PART 2 - PROJECT 1 - COURSEWORK
The Writer
A writer is somebody who, especially in a metropolitan environment, paints the so-called "graffiti" by spray paints.
Andrea is a writer.
When I engaged with the subject, he suggested to meet before a new writing session, at an indoor place where he and his mates do some training.
Then we decided together to make a portrait using a painted background (his own work) and a prop.
I chose to use ambient light (coming from a big window on the left side) and a reflector (on the right side, down-up).
The Tech-man
Paolo works in the ICT department of a big company.
As the big part of IT people, Paolo is, above all, found of his job and of technology.
We decided together to make a portrait at his desk, where he spends most of his time checking and managing all company's IT infrastructure.
Al the light is coming from a window on the right side, where the winter sun light crosses a venetian blind.
The Winemaker
When I engaged with the subject, we decided together to shoot the portrait where the winemaker spends most of hi time: the wine cellar.
Shooting in a cellar is not easy, because locations are dark, narrow and occupied by wine barrels. I decided then a composition with a barrel in the very foreground, a short focal (28 mm) and the subject in the foreground.
The illumination is provided by a small lamp I found in the location. The light's orientation is towards the subject, from down-up, on the right side.
Reflection
Should I give a title to the theme behind the three images, I would choose "I work here": all shots were taken in the ambient where the subjects do most of their activity.
In each image I included one or more props, strictly related to instruments used by subjects, in order to give a clear connotation to portraits: in the first image there are spry-bottle and graffiti; in the second image there is the computer screen, but digital watch and ear-pods could considered as props as well; in the third image there is the barrel, but even the cellar gives a strong connotation to image and a strong identity to the subject.
I am confident I succeeded in creating a series with these three images: all subjects are strongly related to their workplace and their identity is unambiguous.
I am confident I succeeded in creating a series with these three images: all subjects are strongly related to their workplace and their identity is unambiguous.
Since I believe that the "people at work" portraiting should be popular among practitioners, I googled "People at work photographers" and found some links. I
Tim Allen:
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| Tim Allen, "Artisans", The Barefoot Welder, 2014 https://www.timallenphoto.co.uk/artisans-highlights/h549f9ebd#h549f9ebd, accessed on 16/01/2019 |
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| Tim Allen, "Artisans", Michael Hart, Blacksmith, 2014 http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-05-06-1430929359-7194324-TA7.jpg, accessed on 16/01/2019 |
The common point, or the link between images could be a place, or an event, or something people do. What could I find out just by walking around this small city in a cold, january's early afternoon?
I spend about one hour going around, shooting some non-interesting portraits of people with just one common link: they walk.
A visit to the small train station is the first idea I consider seriously, and there I shoot some images, but I select only two that I like to show:
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| SMOKING TO LEAVE 1 |
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| SMOKING TO LEAVE 2 |
I am confident that this is a theme I could develop further in future. However, at the moment, I don't succeed in creating the set of images needed, even because I realize that some passengers begin to notice what I am doing, and I see they don't like it.
Before leaving the station I try another shot and find out something that I could develop.
It is incredible the amount of people spending a huge amount of their time using smartphones. However it is even true that, by a smartphone, everybody can communicate to whom, where and when they want.
Then I choose to work around the theme "SMART TIME", playing on the link between the two words "smartphone" and "time". The second word could mean the passing time, or the moment, or the "smartphone era" in which we live.
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| SMART TIME 1 |
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| SMART TIME 2 |
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| SMART TIME 3 |
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| SMART TIME 4 |
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| SMART TIME 5 |
All selected photos have smartphone in common. However each subject seems to use it for a different purpose.
In ST 1 the subject, while waiting for the train, maybe uses a messaging tool like whatsapp. In ST 2 the Russian carer uses Skype in order to video communicate to her family back home. In ST 3 the man uses facebook. In ST 4 the man checks a selfie, while in the last picture the man checks a message.