I followed the instructions for this still life exercise. I used a space in my bedroom- vanity table and the flat object I used was the bedroom mirror draped in a white sheet.

1/ Visual Description : This is a still life with a predominantly white background.The objects of the still life provide the small amount of colour off centre.Some of the objects appear to be floating which causes a feeling of uncertainty. The ‘table top’ has a slant to it creating a sensation of falling.

2/ Composition: three quarters of the composition is background, the white shadows and shades take up the left half of the photograph. The lower left table like structure has a glossy and slanting top. The still life elements consist of a combination of real and cut out objects, some of which are floating/falling and others on the surface.

3/ Dimensionality : the overlapping of the background in the lower centra portions in front of where it should be and brings the planes into question. The table top changes from a hard shiny surface into a folded table cloth like area.

4/ Connotations : spoons and plates relate to the home/domesticity, cherry seeds to poison and the pomegranates have multiple meanings including fruit of the dead, fertility and abundance.

The still life I chose consisted of a beer bottle, a cactus and a pumpkin as above. I tried 2 different arrangements.

The narrative I wanted to communicate was a day in my life when I am feeling low.The props I used included- the book shelves in my bedroom, my camera and my medication packet.The lighting was poor on the day I took this which could have been a problem but in fact I think it chimes with the mood and the imperfections in the photographs (eg in the upper left corner of the self portrait )also add to this so I didn’t feel I wanted to take the pictures on a day with brighter light.

I needed to use a shallow depth of field because of the poor lighting and a high ISO. I chose black and white as this particular day seemed so gloomy and lacking in colour.The shallow depth of field allowed me to blur my face in the self portrait and to draw attention to the raindrops on the window.

In the first two photographs the use of the grid in the bedroom shelving is mirrored by the pill packets , whilst in the second the circle of the camera is mirrored by the light circle of the living room reflected in the window. This emphasises these two patterns. The grid is a powerful framing / hanging device used by photographers such as Wolfgang Tillmans and used in art by modernists including Agnes Martin. The circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning which can represent timelessness, the self and eternity.

Depression can be seen as an eternal struggle ( the circle) and as an enclosed box-like existence ( grid) hence the symbols in this piece of work.

A Signficant Place

A place that holds significant meaning for me is my reading chair.I sit in it not just for reading but also for talking to my partner , stroking the dog, looking out into the garden and simply being. It was an eBay purchase and there is a blanket which was a present to me from my partner from a weavers that I love. It is a safe place, warm an enclosing, just the right size.

Photographing it in the evening with warm light would give it the right atmosphere and increase the red/yellow light as there is a mixture of natural and artificial light.

The settings I used were shutter speed 1/30, aperture 2.8 and Iso 800

In post production I added a vignette to darken out the peripheries and make the chair more enclosed and comforting

References above- Mary Cassatt and Van Gogh- are romantic images and Gaugins chair especially has the lighting I was looking to emulate whilst the Cassatt shows the comfort and enclosure provided by an armchair.

The genres I used were still life ( the sewing machine) and portraiture ( the hand) , although one could also see this as a documentary photograph. I wanted to take this picture as Juanita has spent a lifetime sewing and now because of getting older can’t use her machine anymore.

the settings – aperture 2.8, iso 400, speed 1/40

I like the highlights on the top of her hand which emphasise the aged skin and the softness of the sewing machine because of the wide aperture. I would like to try a series of her hands working with the machine. I did take some others of her hands see below.

aperture 3.2, iso 200, speed 1/60

I think this is perhaps too shallow depth of field although I do like the depth created .