I feel that these first three photo's are representative of Camden in terms of it's atmosphere - from the barrage of stools lining the road and the markets selling a variety of products, to the artistic and creative nature of the town on the whole. It's shabby sheek vibe, and mixture of people from tourists to residents and the social/cultural range of people, there was ample opportunity to capture some interesting moments. There is a haphazardness and hullabaloo to the town, which I feel is conveyed in this image set. These three images work well together in the sense that most of those featured in it are obscured facially, leaving the viewer to interpret their emotions or thoughts based on their contextual location and the information surrounding them as well as from their stance and body language. I feel that the 3rd photo could benefit from being taken slightly to the left and further back, to show the space in which the subject is staring into, whilst still including the art work and thus pertaining to the rule of thirds (art work - right, subject - centre, subjects attention - left)
The above 4 photo's display the food stalls of Camden. Although the second image is blurred, I feel this adds to the ambience, as this area - and the town on the whole- is very fast-paced and upbeat. This is reflected in the apparent hard-sell from the man in the 3rd image, who tries to grab the attention of the fast moving public. I feel that the 3rd image isn't technically sufficient, however, as it is slightly out of focus and dark. It could have perhaps benefited from a higher ISO level and a re-focus. The fourth photograph is one of my favourites in this collection as it is evokes humour and has many levels to it. During the day, the subject in the centre approached me, upon seeing my camera, and told me to take a photograph of him. He then struck this interesting pose as the customers that he was serving looked on in amusement. I think technically this image is good as it is sharp, however perhaps I could have it shifted to the right or stood back slightly as the subjects hand has been cut off. Also the shadow covering his face could have been removed if he'd moved forward slightly, from beneath the food-stalls canopy; thereby lighting his face and highlighting his prominence in the photo in comparison to the customers in the shadows - however, due to the spontaneity of the photograph, I did not have a chance to correct these elements - and also I feel that the shadow adds to the performed menace that the subject was aiming to present. This image stands alone from the others as it is quite ambiguous and complicated to define in terms of its style. Arguably it could be thought of as documentary or portraiture, or even a mix. I like the way that this subject performs in front of the camera and found it interesting that he had a preconceived idea about the camera being a medium for self-representation, and the way the customers in the photo's eye-line is drawn towards the camera, and not the actual person being photographed. I felt that throughout the day many people looked at the camera regularly, seemingly intruiged by it, or more prominently, by it's (or my) ability to represent them in a certain way. After spotting it many looked away immediately, perhaps as they didn't feel 'prepared' to be photographed. I think that the idea of performance in front of the camera will be one that I wish to explore further within my project.
I found the above 3 images interesting especially because of the relationship that is portrayed between the lady and the girl in the middle. They were chatting and laughing and seemed to be quite close. Everyone in this image was waiting to cross the road, whilst I was on the opposite side. I feel that these two ladies stood out amongst others - whose facial expressions were more weary or focused or blank, and I like these images as they are brief snapshots in time, which is reinforced by the traffic lights next to them, connoting the short time that they had to wait to cross the road. They bought life to the photograph and I feel reflected the area of Camden well, as it is full of life and vibrancy. I feel that perhaps I could have zoomed in further to these images to focus more on the relationship between the two participants.
These 3 photographs are closer than the previous 3 and focused on individuals in the surrounding environment. I often had to be quick with the photographs as many people would look away if they thought that I was capturing them. I would look up and past them after taking the photograph to demonstrate that I was in fact photographing the scenery behind them, which is perhaps not very ethically minded, but otherwise it is complicated to achieve more naturalistic photographs. The top photo is one of my favourites as I really like the wary brow-beaten expression on the mans face, matched with his slumped over posture. He looks tired, perhaps as a result of a hectic day in a busy London town. His mobile phone contextualizes the photograph in the modern day. I have cut off part of his head in the photograph and on reflection, a lot of my photographs would benefit from some repositioning/shooting from further back. I photographed the second image simply because I liked the colour coordination of the girls clothes in the centre, but didn't wish to get too close as I did not want to make it too obvious that I was photographing her. I chose the 3rd one because, although it is not of a technically high quality, I feel that it supports the idea of the eye-line being continuously drawn towards the camera.
I really like the 1st photograph in this set as the eye line of the audience/viewer is led by the girl turning around to look at all of the people behind her. It isn't definite as to whether she is looking at the girl sitting eating on the corner step of a building, or the couple kissing next to her, or perhaps further beyond that to something else. The way in which the subjects are positioned lead the eye from left to right/forefront to background. I also like that you can't tell what the girl is thinking due to the inability to see her face, as well as the laid back connotations featured within, with regards to Camden as an area. For example, the woman is sitting on her suitcase and the girl sitting casually eating. It is almost reminiscent of people at a train station or waiting for a bus - there is definitely an ephemeral feel to the image which I like a lot. I chose the 2nd image for it colours and the amount of people featured in it to add to the busy feel of the area. The 3rd image is another of my favourites - the man was trying to sell something to these two girls - either henna or the shoe that he was holding - and from the expression on the girls face and the man in the background on the left, he was clearly driving a hard bargain and joking around with the two. I took the photograph at this time because the girl on the right turned around in disbelief almost, at whatever the man had said and thus I wanted to capture this moment. I left space to the left so that I could see the man in the backgrounds expressions, adding a further depth to the image and reinforcing the humorous moment in time.
I really enjoyed conducting this street photography as there is a lot of scope to capture the "Decisive Moment" the term coined by Henri Cartier Bresson, although realise its complications and limitations in terms of consent from subjects if they realise they're being photographed and the short amount of time to capture the images, as well as the unknown nature of what photographs will end up looking like due to depicting reality and the everyday. Therefore, this could be a tricky type of photography to undertake - and documentary as a discourse is complicated to owing to its ambiguity. I would first have to decide whether I want to play an active role in 'directing' reality, thus stating a point on modern society, or whether I would choose to be lead by what happens around me, and therefore play more of an objective/backseat role, as I believe I have done throughout this photography shoot. I think the idea of performance is something which has definitely piqued my interest, and is something which I intend to research into further. Tomorrow I am going to take some more street photography but in Brighton, which I hope will help me decide whether to continue on with street photography, or to branch out into other forms. I have decided that I will photograph people differently this time, however, by capturing them unaware and then approaching them and gaining the consent for a staged photograph. From this I hope to compare and contrast between the performed and the natural. I will be taking these photographs on the Nikon D7000 once more.
No comments:
Post a Comment