Please note that with this blog it starts at the most recent post so you must scroll to the bottom and look through previous pages to see the progression of my work. There is also some writing on the About page and on some photographs, you need to hover the mouse over in order to get the written statement or caption. Any questions please email me.
Through out this photography paper I learnt a lot both about the technical skills of camera use, but primarily around Social documentary photography and the ethics behind capturing unfortunate circumstances.This assignment and my theme of exploring the 'Absence of Home' in relation to Turangawaewae has made me question a lot about the morals and way people treat each other with in society. I learn't a lot about the contributing factors of homelessness, addiction, neglect,alcohol abuse etc. All in all I felt that my topic was quite difficult to investigate and at time's I often felt quite uncomfortable putting myself in certain environments and situations but as a whole I feel I probably learnt more from it and it was incredibly worth while. I now know that I particularly enjoy social documentary photography and capturing, thought provoking imagery, expressions and relationships that with added context can express an idea with in society and can be somewhat relatable. The editing process definitely taught me that there is a million and one way's to interpret a photograph and this only increases when trying to create a series of images. From this everyone will have there own taste and preference, so no matter how many trials you do, chances are it will be different for each person and sometimes you just have to make a decision. Over all I really enjoyed this paper and felt it was very worthwhile, personally for me to take, to experience interactive photography and the technical aspects of capturing and editing. Hopefully the research and work I have done will be reflected through my photographs.
These are the final photographs I have chosen to display as a collaborative decision between myself and my lecturers.I think it has a good balance of perspectives, and I feel like the photographs themselves are taken in an objective fashion but speak for themselves about issues within society and the relationships and routines related to homelessness in wellington. I found it quite difficult to choose my final images as I have experimented with many different ideas and way's of portraying, this idea of neglect and absence of home. Although I did really personally like my perspective sequence, which shows altering view points and camera angles I did feel like it highlighted the difference and separation within society... the us and them, which is not particularly what I wanted to portray. It again is also my perspective on an issue that I am not personally a part of so it may be less convincing than other photos. My ambience sequence of textures and the street environment I really enjoyed, but that is because I visualise things more metaphorically. I found it difficult to chose my final images as there were many individual photos I liked simply for the aesthetic or composition, or what i thought figuratively it portrayed. However the final sequence I feel has the most honest portrayal of my theme The Absence of Turangawaewae and homelessness in wellington as each image captures something unique or expresses an issue in it's own way, whether this be, social ignorance, neglect, a depressing vibe or solution. I have tried to balance images taken on the streets observing public behaviour along with some of those taken at the homeless shelter to communicate that relationship and show the issue and than what is being done to try and help. There is a mixture of black and white images and colour as I don't believe this issue is just 'black and white' and I feel that the saturation captures a sincerity that is different for each photo, there for they shouldn't all be the same. I have tried to present a range of photographs that express relationships, moments of friendship, depressing vibes, and individually and collectively are thought provoking in some sense. The only image that I put in the sequence that is more metaphorical is the window at the end. This is the odd one out but I feel like it summarises both the idea of separation and perspective, looking at other people and making assumptions, but then also more literally the idea of looking from inside a bubble of your own situation out to a different world, dark and depressing to a brighter future as cliche as that may be. On each individual picture there is a caption briefly describing what I saw in each photo and why I chose it. As a series because they are primarily documentary images i feel it is my honest portrayal that can be interpreted by the viewer however they want to see it. Below is a slide show of my lens Camera exercise checklist. Their is a caption on each image as you go through the check list but it shows, underexposed and overexposed images, looks at depth of field, monochromatic, multi chromatic, shooting at different times of the day, shutter speed, focal length and different shooting techniques. This sequence directly contrasts the people involved and the homeless shelter. This sequence is a mixture of black and white imagery, and low saturated colour images. The photographs themselves have contrasting subject matter and I have tried to link aspects like the empty neglected chairs and then the women sitting on par benches. Looking at creating a perspective based sequence, going back and fourth from the people I photographed and talked to, to the street view looking up, trying to show angles from sitting on the street. These images are all in low saturated colours. This sequence looks at all the related imagery and textures of the streets. I like this lay out as it starts with looking through a window of the homeless shelter to try and start the theme of a snap shot into the lives of these people and how they live. The people are matched with textures and comparisons through the sequence, for example the dirty alley |