After my first successful shoot in Chinatown in which I created work which related to August Sander's 'Citizens of the 20th Century', I decided to go out to the same area and photograph shop workers again to add more depth to my Chinatown series. Unfortunately, many shops I went into refused to take part in my project because either they didn't understand what I was doing it for or they had to ask their boss who was always out at the time. Luckily one subject took the time to have numerous photographs taken of her, meaning the shoot wasn't a waste of time.
Below are my weaker images from the shoot:
Because I'm capturing the workers while they are at work inside the shop, it means that I have to work around the other staff and public who are walking around inside. As the image directly above shows, I found a few times that after composing my image and pressing the shutter another subject walks directly into the frame, thus ruining the shot because I want portraits to only capture the subject of my choosing without other people in the background. This allows the viewer to know the main focus on the image is the subject captured. This is subtle in the image above but you can see a figure appearing to the right of the subject, within the doorway of the supermarket.
Again because I have a short period of time in which to photograph my subjects because they are at work, I have to make sure the images count (unlike the image above). This means that I have to work quickly but efficiently, such as moving around the shop they work in to find different compositions that work well, but also take enough photographs in each place so images in which I have messed up my focusing or the subject is blinking doesn't matter because I have the same image without these defects.
Below are my stronger images from this shoot:
Below are my stronger images from this shoot:
This lady worked in a supermarket within Chinatown, at first she was quite reserved and dismissed the potential portrait, but soon came around after I had explained what it was for. Like before I asked if she doesn't pull her stereotypical pose for the camera that she probably usually does, and tries to give me something that is more natural. The composition is obstructed by the counter which means the viewer could feel quite attached to the image, but her intense stare and facial expression would catch the viewers eye pulling them into the frame. The image is perfectly focused on the subject with the fore and background just out of focus, highlighting to the viewer the importance of her. I like the bright colours behind her as they counter her cold facial expression, furthermore the counter naturally frames the subject nicely.
As you can see this woman let me take the time to try out a few different angles to try and capture the best image. I like this portrait but not as much as the photographs above and below, I feel there is something lacking in the small details of her facial expression that is captured within the other two. This image does give the viewer more information about the type of shop she works in which results in them getting a deeper understanding of her job role and life. Furthermore the rail to the right of the image pulls the viewers eye to the subject which gives her significant importance. Her hand positioning gives off an innocent feeling, this then makes the photograph feel a little warmer than the frozen food section of the supermarket.
I think this is my favourite image from this shoot because of a few different reasons. Firstly, like the first image of the subject behind the counter, the image is perfectly focused which I feel makes the subject standout from her surroundings very well. Secondly, I think the composition on this image works really well because the shops vertical lines strongly pulls the viewers eyes straight to the subjects body. Also the lighting at this composition works well to highlight her face, thus emphasising her gaze that asserts her power towards to viewer.
This shoot was less successful than my first in getting workers to take part within my project, but because I managed to shoot this one subject multiple times in different locations inside the shop I managed to get a better photographic outcome, this being a better portrait of the subject. Next I need to photograph another area of Manchester's shopping district and carry on looking at more artists who produce work similar to mine to improve my photographic practice.