statement of intent

i aim to capture the captivating interplay between light and shadow within the suburban and urban landscape. my focus lies not only on the architectural beauty of buildings but also on the dynamic shadows they cast, creating a visual narrative that explores the multifaceted nature of our built environment. By leveraging the inherent contrast and drama of shadows, we seek to unveil hidden textures, patterns, and perspectives that often go unnoticed in everyday cityscapes. Through careful composition and selective framing, i intend to evoke a sense of mystery, intrigue, and contemplation, inviting viewers to reimagine familiar urban scenes in a new light. With an eye for detail and a reverence for the subtle nuances of light and shadow, i endeavor to craft a series of images that celebrate the beauty of the urban and natural landscape and its ever-shifting play of shadows.

Photoshoot 2 plan

Where: Le Squez

When: Midday

What: interesting shapes and formations due to light in and around the new flats

How: DSLR, low iso

Photoshoot Plans

PHOTOSHOOT ONE

What – Documentary style photoshoot of a series of surfers/waves in motion

Why – To observe the practice of surfing in relation to The Decisive Moment

How – In Water Photography Equipment – Waterproof Camera Housing/Lens Port, Cold water Wetsuit Gear, Flippers

When – Late afternoon, Soft Lighting, Colours, Shadows

Where – Watersplash, St Ouens Bay

Photos shoots planning

Firstly, for this photo shoot I plan to take photographs of the board and pieces by themselves, my main idea for it is to simply showcase the games alone while focusing on the lighting and layout.

I would most likely produce this shoot at home using a makeshift studio as to not move all the games around that will be included in the photographs.

Secondly, I plan to go to one of the castle’s on Jersey, either Elizabeth or Gorey, and take photos of the playing pieces in the medieval surroundings.

This photo shoot is inspired by my artist reference, Jan Roald, as his project of ‘is the life also a chess play’ did a great job of capturing the viewers attention due to the links between the scenery and the chess pieces.

For my costume photographs, I plan to have my friend wear a red dress to portray the queen from both chess and cards since red often means power and was even adopted by kings around the middle ages to show their god-given right to rule.

I will most likely be taking my images in my garden due to the grass creating a more natural feel for the images. This shoot will also be inspired by Claude Cahun regarding the expressions and body language that she depicts in her own self portraits.

For these photographs, my main plan is to try and showcase body language while playing a game. To do this, i’m going to have my friend sit down at a game and take photos of her playing the game in order to capture her reactions and expressions.

This shoot would once again be done at my house in order to make my friend more comfortable and give more natural responses. The shoot is also heavily inspired by the chess photographer, David Llada, who aims to capture peoples expressions as they play chess during tournaments.

In this photo shoot my aim is to display how we hide our emotions and expressions during games, or in other words how we showcase our poker face. To do this I will have a friend of mine wear a blank mask and have a game set out in front of them or have them simply looking into the camera.

The shoot will be inspired by my artist reference Gillian Wearing who uses prosthetic masks to showcase different meanings within her photographs.

Lastly, I intend to produce some photographs of the playing pieces in different elements, such as fire, earth, water etc. These images would symbolize different parts of game from emotions to different strategies, for example the fire could represent passion while water could represent loss or sadness.

Photoshoot 1 plan

Where: Around St Clements

When: 1 hour before sunset on a clear sunny day

What: Everyday objects and buildings that appear to be affected aesthetically by sun light

How: DSLR, low ISO

Photoshoot 1: development + experimentation

Unedited best shots

Edits I have made:

The next 4 I want to keep as a collection so I edited them to be very similar. Unedited:

And then finally, I wanted all of the photographs to be similar colour so I added this pre-set to them all:

p1 plan

For my first photoshoot I am not going to focus on any specific area on the Island, but I am going to drive around and photograph anything that I think will fit with my project. I am mainly going to look for houses as I think thank will be a good staring point.

inspiration:

Photoshoot plan – York

Where: York city centre

When: 23rd of March, early morning

What/who: The city and the people in it

How: DSLR, auto focus to ensure all images are in focus.

Photoshoot plan – Edinburgh

Where: Edinburgh city centre

When: 23rd of March, early afternoon

What/who: The city and the people in it

How: DSLR, auto focus to ensure all images are in focus.

Artist reference – Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing was born in 1963 in Birmingham, England. In Wearing’s photographs and videos she records the confessions and interactions of ordinary people she befriends through chance encounters. Her work explores the differences between many things such as; public and private life, the individual and society, voyeurism and exhibitionism, and fiction and fact.

The work that I plan on focusing on is her masked photographs. In these images, she uses prosthetic masks to alter her appearance, showing how we hide away our identity.

I chose this Wearing as an artist since I plan to display how we hide our emotions during games, showcasing what is commonly known as a ‘poker face’ which is an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person’s thoughts or feelings.

In order to achieve this i would masks, while they may not be as detailed or high quality as Wearings due to cost efficiency, they would symbolize how we hide our emotions and allow the viewer to take a more tactical look towards the games we play.

In this image we are able to see the prosthetic mask protruding from the mirror frame, creating a rather unique effect. The fact that we are still able to see her human eyes behind the mask could mean that we often hide our true selves behind false faces, only presenting the parts of ourselves that we deem worthy or perfect to the world in the same way a prosthetic is perfect.

I would definitely like to incorporate the use of mirrors into my own photographs since the idea of refection is a key part in Wearings photographs. I especially like how she incorporated only the mirror frame in this image though, making it gold and shiny in order to draw attention to it and link it with her eyes which are the only other glossy part.

https://www.artnet.com/artists/gillian-wearing/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Wearing