Work Diary - Third Shoot - Camden

This session consisted of a shoot in Camden, exploring the residential side of the area. As I am trying to compare the different types of housing that differ from each other according to the different social classes, this shoot has allowed me to document the similarities and differences between the daily lives on individuals found in society; by photographing where they live, I can show how they live and their everyday routines through representation and symbolism. This shoot was done at night, which meant I had to experiment with the aperture in between pictures depending on the light sources around me. This was hard at first but soon became easy as the shoot went on - I became more familiar with the different aperture settings and toward the end of the shoot, I automatically knew which setting to choose for a particular picture. I have noticed that my work is very documentary-like, which means I have to keep this consistent; I have tried doing this by showing symmetry in my work or by using specific angles that give my work a sort of journalist feel. Shooting in the dark has become easier as I progressed with my different shoots, allowing me to show mystery and create an intense atmosphere for the viewer. From this shoot, I found that signs can be very symbolic in photography; by capturing different signs, giving instructions or some sort of warning, I can let the viewer know what is happening in the image or even the area that I am photographing but without actually showing them the whole scene. Once again, this makes the viewer curious and attracts them to the picture, making them wonder and focus even more on the image.

I quite like this image from this shoot because it was taken at an angle that restricts the view of the viewer to a certain extent. The sign is a warning to residents and the fact that it's in bright red is symbolic of danger, which is ironic because the sign says 'no dumping', which is not really a big deal to some people as it does not really represent danger. Despite this, this picture still evokes feelings of mystery and symbolises danger of some sort. I adjusted the aperture so that the lighting is really dim, which resulted in this sort of red lighting effect - by doing this, I have further emphasised the danger being symbolised. Moreover, there is a white figure on the very right of the image, which has been drawn on by local residents. I captured this but kept it in the corner, where it is not as obvious because I wanted to maintain this mystery and continue to give out connotations of danger.

I think I could have thought about this picture a bit more before actually capturing it; the lighting can be improved by picking a lower aperture so that more light comes in, allowing the stairs to be seen a bit more. I could also have used a lower angle, so that the doors do not look proportional to the stairs, creating a surreal look and feel to the image. Having said this, I do think the whole idea of this picture was a good one, if I had the chance to take this image again, I would definitely use a lower aperture and a higher shutter speed along with a better angle.

I would like to take some more photographs during the day as I feel this will allow me to see the difference between shooting during the day and shooting during nighttime - it will enable me to experiment with the aperture in a different way and give me an insight on the different settings that have to be adjusted due to the massive change in the light source.