1

Experimental Photography

Shania Carter

ReflectionExplain the experiments you did and your findings.

Talk about the results you got.

Use the boxes on the right to show samples of your work

The technique I used here was reflection. I thought that this technique would be useful to demonstrate fear, through reflection you can look what’s on the other side in different circumstances.

Fear can be described as a dark feeling and this is incorporated into these photographs as no light is being passed through. The results are very effective in communicating the technique with using dark reflective material; doors and windows to create the look.

I used different scenarios for this technique, still with the balanced idea of fear. The bottom and top photographs represent the fear of being alone and the middle photograph represents the fear of being watched by someone.

The results I got work well with both the technique and the theme. The first photograph was captured candid, I think this works well because fear can occur at any time.

The shadowing from the darker photographs works well in the current theme in the dark doors. Reflection was one of the easier choices to represent fear as different settings can be used in order to get the right focus and the right photograph.

Use this slide to annotate your best imageI think this image is the best to represent fear because people can look at it from their own angles. I wanted the image to have a bold statement about fear around the vulnerability around women.

The image shows a young woman being watched in the reflection – representing a mirror.

The good thing about the photograph is that people can interpret the photograph however they want, the fear of the past coming to haunt them, in the form of an ex partner.

Linking fear with experimental photography has opened up the imagination for the viewer and allows people to think about what the photograph is saying to them.

This photograph allows people, predominantly female (excluding sexist basis) to view this photograph in a personal fear manner or in general society.

There is also a little back lighting in the background, little light usually occurs in horror movies or situations surrounding fear.

The photograph also represents how close fear can actually be to a person and how it effects their lives.

Using dark reflective surfaces helped emphasise the body language rather than facial expressions.

In the photograph you can’t see much of the two people, this is also a good way of reflecting fear and interpreting it personally, in the way of not seeing fear.

There is also reflection of the male and the symmetrical surroundings.

Out of FocusExplain the experiments you did and your findings.

Talk about the results you got.

Use the boxes on the right to show samples of your work

The technique I used here was out of focus. I decided that I didn’t want to use the scenario of theme for this technique. Instead, this technique looks at candid photographs. The out of focus photographs look to create an effect however faces are still recognisable.

Out of focus captures different parts of the image in focus and some out of shot. Without including a topic I was allowed to experiment this time and create natural looking photographs testing the aperture.

Shown in the bottom photograph, the aperture was relatively high, capturing the group of people.

As the photographs don’t represent any particular running theme, the natural poses (in the top two photographs) open the eye into the surroundings around the out of focus centre.

Another out of focus representation is the outline of the people in the photograph, there are objects and people in the photograph that can be significant after post production in Photoshop, heavily emphasising certain parts.

Use this slide to annotate your best imageI feel that this is the strongest image because of the combined abstract and out of focus technique.

With the model using simple movement and myself using the out of focus technique the photograph looks like the model and the blinds have merged.

The image has used movement and out of focus to create an image that is confusing to the eye.

There is still certain definition on the body of the model, however the out of focus effect is more captured in the top of the photograph.

The out of focus technique also captures the background as the college is blurred and slanted.

At first, there was no real intent to capture a photograph like this taking candid shots. Looking back the photograph has created a massive effect and pictured the out of focus technique perfectly.

Without realising, the image has become abstract which creates another effect on top.

There isn’t much I can say about the context of this photograph as it is a candid one turned into one of my best photographs.

Using the settings to change to a high aperture I think it has worked because to ones eye (not seen the picture before) it looks like different pieces have been put together to create this image.

There are also bold colours in the photograph such as the black which offer stability in the photograph, where the ‘weird’ lines occur.

Close to SubjectExplain the experiments you did and your findings.

Talk about the results you got.

Use the boxes on the right to show samples of your work

The close up images were of a simple shot, showing a portrait photograph, the feet or the torso. These photographs again do not represent anything but focus on different parts of the body that can be merged to create an image. This technique is also based around the photographer Man Ray, he created photograms using different objects, we are using people.

The photographs were also taken from a high angle using a tripod although the photographs do not show this.

I did not want to get too close with the subjects, purely as I thought it wouldn’t create a good enough photograph.

Use this slide to annotate your best image

I think that this is the best close up image because it outlines the curves of the model.

The image also shows intrigue to show the rest of the photograph.

I also feel this is the best image because of the positioning. The model is shown from a different camera angle.

This image is the best of the close up because of the colour contrast, the white and blacks work well together in the close up image.

Most close up images tend to focus on the definition of the person, this could be their freckles or their smile, this photograph focuses on the patterns of the skirt.

MovementExplain the experiments you did and your findings.

Talk about the results you got.

Use the boxes on the right to show samples of your work

These three images are capturing movement in different situations inside and outside of the college.

The first image captures the movement of walking, the lighting of the college and on the camera has created this light movement image, none of the models are visible and therefore creates a weird image.

The second image shows two friends ‘chest bumping’ each other. The image has been captured whilst the friends are in motion creating a blurry effect and leaving the surroundings solid.

The third image shows the model shaking his body, the motion captured and the light being channelled has inverted the body and also creates another abstract image with the light overshadowing the actual model.

I didn’t use shutter speed to capture the images and caught the movement in the moment as it is staged. I think I did right by not using shutter speed as it creates the same effect in these three images.

Use this slide to annotate your best imageI think that this is the best photograph because of the shadowing.

The shutter speed has captured the speed almost smearing it across the image.

The image is eye capturing.

Although the main subject in the photograph doesn’t take up the full page it is aesthetically what we want as the eye wanders.

The photograph has lots of techniques within it as the image is also out of focus.

This image also has aspects to it that could be changed in post production, such as cropping, this is good to experiment with.