Unit RPHC4002 Waste - Research

I already knew that photographing homeless people was something that needed to be done sensitively. However, my research made me realise that I have to be careful and realise I may be approaching someone who is not in their right mental state. Some may feel that they are being exploited by someone who may be seen as privileged and starting out on a career that they will probably not have the opportunity to take part in. They could even think I am building my career by exploiting them.

John Angulat wrote an article which included a sentence that I thought was very profound. He said ‘Homeless is a category, not a person.’

He also wrote a poem to accompany the following two image which he had taken, which is very thought provoking. 

If you passed her by on the street...

…Would you wish her a Merry Christmas?

…or take the time to chat?

Maybe even offer her half of your sandwich?

You know, she has a name.

She’s a person. She once had a life. 

Now she’s one of the forgotten.

At best, a curiosity we might surreptitiously photograph,

At worst, a blight we feel we should ignore.

She has a name.

“My name is Margaret” she told me, “but I used to be called…”

…she can’t remember.

I told her “That’s ok, I forget stuff too”.

She smiled, and ate my sandwich.

Unit RPHC4002 Waste Research

As I am taking photos of homeless people for my Waste project, I wanted to use my research to see how photographers capture the feelings of the homeless person through their shots. What seemed to come across with the work of the photographers I looked at was that they all take close ups. The focus on the eyes seems to capture the despair and desolation within the person.

I looked at Steve Huff whose images told exactly of the despair felt by this group of people. The cut to the face and the lack of care to the teeth portray the effects of homelessness. 

Lee Jeffries is another photographer of the homeless. He likes to connect with his subjects by gaining their trust first and also shows their despair through the eyes. He feels this is the most important element in telling the story of the image.  He does enhance his photos afterwards to achieve even more impact. He said in an interview: “I process, predominately through dodge and burn, to develop the mood of the eyes. It’s the eyes that attracted me to take the photograph in the first place and this is always the starting point for the emotional element of the image. I process with light and shadow in an almost religious way.”

All the images taken show similarities, the blackened skin where they have not been able to wash, overgrown facial hair, and quite often injuries of one type or another. All use close ups to achieve the effect they want to portray. The majority of the photographers I looked at use black and white film. I feel this has the effect of portraying the darker world they inhabit.

The similarities of dirty skin and overgrown facial hair are shown again in the following image by Michael Pharoah, but as he has used a colour film for this shot, it seems to give a softer feel to the image. 

Doing this research has made me realise how important it is going to be that some my shots need to be close up to get across the true feeling of  the desolation and waste of the subject’s life. I need to show the person’s emotions through their eyes in the same way of the photographers I looked at in my research.

Fashion Materials for Shoot Outfits

 For the materials for the fashion shoot, Jade and I went into Rochester and found a textile shop. We looked through different fabrics and colours we can use for our outfits and picked out ones that will suit our Red Riding Hood theme. We also considered how these materials would photograph. We bought some metre long samples of them to use in our test shoots

Set Design and Test Shots

For the practice set design we first got together and spoke about the plan and how we want it to look. We also spoke about what we are going to need to make it and what the best material will be to use. We then planned how big it needs to be. Using polyboards we could see how this could be the walls of the bedroom. Then we had to make the bed out of tables and could see how this would look when covered for the final shoot. We used the stands to mark out where the trees will be, and worked out how many we need. We marked the floor with masking tape to work out how long the path will be and how wide. 

We decided the measurements need to be:

From back of bed to the end of the bed – 2.20m

Back wall from right to left – 2.20m

The width of bedroom on widest part – 3.20m

Length of forest – 5.80m

Width of forest – 5.40m

The widest part of the path – 1.5m

Width of path at the narrowest point – 50cm

For the lighting, we have decided to use a medium sized honeycomb grid for Red Riding Hood. We feel this will create the best light on her. From the back, we are going to use a lantern soft box to create a softer atmosphere when lighting up the bedroom. We are shooting on a 50mm lens because that allows the background to fit in, while still getting a full length shot of Red Riding Hood.

·         

       Test shots

·         Side shot of Red reading on bed – no trees included in shot

·         Shooting on 50mm lens to include background set and full length of Red

·         Second shot Red peering round tree (full length portrait with wolf in background – 50mm lens)

·         Third shot – Red picking up something off the path (landscape)

·         Possible shot, camera being on path – watching Red wander off

·         Other possible shots – down the path, full length shot of Red stepping into forest

·         Open back of set to take shot from inside of bedroom

·         Shot of Red looking scared, taken from across path, through the trees (possibly a close up with wolf shadow on the face) 

Edited Test Shots for Waste Project

Unit RPHC4002 - Waste Research

As I am taking photos of homeless people for my Waste project, I wanted to use my research to see how photographers capture the feelings of the homeless person through their shots. What seemed to come across with the work of the photographers I looked at was that they all take close ups. The focus on the eyes seems to capture the despair and desolation within the person.

I looked at Steve Huff whose images told exactly of the despair felt by this group of people. The cut to the face and the lack of care to the teeth portray the effects of homelessness. 

Lee Jeffries is another photographer of the homeless. He likes to connect with his subjects by gaining their trust first and also shows their despair through the eyes. He feels this is the most important element in telling the story of the image.  He does enhance his photos afterwards to achieve even more impact. He said in an interview: “I process, predominately through dodge and burn, to develop the mood of the eyes. It’s the eyes that attracted me to take the photograph in the first place and this is always the starting point for the emotional element of the image. I process with light and shadow in an almost religious way.”

All the images taken show similarities, the blackened skin where they have not been able to wash, overgrown facial hair, and quite often injuries of one type or another. All use close ups to achieve the effect they want to portray. The majority of the photographers I looked at use black and white film. I feel this has the effect of portraying the darker world they inhabit.

The similarities of dirty skin and overgrown facial hair are shown again in the following image by Michael Pharoah, but as he has used a colour film for this shot, it seems to give a softer feel to the image. 

Doing this research has made me realise how important it is going to be that some my shots need to be close up to get across the true feeling of  the desolation and waste of the subject’s life. I need to show the person’s emotions through their eyes in the same way of the photographers I looked at in my research. 

Unit RPHC4002 Waste - Test Shots

My test shoot began by visiting the High Street in the Medway. I found the subjects I was looking for sitting in shop doorways and between buildings. 

Unit RPHC4002 Waste My Initial Idea

Whereas one might automatically think of Waste as being household rubbish, I have decided to represent Waste by focusing on the waste of human life when people become homeless. Scarily, this can happen to anyone. Someone could lose their job and not be able to pay their mortgage or rent. Young people often leave home with no where else to go because of conflict with parents or step-parents. Some may leave an abusive relationship or leave the marital home as their relationship has broken down.

Although some might manage to find help to get them back on their feet, too often people find themselves sinking into a downward spiral of helplessness and hopelessness. Ill health sets in due to sleeping on the streets, boredom saps self confidence and  depression can take hold adding mental problems to physical problems.

I want to show how the subject of Waste can apply to humans. If there was more help available for people at the start of this downward journey, many lives could be kept on track.

   

So for my test shots, I shall take photos of people on the streets of the Medway.