The Genre of ICM & Creative Photography
“Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.” -Henri Cartier-Bresson
ICM is one of my favourite genres. ICM (Intentional Camera Movement), takes photography beyond the literal to an invisible world, opening up limitless possibilities. I’m trying to get closer to the core of my creative self: more abstract, minimalist, impressionistic, and pictorialist images. I was raised and influenced by such art on our walls at home. ICM is not everyone’s cup of tea, though..
Most photos were taken at a +- 1.5-1/20th sec shutter speed, lowest ISO possible, high f-stops of +- f/16-f/22, and occasionally with a variable ND filter, on brighter days. ICM involves giving the camera a subtle jiggle while shooting. It’s a very hit-and-miss, unpredictable affair, I’ll often find only a couple, if any, out of a hundred, worth saving.
To quote Eva Polak, a master of Impressionist Photography, “..it's all about finding the right combination of camera movement and exposure time that works best for you”.
If this medium of photography interests you, I recommend visiting Eva Polak’s website. I’ve bought several of her ebooks and courses, and they have been instrumental in my understanding of the process. She produces lovely images, worthy of gracing any wall.
Frolickers. Witsands.
Shimmering Sea. Kommetjie.
Elderly couple sea-gazing, Fishhoek beach.
My variegated Yukka, taken at 1.5 sec in a howling wind.
Three surfers. Dunes.
Autumn Poplars. Noordhoek Common.
Stormy day, Misty Cliffs.
ICM is not to be confused with Intentional motion blur, where you are panning with the subject, to convey a feeling of movement, as with this photo of the amazing horsemen from Dunes Stables, giving their young fillies a morning workout on Noordhoek beach.
I remember going to Brands Hatch in 1980, with my new Nikon FMII, to take photos of the F1 racing. I didn’t know what I was doing (even though I was attending The NY Inst of Photography correspondence course at the time). The racing cars looked stationary as if parked on the track, utterly boring!
Dogwalker, Noordhoek. Through ICM, I was able to combine two of my favourite genres- minimalism and impressionism.
If you go, I’ll go. Langebaan.
Angelic apparitions. Misty Cliffs.
Windsurfer & bather, Langebaan.
Feathering Wave, Kommetjie.
Lost in thought. Kommetjie.
Silvermine Nature Reserve.
Let me find it, then.. Seaforth beach.
Bruno, Kommetjie.
Bruno
Coming in hot. Kommetjie.
The Lady with 7 Dogs. Kommetjie.
And again.. Kommetjie.
Terns, lots! Kommetjie.
The Retro Umbrella. Witsands
Lovers, thinking about anything but the view.. Muizenberg.
Pensive boy. Long Beach, Kommetjie.
Soccer Mom. Witsands.
It’s drizzling in town.
