For my one square mile project I had no idea what to do but the deadpan style interested me and so did the works of Don Mccullin, Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange and their photographs. But there is nothing drastic around Bradford to be photographed in their style.
My initial idea was to link this project to my first documentary project about recession where I photographed buildings. But for this project I would photograph people outside of buildings or businesses e.g the owners in a deadpan style.
I didn't think this was a good enough idea so as I was on the bus I had a brainstorm for a new idea. My idea is to start my photographs off on a bus and photograph someone whilst on there and following them when they get off the bus until they get home photographing them along the way. I might have to talk to the people I want to photograph and ask for their permission first but I also don't want to talk to them and let my photographs be a surprise.
I chose my photographs to start in the centre of Bradford then hopefully different people will take me in different directions within the square mile. After much thought I had another idea to photograph different people but instead of having all the same photographs documenting their journey on a bus to their house I would take for example 4 sets of photographs including one person (one set) walking to the bus station and another person (seconds set) to be inside the bus station walking to their bus stand and getting on their bus then another person (third set) being on the bus then getting off at a bus stop, finally one last person (fourth set) to be getting off the bus and then walking to their home.
A photographer who has done something similar is Sophie Calle.
She is a French photographer and she did a book called 'Suite Venitienne' where she had seen a man during the day then lost him during a crowd. Later on the same evening she saw him again at an opening where he was introduced to her. During their conversations he announced his trip to Venice. Sophie hopped on a train with a blonde wig and her camera aboard to Venice. She had found out where he was staying and followed him around venice as he went to places. She wrote a diary of what was happening with pictures within the diary. She wrote ''I must not forget that I don't have any amorous feelings towards Henri B''. But when searching for him she asks a stranger and describes him as her lover as ''only love is admissible as an excuse to involve others in such a search''. Sophie was careless one day and 'Henri B' recognised her eyes and tells her he refuses for her to take photographs of him any more. Even though she knows its over she still hopes to see him by going to his frequent places and to the hotel he was staying at and books his room just to sleep in the same bed as him. Sophie guessed the time that he was leaving and photographs him one more time as he was leaving Gare de Lyon and stops following him.
Sophie Calle said she felt lost in her own city so she followed strangers in the street not because they interested her but for the pleasure of following them.
I like how Sophie's images are quite far away so she's kept her distance from the subject and I would like my images to be a range of up close images and far away. The up close images will be used with my zoom lens so that I don't get too close to the subject to give my intentions of photographing them away.
I would like my images to be in black and white but I will take them in colour and then edit them in Photoshop so that if I don't like them in black and white I still have the originals which will be in colour.
Another photographer is Sally Mann. Sally Mann produced a series of photographs that documented her children in their everyday activities from playing to swimming. As she lived with her children she had their permission to photograph them but she did follow them to be able to capture them.
Sally Mann's photographs are taken in black and white like Sophie Calle.
I like how Sally Mann's photographs of her children are centred in the middle of the photograph so I know she's documenting the same person again and again.
Her photographs are all taken outside in a remote woodland area where there isn't many people around, this adds more focus to her subjects.
Geneva Wrona produced a collection of photographs for a series called 'Big Brother'. The collection is about being watched as if your on the tv show Big brother where the cameras are recording your every moment. I like the fact that the subject isnt always the first thing you see and you have to search for them this allows the audience to really look closer to the images to see everything that is happening.
Geneva took photographs in colour as well as black and white.
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