WORK / ART DIRECTION / PHOTOGRAPHY
EYELAND:
Directing Duality in Photography
CLIENT
Self-initiated
ROLE
Art Director · Photographer
COLLABORATOR
Jemel May Ganal
YEAR
2021
The same subject, seen from two sides at once
Every creative decision in EYELAND was made in service of a single idea: duality as dimension, not contradiction. The location choices, the lighting, the direction given to subjects, the edit—all of it was designed to sit in between states rather than resolve into one. This is art direction as conceptual thinking, not just set dressing. EYELAND is a pure collaboration between the minds of Jemel May Ganal and Emilia Zibaei.
ART DIRECTION APPROACH
EYELAND began with a concept before it had a visual: the idea that the same subject contains multitudes and that duality isn't contradiction but dimension. My role as art director was to make that concept physical: choosing locations that held tension between environments, directing the subject toward expressions that sat between states, and editing the final sequence to create a visual dialogue rather than a series of isolated images. As Photographers, our goal was to shoot and edit the subject in our own styles, honing in on the theme of duality at its core.
KEY CREATIVE DECISIONS
Three choices that defined the visual world
Available light only: Artificial lighting introduces a point of view too clearly. Available light preserves the rawness of each environment and forces the subject to exist within the space rather than be lit against it.
Black and white processing as a core editing element: Removing colour removes the most immediate layer of information and forces the viewer to read form, texture, and expression. It slows looking down. Duality becomes more visible when there are fewer distractions.
Intentional subject and props: One subject, one set of props: honey and florals. No redos, no resets. As she moved through the space we moved with her, following rather than directing. The shoot had one continuous energy rather than a series of posed moments.
