Toy Soldier's Funeral

It is a fact that a huge proportion of modern entertainment centres around war, much of which I consume myself. This is not inherently, in my opinion, a huge problem, but what is a problem is the lack of emotion from people over depictions of human loss of life. Children have been playing with toy soldiers for years, and do not stop to think of the implications of the battles they are creating; to them, and to many people, war is still perceived in the context of a game, instead of a tragedy. Heavily inspired by the work of Brian Johnson, I set out to make this point through a photo shoot using toy soldiers. I decided to create a funeral scene using only toy soldiers, to emphasize the fact that in war, people do lose thier lives, and this is not something to be treated lightly but as a tragedy and a waste of human life. I feel that what makes this shoot effective is the juxtaposition between tragedy and innocence, which seems very alien until one realises that this same juxtaposition has been present in children's games for years.

In creating this shoot, I found a small earthy patch next to an old tree stump in my garden; I chose this spot because it was flanked by tree-like weeds on three sides, meaning I could take the photo from the fourth and give the impression the soldiers were standing in a clearing. As a coffin, I used a small aftershave sampler lid; this was small enough and lightweight enough to be 'carried' by the soldiers.

Delivery I liked the sense of movement in this image, created by placing the soldier in a pose suggesting he was jumping down from the car. I tried to observe the rule of thirds when framing, and used a shallow depth-of-field to draw attention to the key parts of the image whilst also displaying soldiers coming to retrieve the coffin in the bottom part of the image.	The Coffin-Bearers I made use of the rule of thirds in this image in order to make the composition feel natural, as though an actual funeral was taking place. I liked the subtle reflection of the soldiers in the coffin; it seems to suggest that any of these men could have been the one inside it.	The Coffin I felt this was one of the weaker images in the shoot given the lack of seemingly physical action occuring, but included it because I liked the sense of sombre isolation the coffin had, sitting alone next to the grave.
Paying Respects I felt this image was simple yet powerful. The idea of a soldier saying a last goodbye to a friend being presented through toys creates a saddening and dark juxtaposition. I also liked how the pose looked as though the soldier was in the process of hurrying away, as though he had not been granted much time to mourn, thrown instead back into the war machine.	21 Guns Whilst it could be argued that the presence of ordinary-sized plants in this image shatters the illusion, I actually take this as a positive; it reinforces the idea that the toy soldiers are not real, reminding us of the juxtaposition further.	21 guns 2 I liked that we could still see the funeral service out-of-focus in the background of this shot, as it give s a sense of context and therefore narrative realism.
Lowering the Coffin In the closer-up version of this image, I liked the focus on the isolated action of lowering the coffin; I felt highlighting this action made it more poignant...	Lowering the Coffin 2 However, zooming further out allows us to see the onlookers, who could be seen as equally important; they are mourning the loss of a squadmate, after all.	The Cross I decided to only feature one soldier in this shot, as it felt more personal and therefore emotional to see one man, presumed a friend of the deceased, fastening the cross...
Remembrance Similarly, seeing one man standing by the grave held a similar emotional weight. The steadfast, still pose of the soldier suggests a thoughtfulness without using words, and therefore this is my favourite image in the shoot; it manages to successfully convey a very real emotion using a thoroughly false scenario.

Jude White

A2 Photography

'Exponential Growth'

Toy Soldier's Funeral

Delivery

The Coffin-Bearers

I made use of the rule of thirds in this image in order to make the composition feel natural, as though an actual funeral was taking place. I liked the subtle reflection of the soldiers in the coffin; it seems to suggest that any of these men could have been the one inside it.

The Coffin

I felt this was one of the weaker images in the shoot given the lack of seemingly physical action occuring, but included it because I liked the sense of sombre isolation the coffin had, sitting alone next to the grave.

Paying Respects

21 Guns

Whilst it could be argued that the presence of ordinary-sized plants in this image shatters the illusion, I actually take this as a positive; it reinforces the idea that the toy soldiers are not real, reminding us of the juxtaposition further.

21 guns 2

I liked that we could still see the funeral service out-of-focus in the background of this shot, as it give s a sense of context and therefore narrative realism.

Lowering the Coffin

In the closer-up version of this image, I liked the focus on the isolated action of lowering the coffin; I felt highlighting this action made it more poignant...

Lowering the Coffin 2

However, zooming further out allows us to see the onlookers, who could be seen as equally important; they are mourning the loss of a squadmate, after all.

The Cross

I decided to only feature one soldier in this shot, as it felt more personal and therefore emotional to see one man, presumed a friend of the deceased, fastening the cross...

Remembrance