Hmmm… I’ve been mulling over the subject for Assignment 5 for a few weeks now and I need to make a decision and crack on! I came up with a long list a while ago and narrowed it down to a handful of candidate ideas. I think I’ve since got it down to two options: one centred around People and one around Place. My problem is that I am completely flitting between these two totally different ideas on a daily basis! I can quite clearly visualise what the outputs should look like, and each of them attracts in its own way. But I need to settle on one and get shooting! So I decided to write up a list of pros and cons and stare at it for a while…
1. People idea: “The Act of Observation”
Background:
I want to explore one aspect of portraiture that fascinates me: the fact that the sitter is inherently self-conscious of the portrait being taken, and the difficulty in achieving a natural and ‘honest’ depiction of the person (‘the act of observation changes that which is observed’ and all that).
Premise:
The concept here is that I will get portrait subjects to sit for me in a simple home studio setup (white background, simple lighting, headshot only – that kind of thing). I will take two or three different types of portrait of each, in a combination of the following techniques (to be confirmed):
- Subject keep eyes closed and relaxes, thus doesn’t know when the photo is being taken
- Subject is in darkness and sits very still, and a long exposure photo is taken
- Subject sees self in mirror positioned by camera and chooses when the shutter clicks themselves, by way of a remote shutter release (taking the ‘self-consciousness’ aspect to its logical conclusion)
I’ll then show the subject the three portraits and get their opinion on which they believe is the truest depiction of them.
Why I should do this:
- Portraiture really isn’t my strong suit – but I sometimes feel the need to push myself out of my comfort zone – unfinished business
- It’s more creative than idea #2 and my Art of Photography feedback gave me a low score for creativity – so I know I need to work on this
- It’s potentially quite interesting and insightful for me on a learning level
Why I shouldn’t do this:
- Portraiture really isn’t my strong suit – so I should work more closely in line with my own developing style – the final P&P assignment might not be the best place for experimentation outside my comfort zone!
- Generally I’m less enthused about ‘posed’ photography vs ‘found’ photography
- I’m not sure how many subjects I can gather for this
- I’m not sure I’ve got (or am able to invest in) the right kind of lighting equipment to do this well
- I can’t quite make it fit the assignment requirement that a ‘notional client’ could commission someone to do this! Who or why would anyone want images like this? Apart from a curious photographer doing it as an objective in itself…
2. Place idea: “Disappearing Britain”
Background:
This came to mind from the bringing together of a few thoughts from the last two assignments and general research. First, the idea of photography as a proxy for memory – capturing things now to remember later. Second, the idea of trying to capture a whole, quite diverse nation in images (à la Robert Frank with The Americans). Third, the notion that it’s possible to give a sense of a place with quite impressionistic, almost abstract images (partly inspired by Saul Leiter’s 1950s New York work [1] and Robin Maddock’s recent project ‘III’ shot in California [2]). These strands coalesced into a coherent idea when I snapped a row of red telephone boxes in central London a couple of weeks ago.
Premise:
This would be a series of images capturing ‘icons of Britishness’ that were around when I was growing up, that for reasons of progress (technological, economic, societal) are becoming obsolete. The set would form a kind of virtual museum capturing exhibits before extinction. The fragments would build to up to a whole picture that evokes a Britain just disappearing in our lifetime. Examples are:
- Street furniture: notably the red telephone box, but also old-fashioned wooden litter bins, big free-standing charity collection boxes (guide dogs etc, you know the kind of thing), coal bunkers outside houses
- Professions/shops: milkman, coal delivery man, rag and bone man, old-style butcher’s, barbers, traditional sweet shop (jars in window)
- Vehicles: old-style Mini, milk float, coal lorry
- Objects: milk bottles, pint pots with handles, flat cap
Why I should do this:
- All my assignments so far have had people in them and this would be an interesting exercise in evoking the sense of place with objects alone
- It plays to some of my strengths (or at least my preferences) in terms of composition/geometry and use of strong colours
- As mentioned above, I much prefer ‘found’ subjects to ‘posed’ subjects
- I can easily imagine the notional client and the brief (magazine article, book illustrations, calendar etc)
Why I shouldn’t do this:
- Not particularly inherently creative – I’d have to bring the creativity in each shot
- I might not be able to find the examples in real life to match the visualisations in my head
Decision time
At the moment I’m leaning towards number 2. Well, I am today anyway. I think I’ll email my tutor for her input…
…
- Taubhorn, I and Woischnik, B. (2012). Saul Leiter. Hamburg: Kehrer Verlag
- Maddock, R. (2012). III. London: Trolley Books