Addiction Test Photo Shoot

I have moved away from photographing the tablets as a scattered object and instead have decided to include an element of hospitality by placing the tablets in tumblers. Also I have used a shallow depth of field of f.8 to allow the tablets to be the focal point but  area there stored in will have an importance as keeping tablets in a cupboard where you keep your personal objects is pretty strange and anybody looking in would find this ad normal but to my mum it seems to be the norm.

Final Shoot Negatives - Object

These two negatives are two shots that I took for my final print for the Object project. Image one is my favourite out of the two it was taken at an Aperture of f.8 a Shutter speed of 400th of a second and a film speed of 160. What I like about this negative compared to negative two is that my assistant was able to block the light with a flag bouncing on to the shelf and instead focusing on the tablet holder. I decided to use a shallow depth of field as I wanted the front set of tablets to be in focus and the rest out of focus to make sure the camera represented what I am trying to portray the importance of the tablets in the Image.

Drawing of Studio Set Layout for Object Final Shoot

This image is the drawing of the layout of my set in the studio. I decided to do a drawing as I thought this would be the best way to re-create the set if my negatives didn't turn out the way I wanted them to visually look. I am not the best drawer as you can see but this image is basic and will be helpful if i need to re shoot my objects. 

Work of Artist Gareth McConell

After Attending the studio workshop on Depth of Field I decided to go back over my notes and I Came across  Gareth McConell's name which I Googled. I really loved his work and I am now thinking this is a style of work I am going to test out on my Images. Prior to looking at his work I was dead set on this idea of my images looking clean and crisp suggesting hospital-ism, I now feel if I carry on photographing with bright white lights  it may become or be portrayed as less personal something which I do not want the viewer to feel. Using a shallow depth of field will portray the darkness of the narrative and will focus on the tablets which my Mum is addicted to and draw the viewer into the image.

Test Shoot Tablets 1

In this set of test shots I wanted to portray to my audience the fact that these tablets are for medical use and not drug abuse. For this test shot I have played around with the use of lighting and exposure to decide on the effect I want to use for my final Image. I especially am fond of image three I like the fact that pile of tablets shows the amount of tablets my Mum has to take to stay out of pain but the lighting portrays the idea of clinical use.

Test Shoot Cigarettes

                                           

I have started this project by developing my idea of Addiction. I am looking at the addiction my mum has in counted due to her disability. I have photographed the cigarettes that she smokes the reason the butts are scattered  is because the amount of cigarettes she smokes is not consistent in the way she takes her tablets. My Mum has to take her tablets at a certain time each day or she will be in chronic pain something I do not understand.  

Still Life Photo - Shoot Positioning of Objects

The above photogaphs are by Andy Warhol, Irving Penn and Richard Misrach. I have decided to look at their work as I want to position my objects in my photograph  in a similar way that the above artists have done so. From looking at the way the above atists have positioned their subject enables the viewer to enter the photograph and observe and see the subject in detail. Arranging my objects and having the camera looking down at the objects will allow the viewer to see my still life to the full and will enable them to feel what I trying to portray as they are able to view the whole subject. 

Still Life Tutorial 07.10.11

I found this tutorial really helpful it was helpful as it made me pinpoint what I wanted to create a still life on. I have decided to look at the idea surrounding Addiction.  Due to my mum becoming disabled in 2009 this has become something that has become the centre of my life. My mum takes thirty tablets a day to mask the pain of her disease. The tablets that she takes are extremely addictive and she could not live without these tablets. I want my still life to show her addiction in a controlled way and not to portray a drug addict who uses drugs to forget about the emotional  pain of their life not the physical pain.
I am going to use strong bright lighting even though this has a dark narrative I want to portray a hospital effect which I am hoping will portray that these tablets are used for medical reasons. I am going to play around with the positing of the tablets but one idea I have is to position  the tablets  in four structured panels to portray how heavily reliant my Mum is on these tablets and that she has to take them at a specific time or else be in extreme pain for the rest of the day. Another idea suggested to me in the tutorial was to use tumblers which are used in hospitals to give out medication. I will probably do a test shot with this idea but I feel it will be too obvious to the viewer and may not portray Addiction but portray sickness.
I am going to create my photograph in a way that Richard Misrach created his Image of the people on the beach where the camera is looking down on the subjects (Below Image). I feel this will work perfectly with my objects as it will make the viewer look at the detail of the objects and hopefully read the message I am trying to portray.