Log notes-assignment 3

General log notes for assignment 3

Here are my systematic if not some what untidy blog notes that I produce for every assignment. They show the thinking processes and eventual conclusions of each phase of the assignment.

*NOTE: Log note format changes from assignment 4 onwards to make reading easier.

*Analysis of images for assignment 3 and self evaluation here at the end of the log page

 

Evaluation of my work for assignment 3

Generally I think that I have executed this assignment fairly well. I have learned a lot from the research and practicals that I have done.

In terms of the assessment criteria I’ll give a self-analysis here:

Technical and visual skills: I was pleased with the outcome. I think that my visual observational skills are developing well and I am learning to differentiate between what is and what is not relevant to the photo. I have been cultivating the skills of pre-visualising images before taking them. My techniques are fairly developed although I need to work on some areas to do with focusing and depth of field correction. I have at times not focused sufficiently on the subject thus leaving areas of the frame blurred. This has partly been due to the nature of the project in terms of ‘street photography’ and capturing ‘decisive moments’ from the hip, once or twice quite literally.

Quality of outcome: I was pleased with the way that the research helped me to develop my ideas and focus the photography in this project. There is room for improvement for both research and execution of ideas. I planned the project in a practical sense to be coherent, by using similar light conditions and only shooting with a 28mm fixed lens for example. All frames are horizontal and the angle of view and distance from subject has as certain coherence to it. In terms of the ideas I have tried to communicate (Juxtaposition and ambiguity). I would give myself 7 out of 10. Whilst I was constantly alive to the theme as I was shooting it seemed at times difficult to realise what I had pre-visualised. I wanted stronger shots with more punctum!

Demonstration of creativity: Here I think that I did well. I tried to develop a theme creatively without giving into the desire to produce ‘nice pleasing pictures’ which is a tendency for us students in the beginning at least. I took my time to seek out situations and contexts to photograph meaningfully rather than just looking for light conditions that would give a ‘nice’ picture. I let myself explore different subjects. I need to work more on the ‘taking risk’ part of my work as there is sometimes the urge to play it safe.

Context: Here I think that my planning, reflection and critical thinking has been of a reasonably good level. Added and changed April 2017:

I researched a number of key photographers for this assignment. In particular the work of Bruce Davidson and Gary Winogrand stood out for me. I find that street photography is quite a variable discipline that varies greatly from artist to artist. It seems that the rules can change quite dramatically for what makes a good street photo. For me these two stand out as particularly masterful at capturing what street photography can say. What I gained from looking into their work and similar photographers of street photography is the necessity to be alert to the moment and curios of details. Awareness of what is happening seems crucial and the ability to connect what one is seeng with what it might represent on another level seems important. In addition I think that the best street photos are taken in a range of 2-3 meters of the subject so that you feel a sense of being in the scene. I observed that my interest in subject of other photos that are further out are less engaging. The main things that I take from my research and study of street photos are these. That 1) a lot depends on your proximity to the subject 2) good street photos need to that portray something about the human condition that are universal, are more appealing than the sort of photos that aim to entertain.

Analysis of images:

Photo 1: Two buildings of different time periods and man on bike

Foreground, man on bike passing (mid ground) an empty abandoned building. Background, a modern building. Focal points are the buildings and the man on his bike. Colour tones are subdued as the ambient light was flat. I would have liked to of illuminated the scene with artificial lighting (fill flash technique) but it did not seem feasible for such a large-scale photo. Faults of the image. I think that the top of the building and the lower edge of the bicycle wheel should have been kept in the image for completeness and symmetry. There are slight vertical distortions due to the use of a 28mm lens on the buildings. The angle of view was chosen to place the buildings in such as way as that they were facing in opposite directions from the front view. I think that this adds to the dynamism of the image.

Photo 2: Beggar and bike man, with ‘pet chimp’!

A man walking in the street with his bike, another sitting in the street begging. A tension is set in place between the two figures. The mid and back ground show the street, moving back into the image. The depth of field is shallow and this is a great mistake in the image. I shot this with a visual composition not using the view finder. Therefore I made the mistake of not first checking the D.O.F and shutter speed. Learned that lesson painfully! Focal points are the beggar and the man with the bike. The scene portrays Juxtaposition and a feeling of opposites. There is a mild tension between these two slightly surreal characters.

Another fault of the image is that the subjects are too far from the lens. Had I done a more formal composition I would have come in closer to both subjects.

Photo 3: Nun with her back to the camera.

The image portrays as the main focal point, a nun looking away from the camera towards an advert about food, at a bus stop stand. This again aims to produce the feeling of contradiction or juxtaposition. The nun as the main focal point and the advert as the second mid ground focal point are the two main features of the photo. I would say the photo has a moderate impact, not strong. The symmetry of the nun’s stance and the fact that you can see her looking towards the poster set up the sense of someone who is composed internally and not really of the world of adverts, cars and bus stands. Somehow she seemed out-of-place. I learned that working with a 28mm was too great an angle for many of these photos. I would have been better off setting the 35mm standard to these scenes. I found the desire to crop the images several times.

Photo 4: Someone walks down the stairs into a subway, with an umbrella, and someone without.

The central focal pint is the umbrella to one side of the frame and the second focal point the top of the man’s head. The horizontal lines in the frame (stairs) and the Ariel shot make the image stand out. The theme here was more juxtaposition of forms, the textures or the two objects as in the umbrella and the cold grey stone. The ambiguity is not seeing the person. For me the decisive moment arises here in this coming together of conditions. The image, although not a strongly impacting visual experience, does have some visually pleasing aspects to it. The 28mm lens shows its problems in the slight asymmetry to one side of the frame. It might have been more interesting to wait for a more colourful umbrella, something that stood out more obviously.

Photo 5: An arm and hand appear inside of a ‘confession box’.

The image is shot at close quarters again with the 28mm and the main focal point is the action of the fingers pressing into the door frame. Here I draw out ambiguity as it’s not clear why this happening. Faults of the image. There is too much noise in the frame as I used high ISO. Although I think that some noise actually works well with this photo. The ideal composition would have been to frame both parts of the confession box. I wanted to achieve seeing the figure although in silhouette on the other side. The hand lacks sharpness.

Photo 6: A pair of legs in jeans (damp inside) and an older man at his side (legs)

The main focal points are the legs, especially the area inside the legs that appears to be wet. This sets up an ambiguous situation visually as we are not sure what this is. Is it rain? Did he not dry his trousers properly? Something more sinister? We don’t and can’t know. This is the devise of ambiguity which I am learning has a power in photos. The angle of view is low and slightly to the side to give a little visual ‘off-centredness’.

Photo 7: Woman sits at a bar – clock to her side.

In this image the main focal point is the gaze of the woman. The clock serves as part of the composition and the bottles of alcohol as another. The three things go together not as an intentional story, but there is one in there. The woman is framed off to the side and the clock balances the composition. Her head is somewhat framed within the door frame which gives a certain clarity of focus. If it wasn’t for her eye, darkly painted in make-up I doubt the picture would have much visual appeal. It is this eye which gives some insight into the mood. The fault of the picture is the distraction of the lower left corner. These objects do not add anything to the image and are surplus. They were caught in the ‘crossfire’ of taking a clandestine picture. The angle of view is low and I think that the picture would have had more impact at eye level. However, this angle of view does highlight her posture which was one of the striking features of the picture that I had pre-visualised.