Reflection on 'Buildings in use'
This has been a very stimulating assignment to do and
worth some thought after the event.
Thinking about what buildings to choose here. I had in
mind some buildings that I might work for this assignment so I set out
initially to check this out through desktop research. The eventual mix included
new, iconic designs and old buildings converted to a different use to that of
the original. Some were designed as tourist attractions or have become such.
Others were designed for a particular function i.e. café or art gallery. With
the exception of Tate Modern (a last minute decision), I chose buildings that I
could return to easily should I need to. Boathouse 6, East Beach Café, and the
Aspex Gallery were visited twice.
What did I learn
during the course of the assignment?
Research
In some respects, the research was very much the easier task
combining desktop searches with previous visitor experiences of some of the
buildings chosen. This exercise has emphasised the real value of knowing as
much as you can about the subject before setting out – in this case the concept
and design of the building. This was particularly valuable for the Mary Rose
Museum and the East Beach Café as what I learnt about the concept helped shape
my ideas as to how to capture photographically how well space was being used i.e.
what features I might want to include in the images.
Walking
the floor
Desktop research can only take you so far- it helps
inform the game plan for the shoot...what might be worth photographing to show
what you want to convey.
Nothing can ever replace taking time to just walk and look
around before taking any pictures. In this instance, observing other visitors
using the available space helped form ideas as to how successful the building was
being used and how I might show this. It also helped me realise where it would
be difficult to take shots either due to the confines of space, lighting issues
or the numbers of visitors milling around.
Anticipating
photographic restrictions
You can anticipate photographic restrictions to some
extent but a phone call ahead can establish whether what the restrictions are.
Interestingly, I knew that flash photography was not allowed in the Mary Rose
Museum – a real problem given the narrow darkened galleries but I did establish
that I could in take a tripod (and I thought they would say no due to Health
& Safety!) No one said that I could not take photos inside except the Tate
(which I knew anyway) and the East Beach Café which said a definite no to
pictures of customers (and therefore no tripod either which inevitable led to
images with a high level of noise).
Looking at the spaces within each building made me think
quite hard about how to approach capturing the features I’d identified in
photographic terms. I found myself looking at the building in different ways. For
example, from a design and concept point
of view, from the stance of marketing the space either as a tourist attraction
or corporate business venue, a cultural space or from the visitor perspective.
Reflecting after the initial visit and shoot...what
worked and what didn’t made me realise in this instance the main issue was more
often than not the technical issue of taking images in low light without the
possibility of using a flash unit or sometime a tripod. This did lead to
compromise on the second visit either having to rely on a tripod in an area of
visitor high traffic or no tripod and an IPhone. The resulting images did have
a lot of noise.
My assignment is now on its way to my tutor. I’ll sleep
on these reflections and come back in a while to consider what else I’ve learnt
from ‘Buildings in use’
