Final Hand-in, Sheep in the City

Here is the presentation of my final hand-in.

Clearly these are images of the city with sheep edited into them. Each image has its own significance.

1. The sheep commute together en masse.
2. The sheep walk through the city together, note 'Lamb-ton quay'.
3. The sheep go into their office buildings/pens to work.
4. The sheep wait for the bus together, yet exclude the ones who are different, note 'Farmers'.
5. The sheep window shop together, influenced and influencing each other.
6. The sheep follow the leader blindly, note our political buildings in the background.
7. The sheep move together and neglect the less fortunate together.
8. This is my reflection. I too am a sheep.

The haiku is a summary of my feelings of all these people in the city, including me.

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.

5 - 7 - 5

Here is another Haiku, just because, it doesn't relate to my rural/city idea, however it does discuss how the different role that the city has during the day and at night.
I like the contrast between light and dark and the different purposes and people who occupy the city at different times for different reasons.


Day is business time.
Earn. Tire. Unbutton. Spend. Skank.
Night is business time.


I have been told that with Haiku you must stick to the 5 - 7 - 5 syllable format, however, if you pronounce something lazily or differently then you can use an alternate syllable count.
e.g. I have always pronounce business in two syllables even though it should be pronounced with three.

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.