Abandoned

As my final piece and the summary to this entire project, I worked with my fellow colleagues to produce an exhibition that would display all of our final work. The theme to this exhibition was 'Abandoned', the word being the summary of what our images had focused on and achieved. We attempted to recreate the atmosphere by using dim lighting and creating a walkthrough doorway, similar to the ways we would sometimes have to enter a space. There was also a CCTV camera that filmed people in the exhibition, to create a sense that they were not meant to be in the space, similar to what it felt like to photograph the spaces.

I am very pleased with the final outcome, being the first group ever to produce an independent exhibition space linked to a group project for the final outcome. It was a brilliant way to display our work, as we each had our own pathways during the project but they all came together to produce one final piece. We got a great reception from people that visited the exhibition and it was a major success. It had been a long and hard struggle, but finally getting there was very rewarding and brilliant way to end the year and my time at St.Peter's.

Vacant

As the final part of my course, I got permission to photograph a modern and contemporary hotel in Bournemouth, 'The Cumberland' on East Cliff. The decor of this hotel matches it's forward looking approach to tourism in Bournemouth, making a stay in Bournemouth luxurious at an affordable price. The main focus of this hotel was the lighting and the colours of each room, which contrast each other to create different atmosphere's in each room.

I found that the emptiness of the rooms made them feel similarly abandoned to the previous hotels we had visited. Although these hotels were furnished and decorated, there was still a sense of emptiness to them, a lack of atmosphere and a lack of this seaside phenomenon that Bournemouth has been renowned for. Taking into account that it was winter, this fact seems reasonable to say that this does not show Bournemouth’s tourism is on the decrease. However, what I realized is that the reason for these hotels closing is because of our long, miserable winters that are getting longer each year. As the planet’s climate gradually changes, tourism in Bournemouth is dying a slow and unpredictable death; which could account for the reasons for many of these hotels closing down.

View of the Bay

Seeing a hotel after it has been closed for years becomes familiar going from hotel to hotel, they all seem to follow the same direction of becoming a refuge for those at the bottom of society struggling with drugs and various life issues. But I was still attracted to see how these hotels in Bournemouth existing today, to see if this issue of the recession is having an impact on hotels still in the industry. Remarkably, there was a familiar feeling in these hotels that were open to those I had visited previously

"Spy, December 2009"

" View, December 2009"

"Walk, December 2009"

"Glow, December 2009"

"Tidy,December 2009"

"Vacant, December 2009"

" Still, December 2009"

" Window, December 2009"

"Marble, December 2009"

" Occupied, December 2009"

In my day...

Family plays a large part of British life and respect for elders seems to have been lost in the prejudice that teenagers are out to attack or cause misery in these older citizens life. But being grandparents may change these people's prejudice towards the younger generation. This seems to be especially the case with my friends Grandad, Derek. He's a lively fella living on his own in his little home not far from the rest of the family. Despite being so close it seemed as if he was living in his own world at home, even being a separated grandparent he still finds time to pop in from time to time. When I visited him at his home, his collective obsession was quite overwhelming.

The hardest part of photographing this environment was the sheer quantity of objects and potential shots that made it difficult to keep an 'open eye' so to speak. A major factor for me was the amount of colour in this house. Being out of touch with modern concept on interior design, this house is more of a live-in storage area for his huge collection. I recently read that 'colour is one of the main factors that can date an image' It is clear from some of the images like 'Kiss' that the decor in the house has not changed over the years. The main feeling I got from this house is how he has become completely acculturated to his home, and his lack of care for what people may think. 'Liberty' shows how his racist attitude has become a controversial subject as the years have past, but mainly outlining that he is surely set in his ways.

"Gaze, December 2009"

" Favourite, December 2009"

" Liberty, December 2009"

"Play, December 2009"

"Shine, November 2009"

"Clean, November 2009"

"Ten Past, November 2009"

"Kiss, November 2009"

Here's a Thought..

Object

ob-ject | noun

1 a material thing that can be seen and touched : he was dragging a large object/small objects such as shells.

Photographing objects has always been involved in my work, both art and photography. This was what led me to discover the works of Raphael Dallaporta and his series of projects which were mainly focused on objects and the story behind them. I looked at this work earlier on in my course in the post named 'Dallaporta', and produced some of my own responses using everyday objects from around the house and a home made studio. Lighting plays a big part of an image, creating an atmosphere or outlining a focus point. In this series lighting is used in an advertising style which produces a seductive aura that surrounds the object. This intrigued me to think how deep this theory could work, thinking about the everyday objects I used and the story behind their use.

AntiPersonnel

"We now learn that hundreds of types of land mines exist and the variety of design, appearance, shape and design is incredible.Because Dallaporta has photographed these objects in the way an advertising photographer might render a shampoo bottle, he glorifies these objects and yet appears totally neutral in his approach. It is a most clever trick, so much so that we hardly notice he has done it"

Martin Parr

With the concept of an exhibition in mind, the found objects we have collected from various locations could also be presented in this way. The objects that have been collected are everyday objects, however some have a more significant value when put into a derelict environment. They become evidence of life or even traces of a story of someones life, as many of the locations were in use by squatters.

Hidden

As an example of this, I also found a project titled 'Hidden' by Dallaporta that had a similar input. The objects photographed were objects that had been confiscated by customs at an airport; all had become a method of smuggling illegal drugs into the country. The subtleness of both the way the object had been hidden and the information given by the photographer work well together.

The information about the drug next to the image adds another level to the image, a conceptual level that immediately changes your opinion of the image. Again, the way the objects have been photographed creates this image of high value, which I feel will be important to get this point across in the exhibition as normally they would be dismissed as everyday objects.

Under the Spotlight

"Helmet, November 2009"

"Extinguisher, November 2009"

"Race, November 2009"