I had an idea of using QR Codes to link viewers from my images to the several audio readings I have got for them. At first I thought about trying to create augmented reality images, which is where you scan a photo with a special but free to download app, and the photo comes to life with a video. But when I looked into it, it was too expensive and non practical. So I thought I would do it with QR Codes instead. QR or Quick Response Codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read using smartphones and dedicated QR reading devices, that link directly to text, emails, websites, phone numbers and more.
I hope that by adding an audio element to my work, I can stimulate more of the viewers senses and invoke stronger reactions from them. I am also inviting the new viewer to leave their thoughts or comments on the project.
On a recent trip to Bournemouth, I took the opportunity to get some more images, however they have a completely different feel to them than the street images I have been taking, so I will try a couple of hem in the final edit to see how they work.
I thought I would have a go at taking some photos with the 35mm. I went to a retail park in Cheltenham and shot sitting in my car. I am not happy with the outcome - these have a different look and feel to the rest of my project, possibly more suited to the enquiry of the last module. I wont be trying this again. This exercise has firmed up my view that I will stick with the DSLR.
These images have been taken alongside the iPhone set below. I used the covert technique of hiding my shutter release cable down my sleeve and pressing it discreetly with my hand in my pocket.
Things I learnt today: 1. People in London don't really care - even if you are really obviously taking their photo. This meant that on occasion I was able to handhold the camera and structure my shots more directly. 2. By rigging up the camera strap to the correct length, I could use my upper body as a good stabiliser and angle the shots to the best viewpoint. 3. I have a habit of inadvertently looking directly at the people I am shooting which makes them a. think I am weird and b. wonder what I am up too. (STOP LOOKING AT THEM!!!) 4. Because of how I balance the camera on my chest, every time I take a shot - apparently I swing my whole upper body around and look weird.... So today we went to London to try and give the iPhone method a second chance. This time I rigged myself up a little more covertly by using my headphones as a shutter release and hiding the wire down my sleeve so that it wasnt obvious what I was doing. I felt this time that I had been a little more successful, but by contrast, I had also taken a vast amount of images more than the previous attempt. I still found that I needed to be closer to my subject and also it worked better if i stopped walking and just stood more stationery.
All in all though, I am realising that I do prefer the DSLR for the ease in which it captures the image and the quality it renders over the iPhone technology. I will try shooting with 35mm film to see how that works. But I am more and more feeling like I will revert back to the DSLR so that the images are better and focus more on the recorded readings as they are closer to what I am looking to achieve than the outcome of pursuing the aesthetic of different technology. Using my phone, I recording my son Harry, aged 3 talking about this image. I had to prompt him a bit, but I was quite pleased with the outcome. I thought his reading was quite funny and an interesting insight.
Doing this has made me realise that if I could get a few people to do this, I would be able to get some really interesting and varied opinions about the same image - I think this might work for me in terms of what I am looking for this project to fulfil. I found myself in Birmingham New Street train station today, so I thought I would have a go at taking photos with my iPhone. What I found was that you had to be really close to people in order to get a good exposure as the shutter speed and focal length can't cope with moving people. I did get some interesting shots, but overall I was disappointed with the results. The clarity isn't there and there is too much motion blur. I couldn't find a way to manually manipulate the iPhone camera settings.
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