This is quote from the book Susan Sontag on Photography (page 44)
She writes this in relation to the work of Diane Arubus and how it is reactive against what's approved.
i think it would be a suitable title for this series of work.
although i haven't yet decided if this will be my final response to the city brief it is an avenue i wish to explore as part of it, and regardless is something i wish to improve, develop and expand in the future.
These are the images i took on a Saturday night in Manchester city centre, i went out with my friends and waited until the later hours of the night when everyone around me was heavily intoxicated.
i want to depict this area of city life as i think it is side many people dismiss, or never even see (depending on the audience)
I think it is interesting how people change, along with their values when they are drunk. In addition i am interested in the way in which people make themselves vulnerable due to lack of inhibitions and general concern for their environment.
I have looked at the work of Maciej Dakowicz as reference for these images.
He documents Cardiff (Wales) night life. Although his response is different to mine, in the sense that i want to present the gritty, dirty, shameful and shocking side in a more grungy way. An interesting note i did make that i would like to somehow incorporate in my work is the way in which he titles the images with the time at which they were taken. I came across his images in the book (street photography now - page 32 - 35)
as soon as i saw them i realised the potential in my idea, however i wanted to give my images more of a grainy almost blurry effect to heighten the sense of "drunkenness" and present this idea of time being slowed down, the idea behind that being that alcohol reduces reaction speeds.
After looking at my images i realise that i need to find a balance between the effect mentioned above and the clarity of Dakowicz images.
However i do like the ambiguity of mine, they require longer viewing time to fully absorb whats occuring within the frame.
A lot of the images feature some of my friends - reason being i initially wanted the images to feel like a documentation of my friends and their antics on a typical night out.... However, after my first attempt i now realise that prehaps it would be better for me to focus more on the strangers around, as to a certain extent my own concience prevents me from photographing certain events which involve my friends, in the sense that i do not want to feel i am violating, or exploiting my own friends. Furthermore to a degree i hold back where my friends are concerned as i do not wish to represent them negatively, despite having their permission. Therefore photographing strangers is something i will focus on more on my next venture.
The following images are examples of Maciej Dakowicz work in Cardiff.
My photographs -
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