Overview

This assignment required a subject that might be considered “unphotographable” The first requirement of the process was to identify subjects that fit this remit. I identified the following:

• Ageing
• Belonging
• Being myself
• Anonymity
• Worry / anxiety
• Love
• Loss / grief

Any of these ideas could have been used as the subject matter for such a photographic assignment. But right now, in the midst of a global pandemic, at a time when our government, scientists  and the country as a whole are struggling to find answers I find myself locked down at home.  My employment is suspended without end in sight but I am not alone. Across the country millions of people are in the same position, pub’s cafe’s restaurants and all but essential shops are closed, social distancing measures are enforced and our population’s movement is restricted. Considering the above, the answer to the question as to what subject matter to use for this exercise is obvious, it has to be “Pandemic”. 

Approach

Background

UK lockdown regulations meant that spending time outdoors was limited additionally that time had to be for essential shopping or exercise. We were permitted to take a camera with us when exercising but that didn’t extend to spending hours outside looking for a photographic opportunity. With travel by car restricted I had to plan how I could capture the images I wanted. 

Planning Tools

Apple Notes app was used on both iPad and phone to keep notes of ideas as they developed over time.  Mind maps were used to consolidate my thinking, the outcome of which were transferred onto lists for prioritisation. The lists were not entirely prescriptive but used to guide my eye when out with my camera. A necessary approach given the limited time available outside the home under lockdown.

Image Capture

Over the course of several weeks I used a variety of cameras including my iphone to capture potential images, the size of the device chosen to fit either a need for discretion, portability or image quality. However, in post production it became apparent that the images created on the iphone were not of a good standard. 

Typology

I used varying photographic styles including; candid, documentary and portrait. it was my intention to present these images together in a reportage style where they create an emotional response from the viewer. Following feedback from my tutor I edited the final set to bring more uniformity, electing to drop the images using text to convey a message in favour of more connotative imagery. The typological relationship between the final images was further strengthened by both the colour grading and the portrait orientation of all images in the set.

Post Processing

Because the images were captured in various cameras it was necessary to spend time equalising the tonal ranges and making them look more cohesive. My intent was to colour grade the images to have the look and feel of stills from the  dystopian movie “Contagion”. To achieve this look movie stills were downloaded from the internet and imported into Lightroom. Suitable examples served as reference images whilst developing to produce a similar feel. Camera Calibration, Curves and HSL adjustments were used to add a level of Teal and Orange, to crush the blacks and pull down the highlights to create a flatter image. Grain was added and the image softened to create the required look. 

Editing

Because of the lockdown it was difficult to capture as many images as I would have liked. I eventually had to accept that I would need to work with what I had. Lightroom’s star rating and filter options were used to trial a number of edits. Printed contact sheets were used to make a closer selection before moving to individual printed 6X4 images which were printed and  “lived with”  Following tutor feedback the original selection has been reworked and additional images added to the supplement the original set.

Influences

The emotion of a pandemic needed more than icon centric imagery to convey it, I have sought to convey through metaphor and connotation the fear and unease created by this unseen and potentially deadly assailant.  

Peter Mansell’s work “Paralysis (Mansell P. (2016) Peter Mansell Imagery (online), Weebly.com website, available from: https://paralysed.weebly.com/#, last accessed 09/04/2020. where both his imagery and relay text support far more meaningful connotations than a non-coded iconic reading of the subject matter.

Robert Frank’s “The Americans”  Frank’s mix of industrial and street views with candid images of its inhabitants demonstrates how it is possible to capture the essence of a location and a time. 

The use of colour grading in cinematography for emotional or psychological effect  influenced my approach to his assignment. The film Contagion describes, in far more dramatic terms, a global pandemic similar to that in which we currently find ourselves. The Colour grading in the film helps convey trauma, fear, despair amongst many other emotions on a subconscious level. I have sought to convey similar emotion to the viewer by colour grading my still images to replicate a “disaster movie” feel.

Images

Reflection

I found candid photography difficult and the results were poor. I felt far more comfortable stepping back and capturing people moving within a scene, similar to the approach used in exercise 1.3. I used a model for close up images which immediately made the capture process easier. 

Reflection in the images of shop windows created the problem. I tried different times of day and used a circular polarising filter but overall results were poor. 

The use of colour grading to shape an emotional response from the viewer worked. When comparing the original images straight out of camera  with the final selection the sense of unease if apparent, however individual viewers may  have different responses.

Reflecting upon tutor feedback I considered the use cases for symbolic and illustrative imagery and re-edited the image set to remove illustrative images. My intention in this assignment was to create an emotional response and their inclusion in the set confused the symbolism and interrupted the flow. The final selection is much stronger for this edit.

 

 

 

Overview

This assignment required a subject that might be considered “unphotographable” The first requirement of the process was to identify subjects that fit this remit. I identified the following:

• Ageing
• Belonging
• Being myself
• Anonymity
• Worry / anxiety
• Love
• Loss / grief

Any of these ideas could have been used as the subject matter for such a photographic assignment. But right now, in the midst of a global pandemic, at a time when our government, scientists  and the country as a whole are struggling to find answers I find myself locked down at home.  My employment is suspended without end in sight but I am not alone. Across the country millions of people are in the same position, pub’s cafe’s restaurants and all but essential shops are closed, social distancing measures are enforced and our population’s movement is restricted. Considering the above, the answer to the question as to what subject matter fto use for this exercise is obvious, it has to be “Pandemic”.

Approach

I used the apple notes app on both my iPad and phone to keep notes of ideas.  I used mind maps to help me consolidate my thinking and transferred the outcome of the mind map into lists that I could then prioritise and work towards when planning my photography.

The lockdown meant that spending time outdoors was limited and that time had to be for essential shopping or exercise. We were permitted to take a camera with us when exercising but that didn’t extend to spending hours outside looking for a photographic opportunity. With travel by car restricted I had to plan how I could capture the images I wanted.

Over the course of several weeks I used a variety of cameras including my iphone to capture what I was looking for, the size of the device chosen to fit either a need for discretion, portability or image quality. I found that working to a plan where I knew when going out what it was that I was trying to capture really helped. The plan gave me time to consider the methods I could choose to capture the shot.

I used varying photographic styles including; candid, documentary and portrait, ultimately however it was my intention to present the images in a reportage style set where the images created an emotional response from the viewer. This process underlined how images can be created for one purpose and used for another as some of the images could be used as photojournalism or documentary purposes as well as my intended purpose.

Because of the lockdown I found it difficult to capture as many images as I would have liked. I eventually had to accept that I would need to work with what I had. I spent several days shuffling them about in lightroom, I even printed contact sheets and “lived with them” looking at them throughout the day. Once I had a shortlist I started the editing process.

Because the images were from various cameras I spent time equalising the tonal ranges and making them look more cohesive. My intent was to colour grade the images to have the look and feel of stills from the  dystopian movie “Contagion”. To achieve this look I downloaded some movie stills from the internet and imported them into Lightroom. I picked a suitable example and used it as a reference image whilst developing mine to have a similar feel. I used the calibration, curves and HSL tools to add a level of Teal and Orange, to crush the blacks and pull down the highlights to create a flatter image. I also added grain and softened the images to create the look that I wanted.

The final result is a sequence of images that are not particularly subtle in their messaging. I interspersed obvious visual messages taken from high street shop windows with dystopian street scenes and images of people wearing face masks. It was not my intention to add any form of text with the images, they needed to speak for themselves. They are intended to be viewed as a sequence as numbered as I believe this produces the strongest narrative.