Street Photography

Brief

To Produce a series of images fitting the theme of Street Photography. Record ambient sounds, from these you will assemble a slide show.

Health and Safety 

Before we start, we have to consider basic health and safety when photographing the public. 

Road safety - Ensuring we consider our surroundings when taking photographs.

Equipment - Safeguard equipment and personal items, ensuring nothing is left unattended to reduce   the risk of it being stolen.

Hostile reactions from the public - Ensure we walk together in groups of two or three to ensure we have the necessary support if we were to be confronted by a hostile person. 

Weather - Dress appropriately to suit the weather condition, wearing the correct shoes and sun screen/hats for very warm days. If it is a hot day, drink plenty and take regular breaks from the heat.

Street Photography

Our group met in Manchester armed with our camera's, ready to take photographs of the busy city centre. On the journey there I took some practice shots on my phone as this was my first attempt at street photography and I was feeling slightly nervous. 

Once in Manchester, we split into groups, recording sounds and taking photographs. I interacted with some people, asking if it was ok to take their photo, others i didn't ask, but these were mostly the shots of the busy centre where there were lots of people, so I didn't seem quite as intimidating to those who are camera shy. Coupled with the fact I am not quite well trained enough to be as subtle enough as someone like Joel Meyerowitz, who can take photographs without most people realising.

At this point, I didn't really have any idea of the kind of sequence I wanted to put together, I only concentrated on taking lots of photographs and recordings. Whilst waiting for the metro to go home,  I started to think about the shots I had taken on my journey into the city, and decided to take a few more along with some sounds on the way home. It was at this point a sequence and other ideas were starting to form for the slide show. 

By the time I was walking home, I had decided exactly how I wanted the sequence to go together. 

I had to record a few extra sounds (setting the alarm, keys jingling, door closing etc). I knew what I wanted to do would be quite difficult to put together from a technical point of view so I asked a friend if he could help. We used a program called Vegas Pro which can edit movies, images and music. We didn't have a lot of time due to the assignment deadline and Rob's availability, so the photographs were not enhanced or edited in any way. 

I was unsure that I could project the vision I had in my head onto the screen so was pleasantly surprised when it all started coming together exactly how I wanted it to. 

The sequence

I designed the sequence to show as a photographic story, using sounds as the narrative.  It starts with someone leaving the house (me), walking down the road, which is key to the first part of the sequence. Without that, the viewer would just think I had randomly taken photographs of different places. The second key was using the metro link to show the journey. Using the photographs I had taken out of the window to give the impression of movement. I used the song Sun shine on a rainy day as I thought it fitted in perfectly with the rainy day the shots that were taken, the sunshine represents a happy place, even though it may be a wet a gloomy day. After watching 'Ways of seeing', a programme by John Berger in 1972, I am fully aware of how music can have an effect on how people perceive images, and I wanted mine to be seen in a positive and uplifting way, regardless of how gloomy the day was. 

The sequence then goes onto pictures of the centre of Manchester, using sounds I recorded exactly where I took the photographs, then eventually ending up at a cafe with a picture of the cafe entrance. At this point my aim is to give the impression of stopping for a coffee by showing the images and playing the sound I recorded in that coffee shop.

I still had quite a few photographs I wanted to show, so decided to end the sequence with random shots I had taken throughout the day.  

I was very strict in ensuring the photographs were in the right order of the sequence, right down to the part of the man sat on the metrolink, you may notice him stood outside in the background, then the next photograph is of him sat on a seat. It is his voice I recorded just before the song begins. I was aware of making sure the metro stops were in the right order, and ensuring male and female voices matched up to who was in the photograph, even if it wasn't their voice.

The very last shot is of myself, this is my favorite part of the sequence. Not because its a photograph of me, because I think its nice to end the sequence with a photograph of who is behind the camera. I purposely used a self portrait, rather than asking someone to take a photograph of me.  

Conclusion/Evaluation

As we had very limited time to put the sequence together, there are some parts of the video that do need editing. The photographs look satisfactory, but I would have liked more time to edit them, mainly enhancing the colours and changing some of the levels slightly. Some of the timings of the sequence are slightly out. This mainly occurs at the end of the sequence when we had be working on it for 3 hours. The song fades in too quietly at the end and the last few photographs don't fade in and out equally. 

I am very happy with the overall sequence, especially because it is my first attempt at doing something like this. 

Video preview

 For best results do not switch to full screen as photographs become distorted. High resolution version is available on hard copy or you can visit https://vimeo.com/77792591.