For this brief, we had to take images of still-life. This was narrowed down to objects that we had found in a specific area that our tutor gave us and we had to then bring these objects back with you and take photographs of them. We were given an area near a junk yard, where there was a lot of objects lying around, mainly rocks and bits of wrapping, plastic or cardboard. I found it quite tricky to take interesting images of objects that we don’t usually find visually pleasing. Due to this, I researched photographers who have taken a piece of what we call ‘rubbish’ and then turned it around to make it interesting. I looked into photographer Keith Arnatt as he completed a series called ‘Pictures from a rubbish tip’ which I thought would be useful to look at. Looking at these images gave me the idea to take a piece of rubbish and then contrast it with something else, something cleaner to give the image more depth. Although the majority of these pictures have been taken outside of a studio in natural light, I was still interested in the composition of the images.
As we were to be taking our images with artificial lighting, and inside a ‘studio’, I researched Stephen Collins series ‘Out in the dark’. I really like these images, and I felt inspired by the way that he uses the light to bring the objects out of the black background and make them look interesting. I want to use a black background for my images, and I hope to be able to use my light to make my objects look appealing and colourful. I think that using a plain black background aids with bringing your attention solely to the object, and this is something that I want to achieve.
Practice images
Before I had collected objects from the desired location, I used objects that I had with me at the time to practice using lighting with. I did not have a lamp at the time, and I think that this would have aided my greatly as I do not really like the lighting in the images. Also I think I would have benefited from using black card behind the objects like I had seen in my research. However, I have learnt from taking these photographs, and I now know ways in which I can improve my final images.
Final Triptych
For my final images I wanted there to be an obvious link between all three of them. At first I thought about the link of colour, as I had previously taken pictures of blue glasses and I had a blue feather. When taking these images though, I did not think that they looked like a triptych. I found a plastic container and then had the idea of finding smaller objects and placing them into the container. This way they would link immediately and the images would flow much better than my previous idea. From my research I knew that I wanted the images to be taken on a black background and for the lighting to be quite moody as opposed to being bright. I think that the lack of light makes the objects appear more intriguing and there is just enough light to separate the objects from the background. These images took me a while to get correct, as I struggled with the placement of the light – I didn’t want direct light, and the light was a bit bright even when faced away – and I had to be careful when using the ISO as I didn’t want the photos to be too grainy. I am pleased with how they have turned out and although I would have liked more colour on the first one, they are how I wanted them to look.
References
Tate (2015) Keith Arnatt: Pictures from a Rubbish Tip. Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arnatt-pictures-from-a-rubbish-tip-t13171. [accessed 27 March 2016]
Unfinished Business at Wallington (2011) Stephen Collins. Available from http://unfinishedbusinessatwallington.weebly.com/stephen-collins.html. [accessed 27 March 2016]
