The following images allows audiences to wonder about those involved and their stories, I have achieved this by documenting a snapshot of a person or persons throughout their day in either an urban area or a heavily populated area (a major city) during their every day activities.
This image was taken on Westminster bridge, during shoot two. To achieve this image i attempted to shoot random shots to gather as many images as possible of daily commuters. Just as i begun shooting it begun to rain in true London fashion. To edit the image i used photoshop to first crop the image to achieve the desired look i wanted, this being the two men as the main focus of the foreground as well as background. I then played around with the brightness and contrast settings to darken the image to achieve the 'old' and historic look. Then i adjusted the curves which again, played with the look of the image. I believe creating a historic looking image allows powerful connotations to be read from the image whereas colour images can allow the photo to look washed out and not be able to emphasise the importance and strength of an image. Later i changed the colour photograph to black and white to fit my aim for the project (following the work of Matt Hart). I attempted to make the image dark and dreary to match the weather.
The facial expressions of the men create positive connotations toward the photograph as although the documented weather is not the nicest the gentleman on the right is still in high spirits. The emphasis of the weather is documented through denotations of the umbrella and the outfits worn by the gentlemen and those in the background.
It is important for the men to be the main focus as they attract the audience and allow judgements to be made simplistically rather than if the focus was on the background rather than the foreground. While documenting people in photography you want the subject to be easy to read so that you don't miss the importance of the imagery. I personally believe that in image one i successfully managed to portray a simplistic thought provoking image which has documented a daily part of a routine of an every day activity.
This image was taken on Westminster bridge, during shoot two. To achieve this image i attempted to shoot random shots to gather as many images as possible of daily commuters. Just as i begun shooting it begun to rain in true London fashion. To edit the image i used photoshop to first crop the image to achieve the desired look i wanted, this being the two men as the main focus of the foreground as well as background. I then played around with the brightness and contrast settings to darken the image to achieve the 'old' and historic look. Then i adjusted the curves which again, played with the look of the image. I believe creating a historic looking image allows powerful connotations to be read from the image whereas colour images can allow the photo to look washed out and not be able to emphasise the importance and strength of an image. Later i changed the colour photograph to black and white to fit my aim for the project (following the work of Matt Hart). I attempted to make the image dark and dreary to match the weather. The facial expressions of the men create positive connotations toward the photograph as although the documented weather is not the nicest the gentleman on the right is still in high spirits. The emphasis of the weather is documented through denotations of the umbrella and the outfits worn by the gentlemen and those in the background.
It is important for the men to be the main focus as they attract the audience and allow judgements to be made simplistically rather than if the focus was on the background rather than the foreground. While documenting people in photography you want the subject to be easy to read so that you don't miss the importance of the imagery. I personally believe that in image one i successfully managed to portray a simplistic thought provoking image which has documented a daily part of a routine of an every day activity.
In image two i attempted to portray social and generational change on the London underground going along the jubilee line. To do this i snapped shots at lap level to make the shoot as discreet as possible to preserve the objective and the ideology of the shoot being candid. I then picked subjects to shoot at random allowing the shoot to explore every person on the same carriage as me in great detail throughout mine as well as their journey. To explore generational and social change i focused on what the subject did to pass the time while on the tube. The main items used were iPhones and the evening standard newspaper. Oddly enough in the foreground of the photograph the stereotypical roles seem to be reversed as the young girl is reading the news paper while surrounded by middle aged men who are on their phones. This emphasises the importance for documentary photography as there is a clear divide due to culture capitals. Within the background we see a lot more use of news papers thus connoting intellectual social change.
To take this photograph i used the same method as previously mentioned (candid photography) to gain a full understanding. To edit i used photoshop to darken and emphasise the image to do this i worked with the black and white tool, the brightness and saturation tool as well as the 'sharpen' tool to create a crystal clear image to gather a professional image.
This photo was also to document social change among commuters on a daily basis.
The idea of a medium close up worked well with this gentleman as he was blissfully unaware of the photo being taken allowing me to manipulate the angles and the focus a lot more than with other subjects. By not being aware of his social surroundings the gentleman allowed me to take my time and not rush while attempting to capture him which was nice as this meant i was able to capture both him as well as people in the foreground as well as background emphasising the connotations of a busy tube and every day activities. However due to being unaware to his social surroundings it emphasises the idea of the technology take over and revolution that we as consumers have come to during the late 21st century.
As seen from the photos above the generation gap between teenagers and young adults compared to the middle aged generation has slowly begun to vanish as everyone has become overwhelmed by social change and technology. Comparing these images to Bob Mazzer's is interesting because we are clearly able to see how much society has changed since the 80s. In Bob Mazzer's images we see people engaging in conversations or sitting quietly on the tube. Thus connoting the inevitable yet interesting change in the world.
This image shows the exchange of directions between a worker and Londoner or a traveller during their daily lives. This arguably could be seen as not being an every day activity however, the gentleman who's job it is to keep Camden town clean will encounter people asking him for directions daily, and to me allows this image to be apart of my project of exploring every day activities. To explore this image it is important to look at those involved and their body language. I think the ladies body language and the way she responds to the gentleman is very significant as she is looking up to him thus connoting gratitude. If you were to do a power reading upon this photograph the woman should have more power and status over the gentleman, however in modern day society we are able to see a mutual agreement of power of person to person than worker to person. This is significant as it allows my photography to be a visual representation of social change through every day activities through London's street life. Just like Matt Hart attempts to show (for example the image he has taken of the every day power struggles of being homeless in London).
To edit this photo i manipulated the darkness levels once again this time to create visual direction upon those around minding their every day business rather than those in the foreground. Suggesting that for this photograph i wanted the audience to decipher which focus was more important. As well as this, i wanted the audience to wonder why the woman chose to ask the worker instead of someone who was in the background.
Within this image i aimed to explore the underground in the manner that Bob Mazzer did. By doing so i continuously took photographs while standing at the end of the carriage to gather as many images as i could to develop and further the understanding of the tube influenced by Bob Mazzer. I attempted to mix his views of the tube alongside my own to allow a more personal view of the images. I took the images at hip level without looking to allow the photographs to stay candid and avoiding making as much noise with the shutter as possible to preserve the project as well as to avoid conflict with any commuters who did not wish to be photographed.
I specifically manipulated the brightness in this image so that the initial view is down the carriage allowing the whole photograph to be scanned instead of viewed via the individuals on the carriage. I think this was a good idea as it emphasises how different people are while put in a small confined area. The rest of the editing involved adjusting the curve levels to contrast significancy with the bright tube lights and editing the shadows in the black and white tool to make them stand out in contrast even more.
To edit this image i edited the saturation levels, the brightness & contrast before converting the image to black and white. I emphasised the shadows to create empathy connotations and donations.
To take this image i randomly pressed the shutter button while walking along camden high street due to this the setting was on 'sport' to create the least amount of blur possible. However luckily i took this image while at a red light waiting for traffic to pass by. This is shown due to the amount of people in the background who are in view however are not as focused as the small family.
This photograph needed to be edited quite heavily as the original image was severely blurred and very dark. However once adjusting the contrast the brightness levels as well as the sharpen tool. I later added the black and white filter to fit the project and luckily the image looked better than it did at the start.
This image connotes innocence and the importance of adolescence. This is emphasised by body language and facial expressions by the girls.
Personally this is one of my least favourite images because of the framing and the quality of the image.
This photograph is my favourite image that i have taken as we are able to see the raw, uncut attraction between the couple. To photograph them i stood round the corner for about half an hour in an attempt to document their young love. The couple were spanish travellers. They had recently come to London and were very excited to explored more and were keen to document themselves at Camden Lock. In an attempt to document them i received over 30 photographs of the couple while watching them and it allowed me to learn a lot about the two.
The two were very romantic and very giggly toward each other. To summarise, they were happy. And i believe it is important to capture those who are happy and in love due to the social age we are in as there is a lot of pain and hurt in the media. To document a silver lining moment like this made me very proud as it relates to 'Henri Cartier-Bresson' and his Decicive moment , as well as Matt Hart's emphasis on love and public displays of affection.
The connotations of the image are clear of happiness and love and I'm glad to have captured it.
Again, the image touches upon generational and social changes as the two are using a 'selfie stick' instead of attempting to document the photograph themselves or asking someone in the street.
The framing of the image is something i am also extremely happy with as it allows the couple to be the centre of attention and the focus. However, i opted to include the background still in more focus than most images i've captured. The idea for the background as well as the foreground to be in focus is that it emphasises the couples raw emotion as they are in public with the ability to be judged or talked about by passers by. Yet, the couple do not care and act as if they were in a conservative home.
That is why i love how raw the image is.
In this image i explored the ideology of the modern teenager in London. This is emphasised via the fore and background. In the image we can see a scares carriage which is a positive as we are able to decipher the social characteristics of each individual in the photograph and due to the focus you are able to see the main focus, a medium long shot focus on the couple and the gentleman as well as in the long shot the lady hunched over. This allows the audience to focus on more than one subject as i have managed to document several moments in one.
The main focus is on the girl who again, was too involved in her phone to realise she was being documented just like image three. I believe this image is influential to the project as it manages to explore the involvement of technology while even underground creating a strong divide and contrast between mine and Bob Mazzers work.
To edit i only added a black and white layer and played with the colour contrasting before being happy with the finished product. The facial expression of the girl is blank and therefore we can make no further connoting judgements however with the couple in the background we are able to see conversational engagement and involvement with technology. This links mine and Bob Mazzers work nicely as it involves both technological conversation and physical conversation.
To me this photo is the definition of every day activities in central London as you never know what to expect.
This specific image was taken behind Westminster station and there we saw many commuters either biking, walking or roller blading home after a day at work.
To capture this image i only decided to photograph in the moment instead of waiting around to capture the commuters. I feel as if this was a wise decision as it enabled a rushed sensation to capture the gentleman in the moment and in the speed he was rushing past. I used the 'sports' tool again to avoid blurring. To edit, i used photoshop to manipulate the clarity and the visuals like the others, i used the black and white tool, the curves tool and the manipulated the brightness. Although this image was captured minutes after capturing image one the denotations are significantly different as the image does not connote sadness or promote any emotion. Instead it creates humour as it is unexpected.
