind set. Looking down being reflective of their darker more negative emotions, and looking up as a reflection of their brighter more positive emotions. For this reason it was also imperative to me that I had the lightest area of the photograph at the top and the darkest at the bottom. The lines that flow in the leaves would also help with keeping the vertical movement.

Colour Psychology

When we look at a photograph, our eye naturally takes us to the lightest/brightest area.

If you look now at the photograph Retreat, your eye will keep going back to the top right section. Your mind wants you to go there, even if you look towards the bottom, your mind and your eye will take you back to the lightest/brightest section. This is where you will leave the photograph. You will leave this photograph looking up with your head held high.

The colour green makes us feel: Renewal, acceptance, solitude, focus and contemplation.

In my mind I had a perfect visual of what I wished to create here which is a good thing, but it also provides a bit of a challenge in achieving what I am aiming for. I have a high standard with my work and when I have a perfect visual in my mind, I simply can’t rest until I hit the mark better than what I hoped for.

I needed curves in this image, curves flow softly and have a caring, gentle energy to them. Straight lines are a lot harsher than flowing, curvy lines. Curvy lines also slow you down. A straight line has a fast, direct, almost urgent flow where curved lines force you to slow down and give you a more positive experience as your eye travels through.

Slowing down is a very important aspect of the message this photograph sends.

What the photograph Retreat does for people

If you can imagine a person who may be in a bit of a panic, possibly headed on a path towards a negative bank of emotions. They would need someone to grab hold of them, slow them down, get them to take a deep breath, help them to feel calm and supported, so they can take a moment to gather their thoughts, reset their frame of mind and leave in a better place. In a nutshell this is what this photograph needs to do, but without any obvious intervention. It needs to happen subconsciously without any work required on the viewers part, as they may not be in the frame of mind to recognise the need to actively think or acknowledge the benefits.

Almost like what those inspirational posters aim to do with a photo of a sunset and a motivational quote printed over for you to read. But with Retreat, it reaches your subconscious mind without you even realising, and gives you several messages without you having to read a quote and process the information.

The impact of this single, seemingly simple photograph is astounding. My goal with this photograph is to grab your attention, hold you, give you a moment to rest to reset and then turn you around and send you back on your way.

The story for Retreat is: So peaceful, so serene. Retreat takes you in and holds clear space for you. Where you can just be, allow yourself to feel the full spectrum of your emotions. Embrace them, accommodate, unravel and release. Walk out the other side renewed and recharged.

The smaller, super special details

As with all of my photographs in The Humble Hunter portfolio, Retreat was taken with my macro lens. This is a close section about 1 inch in size of two leaves with just the right amount of curves. The depth of field (depth of focus) is shallow intentionally. As you look at this photograph your brain aims to find areas to focus on. Your eye will see sections that are not in sharp focus and it will try to make sense of them before searching for a section that is in sharp focus. This is something our brain is hardwired to do. Though as we go through that motion, we are unknowingly immersed in the colour green and receiving the psychological benefits in the process. Having areas of the photograph in and out of focus keep our interest for much longer than having the who image in sharp focus would, allowing us to be enveloped in greens therapy. We are also able and allowed to wallow just for a short while in the dark well towards the bottom of the photograph.

Here is most likely the place where your experience will start. Upon viewing, your eye will most likely enter the focus in the lighter, focused section top right, and will be taken down to the lower well of darkness via the natural lines or the curved line, both of which are in sharp focus. You will dwell in the darkness, you will dive deep and stay for a while. In this darkened section I made sure the line between the two leaves was so far out of focus, and so far into the shadows that the dividing line completely disappears. I wanted the viewer to know that in the darkness there is no seperation, no division, and that they are not there in the depths alone.

You will then come out, most likely heading to the left as your brain seeks an area of sharper focus that makes sense. This shade of green on the lower left feels better, it feels a lot calmer and slower. It makes you feel peaceful, lowering your heart rate and slowing your breathing.

Your eye will travel upward and your brain will notice the focus drops off, taking you across to where the curved line will pick you up and carry you higher. You may wander through this process a few more times if you wish. You may exit on the top right where it is brighter. This ride is made possible with intentional lighting, and camera techniques.

You will leave in a better place

You will retreat into the Retreat, and leave in a better place. No other person is required, no instructions are necessary, Retreat will automatically hold your hand and walk you through.

This photograph did come with its challenges. Getting the two leaves which were actually about 5 inches long each, to behave and sit where I wanted them to involved many small blobs of Blu Tack on the underside. The leaves kept falling away from each other, one would sit higher than the other. I think in all I spent about 4-5 hours and took many, many test shots before I was finally happy. What I have here though is one of my favourites in the portfolio. I have it in my living room, it always calls me. I seem to gravitate towards it. This photograph is one of my favourite places to be.

Thank you so much for being here,

The Humble Hunter x

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