📸 Photo series #24: Playing with shadows

By Aslı Gönen

Greetings everyone ✨,

In today's edition, thanks to Aslı Gönen, a woman street photographer from Istanbul, we are going to explore the power of exposure for the highlights to transform ordinary moments into captivating compositions.
Shadows can serve as natural frames, guiding the viewer's gaze toward the main subject of the image. This can capture attention on the subject, creating a visual context that enhances the composition.
Shadows can also introduce a sense of depth, making the scene more three-dimensional and engaging.
In summary, we sincerely hope that this photo series will inspire you to explore this technique, especially if it's new to you, and take pride in your work.

Make yourself comfortable with a good coffee and enjoy the photos! ☕️

Dark Souls by Aslı Gönen

⏱️ Reading time: 4 min

We have all experienced this feeling throughout our lives. In fact, these events have been important turning points for us.

As a result of these choices, our fate changes and we are left in limbo like dark souls left in front of bright, colorful backgrounds like in these photos.

Written and shot by Aslı Gönen.

Who’s behind the lens?

Describe yourself as a photographer and where you are based

My name is Asli Gonen, I live in Turkey, in a small city in Central Anatolia. I was particularly interested in art, painting and with the introduction of the Internet and digital photography in our lives, I eventually turned to photography. I did not receive any training in photography. I developed myself completely by my observations and reading. I practiced on the streets all the time. Being on the streets, documenting those ordinary, simple moments makes me happy. From the first moment I became interested in photography, I was only interested in street photography. I also like to add my own shadow, silhouette or reflection to the composition, this gives me pleasure.

As Saul Leiter said, “I happen to believe in the beauty of simple things. I believe that the most uninteresting thing can be very interesting.” By adopting this saying as my philosophy, I try to discover those short moments and beauties in our daily rush. I have taken part in various national and international exhibitions, in addition, some of my photos were published as book covers by national and international publishing houses.

I am a founding member of @womeninstreetturkey page and a member of Progressive-street.

Your favorite camera and lens

Fujifilm XT30 II 15-45 mm lens.

Your 3 favorite places to shoot

İstanbul, Eskişehir, Antalya.

Your favorite photographers and where you get inspired.

Saul Leiter, Vivian Maier, Lee Friedlander, Alex Webb, Ara Güler.

Social media links & interviews

Instagram : @gonenasli
Flickr: @asligonen

Interviews:
🔗 UP
🔗 The Pictorial List
🔗 Street Photography Foundation
🔗 Progressive Street
🔗 Bumpbooks
🔗 121clicks

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