Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills
(40%)I wanted there to be a consistency in composition throughout all of the images, so that the viewer is drawn to the elements in the frame that represent the meaning.A common visual starting point was achieved using a couple of different factors. Firstly, I have kept the horizons at the same central point of the image. For the images where there are mountains or landscape that rise above the roads, I have ensured that the road disappears at the centre point instead. The view point is always from the middle of the road, and all the images are shot using a tripod, set to the same height each time. The images are all of a similar colour palette, or at least, complimentary to each other. This helps to connect each image together as a pleasing, cohesive set.
At this time of the year in the UAE, we have clouds! This set of images therefore has more interest in the skies, unlike any of my other images shot outdoors throughout the year.
I didn’t have any control over the direction of the light in any of the images, as the predominant factor was the direction of the road.
I cropped some of the images in post-production where I felt that the defining element was not prominent enough, for example, on ‘Pressure’, the shot was too wide, and the sand encroaching onto the road was just a bit too distant within the frame so I felt the meaning might get lost slightly. The same was true for ‘Setback’, the dead end was just a little too far into the distance, whereas I felt it had to be more pronounced within the frame. I also had to crop into ‘Adventure’ in order to achieve the pathway finishing at the centre point of the image. I didn’t compose this shot well enough during the shoot.
Quality of Outcome
Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas
(20%)
This is the first assignment that I have completed that requires original context in order to fully understand my intent. This was fully intended, having just begun to learn about the various forms of context.
The titles of the images are of equal important as the images, hence why they are actually part of the image. Without the reference, the image is simply that of a road and its surrounding landscape.
Before I started to shoot for this assignment, I created a long list of potential titles. I had a general idea of how to visualise each of them, it was just a case of finding the right roads with the intended elements. My list was much longer than the ten final titles, as I obviously didn’t know which visuals representations I would be able to find.
When shooting these images, I drew on the lessons I learned when shooting landscapes for Assignment 3, I applied the same principles using the hyperlocal distance chart.
The beauty and serenity of this region’s landscape is evident in these images, so although they tell a story when coupled with the titles, each image is strong enough to stand alone, and be viewed solely for its internal content. However they are intended to be viewed as a complete set, and with the titles to further explain.
Demonstration of Creativity
Imagination, experimentation, invention
(20%)
The experimentation factor of this set of images comes from the process I used at the outset, which was to start with a theory which was not linked to any specific subject matter. Looking back at my other assignments, my most successful concept was A3 – Decisive Moment, however I knew that I wanted to highlight a certain cause, and shoot during a specific scuba diving trip. The concept and imagery were intrinsically linked from the outset. The steps I took on assignment five were different, in that I began with simply an idea of ‘life and how it changes’. I then had to think about how best to represent this. Once I had decided on literal roads, I then did a brainstorm of potential titles that equate to the factors of life that influence us. Although I based them all on my own personal experience since living in the region, I believe that they are the same for everyone, the world over.
For this assignment, I enjoyed the traveling around that was required to find the right examples of roads, I visited three of the seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. I was able to draw on personal experience of certain places, e.g. I knew a road where the sand encroaches onto the road during high winds, and i also knew of a road where there was a dead end. I used google maps to find a fork in the road, and the rest I found while out hiking and road-tripping (two of my favorite past-times).
Context
Reflection, research, critical thinking
(20%)
I approached this assignment differently to all the others, and, I feel that this is representative of my progression as I have moved through this unit. I was positively influenced by the photographic exhibitions I got to see while in New York, and I felt something click into place regarding inspiration and conceptual thinking. I challenged myself to think more creatively about subject matter and the visual representation of the subject. I therefore decided NOT to choose a physical subject as a starting point, rather a theory that I would execute through a visual representation and worked from there.
I wanted to challenge myself in terms of my concept, so I specifically didn’t do any research until my concept was decided upon. Once I had the subject matter of roads to literally and figuratively represent the journey, I then began my research. There are many individual images of roads but there is not so much in the way of series of images. I did find two sets of work similar to my intended end result, one by Zak Patsalides entitled On The Road – Vietnam and the other by Andy Lee, entitled Roads Less Travelled. I liked how Patsalides connected himself into his imagery, however I felt it quite important to avoid doing anything like this myself, as I didn’t want these images to represent my life, specifically.
Perhaps there is room for more of a fine art influence on my images, akin to the work of Andy Lee, however without creating a dark or sombre feeling or changing the images to black and white (neither of which I wanted to do) I am not sure how to achieve this. His images are defined in part by the weather at each location, and although there are often clouds in the sky at this time of year, the overall weather is still glorious sunshine. Lee’s work highlighted to me the importance of ensuring the colour hues work well together across the ten images, which I believe I have achieved.
There is a quirkiness to my set of images; the series could be viewed in a light-hearted, slightly humorous way, or they could provoke much deeper thinking.
Personally, whenever life becomes too stressful I like to hit the open road and travel through the barren landscape, enjoying the mountains and sand dunes. So there is an irony in that some of these images may represent something negative, yet at the same time, the locations go a long way to rebalance and bring harmony to me.
This could be an interesting project to continue over the course of time, whenever I find a suitable road on my travels, much like Andy Lee’s ongoing series.
Bibliography:
Zac Patsalides. 2017. On The Road – Vietnam. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.zacpatsalides.com/on-the-road. [Accessed 31 December 2017].
Andy Lee. 2017. Roads Less Travelled. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.andylee.co/roads-less-travelled-1/. [Accessed 31 December 2017].
Caroline's Learning Log 