ICM
ICM - or Intentional Camera Movement, is a photography style that involves moving the camera at slow shutter speeds to produce movement and blur. The effects can cross into abstract territory or dance squarely within the impressionist camp. I’m happy to take it both ways although I’m experimenting mostly with impressionist images at present, which is to say I’m staying partially true to the original environment of the scene.
I began experimenting with ICM in late March of 2022. This came at a time when I felt my photography was completely stagnant. I’ve felt for years that I should be shooting more on the artistic side of things, and when this ultimately failed because of my choices of subject matter, save for street photography and maybe limited exploration with conceptual work, I wondered if I might just put photography down after a seven-year run. Fortunately, and I can say so far, a hiatus or worse has been staved off.
ICM has been difficult and dirty work. For those who haven’t experimented with this reckless form, you’re lucky if 1 in 100 shots is worth editing. I’ve heard many street photographers say this for their street work. I can only shake my head. If you have to take 100 street shots to get one good image then you’re doing something wrong. If you get 1 out of 100 ICM shots, then you’re having a good day. I’m having a good day. It’s not uncommon for me to take hundreds of shots of a single scene. For a few hours out in the field, it usually means well over 1,000 images to cull before arriving at a handful for possible editing, fewer yet to share.
Location has proven to be very important to me at the start of my ICM phase. Most of my shots have been taken at Versova Beach in Mumbai. There are a few reasons for this. There’s a lot of negative space to play with, for starters. I can isolate a subject with few distracting elements (I take them out anyway in post). There are also plenty of interesting subjects, people, animals, and things. Also, at this time of year arriving around 4 pm has proven to be a great time to catch the sun as it transcends into setting. The golden light has been inspirational to me, to say the least. With any luck, this comes through in some of these images.
I’ll have more to say on ICM in the coming months. And to prevent this section from busting out of its boundaries, I’ll likely be blogging and sharing images that way too. As for now, please enjoy my humble beginnings. Feel free to comment. Feel free to ask me, “How much for this print?”
