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The Series Evaluation

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Staging the Scene Evaluation

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Date: 9/3

Contact sheets from test shots at the location without the models. 

We tested the following aspects:

Angles and body language: In the end we decided to not have the models both sat down at the kitchen table but to have the man sat on a chair next to the table and the girl sat over the washing machine as this looked better and less boring/casual in the frame. This way we did better use of the space and could have a wider angle of the kitchen being showed in the picture. 

Lighting: We tested this in a number of different ways but in the end we placed one of the flashes outside of the room coming through a glass door with a yellow gel, we did this to make it look like a warm light such as sunshine was coming from outside to the kitchen. The second flash was placed in front of the models next to the camera to light the models properly, we used an umbrella on this one to make the light softer otherwise it was too obvious that the models were being lit by artificial light and we wanted it to look more natural. 

Smoke: One of the most important parts of the image was that the smoke from the cigarettes would be visible in the image so the viewer would know the models are smoking since its not a close up picture but the models are quite far away in the frame. To test this and since we had to cigarettes in hand, we used candles by blowing them out and shooting the image as soon as the candle went off to see if the smoke was visible and test with the lights to make it more visible. We realised that the smoke appeared more visible with a dark background behind it and with more light hitting the smoke itself. Although the smoke from candles isnt too big or visible in the shot we are hopping the smoke from the cigarettes will be. 

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Date: 26/02

First image: A drawing of how me and my group think the image will look like in the end. The girl (between 10 and 15 years old) next to the older man, both smoking. The girl looks at the man like admiring him or wanting to be more like him (older). The man looking elsewhere, distracted and away in his own thoughts. They are sat on the kitchen table, the girl in the corner and the man on the side. 

Second and third image: These are plans of the layout of lighting, models and props in the space where we are planning to shoot. The space will be a kitchen and we are planning to take the picture from a corner where the table will be the main prop in the image and both models will be sat down smoking. 

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Date: 15/2/2018

Jeff Wall ‘The smoker’ is our main inspiration for the group project. Although the requirements for the image include having two models so we will work around this in the next couple of weeks. 

This image tries to show the juxtaposition between the young model and the act of smoking which is often seen as a very adult thing to do. By exploring the complicated scene this image shows the public how someone of a young age would want to feel older or act like an older person because this is what children often do in order to feel superior or wanting to fit in society. 

Within the group we will come up with our own narrative for the image also by having in mind Wall’s narrative and using it for inspiration. 

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10/2/2018

Inspiration for group project: Tableau/fashion portraits/studio

Photographer: Tim Walker  (Vogue photographer)

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4/2/2018

Practicing and experimenting with the use of studio lighting for the first time wasn’t as complicated as it would appear. I chose the assignment where the picture had to represent some sort of ‘heroic’ appearance  so I decided to use the appropriate pose and lighting that would make just a simple person look rather ‘heroic’. 

Pose: In the Polaroid, Alana is posing with her chin up, looking forward and hands resting on her hips representing a very heroic pose often seen in hero movies such as Super Man. This body language indicates that the person feels satisfied or proud of representing something good in society, being the ‘good guy’ which fills them with pride and this is expressed to show the public who they are. 

Lighting: I placed a flash underneath the camera and the model which glows on the lower side of her face and body. This is to represent a light coming from under her that illuminates her indicating power/strength. This also creates a very dramatic contrasting shadow on her face that make her features more exaggerated resembling those of comic drawings in which Super Man appeared in. 

*The only thing I would change about this image is that her right eye looks too dark, therefore i would use perhaps a second flash pointing at the right side of her face in a very low power to get rid of the strong shadow on her eye. Alternatively I would use a reflector to reflect the light coming from the flash onto the other side of her face which would also be a bit weaker than the actual flash itself. 

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2/2/2018

Inspiration for Individual project 

Selected theme: Fashion portraits on location/studio 

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Self-Evaluation

Project Title

(How did this develop from your working title and what was involved in the decision making process?)

Working title: Time, Space, Light.

My project title of choice is ‘Alone at night’, I chose this title to describe with clarity what my pictures are about. For this project I focused on night time photography because I think it is an effective way of remarking and contrasting things such as light, time and space. Night time pictures can be good when the photographer needs to emphasise in things such as the detail of light sources, which was my main objective.

‘Alone at night’ refers not only to the lack of people in the streets at night which can be seen in my images, but also to the loneliness that the viewer feels when they look at these pictures.  

Subject

(Reflect on the subject matter of your project and the background research on this subject)

At the start of this project I knew I was going to focus on night time photography therefore I started researching photographers that did this and came across a very interesting artist called Josh Sinn. As I started considering his work, the one project that caught my attention was his series ‘Fogged up’ where he took pictures in various locations where there would be intense fog that would somehow manipulate and distort the light coming from different light sources such as street lamps, shops, cars, traffic lights, etc. I thought that Sinn’s images looked quite fantastic and that the concept and method of it was very experimental and interesting to try out.

As I started taking my camera outside in the cold, dark streets, I realised that getting fog in my images would be somewhat hard to do since this can be quite unpredictable, mostly in winter. I took pictures anyway without the fog and realised that I didn’t really dislike them even without the main idea not being met. Therefore, I decided to keep researching just in case my fog idea couldn’t be done and to get more ideas of how I could successfully create a series of pictures that met the project title.

Then I found another artist called Fergus Jordan who’s work looked a lot like what I wanted to accomplish which was night time pictures that have a lot of darkness in them but at the same time focus on the detail of city/urban light sources, even if the light only covers %10 of the image itself.

Lights can represent different moods depending on how warm or cold they are. This can also contrast with the main concept, if the light from a street lamp is warm, orange, yellow, this creates a juxtaposition with the darkness surrounding the light itself and therefore represent different moods. I came up with this idea after looking at Won Kar-Wai’s film ‘In the mood for love’ where he uses lights and colours to represent the mood or the feelings between the main characters.

Aims, Objectives, Concept

(How and to what extent have you have achieved the aims and objectives of your project? Describe the main concept driving your project.)

The main concept driving my project is the importance and uniqueness of different light sources. Without light there would be nothing, there wouldn’t be photography, there wouldn’t be a world or anything alive. Light is so important even when there is very little of it, this is what I am trying to show with my pictures.

I think I have successfully met this criterion because my images represent how dark the outside world can be which is shown with the darkness and blackness of the urban streets at night, most part of the image is dark with little to no detail, but there will always be a small piece of light there to show us some insignificant detail, or to represent the mood we are in depending on if the light is warmer, or colder. This created a huge juxtaposition within the pictures that I took, the darkness of the space which links to the time of day, against the source of very limited light and what this light might represent.  

Form, medium, presentation

(What is the final form and method of presentation of your work and why did you make these decisions?)

This project will be shown to the viewer in the form of prints being presented while describing the aim and concept of the photographs.

Research Methods

(What methods did you use to research this work and how did this research inform your project?)

Library: This being my main source of information and research, the library helped me a lot finding the relevant artists and inspiration that I wanted to use in order to create these images. It was very important to me to use the library correctly and thoroughly because these is unlimited sources of information that can help to find what I was looking for. By using the library search engine online I could have a look at the sources of information that were relevant to my research in this case night time photographers/photography and to be able to find books, photobooks, magazines and essays easily.

Other sources: photography galleries, the internet (tumblr, academic search engines)

References

(How useful were the references you explored – the artists, writers and filmmakers and how do you they helped in the development of your ideas?)

These methods of research helped me with the planning and creation of my project by giving me ideas and inspiring me to create the images I wanted to have by the end of my project.

Date: 11/12/2017

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Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘In the mood for love’ is a good example of inspiration when it comes to colours and tones that reflect the mood and atmosphere of an image. I am using this idea when taking and editing my own images. 

My images consist of night time urban landscapes that focus on light sources such as street lamps, shops and house windows. These light sources are mostly orange and yellowish, these are warm colours that often represent moods such as love or happiness (such as in the film In the Mood for Love) whereas on my pictures they represent warmth and light, which contrasts with the darkness of the image itself and the blackness of the streets at night. Darkness often represents emptiness and cold weather/temperature which are clear contrasting aspects between the light sources and the darkness that surrounds them in my images. 

Date: 8/12/2017

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Date: 27/11/2017

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These images will form part of my final pieces for the project Time Space Light. I really like these images because they link with my photographer research Fergus Jordan very strongly. I enjoy the atmosphere and looks that these images present, I also enjoyed taking these pictures because I got to experiment with the different sources of light and locations that brought to me these results that I feel mostly satisfied with. 

Settings: f 29 , 2′’

 ISO 800

Date: 5/12/2017

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Contact sheet from photo shoot 20/11/2017 made on Photoshop. 

Location: Wandsworth Common 

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Date:  28/11/2017

Artist: Fergus Jordan 

After much research, I feel that Jordan’s work ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ relates much more to the ideas and work I am trying to accomplish. 

By taking pictures in the dark, desolate streets of a small town in North Ireland, he displays the paranoia, loneliness and mysteriousness that can be sensed in these nighttime landscapes. Focusing on light sources, minimalist detail and composition, I will use these images as inspiration for my upcoming project Time, Space and Light. 

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Night time long exposures 

Aperture: f 5.6

Shutter speed: 4 seconds 

I like these images for many reasons. Firstly, as I tried to capture images in the fog (but failed) I found myself capturing at night time and locating various different and desolate environments which is one of the things I like about Sinn’s work. He uses these urban and unknown locations to make his images look unique.

 I find these images aesthetically pleasing because of the presence of detail and minimalist light in a very dark environment. Playing with the shutter speed allowed me to capture all three colours in the traffic light and helped the light spread through the atmosphere in the second image which makes it look quite mysterious, just like in Sinn’s images.

Date 26/11/2017

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25/11/2017

I took these pictures as a result of my idea for the project Time Space Light and the research I have done on Josh Sinn’s work ‘Fogged up’. I like the idea of playing with the shutter speed in a foggy night to see what results I get from different sources of light. 

I don’t feel very satisfied with the results I got because that night wasn’t as foggy as I would’ve liked it to be. To improve this I think I will have to wait for another foggy night but this time instead of taking the pictures after the sunset I will aim for the morning just before the sunrise when the fog will be more intense and it will still be dark, so maybe around 5 and 6 am. 

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Pictures by Josh Sinn.

As I was researching the topic Time Space Light I came across these pieces by Josh Sinn which particularly attracted my attention. These images present very clearly what the subject refers to, being night time shots the qualities of these images are quite distinctive and have a lot to say about the subject. Firstly, we can notice they are long exposures because the camera has allowed the light to travel across the location with the help of some fog, already, the three words have been mentioned, time=shutter speed, space=fog,darkness and light=lights from shops/street lights. Everything fits in nicely in these images. 

I enjoy these images because I think it would be quite interesting to experiment with all the tools (light, space and time) to be able to create the images I want. Also, it would be my first attempt on shooting at night time as I am more used to day light and this would mean a challenge that I am willing to accept and learn from.