Weekly exercise

Long exposure image
I've got my friend to jog a ball while i photograph the moment through a long exposure. The result is that various leg movements are captured in one image.






Short exposure image

I threw a ball in the air and took an image with a short exposure. Everything appear really sharp and still in the image, the ball  seems to be floating on the space.

Evaluation of 'The University'

The initial proposal has been well considered throughout the series.

Firstly, the series, in terms of telling a narrative, was very successful. The fourth and fifth image strongly indicates an identity of the space. The beginning and the end is very clear and symbolic. Most importantly the overall sequence and flow of the series is comprehensive and well planned. However I feel that the relationship between each images are imprecise, what could have been really interesting is to emphasize on one particular object (chair) or colour (red) that appears throughout the series using light or contrast so that the images have stronger connection and meaning behind them.

Emptiness is represented strongly throughout the series, therefore allowing it to have symbolic meanings of a particular space or feeling. The concept of emptiness derives from Neil Pardington. He explains the significance of one image comes from allowing viewer’s own story to fit in it, “interest to me is the personal experience an audience brings to the act of viewing”. The emptiness here plays important role, it allows the viewers to interpret the image differently according to their own experience. I think this intention was well applied in my series.

The sixth image, I think, is quite vague in terms of conveying its intended idea.  This images was added majorly to reinforce the flow of the series.

In conlcusion the series generally fulfills my intention. The composition and sequence is quite successful but the relationship between images could be improved.

Blog proposal, refined

Project 1: Space

Aim/Objectives:
The aim is to deliver a story of university life, based around my personal experience and understanding of universities.

Method: -Observe the space chosen carefully and experience the space in order to examine the quality
-Take a series of photos that relates to each other and use the sequence to set up a narrative -Plan props of the image profoundly to deliver a message
-Consider effective photographical techniques to magnify or add meanings e.g. Symmetry, perspective, composition, etc.

Rationale:
The primary intention of the work is to introduce my own feelings of university through a series of photos. Each photo will be a metaphor of the feelings or stages that most students go through in universities. Emptiness of the space is to be appreciated throughout the series. Hence it will allow the images to be interpreted differently according to viewers own experience of education.

This concept was highly inspired by Neil Pardington’s one of the prominent series, called “The Clinic”. “He makes ‘nothingness’ both poignant and meaningful.”

Output:
Consequently the series very strongly represented the university life. Each photo has quite direct expression of a particular feeling or moment. Similarly the sequence is really direct and comprehensive. In terms of techniques and styles the series has strong appreciation of Neil Pardington.

Final shoots

Third shoots

These series of photos have been taken after studying Neil Pardington's work. I have experimented some of his techniques to convey an idea of replication and perspective.

Analysing Photographs

Artist: Neil Pardington

-photographer based in Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand.

http://www.neilpardington.com/home

Series: The Vault

-Polynesian Spear Storage

-2008

-LED/C-Print

-dimensions variable

Genre- documentation, expressionism and narrative

Approach: “A concept of the camera being a storehouse of ideas and images.” The series focuses on the places where things are being stored.

Method and Techniques: Pardington uses perspective very frequently in this series to indicate the scale and order of the storage space. He also uses colour, line and composition very carefully in this photo to guide viewers to understand the meaning behind it.

Description:

 -perspective, symmetry and order

-door being a focal point

- Array of spears direct our eyes into the door

- Blue colour of the door stands out against the rest of the image

- Compositionally emphasised by the door being on the centre

Context and ideas: The idea of storage is relatively weak in this image. However there are signs and traces which represent the storage space. The image, I think, clearly communicates to us; it unfolds a story as we carefully look at it. The photo has a strong focus on the door. The horizontal spears immediately lead our eyes into the door. But what’s interesting about this is that our eyes are drawn back out through a vertical array of spears. There is almost a duplex spacing appearing on the image.

Response: Polynesian Spear Storage is one of the most successful perspective photos in the series. I was attracted by the unfolding nature of the image. I believe the quality of the photo has risen by a narrative embedded in it. I intend to use some of his techniques (composition, perspective, colour, etc.) to build a narrative upon my series.  

Series: The Vault

-Film Archive #4

-2006

-LED/ C-Print

-dimensions variable

Genre- documentation, expressionism and narrative

Method and techniques: Pardington uses colour, lighting and composition quite dominantly on this photo. He, unlike “Polynesian Spear Storage”, emphasized the shapes by taking an image almost in two dimensions.

Description:

-flat image

-Objects lined-up on the ground

-variety in shapes of the objects creates vibrance and contrast against the rest of the image

-Combination of blue and yellow colour is dominant

Context and ideas: A concept of narrating a function of storage spaces has continued in this image. The idea is shown very well. The image seems compact and full but well organised which precisely represents a typical storage space. The lighting provides glimpse of different potential sense to emerge upon the hidden storage space. I think this photo not only narrates a story but it is also visually powerful. The image is compositionally very successful and the shapes of objects aligned on the floor create an interesting visual aesthetic to the image.  

Response: Through this image, I was inspired to take flat, less distorted, images and to deal more carefully with shape and composition of objects. I think what was really successful about this series, “The Vault”, is that Pardington kept a consistency with the narrative whilst introducing contrast and variety in his photographical techniques.

Series: The Clinic

-Chairs

-2003

-LED/ C-Print

-dimensions variable

Genre: documentation and narrative

Approach: “The Clinic” intends to document interior space of hospitals to generate a strong narrative of patients life in the hospital. Pardington said photos “act as a metaphor: although not present in the image, traces of events or people somehow remain in the spaces represented, and consequently the images seem like stages set for unseen stories already told, or about to unfold.”

Method and Techniques: Colour, composition, perspective and lighting has planned and used deliberately to communicate a story.

Description:

-perspective and replication

-empty blue chair which lead our eyes to follow the perspective line and eventually fade away

-the colour of the chair and emptiness of the space creates a depressing atmosphere

Context and ideas: The idea of narrating the story is really well done in this image. It feels almost like patient are still on the chair waiting for their surgery although it is merely an empty chair. This emptiness is a key element of the series. “He makes ‘nothingness’ both poignant and meaningful.” His idea of enticing viewers to see the image with their own experience works really well in this photo. The lighting is also well used here. The darker space at the end of the perspective line, to me, indicates the death approaching patients.

Response: I really admire the way Pardington construct the photo to direct a story to be seen and identified to viewers very concisely. Nevertheless Pardington also sets the image in a way that it is absolutely up to viewers and their personal experience how they interpret the image.

“While an appreciation of the importance of observation and metaphor underpin my current practice, of equal interest to me is the personal experience an audience brings to the act of viewing.”

I intend to deliver my own narrative of the space through some of the techniques Pardington uses while allowing the viewers to imagine their own journey through my images.  

Reference:

Ewen McDonald, ‘Neil Pardington’, Contemporary New Zealand Photographers, Eds. Hannah Holm & Lara Strongman, Mountain View Publishing, Auckland, 2005, pp.48–55

Neil Pardington. The Vault information text. web

Neil Pardington. The Clinic information text. web