The thing that most defined this project, for me, was the lack of people as photographic subjects. What started as a regret of working in such an impersonal, commercial setting, and finding myself unable to reasonably obtain consent for such shots, became a core part of the work as my story shifted into an exploration of that very absence. I had to discover the personal character in inanimate objects in which I might not have seen too much before, and find out what story they could tell. I knew that the mall was losing life, but the nature of the photography I was doing forced me to consider that fact in a very direct sense, and it ultimately turned into my narrative. Such interplay between media-making methods and the story being told was an experience I’ll take far beyond this project.
In terms of execution, I do regret being so late on this project; I feel it especially undercut the design of my Shorthand story itself to not review it in class, or refine it in tandem with other students. The formatting of the story is not great, but I felt I had to get it in at this point. However, I am largely happy with the actual photos I took and the narrative I created. My ability to take close-ups and to utilize natural light certainly improved; the course of my work in the second session, from the blazing mid-afternoon to that last bit of orange sunlight, piqued my interest in timing photography with the day from now on. Apart from the design of the story, if I had more time to shoot, I think I’d go back to a few more animated aspects of the mall and try to take some short videos/GIFs for my story, as past students used in theirs. There were one or two scenes of motion (such as flickering lights) that I think really would’ve complemented my story, and the limited footage I got of them didn’t quite do them justice for this project. I am glad I took some last-minute queues from other student projects; the (limited) custom coloring and increased use of spacers really helped my final version over what I initially had.