Shoot 6

For this shoot I've decided to go back to Manchester Arndale to find what I was missing in my previous shoot there. I made sure I used the same techniques that worked well last time to help me develop my work further. Here are a couple of my favourite photographs...

 ISO - 300

Shutter speed - 3

Aperture - F 11.0

I just love this image that I had taken in the Arndale. The three huts that you can see I feel really add to my photograph, looking at them now its almost as if there moving. Like this is what really comes to life when everyone has gone home. These huts just rome around in a line, there are so many things that pop into my head when I look at this photograph. Very powerful, and I'm very please with how it has come out.

ISO - 300

Shutter speed - 1

Aperture - F 11.0

This is my favourite photograph so far. I love the composition, the angle, the lighting. To me the most interesting part of this image is the way there is a cup at the table but with no one there. This again gives a sense that people have been there, making it seem very ghostly. I feel like this image could be one of my final pieces. 

Conclusion so far...

I feel like I'm getting too carried away with my experimenting and I feel I have got a lot of good ideas from the shoots I have already done. So I will be sticking with this ideas and go back to the scenes I have already photographed to see if I can tweak them a bit to improve them.

My favourite shoots were the ones in the manchester Arndale and the ones in the back streets of Manchester so I shall focus on these shoots the most.

Shoot 5

For this shoot I focused mainly on long exposers about manchester cities streets, here are a couple of my favourite photographs...

 ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 20

Aperture - F 9.0

I photographed this scene as when I was walking past it I couldn't help but fall in love with the sun set in the background. To me this really brings out the beauty in busy cities just like Manchester. I like the use of shadows off the posts in the centre of the screen, this really exaggerates the lighting.

ISO - 300

Shutter speed - 7

Aperture - F 9.0

This is my favourite photograph as I feel I have really captured the busy side to manchester with the tram rushing past. I photographed the tram on an angle to exaggerate it rushing past into the distance. Also I photographed this image at night to exaggerate the lights to give me this beautiful affect.

Shoot 4

This shoot was set in Salford. I wanted to focus on angles and signs, here are my best images...

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 1/25

Aperture - F 9.0 

I took this first image as there was something about the sign leading me off the frame that made me feel a little uncomfortable. I like the angle I have photographed this image in as it exaggerates the sign even more making it the focal point.

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 1/25

Aperture - F 9.0 

This second photograph is of two old abandoned buildings. I really like the lamppost at the side of the image as all of the paint has pealed off leaving a lonely abandoned feel. I also photographed this image at an angle to give it more character and to put my own style on it.

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 1/25

Aperture - F 9.0 

This image is of a bin in front of an old exit sign. I photographed this as I thought it was bazar that there is an object in front of and exit door and it has also been bricked. Looking at this image now, I can't help but think that there is something hidden behind there.

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 1/25

Aperture - F 9.0

This photograph is one of my favourites, as I like the use of angle and composition I used. The season I photographed this building was I felt it had a lot of character and to me its a shame that its forgotten about.

Conclusion so far...

I'm very pleased here the development I have made so far and would like to carry on experimenting with my images as I feel there missing something. I will do a couple more shoots both indoors and out doors so I don't limit myself too early.

The photographs I feel are working the best are the ones that give a sense that people have been there, by showing things they have left behind and giving a haunting effect.

Shoot Three

For my third shoot I decided to look into the use of light inside the arndale as from my last photographs I thought they worked really well. Here are my favourite photographs...

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 4

Aperture - F 11.0

When I was photographing this shot of the Arndale floor, I noticed the lighting was in shot lights, giving a ghostly affect to my work. I like the use of space I have tried to captured to help me exaggerate the loneliness in my image.

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 2

Aperture - F11.0

Here is my second photographed of the children's small ride. I photographed this as I wanted to capture the hauntingness in the fact that there isn't any children there on the ride. This make my photograph look lonely, also the use of shine on the floor is strange to see as you don't normally see this in a shopping place.

ISO - 300

Shutter speed - 8

Aperture - F 11.0

This final photograph is my favourite as its almost as if it has been photographed in a tunnel. I like the use of light bursting in to the Arndale, showing off the great manchester wheel. This photograph looks like it has been frames and makes the views eyes draw straight in to the middle.

conclusion so far...

I feel I am making good progress so far, making sure I keep experimenting until I find what route I would like to go down. I feel like there is something more to find in the Manchester Arndale so I shall do another shoot there, but this time looking at different things to photograph.
With each shoot I do I will make sure I keep my artists that I have researched, in mind, to give me more inspiration.

Shoot Two

For this second shoot I wanted to go back out to the hilton photograph I took and retake it in different ways to see the affects it would give me. I also wanted to see if I could find more shoes on telephone wires but I had a problem with the weather, so I decided to do a shoot in the Manchester Arndale with no one in it.

Here is my first finished photograph of the main stairs in the arndale. I photographed this as I felt uncomfortable with the EXIT sign at the top left. Something about this adds to my photograph. I'm not sure what it is but I feel I'm definitely on the right path with what I want to achieve.

This second photograph is of a Cafe with no one in it. I like the way its empty making my photograph look lonely and there is a sense that someone has been there due to the chairs. I like the darkness in my image with the random spotlights dotted about.

This final photograph is my favourite as I just love the way I have captured the shine on the floor. Its strange to see a shopping malls floor as it is usually full of busy customers doing their shopping. I also like the way there is a lot of distance and depth in this photograph giving plenty to look at.

Peter Fraser

This is the final artist I was suggested to research and here are a few of Peters photographs...

This photograph really caught my eyes when I came across it. I find it very strange as of the text written on the green shed 'I hate green'. This really makes you think, who wrote this and why? Maybe I should look into more graffiti like some of the photographs I have already taken.

This second image reminds me of William Eggleston's photographs with the signs in the field, as well as my own image of the hilton with the shoes. Thinking about my work now I could maybe go down a route of seeing what I find hanging down from lines and see where that takes me.

This final photograph is my favourite as there is so much going on, I find something new each time I look. To me this image is very urban in the way the scene is of damage and what people have left behind. Its interesting to see that this scene is indoors rather than outside, this is something I might consider in my own work.


I am very pleased that I got to research Peter Fraser as he has given me a lot more ideas of where I should go next to develop into my final photographs.

Joel Stemfeld

Here is my second artist I was suggested to research, and here are a few of his photographs...

This first image is the only one I see relevant to my own work or to something similar to what I want to achieve. I like the contrast between the strange circular mirror building and the field, but other than that I don't feel there is much more in this photograph.

This second image is very interesting, but again I don't see how it relates to my work. I like the way the man is the man focus and that he's staring in to the camera making me the viewer feel uncomfortable.

This final image is the same as the previous one of the man in the centre of the photograph. I again though don't see a relevance to my work and it doesn't give me any more ideas for my own work.

Joel Stemfeld is a good photographer and I like these three images, however they don't relate to my work and I'm not that keen on his style of working. I won't be using him as inspiration for this brief but I may use him in the future.

William Eggleston

The first artist I was suggested to research was William Eggleston and here are a few of his images that I liked the best...

This image is one of my favourites as there are two completely different contrasts such as the beautiful landscape of the field, against the dull, rusty sign in the foreground. This reminds my of my own photograph of the hilton with the shoes, so this image is very relevant to my work.

I put this photograph in as it makes my feel bait out of place and uncomfortable. Im on edge as its very strange that there is something randomly placed in the middle of the road. To me it looks like a piece of rubbish which is strange on a clean, clear road.

This final image is similar to Williams first photograph I posted on here, as its also of a sign in the middle of a field. However this one seems to make me feel more uncomfortable, I think its because the sign is more dominant. Is the sign photographed in the middle of the shot for a reason? I think so, maybe its to say that mankind are ruining too much of nature, making it seem out of place.


Im very pleased that I was recommended to research William Eggleston as he has been great inspiration and relates a lot to the work I have already produced.

Group Tutorial

After researching my artists, I then showed my work so far to my class mates and showed them the artists I had research. This was a great eye opener as I got to see which photographs spoke the most. From this I also got given more artists to look into to help me develop my work.

The artists that were mentioned were william Eggleston, Joel Stemfeld and Peter Frazer. I will look at these artists work before I do another shoot to make sure my shoot is heading in the right direction.

Andre Kertesz

I researched Andre Kertesz for this brief as I have already researched him before and thought his work is very relevant to what I was to achieve. Here are a few of his images that I think are most relevant.

This first image really caught my eye when I came across it. I really like the way that it looks surreal with the way the bridge at the top looks like its just been edited on. This gives a sense that there is two images in one, with the busy people on the bridge and the quiet man sat on his own at the bottom.

I put this photograph in as when I read about it I found out that the train wasn't actually there in the image, he added it in after.  With the train in the photograph it adds to the busy town affect, with everyone doing there own thing. There is a lot of distance and depth in this photograph giving a lot to look at.

This is my favourite photograph as its very surreal. You have to look at the photograph more than once to full understand it. From first looking at this image its almost as if the man with the umbrella is walking on water and that the street lights are just floating on top. But then when you look at the image again you see that its just a very rainy day, this is good photo manipulation.


Andre Kertesz has a lot of very interesting work which I would like to produce myself. I will use some of his techniques and style of working in my own photographs.

Eugene Atget

I've researched Eugene Atget before and I found it would be good to research him again as I love some of his famous photographs, which will hopefully give me even more inspiration.

I picked this image as it reminds me of my photograph of the hilton with the shoes on the telephone wire. This photograph is similar in the sense that their is a great building in the distance which is over powered by the tree branch in front. This gives a sense that the building is haunted in the way it's almost forgotten about behind the branch and in the fog.

I really like this image as there is a lot going on in it with all the lines for example. When looking at the photograph my eyes get drawn straight to the centre, this is because of the dark corners acting almost like a frame.

This is my favourite photograph as I like the composition of the strange building in the centre making it a focus point. I also like the way this image looks ghost like as theres no people in the photograph, the image is dull with no lighting making it even more gloomy.


I'm very pleased that I have research Eugene Atget as his style of working is very different and has given me a few ideas for my own work.

Sam Gallagher

I came across Sam Gallagher on my internet research and here are a few of this photographs.

 This first image is one of my favouites, I just love the way he has blured the image out making it harder to see what the image is of. This is a good technique as it makes the viewer want to look harder at the image tomake sure they understand it. I like the way the lights are just dots, their all different sizes, colours and distance away. I can just about tell that the image is of a city viewed high up. This is a technique that I myself might use in my own work.

Even though this image isn't of a city scape, I still really like it. Its like the first photograph where it has been blured out making it harder to understand. Its almost as if its been made to look like a dream with the way its soft, making it feel calming.

This final image is my favourite. I just love the composition and the way it has been photographed high up, almost eye level with the tops of buildings. I feel the back and white makes the photograph look peacefull which is a strange affect to see in a busy city. This is something I would like to experiement with in my own work.


Sam Gallagher has been a great insparation and has give me alot to think about for my own work.

Conclusion so far

I'm very please with how my first shoot went. I've got a few good images to work with and maybe develop further. The five images I showed on the previous post were all different and had somethinf uniques about them which is why I chose them.

This is my favourite photograph as I feel the shoes on the telephone wire really add a unique feel to my image. Its strange in the sense that the main part of my photograph is the hilton which is in the background, and then to see a pair of trainers hanging down in front. This makes my image look more urban which is something I will look into adding in more of my photographs.

Shoot one photographs

Here are my final images from my first city shoot...

ISO - 200
Shutter speed - 1/25
Aperture - F 9.0

ISO - 200
Shutter speed - 4

Aperture - F 11.0

ISO - 200
Shutter speed - 1
Aperture - F 11.0

ISO - 200
Shutter speed - 4

Aperture - F 11.0

ISO - 200
Shutter speed - 1

Aperture - F 11.0

Shoot one

With my class mates we went to Manchester City Centre to photograph the city in different ways to hopefully get us started in which route we will go down for this brief.


Keeping the word Psychogeography at mind we wanted to test ourselves in the way we photograph our scenes. We began by walking down side roads, under bridges and through ally ways which were good surroundings and gave us more to photograph rather than just shops and busy roads. So part of our shoot we was blind folded so we had to just use what we can hear as to what to photograph. We then put ear plugs in so that we had to go off what we can see only. Both of these techniques were a good eye opener, and gave me a few good images to look at, but I wanted more ideas. So we then looked at photographing what was on the floor or what was above us, these techniques also worked really well and gave me a good starting point.

Psychogeography

Guy Debord quote in 1955: 'The study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals'.


At first I was unsure of what Psychogeography meant but after reading about it I think its to do with seeing the world differently. Most people for example stick to there comfort zones i.e going on the same route to work, going to the same shops. But do we really see what is around us... Do you go down back allys or look up and see the top of buildings, do you know anything about the history thats around you? 


This is something I am going to explore in my own work, and I think it will be interesting to see what outcome I will get.

Introduction

This unit is called Photography and The City, which we have 9 weeks to experiment, research and reflect upon how photography and the urban environment can be seen, culturally and visually through an artistic point of view.


I'm very keen to get going on this brief but I'm finding it very hard to get a starting point. So I've began by brain storming ideas on whats in the city and how I myself can go about it. I will then go out on a shoot and photograph the city in different ways, once I have done this I will look at my images to see what worked well and why. I will then follow this up by doing artist research to give me a few more ideas on where to go next and hopefully find a route to go down.