DSDN 144 Project 1: Final Images

"Suicide"

For “Suicide”, I was seeking to follow the journey of an unknown individual to their death. Along their way, they will have encountered certain spaces, which I want to capture. I want to capture the essence and special-but-plain-ness of these spaces. I want to create a narrative of this unknown essentially walking their last journey.

I believe I captured this narrative successfully, capturing both the frightening nature of the night as well as the freedom it provides. Some of the spaces I have captured are rather public, while some of the others are much more personal and have a special element to them. I relied heavily on the use of subdued colours, light, and contrast to convey this narrative. I really wanted to help myself understand these particular spaces. “why this space?”
 

I used a lot of very confronting composition to juxtapose the almost softness of the night with the real reason why this person was there. I drew a lot of inspiration from Neil Pardington and Mark Power, and their almost colourless spaces in their photos.
 

Ultimately the narrative is meant to culminate in freedom, and signify this unknown person’s liberation from their body, and I believe over the course of the images that this is achieved.

 Image 1, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 2, copyright Sebastien Voerman

Image 3, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 4, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 5, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 6, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 7, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 8, copyright Sebastien Voerman

 Image 9, copyright Sebastien Voerman

DSDN 144 Project 1: Contact Sheets / Final Shoot

These are the contact sheets for the very final sheets. The variety is low since I knew what I wanted, I just wanted to get every single image just right.

DSDN 144 Project 1: More Precedents

I have decided to look at some more precedents for this project, just to aid in how I can establish and define my work.

My fourth precedent is Eugene Atget, who in his time was very much a lone wolf. He didn't start any movement, didn't attract a large amount of followers, but created extremely pure and beautiful images that have outlasted him. His pieces show spaces that feel almost surreal, but at the same time are extremely visceral.

 Copyright Eugene Atget

 Copyright Eugene Atget

Again, like Mark Power, Atget conveys the true space, in it's pure form. The spaces still have an ethereal feel to them however, and they almost seem to have stepped out out of an old novel. The time Atget lived in considerably reduced what he could do with the camera, however, I feel that ultimately his photos have not suffered. They don't lose any of their charm through age.

My fifth precedent is Michael Kenna, who has a tendency to take beautiful night-time shots. These shots of the relatively mundane become special through his photographic vision. He doesn't portray destruction, but endeavours to present the spaces beautifully and simply. Longer exposure night shots tend to show a very odd but fantastic light play.

 Charles Bridge, Czechoslovakia, copyright Michael Kenna

 Ratcliffe Power Station, UK, copyright Michael Kenna

His black and white photos portray the places in an unusual light, since a lot of them are also taken at night, so the light is a lot different to how it would diffuse during daytime. Like Eugene Atget, he tends to portray things as they really are, without adding too much emotion or story to them. The power stations however are given a certain gracefulness which isn't evident in them normally.

My final precedent for this project is Neil Pardington. He takes an interesting set of photos. A lot of them tend to have an in-your-face feel about them, and feel almost slightly oppressive in the way they are taken. The eye is not allowed to wander around very much, it tends to be directed towards a single point, which has a very controlling feel to it.

Tunnel #4, copyright Neil Pardington

 Pool, copyright Neil Pardington

Again, like my other precedents, Neil Pardington has a tendency to present things as they really are, without trying to introduce too much of a narrative. His work relies heavily on greys, which also conveys the purpose the industrial and functional spaces have.

Photos from:

Eugene Atget: Work 

Michael Kenna: Work

Neil Pardington: Work

DSDN 144 Project 1: Contact Sheets / Second Shoot

DSDN 144 Project 1: Photo Choices From First Shoot

These are some of my favourite shots from the first shoot. Enjoy!

I need to try this shot again with better lighting, and possibly experiment with some better composition. Hopefully, also the cars should be gone for the next photo.

The lighting in this shot is pretty much what I'm trying to achieve, but I need to think about a slightly different angle to what I've chosen, possibly move around fractionally to the right and face the car park head-on.

While this shot shows the sillhouette of the final spot well, and the grey sky amplifies that sense of dread, I also want to try to capture this when the sky is clear, and compare the results.

The lighting in this shot is really cool, twilight-ish, but still letting the street lights play off the walls and the graffiti. But once again, I need to try composing the shot head on, since I still feel like I want to move around to the right in this shot.

This makes a good space out of the sky and between the buildings, but the composition still feels a little off. I need to attempt to improve it significantly.

This shot is really different to the others, as it uses the depth of field as well as a different angle to create dramatic effect and focus. However, I need to find a specific style to stick with for this assignment, and maybe this isn't it.

DSDN 144 Project 1: Contact Sheets / First Shoot

So, I went and did my first shoot, and here are the contact sheets! 

Contact Sheet 1

Contact Sheet 2

DSDN 144 Project 1: Precedents

So for my Photographics, I have to have a look at some precedents, some inspiring artists who inspire the project I'm planning to do.

My first precedent, my first inspiration is Mark Power, a British photographer who has a knack for capturing spaces as they appear. They don't tend to give off too many connotations usually, although a lot of his images speak about the urban environment we inhabit. He is regularly commissioned in the industrial sector.

Taken in Gdansk, copyright Mark Power

 Taken in Krakow, copyright Mark Power

His shots convey in my opinion a sense of the true space, as well as its textures and facets. I love the way he uses the space to illustrate the urbanisation of the area. The photos he takes, in particular these two, lack any colour or significant markers for a style or moment in history for when the photo was taken. They feel oddly timeless.

My next precedent is J Bennett Fitts. He presents the ides of space through various places, and conveys the sense of loneliness well through his composition, lighting, and location.

He also relies on how he presents perspective to convey what is actually in the image. Some of his shots are so bare they almost seem alien. The simplicity of the photos is truly beautiful, and aides greatly in terms of presenting the space itself.

 Alley, copyright J Bennett Fitts

Orange Machine, copyright J Bennett Fitts

 His way of presenting the everyday and making it that little bit more special is remarkable. The using the "Orange Machine" as a focal point for the rest of the composition to revolve around is fantastic. The simplicity of the building almost seems wrong. It seems "too new" and "too clean" to belong in our dirty industrial world. And yet this strangeness still breeds familiarity. It feels "special".

My third precedent is Andrew Moore, a photographer who has done a lot of travelling and explored a large amount of different settings and moods. Some of his work conveys desolation, and some of his chosen spaces are all about the secrecy and privacy of tucked-away sites. Some of his photos are about the people in said spaces, but mostly the spaces speak for themselves.

Calle Industria, copyright Andrew Moore

Courtyard of Castle Williams, copyright Andrew Moore

The colours of the shot from Cuba convey that sense of hidden life in an unknown, unheard of city. He almost conveys the ideals created by the original travelling Victorian photographers; namely showing those back home what life is like in other countries. In a way, him doing this makes some of his work feel very vintage, but also very artistic. The harmony created in the above image speaks of the old still living in sight of the new, but the emptiness speaks of an odd sadness.

These precedents all take fantastic photos, and I will endeavour to convey as much meaning through my project, my following of Anonymous' final journey through the spaces on his/her path.

Photos from:

Mark Power: Work

J Bennett Fitts: Work

Andrew L Moore: Work

DSDN 144 Project 1: Proposal

In my first project for photography, SPACE, I want to investigate a journey. Not just an ordinary journey to work or to school, but the last journey an unknown person ever made.

The person in question is not someone I knew. They are, in essence, someone I heard about, who committed suicide. They jumped off the side of a car park in Courtney Place. I want to investigate the spaces they would have encountered on their final journey to where they ultimately jumped and ended their life. In my mind, it presents a very dark journey, but ultimately one that would have been very significant and special to the person concerned. 

The mood I want to convey in the series of images is mostly the mood the spaces along the way conveyed to the person on their journey. I want to examine why the spaces are scary, why they are dark, but also why they are special. Why is there a serenity to be found in the persons last moments before they jumped?

I want to examine the most interesting spaces that were on this dark and ultimately lonely path. I want to find the special places in this area, and I want to capture why they are special.

I don't want to convey the sense of "Don't jump!", and I don't want to understand the person’s motivations, I just want to follow a path and see why its spaces are special and dark.