Story Location 1: Hauck Auditorium
This is the larger theater on campus that is used for University productions. As a theatre major I’ve spent a lot of time in here and thought it would be interesting to show different parts of this space through photography. Most people who visit this theatre only see it from one perspective and don’t get to experience all of the backstage areas, history, and machinery of this theater as I have, so it seemed like a location I could offer an interesting perspective on.
Story Location 2: Campus
There are a lot of very interesting and sometimes beautiful everyday sights on campus that I think are often underappreciated, both by myself and everyone who frequently walks through the area. In particular I thought it might be interesting to examine spaces from a different or unusual angle. I’m really fascinated by the idea of playing with our perceptions of scale through photography and tried to work with that idea in a few of these images. (Most noticable in some of the tree ones)
Inspiration/Connection:
Phoebe’s Story (https://crawfordpond.my.canva.site/home) feels similar to mine in that she was photographing mostly interior spaces and telling the story of a place, which I am attempting to emulate in my assignment.
1-make a shortlist of techniques or choices that you liked or that you would consider using in your own story. Then explain why?
The black and white in Phoebe’s photography is an interesting choice and something that I think would be worth experimenting with in my project but at the same time I think color is really important for certain parts of my story. The blue of the seats, the colors of the curtains, the little pieces of equipment or small details peaking out. I also liked how Phoebe really focused in on small details like light and shadows on objects and then explained the story of these photos and their significance with text. I’d like to emulate this in my story. A lot of objects in my location might not seem to mean much on their own but I’ve got a lot of stories both personal and ones I’ve been told about the objects in this theatre.
2-Make another list of techniques or choices that could be improved to make the story even better. Explain how/why they would improve the story.
- A wide establishing shot – Phoebe’s work really focuses in on the small elements, which is good but I think it could benefit from one or two wider shots to give us an idea of the whole place and the context of these photos.
- Motion – I Like that there are no people included in Phoebe’s story as a stylistic choice but I think a photo giving more of a sense of motion in the place like wind blowing through the tree, billowing curtains or a ball on a floor might bring some dynamism to the story.
Photos
- What’s working?–why?
- The black and white – Nostalgic, somber feel to the story
- The focus on harsh shadows in her images really makes the photos interesting and I want to emulate this.
- What would you change/improve? why?
- I would try to add some motion somewhere in the story just to add a different angle.
Story
- What’s working?–why?
- The nostalgia in her story matches the tone of her images quite well.
- The way she takes each photo almost as inspiration for a little story is interesting and keeps the story engaging.
- What would you change/improve? why?
- The story takes itself a bit too seriously and in combination with the images it might make the whole thing a bit too intense.
Layout/design
- What’s working?–why?
- I like the cursive-esque first letter of the headings.
- The inclusion of quotes in certain areas breaks up the text and images nicely.
- What would you change/improve? why?
- I think that I would move her photo with the big willow tree further up, maybe even making it the first image. It feels like a good central or ‘hero’ image to sort of base the story around.
Peer Feedback:
James said he liked the idea of examining different backstage areas. He also suggested experimenting more with the black and white for certain images like the stairs and furniture.