I have taken various photos of mundane and lacklustre areas which we don't often pay attention to whilst passing through; areas that are unfamiliar to us or that have no quality that fascinate or capture us. For example, my back garden, the coombe to the roundabout, the laneway into town. These are examples of areas we may pass by or co-exist around but do not pay much mind to because they are bland and only act as dead ends or merely paths from point A to point B.
I started with my back garden using my small point-and-shoot camera and took photos around the garden. This first photo is in the same location as seen in "HIJACK", albeit not pointed upwards.
I then moved on to the path toward my back garden's gate and took a photo looking down that path. I really love the shapes in this image, i.e. the side of my house on the left—almost framing the image—the house behind the fence, the poles, wooden poles and the wheelie bin stretching up from the ground.
These shapes are blocky, chunky and simple and breed more life into the complex and detailed environment, i.e. the plants at the back, the decorations on the wall, the little pebbles and rocks in the back and the fancy wooden fence.
I then moved further outside up the path towards my college campus and took photos around the street. This was the one that stood out to me compositionally, although it's unfortunately a very low quality due to the camera I used and it being shot quickly in a passing walk.
These photos were taken another day on my phone which, whilst often lower in resolution than the highest settings of my point-and-shoot camera, captured light a lot better and came out a lot sharper, especially after editing them in Photopea.
Another area that I often pass through but never pay much mind to is this laneway into Causeway Head. A row of old houses sit on the left-hand side behind cobbled walls along a pathed pathway adjacent to a large apartment complex.
Not that visually stimulating after a while, and passing through it often just makes it a slog to walk through. Aesthetically, this is a very unique area, as the photo below helps demonstrate.
This last photo was taken on the street on the other side of the cobble walls seen in the previous photo. As the street begins with a fork in the road, I took a right to take said previous photo, whereas this photo was taken on the left side. This street is chock full of modelled houses with bay windows, rows of chimneys and organised front gardens.
Whilst this area is also aesthetically pleasant, it feels more lifeless to walk through. All the houses look identical in shape and colour, all with their curtains and nets drawn. These houses all stand proudly next to one another like they're going to war, but with them looking so identical, it's hard to get a sense of life or character out of them. I will attempt to incorporate this empty, cold feeling into my illustrative elements within this project wherever appropriate.
