For the final work, l was hoping to create unique compositions that have a confluence between modern life and ancient architecture. I feel like l did a good job of capturing movement and shadow, and l successfully explored my theme of the contrast between old and new. The background of the photos are 孔庙 (The Confucius Temple) and 国子监 (The Imperial Academy). The Beijing Confucius Temple holds a significant cultural and historical legacy in China, as it was a place for worshipping Confucius during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In front of the Confucius Temple, there are modern visitors walking around. The Imperial Academy was the highest institution of learning and educational administration in ancient China.
The title of my project is “Time Machine,” because photography has the power to capture a fleeting moment, allowing the viewer to step back and observe a scene that has already passed. The “Time Machine” title suggests the photographs can transport the audience to a specific moment, preserving it for contemplation. It conveys the feeling of being unrecognizable and disappearing in the crowd, almost as if one melts in with the masses and gets replaced in the same spot almost instantly, as if they were never there. Additionally, the temple used to be a place where people worshipped Confucius on his birthday annually. It was the place where memorial ceremonies were held for Confucius during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Getting high and good marks in the examination is the happiest time for the students and their parents. Today, many parents go to the Confucius Temple to worship Confucius for college entrance examinations. The first two photos’ background is the Dismount Stone, and it is a symbol of feudal social hierarchy and etiquette, which originates from the concept of the Five Relationships in Confucianism. The Dismount Stone represents how much the people respected Confucius and education in ancient times.
The artists that inspired my work the most are Alexey Titarenko and Frank Machalowski. Titarenko inspired my application of long exposures and intentional camera movement techniques to street photography, while Machalowski inspired me to make big masses of people and architecture my main subject for this project. In order to develop my ideas, l experimented with techniques such as long exposure, and big crowds as my subject. My initial idea was to take black and white photos, which l did with the experiments, but l liked the red walls of the Confucius Temple, so l took colored photos for my final project instead. Overall, l’m satisfied with how the final photos turned out. One area of improvement next time could be enhancing my compositions to make them more subject-focused. If l had more time, l would like to try taking photos of even more people in busy public spaces like the subway station, or of cars at night.
I chose my best final photos because the pictures of the woman dancing has good lighting. l like the colors and how the people passing creates a sort of frame that puts her in the middle. Additionally, l like the effect of the shadow that the woman casts on the red wall background. I chose the first two photos because l like that the Dismount Stone is the background, and it symbolizes Confucius.
Techniques
Intentional Camera Movement I purposefully moved the camera during a long exposure to produce interesting abstract effects that evoke the feeling of motion and time.
Long Exposure I experimented with different shutter speeds to make the people more or less blurred, and this creates different effects.
ISO l kept the ISO as low as possible (100) to reduce noise.
