Assignment two - Neon Youth Theatre production of 'Delayed Departures'

The object of this assignment is to plan and execute a set of images of people in some form of meaningful activity. This could be work, sport, a stage performance (music drama), or at a social event. I need to produce a set of approximately 10 final, selected images, and I can choose between depicting the same person (or small group) at different kinds of activity, or different people at the same single activity or event.

Please see ' Assignment 2: options for consideration' in a previous post

This was a challenging photo shoot as the lighting was mixed, with coloured lighting located overhead and to the sides and fluorescent lighting in other areas resulting in high dynamic ranges. My initial thoughts were to use a tripod in order to deal with camera shake in low light, this was not an option as with the style of the performance being interactive, I would need to move around the stage every few minutes and so would the rest of the audience, creating a tripping hazard. I opted for an ISO of 3200 as I'd previously taken photo's in this situation with many of the images having blur due to the ISO not being high enough, I sacrificed noise for a sharper image as there was going to be a lot of movement in the show. I also used a hood on my lens to avoid flare from the stage lighting at various angles. I selected shutter priority at 1/60 in order to deal with the dancing and general movement. I shot in RAW so could change the white balance which initially was set at 'white florescent' but changed this to 'auto' during the shoot.

Research for the assignment: After reading the entitled 'The subject as an object: photography and the human body' in 'Photography: A Critical Introduction, Liz Wells. I was interested to note the discussion on voyeurism in photography, where a Freudian approach considers the spectator's experience of visual pleasure, usually understood as an erotic pleasure gained in looking at another person or at images of other bodies. This pleasure is voyeuristic when it is dependent on the subject of the gaze being unaware, not looking back. To some extent photography, by the very nature of the medium, invites voyeuristic looking. (Sontag 1977: 11-14). This then, suggests that voyeurism is only considered to be voyeurism when the gaze relates to the subjects being viewed in relation to eroticism. During my research for my next assignment, I came across a conflicting view: David Greg, British Playwright, whose award winning work has been commissioned by, among others, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Scotland to name but a few.  Grieg believes that theatre is a form of voyeurism, 'a consensual exchange' to 'look at people and watch how they behave'. In his work, the  act of watching thus acquires a new role surpassing the simple function of pleasure, and enabling the viewer to engage further with the theatre's mediation to comment, justify, explain, and promote a better understanding of the complexities of human nature - voyeurism in theatre being re-read as a new freedom of the gaze. Research article: New Theatre Quarterly (2011) 'I let the language lead the dance': Politics, Musicality, and Voyeurism. David Greig in conversation with George Rodosthenous. [online]. Available from: www.journals.cambridge.org [Accessed 29.04.2014]. With the previous discussion of voyeurism being erotic in nature, Grieg's opinions differ with quite a contrasting approach, that voyeurism is something not erotic (although not discounting this is what most would think and what is historically the general consensus), but a 'consensual exchange' suggesting that in theatre, the viewers are there to view the performers with the performers in full knowledge of this, in fact by the very nature of theatre, the performers objective is to be viewed, listened to with an overall objective of enjoyment, but not always in the same way Freud suggested. There is also the commonly enjoyed pastime known as 'people watching' enjoyed by many, myself included, although this isn't the 'consensual exchange' one enters into when at the theatre, it is still an activity of the gaze and as such, an activity that results in general enjoyment based on curiosity.

Synopsis of the show: In the hustle and bustle of a busy train station Eve has been overlooked amongst the chaos. With her parents absent and without a friend in the world, the station becomes her purgatory and her haven. As she struggles to find genuine human interaction, she discovers solace with her imagination. Eve embarks on a magical adventure within her own mind and finds herself on a path that leads her to confront the demons of her real life.

As we moved into the theatre, the audience were led to the large stage area, collecting a train ticket on the way in, where they instantly became part of the scene within a train station where everyday commuters (actors) went about their same fast paced routine, with no time to stop, the audience look on at the actors depicting a scene on a crowded train.

For this opening image I wanted to set the scene of being in a train station, the actors with their hands in ‘straps’ depicting a crowded train, whilst members of the audience look on. The screen in the background shows information seen in stations. The faces of the actors suggest the crowded train is a stressful situation which also sets the scene for the story.

Eve, the young girl abandoned in the train station, approaches passers by in an attempt to find her mother, some of the audience demonstrate facial expressions of concern as the 'mistaken identity' scene, with mild aggression is played out.

My intention was to capture the reaction of the ‘stranger’ (actor) to being approached whilst going about their business, and the moment Eve feels in ‘danger’. The grab of the arm and expression of Eve suggests she’s not happy, which is reflected in the face of one of the members of the audience, the young boy also looks a little worried. Again I needed to be quick to get in the right position without members of the audience in front of me. 

After unsuccessfully searching for her mother, Eve decides stay in the station until she returns, she begs for money with a paper cup, again this gets her nowhere and the distress can be seen on her face, she begins to take solace in her imagination, the first character she creates in her mind is 'Summer', who encourages Eve to use her imagination to get her through.

My intention with this image was to convey that Eve needed to beg for money, the image depicts both actors looking at the paper cup, with glum expressions suggesting that Eve’s begging for money wasn’t going too well. 

Summer tells Eve that it's time to go. Eve is visibly confused and upset about being on her own again, the scene also affects those looking on, with concern seen on the faces of the audience, the scenes have more impact with the audience with them being part of the scene and in close proximity to the actors.

I wanted to show the close proximity of the audience to the actors and was able to move around freely whilst taking photo’s being mindful of the possibility of disturbing people with my shutter noise. This image shows how close the audience were to the actors.

Eve refuses to leave the station, convinced her Mother will come back for her. She befriends a homeless man in the station, 'Train station Bob' who helps her by giving tips on how to evade the station security staff. The image is left in colour to convey the consistent hope and faith that Eve carried, insisting her Mother would come back for her and the positive notion of her making a real friend. This contrasts with the black and white image below, the reality of being homeless, away from Eve’s fantasy of a happy ever after, the space around Bob enhances the feeling of ‘alone’. 

I included a further image of Train Station Bob as I felt the black and white contrast increased image, goes someway to demonstrate the desperation of a homeless person having to sleep on a hard floor, this kind of image is likely to be seen on many streets in many towns and city's, I included it to add to the feeling of desperation the play attempts to convey.

Eve now invents Autumn who becomes her best friend in her imagination, she is therefore distraught when Autumn also has to leave & she is alone once more. The expression of both actors is emotional, Eve visibly upset, Autumn looking downward, feeling guilty perhaps for leaving Eve for Winter to come, audience look on with unsmiling faces. I converted this image to black and white as I felt that an emotional image is portrayed with more success in black and white, it also focuses the attention on the actors, a certain grittiness, I especially like the slightly out of focus look on Eve's face, for me it represents the panic with the current situation as things aren't quite right.

I wanted to capture the emotion of Eve's situation and the desperation she felt with the imminent departure of Autumn, I included the audience members in the background to show the attention and concern of the faces, I felt this image, although not perfect with Eve's face slightly out of focus, which I feel adds to the image, captures the 'moment'.

46mm, f/3.5, 1/60, ISO 3200

(Penny Serenade 1941, Cary Grant, Irene Dunne

The image of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne depicts an emotional scene in the emotional, sentimental film Penny Serenade. The photo is similar to this image, although not the same story or type of characters, but the the actors have similar expression, concern, worry & distress with the other actor looking downward, looking uncertain. This moment capturing several emotions is captured in both images)

Winter has arrived,  Eve argues with Winter about being cold, bitter and the challenges she would now have to face.  The audience looked very interested in this scene, with arms folded in united body language, safe in the theatre situation to observe the argument in close proximity with no chance of their input being required.

I wanted to capture the audience as much as possible in this assignment as having them move around freely made it a little more difficult for me to plan my next shot at it was hard to anticipate where anyone was going to be standing. The focal length of 19mm allowed for the audience and actors to be included in the frame which was essential to portray the scene. 

19mm, f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 3200

As the winter snow begins to fall I the audience got involved with the falling snow, it seemed to break the ice and create an atmosphere of fun and excitement, which actually went well with the song being sung by Eve and Winter, a song about learning lessons and acceptance. I included this additional image to show the audience getting involved with the performance and the interactive nature of the performance.

I wanted to capture a moment in the audience when the snow began to fall and the interactive element of the play where most people joined in with fun of the falling snow. I chose this image because the hands were reaching upwards to the snow with smiling faces as the snow fell down to them. 

Train station Bob is caught by a security guard and removed from the station, the audience become the onlookers in the scene. The blur in the image captures the movement of the security guard and Bob's struggle. The audience are in close proximity to the scene, their attention evident along with slight amusement in reaction to the comedy injected by Bob after being ‘busted’.

I had to be really quick for this scene so was relieved with my selection of ‘continuous shooting’, I wanted to capture the stress of the moment with Bob being restrained by the security guard who is looking at Bob whilst radioing for help. The movement from the actors directs the gaze to them and the action portrayed, whilst the audience, who are more in focus, seem appropriately separated from the action.

31mm, f/3.5, 1/60, ISO 3200

Bob returns to the station to tell Eve that he's moved on with his life and is doing well, he wants to help her get out of the station, the audience show their interest and obvious attention in the story with onlookers in the background also paying attention.

I took this image on an angle as normally diagonals create a feeling of ‘dynamism’, in this case I wanted to make the image feel energetic and positive, as though something had changed in comparison to the previous images. I think this works well with Bob being in the centre of the image, to direct the attention to him.

Bob gently tells Eve that her Mother isn't coming back for her, this image shows the difficult conversation taking place with both having a downward gaze, Bob informs Eve that Social Services are waiting outside the station for her and that it is now time for her too to leave the station and start a new life. I included this additional image to demonstrate the difficult realisation for Eve that her Mother won't be coming back for her, this image relays this emotion, which for that reason I converted to black and white.

I think this image sets out to convey what I intended, the close up intimacy of the important, personal conversation, I think that the image converted into black and white as the removal of colour adds to the emphasis on the moment. I took the photo with a focal length of 17mm in order to give the viewer the feeling of being close to the ‘action’ it results in an image with a personal and intimate feeling. 

17mm, f/4.5, 1/60, ISO 3200

Bob comforts Eve with a hug before they both leave the station to start their new lives. This I felt was a fitting final image for this set as it shows Eve receiving the comfort she needed and the promise of a better, normal life she had been looking for, but without her Mother.

My intention for this image was for a final image to show resolution to Eve’s predicament and that she was finally cared for, which was quiet a relief for the audience after a touching and sad story. The show’s Eve being comforted by Bob, the close proximity of 28mm giving the viewer the feeling of being included in the moment. I would have liked to include the audience in this image hoping to get agreeable facial expressions, but as the audience were free to move around the stage, it didn’t work out as planned and there was nothing that could have been changed for my perfect final image.

28mm, f/3.5, 1/60, ISO 3200

Post Assignment Summary:  Taking the photo’s for the theatre performance was a challenge due to the lighting, along with the lack of opportunity to use a tripod. I overcame this with the increase in ISO sensitivity, although a degree of noise can be seen on magnification, this was the sacrifice I needed to make for a faster shutter speed resulting in a sharper focus and less movement blur. This was an unusual production in that the audience moved freely about the stage allowing them to observe as closely as they wished as the story unfolded, which made the taking of photo’s for each scene potentially difficult with people moving around, but at the same time, useful for capturing the expression and interest of the audience. I took a huge number of images making the job of deciding which to include very difficult indeed, the images chosen aim to briefly outline the story of Eve the homeless girl believing her Mother would return for her she creates imaginary friends along the way and makes a real friend in a homeless man. I used a combination of colour and black and white photo’s as some interpreted the emotional situations Eve found herself in better than colour. I also ended up with 13 photo’s instead of the 10 suggested in the brief, I have added an explanation for each addition, the main reason being that the additional 3 photo’s were needed to explain the story.