Although quite different both locations concern me somewhat as they are not what I expected to find out of tourist season. To be frank I expected to find quiet, miserable towns with unemployed locals.
Unexpectedly these working class towns have been infiltrated by professionals from inner cities. How does this effect the local people who have grown up in such towns? These rich kids are coming to visit their second luxury apartments, to sip champagne and enjoying fresh seafood while some locals rely on little savings from the season to survive the winter.
After shooting in both St. Ives and Whit stable the situation became clearer. I'd been advised to step out of my comfort zone, I enjoy working in colour but had little experience in telling a story in my work. It seemed obvious that colour clearly wasn't the way to present such a miserable subject which must be angering some people? I decided for this project I wouldn't hide behind colour or advanced special effects but have instead decided to present in black and white attempting to manipulate my digital work minimally - only to improve the technical quality and to intensify the message behind the shot.
Champagne & Oysters: This shot was taken using a SLR Nikon D40 camera. I kept the boat in the foreground and the dining area and landscape in the background. To draw the eye to tables and benches which are positioned at a deeper depth than the boat I was able to put the boat out of focus and the rest of the image in focus. This is known as DOF, Depths of field; The portion of the image which appears sharp in the shot (a lens can only focus on one distance precisely, the sharpness decreases either side of the focal distance.I edited the piece in Photo shop paying close attention to light sources within the shot. I added an open champagne bottle to one of the dining benches and added a shadow to blend the new object as smoothly as possible. The idea behind this is to show that in such a traditional and beautiful location modern decking where a champagne drinking demographic visits. Its up to the audience to form their own opinion on the topic and the setting being shown.
Adding objects to a shot was influenced by some of Jonas Bendicksen's work. Bendicksen promotes ideas in some of his work by adding objects like the water-slide in Iceland's mountains. The aim was to add an object which compliment the shot to create an effect and to promote my take and opinion. This is possible by ensuring the added objects are placed and blended properly paying attention to where light hits the object and rest of the shot.
A3 - Obsolete Boat: The shot was taken using a 7mp underwater camera. St. Ives in October 08.I used a super macro function, focused center shot at the object (boat) immediately in front of me and then changed the angle of my shot to include the landscape behind. This allowed me to get the boat in focus with a blurred landscape. This use of DOF as a part of my work is similar to techniques used in champagne and oysters.
This created a shot showing the viewpoint of someone looking out to see St. Ives from behind an old, obsolete boat. My intention was to show how key objects like boats weather, becoming obsolete introducing my subject on how these traditional towns are changing. I think it is important for my audience to form their own opinion.
Seaweed Beam - A3: This piece of work was the only part of my photographic essay not produced to fit with my theme. Initially I simply changed the contrast of the photograph and printed it using a laser printer. When looking at the print I noticed the white sky of the print had an effect which looked similar to camouflage. I didn't realise this was actually a happy accident on the printer's behalf. I liked the effect so much I decided I'd experiment tying to intensify the effect making it darker and sharper. When I opened the print in photo shop I was surprised to find that the effect was completely invisible on screen, despite changing brightness and contrast. 
The Tea Shop: The shot was taken using a 7mp underwater camera in St. Ives Cornwall just following the end of the tourist season. By reducing the saturation in the shot the old landscape was empathised making it look a lot more aged than it actually appears. I had to stand for a few moments to get the crashing waves, those which only come in the winter months. This piece now had great elements to portray an traditional, aged seaside town in a cold winter.
What stood out to me was the fact that, out of season tea shops and restaurants were still open, rather surprisingly I thought. Who we're their customers? It certainly wasn't the locals spending an hour in the afternoon over a pot of tea and a cream scone, the locals weren't eating out night after night! Maybe they we're just trying to catch the straggling emits as we're known locally.
I decided to add rectangle shapes to resemble a Polaroid picture. Some of the people I showed this to immediately thought my influence was from xxx, it was.
But what's different about this piece is I've not added any other objects apart from the Polaroid rectangle. I added a colour layer within the Polaroid space in order to create the illusion of a second image being placed over the original. My intention is for the audience to momentarily realise the Polaroid shot is indeed part of the larger background shot and surprisingly the piece is a lot more modern than originally thought.
Cross Masts - I consider this a powerful image. The towering sail masts creating strong diagonal lines from edges of the shot drawing the eye in to the traditional overlay Polaroid picture showing the yacht club. The idea was again influenced from x. My intention was similar to that of The Tea Shop adding a modern twist to what could be mistaken for a shot taken years ago.
In this shot too I used the saturation control to remove colour. As well as creating an unedited layer for the colour within the Polaroid, I created another layer showing a thin yellow coloured rope which runs diagonally down the left side. I thought this was important as the intense colour adds a recent twist to the shot.
Menu: I created a menu to demonstrate not just how my shots can be used in the industry. I took my shot showing a natural form in a traditional seaside town. I then cropped that shot focusing on a oyster shell, I placed this in a different setting; a modern seaside restaurant selling expensive produce that is unaffordable to the old fashioned British holiday maker and the locals.
To me this peice demonstrates how natural forms which have been around for generations are not being used in a very different way.
Pumpkins: When taking and manipulating this shot I looked at it from a different perspective in relation to many of my others.
Instead of picking objects apart claiming it was good or bad or exposing and highlighting what was going on I saw something different. Admittedly it is still a rather negative and somewhat fictional take. I thought the pumpkins symbolised a realm of evil, this has quite a surrealist meaning. Does it suggest that modern changes in seaside towns or very negative or does it just show a local's traditional celebration of project one?
Compilations
Wet Wall
Not local produce being consumed - zizi
Not local produce being consumed - zizi
