Saturday, July 31, 2010

Project 1: PLACE - statement of intent

My statement of intent needs much refining so in this post I will endeavour to be decisive about my narrative.

The concept has been shifted a lot throughout this project and through the process of photographing. To begin with I thought about photographing the place of the playground from a child's point of view but decided that was too straight forward and cliché. Next I began to think about the wider context as this project was focusing on the sense of place and long shots. It was important for me to convey the place of a suburb because it was where I grew up, so the concept moved from the perspective of a child to the idea of the wider context being a metaphor for a wider world beyond the playground (in the eyes of a child, this would be their "whole world"). Revisiting youth became the apparent concept. Further investigation lead me to think about this space as a war memorial, not only as a remembrance of the dead but also for the celebration of life. Because I see children play there happily everyday, it is logical to conclude this use of space is appropriate for the upbringing of new lives.

Hence, my overall intention of these photographs is to capture this space as a significant area within the suburb. It is significant because even though it is a memorial, it still brings about a happy environment based on the fact it is a children's playground. I have set this up in a story that tells the viewer that the placement of this park is important (central within the suburb), the approach to the entrance is distinctive and meaningful (central dominance), the playground is a happy, safe and inviting space and lastly, the portrayal of the exit is equally as important as the approach because the gain from experience is just as worthy as the knowledge of the space.

Project 1: PLACE - final shoot?

I went back out to the playground today for my last shoot and gathered some images that weren't particularly useful because there were too many children playing there. I waited and waited and then it got too cold... ... However, I did end up taking some photos which had views toward the suburb - for my 4th photo in the sequence.


1 The intent of this photo was to show the life of the suburb. Essentially being able to look into the present and realise the play ground isn't forever. The back of the gate shows "looking back" out into reality.








2 This photo was just a play upon the idea that immediately outside the park are houses, showing that the park is a well organised and structured space with a definite boundary. The focus is more on the space rather than the narrative so I think this photo isn't as successful.






Although from the previous shoot the first attempt at photo 2 seemed to be more successful, I think photo 1 here portrays the suburb in a better sense so that viewers can grasp and resolve the story from start to finish.

Below is the set of photos I propose for my narrative at this point in time.


Thursday, July 29, 2010

Studio 3: Tutor feedback

After studio today, I gathered some useful information and have decided I need to do one more shoot to finalise my concept. I think the last two photos of my sequence are not as successful as the first two. Looking to some artist models and further research will enable me to collect those two last images.

Recommended for me are Robin Morrison (documentation) and Lars Tunbjork (industrial). Research more into recreational parks by the Wellington City Council and town planning will also help me in capturing the playground as a landscape or piece of land, a place.

Because the playground is a memorial park, I found Morrison's photographs more useful, especially his section on 'Memorials' in his book 'SENSE OF PLACE'.


In Morrison's memorial section, he mentions that there are many memorials around New Zealand dedicated for the remembrance of tens of thousands of men willingly fighting for the country. He goes on to say...

"Memorials are for the living - a reminder that it wasn't us who died for 'freedom and democracy'. There are no memorials to the equally brave who refused to fight. they also suffered for the nation of freedom." - Morrison, Robin

I noticed the way I had photographed the entry way to the park had resemblance to a few of my favourites from his book. These are below with the last one being my photo.




Memorials are for the living is a quote I could very much relate to for this project as my narrative suggests revisiting youth and the role of life. The playground is used everyday by many children and I can associate this with the celebration of the upbringing of a new life. Some may think the playground is awkwardly situated within a dense suburb but I think it is very practical. It's hard for me to find a good time when the sun is out and there are no children playing there. So in terms of this space being a memorial, I believe it is appropriate and gives a good sense of reality even though this was once a place of my youth.


Sources:

Morrison
http://www.robinmorrison.co.nz/prints/collection.asp?id=9

Sense of Place - Robin Morrison, Seto Publishing, 1984.

Tunbjork
In the end I didn't find Tunbjork very useful for my project but here are some of his works for future reference.
http://www.agencevu.com/photographers/photographer.php?id=80

Project 1: PLACE - questions

Some issues I have come across while reflecting upon my last series of photos.

Is my narrative clear?
Is it important to show more of the playground? As a recreational space?
Has the definition of PLACE changed to a threshold? Should I focus more on the park?
What are the characteristics of the space itself? How has it been structured? Why?
Composition of final panel?

Hopefully photos from the next shoot will clarify these questions a bit more.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Light and Time

Today's lecture about light got me thinking. Light gives us the power to see and perceive, it also has the power to change the way we view things. It is important, especially in photography as it has the ability to give clues and fill in missing details about the single shot. Dimmer light is suggestive of seduction, romance or the unknown while bright light suggests excitement, happiness and joy. A park or playground captured during the night will have a completely different effect to one that is captured during the day. In order to convey a story about growing up, bright light/daylight should be used to illustrate happy moments.

Photography has the ability to capture and change our perception of light and time. With a photograph a moment or period of time is captured instead of a duration like our childhood. Essentially my series of photos will try to portray a long duration of time and reflection upon this continuous journey.

Project 1: PLACE - new shots

This set of photos were taken during the morning. While at the site, I had time to contemplate the concept a bit more and came to the conclusion that the playground was simply a transition point for those too old to play there. So my series has become more of a story about the threshold between childhood and adulthood (adolescence).


These are my selection from today's shoot. I focused on the possible entry ways (pathway to playground) and exits (pathway out of playground) and how this would be interpreted by other viewers in terms of my concept.





I hope to end up with a series of 4 photos but still not sure how to convey the entrance and exit.

12
34
5

1) Suburbia is vast, attention focused on the playground while everything else appears busy and chaotic. The playground blends in with the surroundings - suggestive of the subtle threshold between childhood and adulthood (adolescence).

2) Entrance to the park, introducing childhood.

3) Approaching the wondrous "perfect" world. (Circular, central, enclosed, inviting)

4) Realising when really, looking back out into the "real world" it's not so scary after all. It is a new and different path, no longer direct and straight forward.

5) Straight forward route out of the park. Same way in, same way out.




Geoff Hedley Photography

Geoff Hedley's photography is amazing. I like it because of the way he frames his shots and centralises his subject matter. It is very well controlled and inspires me to capture the playground in such a way that starts to communicate the same quality.

Some examples I found most captivating:




http://www.hedleyphoto.co.nz/location/dark%20city.jpg



http://www.hedleyphoto.co.nz/location/store.jpg


Sourced from:
© geoff hedley photography ltd.
http://www.hedleyphoto.co.nz/gallery.aspx

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Project 1: PLACE - notes

Initial thoughts on the project through to some development of the photographs.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Project 1: PLACE

For this project we have to photograph a place of our interest and begin to set up a narrative through a series of at least 4 photos.

The place I have chosen is the children's playground within suburbia, specifically Johnsonville Children's Memorial Park.



The interesting things I associate with a playground are the smiple colours and shapes that make up the structure of a play area. These bright colours reflect a sense of happiness, innocence and general optimistic view of the world and life. The simplicity of the colourful shapes frame a small and joyous world of the children who use this space. I intend to capture the place in a series of frames depicting this joyous world located within the suburbs. I view suburbs as a place of life and community, that is a sort of wider world compared with a playground.

Below is a set of initial shots of this concept:






Thursday, July 22, 2010

Studio 2 (22/07/10): Aperture and Shutter Speed

The task:

Experimenting with exposure and depth of field by combining different shutter speeds and apertures.

Exposure is a combination of 3 things - film speed (ISO) aperture setting and shutter speed. In order to have the correct exposure we need to have a "full cup of light", meaning each of these settings should complement each other depending on the amount of light in the situation. Often, a fast shutter speed is complemented with a large aperture setting in order to let enough light into the lens. If the shutter is left open for a long time then only a small aperture is required.

Here are some images we took for this exercise:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Studio 1 (15/07/10): Camera practice

The task:


Find pattern, line, shape, form, contrasting colours, tones of similar colour, pale tones, dark tones, high angle, low angle, extreme close up, extreme long shot, landscape and portrait formats.


Contact sheets are unavailable at this stage as I keep getting errors while uploading.
They have been uploaded to Flickr instead.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52060788@N07/sets/72157624620467014/


Some of my favourites are on Flickr.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Task 1: Photograph


Assignment 1: Task 1

Gary Braasch, Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World.

The photograph was taken by Gary Braasch as part of his passionate studies on global warming and environmental issues. I think the above photograph is important as it discusses current issues involving our world - the place we live in. The image shows children happily playing with a ball on dehydrated rice fields in Guangdong Province, China. Many suffered from no harvest of rice during the extended drought in 2005 but little do the children know what caused this to be, they are still able to continue playing on. I think the photo tells us about our ignorance towards the issue of global warming and the actions taken to reduce the effects of it. The caregiver stands by while the children play shows the lack of understanding for their next generations. They may be happy now but what about in 50 years time?

He also has a 'Before & After' series which I find very powerful and endearing.
These are some examples:



For further information, visit these websites:
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/index.html
http://ghgphotos.com/photographers/gary-braasch

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Welcome!

Hi all, This is my first trial blog post. Essentially a tester to get my head around things.

So, to introduce myself: My name is Mary and this will be my Digital Photographics (DSDN144) blog for trimester 2, 2010. I am currently studying Landscape Architecture. I have always had an interest in photography since I knew how to operate a camera. I am especially captivated by shots of harmonious landscapes and am interested in images which play upon elements within the foreground and background, however with that aside I hope to learn and build upon my photography skills over the period of this course.

Photos by Author