The title of this project will be Urbanization, in which I will be taking some street photographs at Sanlitun. Since Sanlitun is part of the urbanized Beijing, I want to capture that as we don’t always see such architecture – Shunyi is not the best place to be if you want to enjoy urbanized culture. Since Sanlitun is very urbanized, I expect the fashion of the people there to be very distinct and interesting. I aim to capture the fashion and urbanization as well as the scene they create together when they are corroborated. I want my audience to feel like they are staring at a picture that is visually appealing and is located in the Downtown area of a city, feeling astonished as it brings them a new feel of modern-ness and a very city-feel, as well as presenting the bustling feel. I will take inspiration from photos taken in downtown areas of people and how they interestingly corroborate the “who” and the “where. Ultimately, my photos will be in black and white or very cold saturation so it captures the “silvery” feel of downtown buildings and general beauty of urbanized places.
The artist I will be taking inspiration from is called Brandon Stanton. Stanton’s work captures urbanization by showcasing the diverse individuals on city streets. He goes beyond capturing fashion and architecture alone and also into the stories and emotions of the people he encounters. Through his portraits and captions, he creates a connection between the subjects and the urban environment, effectively presenting the “who” and the “where.” Similar to my intent, Stanton’s photographs have a contemporary aesthetic. His use of colors, composition, and environmental and close-up shots adds a modern feel to his work and presents his audience with a warm, happy feeling of how everyone has that intricate touch to their lives when walking down the streets of New York by capturing the smiles on their faces. Although he takes his photograph in colour and aims to capture happiness, I can take his photos for inspiration and simply photograph in no color and instead of capturing happiness I can capture the bustling feel on the streets of Sanlitun. I chose this photographer since he also captures the urban feel and the special aspects such as fashion about his subjects. I will take a similar approach in utilizing his composition – but I won’t be using the emotion he is trying to establish. My photos are not necessarily going to be happiness based.
All these photos are close-ups or medium close-ups of people on the streets of New York. The majority present a warm, happy feeling. At the same time, the camera is always focused on the subjects’ gazes. The author uses natural lighting and natural surroundings in composition.
In this photo, the “bokeh” effect (purposely focusing on background instead of subject) is utilized. This fits my statement of intent as it captures the buildings (although not modernized enough) and captures the clothing fashion of people, being natural. I could apply this by taking pictures at the feet level in my actual set and focusing on the background instead of on the subject as well as utilizing black and white colours.
In this photo, the natural crowd and their contrasted colours of their clothing is very visually appealing. Although there could be more modernized buildings in the background, the fashion and people section aligns with my intent. In my actual set, I hope to mix in within crowds and take similar photos like this, with people naturally looking around and walking.
This photo captures movement. However, it is not as natural as I have stated in my intent, and it does not have urbanized buildings in the background. I can still utilize the same timing as I captured the movement quite perfectly.
This photo is quite interesting as the prop use and the natural pose could be used in my actual set. However, buildings need to be included.
This photo matches my statement of intent perfectly. Not only does it have buildings and fashion, but it also has perfect composition: Kylin is perfectly in the center being symmetrrical, presenting a near perfect pose and is very visually appealing
