Severance

Inspiration for photography doesn’t always have to come from the photographic world and can come from many unexpected places such as art, film and even literature.

I have recently found inspiration in a series I have been watching on Apple TV, called Severance. It’s a very stylish, sort of dystopian thriller in which there are some gorgeous scenes.

I'm not going to go into any detail about the storyline here but the cinematography, design and style of the characters working environment is the thing that first interested me. The lighting and set are designed around an office complex of endless corridors, lifts and dreamlike spaces. The moody colour palette of blues, greens and accents of red is very stylish but with a claustrophobic and slightly nightmarish feel to it.

The series reminds me of the work and novels of J G Ballard, I've talked about his work before in a video about Inspiration, you can find on my youtube channel.

Bleak man-made spaces and the psychological effects of technological, social and environmental developments. There are also echoes of director David Lynch's films and Stanley Kubrick's 2001, especially with the ever-present low hum of authority, that pervades the environment and distracts your thoughts. It leaves you forever feeling that something bad is about to happen.

Watching Severance made we want to shoot using a little colour. I like how the pointed use of colour can really give that extra punch and point of interest to some images. The overall impression is of black and white and then bam, there is a hit of colour. But it needs to be complimentary to the composition and not upset the overall balance.

Severance certainly inspired me and got me wanting to hit the streets with my camera in search of ‘dystopia’.

Well worth the watch!

Severance is available on Apple TV