Assignment 3 - feedback

Overall this assignment was successful but it wasn't as strong as the previous two assignments I submitted.  I'm not sure why that is really.  Perhaps it was down to this particular assignment and the fact that I struggled to shoot indoor spaces.  I felt the assignment was overall frustrating to carry out.  It was very difficult to avoid taking pictures of buildings that looked like tourist snaps.  It was also difficult to find locations where I could shoot indoors.  It was also difficult to focus on so many buildings.   I felt that I didn't have the time or the ability to do my chosen ones the justice an in depth treatment of an individual building would give. From looking at other students blogs I was not alone in finding this assignment challenging.  It seems that many other people struggled with it too.

However in saying that I believe that I would tackle the subject differently if I was to do the assignment again.  The benefit of hindsight always is a wonderful thing!

My tutor made comments about my use of an overly wide angle lens and the fact that the edges of the pictures lacked sharpness.  I think my major mistake with this assignment was trying to get as much as I could into the frame hence the reason why nearly all have been shot using an extreme focal length.  I think this probably arose from me trying to avoid cliched shots or touristy ones.

Feedback on specific pictures is detailed below.

The Geffrye Museum
These images suffered as a result of shooting with an extreme focal length.  It was suggested by my tutor that I look at the work of Peter Fraser to discover a different way to explore the relationship people have with places.  I have looked at Fraser's work and posted my thoughts here.

Tate Modern
Although I have used the wide angle better for these images some would have benefited from a closer angle like the image shot in the tanks.  My tutor also suggested that I looked more at landscape shots for some of the images as with the portrait style I chose there is a lot of empty/dead space as in the image below.

British Museum
My tutor found these to be the most interesting of my shots.  He suggested that I pay more attention to what people are doing in the frames.  Most cases the people are moving towards the camera and it would be interesting to hang around awhile and see what I could get of the people actually milling around.

Covent Garden
I felt these were my weakest shots and my tutor's comments reflected this. I agree with him when he said they looked a bit hurried.  Looking back I believe I did rush them and this can be seen in the final images.

London Underground
My tutor said that these pictures were very different to the others I submitted and that they provided an interesting dimension to my assignment.  I personally felt more comfortable in this environment to explore more hence the resulting tilting angles.  While I was doing this assignment I shied away from shooting passengers up close.  I think this is something I would like to try in the future but it is very difficult to do.  My tutor suggested I look at the work of Luc Delahaye and Bruce Davidson.  I have looked at this and I have found them interesting.  The images are very close up and at times the commuters look a little weird.  I think I would be interested in shooting people that are asleep etc commuting to work.

Overall I have learnt quite a bit from this assignment.  I am looking forward to moving on the next assignment and finding a new space to explore.