What do you want to do?
For this assignment my intentions are to take a series of photographs showing the way in which I view the city. I want to walk the streets of both Manchester and Bury, looking at how people treat the environment, seeing how the atmosphere within the city changes and the things people leave behind. I want to look at numerous ways of viewing our environment from the architecture of buildings to rubbish on the streets. I think I am going to focus a bit more of the things that we don’t notice around streets within the city, such as rubbish lying on the floor and unusual objects that have been left in places that wouldn’t be classed as normal. I intend to walk the streets that are in the centre of the city as well as streets that are on the outskirts of the city, to see the difference in the surroundings and environment.
Research and inspiration
I have researched numerous photographers for this assignment, gaining more inspiriting from some more than others. Some of the photographers that have influenced me more are Marcin Stawiarz, Gilad Benari, Richard Wentworth, The Boyle Family and Eugene Atget.
Marcin Stawiaz photographs have an impact on me; they have very strong colours and tones creating strong atmospheres within them. He finds interesting compositions and takes his photos from different view points which I really like. The compositions he uses are effective and the angle in which he chooses to take his photographs helps to create an impact on the viewer making it interesting to look at.
The reason that I like Gilad Benari’s work is due to how he has no intention of going to a certain place when he photographs, he goes out without knowing where he is going to go, and photographs whatever he comes across, I think this can be a better way of working as you aren’t expecting to capture anything specific. Again his photos are very atmospheric and have a very strong impact on me, he uses different angles and viewpoints which help to create a stronger impact within the photographs.
I really like Richard Wentworth’s work because he goes around his city finding unusual compositions, photographing things such as bottles and rubbish that have been left in unusual places, he is simple showing exactly what he is seeing rather that creating something himself, he looks for the little things that we wouldn’t normally notice when out walking showing that he is paying great attention to the little things within the city.
I really like the way The Boyle Family work, by simply pin-pointing a specific place on a map, they have no idea of what they will find when they get there and they photograph the floor of that pin-pointed area, sometimes this can be a better way of working, as you have no idea of what you are going to find, therefore you have no expectations of what you want to photograph.
Eugene Atget uses long exposure times picking up more detail, his photographs have a sense of stillness within them due to how there are no people within them even though they were taken during the day, this is done using the long exposure time which I feel makes a photograph effective due to the tones and atmosphere created, as well as the fact his photographs are in black and white which brings out the tones creating a stronger contrast within his images.
I also found a website (http://www.silentuk.com/) there are a lot of photographs of different environments within a city, from unusually places like underground, railways/train stations and high up on bridges showing different ways of viewing the city which are really effective, as well as little documentaries showing how the photographer got to these places, they are viewing the city in a different way to everyone else which I really like.
Practical considerations
To get the photographs I want I am going to need different equipment such as a variety of lenses, a tripod for when I want to use a long exposure time. Depending on where I want to go to take the photos I may need to get consent from people/companies if where I need to go is private property – I now know that I am within my rights to photograph buildings/places as long as I am not on private property. Due to the weather being very cold I will need to wear sensible clothing so that I stay warm. If it is raining it wouldn’t be very sensible to go out and take photographs as the rain likely to damage my camera, so I need to check the weather forecast to find good times to go out. I need to manage my time well so that I am able to get all of the photographs I need for this assignment before the deadline, and ensure I have enough time to do any written work or editing that I will need to do.
