Home: Final images

I decided to use photographs that I just casually took, for the brief ‘Home’, I don’t think I could have planned what I feel is home. Even those my 6 final images seem quite dark and depressing, the meaning behind them isn’t. I focused on composition and meaning for these photographs.

pylonPylon: For my first image I took a photo of a pylon near my house in Kent. I like near the London to Paris train line and all around the tracks in the fields are dozens of pylons. I drove on this road everyday to school, town and to get anywhere really so when I see them I feel like I’m home. Even though the background is cloudy and miserable, I don’t think this matters as I live in England and thats a natural occurrence for the weather, so it sums up my life. rain dropsPhone box: Within British culture and stereotypes, red phone boxes, buses and post boxes are iconic and I think as I am British I wanted to include something that subtly showed this. This picture is focused on the rain drops on the car window which is also another British stereotype. In the bottom left of the image in a slight part of the car interior, which isn’t ideal for framing wise but to tell the story shows I was in my mums car and adds to me being with my family.

sunset

Sunset: This photo really wasn’t planned but I thought I’d just take a picture of the trees that I’ve grown up with and the sunset behind them. I like the silhouette of the trees and house and think it can be seen as quite an abstract image because of all the lines and shapes.  tree The Secret Passageway : I’m pleased with this photo as I like the depth of field, colours and framing. This location is a passage way in my garden and me and my brother used to play here all the time when we were younger and called it ‘the secret passageway’. I also like how the sun comes through the tress but doesn’t swallow the image and overexpose it.

twitch23Twitch: Although I planned on choosing 6 images of my dog, Twitch, for my final photos I decided against this as he isn’t the only representative of my home, however I had to include him somehow. I like the composition of this photo and how I took it through a wheel which gave it a border. These tires also remind me of when I go on walks with two of my best friends across the fields at the back of our houses. From these fields we can see dartford and essex from it which are also part of my life.  windshield

Windshield: This is the windshield to my mums car, and my mum is a very important person in my life and her car is quite poignant to her and our relationship. She has always driven me and my brother around all our lives and has been our protector. Even though it is raining, this is again just another part of living in this country. This image could be seen as quite abstract also as it may be unclear as to what is actually is to someone who doesn’t know.

Because the 6 images had to link into each other/have a style between them I decided to focus on subtle lighting. All the photos have a subtle light source, whether it’s a reflection, the clouds or the sun. The way theres a focus of light on each of my images reminds me of James Turrell’s photography, and although his is artificial lighting, I think as he focuses on light and creates a light source for the viewer to use looks good and is original to the photographer and his photography.

Self portraits

LILLI7

For my self portraits I was unsure how to complete this and felt uncomfortable trying to do serious photographs. So instead I set up the camera settings, with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO how I wanted them and then my friend pressed the shutter button. I liked the photos more where I was laughing, smiling and being silly and think ones where you can tell im genuinely happy came out a lot better.

LILLI4 LILLI3

I experimented with photo shape and sizing and had to crop out the reflector in some photos but think more square photos work well and keep a central focus point. I also experimented with changing the photo to black and white and I like the effect but I think for the above photo I would keep it in colour. Using Lightroom I also changed the white balance, and different settings to create a slightly dull and grainy look to my photos. I like this effect however and think it works well with the colours in the photo. I also did this for my friends and strangers photos so they had consistency between them and also had a style between them so its clear they’re by the same photographer.

LILLI5

Although in this above photo I  like my positioning and facial expression the background is a bit busy and a bit unnecessary. Especially with the metal pole on the left as thats in focus. So I cropped the photo to become a portrait photograph instead.