In the only prescribed task for this project, I was asked to produce a minimalist photo shoot. I initially found this prospect daunting, as I would then have to find a way to link this with the rest of my work, which seemed on the surface to be a far cry from minimalism.

 

For my minimalist shoot, I decided to try and take a series of very graphical photographs, with a clear initial goal in mind; I wanted to try and make very functional graphics and signage into art, by focusing on interesting areas of their form and colour, out-of-context of the sign’s wider function. I did this by zooming in very close to the signs, often at odd angles, and then removing details and highlights using the noise reduction, highlights and shadows sliders in Adobe Lightroom.

 

With regards to my images themselves, whilst I felt I very much achieved the graphical aesthetic I set out to create, the kit I had at my disposal was perhaps not best suited to the task; the edges of some of the shapes appeared blurry and a little distorted. Had I been in possession of a macro lens or a heavy zoom lens, I could have stood further back and zoomed from a distance, allowing me to focus better on small areas of the shapes. However, all in all I feel the shoot was a success considering the short timeframe in which I had to work, as well as the lack of advanced equipment tailored to the task. 

 

Following the initial shoot, there came the admittedly difficult task of linking these images to human growth. I decided that, given the prescribed theme of obstruction, I would make the images seem as though corrupted, as a statement about the unreliability of digital storage, which most of the world is beginning to use to replace paper documentation. The above video was the result of this decision, and was edited using Adobe Premiere Pro. The orchestral music in the background was included to give the impression of ruined or distorted art, but at the same time suggest that there was in fact art in the piece.