The image below has caught the movement of someone descending the staircase as a blur via the use of a slow shutter speed. I would say this is a fairly standard way of incorporating a figure in an image in order to convey use of space and a sense of being ‘peopled’. Some years ago it suddenly became a hip way of photographing restaurants – the blur of the waiter, chef, customer in motion conveying energy and activity whilst ensuring a strong sense of place. And then it was everywhere – national trust leaflets, adverts, charity appeals. I do like it however. I took a number of similar images but this single figure proved the most effective. It has a strong composition which is enhanced by the effect of the light. My eye is drawn to the rectangle of light on the floor which intersects at an angle with the stairwell.
These next 2 images also use the effect of blur to anonymise the people but here it is as the result of camera shake and lack of focus. Although hard to control, I think sometimes this can be very effective in an impressionistic kind of way. It is still possible to capture a specific gesture or motion whilst eliminating any unnecessary detail – such as in the high street shot which could have otherwise looked very messy and distracted from the impact of the long shadows. I particularly like the blown out effect in the escalator shot – as if the people are about to dissolve and disappear. I should perhaps call it ‘Stairway to Heaven’!
I came across the first couple below sitting on a bench in an art gallery watching a video. In some respects this doesn’t really follow the brief since the image says little about the place and, because of their distinctive outlines, much more about the people. In fact it is probably only me who knows that this was an art gallery and that they were watching a film of drones filming in a desert. But I somehow liked the play on the idea of place. It also amused me that the drones were spying and in many ways so was I.
The second image is a more traditional approach to both the use of silhouette and the inclusion of people as an accent to a landscape or cityscape. Moonlight and lamplight help to highlight significant elements of this night scene such as the flow of the railings and the walking man.
My final image in this exercise features a person who is entirely incidental to the photograph – and yet she adds so much! This is evidently a photograph taken at a classic car event and, if I am honest, I had to crop significantly to make the image work. Only when I isolated the core elements of the photo did it come alive. I like how the woman reflects the curves of the cars and how the cars almost seem to have their own personalities. It’s an image that makes me smile.
Jo's learning log 