The sign holder

I have come across a (very) important idea that wasn't immediately obvious to me concerning the way I approached this assignment. I have been becoming aware of this idea as I have been making my way through the course, particularly with Assignment 4: 'A sense of place' but it really came to the forefront when exploring possible photographs for the fifth assignment. This was the conscious imagining and precognition of what I wanted certain potential photographs to turn out like before I took them.

   My first image for the assignment was therefore a well-imagined shot, which turned out to be similar to what I wanted beforehand. This made the experience of taking the shot rewarding but also the photograph fitted well into the brief. I managed to conceive the subject and the backgorund beforehand, while leaving the overall 'feel' of the photograph for the moment in which I was taking it. The fact I went about taking the photograph this way meant my creativity was 'channelled' towards the brief and the photograph was to order. Lastly, I tried to make the photograph creative and eye-catching.

   I tried to portray how a person advertised something (in this case a religious message) on a sign, while showing them in the context of 'Alternative London'. 'Alternative' because, from my experience of London streets, the sign holders were usually largely ignored and in my opinion contrasted strongly with the 'rest' of the street users. The reason for this was because in this case the signholder was so still compared to the other users. I had decided on the subject - a sign holder - and the background - a London street with an underground station in the background. This was to retain a sense of place. The feature I had planned which would  make this photograph stand out however , was the movement of people in the street; this was in direct contrast to the sign holder, who was very still. To achieve the sense of movement I employed a slow shutter speed; introducing motion blur.

1. The sign holder

   To achieve the slow shutter speed I used a tripod and cable release (ensuring the background and sign holder were sharp) and a neutral density filter (which gave me a slower shutter speed).

   This was a technique I had been utilising (and practising) quite frequently in part 4 of People and Place and I thought I produced a well-balanced photo with the main feature being the contrast between the sign holder and the people around him.