After initial feedback from the group in response to Photographer & Author I became aware that I was in danger of producing a typology of office furniture, that if I wasn’t careful the images would be too similar, and to “lack a reason to turn the page”.
I was aware that the images lacked both architectural perfection, and high energy, but I held to my belief that given enough volume, small differences would rise above the noise and become apparent, and this is where I would find my series.
That being said I resolved to make my next round of photographs with a more visibly deliberate style, to play around more with the concept.
I had a shoot booked with ‘Designer & Artist’ when we reviewed my initial sketches and so I began the shoot with a wide of the space.
I wanted to experiment with the notion that the space was thing I wanted to explore, expanding upon my original idea. The Chairs are after all there in-place of the person.
Then, taking inspiration from Lynne Cohen’s cool, calm and deadpan interiors, I set up for a more architectural style, using a tilt-shift lens to ensure my verticals remained vertical. (I shot from a higher perspective, shifting down slightly so that the work surface was visible).
While I was setting up, my subject came into the frame, he was working and chatting, and while he was talking I exposed a few test shots. In one his face was blurred.
His presence changed the meaning of the photograph in an intriguing way. I asked him to rock backward and forward in order to get a better idea of how the movement could affect the photograph.
The cool detachment over I broke out my 11mm F/4 lens, the widest lens I’ve ever shot with, and hit the space with the flash on full power. This is so unlike anything that I would normally do.
My plan here was to use the flash to create a punch into the space, and to let the wide soak it up the differential between the centre of the image and the periphery. I wanted to separate the work and home spaces with a portrait. (Again departing from my original thought process).
I wanted to create a triptych as below)
