These images belong to a larger series of images called 'Operation: Zip-Lock'. The series is all about the fear of being watched, I portrayed this through photographing real crime scenes in CCTV style along side some evidence shots of objects from the scene.
To start off my journey into this narrative image making assignment I needed to start with looking for inspiration. I began doing this by looking at Tableaux Vivants. This showed me how I could use ‘living images’ and actors to pose still for images. These staged images allowed painters and photographers to create narrative behind their still images. It made me understand that staging images for narrative is acceptable and was a craze in France.
I then formed some research based on the seven deadly sins, I wrote definitions for each of the sins and understood what they were about. After this I then created images based on these words. This helped me be able to produce images that have words and definitions behind them, they had a meaning and a narrative.
After this task I then looked at photographers that have created series that contained big stories and meanings behind them. I made some primary research of photographers such as Gregory Crewdson who made images in a cinematic aesthetic. The images were so vague that it allowed viewers to construct their own storylines behind each image, you can look at these images and think about what they are of and what they mean. It is a very interesting approach to narrative image making. I then created research on a photographer called Joel Sternfeld. Him and his work inspired me a lot. He took photographs in a series called ‘On this Site’. This was all about his views on resisting crime scenes well after they have occurred. He presents the site as ordinary and banal, however the narrative and story behind the place and the image is actually completely different. For example he will present his image in a calming aesthetic when the crime there was very horrific and hectic.
I next did a sequencing and narrative task. For this I learnt how to arrange photographs in order to tell a story and narrative. They need to be sequenced in an order that happens to explain the meaning behind the series as a whole rather than the individual pictures. This helped me to understand how I can arrange my images to tell a narrative.
After being influenced by Joel Sternfeld I decided to create an idea generation to figure out what ideas I could come up with. After looking through Sternfelds images I wanted to go down the route of crime scene photography alongside the ideology of being watched. Therefore surveillance and CCTV, the fear of being watched.
Next, I thought about how I would chose to present my images within a photo book. At first I wanted to showcase my images in a typical photo book style. I was going to sew my own book together as I wanted to be able to connect and work on my book in a very hands on and practical way. I planned out what images I would want to take photographs of and how I would originally want to display these. I wanted one CCTV style image. For this I took my tripod out on location, I also used a wide angle fish-eye lens on my camera, as well as using a harsh flash. I chose to use these things to follow the connotations and conventions of a typical CCTV image. The reason why I wanted to take photos in this style was to reinforce the ideology of being watched and monitored. Also when you view a CCTV image your subconscious believes that there is clearly something criminal taking place. You automatically think about criminal connotations about what sort of crime could’ve taken place there. You begin to ask yourself questions and spark interest in the narrative behind it. During editing I planned to edit the images in black and white. I would then add grain to the image as well as adding text in the bottom right corner stating the time and camera number. This would also add to the conventions of CCTV. Another image I planned to include was a zoomed in version of the CCTV images. This would help make the aesthetic as a whole look and feel like a real crime case. The zoomed in image would be of a focal point of interest in the image. Perhaps a car that the police would need tracking that is linked to the crime. Another image would be a google earth screen shot of the location of where the crime took place. This would add to the feel of the report cases and act as a sort of evidence to build up the case folder. The last image I wished to add to my file was an evidence image. For this I had planned to buy a replica of each piece of evidence connected to a crime. For example a stabbing, I would buy a knife. I then took the piece of evidence laid it in a location connected to the crime and took photos of it. To add to the connotations of this style of criminal photography I used a harsh flash, I then cut out a number on a piece of card and laid this next to it. Then on the actual piece of evidence I sprinkled some talcum powder onto the objects and pressed my fingerprints into each. These elements would add to the conventions of crime scene photography and also build up my visual criminal report. The last image I would include would be other general photos of interest. Perhaps eye witness photographic reports.
I then decided how I could display these initially, I drew this all out and planned how I could sequence the images. This was only my initial ideas that ended up changing later on.
After this I convicted my own research on 8 crimes in and around Nottingham, I wanted a range of crimes that were from manslaughter to paedophilic manuals and rape. These were all real stories, I found articles around these stories and spoke to people that new about the crimes or people that know of the criminals themselves. I wrote about all these articles and planned out where they were.
For more inspiration on how to shoot my images, I was told to watch the movie ‘Nightcrawler’ for ideas and references. This definitely helped me a lot due to the way that the movies scenes were shot and edited. Also due to the fact that it was a movie based upon recording and documenting crime, it helped me connect with the technical aspect of the movie not just the narrative. This was most definitely beneficial to me and my outcome.
On the day of the shoot I got my friend to drive me around all these locations to gain the CCTV style images. This took its course over a couple of days and many different weather conditions. I had to put up with daylight, nightlight, rain and snow which made me images look interested due to how they looked over many months rather than a couple of days. I was adamant that the weather would not stop me from shooting my images due to the way that CCTV images are recored through any weather. I had to adjust how I shot, ensuring the camera was try through using umbrellas.
Next I shot the evidence images, this wasn’t too much of a task as I could use locations in and around my house to shoot these. I spent a few hours shopping for the objects making sure they were as realistic as possible.
After I had collected my images, my whole idea about how I was going to display my series changed. I wanted to present them in something more creative than a photo book. I had come up with ideas about how I displayed my images would connect with what the images were about. My idea was that I would get a cardboard box, with cut out handles and a lid. Inside this box I would have 8 brown folders, inside each would be the photos of each crime scene. On the cover of each folder would be a cut out title in a typewriter font. On here it would say the case number and the title of the page. Also inside this box would be all of my hard evidence, I placed these into zip-lock bags and used masking tape to write on the bags, claiming what was in the bag, the date of the crime and the correlating crime number to the folders. I found that this worked very well and allowed viewers to feel and connect with my project. You have to be physical with my work to see what is going off, you are forced to invest time and properly view each element individually. I then connected all the folders together adding a front cover title page for the whole project. I connected this with the other 8 folders lithesome bulldog clips and each of the individually folders were kept together with large paper clips. This was to keep all cases separate and ordered. This was to follow the conventions of police style reports, everything would need to be in order. By doing this and adding paper clips and many pages it means you have to almost dismantle the reports yourself to find out whats inside them, therefore investing time and forcing you to understand what is going on in each crime scene. The articles of the crime themselves were purposely kept out of the reports. Only the title is there to give the viewers an impression of what is going off. The rest is down to the viewer to make their mind up on the little details everyone wants to find out. This approach was inspired by Gregory Crewdson.
