One of the first things I thought of when I heard the word evidence was the 'Butterfly effect' as I had recently seen the film. The actual description of the theory is the idea that one small event has the ability to trigger a larger event even if the two aren't directly connected- similar to a chain reaction created by dominos. Another example would be if I had gone to another college and chosen different subjects, I would have different friends who would possibly influence the way I think subsequently creating a different person to who I am today. I thought I could present this idea by photographing images linked to each other and present them in a series, but wasn't sure what exactly to photograph so decided to brainstorm all my ideas then choose those I liked the most.
http://sadstuffonthestreet.com/ |
|
I came up with 3 responses to the theme of evidence, two of which came under idea of human evidence and one which aimed to demonstrate the idea that time is constantly moving and us and things around us are always changing.
Human Evidence ( 2 responseS)
I had two responses to this idea of human evidence (public and private) both inspired by 'Edith' a series by Christopher Nunn and a recent article I read about Tracy Emin's reinstallation of her bed from her teenage years. I was also inspired by a recent visit to a photography gallery which I described here.
The 'Edith' series by Chirstopher Nunn consisted of him photographing objects around a hoarders house after her death. I liked how the photos were simple in presentation yet could reveal a story about a potion of a character's life and so could therefore be used as evidence as their existence.
|
|
Tracey Emin's bed installation created a similar feeling by capturing a depressing period in her life through a physical art piece. Similar to the photo journalistic photos seen at the Photographer's gallery Emin's work seems to pause time and create a sense of stasis- the same notion I wish to capture in my work.
|
"and there are things on that bed that now have a place in history. Even forms of contraception, the fact that I don't have periods anymore, the fact that the belt that went around my waist now only fits around my thigh" |
CHANGE ( 1 response)
These looping videos were Inspired by Tracy Emin and The Photographer's gallery which present the idea of tme standing still - I aimed to present the opposite, the idea of things constantly moving so created multiple timelapses.
My final video combined all of these timelapses into one:
Process & Evaluation
I had originally planned on presenting only one or two outcomes but I had many ideas which I felt would be good enough to exhibit. Of the 3 final pieces two are photo sets and one is a looping video.
For my first response to Human evidence I aimed to photograph areas that would appear seemingly abandoned by people yet still presented traces of human life, meaning photographs absent of human bodies a task I found quite difficult while photographing in central London. While with my second set of images evidently inspired by Chrisopher Nunn I photographed around someone's house with the aim to capture objects I thought could tell a story about a period in their life.I avoided moving objects so that I could photograph them relative to their environment.
I used both film and digital photography for my two photo sets as it was my first time working with film so I wasn't fully comfortable with wasting shots as I usually do while photographing digitally. I'm especially pleased with my first set of images from my first roll of film as I managed to get the majority of images in focus and loved the deep colours the film produced. For the second set I used film ( with a 400 exposure ) in an attempt to create an aged look , a lot of the pictures weren't in focus or blurred as my hands weren't steady resulting in me going back and retaking those which had blurred digitally. I planned on editing these photos to resemble film but decided against it after finding images that I felt could be presented.
I used both film and digital photography for my two photo sets as it was my first time working with film so I wasn't fully comfortable with wasting shots as I usually do while photographing digitally. I'm especially pleased with my first set of images from my first roll of film as I managed to get the majority of images in focus and loved the deep colours the film produced. For the second set I used film ( with a 400 exposure ) in an attempt to create an aged look , a lot of the pictures weren't in focus or blurred as my hands weren't steady resulting in me going back and retaking those which had blurred digitally. I planned on editing these photos to resemble film but decided against it after finding images that I felt could be presented.
My set for 'Private evidence' consisted of two sets of triptych, linking the idea of triptychs originating from religious roots I experimented with a cross formation with the image of the bamboo cross and bible in the centre implying religion was the centre of the inhabitant's life but decided against it in order to link the two sets. I ended up presenting 3 photos linked through a window and 3 clearly representing aspects of their life.
I added a quote by Guy Debord ( a member of the situationist movement) on the public evidence display as I felt it would give some insight into the photos. Debord is the author of 'The Society of The Spectacle' which comments on the decline of social life in modern society and the incline of consumerism |
I then looked through a book by Peter Fraser a photographer (whose work I analysed in my overview) I came across a page on triptychs which is the act of presenting a series of 3 images often with a common theme, I decided to use this presentation method for both sets of photos I had allowing the two sets to be contrasted as public and private evidence
I played around with the possible combinations of photos before finding something that looked right, my final presentation for 'public evidence' consisted of 3 sets of triptychs with each row somehow linked although this meant I wasn't able to use two of my favourite photos (below) as they couldn't be fully integrated. "Like lost children we live our unfinished adventures." |
Originally I had only planned on creating my short timelapse videos and not presenting them but using them as an alternative response but I felt more could be done with the clips once I had finished editing them all. I decided I wanted to create a looping video in which it would be evident that time was the centre of focus, although due to not having an even number of videos and not wanting to get rid of any I decided on a rotation of all the videos with a clock's ticking overlaid.
I noted the timings and everything I would need after I felt the motion in my first attempt didn't look smooth enough. Combining After Effects and Premiere Pro I feel I was able to produce a video that successfully represents the idea I was aiming for. Through this set I learnt the importance of writing everything down and also developed my video editing skills. Overall I'm pleased with my final outcomes although I would have liked the opportunity to further explore shooting with film as I feel I hadn't experimented as much as I could've in order to not waste my shots. I feel that when all my pieces are presented together the clocks ticking will be able to present the notion that every second we leave evidence of our lives behind
didn't originally plan on exhibiting multiple final outcomes |