End Of Project Review

Bradley Helbert

Environment - Landscape
For the environment project I wanted to cover the issue of how nature takes back land that has man made structures that have been left. To do this I photographed abandoned and derelict buildings and structures. This was to show how nature is destroying man made objects and this shows that nature is still stronger then man kind. I used Mark Blundell and Scott Haefner as artist influence to start with as I thought that their work was very good and would be good inspiration for me in the environment project. I tried to take images that were similar to theirs although I could not quiet achieve the exact visual look of there photos as they used a technique called HDR and it is much harder to do on film then on digital. I also looked at photographs by Robert Polidori, I looked at his photos as he did a series on the New Orleans Hurricane and his photos also show how nature is claiming back land by destroying man made structures.

This is an image by Robert Polidori of the damage that hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans. This was a photo I used to give me inspiration as Polidori was trying to portray the same message of how powerful nature can be.

This is an image by Scott Haefner, I used this photo as inspiration as the content is similar to that of the photos that I wanted to take.

Environment The City

For The City Project I decided I wanted to focus on the areas of the city that are slightly unknown and mysterious at night. To achieve this focus I photographed alleyways and hidden areas of the city that are not well known and have little or no human presence at night. I decided to use Chatham and Cambridge as my location as I knew they offered the places I wanted to photograph. I used Rut Blees Luxemburg, Eugene Atget and Brassai as my inspiration for this project as they have done work on the same aspects of the city as I was focusing on. Seeing there work gave me ideas of compositions and different ways I could present this aspect of the city.

These are some of the images that inspired me and gave me ideas of possible compositions and ways to present of the aspect of the city I wanted to photograph.

Object
For the 'Object' part of the project I decided that the issue in the world I would like to focus on is homelessness. This idea came from when I met a homeless women one night after I had been out clubbing. From the conversation I had with her it was clear that she was actually very intelligent, as the conversation went on she told me that it was her choose to live on the street as she got claustrophobic and therefore do not want to live inside, she also told me that she had 3 a levels all of which were good grades (better then mine). This made me think differently about homeless people, maybe not all of them are just lazy and of a lower class then people with houses and jobs.

I had two ideas for which direction I could take the project :

1) Represent homelessness in still life form using object that you would typically associate with homelessness and then other object that show that homeless people are not of a lower class to everyone else and that they are often well educated - items such as books and qualification certificates.

2) Compose a still life that is made up of items that represent all the different factors that make people homeless. For example using pills to represent drugs and a ripped family photo to represent family issues.

Anthony Hernandez

I decided to use an American documentary photography called Anthony Hernandez as my artist influence fro the object project as he had done a series of photographs about homelessness.

These are two images that I used to inspire my 'Still Life' of homelessness. I use objects similar to the ones in these photos as I thought that both these photos give the message of what homelessness is about. However I included items in my 'Still Life' that also show the message of that homeless people are not of a lower class and some of them are very intelligent.

As I shot my image in the studio, I have decided that I would use more harsh lighting then in the two images above to create large sharp shadows to symbolize how homeless people live in the shadows of society as people look down upon then due to untrue stereotypes.

Body
For the body project I decided I wanted to capture something that I have found is very common with people I know and people in general. I wanted to capture how people often put on a brave face and pretend that everything in fine in life and bottle up there feelings. I decided to show this by photographing someone with only half there face lit. I did this to show how there is two sides, how they want you to think they are feeling (the part of the face that was lit) and how the person is truly feeling (the part of the face not lit). I think this acted as a metaphor for how people keep there emotions and problems in the darkness. I mainly got my inspiration for the aesthetic of my photo from Flickr from people who had taken photographs with the same idea as I had of only lighting half the face.

Self Evaluation Object and Body

I think I am well informed with the issue relating to my object as I saw first hand how not all homeless people are how people perceive them and they can be just as intelligent and decent people as everyone else. For the object shot I decided to use both items that you would normal think of when you think of homeless people and then a book to show that they can also be intelligent, I choose to make everything but the run-down shoes in focus to show what everyone see and then had the book in the background blurred to show that people dont see this side to homeless people and therefore have a blurred perception. I think I am well informed with the issue relating to the body project as I know many people who are like this, including myself and therefore understand fully what I wanted to show. I decided to take a photograph of a girl who is studying fashion at the university, I decided to use her as a friend suggested she would be good for the shoot as she kept her feelings and emotions bottle up and therefore would be a good example of what I was trying to portray. The most significant challenge I think so far for the units its making sure that my photos translates the idea I have in my head so that it is clear to the viewer what the message is.

Self Evaluation - Environment

I am fairly well informed about the issue for my Landscape project as I have spent a long time looking into the issue and wrote a essay for A level about the issue. For the Landscape shoot I wanted to show derelict building with trees and nature around them to show how nature is claiming back the land. For The City Project I decided I wanted to focus on the areas of the city that are slightly unknown and mysterious at night. To achieve this focus I photographed alleyways and hidden areas of the city that are not well known and have little or no human presence at night. The most significant challenge I think so far for the units its making sure that my photos translates the idea I have in my head so that it is clear to the viewer what the message is.