STATEMENT OF INTENT - ARCHITECTURE

AN ITALIAN ADVENTURE

Intention & Professional application


For this module I intend to produce at least 10 architectural images, using material collected on my recent visit to Naples and the surrounding area.

These will form a portfolio of images which can be used in a professional application, for example to illustrate guide and travel journals, as art work for books, magazines or calenders, in photojournalism or as illustrations in architectural magazines.

Stimulus & Influences


My stimulus for this has been my recent visit to Italy and the desire to capture a photographic record of the amazing buildings I have seen there, with all the influences that have come from the peoples of ancient and modern civilisations, who have made a home in this part of the world.

I have been influenced by historians and archaeologists past and present, fist during my school years when ancient history was part of the curriculum and latterly by some of the excellent history programmes shown on television.

Equipment & Media

Since this trip to Italy is primarily a touring holiday, I have only been able to take one camera due to luggage weight restrictions.  I will therefore be using my Canon EOS 5D MK11 with 24 - 70mm lens and polarising filter where necessary.  I do not have a tilt and shift lens available and feel that this will not be needed since it is an artistic impression I want to achieve.  It would be nice to have a tripod available to enable me to take some shots in low light or at night, but unfortunately this is not possible.

I will publish the finished photographs in a portfolio available via the internet, either on a dedicated photosharing website or on blogger.  I feel this is more convenient since I will not have to carry around a bulky portfolio of printed photographs and can reach a larger audience without having to be physically present myself.

Techniques

Since my portfolio is not intended for illustration of technical journals, I would like to capture an artistic impression of architecture, rather than a technically correct photograph, showing no perspective for example.  On the contrary I prefer the exagerated, elongated look that is achieved by standing close to a structure and shooting upwards.

As well as photographing buildings as a whole, I want to show detail in the architecture by taking close-up shots of interesting decoration and fittings, internally as well as externally. In order to isolate detail, I want to use, where possible due to lighting conditions, a wide aperture in order to throw surroundings distractions, out of focus.

Lighting

I do not have any flash equipment available and could not carry it with me due to the nature of the trip, so I will be relying on ambient light.  This may be problematical since many churches and museums have small windows which let in only a limited amount of light.  However, this can provide some dramatic shafts of light which will give exciting results.

If light levels are low I will have to increase ISO, I have up to a reading of 6400, which can be expanded to 12800 and 25600 in very extreme cases.  I anticipate keeping the iso to 2500 and lower where possible, since at higher readings picture quality deteriorates.

Health & Safety


Since I am taking photographs as a tourist on holiday and in public places, I should not need any special permissions.  The general public and authorities seem to be well used to tourists snapping away and I have never been challenged as to what I am doing.  However, I would not try to take pictures in a sensitive location, such as a police station or army barracks for example, unless I was commissioned to do so.  I would then have to obtain the necessary permissions from any authorities involved.

I am always sensitive as to the reactions of other people whom I may capture in my photographs, if anyone objected I would discontinue and would not try to photograph children unless given permission by their parent or responsible adult.

The other considerations relate to personal safety, trips or falls, traffic and obstructions, climbing or making myself a hazard by obstructing others, or personal safety as in being attacked if out alone or threatened in a robbery.

LECTURE - EDWARD SWINDEN

I attended a lecture at Burton College today given by Ed Swinden a young photographer, based in Manchester, who has recently won the first  'Shoot the Street' competion run by British Journal of Photography and the Format Photography Festival in Derby.  He has a solo exhibition of his work running till April 2011.

He is exhibiting a series of photographs featuring a single person, going about their daily lives, caught in a strip of illumination, creating an almost abstract image. 

Using the strong contast between light and dark as a metaphor for our daily lives, often oppressed by the system, as in the towering surroundings.

Ed came to photography after dropping out as a physcology student and going into journalism, writing for various newspapers and the BBC.  He soon found out he preferred photography and went freelance about 6 years ago.  He has worked as a photographer for the BBC on Doctor Who, NME magazine photographing various bands and Haymarket magazine photographing celebrities and various work for University  of Manchester.

Ed enjoys street photography because it is fast, discreet and interacts with people, which I find a bit difficult to understand, since if you are fast and discreet you do not have much time to interact with the subject, surely the purpose is to capture the image before it changes, unless of course you have set up the shot, you would then have to interact with the subject to get them to repeat their actions.  He says he does not use image manipulation in his photography, for example he has not inserted the figures, however, he used one photo to show how a mundane shot was turned into something more graphic and exciting, by underexposing a large part of the image, giving it a large black area.

However, I do agree that street photography is a good way to train your eye as a photographer, searching out the juxtaposition of objects and illustrating the comedy of everyday life.  Ed wanted to capture the in between times, when nothing much was happening, which is often most of the time, and looking at this series of shots, I agree, this is what he has achieved.

I admire the technical expertise and discipline needed to achieve a set of images in this vein, but for myself I prefer more information in my pictures.  I could benefit from being more concentrated and training myself to be more disciplined and paring things down somewhat, but I just find everything so inspiring, especially when I am travelling, that I just want to capture it all.

Ed offered some good advice for people wanting to make a career of photography;

- look at lots of good and rubbish work and remember the names of the great photographers,

- practice, so that technical stuff is automatic,

- know what is current and 'in' but don't copy everyone else,

- try every technique and genre to see what you are good at and enjoy,

- use yourself as a model to practice lighting techniques,

- learn how light works,

- have projects going forwards,

- network, make the most of your contacts.

SOURCES - Lecture by Edward Swinden at Burton College 20/10/10
                   - web sites, photo.net
                                     edswinden.co.uk
                                     formatfestival.com
                                     bjp-magazine.com