The idea behind this shoot is to explore the different items that people regularly carry around in their school backpack in order to look at the similarities and differences between the contents as well as giving a slight insight into who the person is and what their interests are. Some of the bags that I took photographs of contained only the minimal indicating that the person may be very organised or may not like to carry much on them whereas other bags had lots of random items in them which may suggest they like to ensure they have what they could possibly need throughout the week on them at all times and may not mind having clutter in their bag. This shoot relates to ‘Variance and Similarities’ as it can show how one standard thing that everyone does/has can vary so widely but then at the same time they will all have similar items within the bags, such as pencil cases or lined paper. The shoot takes inspiration from Huang Qingjun’s ‘Jiading’ meaning ‘Family Stuff’ and shows an insight into the unlimited variety of combinations of different belongings that people may carry around with them.
In order to capture the photographs I would empty out the bags onto a blank sheet of white paper and arrange the items into a displayable arrangement with slight separation between each item in order to allow each item to be observed individually. A would then photograph all contents from the same height facing the camera directly towards the floor. I edited the photographs to create the outcome achieved by first editing the distortion of the picture and the perspective so that the photograph would be face-on to the camera and then I would crop it so that only the white background can be seen. I then changed small features such as white balance, exposure and contrast to create a more visually aesthetic composition. The idea behind the editing was that each photograph would have the same setup to allow the features to be compared side-by-side.
Experimentation with GIF’s
Below I have experimented with presenting my outcome in the form of a GIF. The first GIF shows each frame for 0.2 seconds whereas the second GIF shows each frame for 0.5 seconds. I have included both speed of GIF’s as I feel that they present the photographs in different ways – the faster GIF creates a more abstract approach where the viewer has to concentrate closely to pick apart the individual photographs whereas the faster GIF’s allow the viewer to focus more on each individual photograph and to compare the photograph’s features more. The use of a GIF allows for quick comparison of the photographs in an interesting way and suggests how different each picture is even though they have a different layout because the first thing the viewer notices is shapes and colours and then they have to look closer to understand what the photograph is showing them.
Analysis
In this photograph I have used the natural lighting from the roof windows in order to ensure that a consistent light is spread across all of the items within the photograph. The skylight also allows for the light to shine directly down onto the items from the bag and so reduce the shadows within the photograph to emphasise the difference between each item and the shapes within them. Due to using a sharp white sheet as the background for this photograph there is a clear contrast between the items, such as the apples, and the background. This has also allowed for the tones within the photograph to be more clearly defined. I used a deep depth of field to capture this photograph as I wanted to ensure that all of the items featured in the photograph were clear and sharp because each item featured gives an insight into the personality and life of the person to which the items belong. I used a shutter speed of 1/60 when taking this photograph as well as an ISO of 100. The low ISO ensured that the noise within the photograph was kept to a minimal and that the photograph was as of high quality as possible – the 1/60 shutter speed paired with this to ensure that there was enough light entering the lens from the surrounding environment and that the photograph was correctly exposed. There is a slightly warm colour cast to the photograph which reflects the fact that this shows items which everyone is familiar with, and so creating a warm feeling.
This photograph contains a wide variety of colours due to the fact that there are varying items that use different colour schemes to appeal to their target market, such as chocolate bars using colourful packaging and note pads using more subtle grey tones. Using the white background to place the objects on has allowed the shapes of the items to be clearly defined as well as the textures within them – the shininess of the crisp packet and its creases can be seen for example. There is also a slight 3D effect due to this reason and slight shadowing – this helps to emphasise the individual features of each object. The objects have not been set out in any specific way or pattern; they were set out in a way that displays each of the objects individually therefore the layout is quite random and forces the writer to focus on each subject rather than as a collective.
The idea for this shoot comes from Huang Qingjun’s ‘Family Stuff’ project in which he would photograph the rural residents of China outside of their houses along with all of their personal possessions. My work on this shoot links to this work by Qingjun as these contents of an individuals bags give an insight into who the owner of the bag is, in the same way as the possessions of the Chinese residents gave an insight into the way in which those people lived. When the photographs in this shoot are paired together it creates comparison between the different contents of bags to show both variance and similarity between people and the objects that they tend to carry around with them in a school bag. The variety of items that are carried in each bag show whether the person likes to carry either the minimum with them or carry clutter, as well as often showing an insight into their diet. Small details such as these start to paint a bigger picture of who these people are.
