Evaluation
Reflections of the real was a module designed to change the way we shoot and the way we think about the world around us. We were shooting a project based on things that happen around us daily, yet that we don’t notice all that often.
My project ‘The Last Train’ was originally a project to compare people in the east and west of Europe, but changed mid-way through shooting due to the fact that the photos didn’t reflect what I was trying to say. The project changed from a social statement about how the west is richer than the east, to wanting to say how everybody on the train is an individual with their own destination and a completely different destination to mine or anybody else on the train.
Shooting in Romania and Poland proved to be quite challenging but I managed to overcome the initial fear to produce some good work and some interesting images. I think that the book reflects my view well and in the layout of the image, we see an interesting contradiction and similarity between a lot of the people. I think that the quality of work shot is up there with some of the best work I have produced, but the difficulty of creating a book proved very challenging compared to shooting. It was hard narrowing down what you wanted to say and making this evident in a book, one minor mistake could ruin the entire book.
Overall, I think that despite a few changes of mind and a few near misses with angry people abroad, the project went really well and I have enjoyed working under pressure and against the clock. Hopefully ‘The Last Train’ helps people look twice when they are on a train at how every individual on there is unique and has a different destination to them.
My project ‘The Last Train’ was originally a project to compare people in the east and west of Europe, but changed mid-way through shooting due to the fact that the photos didn’t reflect what I was trying to say. The project changed from a social statement about how the west is richer than the east, to wanting to say how everybody on the train is an individual with their own destination and a completely different destination to mine or anybody else on the train.
Shooting in Romania and Poland proved to be quite challenging but I managed to overcome the initial fear to produce some good work and some interesting images. I think that the book reflects my view well and in the layout of the image, we see an interesting contradiction and similarity between a lot of the people. I think that the quality of work shot is up there with some of the best work I have produced, but the difficulty of creating a book proved very challenging compared to shooting. It was hard narrowing down what you wanted to say and making this evident in a book, one minor mistake could ruin the entire book.
Overall, I think that despite a few changes of mind and a few near misses with angry people abroad, the project went really well and I have enjoyed working under pressure and against the clock. Hopefully ‘The Last Train’ helps people look twice when they are on a train at how every individual on there is unique and has a different destination to them.
04/12/2017
Book Design, final?So this is it, the inevitable end to a project I have throughly enjoyed and thoroughly hated (not really) at the same time. I have pushed myself to the limit and thrown myself into situations I never would have before. My final book design touches on the theme individuality and highlights that everybody is on this journey yet nobody is going to the same destination, which I also found that it could be read as a great metaphor for life. I have tried to partner images together that are either very similar in terms of how they were shot or there is an obvious comparison between the two. For example, 2 men with their hands behind their back; different location, different person, going to a different place, yet shot at the exact same moment. I like the idea that I have tried to pursue in this and I hope that it is evident in the actual book. I have also chosen to use a quote by Paul Theroux, after swiftly changing my mind from one to another. I like my book layout as it is now and I hope that other people do too.
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02/12/2017
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NicaraguaNicaragua forms an extraordinary narrative of a nation in turmoil. Starting with a powerful and chilling evocation of the Somoza regime during its decline in the late 1970s, the images trace the evolution of the popular resistance that led to the insurrection, culminating with the triumph of the Sandinista revolution in 1979. First published in 1981, Susan Meiselas' book captures every emotion and documents it perfectly in this book. Just like most other books I have looked at, Nicaragua has one full-blown image on the front, accompanied by a title and the name of the photographer, which I think works and always will work, regardless of the book. I also think that a landscape book instead of a portrait book is the way forward, because with a portrait book (unless you only shot portraits) you are very limited in what you can put on there, but portraits in a landscape book actually look good. The layout, like other books is again either 2 pictures per double page or 1 double page spread. However, Meiselas' introduction page is quite different to others and she also goes for an interesting font choice. Does it work? I think so. I would like to keep my book neat and quite professional looking instead of having a mix of a lot of different layouts, I'd like to stay with one.
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01/12/2017
The AmericansPossibly my favourite photo book of all time is 'The Americans' by Robert Frank. A highly influential book of post-war America, it was first published in France and then later on published in America. Despite how much I would like to talk about the greatness of the book itself, I am going to talk about the layout of it. It is so simple but yet so beautiful and it is a layout I am considering for my own book. The Americans follow several themes too which is good. Although I am wanting to focus on individuality, I like to look at how others books have influenced things. Frank talks about racism, sexism and poverty in this book to paint an image of what he thinks America is. I think that it is important that he has just one image per page because you can focus on every single theme and every photo individually. In my book, I am looking to have 2 photos opposite each other with no writing to tell you where it was taken. I think I will be going this so that you can follow the theme of my book.. I like how we only see writing on one page with a blank page, this helps us not to be distracted. i also like how the picture takes up an entire space on the right hand side and is usually perfectly in line with the last page. I will definitely use a full page for my front cover, like Frank has done in this book and I will try and play with lines in my photograph, as the windows from the bus act as rulers for the title.
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30/11/2017
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MenMen; very different stereotypes formed around them but are they correct stereotypes? When you compare these 3 images to the 3 images below of the women, we form entirely different judgements based on the fact that they are male and also on what they are wearing and their body language. I find it extremely interesting how humans can judge others purely by looking at a photograph. Including myself, humans are very judgemental and we never know the whole story of anybody. For example, the man in blue and the bald man both look menacing, scary, intimidating, sketchy and just not very nice at all. Their facial expression help us form the judgement. However, what if these facial expressions were different? With the bald guy, I took about 5 frames and each of them were different and had different connotations. From this image, we think that the innocent looking girl in front is in danger and we can't see her face so this helps form that opinion. But in the previous image, she is laughing and he is yawning; a complete contrast. The bottom two images of two men sat in the same spot doing the same thing but have completely different connotations. I like the idea of how we judge people and why.and I hope to focus on something like this in my book.
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27/11/2017
WomenI think that the theme of gender is a must when considering a project that includes both male and female subjects. While photographing in Poland and Romania I found that women were much more individual than in England. I found it interesting how with every photo of a woman you can almost make two judgements on them. What do short skirt, tall boots and tights mean to you? Powerful, independent and confident? But take away the top half and focus on the bottom (bottom right image) and we form a different judgement on what they are wearing. If we saw this at 1am in London for example, what would we think? I like the idea again of women being individual in both of these countries but I also get the sense of vulnerability based on how the men are photographed. I think putting men and women together in this project could be very interesting based on how I have photographed both. I like the idea of men and women being different and how we can question those traditional stereotypes of both of them. Are stereotypes something I want to focus on or do I want to completely disregard the fact that stereotypes exist and allow the viewer to form their own judgement?
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24/11/2017
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Themes for the bookUpon pondering for a week or so on what I want my project to document, i have brainstormed a little bit on themes and how I can layout a book based on different themes. One of the themes that interested me the most was the idea that everybody is different, everybody is an individual. I think that this theme of individuality stretches throughout the photographs that I had taken and we can take a lot from each person based on things such as appearance, facial expression and body language. I have chosen three examples from the photos I have taken to analyse their individual appearance. In the top image, we can actually analyse two people in this image; the male and the female in the central window. The man, stood tall but with a sort of slouched look about him, he looks drained as if he had just finished work and is seemingly looking out of the train as an escape. The woman, bored, fed up, wants to get off the train. Bottom left; hard working male, just finished a hard days work, on his way home? Bottom right; homeless, counting his money, staying on the tram for warmth and safety? Every single person has their own story and I like the idea of pursuing this theme.
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21/11/2017
No Spain?Spain; home of Catalonia, beautiful beaches and great food. But I no longer want to go. Why? Spain was one of the countries I set up to shoot straight from the start but since shooting in other places I have made the (difficult) decision that I no longer want to go and shoot there. I think that the project is no longer about different countries and how they differ from each other, but more of a story about people and how they are very different from one another yet very similar. I originally set out to photograph 2 countries in East Europe and 2 in Western Europe to (hopefully) show the differences between all the places and follow on the themes of poverty/ rich. Unfortunately (or thankfully) I don't think that each place had enough of an individuality and therefore couldn't really make comparisons between each place because there weren't many. Although there were a few poorer looking people in Romania than the other places, I think that was just pure coincidence. All in all, the similarities between each place out grew the differences and if you looked at each train and each person on those trains, you would find that there were very similar people doing very similar things.
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18/11/2017
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Book designThe hardest part of this module is now upon me and it is the design of the book. What do I want to tell? How do I want to represent people? Do I want to represent the country in this book? I have made my first draft book and have been trying to partner images together based on how they are shot and if they go well together visually but I think that this may not work well as a documentary because there is no real 'story' or focus. I need to pick a niche and follow it. Although I think that the image quality is very good, it can be completely ruined by how I present it. I think that a good book follows a certain theme or a certain few themes. Let's take for example 'The Americans' by Robert Frank; he follows themes such as racism and sexism in America and voices his opinion through his photographs. He was an outsider and so am I. Essentially I have seen the 'real' Romania and Poland and can voice my opinion about them because I don't actually live there. However, do I want to make a social statement on the countries themselves or do I want to create a visual on people and how they conduct themselves as individuals? Where are they going? Where have they been? Why are they alone? are all questions that I want to ask in this book and hopefully that will come across as the module increases in speed. One of my major concerns at the moment is that the layout of the book will destroy the image quality because it will confuse people on what they want to say.
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15/11/2017
Romania evaluationRomania changed a lot for me in terms of what I want from the project and what the meaning behind the project is. I think that it has formed a documentary on people who get on to night trains and why, instead of a comparison between the east and west. In terms of photo quality, I really think that this project can be strong, however I need to sit and think about the layout of the book and what I want to put next to each other and why. I will think of my outcome before I think of the layout of the book. I am looking into things like 'why people get on to night trains' and stereotypes vs reality. There are a few frames of the same people in my edits that say completely different things about that person. I could also make a big comparison between men and women on night trains through my images because the majority of the women are alone and so are the men, I think it could say quite a lot about both genders. In the next few days I will mind map and contextualise my project into one specific meaning. One idea is to make the point that everybody in life and on the last train are all individuals that have their own path to follow and are all on the last train for a different reason. Where are they going? why are they dressed like that? Why are they alone? There are many questions to ask and many to answer.
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13/11/2017
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Last dayThe last day was probably the hardest day purely because I forgot to bring my battery charger and I had to shoot with 1 bar of battery for the night, adding extra pressure to the situation and making me focus on the shots that I wanted instead of shooting everything and anything. There was not much happening this night for some reason and there were barely any people on any tram which made it very hard. Luckily, where I sat down there were a couple of interesting subjects that I had to photograph. The man in the bottom left seemed a little distressed and hurried and also kept checking his watch which I found interesting. The old woman in the top image was struggling to get onto the train (I probably should have helped her) and so I took a few photos of her because she looked interesting and I liked her clothes. In the bottom right image, she was the only person on the train and interestingly enough she was a nun and we went past 2 churches which she bowed to and did a cross over her chest. Romania was a very interesting place due to the fact that it was very religious. I think that the nun was the last photo I took before my battery died on my camera. A successful shoot all in all.
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12/11/2017
Day 4The 2nd to last day! I decided that I wanted to get closer to my subjects to bulk my project out a little bit more so I pushed myself to the edge of getting caught and captured some nice moments. Shooting in manual focus is great sometimes and bad other times. For this entire project I was shooting in manual focus because I needed that extra second of speed to shoot with where it wasn't auto focusing so that I could capture a moment if it developed in front of me suddenly. However, it comes with its faults. A lot of the time you don't get the focus perfect and then you have to re shoot it. Although a lot of the time blur and movement can add to an image, it can also ruin an image. The guy in the top image saw me take his photograph pretty much as soon as I sat besides him, however the first few image were nowhere near sharp. How do you approach a subject in a foreign country who has already spotted you taking his photo and is a little annoyed? You cause distractions and then snap away. Working with my friend, we pretended that something was happening outside and he fell for it. I also liked day 4 because I captured lots of little stories that will add a lot to the book.
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11/11/2017
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Day 3Day 3, like day 2, we ended up somewhere outside of the city centre only to find that this place was practically empty. Taking an educated guess on where the tram was going to end up, we wanted to see the outskirts of Timisoara a little more. I found that the people there and on trains were mainly all men and mainly all a little bit sketchy. I originally saw the guy dressed all in blue and started following him on to the train because I thought he was pretty symbolic of this area in Romania. Luckily, he sat in front of a woman who was also alone and I thought that this was quite interesting. I photographed the situation focusing mainly on the guy and it was interesting looking back at the photos of them because she had so many different facial expressions compared to the man who seemingly didn't move much. Unfortunately there was a homeless man sat at one of the stations that looked as though he also slept there. I felt bad photographing this moment because I couldn't help the guy but I thought that it needed to be documented. In the bottom left image, I really wanted to capture this frame and it took maybe 15 shots to get it right. He was sat directly behind me and it was near impossible to turn around and snap him before he realised I was doing it. I kept pretending I was checking where I was so I could get away with turning around with my camera.
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10/11/2017
Day 2Day 2 in Romania was very interesting. We ended up very far away from the centre of Timisoara by accident and it was incredibly different to what I expected. We ended up at a station where within the space of 5 minutes, there was a man having a wee in the corner holding a violin, a woman dragging a broken door along the floor and a pack of stray dogs attacking a man. However, I think that this made much more interesting pictures because the people were different. For example, in the top image, this man seemed very aware of everything that was happening and very switched on. I originally wanted to photograph just his clothes because they were so interesting and unique, but he stood up soon after I realised he was here and he stood directly in front of me looking out of the window. Luckily he didn't spot me and I managed to get a beautiful shot of him contemplating something that was happening. My biggest regret so far in this trip is not opting to take my 70-200mm lens, there have been many shots that I have missed or could've captured if I had brought it. However, I made do with my 24-70 and still feel as though I captured each place really well. I think with a telephoto lens I could capture people more off guard however. I will start taking it around the UK and see what I catch.
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09/11/2017
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Romania day 1An interesting first day in Timisoara and a very different place to Gdansk and Birmingham. My original thoughts of Romania is that it would be much poorer than England and maybe on the same level as Poland. However, I found that there were a lot of differences to Poland and more than England. I found that there were a lot more older people in Romania than anywhere else I had been and they were all travelling alone. I found this interesting to note because I wanted to know where they had been and where they were going. I also noted that the trains didn't run as often or as well as Poland and England. People walked along the tracks and on the tracks at their own peril, there was even one guy going down the track on his mobile scooter. It was however much harder to photograph on these trains because of the layout of them. All of the chairs face forward and they are single file, so to photograph somebody, you have to turn around to do it or photograph the back of them. I particularly like the top image because of the man in it and the difficulty in capturing it. I like his face, his hat and everything he is doing. I think that it captures the poverty in Romania reasonably well and will set well in the book alongside some others that are poor, or even rich.
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08/11/2017
TimisoaraTimisoara is the third most populous city in the country, with 319,279 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. Timișoara is the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat. In September 2016, Timișoara was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2021. During World War II, Timișoara suffered damage from both Allied and Axis bombing raids, especially during the second half of 1944. On 23 August 1944, Romania, which until then was a member of the Axis, declared war on Nazi Germany and joined the Allies. Surprised, the local Wehrmacht garrison surrendered without a fight, and German and Hungarian troops attempted to take the city by force throughout September, without success. I have chosen this historical city as a place to shoot because I think that Romania is very diverse and interesting compared to the likes of England and Poland. I like to think that I will get a big variety of people in Timisoara, especially on late night trains. Although I believe that the trains in Romania are much poorer than those in Poland, I believe that I will manage to get enough good shots to put in my book. I will be looking into going to Bucharest but as it stands, I will remain in Timisoara and the surrounding area.
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08/11/2017
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Poland evaluationPoland came with many perks and not a lot of faults. It was cold and it got dark very quickly. In terms of a comparison between England and Poland, I found that trains in Poland were much busier during the night and there were far more women walking the streets and getting on trains alone. Nobody seemed to fear the fact that they were on a sketchy train at 11/12pm at night, even if they were surrounded by intimidating looking people. I think that my style of photography is beginning to show in this project and it is very 'in the moment' and different to what I would usually shoot. I have started to shoot imperfectly but I think that it has improved my style somewhat. For example, the top image is out of focus and there is blur in the shot from a slow shutter speed, however I think that this improves the photograph much more than if it was sharp. I have been using other people a lot to block my subjects view of me, and this in turn adds an imperfection to the image but yet creates a natural framing around my subject. I have developed the style a lot of a natural frame by using people's arms or heads to almost crop my subject. I have tried to focus a lot on just shooting the ordinary but on occasions I have found myself shooting things that are not ordinary. All in all, Poland has been great for shooting in and I think it will add some real character to the book.
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06/11/2017
Day 6Day 6 was the day I decided to go all guns blazing and without fear. I wanted to shoot different techniques and get much closer to my subjects. I wanted to shoot things in the moment and hopefully not be caught or catch nobody looking at the camera. Unfortunately, I was caught a few times and on one occasion had to leave the train. After deliberating between the number 12 tram and the number 8 tram, I chose the number 8 which is the busiest route as it goes through the town centre. Tactically positioning myself in front of or next to people I wanted to photograph, I noticed this stern looking woman on her phone and I wanted to capture her. I asked my friend to hold the rail and block her from seeing me taking the photograph, however, when I checked to see if she was in focus, I noticed that she was displeased with me taking the photograph, so after a few more shots of her, we made our escape. I like the framing and the emotion in the picture but am not certain I will use it as I am not too happy with the fact that she noticed me. I am starting to enjoy sooting through things and over things and not sticking to the general rules of photography. with the bottom left image, I span around to capture this guy before the doors shut and I like how 'in the moment' it is.
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05/11/2017
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Day 5Day 5 consisted a lot of shooting on the platforms instead of on the trains. I wanted to capture the entire experience of the last train and thought that I would follow the path it takes to get on to the last train. I started at the main station where the last train was earlier than the last tram. There were not many people on the platform during this time but I decided to shoot what I could, including an overview from across the platform from the opposite platform. I ended up getting on a tram to one of the not so popular destinations in Gdansk and wanted to photograph people waiting for the last trams. I found it interesting that in this time, there only seemed to be women walking the streets alone and I saw no men at the tram stops. I photographed the woman in the red coat because I think that the colour red is very iconic, especially of a woman walking alone at night. I am also finding great pleasure in shooting through glass with reflections as I find that it adds a little more to the image than shooting them normally. I opted to sit in the shelter for 5 minutes to see if anything happened, I didn't find much happening but after a few minutes of waiting, this lady turned up alone and was looking for tram times. I liked the blue reflection in the glass and decided to wait for her to stand next to or in front of it so I could capture this image.
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04/11/2017
Day 4Unfortunately for day 4, I didn't manage to shoot as much as the other days as we took a day trip to the beach and to see some sights around Gdansk. Although during the time I was back I shot a few shots on the platforms, there were either just 1 train or no train on every platform so I didn't manage to capture much. What I could shoot, however were people walking on platforms in an empty station or waiting for the last train doors to open (or not open in some cases). Most of the station was empty, yet I managed to capture the few bits of movement of people on them. On the first shot, we realised that there was only 1 tram left for the night and it was going in the opposite direction. I don't know if this guy in the picture was heading for the opposite station or was just using the tram track as a walkway, but I think the movement in his red bag and the eeriness of the buildings behind him add a lot to the book and says a lot about the night culture of Gdansk and walking alone. I made my way to the main station of Gdansk and saw a train partly lit up inside so I walked down the track looking for any life in the train or on the track. There was one woman who was looking into the train as if to say 'are you leaving or not?' Little to her or my knowledge, this was the last train that just arrived and didn't go any further than here. From what i understood, she was on the phone to somebody asking for a lift or explaining the situation. I think day 4 adds something to the book in terms of eeriness and understanding what it is like to be alone at night, so it was quite a good shoot.
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03/11/2017
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Day 3On day 3, I ran straight to a certain seat because opposite was a homeless looking man sat in front of a woman and he spent the entire journey counting his money and looking shadily out of the window. I started the night by waiting a while on the platform to find people and decided to shoot through things and with things obstructing the subject. I shot a lot out of the glass window on the platform because I liked the lighting and then started shooting people sat in the shelter on their phones and waiting for the tram. I found it interesting at first how nobody really noticed me taking photos of them so I got a little closer. I found it interesting how in my proposal I talked about how I would not see many women travelling alone at night, however this woman sat alone in a dress and knee high boots with her earphones in, without a care in the world. I thought that it was a pretty big statement on how safe she found Poland or how little she cared? My second subject was the homeless man counting his money in the disabled seat. He was no harm to anybody and barely noticed me shoot him, as he looked out of the window every 10 seconds. When I finally left the train after sitting opposite him for 10 minutes, he started talking to the lady sat behind him, who didn't seem too pleased. Maybe he was asking for money or maybe he was just conversing. I think it says a lot about the lady in the back more than the homeless man. In the first photo, she is ignoring him and trying not to lock eyes with him, yet in the third image, she is looking out of the window with a glum look on her face. What was on her mind? Is she just not a very nice person? Day 3 was a great shooting day.
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02/11/2017
Day 2Day 2 consisted of shooting more frequently and on different trains around Gdansk. Starting on line 8 of the metro, I positioned myself tactically next to or in front of people that I wanted to photograph. My first point of focus was a girl in a rugged Manchester United cap that she wore backwards as she chatted with equally rough looking friends. On the second line 8 tram from my accommodation into town, I noticed that there were two men sat next to each other, both on their phones and looking pretty absorbed in their own world. Whilst sat there looking shady, they were no bother to anybody but kept looking up at the camera as if to say 'don't you dare'. To the right of me about halfway through the journey, an elderly man hobbled on and sat on the seat opposite me. Although at first he was pretty intimidated by the camera and seemingly noticed that I was trying to take photos of him, he soon relaxed and thats when the shooting started. I started pretending to check where we were going and then clicking the shutter as I turned round but that soon got too obvious, luckily I managed to get a few good shots. Overall, day 2 was much more productive than day 1 and I shot more on the train than on the tracks this time. I want to start shooting more faces and more people tomorrow and in the next few days but also focus on people waiting for trains and stood on the side of the track.
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01/11/2017
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Book design?Designing a book is possibly the hardest part of this project. You have to think about the layout of every single page and how each image collaborates with each other. What am I trying to say with this book? How am I trying to make people think? Do I need captions? There are infinite questions to ask myself during this project in order to produce a good book. I think, as it stands, I really like the front cover. I played around with a few fonts and decided that the font here is the best. Originally, I placed the text in between the lines of the walkway, but thought the text looked way too small, so I made it slightly bigger and also spaced it out a little. I wanted to make the font look the same size and the same harshness of the metal framing of the walkway. I decided to use this photograph for the main page instead of a picture of a train because I think that this image could be universal. It is very typical of every single train station at night and also could be in any of the countries I am shooting in. It is also an indication as if to say 'open the book and walk to the photographs of the trains'. I am opting for a very simple introduction to the book with something along the lines of 'This is a social documentary on trains around Europe' because I think that the photographs should be very self explanatory and the viewer should make their own mind up about each place and if they are similar or different. My idea for this book is for people not to be able to tell what country I am shooting in but to be able to make certain assumptions on each place and each photograph, ultimately forming an idea on East and West Europe.
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01/11/2017
Day 1Day 1 in Gdansk, Poland and the similarities and differences are already showing compared to England. One of the first things I have noticed is how easy it is to get on public transport without knowing what you are doing. I had no concept of where we were or where we going but somehow managed to get to and from the accommodation. I have also discovered that people rush a lot more here, unless you are in London. All transport is pretty reliable, with every tram or metro coming every 3 or 4 minutes, even at night. Despite the stereotypes of people in Poland being drunk and a little bit rough, I haven't seen anybody on the trains drunk or intimidating yet. Today was a national holiday called 'all saints day' where people celebrate the saints by visiting the graveyards all around Poland. Because of this, I found that the trains were much busier than they possibly will be tomorrow or for the next week. I will continue to shoot in Gdansk and produce more interesting, spontaneous work.
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29/10/2017
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Train windowsSometimes when you are repeatedly shooting something or planning to shoot something, you become obsessed with an ideology or an idea that you focus on a lot and for me, train windows have been fascinating for me. Although you can see through windows, I have always found that they act as a barrier in photography from what is 'real'. people are dazed by windows and could spend hours looking out of them without realising. Shooting into or outside of a train window is almost like shooting into the subjects own little world for that small period of time. I think I believe this because when shooting into a window, you see nothing but the small scene in that window, instead of the entire train. I am fascinated by the idea that you can tell so much about somebody from just a small period in their time. Why are they crying, laughing, angry, stressed? Where are they going? Are they rich, poor? There are so many assumptions we make by somebody and especially if they are in their own world looking out of a train window.
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26/10/2017
Risk assessingRisk assessing for both Poland and Romania has been a long, yet interesting process. It started with a simple standard template that I used to later find out that I needed a full, detailed analysis of what I was going to be doing, where I was going to be staying and also assessing every possible risk along the way. Poland and Romania are both low risk areas but there are still threats that they pose, especially shooting on trains at night and staying in a hostel. Everywhere you go there is the risk of petty crime such as pick pocketing and mugging. I am also staying in 2 hostels while I am there that also pose different risks. I am in a shared room on a few occasions and will have to be careful with my belongings and put them in the lockers that the hostel provide. I will also be wary of where I put things during the night.
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24/10/2017
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Mike HarveyThe job of a taxi driver is not limited to the safe transportation of people from one location to another. Willing to lend their ears to candid stories, personal secrets and rants of their many passengers; taxi drivers are confidants and impromptu counsellors, if only for the duration of metered fare. This fascination with people is what drew taxi driver Mike Harvey to photograph the wide array of passengers he met on a daily basis, for his series titled 'Taxi'. Taxi is a very different take on a project that I want to do but is again very interesting to research late night commuters and how they vary massively from each other. My main focus for this project is to just photograph what I see, without a view point and this is exactly Mike Harvey's view point also which I take huge inspiration from. He, as an observer photographs what is in front of him and makes the viewer of his work the story teller and makes them question for themselves, without dictating or wording his project in a way that could be deemed as telling his own story.
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21/10/2017
Bob MazzerWhile working as projectionist in a porn cinema in the 1980s, Bob Mazzer began photographing on the tube during his daily commute, creating irresistibly joyous pictures alive with humour and humanity. Bob Mazzer spent two decades commuting to work and back on the tube. As he travelled, he used his Leica M4 and his own unique perspective to capture Londoners, commuters and tourists as they journeyed through the capital's network of tunnels. Mazzer, much like the work of Turpin is an observer in his own little world of commuters. However, Mazzer gets much closer to his subjects and gets much more personal with them which is also something I would like to add to my project. He photographs people kissing, sleeping and other intimate things that we all see on the Underground but usually turn a blind eye to. His framing is beautiful and begs the question if they are snap shots or carefully thought out frames.
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19/10/2017
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Nick TurpinAcclaimed street photographer Nick Turpin has captured painterly portraits of London commuters on buses at night. The images, shot through steamed windows during the winter months, show passengers in various states of slumber, conversation, or thought. Despite being shot from a long way off with a telephoto lens through thick windows that obscure or blur the subjects, the images reveal an intimate glimpse into life of the city night bus traveller. Nick Turpin's take on London travel is incredibly interesting and also really similar to how I would like to go about my work on trains. He, as a commuter himself is also an observer of the world around him and this is exactly how I want to be. I don't want to be involved in the images and I don't want to dictate how things are shot. I want to sit back and watch the world unfold in front of me and capture every moment of that. I think Turpin's work is exceptional and something I really can look to as inspiration.
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16/10/2017
First shoot - an early idea?For my first shoot on the last train, I shot the journey from Weston Super Mare to Cheltenham Spa, this was a journey of two legs, one on a long GWR train of 5 carriages and one of a small, old train with only two carriages. The journey consisted of things that I wouldn't consider to be on the last train of the day. There were children, businessmen and people looking as though they were going out drinking. I particularly liked photographing people who were blocked by a pole or a chair and being able to make an assumption on them based on the things we could see. I also liked the idea of shooting long exposures inside the train and out of the window. I am struggling to decide wether I prefer the more abstract photos in the train or the more straight, typical documentary photographs. I think that this project is going down the right line and I look forward to shooting in Poland and Romania to produce some nice images and figure out a style that I want to shoot for the book.
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14/10/2017
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Night trainsNight trains, the loneliest place on earth. Gloomy nights and long rides after work await, what do I expect to be shooting? My original plan to shoot in black and white film diminished rather quickly after figuring out the possibility of actually doing this, my mind must think in colour. Do I focus on punchy, bright colour to bring attention to the nice, calmness of a night train? Or do I focus on greys and dark colours to focus on the sketchiness of the las train? I am expecting to encounter a lot of different people and for every different person I will be photographing them differently. For example, if somebody is sat alone and look harmless, I won't have a problem in photographing them quite obviously. However, if somebody looks drunk or aggressive I will be a little more careful with how I shoot them. I like the idea of shooting through, over and under things to abstract the photograph a little. The only thing left to do now is go out and shoot!
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11/10/2017
Richard Atrero de GuzmanRichard Atrero de Guzman is a Tokyo based photographer who focuses on local and international photo assignments. This project on the Tokyo metro is extremely eye opening to Japanese train culture. We hear stories and listen to stereotypes about Japanese trains and how they are forced to be packed in like tinned fish. However, De Guzman focuses less on the fact that the trains are busy and focuses more on the small details of individual people. This is a style that I want to implement into my photography for sure I like how he becomes the observer and not the photographer while he is on the trains. I also like how he shoots from high ground and from low ground and gives us different perspectives on the subject. My particular favourite style is the image of the man by the bar. It's mysterious and almost has a calmness about it. I want to shoot quite abstractly and hide people with objects on the train. I like the idea of shooting through things and also the idea of objects blocking the view of the subject. I think that it could add to the aura of the night train.
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09/10/2017
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London UndergroundThe infamous London Underground; tourists, businessmen, women, children, men, business. How do I photograph on the busiest, diverse train in the UK? Like with every place, I have an idea of what I am going to photograph, but with the London Underground, I almost have no idea what I am going to witness late at night. Although I expect business people coming home after a late night, drunk people after a night of drinking and genuine tourist who have got lost, I don't know how people will act over me taking photos of them. My aim is to sit opposite the people who I want to photograph and discretely take photos of them. If however this changes or infringes their privacy, I will have to shoot different things. I think that the London Underground by far will be my hardest task for this project. I am led to believe that Londoners don't like their photos being taken, and I am only to believe that at night, they really don't want to be photographed because they could be vulnerable or tired.
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06/10/2017
Understanding Spain Most visits to Spain are trouble-free, but you should be alert to the existence of street crime, especially thieves using distraction techniques. Thieves often work in teams of two or more people and tend to target money and passports. Don’t carry all your valuables in one place, and remember to keep a photocopy or scanned copy of your passport somewhere safe. I have visited Spain twice now and have had various different experiences photographing there. People tend to keep themselves to themselves, yet some people are very happy to be photographed. For example, when I was doing street photography in Barcelona, one guy actually pushed my head because he caught me photographing him. However, many other people saw my camera and they posed and when I told them to act normal, they complied. Interestingly, Catalonia has voted for independence so my trip to Spain this time is going to be completely different because I have no idea what to expect from both sides.
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04/10/2017
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Understanding RomaniaRomania maintains at least the same level of personal security awareness as in the UK. There is a risk of petty theft in large towns, especially Bucharest. Pickpockets and bag snatchers operate in crowded areas, particularly near exchange shops and hotels, on public transport (especially to the airport), in the main railway stations and inside airport terminals. Romania is an interesting place that I can't confidentially say that I know what is going to happen there. I am not travelling to the capital city and will not be shooting in a very large city. I will be travelling to Timisoara, which is to the west of Romania. Similar to Poland, I expect people to be drunk on late trains but overall happy, friendly people. My experience of travelling in eastern Europe is that people tend to actually like being photographed, as opposed to England for example where people tend to shy away from the camera. I think that to get around the language barrier, I will have to speak to language of the world and just get drunk with them. Although it sounds ridiculous at first, I think that if I got on a train with a local who speaks English and we were both drunk, that's where I will shoot my best work. I look forward to the challenge of Romania.
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02/10/2017
Understanding EnglandEngland, England, England. I love to hate the place. Being born and raised in England, you understand people and stereotypes so much more than you will ever understand somewhere abroad. My home town Sheffield is such a wonderful, beautiful, interesting place and the people are so friendly. However, like every place on earth, there is a minority of people who ruin it. For this project I will be shooting all over England. I will be shooting in Cheltenham, Birmingham, London, Weston Super-mare and maybe some other places around the country too. London is the big one; London is the place where this project is to be made or broken. Possibly the most interesting late night underground train system in the world, I am excited, yet nervous to shoot on it. I expect aggression, homelessness and drunk people, but I also expect friendliness and happiness. I think that London will genuinely be the biggest challenge I face because we all know that people from London HATE being photographed and they won't be afraid to show it.
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30/09/2017
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Understanding PolandMost visitors to Poland experience no difficulties. Serious crime against foreigners is relatively rare, but incidents do occur and in some cases attacks have been racially motivated. You should also be alert to the possibility of street crime and petty theft, and that foreigners may appear to be lucrative targets. Keep valuables and cash out of sight, especially in crowded areas and tourist spots where pickpockets and bag snatchers operate. I am interested in travelling to Poland and think that it could be very similar to that of Bulgaria which I have just come back from. I believe that if I stay central during the night and don't venture off any dark alley ways, I will be totally fine. In terms of shooting on the night trains around Poland, I will also be fine and at little risk. If however somebody does become aggressive, it could become a problem due to the lack of language knowledge. Although a lot of Polish people do speak English. I think that Poland will be of no issue to me and will get some very interesting shots, especially on the night train. I expect to see many drunk people though. Maybe this is just a stereotype that I have of Poland but we will see very soon. I fly to Poland on the 1st of November and I hope to produce some great work before the deadline of the 8th of November.
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28/09/2017
Proposal
The Last Train will be a documentary of the social class diversity in East and West Europe. Focusing on people commuting on the last trains in Poland, Romania, England and Spain, the story will show the insides of trains, landscapes of stations and portraits of people on the train and leaving the train. Will there be a major class difference or am I photographing this project on the basis of stereotypes?
My desire for this project is to hopefully showcase that there is still a huge difference in class between the East and the West, especially on the topic of poverty. Basing the majority of my initial thoughts on stereotypes, I am led to believe that England and Spain will show well dressed and cleaner people than in Poland and Romania, where I will see much poorer individuals, maybe who are drunk and dirty. Interestingly, I would like to be proven wrong in this project and I hope that Poland and Romania showcase similarities to that of the west. I will pick up on a few interests of mine to see if they are true, such as the thought that not many women will be getting on the last train in the East, as opposed to the West.
To conclude, The Last Train will document the social class diversity in East and West Europe, focusing on four monumentally different countries; Poland, Romania, England and Spain and photographing the last trains in various places around the country, including underground trains and metros. I hope to bring attention to the poverty that is constant in the East, as opposed to the West. Although there is a lot of poverty in both Spain and England, I am led to believe that it is more prominent in the East and I think that this project will be a great highlight of this.
My desire for this project is to hopefully showcase that there is still a huge difference in class between the East and the West, especially on the topic of poverty. Basing the majority of my initial thoughts on stereotypes, I am led to believe that England and Spain will show well dressed and cleaner people than in Poland and Romania, where I will see much poorer individuals, maybe who are drunk and dirty. Interestingly, I would like to be proven wrong in this project and I hope that Poland and Romania showcase similarities to that of the west. I will pick up on a few interests of mine to see if they are true, such as the thought that not many women will be getting on the last train in the East, as opposed to the West.
To conclude, The Last Train will document the social class diversity in East and West Europe, focusing on four monumentally different countries; Poland, Romania, England and Spain and photographing the last trains in various places around the country, including underground trains and metros. I hope to bring attention to the poverty that is constant in the East, as opposed to the West. Although there is a lot of poverty in both Spain and England, I am led to believe that it is more prominent in the East and I think that this project will be a great highlight of this.
26/09/2017
Initial thoughts
Throughout my time spent in Europe and in the UK, I have noticed a huge class difference between the east and the west. I have also spent a lot of time on trains in and around Europe. During my summer inter-railing, the majority of commuters on my trains were young backpackers, but as soon as I stepped foot on a local train or a train heading for a not so popular destination, I noticed that the majority of commuters were local people and I think that you can tell a lot about a country or a specific place in the world by the commuters in that region. In London, I have found that 80% of people on early trains or 'rush hour' trains are heading to work, the majority of them dresses smart and looking quite well off. However, during periods between 11am-4pm, you notice a huge class change in the fact that the majority of the people on that train are tourists or people without jobs. I want to find a happy medium between documenting the social class of the country and also the type of people who travel on trains. I want to focus specifically on 4 countries. 2 in eastern Europe and 2 in western Europe. I have chosen Poland and Romania for my 2 eastern Europe countries as I think that these could represent the east truthfully. for the West, I will be documenting