Near final

Here are the images that I am going to use as my final 8. They have a litle bit of tweaking to do including the addition of shadows and then they will be done.

Wellington CBD minus people

Here are the images from my Sunday morning shoot. it was a brisk morning but beautiful, the sun was coming up for one of Wellington's can't beat good days.

 

I went into the city at this time so that I could get images of the city less the people.

 

 

There are plenty of images that I should be able to manipulate to suit my narrative.

Being a flaneur

The flaneur society's guide to getting lost asks if when navigating the city "what if there was no point B?" As a student who has known Wellington for my whole life there is little of it where I really can get lost, and in a life so full of other priorities it is hard to find the time to get lost in the city.

I have made my own flaneur rule: allow an extra half hour of travel time and travel a route that you usually wouldn't. I still have an eventual destination but my journey takes me to new interesting places.

I also follow good advice that I learn in photographics. Always carry your camera with you.

One of the ideas that came across when being taught of the flaneur was to lose ones inhibitions. In most of these photos I was intoxicated and therefore my inhibitions were lowered and I was more relaxed to make navigational decisions and photographic decisions.


From Newtown to Wellington after 9pm

From Wellington to Newtown after 1.30am

Cropped Sheep

Here are the images cropped out from their backgrounds.

  

From here I will need to find the best placement for for them in the city that communicates my ideas of following blindly and routine whether for good or bad ends.

Sheep

I searched up images mostly via 'Flickr' of sheep, under a creative commons license.

I will use some of these images to edit into images that I have taken of Wellington's CBD.

City vs Rural - Haiku

I want to make a statement about the differences between City life and Rural living.

Here is my Haiku.



On top of the hill
One side's cash and culture
The other serene

I was told in class that people like the alliteration.

I want to discuss the relations between the city and rural areas. What happens on either side of the hill?

As in my haiku the hill is a physical and metaphorical divider of two very different cultural environments.

On one side we have a place where money is made and spent, where people dress up, where lots of people reside, it is a place of people, yet also a place of loneliness.


The City

On one hand I want to say that the city is a disgusting metropolis of sin. On the other hand I feel I belong there. It is a place where everything is easily accessible.

Negative light

If you have ever walked through the city early in the morning and seen the remnants of the night before, before it has been cleaned or polished and swept away under the carpet, then you will know that it is lonely and filthy. As day breaks and the night time party is over there are people left to drag their intoxicated, exhausted bodies away through the filth of the streets.

Positive Light

The city is a luxurious place of convenience where anything that you can desire is within arm’s reach. The human ability to make things, especially buildings has created a place where all of your needs can be satisfied.

RuralI am yet unsure about how I want to frame the rural environment. I know that rural environments are an escape from the busyness of the city and there is a lack of outlets for money spending.

Flaneur take 1

The teachings of the lecture advised us to equip ourselves with a camera and roam the city, heading in whichever direction tickles our fancy. Below is my first attempt. Some of the images ar just things that I found interesting, e.g. dark posters, street art, natures presence in the city, CD's, cars, dodgy dealings with shady characters.

 

In some of the images I was just experimenting with the different camera functions, aperture, focus, shutter speed, ISO. Allowing different exposures, different light levels, and some blurred images.

 

Hopefully some of these images will influence my direction.

Night Time Television.

I got around to taking some of my experimental photographs of Televisions in different locations, however without the narrative of children and at night time. I used a range of spots in a fifteen meter area starting with atop a birdbath, then in a glass house, at an outdoor eating area, near a chicken coop, in a garden, and in a garden shed.

I was relatively pleased with this batch of photos as the effect of the TV acting as a large square white light box which worked really well to produce an interesting bleed effect.
I was very pleased with how alien the greenhouse looked with the TV light inside it.
I also like the effect of the light pollution from over the hills giving an orange tint to the sky.

#1 show the effects of a nearby towns light pollution.

#3 shows some interesting blur effects happening.

#20 shows how well the TV can light up a small room.

I particularly like #13 as the singular TV light is enhanced by the light pollution in the background.

I am wanting to go further with this idea of the television light box and maybe experimenting with different colours and environments.

Fun on Mt Victoria

Now here is a great idea, let your phone go out of battery, get on a scooter, fill up on petrol, drive to cool unseen places and take photos. Freedom is one word for it.

Check out the cool photos.

I headed around to to Oriental parade and thought of heading up the to the top of Mt Vic somehow. when I got there I checked out the big orange tower and other insignificant things that were lying around. Including vomit I narrowly avoided stepping in, beer bottles, the orange paint brush used to paint the tower and then discarded, wires, devilish shadows, a discarded rug that looks like a dead animal, spray painted pole creatures, triangular monuments, and landscapes.

I especially like #18 as it is a peculiar sight, a body of water, some land, another body of water, and more land.

I have a mild fascination with discarded objects, especially things which look like something they are not like the rug in #14.

A Comic Tale:

The other word for it is stupidity

The rest of the day turned into a bit of a shambles. I had my camera inside the scooters seat compartment, a bag on my back, a helmet and gloves to take care of and when trying to sort all of this out after taking a few pictures, what should happen but for me to lock the scooter key inside of the seat compartment. 

On top of Mt Victoria with a dead cellphone and no one to help what was there to do but to coast down to Newtown on a lifeless scooter, occasionally kicking for a bit of extra momentum.

At the bottom I borrow a cellphone at Z service station and called the AA who wouldn't help.

I found a nearby mechanics and borrow a screwdriver, hoping either to use it as a makeshift key or pry open the seat, in the end I just got angry, yanking the seat up a notch and shoving my hand in, bruising my wrist, but luckily snagging the key so I could open up the seat and start the ignition, just in time to head home and make dinner.

Contact Sheet

Below is the contact sheet for my first shoot which I did on the 22 July 2013 at approximately 5.00 PM.

I found this location whilst driving from Lower Hutt towards Wellington. I pulled into Belmont Domain near the river and climbed through some trees and over a large pile of tree scraps.
I approached the place with a little bit of caution, remembering being told not to die whilst trying to take photos, with a bit of caution I continued.

Just looking around was incredible, I could see the old shack which I used as my starting place. I saw the tractor which was the only useful looking thing there. I saw the orange Ute which stole most of my attention, it looked awesome.

I love the images of the Ute. I love how naked the vehicle appears.
9 Profiles the truck, emphasizing a lack of doors and pickup tray.
10 Is looking through the Ute, emphasizing the lack of glass in the window, the sight of the steering wheel almost gives life to the vehicle, but the forgotten location ahead reminds us of its uselessness.
11 Shows the empty space in the front where there were no seats no carpet, a puddle of water, and no signs of human life.
12 Shows off the empty front of the vehicle, no motor, nothing to give the vehicle life.
13 Shows the lifeless machine against a backdrop of the motorway where other vehicles are being driven by people, helping them throughout their everyday lives. This shows off how disposable this pile of metal is.

I chose to title them with numbers as it shows the order I would like people to think I shot the images in.