Story behind the image - Rapture
The ‘Story behind the image’ series of blogs are where I share the story behind one of my images, and this month the chosen image is Rapture.
In early 2017, the south terrace of the Tate Modern was transformed into an installation called London Fog, by the artist Fujiko Nakaya. The whole of the terrace was immersed in ‘fog’ and was animated using lights and sound. The installation was intended to be immersive and interacted with, and as such, people were continually moving in and out of the fog. ‘Rapture’ was made during a trip to the Tate Modern to see the installation.
No official photography of the installation was allowed, and anyone with anything remotely resembling a professional camera was asked to stop taking pictures by the on-site security. However, when I was approached by security and all they saw was my crappy plastic Holga film camera, they let me carry on.
There was a lot of luck involved in the final image. It was a slightly long exposure and it was impossible to focus. There was some strong sunlight shining through two buildings in the background and I knew that could help ground the composition and all I needed was someone to enter the frame, and thankfully someone did. The circles of light that presented themselves in the final image is the result of the mist used to create the fog getting on the lens. This was completely unplanned, but I feel like they add to the slightly surreal and abstract nature of the image.
The name ‘Rapture’ was chosen because I wanted to reflect the joy of someone moving through fog, and their open armed posture seemed to help reinforce the idea of enjoying a wonderful experience.
Rapture is available to buy as a print from my Store
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