As promised on an earlier post, here are the images I took, larger.
As I said before, I went into Manchester not really knowing how I would approach it all.
I took some model release forms because I wanted to give a little vox pop a go. So I did.
I went into Fred Aldous and spoke to the shop assistant, Lalitha Thorp, and asked her opinion on street art and asked her to write a brief paragraph that demonstrated her views.
” * Gift/art in the Northern Quarter
* Identity
* Not always accepted by all age
* Makes dull places colourful “
Then I went into a hostel (Hatters), and asked at reception whether I could ask them/take their photograph. The guy said I’d be better asking “Rafa”, and took me to their common area.
This is Rafael Sánchez, from Spain, who gladly took part.
“I like it because I prefer a graffiti in the wall than a white wall with nothing.”
Although I appreciate their time and willingness to take part, I wasn’t convinced this was working.
- I was based in the Northern Quarter, which has an artistic identity and is somewhat more bohemian than other areas in Manchester, and therefore it attracts people who share similar interests and, to a degree, views.
- I thought because I’m an artist and was doing a project on the impact of street art in the environment and people, I was somehow and involuntarily more likely to getting answers that supported my views, which I thought was tendencious, unvaried and therefore less interesting as a collection.
- Because this shoot was a snap decision and I was on my own, I couldn’t use voice recording equipment as I did on a previous vox pop project (which complemented the images very well), so I asked them to write something down – because there was no way I was going to remember it all. However, it was clear how intimidating they thought that was.
For those reasons collectively, I decided to drop the “vox pop” approach and just documented the street art themselves.
I find this image draws the attention to the woman’s eyes quite magnetically.
This image got a lot of praise during the feedback session.
This was was also popular during feedback.
I love the scale of this graffiti, colours, and the art itself. The building is quite interesting too…
I was initially disappointed about the shadow, although there was nothing I could do about it (can’t move the building, I’m afraid!), but surprisingly heard from some classmates that they thought that made the image better. One said that it shows how it changes throughout the day, whilst another said that it looks like the bird is emerging from the shadows (philosophical? lol). It reinforces how opinions are subjective.
I quite like this one because of the geometric harmony. I also like how the colours work together, as the contrast between the grey and the vibrant colours makes it more interesting.
Although not necessarily amongst my top choices, it shows more context, which has its importance.
Nice find on a back street. Shame about the plastic and wires around it.
I quite like this colourful painting.
Still better than a grey shutter.
Yay to mosaics!
Iconic figures
Pop art mosaics?
Then I went up a car park to take this image with fewer obstructions.
And experimented with HDR to see what I’d get.
Do you think I’ve gone too far with it?
My feedback group preferred this HDR version to the previous one…
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International Markets & Contexts: Photography 