For my final exam shoots, I feel that the images I captured were heavily influenced by the research I underwent. I looked at 20 images from different Photographers in my research log, many of which influenced how I composed the images I shot during the exam period. One Photographer I particularly took influence from is Laurens Kaldeway, who's image entitled "On the table" I analysed in my research log. She captured some everyday objects on a wooden table; a cup of coffee was positioned in the foreground, then a book with a pair of glasses on it in the mid ground and a chessboard in the background. She focused on the coffee cup, meaning the further behind it the object was, the less it was in focus. This use of depth of field helped create a narrative in the image, in which the viewer sees that she is going to drink the coffee, then put the glasses on and read the book, and lastly, play a game of chess. The use of depth to create narrative and documentary qualities to the image was something I tried to take on into my final exam shoots. I shot all of my images using a wide aperture to capture a narrow depth of field, which I felt would create a sense of what's most important in the grand scheme of the image, with things in the background being the next important thing due to being out of focus.
I have gained some technical insights throughout my final exam process which I have incorporated into my final pieces. Some of these examples are Photoshop techniques, which I incorporated into both my final pieces and my computer experiments. One Photoshop technique I learned of in research was duotone, which involves converting an image to greyscale then setting the image to have a main tone then a secondary tone. I used this technique in my computer experiments as I felt I could create a nostalgic mood well with the use of setting the main tone to black and the secondary tone to a muted shade of orange. A shooting technique that I learned to incorporate into my shooting was macro photography. I am used to keeping a distance between myself and my subject, therefore I researched different ways in which to capture subjects and learned the macro Photography technique and how it can be used to create a larger than life appearance in the context of everyday objects, which was my topic. I shot close up to my subjects, meaning the small objects I captured in my shots appeared large and meant that excessive background distractions were removed.
As well as technical insights I have gained through the exam process, I have also gained a number of aesthetic insights on how to present my work and how to keep to a certain style in order for my images to work in a series. One such aspect was the use of vignettes. All of my images were captured using a narrow depth of field, meaning a small part of the image that I wanted to be in focus was and the rest is out of focus, meaning the viewer focuses on what I want them to see. I learned that the use of a vignette is a way in which I can enhance this sense of depth by creating adding darkness to the areas surrounding the focus zone, meaning the viewer is further drawn in to point of the image I wanted them to be. Another aesthetic technique I developed through my shoots is the use of black and white and selective colourisation; these are both evidenced through my straight images and my computer experiments. I felt that the use of black and white in my first shoot meant that the images I applied to had a wider tonal range, as well as linking them to the idea of everyday banal. The use of selective colourisation in my computer experiments was with the purpose of highlighting a certain object and removing distractions that are caused by other objects; the object I want the viewer to notice most was the part of the image I kept in colour and the rest of the image I converted to black and white. I felt that this technique was effective in making an object stand out against the background.
Overall, I would say I was successful in my response to the exam paper. I chose the topic of everyday objects, which referenced ways in which objects can be given significance when brought together
and photographed. It references Andre Kertesz, who made use of hard shadows in his still life photography and Peter Keetman's use of structure in his everyday object photos. Peter Keetman's work was a body of work that I took clear influence from in my work, taking on board his use of pattern and framing. I researched both Keetman and Kertesz's images in my research log. My approach to everyday objects was, in practice to stay close up to the objects I am capturing, but in theory, incorporating some sense of narrative and strong connotation that can be made about the object and the situation it's in.
The strongest area of my work was my composition and framing of the images I took. When taking a photo, I would frame the shot in a way that there is minimal background around the object I was capturing, however, I would leave a small amount of background in the shot as I learned from my preparatory shoots that this helps create some context to the environment in which the object is being photographed is in, as this helps present the photo as having documentary elements as well as macro elements; it is a snapshot into someone's life through an object they have left somewhere.
However, I feel that there are definitely weaknesses in my response to the exam paper. One main weakness my response had was a lack of experimentation in computer and physical techniques. I focussed my study on perfecting the composition of close up macro, therefore feel I have neglected incorporating physical elements particularly; I struggled to find a way to incorporate a way to incorporated them so that they would add to the study and not feel as if they were put there because they were required to be. While I have completed some computer experiments during exam time, and some, like vignette, linked well to my topic and the way in which I responded to it, others such as duotone felt like they had few links to the macro and documentary focussed series of images I have created.
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