My three main ideas at the start of this project were:
strangers
lights
colours
For a while I was considering taking photos of complete strangers. After looking into Crewdson's work, I was thinking about creating a relationship between two subjects of a portrait. There proved to be a difficulty for me to find a 'stranger' because I had decided I was going to take the image in my flat and I didn't really feel comfortable inviting people I didn't know. So instead I had a rather strange idea to capture the relationship between the subject and the photographer.
To bring in the idea of exploring the relationship between the photographer and the subject I would need a way to allow myself into the image as well. Earlier in November I visited 180 The Strand where this piece by Ryan Gander stood out:
I be... (xix), 2017
The playful yet complex practice of Ryan Gander (born 1976, UK) is stimulated by queries, investigations or what-ifs, rather than strict rules or limits. His newly commissioned works for EVERYTHING AT ONCE consider the psychology behind looking, feeling and wishing.
[..] Collectively titled Dramaturgical frameworks for structure and stability, in reference to Erving Goffman’s sociological approach that uses theatre to portray and evaluate social interaction, these figures also play on the notion of spectatorship, shifting the relationship between spectator and spectacle. [1]So here's what the first few photos looked like:
The problem with this, however, was that I didn't enjoy taking these photos as the camera obstructed my face and there was no way to have a light facing me without ruining the scene in front of me and its feeling. I kept a conversation going between the subject and I so he wouldn't have time to really prepare a single facial expression for the camera. I suppose I don't really have many good directing skills as I just naturally prefer to let the subjects of my images to do what they feel like doing whilst having a conversation with them.
There also seemed to be too much going on to focus on one thing. This is the one problem I always touch upon when I try to realise my ideas. I am very fond of intertwining different props, lights and thoughts, but I'm not usually aware of how cluttered things look until after the image/film have been taken/recorded. After realising the first image was too messy, I decided to get closer to the subject, going against my previous plan to take the photo as if I was peaking through somewhere (the door gap in this instance). The second photo was slightly more appealing, but I realised I didn't want myself to be the second subject anymore.
I remained closer to the subject for the next few shots, however I asked him to move the mirror so it was reflecting him instead, going back to something I had mentioned in one of the previous posts - strangers within an identity. And as soon as he had done that, I realised that's what I wanted from my final image.
At one point the subject had been a stranger to me, but now I could confidently say I knew him very well. It's this contrast between characteristics that I love so much, and I adore how in the reflection he looks completely different to his direct portrait, has a whole different expression on his face - caused by the tilted angle and lights.
Still, I was unhappy with the issues I had framing these - the first one cuts off the mirror and the second one cuts off the side of the bed frame. The one thing I did love was how the torch cut his face halfway and brought attention to him straight away.
Overall, this shoot successfully intertwined the three ideas from the beginning of this project: strangers ✘, lights ✘, colours ✘
- place the camera outside the bedroom door
- get the mirror and bed in frame to avoid awkward crop
- have the torch on the subject's face
Bibliography:
[1] 180 The Strand (2017) Artists. At: http://everythingatonce.com/ (Accessed 17.11.2017)
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