Connecting Essay - Laurens Kaldeway

 
Here is one of the images from my fourth shoot. I set my aperture f5.6, in order to create a very narrow depth of field, and focused on the centre of the note in foreground of the image. On the note, written in thick black ink,  reads "sometimes I wonder why. But I'll be OK now.", which could be a representation of the writer's self doubts, as well as their eventual reassurance of these doubts. The use of black ink is significant, as black can represent their overall strength after having periods of self doubt. Though the background is out of focus, you can see another post it note behind the one with black text on it, which has unreadable writing in blue ink on it; this could represent a different mindset of the writer, in which they were less sure of themself, creating a narrative in that that mindset is a thing of the past, which is why it's in the background and the one with black ink is in focus in the foreground.

 
 Here is an image by Laurens Kaldeway, which is titled "On the table". This has a narrow depth of field, in which the cup in the foreground is in focus and the book in the midground as well as the chess board in the background are out of focus. White and brown are prominent colours in the composition of this image, with white being present on the cup and saucer and the book and brown being present on the table and the book. White can represent innocence, whereas brown can represent health, therefore the viewer could draw from the use of these colours together that the person who's table is depicted in the image is innocent and therefore leads a healthy lifestyle.

My image connects well with Kaldeway's image. They both take place in similar home settings, with my image being in a kitchen and Kaldeway's being in what appears to be a living room, linking them both to the subject of everyday objects. I was inspired by Kaldeway's framing when I took my image, attempting to use the composition of having my focal point in the foreground, and then dropping my focus out of the course of the rest of the image, having things visible behind the focal point that help create the narrative.

Shoot Six - Work Record

For this shoot, I hope to continue with capturing more industrial everyday objects, such as tools, in a macro photography style. I have decided to move to a similar location from my shed, opting to shoot in my Father's garage, as it had similar objects but offered a larger amount as well as a larger range of objects to capture.







 

 I shot this image at 1/10, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 400. Since the lighting was dim in my shoot location, I needed a long shutter speed in order to expose the image correctly, and due to not having a tripod, I leant my camera on the back of our car to steady my shot. This image was underexposed, therefore I greatly increased the brightness in editing, as well as increasing the contrast in order to widen the image's tonal range. The image had a slight blue cast to it, which I fixed by opening the hue/saturation adjustment and slightly moving the hue towards green. The image still had some blue tones, which I felt in, as I felt they created a very cold and cynical atmosphere, which I felt linked well to the presence of lots of mechanical objects. There is a clear leading line in this image, shown through the edge of the motorbike's seat, which leads the viewer towards the shock absorber, which is the focus point of the image.






 

 Shot on 1/60, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 400. This image has a very sharp focus on the brake pedal of the motorbike, with all of that being in focus and the background being completely out of focus. This removes a lot of distraction from the main part of the image, and allows viewers to properly observe the brake pedal. Texture has been effectively used in the composition of this image; the pedal mostly consists of rough and bumpy textures, suggesting that it has been heavily used, as compared to the metal rod that connects the pedal to the bike, which has maintained a mostly shiny and smooth texture. Overall, this creates a narrative, in that the pedal has constantly had a foot on it, whereas the metal rod clearly hasn't. There is a clear blue cast in the light over the pedal on this image, which helps create a cynical and mechanical atmosphere, which links well to the subject of the image.

For next shoot, which will be my final preparatory shoot, I want to make a final expanse on my shoots surrounding the household. It shall be documentary focused, and I hope to try and find the balance between close-ups with very little background shown and large amounts of background being shown to create a narrative driven scene.

Shoot Five - Work Record

For this shoot, I plan to move to a different home location that has been more heavily used, as well as having been used in a way in which things get worn out and show more rough and gritty textures. I have decided to shoot in my shed, as there is a large workbench in there on which there are various tools and industrial objects. I hope to still create macro style images, however I would like to incorporate flash in order to create more vibrant and clearly defined colours.


 

 This was taken at 1/50, with an aperture of f5.6 and ISO of 200. Because my shed was a dark setting, I decided to turn on my camera's flash to properly light this image. There is a very narrow depth of field, in which a small section of the wire present in the image is in focus; there are several wires of red and black shown in the image, which present curved lines. These curved lines could represent comfort and familiarity, as this is often the workplace of my father, who is used to how the workbench is laid out and where everything is positioned. The colours are saturated throughtout the image, portraying that there is some joy that is attained from this room, as it has been the housing for many projects. This is contrasted by the use of texture; the majority portrays dirty and grungy textures, which could represent overuse and poor management.

 Like the previous image, this was taken with a shutterspeed of 1/50, with an aperture f5.6 and ISO200. I chose the focus point carefully, opting to focus on the tops of the screws that reach the tops of the pot the screws are in, as this gives the image a drop-focus aesthetic. I edited this image to saturated the colours, as I wanted to create a positive outlook on mechanical work, portraying it as fun and creative. The use of green in the box could create the connotation that constructing useful objects keeps your mind active, as green is a colour that represents activity. Texture is also significantly present in this image, with a range of textures being shown; some of the screws show some smooth and shiny textures being present on some of the screws, representing the creation of brand new objects in which they involved , which is then contrasted by the scratched and worn textures shown on the top of the box, representing the wear and tear that involves with making things.

For my next shoot, I hope to continue with the theme of capturing more industrial everyday objects, however, I would hope to expand on it by creating more wide angle images that create a larger scene of work than just focusing on a single object.

Shoot Four - Work Record

For this shoot, I decided that I wanted to return to the concept of creating narrative through post it notes, however, refining my use of composition and framing from my previous attempt. While I am planning to stick to the macro photography style, I intend to capture some images which display more of the surroundings of the post it note, as I feel it will help create some context to what was written there and therefore help to create narrative. I plan to shoot in my kitchen again, incorporating new post it notes that vary from the previous post it note shoot. 

This was taken at a shutter speed of 1/20, with an aperture of f5.6, and the result is an incredibly narrow depth of field. As the lighting in my kitchen was dim, I had to increase the ISO to 400, resulting in some noise. Once I had taken the image, I edited it by increasing the contrast and saturation to the image, creating a brighter and more vibrant colour pallete. The image depicts a card that reads "Healthy Minds", with a card reading "Tropicana book park inn" behind it. This shows a contrast in moods between the person who is writing the post it notes in the kitchen, as healthy minds is a mental health service, which represents that they may have been struggling with their mental health, which is immediately contradicted by the other note which is a reminder to book tickets to a club night, which is a leisure activity. Together, they create a portrait of the post it note user's varying moods and how they can switch between them. Colour has also been used effectively in this shoot, with lots of shades of blue shown through the text on the card and the handwriting on the post it note. While blue can represent sadness, the blue on the card is saturated, therefore it could be a representation of the writer acknowledging they are sad but realising there is hope to feel better.



This was taken at 1/30, with an aperture of f4.3 and an ISO of 400. This has been taken from an eye level view, and as a result, very little of the post it note that's laid out of the table is in focus. The section that's readable says "sometimes I wonder why. but i'll be ok now", and is written in jet black ink. The use of black ink is significant, as black can represent power, and this theme links to the positive message of self assurance that is written on the note. Overall, this represents the writer being in a positive mood, as it contrasts to the blue biro that can be seen in the background of the image. However, I have edited a slight blue cast over the image, creating contrasting moods between the writing on the post it note that creates a positive atmosphere, and the blue tones of the image that represent sadness.

For my next shoot, I plan to keep to the macro style, however, I feel that I should expand my theme of everyday objects in the household to include a location that is less clean and protected, in hope of creating a grittier depiction of everyday objects. I hope to capture some objects that are old or have been worn out to create some contrast between the clean and new looking objects of the kitchen.

Shoot Three - Work Record

For this shoot, I moved back to the setting of the household, deciding to shoot in my kitchen, similarly to my first shoot. While my previous two shoots had some element of text to help create a narrative, I wanted to remove this element from my shoot and create narrative through a purely visual method. I decided I wanted to capture the remainders of a family dinner that has been left on plates in the kitchen, as well as the washing up that builds up by the end of the day, creating a real depiction of what happens in the kitchen through the average day. I am keeping to a similar style of shooting to my previous shoots, being close up to my subjects with a narrow depth of field, linking to macro photography.



This was taken with a shutter speed of 1/60, an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of ISO 800. I moved the ISO sensitivity to be high because the lighting in the room wasn't particularly bright, but had the tone I wanted therefore I didn't want to rely on the flash to create more light in my images as it would change the lighting tone. This image has a very narrow depth of field, with the camera being focused on the spoon that's on top of the other one. There are some corroded and scratched textures shown on the cutlery in these images, from which you could suggest that they are used regularly and have been owned for a long time. This creates contrast in themes between this and the presence of the remainders of food, as the food represents waste in the household, whereas the rust on the spoons portrays everyday objects being reused for long periods of time without being thrown out.



This was taken with the same camera settings as the previous image, as these settings worked throughout the room because the lighting was consistent and covered everything equally. A similar narrow depth of field was used in this image, with the camera being focussed on the head of the fork on the plate. Colour has been used effectively in this image, with muted shades of red being featured heavy in the composition of the image throughout, which could represent the fading joy that the eater of this meal experienced as they got towards the end of the meal, resulting in some food being left. The use of red is contrasted by the muted shades of green that appear on the plate behind the remainders of sauce. Green represents nature, therefore this could be a reminder to the viewer of the image as to where the food has come from, making you think of the impact food waste has on the environment.

For my next shoot, I want to return to the post it notes concept that I explored in my first shoot, refining the techniques I used. While I was very close up to the notes in my first shoot, which does create a strong sense of depth, I feel that it removes some context to the what's going on in the scene, therefore I would like to repeat it in a less close up manner to increase the series' documentary quality

Shoot Six - Contact Sheet

Shoot 6 - Straight Images