This time after finding a method which I wanted to explore more, I went to take some photos of people on the street. I began to think about the relationship between the one witnessing and the one being witnessed. I thought of my position within this dynamic as the unseen photographer.
After I view all my photos in colour, I pick out some portraits with compositions and subjects I like and put them in black and white. In a way I think it would be beneficial to my work if I viewed the photos in black and white without seeing the colour first. I think these processes of editing and picking a few over many is necessary. There are often a lot of photos to go through, the ones above are just a few of them taken on this one trip.
I also tried some portraits where I asked permission of the person in the photo. This was to experiment with a slightly different method framed within my street environment.
Whilst I like the photos within the series it felt almost unauthentic. The person being photographed to me needs to be unaware. These feel almost staged in comparison. Black and white has the effect of making the photo seem more interpersonal almost celebratory of the person in shot.
I want to also say that this photography project has driven me a bit insane. I can’t go anywhere without seeing something that I would take a picture of, there are so many little moments that you only begin to see once you start looking for them. Also, I’ve started to print out the pictures and stick them on my wall so I can really analyse them. I think this is important because I take so many pictures. Its interesting to note the effect looking at photos in different context has on the image. I actually don’t look at the preview of my photos when I’m out and about so when I put them on my computer, it’s often the first time I see them. I also see them as a whole series as they are all loaded in next to each other. You start to see things you don’t notice at the time. Overtime you can draw patterns from the photos and it feels like you are starting to take the same photo, just with different people in it. I’ve learnt It’s important to view photos printed out, the backlit screen makes you view images in a slightly unauthentic way.
Cameron Aitken Graphic Design 