To Begin DWB

As part of group 3, we have been allocated the local area of Charlton to photograph. This is an exciting proposal for me as it is an area that I know very well and have made many happy memories in. Due to my personal connection to the location, and my knowledge of the area I think this will make for a successful venture in terms of producing an interesting project that showcases a local area of London that most people probably will not have seen before. I would like to photograph the estates I used to play in as a child/teenager or The Valley, as these are the places in Charlton that mean the most to me, and I think by using introspection as part of the basis for how I approach taking my personal submissions for this project will give my work more meaning as well as focus. At the same time this could also benefit how I work in the team as well, because we already have an angle to work this proposal from that comes from an authentic, home grown source and they can get a glimpse of the local community through me and the places I will show them.

Charlton has historically been a trading/industrial/residential area of South East London and this remains largely unchanged, with the lower and riverside parts of Charlton remaining industrial and trade driven and the upper parts of Charlton being almost purely residential. Due to its proximity to the river Charlton has sees people from all different parts of the world and remains a diverse area in a similar vein to the rest of Greenwich borough. The is in general socially diverse, with housing and shops of all income streams and niche specialties. Charlton is also home to Charlton Athletic FC, one of the older firms in Football League history and arguably the most important club in the country in terms of community outreach. The club has the largest community support network in the country ranging from Football coaching to care for the elderly, and food banks. The club was also responsible for the COVID19 community support for Greenwich borough, a responsibility that no other football club undertook alone on behalf of the local council.

 

Our Treatment: For the brief we have decided as a group to move forward with an architectural approach for our gallery. We want to showcase the landscape and spirit of Charlton by photographing different buildings as the focus, rather than people, however we are not against the idea of having people in the pictures provided they are not the central dogma of the image. Charlton has quite a diverse population of people and social class, and we think this could be a good place to focus our energies as both as higher income housing will provide a counterpoint to the estates and visa versa. This is also a more implicit way of opening up a sort of dialogue about social class and the assumptions we make about people even just by looking at what kind of building is in front of us, and the gulf between the rich and the poor in the UK that can be seen just by crossing a road. I will be focusing on photographing the estates rather than the more well to do areas or Charlton house, as this is what I feel I know and it would make me proud to turn the streets I have walked my entire life into art that I can show my friends and family that have done the same. In terms of style we have decided that we would like to produce fairly uniform images in light of continuity throughout the gallery, with a film camera editing style in post production.

Below are some images that inspired both the treatment and my personal approach to the treatment

The Recce: In light of the approaching deadline, me and the money team decided to go out and shoot on location in order to road test our ideas and shed light on what the next steps are in delivering our final images for the gallery. Everybody was shooting with natural light and kit lenses on our respective cameras. I would say that this was a very successful and enlightening shoot, that brought us a lot of clarity and focus on our ideas. For starters we decided that we will be shooting the Cherry Orchard estate as our subject matter, which is a modification to our original treatment of shooting different locations, due to our time at Charlton house being quite dull and unproductive just because the location did not really inspire anything within the group, nor was there much to photograph. I took a point and shoot kind approach, just walking around and capturing different frames without changing the exposure at all as seen below. By the end of the shoot however we have decided that the strongest images are of peoples front gardens/porch areas shot straight up and in detail. I think these meet our needs both aesthetically and in terms of meaning; as there is a lot to be unpicked in each scene, with different objects/details providing insight into the lives behind the doors without revealing exact details to the onlooker. I like the Idea that the viewer will have to take their own meaning from the image and the lives behind it, as artists it is our job to reflect a reality and to pose questions to people that do not have definitive answers. Another thing to come out of this is the mutual decision to shoot on a wide angle prime lens and tripod for the final shoot in which everyone will be shooting house fronts. Below are the images I displayed on campus after the shoot. 

The Final Shoot: The final shoot ended in being a success for the whole group in my opinion, everyone seemed satisfied with how their respective images turned out and as am I. The decisions made about equipment were very prudent, as I think it has made for a very consistent and flowing gallery, whilst also improving the technical quality of all of our images but probably most specifically mine, as use the prime lens and tripod meant that I was not doing things solely based on intuition and feeling, but more based on a science and intention. Also I think the slightly moodier lighting on the day made for a more atmospheric and eerie image, which personally I am a fan of. I also think the choice to shoot portrait was also wise from the group, not only because I think it challenges the photographer more compositionally but I think it also generally fits the subject matter more naturally, almost giving a POV perspective, which I think will make for a very interesting gallery. The shoot went on the whole very smoothly, with the only real challenge being getting the correct exposure on what is to be my second image below, because the sun was going in and out of cloud cover. It is important to remember that it was the preparation and testing that has made this venture a success, a lesson that I will make sure to take forward with me in everything I do but most importantly my work.