I order to develop some first ideas for the Journeys & Pathways project, I created a mind-map that included different themes that I could follow up. The result of the mind-map can be seen below:
For this project, one of the ideas I am looking to focus on is the journeys and pathways taken by people, as I feel that it would make my work more easily relatable, and would give me room to try different concepts and approaches more easily. I therefore developed the “People” portion of the mind-map, and found that I would focus on people taking the wrong or opposite path/journey to the one expected of them, for example, the idea below:
I feel like taking multiple approaches to the Journeys & Pathways project would allow for me to finish with a wide range of possible final outcomes, and so I developed 3 different themes that I could use to focus my ideas more. These themes can be seen below:
The above themes will help to focus my ideas, as they provide an overall topic, that can then be used to further develop ideas. For example, by focusing on people taking the Wrong Path, I can develop ideas focusing on people who seem out of context in their environment, people making decisions based on other factors rather than their own wants/needs, or the consequences of poor decisions being made.
I took inspiration from the artist Bill Viola to form an idea that I would use a pattern of 3 photographs to depict the beginning and end of a life, along with a dramatic life event in the middle of the two. This way I can depict the journey of life in a compact and concise way.
For this shoot, I wanted to focus on the areas involving security/ surveillance, as well as things that have been left behind(preferably something that has a story, or at least seems as though it does). During this shoot I also tried to get detailed shots of car wheels and rims, as these are the objects in contact with the ground whenever someone gets into a car and drives wherever they need to go. I found it interesting how each wheel had a distinctive look, from the large alloy wheels of a luxurious Bentley, to the unique yellow and purple wheels of a Mitsubishi 4×4. I also found that a lot of signs throughout town were in a poor and dilapidated state, showing the metaphorical journey of time has slowly destroyed or covered up the signs.
Final Images:
For this set of images, I noticed an old tractor that was left parked in an overgrown car park. I wanted to show the aged and tired red/orange paintwork and to give the vehicle a story. Following on from my original idea of photographing old, forgotten objects, and this fits perfectly into that category. Despite the warm colours of the tractor, I personally find this set of images to be quite sad, as they have an atmosphere of abandonment.
I wanted to try and use elements of psycho-geography, using ideas of surveillance and security, combined with old discarded items such as newspapers and other litter people have left around. When I was compiling these images together, I liked the idea of having the security cameras surrounding the newspaper, where the only visibly clear word is ‘convict’. I also like the use of colours used in this image, as each picture inside of the final piece has a similar colour palate as the one diagonal to it.
1st Experimental Shoot Contact Sheet:
In this small shoot I wanted to try and explore some of the ideas I was having around Journeys and pathways, most notably light trails from the back of cars. I have done a small amount of this kind of photography before, but this time I had a better idea of what I was doing, as well as bringing a tripod to hold the camera steady. I also used a wireless remote trigger for the camera to avoid camera shake when pressing the shutter button down. I also used the “BULB” mode on the camera to capture some of the images and found it was easier than having to set a certain amount of shutter speed, as it was easier to time the picture with cars going past. I also tried experimenting with photography on public transport, unfortunately, as I took these pictures late at night, there were no other people on the bus, which meant I couldn’t quite get the kind of photos that I wanted. I also tried experimenting with the contrast Between old and new buildings, but as it was dark, it was difficult to capture both the lit up modern architecture in the same frame as the darker, dimly lit older buildings.
2nd Experimental Shoot Contact Sheet:
For this shoot I wanted to utilize a macro lens to get very close up pictures of circuitry and computer components, however I didn’t have access to a real macro lens and instead used a trick that I found online when researching. I found that by taking the lens off of the camera and flipping it around (so that the part that is normally attached to the camera is facing away, towards the subject) created a very zoomed in, macro effect with a very shallow focus. The outcome of this is the ability to create images that are much closer to the subject than any other lens I own.
3rd Experimental Shoot:
Contact Sheet:
I wanted to include a some images involving old and new buildings, and while out on a more recent shoot, I found an interesting way of doing this; I used the reflections of the glass from newer buildings to show the older ones. I found this to be quite effective in terms of exploring the concept of journeys and pathways, due to how it is like the newer buildings are looking down on the older ones, as the are much taller, as well as much more reflective/shiny and new. Even though I did not take too many pictures like this, I think that it turned out how I wanted it to after doing some basic adjustments in Lightroom and making the B&W.
