Transport Project - Further Idea Development/Shoot 1

On Sunday the 7th of March, I went out with my camera with the intention of shooting roadkill. This can be quite a difficult task as it all depends on whether there is any that day! However I was quite lucky. The first bit I came across was a seagull or pigeon that was quite near my flat. It wasn't perfect, however as it had probably been there for a while and there wasn't much left, just a mess of feathers. However I gave it a go!

I then went on a drive through Newhaven on the way to Piddinghoe. I decided to go this way as from previous experience of driving this way I had seen a lot of roadkill before. The first bit I came across was indistinguishable, it probably used to belong to a rabbit or fox. It was also in quite a dark wooded area and as there was nowhere proper to pull over we had to stop in the road, which was quite tricky and I didn't have to long to shoot! As a result, the image is quite dark.
Further on down the road we encountered a dead pheasant. Again this had obviously been there a while as it was very squashed. At this point we were actually able to pull into a farm track so I managed to get a few shots from different angles/perspectives. I also quite like the shadows cast from the trees, I feel it kind of adds a poignant loneliness to the place. Later that day when we drove back past the pheasant we saw a crow picking from the carcass. As we approached it flew away with a piece in its beak - if only we'd been a few minutes earlier I could have got a great shot!

As our journey down the road progressed we found the best roadkill of the day - a dead rabbit. This was quite hard for me to photograph as I love rabbits and hate seeing them lying dead in the road. However I persevered, and we were able to pull up and I took quite a few shots from different angles, and close up etc. The first one is probably my favourite. We were lucky as it must have been fairly recent as it wasn't too mashed up and was pretty much intact.


We then encountered another poor rabbit, again fairly intact, and we were lucky that it was near the drive to someones house as we were able to quickly pull up and take quite a few shots. Again I like the shadows cast on the road.


Being unable to find any ghostbikes remaining in Brighton - they tend to stay for 12 weeks then get taken away by the Highways Agency - I decided the next best thing to shoot was another form of roadside tribute - flowers. You see a lot of these on the roadside, and I was able to find a nice bunch up near the racetrack. The sky was a brilliant blue that day which really contrasts well against the orange of the flowers.

I decided to experiment with both landscape and portrait shots to see which worked best. In the end I think the landscape ones look better with a bit of empty space next to them, as it kind of illustrates the soilitude and emptiness around them.

This next image is one of my favourites as I unintentionally caught a car going past. I think it makes quite a poignant image and again signifies solitude. By the point the sun was starting to set so it has come out a little dark - which, on one hand, feels works quite well. I intend to go back and re shoot this image to see if I can get it better.

I also decided to look at more unusual road signs rather than the usual ones you get in town, as I was able to find a few animal related ones which would tie in well with my roadkill shots. It was getting dark at this point but I quite liked the effect the light had on the signs.

I tried shooting all the signs both portrait and landscape to see which worked better, and in this instance I feel that the portrait ones did.


I feel this image could maybe do with being a little lighter, or even using flash to really bring the sign out.

Transport Project - Test Shots

To find out how my ideas would look I went out on the 27th and 28th of March and shot a few test shots.

The first idea I looked at was road signs/traffic control. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to venture further afield to look for roadkill or roadside tributes, so just shot the signs and effects of traffic in my local area.

I think some of these shots are interesting. I may experiment with a slow shutter speed at night and try and get all 3 colours of the traffic light at once. I feel maybe shooting some of the road signs from different angles or closer up will also look good and give them more of an abstract look, as they look a little boring just straight on.

Next up was my shoe idea. I took photos of various shoes I use for different aspects of my life, and put them on different floors to represent where I wear them, for example home, work, nights out, bedtime, etc

However, I don't think this idea works terribly well, it doesn't really say what I want it too. I may experiment further but I don't think this will make it to my final idea.

Transport Project - Initial Ideas.

My latest assignment is on the theme of 'Transport'. Rather than just take photographs of usual forms of transport, I thought about how I could represent it in other ways.

One of my first ideas was to take photographs of shoes, as 'self-transport'. I thought about photographing different pairs of shoes on different backgrounds, to represent how I have a different pair of shoes for each aspect of my life - for example, work, college, days off, bedtime, etc. Part of the inspiration for this was a project by Elizabeth Gordon, called 'Born To Recover', where she photographs women's shoes and titles each photograph with the year that the woman stopped drinking. To me, this shows the shoes that took these women on their journey of sobriety. Elizabeth's work can be seen here:

http://www.elizabethgordon.org.uk/BR/index.html

Another idea I had was after seeing a bicycle painted white at the side of a road last year, doing some research I found out that this was a 'Ghost Bike' - a bicycle painted white and left at the spot where a cyclist has been struck and killed by a motor vehicle, as a tribute. In keeping with this theme, I also thought about documenting different floral roadside tributes. The 'Ghost Bike' idea appears to have been started by San Francisco artist Jo Slota. His work can be seen here:

http://www.ghostbike.net/

From the ghost bike/floral tribute idea led me on to the idea of photographing road kill. This is something I hate seeing so thought it would be interesting to make a poignant project and maybe a comment on driving safely. More inspiration for this came from several television adverts for 'Speed Kills', as bad/inconsiderate driving is something that really irritates me. An example of the adverts can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7fhzDUOsxI

I then thought about photographing traffic control/road signs, to try and get the point across to the viewer to really think about their driving and be aware of the road, other cars and pedestrians.

24th September 2009 - 30 Minute Assignment

On Thursday September 24th we had 30 minutes to go out and shoot 'shadow and light'. The first one is my favourite :o)

Neighbourhood Guide Project - Telscombe Cliffs Final Images

Below are the final images I chose for the Telscombe Cliffs guide sheet for my first assignment, 'My Neighbourhood Guide.'

Neighbourhood Guide Project - Newhaven Final Images

Below are the final images I chose for the Newhaven guide sheet for my first assignment, 'My Neighbourhood Guide'

Dartmoor Photographic Competition 2009

Below are the images I submitted for the Dartmoor Photographic Competition 2009