Defining Evidence

Dictionary Definition: the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

Words to describe/ to do with evidence: Reflective, conclusive, supporting, proof, witness, clue, sign

The image above shows clear evidence of abandonment. I like how the prop and the location both look dirty and uncared for rather than the prop alone, as it makes the overall image look more effective. It also makes the main focus of the image, abandonment, clearer for the viewer. Something else I like about the image is the way the ray of light brings our attention to the doll so that this is what we focus on. Lines can be seen in the window frame and shape is shown in the dolls eye, as the colour contrasts against the lighter face. I like how the dolls face is off centre so that we are able to see some of the surroundings which add to the sense of abandonment in the photo. Overall I quite like this image, and this that it is an effective but also eerie example of evidence.

This photo shows evidence of addiction. I think that the blurring is very effective and really adds to the result and overall look of the photo. It also shows depth as the background of he image is very out o focus, indicating distance. The fact it is black and white allows us to focus more on the content of the image rather than colour, yet also adds to the negative feel of the image. Shape is clearly show as the white pills contrast against the dark surface. Lines and texture can be seen in the table, as well as the reflection of the pills. I quite like this image, because of the blurring and the angle it has been taken from.

This image shows evidence of abandonment or vandalism. The first thing I noticed about it was the bright colours. They contrast against each other but also against the background, as it is plain and black. Depth is visible as the train becomes smaller, darker and more out of focus in the distance. Shape is shown in the form of the graffiti but also the train itself. Something I noticed about this image is that all of the lines are directed at the same spot. The outlines of the train, the yellow line on the ground and the line of lights are all pointing in the same direction. This works effectively to emphasise depth. I like this image for that reason.

This image shows evidence of abandonment or human life. I like how the shoe at the front is more in focus than the one at the back as this suggests depth. The further away from the shoes we get, the more out of focus the image becomes, and the way the shoes are off centre allows us to see this. Lines can be seen in the form of the laces and the fence, and the shape of the shoes is visible as the white rubber sole contrast significantly with the dark wood.

My own definition of evidence: physical information which implies whether something is true or not.

Discussion

Evidence is quite a wide topic to photograph for which is an advantage. I have may ideas as to what I could photograph for evidence, whereas with the other titles I didn't. I also think I could do some good studio shoots for evidence using different props. One of area I could cover is evidence of time passing, or abandonment like the pictures below. I could collect photograph lost or abandoned object I find on the floor, or bring my own props and place them in a run down looking area to make it effective. I could also take pictures of physical damage such as broken objects or graffiti. I think that evidence of abandonment will work best on location for the full effect.

Another area of evidence I could cover is evidence of different types of weather. On sunny days I could go out and shoot both long shots of the whole sunny scene, and close ups of objects in the studio or o location which relate to sunny weather like sunglasses. I could do this for various different kinds of weather such as fog, snow, rain and thunder, and maybe create a good multiple image using these various, contrasting evidence pictures.

Rather shooting on location, I good take some good evidence shots in the studio using evidence related props. This will result in a larger variety of evidence images and create some interesting photos like the ones below.

Work Diary - Shoot 2

Evaluation

After shoot 1 I looked at my mind map to see what other aspects of evidence I could shoot. When I saw evidence of addiction I thought I could show this well through a studio shoot using various props which relate to addiction, so I thought wine bottles and pills would work well for this. A positive aspect of this shoot is that I moved the props around a lot in order to create a lot of different compositions. This was beneficial as I was able to choose the best ones from a large variation. I enjoyed moving the props around as I could use my creativity to create real looking scenes. Using the studio for this shoot rather than location was an advantage as I really liked the kind of feel the dull lighting gave to the image, and the plain table and background allows us to focus of the content of the image rather than the surroundings. I like the way reflection is shown in a lot of the images as the light reflects well off the bottles.

A negative of this shoot would be that I did not move the studio lights around for each different composition. Because of this some of the images came out quite dull, while others came out very bright with a lot of reflection. Another negative is that in quite a few of the photos you can see the edge of the table and the edge of the background. In some of the images this does not effect the image but in some of the, it ruins the feel of the image and distracts attention away from the content of the photos.

I really like the composition of this image I had taken during shoot 2. At first I had placed both bottles upright, but I wanted to experiment with different compositions so I decided lay one of the bottles down. I really liked the way this looked and how it made the scene look more realistic and natural. Also, it allowed the pills to be seen close up and clearly, while at the same time showing the top of the bottle. Reflection from the light can be seen in this image in the bottles, which I like about the picture. The different pills vary in colour which adds interest to the image, and contrasts well against the plain light table. Shape is shown clearly in this image as the outlines of the bottles can be seen clearly against the white backdrop, and the outline of the pills is clear as their colours stand out against the surface. If I was to make an improvement to this photo I wouldn't take it so close up, so that I could include a bit of blank frame space at one of the sides. This would allow more of the bottles to be visible, and although the objects would be off centre, they will still be focused on as the background is so plain. 

I am not so keen on this image which I had taken during shoot 2. The backdrop does not fill up the whole frame so the wall can be seen, which ruins the feel of the image and distracts attention away from the objects in the frame. Also not a lot of the bottles are visible in the frame, so it is not as obvious what they are. If I was to improve this image I would include the full length of the bottles, rather than only the bottom of them,  as this one looks as if it has been cropped. Despite these negatives, I like how the objects are off centre and only take up half the frame. Clear shape is shown as the outline of the bottles and pills are visible due to the contrast between them and the plain white background. A nice light reflection is also visible in the bottles.

Progression

If I do another studio shoot I would make sure I adjust the lighting depending of the angle I was taking pictures from. This would enhance the quality of the image. I would also make sure the backdrop fills the whole of the frame so that the edge is not visible, as this ruins the look of the images. I want to continue to do more photography using props as I enjoyed creating a life like scene. Rather than shooting props in the studio, I might try shooting some props in a location which relates to them, as the surroundings may add to the overall image.

The photos below are examples of the kind of evidence photographs I would like to create in a future shoot. I want to shoot different props like i did in shoot 2, but this time on location rather than studio. I think that this could create some good images as, like the images below, the surroundings actually add to the evidence. In the studio the background and surroundings are plain.

I like the composition of this image. Because the window is on one side we can see visible highlights on that side of the bottle, and shadows on the other. This makes the form of the bottle very clear. In the surroundings we can see a lot of broken parts and rubbish, which adds to the evidence of abandonment and passing of time. 

Evidence Shoot 2

Work diary - shoot 1

Evaluation

I really enjoyed my first session of shooting Evidence. I managed to come up with some good examples and straight images from this shoot. One positive aspect of the shoot was the weather. It was quite sunny which meant the form, shape, texture and tones could all be seen clearly in my photos. When I had taken a lot of photos outside, I decided to take some indoors as I thought a lot of evidence could be found here. This was really beneficial as I found some books and pens, so created a scene of evidence of someone working or reading. In one photo which I particularly liked, I folded a page in the book to show evidence that someone has been reading it. I think the creativity I used really benefitted the outcome of this shoot as I was able to create my own evidence. Another positive of this shoot is that I took a lot of pictures of the same thing but from various different angles. This was an advantage as I could pick which angle I preferred at the end of the shoot. When It came to editing I realised that a few of the images looked better in black and white in order to emphasise the texture and shape, for example I wanted to emphasise the rough texture on a bench to show evidence of damage, and I wanted to emphasise the shape of a shadow to show evidence of light. This worked quite effectively with some of the images.

A disadvantage of this shoot would be that I found it quite hard to find examples of evidence. At first I was looking for things like rubbish on the floor or damage, but this was limited in the area I was in. Because of the lack of ideas I didn't end up with a lot of photos, and some of them were quite similar. Another problem would be that I had trouble with my camera so a few of the images came out quite blurry, which ruined the quality. Despite these points I did enjoy the session and am happy with the outcome.

Progression

When I next shoot evidence I want to be able to think more creatively and more widely about the topic. For example I want to create more of my own evidence scenes like I did with the books and pens, rather than just taking pictures of what's there. I also would really like to take pictures in a large variety of locations, for example somewhere with a lot of graffiti to show evidence of human presence, or somewhere deserted or abandoned to show evidence of abandonment or damage. This way I will end up with a larger variety of images. Another idea would be to take evidence images in the studio as well. I will bring in some evidence related props and use these for a studio shoot, which would result in very different images from the ones taken during shoot 1. I could also try making a multiple image out of evidence images as this will be a unique and creative approach.

Evidence shoot 1

Evidence Mindmap

Evidence Image Bank

 

 

 

The above images are quite obvious examples of evidence. I noticed that in order to make the evidence clear the images are quite minimalistic, which is effective as the evidence becomes more in focus. This is because it can contrast against the plain background in order to show up, and complex backgrounds would draw the eye to other areas. The plain backgrounds also allows shape to be seen very clear, for example in the image of the paper plane we can see a clear outline of it due to the contrast between the white paper and the dark floor.

 

 

After looking in more detail at evidence photography I realised that evidence can also be shown in the form of damage or vandalism, which these next images do. I found after looking at vandalism photography that the colours are edited to be dull or even black and white in order to reinforce a negative atmosphere which comes across as very effective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost or abandoned objects are also another example of evidence. After looking through some photos of these I noticed that the formal element of depth is very effective in these images. For example in the bottom image with the teddy bear on a swing, the girl is a lot smaller, which helps us recognise and emphasises the distance.

 

 

The above images show other examples of evidence. Evidence of movement can be shown by reducing shutter speed in order to cause an effective blur, whereas evidence of weather can be shown by a close up of rain droplets, rather than a whole rainy landscape. This image bank has helped me become aware of the large variety of ways I can establish evidence in my photography, and has inspired me.