Creative Assignment

A Broken Society

The theme I choose was  'A Broken Society'. I decided to choose this theme as I thought the idea of society and being broken was really interesting especially as the media is showing society in a more dark way due to multiple issues in today's society. This theme stood out to me from all the other themes as I felt I could take it different places which a theme like life or love couldn't really take me. Especially as its a lot specific which means I can create photographs which really relate to this theme and I can create a more precised idea. The way I want to express this theme is by taking photos of something so natural which essentially symbolizes mother nature (like a field, the sky or or just an area which is a natural surrounding). I then want to capture something which symbolizes modern world and contemporaneous (like a building, piece of technology or a man made place) to show a contrast between natural and man made. This contrast represents how society has broken; it once was a place full or pure nature and care free people but now is a place filled with skyscrapers, ruined areas of nature and people with worries and responsibilities. Although this is a deep and meaningful idea it can be hard to show this as its such a in depth idea which can be shown in many different ways as its easily misrepresented. So my photos may not be so obvious and relatable to my idea but I want them to be strong and powerful which can be represented in a way which relates to broken society.

Research

One lesson I created a Pinterest account for research for other photography assignments and then decided to use the Pinterest account for this assignment. Whilst I was collecting research for my idea I decided to create a new Pinterest board and look and different photos with the styles of society, nature and man made.

Here are some of the pins on my 'A Broken Society' Pinterest board

This section of the Pinterest was focused on nature

This section of the Pinterest was focused on architecture

I pinned this photo to the nature section of the pinterest. I really like this photo as I feel it symbolizes the effortless beauty of nature. My eye is drawn to the lake with the aqua blue water and reflection of the surroundings as I feel it really looks striking. I also like how this photo looks so effortless and not staged.

I pinned this photo to the modern section of the pinterest. I really like this image as I feel it represents 21st century and the development of technology. I like the main focus of the skyscraper as it really grabs attention and the quality of the photo looks astounding as it makes the skyscraper look like its apart of something sci-fi.

I pinned this photo to the society section of the pinterest. I really like this image as I feel its very emotive and strong. The use of black and white adds to focus to the image as making something B/W removes all distractions of colour so the viewers eye concentrates on just subject. It also makes elements more defined like tones, shapes, depth of fie;d and textures.












Kevin Saint Grey

I got inspiration, ideas and my theme from fine art photographer Kevin Saint Grey. I really like his photography for multiple different reasons. One in particular is his use of black and white. Personally I've always liked black and white photography as I feel it allows people to actually focus more on composition rather then colour and contrast. I also like what he actually photographs; mostly being different types of architecture. With my own idea I want to take photos with a building being a big element in it, so looking at Kevin Saint Grey's work does inspire me.

Here are a few examples of Kevin Saint Grey's photography

Chosen Idea Summary

 The way I want to express this theme is by taking photos of something so natural which essentially symbolizes mother nature (like a field, the sky or or just an area which is a natural surrounding). I then want to capture something which symbolizes modern world and contemporaneous (like a building, piece of technology or a man made place) to show a contrast between natural and man made. This contrast represents how society has broken; it once was a place full or pure nature and care free people but now is a place filled with skyscrapers, ruined areas of nature and people with worries and responsibilities.

Paperwork

Models: I wont taking photographs of people so organizing using models wont be necessary. I will show an example of a model release form.

Location: Choosing a location is difficult as I have many different buildings I could chose to photograph. The area I want to use is around Portsmouth, purely because I'm familiar with the area, know a lot of different places I could capture, it also is somewhere I can easily get to and be able to return again and take more photos if needed.

Equipment: I will use my own camera so won't need to book or borrow any equipment from the college or a friend.

My example of Model Release Form



Example of Risk Assignment



Example of Location Release Form



Arranged day to take photos:  Saturday 10th of May 2014.

Contact Sheets

This is the contact sheets for my photos for the creative assignment.



















5 best images; photo-shopped

This screen grab shows me photoshopping my five best photos. This particular edit was brightness and contrast as I wanted to subtly make a different to the photo by improving the density of the colour (by adding contrast). Also slightly using brightness to even the exposure and make it well balanced.

The next step I did was changing the original colour photo into black and white as I wanted to create a more defined and sharp look. I like how this effect has made the building stand out and be more of a focus point.

This screen grabs shows me converting the colour space from RGB to CMYK. It's important to do this as when printing from a commercial printer the colour space is automatically CMYK. RGB stands for (Red, Green Black) and CMYK stands for (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK).








Final Images

Evaluation

Creative Assignment Evaluation Interview

1.  How you decided on your topic and how your images interpret this topic?

The theme I choose was  'A Broken Society'. I decided to choose this theme as I thought the idea of society and being broken was really interesting especially as the media is showing society in a more dark way due to multiple issues in today's society. This theme stood out to me from all the other themes as I felt I could take it different places, which a theme like life or love couldn't really take me. Especially as its a lot specific which means I can create photographs which really relate to this theme and I can create a more precised idea. My images interpret this topic as I’ve incorporated something so symbolic to society; the building. Most people relate architecture with society as it shows how the world has developed and changed due to the society.  The building simply could signify how many skyscraper’s are taking over natural land and how nearly all countryside is being taken under by massive skyscrapers and making every area just another replica of the city.  This concept is slightly complicated and deep but that is what the building in the images represent. The natural surrounding of the sky adds to the interpretation of the images. I wanted to show a contrast from the one of most natural things in the world; the sky to one of the most manmade things in the world; a building. The sky is a second element, which isn’t as important as the building I simply just wanted that to show the contrast and also be complimentary with the images.

How you photographed your subject, considerations to light and location?

I considered lighting and location a lot when taking these images, as I wanted them to be correct for my topic and images. The location especially was important as it often can ‘make or break’ a photo. I knew my location resources were limited as I live in an area with not so many skyscrapers so I decided to go to the next best/nearest location, which was Portsmouth; I looked around in till I eventually found the building (in my images). I found this piece of architecture interesting as I felt it looked really modern and slightly futuristic; something, which didn’t particularly fit, in with the location. I feel I have chosen a good location as it fits well with my idea and topic, also the sharpness of the colour being an opaque black works well against the blue of the sky. Finally the definition of the buildings architecture creates an amazing shape against the clear sky.

Reference to professional practice (research, planning and considerations).

The research I did before taking my photos was through creating a Pinterest account and getting inspiration from different images. I searched multiple different tags on my Pinterest account including nature, society and man-made as inspiration for my own images. Planning also was significant as I had to plan when I was taking them; choosing the right time is vital as it really can effect an image especially one which focuses on natural lighting.

How you edited your photos and why you edited them as you did (or didn’t)?

I edited my photos with Adobe Photoshop and simply changed the colour to black and white, increased the brightness and contrast. Also I converted the colour space from RGB to CMYK. The edit I did on my photos was crop then 5x7 so they were the best size for digital printing. The editing I did on my images overall was simple as I wanted them to stay natural and still looks similar to the original images.

How you feel about your finished work – including what response you have had from others, and what sort of exhibition this could be used for?

Overall I feel pleased with my finished work as I have incorporated my topic throughout and created images, which relate to my original idea. I like how my images have turned out as I feel they do show broken society and do stick to my original idea. The angles I took my photos show the contrast of nature vs man made with the building taking main focus showing man made and the sky which essentially is nature showing the naturalness contrasting with the man made. If I was going to take my photos again I would try and take a range of different photos using other buildings as I feel only taking photos of one building lacks variety.  I also would of chosen a different day to do photography as some of the photos lack strong colour (even though they are in black and white). I wanted strong colours like the sky and the building to be more significant; meaning the sky to be a more vivid blue and the building more defined.  I have had a positive response from others who have seen my images, some have said they are strong images which show a powerful message. This could be used for an architecture photography exhibition.

What skills you have used and developed, including anything you would have done different?

I have used a lot of different photography skills in this project to make sure the images are the best I could do. I tried to take my photos in an angle, which should both the building and the sky to show a strong contrast. My skills developed when it comes to actually taking the photos, I tried to choose a good time to take them so the photos could be the best quality and also made sure the main focus was the building and no other distractions were made in the background. My Photoshop skills also developed as I learnt how to convert the colour space to improve the colour quality and also how to crop an image for digital printing.