EDGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

This was a challenging prac . Going out and focusing on the edge of frame which seems counter intuitive to photography. While it was easy to photograph the mundane and difficult because of the rain (and the shortness of time due to other commitments), in the end what was the hardest thing was how to make the composition interesting.

I experimented with a high number F-Stop (around 22) so that the background and foreground would have a chance of being in focus. Because of the rain I was limited to taking shelter on the stage at Federation Square and opted for a bigger lens. Bigger lens meant more fuzzy shots so I had to discard a third of my shots. I was trying to aim for some kind of action, or moment from unwary participants including seagulls who were as easy to shoot as herding cats.

In post,  I was able to cheat a bit. Like this one below. I was hoping to connect the image of the man on the far left with the refugee poster. I dampened down the clarity to highlight the man and the light to draw the eye to the poster. Not sure if it works as the colour of bins distract.

One image I am happy is this one here which is the roof of Flinders Street Station:

By cropping,  upping the sharpness and using vignette  I was able to get some interesting textures out of the roof, the luminescent green glistening like the underside of a blue whale. Well, a green whale in this case.

When the subject, in this case, a seagull, wasn’t doing much except being a seagull,  I upped the tint and saturation which I think adds a nice texture here to the normally dull terracotta.

I like this next one just for the starkness, the almost absurdity of the lady with the umbrella standing in the background like some kind of rare toadstool.

What I learnt from this exercise was that objects on the edge of the frame become the subject even if they are not properly centred. These objects then become associated with other objects and a  kind of story or containment develops.  It reminded me of Danny Singer work:

Excursion to National Gallery of Victoria

The Bill Henson exhibition was challenging for some students due to the subject matter, one remarking that they thought it was voyeuristic and inappropriate. But I did not see this but rather the captured fleeting moments of youth and sensuality.

I love this infrared stock that the Richard Mosse used here for his shots of the Congo. Knowing the genocide that has occurred here adds a poignant and disturbing beauty to his compositions.