Final Pictures - 'Window Shopping'

I have chosen these seven photographs for my final project as I feel they represent my topic the best. Furthermore I think they show a range of different photography techniques for example one image has shallow focus, one image uses slow shutter speed and one uses the golden spiral composition. I have also used a range of different subjects that represent the 'other', for example a black woman, an overweight woman, and the elderly. My original idea for my project was to represent the underrepresented so I thought it was important to include elements of this within my photographs.

Photo Shoot 4

Today I had my final photo shoot in central London. I chose this location due to it having really large shops with elaborate window displays such as Harrods. It is also usually quite busy especially with tourists, therefore this would add a great sense of humanity to my images.

I like the photo above because it features the large buildings in the background and in the reflection of the shop window which signifies the London location. The shop window also looks rather luxurious. I think this photograph would have been more successful if the girl was more engaged with the shop window.

I used low shutter speed in this image to connote a busy atmosphere. with people rushing by. The image is still focused on the mannequin in the shop window because most people are out to buy clothes in the shops. This photograph also represents consumerist culture in London. 

I like how in this image the subject in more engaged with the shop window. However my reflection can be seen therefore I would crop this image.

Photo Shoot 3

For this photo shoot I went to a few different locations in London including Finsbury Park, Brixton and Paddington.

I experimented with taking pictures in places other than fashion retailers. For instance, the photograph above was taken of Starbucks coffee shop. I thought it was quite interesting how the customers were using their computers rather than socialising with each other.

I then tried to take pictures from another angle so that I could include the setting within the reflection of the window. However the lights within the shop were too bright so that the camera only focused on the reflection and not anything within the shop.

When taking the photograph above, I spent more time with creating depth of field. I like that in this image you can see many details of the clothes within the store window, but also the setting in the reflection.

In this image I like how you can see a potential customer admiring the clothes in the store window. However I don't think that this image is as clear or well composed as the previous image.

Photo Shoot 2

For this photo shoot I went to Oxford Street in London as there are usually many people there shopping, especially tourists who would make a good subject for the pictures. Moreover the abundance of shops gave me a greater choice in finding an inspirational shop window.

In the photograph above I wanted to experiment with using a close up shot rather than a long shot. This denotes a customer looking at an item in the shop window that she is fond of. I think this picture would have been better if there was more of a reflection of the setting, however I still like that I was able to create a depth of field.

In this image I was inspired by the colourful shapes that were in the shop window. I thought that they would be able to show interesting reflections however this wasn't that clear in the photograph. In this image I also tried to capture the red bus (as this would connote the London setting) that was driving past in the background, however this too wasn't very clear.

I tried to photograph the same location from a different angle here. I used the mirror that was in the window to show the large buildings in the background, however I think this just made the image look too busy. I think that a successful image should have a clear point of focus.

  

This was my favourite photograph from this shoot, therefore I edited it on Photoshop. The woman on the right hand side looks like she would fit into the target audience of the store (I believe this was Selfridges) as she looks quite wealthy and fashionable. I like that she is searching through her bag as this looks very natural and candid rather than posed.

Photo Shoot 1

For my first photo shoot, I went to Brighton to take pictures of shop windows but focusing on the people that could be seen in the reflection.

I chose to take pictures in this shop window because I liked that the cakes were very bright and creative looking, for example the cookie monster cupcake. 

I found this shop quite interesting since it sold 50s style clothes which aren't sold in most other shops. I wanted to capture the sales assistant who was also dressed in 50s attire. I think this image would be better if the assistant was standing closer to the window so that you could see her properly.

I like that this image shows a couple interacting in the background, however it doesn't have much relation to the shop window itself.

I chose to use JD Sports' window as it is a typical representation of the youth. In the image above a young person in similar closing walks past and appears to be like the target audience for JD Sports.

I thought it would be interesting to experiment with taking a direct photograph of some people looking in to the shop window rather than using a reflection. I don't think this looks as successful as the other images as it is unclear what the subject of the photograph is.

I like the depth of field in this image as the focus is in the background rather than the foreground. Also the reflection looks more like a multiple exposure image rather than just one photograph. At the same time I think that the theme of the photograph gets lost in this image.

This was my favourite photograph out of this photo shoot. I think the older people contrast with the representation of the youth in the shop window, thus representing them as the 'other'. I decided to edit the image in black and white with a high contrast as I think that this makes it look more dramatic. The image has a slightly grainy effect too which makes it look vintage. This emphasises the age of the subjects whilst subverting the shop window's youth. I think I would like to use this photograph as part of my final few pictures.

Inspiration: Tom Bovo

New York Streets 2

New York Streets

Watching

Tom Bovo is a New York based photographer that has been active since 1985. His work has been featured in many exhibitions in Brooklyn. He studied painting and printmaking at Columbia University. His influences include abstract expressionist painters, but also photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge, Andre Kertesz, and Diane Arbus.

"My images are not accidents—the camera does not reveal things that do not exist, but can reveal the things we filter out when looking directly at them."

Bovo defends his authorship by explaining that his photographs are a reflection of his own perspectives. This is useful for my topic, since I will be taking pictures of shop windows too, but I will make sure to include specific details of things that I believe will engage the audience.

In the image above the manequin is denoted in the centre of the image, making her appear to be the focus. The store would have used the mannequin to set an ideal standard for the customers; it appears to be quite thin, with glamorous hair and makeup. Bovo goes beyond the typical perspective of the shop window and places the mannequin within the New York setting by using the reflection of the window.

I think with my own photography I would like to include more than just the window display but also the people and buildings in the surroundings.

Sources:

http://www.440gallery.com/Artist-Tom-Bovo

http://www.tombovo.com/bio.php

Ubiquitous Photography & Web 2.0 Platform

Ubiquitous: present, appearing, or found everywhere.

Ubiquitous photography refers to images that are visually similar and can be found in many places. This can refer to the way that images are distributed widely, especially through the use of social media. Web 2.0. allows users to contribute content to the internet, as opposed to Web 1.0. which was just an information archive for passive viewing. With web 2.0. people use social media websites such as Flickr to share their photographs in order to form a collective social community,

Jose van Dijck - Flickr and the culture of connectivity: Sharing views, experiences, memories

Photograph sharing websites such as Flickr create a communal experience to express its user's views. Sharing photos leads to a collective perspectives, experiences and memory. In terms of sharing perspectives, social media sites allow users to collect their ideas and form an agreed upon viewpoint. With collective experience people form their identities through sharing pictures. Finally social media is used as a collective memory whereby people upload their pictures to look back upon. Dijick argues that it has become an "unsconscious technological pursuit" as most people upload pictures to social media without thinking too much about it.

"Sharing pictures in the present naturally leads to a collective interpretation of the past."

Penelope Umbrico

Compiles similar photographs that she has found on Google Images, to create collage prints. Similar topic to authorship since she uses other people's photographs

The image above is from Umbrico's project called 'Suns of Flickr'. It denotes a collection of pictures of sunsets that were found on website Flickr. "This is a project I started when I found 541,795 pictures of sunsets searching the word “sunset” on the image hosting website, Flickr. I cropped just the suns from these pictures and uploaded them to Kodak, making 4" x 6" machine prints from them." It's interesting how all the images have a similar colours and composition.

Joachim Schmid

Joachim Schmid collects photographs that are similar in order to display trends at a certain time. Since the development of Web2.0 he has been able to discover more photographs through the internet on websites such as Flickr. 

The photograph above is from his book collection called 'Other People's Photographs', and this set of photographs is called 'Kisses for Me'. It denotes many people kissing themselves in the mirror. Like many of his other collections, this set shows a slightly absurd amateur photographic trend. I think that Schmid's work is interesting because in many years to come people will look back at current trends and find it peculiar.