For ‘Collection’ is created a typology of the necessities of life, everyday objects used by many across the world and the items we take for granted or consider unnecessary. What may have been compulsory a few decades ago may not be the same in modern-day life.

Creating an online survey and gathering anonymous responses about ‘What everyday items do you consider are a necessity? (Something you need) ‘(Powell, 2020), enabled me to be inspired by outside opinions rather than solely relying on my thoughts. These answers meant that I could collect various items, forming groups when shooting my imagery.

Using everyday items to create art can be seen through the works of Sam Oster who used ‘medium format black and white film’ (The Loop, 2019). She defines and enhances the minute details and robust form of the irons in Apparatus Electralia Planus with the contrasting shadows and highlights. Oster’s work is inspired by Becher’s typologies, a grid of square cabinets, splitting the composition into sections without taking multiple shots. The centralisation of objects and using negative space encouraged me to create my minimalist typologies.

Taking minimalism into consideration Barry Rosenthal ‘uses monochrome backgrounds and uses the collection to add colour and depth’ (Powell, 2020), organising the collected items into various groups before shooting, such as blue in Blue Ocean. Plain backgrounds allow the viewer to focus on the subject rather than what it is placed on while enhancing the shadows cast by backlighting, allowing me to avoid flattening the composition.

Trialling a selection of techniques with my SONY A57, such as black and white filters, using long and short focal lengths, lighting temperatures solidified the direction I wanted to go in for my final shoot by analysing the strengths and weaknesses in each shot. Using colour did not enhance the details within the subjects as much as using the high contrast B&W camera setting. This filter had more of an impact when it came to the depth and texture of the composition.

A focal length of 35mm was the most suitable to allow for a reasonable amount of negative space to frame the plates and be balanced enough, so the subjects were not too small or too suffocated in the shot. Cool artificial lighting intensified the highlights and shadows, more so than neutral or warm light hence my decision to backlight with a cooler temperature to enhance the 3D forms. Tonal variation prevented the items from being lost in blocks of dark or light, influencing me to choose a light and mid-ranged blue plate and select which tone was better for each item and their details. Combining a narrow aperture of F14 and a tripod allowed the image to be sharp, reducing distraction by selective focus or motion blur and keeping the framing and angles consistent.

After analysing the final selection I can see that the typology is visually strong due to the intense highlights and shadows, along with various textures that provide the image surface with a soft, hard or rough feel. A balanced composition created by the consistent framing, choice of background and the arrangement of subjects pull the typology together as a whole, as they all bleed into one another. Deciding to use cool artificial lighting evenly lit the frame, creating definition in the shot, which I found did not work as successfully with natural or warmer lighting due to the inconsistency and softness.

I am pleased with the contextual and conceptual elements hinted at in my photographs as I have stated the ‘things’ are ‘necessary items in … daily life’ (Powell, 2020), however, everyone’s view on what is necessary is different, as a result, may tease out the idea of privilege, luxury, political opinions or no message at all. The concept is broad enough to direct the viewer in entirely different paths without being influenced by too much context that could affect how an image is perceived. 

Pushing myself out of my comfort zone, taking more inspiration from artist research and experimenting with various techniques allowed me to complete this assignment successfully.

If I were to improve this assignment in the future, I would try to gather more responses to see how many unique items could be listed and be more thorough with my arrangement to avoid post-production to get rid of preventable marks. Typologies are new to me; therefore, it would be an intriguing area to explore in further detail.

References:


Bloomfield, R. (2018) Photography 1 Expressing Your Vision Barnsley : OCA

Lauren Powell OCA. (2020) ‘Initial thoughts about ‘Collection’ + mind-map’. [Online] At: https://laurenpowelloca.photo.blog/2020/02/11/initial-thoughts-about-collection-mind-map/ (Accessed on 28 February 2020).

Lauren Powell OCA. (2020) ‘Collections in photography – Artist research + test shoot plan’. [Online] At: https://laurenpowelloca.photo.blog/2020/02/17/collections-in-photography-artist-research-test-shoot-plan/ (Accessed on 28 February 2020).

Lauren Powell OCA. (2020) ‘Community Survey + Personal Research Results for ‘Things’. [Online] At: https://laurenpowelloca.photo.blog/2020/02/13/community-survey-personal-research-results-for-things/ (Accessed on 28 February 2020).Oster, S. (2009) Apparatus Electralia Planus [Photograph] At: https://www.theloop.com.au/project/silvertrace/portfolio/short-circuit/17421 (Accessed on 28 February 2020).

Powell, L. (2020) ‘Necessary Everyday Items’. [Online] At: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KWWFQGM (Accessed on 28 February 2020).

Rosenthal, B. (2013) Blue Ocean [Online] At: http://barryrosenthal.com/found-in-nature/single-gallery/16729872 (Accessed on 28 February 2020).

The Loop. (2019) ‘Short Circuit – Sam Oster Portfolio – The Loop’. [Online] At: https://www.theloop.com.au/project/silvertrace/portfolio/short-circuit/17421 (Accessed on 13 February 2020).