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I call this seris:

So Many People Are Afraid Of Dying That They Have To Stop Living

I think overall these are my favourite shots as I love the compositions and the colours, the really high saturated shots but joined with the sadness of the situation really creates this unusual atmosphere because it looks like it should be so bust but it just isn’t.

Without the explination of the Coronavirus, these shots just look like normal everyday shots but the explination really adds a level of understanding and makes the shots have emotion tattooed to them.

The world at the moment is crazy and we are living through it. I hope these shots can be seem in the future and people will remember or discover what living through this was really like. The empty roads, the bored days, the pain of not being able to see family on top of the fear of death.

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For this shot I used a plastic bottle and a traditional turkish Cay glass. I used a continuous light set up to get some light and edited the colours in photoshop afterwards.

I think this shot is really interesting as you can’t really tell what it is. The colours really oppose the black surrounding making the photo have really good aesthetics.

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Bibliography

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- Pixels and Wanderlust. (2020). What Are Vantage Points And How To Use Them Photography – Pixels and Wanderlust. [online] Avaliable at:https://pixelsandwanderlust.com/vantage-point-in-photography/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020]

- LensCulture, V. (2020). Photography and Humanity: Understanding the Genius of Paul Strand - Exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum | LensCulture. [online] LensCulture.  Available at:  https://www.lensculture.com/articles/victoria-and-albert-museum-photography-and-humanity-understanding-the-genius-of-paul-strand  [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

- Godwin, F. (2020). Fay Godwin Photographer | Biography & Information | wotfoto.com. [online] Wotfoto. Available at: https://wotfoto.com/photographers/fay-godwin [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

- Cain, A. (2020). What You Need to Know about William Eggleston.  [online] Artsy. Available at:  https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-what-you-need-to-know-about-william-eggleston  [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

- Itsnicethat.com. (2020). “All you see is lazy photography everywhere”: Martin Parr in conversation with It’s Nice That.  [online] Available at:  https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/martin-parr-in-conversation-photography-090919  [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

- Demilked. (2020). This Artist Combines Photos From Different Parts Of The World To Show The Contrast Between Them. [online] Available at: https://www.demilked.com/contrast-between-worlds-ugur-gallen/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].

- Smithson, A., 2020. The CENTER Awards: Project Launch 1St Place Winner: Guy Martin. [online] LENSCRATCH. Available at: <http://lenscratch.com/2014/05/center/> [Accessed 11 March 2020]

- profile, V., 2020. Gregory Crewdson: Twilight + Sanctuary.  [online] Alpinesmusic.blogspot.com. Available at:  <http://alpinesmusic.blogspot.com/2011/01/gregory-crewdson-twilight-sanctuary.html>  [Accessed 11 March 2020].

- Vam.ac.uk. 2020. Photographs By Gregory Crewdson - Victoria And Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/gregory-crewson/> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

- Sternfeld, J., 2012. On This Site. [Göttingen, Germany]: Steidl Pub.

- Digitaljournalist.org. 2020. Tom Stoddart's Iwitness - The Digital Journalist. [online] Available at: <http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0409/stoddart_intro.html> [Accessed 12 March 2020].

- Simon Lee. 2020. Hans-Peter Feldmann, Untitled.  [online] Available at:  <https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/51-hans-peter-feldmann/works/3090/>  [Accessed 12 March 2020].

- Avedon, R., 2020. Richard Avedon Photography, Bio, Ideas. [online] The Art Story. Available at: <https://www.theartstory.org/artist/avedon-richard/> [Accessed 14 March 2020].

-  British Film Institute. 2020. Richard Billingham On Ray & Liz: ‘I Lived Through The Thatcher Era, And It Was Horrible If You Were Poor’.  [online] Available at:  <https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/interviews/richard-billingham-ray-liz>  [Accessed 25 March 2020].  

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This photograph represents the ‘social distancing’ between friends, family and loved ones. It shows that during this pandemic we can’t spend time or even touch the ones closest to us. But the joy on their faces show that even these small actions such as seeing eachother through a window mean the most to us at times like this.

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I decided to take 1 photo of myself everyday to form a collage of photographs of each day in lockdown.

I thought this was a fun and unique idea to keep me busy and get some shots for this project. It doesn’t really follow anything I have previously done but I thought it would be a good experiment I could do These are the shots I have got so far.

I have really enjoyed this and think it is something I will contin doing.

I used continuous light set up consisting of 2 normal bulb lights, 1 unbrella and 1 soft box, so 4 lights in total.

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I was so proud of this photograph of the pink moon.

This got reposted by Nottinghamshire Live on their instagram and 2 other photography instagram accounts.

I decided to sit outside during the pink moon to try and capture it. I think I went out at the wrong time as it was not the colour I was wanting however this shot I am proud of because it is something I have ony tried once before.

I wish there was stars in the shot also but previously when I was trying to capture start I had to use a really long shutter and aperture to be able to ssee them so I think you would loose all the detail in the moon. I think to do that you would have to layer two photographs you have taken.

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Fire

This shot is a shot of fire. Burning materials such as metal and wood.

I love this shot and think it looks sso good because I used a fast shutter so I could capture the individual flames. I took this photo when it was between day and night so it was quite challenging to get the settings right because of the light and it changing. I had to use a fast shutter but that made the surrounding areas too dark so I adjusted my aperture to around f.6.3 but this has to keep changing due to the day geting darker. My ISO always was kept at 100.

I really love the colours in this shot and think it makes a brilliant photograph.

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I had to try and find some good aesthetically pleasing scenes and objects in my house and my gardens. The challenge was to see how I can make these interesting and not just normal household objects.

I decided to play around with vantage point and focus.

I shot this bike from low down to make it seem bigger than it actually was. This did not work incredibly well however I think I kind of got the basis of it. Despite it not being taken at a low enough angle, I love how this shot turned out and am really pleased with the aesthetics and affect. I think I have successfully captured a shot that doesn’t look as everyday as it is.

I think I want to experiment with capturing fire next.

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The Contrast My Shoot

Days before the lockdown I was walking through a shop and decided to document what I saw. I have only just looked at the shots now and realised that I have captured 2 really real and shocking photographs which really show the truth about this experience.

This shot to the normal eye is a row of suitcases on a shelf in a shop but this shot shows the sad truth that flights have been stopped so people cannot go abroad. It shows how the air industry is going to suffer and people have lost their holidays and trips away. The shelfs act as leading lines to direct the audiences eyes all along the isle of full suitcases and travel bags which elongates it causing more of an emotional impact. Most people living through this can relate to this shot as a lot of people have lost their flights, including me.  For this shot I used: ISO 200, 1/80 shutter and f.5.0.

The shot about contrasts with this shot. It is the same shop but this shelf is the toilet roll section. During this pandemic, English have been bulk and panic buying toilet rolls which has resulted in no stores having any toilet rolls for other people to buy. Scenes like this are very very common in nearly every shop in England. It is shocking and I am so glad I have got a shot like this to show future generations what it was like. I decided to get another set of shelves on the left hand side o add more depth to the photograph and create a more interesting composition. This also is empty so it adds to the validity of people panic buying. For this shot I used: ISO 200, 1/80 shutter and f.5.0.

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Edit Of My Photo

Previously I have researched Ugur Gallenkus which is a Turkish graffic designer who matches up two contrasting photographs to show the drastic differences between countries; privilaged and unfortunate. I was thnking how I could use his work in my work now. I was looking through my shots trying to see which ones would aline up and would go together.

These two shots are obviously of shop fronts which are closed due to the Coronavirus and lockdown. I thought these two would go together because they are really simmilar and line up almost perfectly. This really shows the true impact of the virus on businesses and that everyone has the same problem. I think if I was to do this again I would try and get both sides looking the same exposure and maybe edit the photo on the right to make it the same length as the one on the left. This would be good symmetry and would make the composition really aesthetically pleasing.

I am really happy with this experiment, I am glad I did research into Ugur and I have taken the research and made my own twist on it.

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Richard Billingham

‘I lived through the Thatcher era, and it was horrible if you were poor’ - Billingham

I thought Billingham would be a good artist to research because his shots are all indoors and are about family. This is something I want to experiment with and see if I can get family shots which show what my house is doing while we are all on lockdown. His shots are very real and are quite unflattering but this makes them more trust worthy.

I like this shot because it is something that everyone can relate to. He has not tried to glorify his shots, he has just kept them real and because of this the shots are very explicit and don’t really need any added explination. The colours are not bright, they are quite dull which makes the scene feel old and like a negative time

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Quick Unplanned Shoot

Today I went out for a walk and took my camera. I didn’t plan any shoot, I just wanted to take my camera out incase I saw something that was interesting. The first shot was: ISO 100, 1/125 shutter and f.6.3. The second shot was: ISO 100, 1/80 shutter and f.5.0.

I saw this fence with barbed wire and thought it was interesting and because it was red it would fit really nicely into my theme of high saturation and vibrance. During this time, this is what many people would/are feeling like; trapped. The red represents the warning to people. If they don’t listen to the advice been given by the government, the restrictions will get worse. I think this is a good shot because although it is not directly showing the effects of this on society, it conveys the emotions and feeling of the people without being explicit about it.

This shot was the entrance to a shop which is normally really busy. Poeple are not allowed to be out so the walkway is empty and all the trolleys are completely untouched. I used a low number aperture for this so the end of the walkway is not in focus. If I was to retake this I would use a higher aperture number so all the shot can be in focus as I think this would look more pleasing and that paired with the leading lines would really direct the audiences eves down to the end of the path.

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So Far...

Obviously I had to change my idea due to the Coronavirus. So far I think I have started off really strong in getting really good shots which show the change in society and our habitat and have good aesthetically pleasing compositions which catch the audiences attention.

I think I 100% need to do some more research into photographers which do documentary shots. Photographers which are like Tom Stoddart. This will give me a better idea on what other photographers use technique wise to build up a good composition and series.

I also want to try some indoor shots like in my house to show the change now we are all under lockdown however I will still continue to do outside shots during my 1 walk.

I also want to try and make a book as a possible presentation. I will possibly try Japanese book binding technique or simple gluing technique.

I think so far I have done well and I am liking the direction this project is going.

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My Shoot

My shoot was successful! As I was stationary at a petrol station, I saw this man filling up an additional tank of petrol so he does not run out or if maybe in the future the petrol stations have to close, he has spare. I really love this shot. I love the composition how it follows the Rule Of Thirds as the mans silver car is on the right line. I also love how it is not staged so you can really get a feel for the struggle and the worry in the world at the moment.

High saturation makes a photograph more vibrant and alive which is the complete opposite to how the world is at the moment and thats why I want to keep this going through out my photographs. It not only makes them look like a complete seris, it also I think makes it makes them unique as you would expect a serious documentary seris about a world crisis to be black and white to keep it formal and educational. I think the high saturation emphasises that it is mordern and the world still is full of these beautiful colours which have always been there and just because things are changing within society doesn’t mean the beauty has been taken away. For this shot I used: ISO 200 (This is because the petrol station was very dark and I was taking it from inside a car) 1/180 shutter (to try and bring up the exposure) and f.5.0 (beause this also helped to bring up the exposure). I wanted to use a high number aperture originally because I wanted everything to be in focus however I think the low number aperture works well in this photograph as it puts more emphasis on the main subjects of the photograph.

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Shoot Plan

My shoots previously where based on street photography. Now I want to see if I can focus in on trying to capture some people and the differences between that they normally do compared to now. So far I have just focused on street photography really and it would be nice to get some people in the shots.

I don’t know exactly what I want to get but I am going to walk through my town and some areas and see what I can find.

I want to continue with the high saturated shots and I want to shoot them from head height because this will mirror what I can see and put people into the position of living through this.

I plan to use a high number aperture so everything is in focus and I want to always try to use ISO 100 to have minimal noise on my photograph.

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My Shoot

These are shots I took in my town while walking down the strees. I wanted to get some different viewpoints and not just the stereotypical shots that you initially think of. I was just experimenting with trying to document the effects of the Coronavirus on local businesses and day to dat life.

This I came across and I wanted to capture the ‘TAKEAWAY ONLY’ sign but I had the problem of the front of the shop was all glass. To subtract my reflection from the shot I decided to shoot from side on and place the sign on the left Line Of Thirds. This makes the audience focus in on it more and although it is small, it pushes it to be one of he main focal points of the photograph. I really really like this shot because the reflections in the glass add depth and layers to the shot which makes it more interesting and aesthetically pleasing. For this shot I used: ISO 100, 1/125 shutter and f.6.3.

I thought this was interesting because this shows that even bin men aren’t coming as regularly to come and collect rubbish from businesses. This was shocking to me because it was on the main high street which is supposed to be clean and maintaned because it is the main point in the town. I love the bright colours as it adds depth and interest to the photograph. The bin stands out because it is a very contrasted colour in comparison to the blue shop and grey flooring. For this shot I used: ISO 100, 1/125 and f.6.3.

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My Shoot

I went into my town to document the effects it is having on local businesses. As you can see they are all closed and the streets are empty. Humans social lives and businesses have stopped. This is history! I am so happy I have captures a part of history. It is a very negative thing and is something that needs to be documented.

5 days ago this fruit and veg shop had a line out of the door; people bulk buying. 5 days later it is shut up and closed until further notice. This is really bad for the economics of the country and really shows the destruction this virus is having on society. This shot I like because the shop is rectangular and filling the frame and following the line of the outer edge of the photograph. These all paired together makes the audience really focus in on the photograph. Obviously this photograph without added context meaningless so I do think presentation wise they need to be paired with a short passage to explain what it is actually about. I used: ISO 100, 1/125 shutter and f.6.3. 

This shot is similar to the shot above but more zoomed out and I think this is good and really emphasises ‘small businesses’ which are most effected by this. The business being black and white and the surrounding being bright and vibrant shows that life still goes on even if everything else is at a standstill. I also think is makes the composition so much more strong that the shop is the sme shape as the outer edge of the photograph itself as it acts like a frame within a frame which is a good technique to use to draw the audience in. For this shot I used:ISO 100, 1/80 shutter and f.6.3.

This shot can be compared to my previous shot of the fruit and veg market. Normally this high street is full of people and markets where as today it is not busy and is like a ghost town. It was a sunny and beautiful day but yet there is no/very little people around andd this shows how serious and scary it is at the moment. I hope I have captured educational shots to show the effects of this pandemic. I like shots like this because they aren’t staged and you can’t control what you are going to capture as much as if you was in a comtrolled studio. For this shot I used: ISO 100, 1/125 shutter and f.11.