Photography Exam Evaluation By Amie Mitchell
I started the exam project by brainstorming words and ideas that I personally thought related to the theme ‘covert and obscure’. Two of the words that I liked the most were ‘secrecy’ and ‘privacy’. I then began to brainstorm subject matters that I could photograph that related to these words. For my first initial idea, I wanted to photograph objects because I had focused a lot on portraits in my coursework projects. I decided to photograph locks and keys for my first idea, as I thought that they conveyed the theme of secrecy very well, as people may generally use locks to keep diaries for example, safe, as they may contain secrets that they want to keep private. I wanted to vary my images in order to make my set of photos as interesting and appealing as possible. Therefore, I photographed different types of locks in different locations, from small locks that could be used on diaries, to large padlocks that were being used for a much stronger purpose such as doors. In addition to this, I also focused on keyholes for some of the images in order to vary my images, and for this I visited London, in particular – Buckingham Palace. For my second idea, I wanted to remain focused on the words ‘secrecy’ and ‘privacy’ as well as photographing objects. I kept brainstorming ideas that would relate to this and I then decided to photograph physical barriers that prevent people from getting into other people’s property etc. Therefore, I decided to photograph barriers and gates, but again, I wanted to ensure that I varied my photographs in order to make them as interesting and appealing as I could. As a result, I took photographs of different types of barriers, ranging from the simplicity of barbed wire, to the extravagant gates of Buckingham Palace. I chose to photograph these because even though in some cases, it is possible to see behind the gates, the restriction of physically getting to the place or thing still remains.
I am quite pleased with the initial photographs that I took for my two initial ideas as I believe they were very good quality and conveyed the theme of ‘covert and obscure’ well. For some of the photos of locks in my first idea I believe they could have been improved by focusing more on the keyholes of the locks rather than the whole lock in general. For example for Image 1 where I photographed a small lock and key, I could have focused more on the actual keyhole, in order to make my photograph look more covert and obscure, as it would have been difficult for the viewer to see what the keyhole was a part of. As well as this, I could have used a similar technique when photographing the larger and rustier locks in order to convey a sense of mystery as to what the locks’ purpose is. I think I portrayed this effect quite well in Image 8, however I believe the set of photographs would have been better if I had done the same for Images 5, 6 & 7. Despite this, I think in general, all of the photos in my first idea were quite effective, and I achieved what I wanted to. I believe that the photographs I took of barbed wire for my second idea (Images 1, 2, 3 & 4) were also very effective. I feel this is because I was able to focus on certain sections of the wire as I was using my set of close up lenses. I also edited the images by increasing the clarity and adjusting the temperature of the images to create an eerie and mysterious atmosphere within the photograph. I felt this was a very good technique to use because I think it conveyed the theme of ‘Covert and obscure’ quite well. However, I feel that some of the other photos I took of ‘gates and barriers’ were not as successful. In particular, some images I took of the gates around the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, (Images, 6, 8, and 9). I feel that these could have been improved if I had experimented with a wider range of camera angles in order to make the gates look more obscure, like I did for Image 10. I felt this worked well because it almost distorted the image and I liked the effect this gave the gates because I feel it obscures them and therefore makes the photograph look more unique.
Another image from my second idea that I quite liked was Image 7. This is because I feel I composed the photograph quite well, with Big Ben in the background, protected by the gate in the foreground. My aim was to portray the gate as keeping something important safe, and I feel that image 7 represents this well. In addition to this, when taking the photograph, I positioned the camera in a way that allowed the sun light to be seen through the gate. I really like the effect this gave as I feel it enhances the importance of the gate, as well as making the photograph appealing. After experimenting with taking different types of photographs that convey the themes of ‘secrecy’ and ‘privacy’ for the main theme of ‘Covert and obscure’, I was able to discover subject matters that I wanted to use in my final outcomes, such as the rusty locks and barbed wire. On the other hand, the experimenting also enabled me to see what subject matters and techniques didn’t work as well, and not to include these in my final outcomes for the exam, such as the Buckingham Palace gates. I continued the theme of secrecy and privacy from my first idea to my second idea as I really liked how my first idea, successfully conveyed the theme of ‘covert and obscure’. Although I changed the subject matter, the concept of restricting people from seeing things that others may want to keep secret, remained apparent in my second idea. I think both ideas had elements of success, but overall I believe that my second idea was more effective than the first, because of the close up shots I used when photographing the barbed wire. On the other hand, I developed both ideas in similar ways such as the technique of burning the edges of some of the photographs, which I felt illustrated the idea of obscuring my photographs quite well.
For my 8 hour exam, I decided that I wanted to combine the concept of my first idea with my second idea, and to photograph locks as well as barbed wire. After developing the initial ideas, I also decided that I wanted to use the idea of burying the images of locks in keys, wrapping wire around the photos of the barbed wire, and re-photographing these as my final outcomes.
In addition to this, I wanted to add another idea into my final outcomes that also conveyed to the theme ‘covert and obscure’, but in a different way, in order to make my outcomes as interesting as possible. The third concept continued from the gates and barriers idea as I photographed houses/buildings in the richer parts of London that had extravagant gates around them to illustrate that the buildings are private property. I then developed these images by layering text on top of the images in Photoshop to portray a sense of ‘neighbourhood watch’. In addition to this, I also photographed extracts from banned books, and layered some of these on top of the images in order to convey the theme of Covert & Obscure. I used content from banned books in order to convey the sense that the government wanted to keep it hidden and covert, for a certain reason. Finally, I decided that I wanted to organize my final outcomes in a form of a Blurb Book as I thought it would give my images a very professional look. As well as this, the simplicity of having them in a book meant that my viewers wouldn’t get distracted by anything else, and their main focus would be on the photographs themselves. I felt this was very beneficial because it makes it easier for my viewers to decipher their own deeper meanings of the image.
I believe that my choice of photographers were effective because they inspired me to take my photographs in certain ways that I feel contributed to making my images be of the best possible quality and for them to also look as interesting as possible. For my first idea I found it difficult to find photographs that photographed locks, but I found an image by Dan Routh that really inspired me to edit my photographs of locks in a way that emphasized how rusty they were, in order to create the impression that they have been keeping something secret or private for a very long time. This was an idea that I really wanted to create in my own photos, as it portrays a deeper and more intricate meaning. I researched the photographer Rob Cartwright for my second idea, as he photographed a gate and named the photograph, ‘Heaven’s Gates’. It really inspired me to take photos of objects such as physical barriers that conform to the theme of ‘Covert and Obscure’. This is because they ensure that something is kept hidden, or out of reach. Therefore, I came up with the idea of photographing barbed wire as part of my experiments, and I really liked how the images I took turned out, with the use of my close up set of lenses. As a result, I decided to go back to the location where I photographed my original set of barbed wire images, and take more photographs to edit in my photography exam. I took them on slightly different angles in order to add diversity to my work, but still used my close up lenses in order to portray as much detail as possible of the wires.
Lastly, for my third idea in my final outcomes, I researched the artists Adam Boomberg and Oliver Chanarib, in particular, their work; ’42, sheet 3 – People in Trouble’. This image immediately inspired me to create my own work in a similar way, as soon as I saw it. I therefore based some of my final outcomes on this technique, but adapted it to make my work unique. Firstly, I photographed houses and streets in the more expensive parts of London. I then added the shape of a circle, similar to Boomberg and Chanarib, on top of the image on Photoshop. However, instead of filling the shape with the solid colour of red, I decided to fill it white, and add black text inside it instead. I wanted the text to convey a sense of a neighbourhood watch, describing things that could have happened in the image, at certain times. I then gradually made the text more interesting towards the bottom of the circle, resulting in the climax/most interesting part of the text, cutting off – leaving the viewer on a cliffhanger to what happens next. This therefore conveyed the theme of ‘Covert and Obscure’ because the most exciting and important part of the image remained uncovered and covert.
I believe that I pushed my creative boundaries a lot when experimenting before my photography exam. The artists that I researched inspired me to create images that I feel look quite professional, as I ensured I composed them well, taking into consideration careful aperture, exposure and focusing adjustments within the images. After researching the artists, I was able to think more about what kind of meanings I wanted my photographs to convey, and how I was going to compose them in order to portray the theme ‘Covert and Obscure’ to the best of my ability. I also believe that by experimenting with objects as my subject matter, (locks, keys, gates and barriers), I widened my knowledge of my camera because I had to ensure the settings were correct for certain parts of the objects to be in focus etc – something that I was not that used to, after photographing only people in my photography coursework.
I feel that the 8 hour exam itself went quite well. I managed my time well to ensure that all the photos that I wanted to have as my final outcomes were edited and developed in the specific ways that I wanted them to be. I am able to link the final outcomes of locks to the artist Dan Routh, who I studied when I photographed locks as part of my experiments. His close up photography of the padlock inspired me to take close up photographs of locks too, and I feel that by burying the images of locks in keys as my own idea, emphasized the theme that I was aiming to convey – Covert and Obscure.
In addition to this, I can also link my photographs of London and the ‘neighbourhood watch’ development to Boomberg and Chanarib’s work. Their technique of editing images with the red dot really inspired me when editing my own images, and I feel that without this inspiration, my final outcomes would not have been as successfully as I believe they are. If I had more time on the project I would have tried to develop my work onto the next level by analyzing more artists’ work, and being inspired by them. For example, I would have researched a photographer that photographs barbed wire, to find out if there were any other techniques that I could have used in order to enhance my photographs and final outcomes of barbed wire. As well as this, if I had more time, I would have also made more creative final outcomes that portrayed the theme in a more unique and interesting way that captured people’s attention very easily. This is because I feel that the concept of a blurb book is quite repetitive to look at, whereas if I had created something arty as my final outcome, it may have been more aesthetically pleasing.