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Project Evaluation

When starting out this project I wanted to challenge the idea of truth within photography, I wanted to explore the areas of a busy work place in order to capture the everyday runnings of a company. It was an important variable for my project that the photographs would be taken in the Arriva bus depot to show the part of the company that everyday passengers don't get to see, my reasoning for this was so that I can show a comparative difference between a bus journey and the depot itself. 

When researching into the works of Mathieu Asselin and Ansel Adams it raised the question of 'how much of the truth can you tell within photography?' Throughout this project I wanted to show the emptiness of the stores, the broken down buses and any other parts of the depot that presented itself as somewhat deficient.

As the project went on I realised that it became less about telling the truth and more about how the space within the depot has been used, there are individual areas in and around the work place that withhold specific things. The inside of the depot is split into two halves, one half is where the buses park and the other belongs to the workshop; within the workshop you have the pits where the buses are fixed, a separate workshop mainly used for spraying the buses, the tyre stores, the panel stores, the actual store for parts, the trim shop, an oil base and a welding area. Around the outside you have space for colleague parking and the bus wash.

I have shown the realities of the work place conditions by producing a series of images that show the chaotic and unorganised manner in which everything is stored. With the use of 6x6 film I was able to frame and compose these tarnished and unattractive areas in a square format which helps to draw your eye into these arguably beautiful photographs; there is also the presence of leading lines and geometrical shapes throughout the images. The companies iconic colour scheme of green, blue and yellow alongside the use of natural lighting helped to make the images more vibrant and warm as well as inviting, I feel that the final photographs have turned out exactly how I imagined them to look and by seeing all 14 images together I know that they work really well as a set and that they complement one another.

If I had to improve the project I would want to visit different Arriva depots around the country and photograph the similar areas of their depots and then I could show the comparisons between all of the sites. I would also go back through the photographs that I've got and touch up any scratches that may have occurred on the negatives during processing, if I was to remove the scratches then I feel that the photographs would be exhibition worthy.

Final Outcomes

Final Selection and Presentation

After completing my colour corrections and spot removals, I opened up all 34 photographs from my final photoshoot and went through them to pick out my initial favourites. After picking my favourites I kept looking through them so that I could see which photographs were the strongest, this made the process of illumination easy to achieve. Knowing that there was some photographs that were similar to other photographs in the series I spent time analysing them (with the help of my peers) until I was able to choose the image that I felt was the strongest out of the two.

For the presentation of this project I would've liked to print all 34 photographs and hang them in a gallery space as I feel that the series, as a whole, has the potential to be made into an exhibition, because this wasn't possible I have brought a black presentation box and I have placed some tissue paper in between each of the 14 final photographs so that each one of them is protected. 

Colour Corrections and Spot Removals

Some examples of my colour corrections and spot removals:

Original - No editing done, it's too yellow and needs the lighting adjusted.

Toned down the yellow by adding blue (temperature).

Using the adjustment brush I highlighted the top part of the image where the light is and brought the exposure of that part down to make it look more evenly lit.

Before and After.

Original - No editing done, I want to remove the random yellow mark.

Using the spot removal tool I am going to clone part of the grey bit and place that over the top of the yellow mark to remove it.

Edited - The mark has been removed, I also added more of a green tint to the image to even out the pink tones.

Before and After.

Before and After - Using the spot removal tool I was able to remove the white mark from the corner of image that was caused by a bend in the negative.

Before and After - I added more blue to even out the yellow tones (temperature) and I added more pink to even out the green tones (tint).

Before and After - I have added more blue to even out the yellow tones (temperature) and I have adjusted the lighting to make the overall image brighter.

Final Photoshoot Contact Sheet

This is my final photoshoot for the project. I had full access to the depot and I was allowed to walk around unaccompanied, however, I chose to have Reece accompany me round the depot so that he could take the light meter readings for me whilst I set up the tripod and changed the camera settings so that I could produce the best photographs of my chosen destinations. I spent quite a lot of time carefully composing each image, this involved setting down the tripod and focusing it, changing angles, moving closer or further away from my subjects and refocusing, some people may see that as being "OCD" but I wanted to make sure that the angles, lighting, framing and composition was exactly how I wanted it before taking the photographs. My next step is for me to go through each image making any colour corrections or removing any dust or marks ready for the final selection process.

Third Photoshoot Contact Sheet (Colour Film)

Again, after another review with my tutor, he felt that this project would be best suited if it was shot in colour and upon reflection of the previous shoot I very much agree with his opinion. It was good for me to be able to try it in black and white first to see if that was the aesthetic that I was aiming for, however, it just felt too dark and it didn't really fit (in my eyes) with my chosen subject matter. I also felt that the vibrancy and warmth of the colours that are displayed in and around the depot alongside the companies iconic colour scheme of green, blue and yellow should be showcased throughout the project. The lighting in the depot is quite dark which caused the light meter readings to have really low f.stops and shutter speeds, I didn't have a tripod so some of the images have become blurry as a result of poor lighting and no tripod. At this point I know exactly what areas of the depot I am going to photograph in my final shoot but I will make sure that I rent out a tripod to overcome these issues.

Second Photoshoot Contact Sheet (B/W Film)

After having a review with my tutor, he suggested that I use a Medium Format film camera for the rest of the project as he felt that it would help with the framing and composition of my photographs. I chose to use the Hasselblad medium format camera as it was the piece of equipment that I was most familiar with, this particular medium format camera shoots in a 6x6 film format (a square format) which is the exact framing that I am looking for, I also really like how the photographs look after they have been developed. I chose to shoot this set of images on a black and white film as I wanted to see the effect that it would give to my photographs and I wanted to test whether it was the right way to continue with the project.

First Photoshoot Contact Sheet (Digital)

This was my first photoshoot at the Arriva bus depot in Maidstone, I was given a guided tour by my partner Reece who is an accident repairer for the company. I wanted to use this time to get to know my way around the depot and I chose to use my DSLR so that I could take some initial shots of some areas that I might want to rephotograph in a later shoot. I was given access to the whole of the depot which was very positive in terms of the project as it meant that I could explore every part of the work place which ensured that I could gain any information that I needed about the company as well as having the access to photograph key areas such as the pits in the work shop or any of the outside equipment.

Project Proposal Form and Timetable

My Starting Point

My starting point for the project was to take an initial visit to the depot with my DSLR camera, I wanted to use this time to have an in depth tour of the working environment so that I could get used to the layout in terms of where everything is and it also gave me a chance to meet some of the staff and get acquainted with the company and its daily runnings.

My partner Reece is an accident body repairer for the company so he was put in charge of giving me the guided tour around the depot, I was told that after the first initial tour I would be allowed to go to the depot anytime I wanted (providing it was a weekend) and that I would then be allowed to walk around the site unaccompanied in order to take photographs for the project.

I wanted to spend the whole day there so that I could have the tour in the morning and then use the afternoon to walk around and play with lighting and angles; I also wanted to use that time to explore the site on my own and photograph things that most people would overlook such as the empty office rooms upstairs or the chassis pit the hardly ever gets used.

When taking photographs I kept in mind the manifesto that we wrote in class and stuck to it for the entire shoot:

Piet Mondrian

The leading lines that are present within my photographs remind me of abstract painter Piet Mondrian's works. He paintings withhold elements of block coloured squares and rectangles in and around solid black lines in which he uses as the framing within his works, the solid lines act as leading lines to gage to viewers attention and also direct it to the block coloured geometric shapes. The colours that he chooses to use within his works are black and the primary colours blue, red and yellow. 

Although Arriva does not really include red within their colour pallet they still have a range of tones with blues and yellows as well as the use of some black objects, much like Mondrian they also use white to convey the idea of negative space.

Information on the artist can be found at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651
Images can be found at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651

Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red, 1937-42

Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue, 1921

Edgar Martins

I have chosen to look at Edgar Martins for his uses of simplicity, lighting and the general over aesthetics within his work. To start off this project I went round the depot on a guided tour to get familiar with my surroundings and to also scout out some locations that I wanted to photograph for my initial shoot. After discussing this digital shoot with my tutor he advised that I switch to a Medium Format camera (I chose to use a Hasselblad) as it would help me to frame and compose my images better, he also said it would add a sense of simplicity to the photographs which reminded him of Edgar Martins aesthetics.

I have chosen a few images from his series This is not a House, 2008 and A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, 2010. They are images that appeal to me aesthetically and the framing, composition and the use of leading lines/geometric shapes intrigues me and has started to make me think how I could incorporate that into my own work.

Information on the photographer can be found at: http://www.edgarmartins.com
This is Not a House, 2008 photos can be found at: http://www.edgarmartins.com/work/this-is-not-a-house/
A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, 2010, photos can be found at: http://www.edgarmartins.com/work/a-metaphysical-survey-of-british-dwellings/

This is not a House, 2008, Untitled, Atlanta (Georgia)

A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, 2010, Pizzaland

This is not a House, 2008, Untitled, Phoenix (Arizona)

This is not a House, 2008, Untitled, Donnely (Idaho)

A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, 2010, High Street