PHOTO SHOOT PLANNING:

WHO:In this photo shoot, in comparison to the other one was keen to involve a model, not only does it have symbolic meaning, being the catalyst for the urbanization of landscape but also represents the impact individual people have on the landscape.

WHERE:The images were taken at St.Aubin’s bay, a large and open beach which was perfect for capturing the surreal qualities of nature and the sea.

HOW: In order to capture the images I used a large rectangular mirror and had my model hold it, pointing it in different directions upon my request, tying in with the whole theme of unknown journeys/a double journey. I used my regular DSLR camera to capture the images.

WHEN: The images were captured on quite an overcast day without any blue skies therefore in a few of the images it appears as though the sky is white. I went out around late morning/mid day to capture the images.

WHY: With this photo shoot, I was taking a different approach to the title “journeys and pathways”, selecting the theme of unknown journeys/a double journey to focus on. I used a mirror to capture the other side of the landscape, one which we cannot see from the perspective we stand at. The incorporation of a model also allowed me to add more symbolic meaning to the images.

SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES:

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (IMAGE 1):

TECHNICAL:

As with my other images in my previous photo shoot, logistically it was one of the hardest photo shoots I have done due to the fact that it involved props which needed to be transported as opposed to just taking images of the landscape or people who are already there. Good weather conditions were also essential for this photo shoot as I did not want rainy weather which could interfere with the reflections in the mirror. In terms of camera settings, I set the ISO fairly low at 100 as it was a very bright day and wanted to avoid overexposure as much as possible. It was also oddly hazy on that day due to the clouds above which dispersed even yet very powerful sunlight upon the landscape. I set the white balance of my camera to 5500 k as this is ideal for using outside in direct sunlight, creating images which aren’t too cool or too warm. The aperture of my camera was set at f/4.8 this meant that the exposure of the image wasn’t too high and the focus was universal.

VISUAL:

The most striking thing when looking at the image is the juxtaposition of the color of the black and white wall and the beautifully brown and orange granite rocks. They meet in a way which separates the two very distinctly. One of the straight edges of the mirror also contributes to this as it meets perfectly in the middle of the two. There is a very clear foreground and background of the image. The model and the mirror being the focal point and in the foreground of the image and the wall being in the background. Although the wall is not the focal point of the image, it does draw a lot of attention to itself due to the color and differentiation in texture. The two oppose each other with the linear pattern of the black and white wall and the irregular and organic shapes of the rocks on the other side. Fitting wit the theme of landscape urbanization, it is all about the surroundings and not the model. The slight wind on that day means the models face is covered with her own hair, this further takes away the attention and blanks out the identity of the model, undistinguished and anonymous. The hazy day allowed for very even and powerful light to be evenly distributed across the image, therefore I increased the contrast in photo shop in order to prevent the model and the environment from looking washed out and dull.

CONTEXTUAL:

In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution in Jersey took place on the shoreline – this was where the shipyards were and the beach between First Tower and West Park was the site of some of the island’s largest shipbuilders. Deslandes, Le Vesconte and Grandin between them built over 100 vessels here. The remains of the yards lie beneath Victoria Avenue. In 1860, when Jersey was the fourth largest ship building centre in the British Isles, George Deslandes priced a job at £14 per ton. This was £3 per ton cheaper than builders on the mainland. However, the industry began to go into decline in the late 1860s and 1870s as Jersey was unable to build the more modern iron ships. The new railway built between St Helier and St Aubin did not help as it cut through the yards. However on a bizarre note, the train service was halted for two days in January 1875 when a ship became stuck on the tracks as it was being launched from the Deslandes yard.

source:
https://www.jerseyheritage.org/heritage-landscape/first-tower

CONCEPTUAL:

One of the themes which I wanted to explore in my own work was the journey of urbanization and also unknown journeys. When conceptualizing the mirror idea and getting inspired by the photographer Cody William Smith, I realized that an interesting aspect of the images, they show reality which we cannot see from one perspective, only being revealed when you place a mirror can you see this reality. This further contributes to the surreal aspects of landscape romanticism, as not only are you showing one perspective, but multiple, in a way creative a hyper reality in the image. I also like the fact that a lot of the images appear photo-shopped when reality it is all done with a mirror and camera and very simply edited in the selection process. Increasing small things such as saturation or fixing the exposure of the images. Another large theme which I am keen to explore with this method is landscape urbanization. In image 1 and 4, you can again see two perspectives, one of the untouched sea and shoreline and the other the urbanization and industrialization of Jersey. Humans have altered and changed the natural landscape we have all around us with homes, businesses and industries.

EXPERIMENTING WITH OVER SATURATION:

In photography the term ‘saturation’ describes the depth or intensity of color present within an image. Saturation is also referred to as ‘chroma’; The more saturated an image is the more colorful and vibrant it will appear, less color saturation will make an image appear subdued or muted.

The over saturation of the image above means that there are aspects of it which appear more unreal and different, I waned to experiment with this aspect of photo shop as sometimes images which are over saturated can be quite effective and different. Sometimes mistakes which we try to avoid can become an interesting aspect of an image which overall works harmoniously and adds rather than distracts the viewer.

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