Expanded Photographics - Process

Let me talk a little about process. Throughout this whole project I've had a desire to recreate the past within the present environment of Wrights Hill Fortress. And while for the most part I believe I have achieved this goal - it wasn't all as straight forward as I would have hoped. In fact there were times when I felt like I had taken on too much and I should have opted to do something a little bit simpler. But yet here I am, writing this blog post feeling like I've honestly achieved something great. 

So let's recap this process. 

In the beginning I had this plan, and idea that seemed like it could work. After discussing it with my father he too thought it was a good idea to tackle the old fortress one more time.

After a group session with Matt and my peers I had walked away feeling good about the whole idea. However by that very weekend where I had planned on making the trip up to Wrights Hill a little Earthquake struck. Hampering my efforts I buckled down and began to rethink my whole strategy. 

Then came time to present my initial shots to my tutorial group. Oh joy! I didn't have any because of the Earthquake. So I quickly executed plan B. I stood up and talked about my intentions and showed some reference shots that would ultimately inform my final product. I also delved into talking about some alternative sources of inspiration such as Band of Brothers and The Pacific. 

Now came the hard part. 

We managed to get up to Wrights Hill and to my surprise there was little damage from the quake which meant that I could finally get busy. (Just a small FYI the camera I used was a Nikon d5100 with a mixture of a 50mm Lens and an 18mm-55mm Lens, with a tripod) I believe I have already posted up some of the shots I had taken. But please allow me to show you yet again the final results from that trip. 

These photos ultimately chosen because they each represented different aspects to Wrights Hill while retaining a sense of narrative. That narrative being that "Here soldiers once dwelled, preparing themselves for war, the lights flash red and they race to position"

Okay so I might have been able to word that better but forgive me, listening to some sad music does that to you.

These images have been influenced by a lot of media portrayal of war. This isn't meant to look happy. This is dark and gritty and is very much not a somber moment in our history. As we begin we have a nice dark natural colour tone. Lots of greens, grays, and yellows. As we move on so do the tones. The images become more intense and darker. Focussing on single colours to empathise "war" was my aim. Mostly yellows but that changes towards photo 04 where the yellow light turns red signaling that an attack could be immanent.

The images still get darker and progressively single out that one dominant colour. By the time we hit the final image a drastic change in the tone. We now have a B/W image. This was done for two reasons. Firstly to show that this was history, something that happened long ago and secondly to convey a sense of unknown. We see the cliché "light" but what happens next?  that is ultimately for you to decide. A little bit open ended I know but I think it adds a nice touch to the whole narrative.

Expanded Photographics - The set nears completion

Okay so I've made further adjustments after re-reading the brief. I think the following works quite well. But you will ultimately be the judge of that.

I will upload my research and other required info tomorrow before the image hand-in.  Right now I'm tired and need a nap before I tackle my other work.

. Expanded Photographics Photo Update

Nearly finished the sequence of photos.

I've had to rework the entire project to include a mixture of footprints and silhouette soldiers. So the aim is to really show Wrights Hill is different contexts while retaining that sense of this is the past and present combined.

I've got a pseudo storyboard which I'll upload tomorrow as I want to finish up this set.

I'll be printing these out on canvas which I'll get done tomorrow and hopefully have it ready in time for Thursday.

Here's a reworked image that includes some footprints

Some details about the image.

Grayscale
Footprints "walking towards the light"
Reason for this is  I wanted to give a sense that this was ultimately the questionable "fate" that awaited us during the time period where Wrights Hill was used to defend Wellington from oncoming threats.











As for the whole photoset I've really taken to giving each photo a sense of individuality. So there will be a mixture of colour tones.

For example.

 The natural colours have been darkens down to give more of a sense of "darkness" and a military feel. This was the base of operations the hub for all the work that the soldiers did. It only made sense to portray this in that manner.

 This photo is a good example of using silhouetted soldiers. This is set in the infinity tunnel which was originally going to have footprints however it felt empty which is the reason why this photo in particular has people in it. lots of blacks mixed in with the warm glow of the ceiling lights.

Death and destruction await us all. The red floor was actually done not by photoshop but by the natural light from what appeared to be a warning light. This is another example of using footprints.






I'm still working on the final photo which oddly enough is the second to last in the set. These photos that I've uploaded are still work in progress but once it is all finalised I will upload the full and proper set.

Update

Okay so for the past few days I have been quite sick. But that hasn't stopped me from doing me work.

So for Expanded Photographics here is a little photo update.

The initial concept was to represent the past through the use of bootprints and handprints however that turned out to be a bit of a disaster so I've slightly altered it to using silhouettes of soldiers. Even though my attitude towards that is still a bit negative I do think however that it does show a bit more substance to the whole narrative process. The above image hasn't got the silhouette soldier/s in it yet.  As for the output, I'm still deciding whether or not to use canvas or print these out as a book. Either way it'll get done over the weekend.


For Design Ethnography, I will email my tutor later tonight with my project ideas.

And finally Identity and the Internet, I will be in the tutorial tomorrow to work on my project and whatever else needs to get done. I will however  be leaving a bit early as I still am not well. But I'll talk my tutor about that.

Okay cool.

So not everything has gone to plan but I do believe I have salvaged something of this wreck of a week.

Expanded Photographics - Project 01

The photoshoot up at wrights hill went alright. However there were a few complications with what I had set out to achieve so I believe I might have to modify my initial concept. Instead of focussing on handprints etc I might have to tell the narrative through the architecture and some other bits and bobs that are up there. So hopefully it'll work out. I might need to confer with my tutor on this though. However - what I can do is show you some shots.

For reference the original concept was to "merge" the past with the present through details such as bootprints, handprints etc. This was to allow for the history to really show and give people an idea of what this place is about.  However because of the condition of tunnels this wasn't ultimately viable and the shots didn't detail those prints. In fact you can't even see them.

As for now I'm still going through the photos seeing what can be done and once I've done that I'll put up a post amending the concept and detailing my plans for the physical object.

Thanks.

 

 

Expanded Photographics

First assignment.

I wasn't able to get into Wrights Hill as the complex was under maintenance because of the Earthquake last weekend. I have since been told that I will be able to get in this Saturday which is top.

So the plan is to now just focus on setting up the shoot.

To do this a storyboard might be the best choice so I can layout what will be going on.

Step by step overview of the photoshoot

Will begin with the soldier starting the day in an office or common room area. We will then follow his footsteps to his post where he would be do his job.

The aim is to flesh out in detail what these soldiers did during war time and presenting this in a modern context. I want to get that nostalgic feel going on.

So how would I represent the soldier without actually having one?

Prints!

I don't want an actual actor in the image so by using prints as a narrative point I can really get the whole " This happened in the past " feeling.

Maybe a ghost? Nah...

I'm looking at a lot of war time films to figure out the aesthetics - think Band of Brothers, Flag of our Fathers, Saving Pvt Ryan etc.

Also looking into notable wartime photographers - Robert Capa for example.

Gathering some information on the environment that I'm shooting in is also needed.

So my schedule while a little bit behind is actually quite good.

Today/Tomorrow: Research (will post on blog this Monday) and finishing off the planning.
Saturday/Sunday: Photoshoot
Monday: Review of work
Tuesday: Lecture
Thursday: Tutorial - show work etc etc

My father's photoblog - http://www.flickr.com/photos/siteopacific will use this as a reference.
Below are some of his photos which I'll be using as a reference to sort out some of the details of my shoot since I wasn't able to get there this past weekend.

Aesthetics from media etc

Lots of grain, B/W, dust/dirt etc

Digital self portrait