Exercise One: Exploring Function
Borough Market, London For this exercise I chosen London Borough Market. From the point of its function a market is essentially a place to buy and sell various goods. In case of Borough Market the goods on offer are mostly fresh and farmers’ produce, as well as food and drink.
Before venturing out on my image-hunting
mission I made some notes reflecting on why people come to Borough Market.
My main observations were:
·
People come here to shop and buy fresh
(originally mostly farmers’) produce
·
People come to snack or enjoy a quick drink.
There are no places to seat and eat immediately at the market so the majority of
people who buy some food move around and eat on the go or chose to sit in one
of many restaurants and cafeterias on the fringes of the market.
·
Local office workers also come to grab some
lunch. You see a lot of them spilling out on the streets from the nearby office
blocks and small tucked away offices. They usually move away quite quickly, apparently
wary of the crowds.
·
People come to sell their produce. The Market
houses a lot of traders and as the goods on offer are no longer limited to
fresh foods and farmer’s produce, the traders come from all cultural, ethnical
and professional backgrounds.
·
People also come to look around, browse and soak
up the atmosphere of the market. In this way, it is an experience – of being in
London and being a part of it. The Market is often used as a meeting place and
is popular with people watchers, tourists, photographers and all sort of idle
folk with time on their hands.
The list above shows that there are
many different aspects to the place which main function could be described
simply as a place to sell and buy fresh food and snacks.
Another question I considered is who
are the main users/ audiences on the Market. I came up wit this list:
Traders - Residents of London and
visitors
Shoppers - Residents of London and
visitors
People watchers and tourists.
I found this exercise useful and something
that is definitely worth doing every time before a photo shoot as it helps not
to miss important things when on location. It is all about thinking though in
advance which elements or aspects of a subject would be important to capture.
Thinking about how well these
functions are fulfilled, I think that the popularity of Borough Market is the
best answer – it is a great place that fulfils everyone’s expectations and is
such an enjoyable experience for people who come and visit.
How is this to be reflected in the
images? Perhaps, through the use of colours and possibly through capturing the
variety, the liveliness of the place and the sense of the flow and the constant
movement of people.
Thinking about the elements that I
would like to capture I would perhaps like to show the surroundings (the old
railway bridge) to give a sense of the history and tradition. Finally, each
visit to this market for me has been in some way a magical experience and I
would like to have this feeling expressed in one of my images depicting the
market. This is a personal challenge and I am aware that it might not fit
exactly within this assignment which requires only one photograph of the place.
Practical reflections on working on this
assignment
When I arrived at the market, I first
had a walk around to take in the whole scene and get the sense of it as well as
to refresh my memory of the available space and its dynamics. Because the
market is stretched over both sides of the railway bridge it does not seem to
be possible to capture it in one go (unless it is a stitched panorama or a
collage made up of many different images). However, I don’t think it would be
strictly necessary if we are aiming to convey the sense of the place.
Sometimes an image of a small part
tells you a lot about the whole picture that was left outside of the frame.
Whilst walking around the market I identified a few potentially suitable spots.
My greatest disappointment was the lack
of elevation as I thought it would be ideal to take some photos from above to
convey the scale of the place and to show the movement of people through the
rows of stalls.
When taking photos at the market it is
good to be aware that there are a lot of people here who are constantly moving
around.
It is also good to be aware of the
authorities present at the site – the best approach is to let them know in
advance as there might be some restrictions on how photography is carried out
(especially important if a tripod is to be used) and if it is allowed.
Generally speaking, it is possible to take photos at any market but other
public places such as railway stations and airports might require a permission
to be issued in advance.
Comments
on the final image
I
selected this image as the final image for this assignment because I think it:
Shows how
the space works and convey the main function of the market with a customer and
a trader facing the camera and engaged in the process of trading interaction.
The figures
of some other people on the background highlight the fact that this is a busy
place with many customers and onlookers present.
I
wanted to reflect the flow of the market and the people and this has been done
by increasing the exposure time to give the background figures and fast moving
subjects a slight blur.
The
emotions showing on the faces of the trader and its customer are the ones of
enjoyment, lightness and content. It was my aim to show some positive emotions
on people’s faces as the market is a colourful and vibrant place that gives a truly
uplifting and positive experience to its many visitors.
Depicts
the location of the market well: we see the underbelly of the railway bridge
which serves as the market roof. A careful observer could also get some hints
to the long history and tradition of this market.
Additional images from the final selection
In terms of composition, I liked how the railway
bridge arch creates a frame within the frame and leads the eye to the busy and
colourful market on the background. I also like how the flow of people is
depicted in this image against the stillness of the bridge structure. I did not
select this image as there wasn’t any closer interactions showing how the space
is used – I thought that my final image does it much better. In terms of execution
of this image, I worked on a tripod and used a long exposure to achieve the
crowd blur. I framed the image to avoid much light coming directly form the sky
as it would overexpose.
I like the combination of the blurred and still
elements in this picture, the rich colours of the tents and the lines of the
bridge belly leading your eye to the centre of the image. I tried to include
some of the foreground on the right to show the yummy rolls and buns on the
display and I waited for the girls behind the counter to come forward, start
chatting to each other and smile. The right hand side of the frame was slightly
darker but the lights under the traders’ tent worked really well in this image
bringing the whole picture to light. I did not select this picture as my final
image because it did not show any interactions with the customers which might
leave my viewers disconnected from the image.
Similarly to my final image, we see some positive
interaction taking place here between the customer and the trader. Another strong point is how the building is
captured with clear lines radiating for the centre of the picture and leading your
eye. I thought that the weakness of this image lies in a lack of positive
emotions on people’s faces – they all look tired or perhaps reflective which
was not the general feeling I picked up form the market on the day.
My final image was an outcome of my
attempt to reflect on my personal experience of the market as a magic place and
in some way an exotic and magical experience. I used an 80mm babylense to take
this photo. I like the way the railway arch is framing the image and leading
the eye as if inviting you to come and join the colourful gathering ahead. I
waited for the passer-byes to appear and pressed the shutter when it felt right
making sure that they do not dominate the frame. I used a tripod to take this
photo.
Reflections and thoughts on ‘exploring
the function of a space.’
Completing the exercise one prompted
me to look closer into the functions and functionality of spaces and buildings.
When trying to select a suitable
location for the exercise one I came across plenty of examples of buildings and
spaces that either were not fit for purpose or were originally created with a
particular function in mind but have been used differently. In some cases it
was a change of ownership that has altered their function, in other situations
the changes came from the users themselves. I researched into the history of
and visited a number of buildings that undergone such a transformation and I
will summarise my findings in my assignment paper.
Whilst working on this assignment I
started exploring some questions and ideas about the functions and
functionality of buildings and spaces, including:
Who decides on how to use a building
or a space?
Who decides if one function should be
treated with more importance then the others?
Does it matter if the builders and
designers are not the actual users of the building or a space?
What happens if the users are not
involved in making the decision about the functions of this building during the
design and construction stages?
What are the visual signs of users
re-shaping the functions of a building?
Is it possible to tell how the
functions on a building or a space have changed overtime?
A summary of my explorations into these
questions will be included in my assignment paper.
A quiet day at the village vet
Exercise two: User’s perspective
One of
the key learning points from the previous exercise was about the importance of the
users’ perspective in determining or re-shaping the functions of a building or space.
This lead me smoothly to the theme of the second exercise which is all about
the user’s point of view.
For
this exercise I visited a number of places choosing those that are designed for
a particular activity that is usually undertaken from a specific position or
angle. I also looked out for any venues that might be designed for a specific
type of user (whereby it would be necessary to use a non standard angle or
position to capture their viewpoint).
My first visit was to a village vet
surgery on a quiet afternoon.
When taking the photos I was trying to
imagine what the place would look like from a dog’s point of view. We don’t
know exactly what the dogs see but what we do know is that they see less colour
(colour blind to red and green spectrum). Taking this into consideration I
changed the colour balance of my images in the Photoshop.
A vet reception on a quiet afternoon must
be a very boring place for dogs as there are no other dogs or people to say
hello to. No wonder that our dog friend captured in the image is looking out
onto the street. When taking this image I pretended for a moment to be another
dog trying to image what it would be like from a dog’s point of view.
I thought that the second dog that is
looking through the camera lens would be keen to get as close as possible to
the dog captured in this picture. So I got next to the brown dog and got low on
my knees to get the same level of view.
I also looked up for some information
on the internet about dogs’ vision as I wanted to understand if we know how
they might see the world around them. I found some article and adjusted the
colour scheme of the image to match the descriptions in my internet sources
(links included below).
My second image was taken at a local
sport club. Sport activities, especially those that require a team or an
opponent to participate, are the classic examples of the situations where a
user’s position is strictly prescribed. Whilst getting ready to take this image
I positioned myself at the far end of the badminton court serving box. I
assumed a suitable posture / position and pressed the shutter button. I chose a
wide-angle lens for this image because this is how I tend to observe the
playing area around me during a game of badminton. I would usually keep an eye
on the opponent but at the same time try to observe a wider picture. I think
that the angle may differ depending on the activity. In some cases, such as ten
pin bowling it might be more appropriate to use a medium telephoto lens to
truly capture the filed of view of a player.
One thing I would like to have done to
make this image more interesting is to capture an image featuring the opponent
across the court. Unfortunately this opportunity did not materialise at the
time but I think it would have definitely improve the image.
My next two images were taken at a
lecture theatre in one of the university colleges. Here I decided to try and
imagine what kind of picture a student and a lecturer would see. Again, the
drawback here as in the previous shot is that the auditorium is empty whilst it
would have been full of people when in use.
I am still glad that I tried to play
with the idea of capturing the two different perspectives in one room as it
suddenly opened up a whole range of project ideas for me. For example I thought
of featuring the viewpoints of two people who are facing each other – they
perspectives could be totally different!
Considering the drawbacks of the images taken in
the lecture theatre, I decided to try a real life situation. My next image was
taken from the co-pilot seat of an air ambulance helicopter which was at the
time getting ready for a take off. All aviation routines are very specific and
have to be observed to the letter so in my view this image is a good example of
a user’s viewpoint (crew member’s). There are two airport staff outside of the
helicopter landing area who are monitoring the take off (a procedure known as
the fire check). Comparing the last three images, my preference is definitely
with the lively and very real air ambulance shot which is a very good lessons
on how to capture the user’s perspective properly. To take this photo I had to
use a wide-angle lens as the space within the cabin is very tight – it simply
would not have been possible to capture anything realistic with a telephoto
lens.
My final image is taken from the point of view of
a person sitting in the forest hide in the nature reserve. Although this image
is very simple in the delivery and composition I think that the approach could
be quite powerful and symbolical. I will definitely be looking out for the
opportunities like that that might have an extra dimension (and a bit of
symbolism). My observation is that this image does not probably tell us much
about the actual user – we don’t know who this person might be so the image is
open to interpretations!
Lessons learnt:
This exercise brought about some very
interesting discoveries as well as some project ideas which I would be
interested to explore.
Capturing the user’s viewpoint means
considering height, orientation and the angle of view of the user.
It might include other considerations
such as using colour or monochrome images, adjusting perspective and angle
(wide or narrow).
It is always useful to consider the
user’s perspective as it helps to imagine being ‘in somebody else’s shoes’ and
convey their point of view. Honesty and truthfulness are important in
photography.
Looking at the world around us from
the different people’s perspectives might be a refreshing and useful exercise
and an interesting project to explore.
User’s viewpoint can be captured by
changing the position (getting low or high), colour scheme (colour blind people
or animals), sharpness (partially sighted people), lens (wide-angle or
telephoto).
The real life images appear to be much
more interesting and gripping attention then those that are set up in some way.
Some images tell us more about the
user than some others (comparing from example the forest hide shot to the air
ambulance image). It is up to the photographer to chose the angle and the
surroundings to help eliminate or add the necessary details.
For this exercise I selected two locations: my log cabin in my back garden and my village church.
The log cabin
I set my camera on the tripod and left it in one place for a number of days taking photos at different times of day and night. This resulted in the following set of images.
This is the log cabin early in the
morning. The sun is still quite low in the sky so light is still quite dim.
There are no strong shadows but the sky is still very light so it is difficult
to capture it without compromising the image of the interior of the cabin.
This image was taken in the evening with the light turned on. I closed one of the French doors so the light from the lamp stays inside the cabin and list up the door and the wall. There is now a chair near the door suggesting that the space will be used for reading and relaxation. The light from the lamp is beautiful and it completely transforms the space.
A brighter morning light with some more defined shadows this time. The dog is doing yoga!
This is how the log cabin looks later in the morning on a very bright day. The doors are shut but the light still shows on the wall just above the lavender basket.
The above three images show the log cabin lit up by various artificial light sources in the evening and it is interesting to see just how different the same space could look and feel.
This is the log cabin in the early hours of a morning. There are deep shadows in all corners as the incoming light only reaches the central part of the floor. It is hard to see the details and even separate the individual objects on the floor.
Another morning in the log cabin and what a big change in how it looks! We can now clearly see the plant on the left, the lavender basket and the music system. The dog peaks its head in through the door to have a look. The light is even now and all the corners could be seen clearly.
These images illustrate that the the light makes a fundamental difference to how a space looks, feels and experienced. The images show the log cabin at various points of a day and night so we clearly see the light changes making the interior space looking different.
My second example of a local church illustrate how the changes in the weather influence the appearance of a space.
The first image was taken on a bright afternoon when the sun was just starting to get down. The light in this image is strong and produces crisp, sharp shadows on the floor and the wooden panels. It makes the interior space of the church look bright, inviting and uplifting.
My second image was taken on an overcast morning. The shadows are now coming from the left hand side windows and the space looks reflective, dreamy and quiet.
Both of the above images were taken roughly from the same viewpoint.
I also took a number of image of the church interior from various different viewpoints to catch the play of light.
Exercise Three: How space changes with light
For this exercise I selected two locations: my log cabin in my back garden and my village church.
The log cabin
I set my camera on the tripod and left it in one place for a number of days taking photos at different times of day and night. This resulted in the following set of images.
These images were taken at different time of day
and in different weather.
For this image I opened both doors so
the light comes through into the cabin without any obstructions. This also
opened the interior space and make it look bigger and lighter.
I shut one of the French doors so the space inside
is more enclosed and more defined. There is less light coming from the door and
a light shadow is now forming behind the closed door.
This image was taken in the morning just before a meditation and yoga practice. It is one of the examples showing how the living space changes throughout the day.
This image was taken in the evening with the light turned on. I closed one of the French doors so the light from the lamp stays inside the cabin and list up the door and the wall. There is now a chair near the door suggesting that the space will be used for reading and relaxation. The light from the lamp is beautiful and it completely transforms the space.
A brighter morning light with some more defined shadows this time. The dog is doing yoga!
This is how the log cabin looks later in the morning on a very bright day. The doors are shut but the light still shows on the wall just above the lavender basket.
The above three images show the log cabin lit up by various artificial light sources in the evening and it is interesting to see just how different the same space could look and feel.
This is the log cabin in the early hours of a morning. There are deep shadows in all corners as the incoming light only reaches the central part of the floor. It is hard to see the details and even separate the individual objects on the floor.
Another morning in the log cabin and what a big change in how it looks! We can now clearly see the plant on the left, the lavender basket and the music system. The dog peaks its head in through the door to have a look. The light is even now and all the corners could be seen clearly.
These images illustrate that the the light makes a fundamental difference to how a space looks, feels and experienced. The images show the log cabin at various points of a day and night so we clearly see the light changes making the interior space looking different.
My second example of a local church illustrate how the changes in the weather influence the appearance of a space.
The first image was taken on a bright afternoon when the sun was just starting to get down. The light in this image is strong and produces crisp, sharp shadows on the floor and the wooden panels. It makes the interior space of the church look bright, inviting and uplifting.
My second image was taken on an overcast morning. The shadows are now coming from the left hand side windows and the space looks reflective, dreamy and quiet.
Both of the above images were taken roughly from the same viewpoint.
I also took a number of image of the church interior from various different viewpoints to catch the play of light.
My lessons and conclusions:
It is interesting to notice how we
shape and change our living spaces as we get on with our daily tasks. The log
cabin is used for meditation and yoga in the mornings, for work and reading during
the day, for relaxation in the evening and sometimes as sleeping quarters at
nights. Through these activities the spaces around us are in the constant flow
of changes, they never stay the same. I captured some of these activities and
some of the changes in my photos – a yoga mat on the floor, the dog entering
the room, people using the space.
The change of light transforms the
place beyond recognition: the photos taken in the evening, at night and in the
morning look different, as if taken in different places.
Light helps to paint the mood of the
place – the log cabin looks magic when lit up by the candle light.
It is worth spending time to watch the
light changing it as it helps to establish the best time to photograph the
space.
From the technical point of view, it
could be quite challenging to photograph the interior when the sky is visible
through the window. The difference in steps is just too great so there might
need to be a compromise.
