Contact Sheet (Yellow photos)

When looking through my photos, I realized that I did not have any strong photos of the elderly exercising. I was a bit torn because I faced a difficult decision: either to stick with my original vision and choose three weak photos or replace my vision with something else that allowed me to include stronger photos.

Ultimately, I chose the latter

“If you went on a farm to take pictures of horses, and you only got good cow pictures, then use the cow pictures.”

–Mr. Stewart, 2023.11.21

The selection process (Done in Canva):

Final three red photos:

Deciding which final three photos to choose was a struggle. I was not able to take enough photos of the elderly exercising due to visiting the exercise park too late, so I did not really have a vision in mind when choosing my final three photos.

These two triptychs were the final contenders for the red selection:

 

This set was chosen because, firstly, it resembled the style of my chosen photographer. I noticed that it was especially similar to this image from Bernand Shaefers:

Additionally, the two silhouettes of a tree branch on the sides there I loved. I purposefully adjusted and cropped the photos to make the two tree branches look like curtains in the theatre. For me, it gave a sense of finality as this image was taken close to the exit, so the tourists would inevitably have to leave this beautiful lake and return to their jobs and schools. Like the closing of a stage play. For my mother though, she thought that the curtains held a more positive meaning. She told me that the curtains didn’t remind her of a play, instead, it reminded her of opening the curtains when you wake up in the mornings. When I told her that the curtains were made of tree branches, she thought it was quite poetic and that these silhouettes woke up to nature.

I really like the meaning and resemblance to Shaefer’s photography in this set of images, but it was definitely not the strongest of my yellow selection in terms of visuals.

The second set of images is also quite interesting. I assembled the first set first, so I tried to recreate some of the meanings of the curtains I really liked in my second set through the tree branches. Didn’t really work, but it did focus the audience on the center image.

The first and third images were chosen just to compliment the center image, which was one of my favorites on this trip. It did not quite work out though. The other two images’s best parts were quite small (over the lake), and with the large white circle reflection in the center image, it is hard to focus on other photos.

I feel like the center image could have worked better with two other stronger images that were not connected with it, but I really wanted the interconnectedness in my images, so I had to leave this set as is.

My final set stood out from the rest because it was visually strong, and had missing elements of the previous sets. The first set was weak visually, this set uses negative space and reflection to create strong visual effects. The second set lacked interconnectedness, this set was closely connected via the white fence.

Additionally, this set relates to Bernand Shaefer’s works as they share the characteristic of using negative space, especially in these images:

The most prominent formal element in this set of photos must be color. The monotone white fence contrasting against the vibrant world beyond is the spirit of this piece. I tried to make these pictures black and white to resemble Shaefer’s works, but without the colors, the emotions they conveyed were much weaker. I settled on using the colored version.

Black and white version:

Another notable feature of this set of images is that though the center image is clearly the strongest, it does not overshadow the others. In fact, the center image guides the audience to look closer at the others. Like the second set of contenders for red, this set of photos was composed around the center image. What separates the center image of this set from the one of set 2 is that there are small details to this set in the center image that the audience needs to focus on to notice.

When I showed this set to my family members, they saw the small details in the center image and would look closer at the set. Which leads to them discovering the interesting shop sign, and the detailed architecture of the other two photos. This creates another sense of interconnectedness between these photos as they share attention from the audience to one another.

Of my four audiences, three found out that the buildings and scenery in the photo were actually reflections. They noticed when they looked closer that parts of the roof were distorted in the first image, shop signs out of shape in the second, and the leaves twisted in the last. Though my audience size was quite limited, they did give pretty similar feedback: The fence creating negative space concealed the fact that these buildings were reflections by showing only parts of it. The moment of realization as they notice the distortion in the photos I think truly elevates the viewing experience.

There is one daunting issue though, the original vision does don’t suit this set of photos at all.

I noted down my thoughts as I examined these photos. I remembered an old fable, of the monkey reaching for the moon. He worked tirelessly to grab the moon, but when he finally touched it, only a ripple was sent across the moon’s reflection.

The message of my triptych is: to see through the illusion to find truth. The message is centered around the moment of realization when the audience notices that it’s all a reflection. The center image is actually an apparent clue to the truth that everything is a reflection. It is pretty obvious that everything is upside down, but even still, many were not able to see through the cover of the white fences at first glance. Those who were not able to see through the illusion will be under a false impression until they do.

My message also relates to misguiding journalism on the internet. When doing research for my other subjects, I often find that articles on not-as-reliable sites have misleading titles and inaccurate data, concealing the truth. Just like the white fence covering up the reflections in this set of photographs.

The message of my triptych will be to make the audience think about the stereotypes enforced upon the elderly. Though it is great that people are generally more caring towards older people, elder members of my family have expressed that younger people sometimes are extremely condescending towards them because they are older. I want to discourage condescending attitudes towards the elderly by photographing them exercising. I will find inspiration in images including movement, the elderly, and shadows. I plan on conveying my message by capturing the shadows of the elderly as they are exercising. I will utilize the anonymity associated with shadows to convey my message.

 

 

In these photos, me and Summer focused on capturing the movement of people. All of these photos were staged, but they were really fun experiences and we played around with the shutter speed a lot.

I especially liked the image with Mr. Stewart, that one was taken by Summer and captured Mr. Stewart in the air making a funny face. There were also some low-angle techniques included here as we took the photos sitting down.

Another image that was interesting is the image of a pair of shoes with a ball and two shadows. It creates a triangle-like composition and is really abstract.

Bernd Schaefers

Characteristics of Shaefer’s photos:

1. Black and white color scheme
2. Most humans in the photos are silhouettes or blurred out. No facial features or colors.
3. Frequent use of light and shadow to emphasize the focus, as there is no color in the images, contrast is very important in Schaefers’ works.
4. Humans are often small in Shaefer’s photos but are the main focus of his works.
5. Schaefers captures the texture of surroundings in his photos (as seen in photos 8 and 10)

Despite the black-and-white color scheme, which often exerts a sense of grimness and seriousness, this image feels lively, innocent, and delightful.

I chose this image to analyze because it is pretty different from Schaefers’ other photos yet it works very well. Usually in his works, people are small silhouettes. However, in this photo, he captures the shadows of people instead.

Aside from the surprising style, the positioning of the camera in this photo also intrigues me. The physical bodies of the children in this photo are not included, and the dark colors of the grass obscure where the shadows are actually coming from. The position of the camera almost makes the photo feel like the audience is one of the children frolicking on the grass fields.

The blurred edges of light and shadow, the large tree children are playing under, and the anonymous shadows of the children, at first glance, this photo looked like a childhood memory.

I really like how Schaefers uses shadows and silhouettes in his image. Whether from silhouettes or shadows, when you only see the shape of a person, it makes the story of the image stronger and more relatable. With silhouettes and shadows, you don’t need to look at their facial features, their skin color, or the color of their clothes, the audience is immersed in only the action and stance of the person, strengthening the message of the photo.

Moreover, the anonymity of shadows and silhouettes makes it so the shape could be anyone. Like in the shadow of children photo, the shadow could be your childhood self.  So, depending on their life experiences, certain photos that contain silhouettes and shadows could be much more touching for a certain audience than for others.

I would like to adapt this style to my own photography by taking pictures of the shadows of people or their silhouettes. This also removes the need for me to go up and talk to people, which I really appreciate. I might not be able to find places with strong contrasting tones where a pure black-and-white color scheme would work, so I might not adapt the black-and-white color scheme.

Additionally, I would like to notice the texture of my surroundings while taking pictures. I don’t have much experience capturing textures so I may not make it the focus of my photos, but I at least want to try taking pictures of textures as it is a characteristics of Schaefers’ work.

Interested Photographers:

Bernd Shaefers

Interested in:

• Strong black and white contrast
• Silhouettes
• Faraway shots of people
• Incorporate the shape of architecture

Possible issues:

• Hutongs are pretty narrow and, due to the limited space, filled with vehicles, chairs, tables, and bikes. May be difficult to find a clear shot with strong contrast. Could edit after though.

Ernst Haas

Interested in:

• Does not photograph many people, no need for consent
• Interesting geometric shapes
• Abstract style
• Street symbols

Possible issues:

• Hard to convey strong emotions with no people in the frame
• I could make my images not “street” enough going for this style
• Might just end up as abstract photography

Elliot Erwitt

Interested in:

• Juxtaposition/contrast: Dog leg and human leg, small dog and large dog, shattered glass and a child
• Focus on main subject: blurred background
• Black and white style, contrasts focus with different toned background
• Excluding parts of the subject: Only including legs

Possible issues:

• May be hard to find juxtaposition in Hutongs
• Black and white will not work well with photos with low contrast
• For a series of photos, high requirement for similar black & white tones: may need a lot of editing.

Alex Webb

Interested in:

• Natural light creating mood: cloudy day –> dull lighting –> depressed/sadness
• Human emotions

Possible issues:

• Not sure what the weather will be like on the day of the field trip: May need to improvise on the mood