[Field-Homework 1] Where is everybody?

[A]Photos

1. wide angle: it is the corner of the pantry. The most apparent difference of the room is the information on the common board changed from cute doodles into (kind of aggressive) call on personal hygiene issues.

 

2. zoom: at the corner of the whiteboard, a repetition of “Wash Hands!” is written. which has delivered a nervous atmosphere to the common pantry

 

3. focus: on the window one can see the traces left of defending another disaster happened in Hong Kong, Typhoon. The previous owner doesn’t completely remove the tape, instead, the tape stayed and silently tell the history of the place.

 

4. crop: a crop of the cleaning trolley(full with disinfectants), the photo is shot secretly from a distance, a voyeur from my room.

 

 

5. bird’s eye: one can see the pantry rooms of another building, most of the pantry remains clean and cheerless, which is a very different view compare to previous times.

 

6. worm’s eye: using worm eye to shoot a bug resting in the pantry, it has been static for quite a while. Nobody knows whether it’s dead, nobody cares…

 

 

7. first person’s view: an accident encounter with cleaner staff, yet I just turned away to avoid more interaction

 

 

8. skewed angle: a shelf of shampoo, conditioner, and other cleaning items, most of them remain dry(unused) for quite a long time

 

9. perspective: corridor of the floor, with a cleaning trolley in the central. Since the outbreak of the virus, the smell of the disinfectant in the corridor has been stronger and stronger, especially when the trolley comes.

 

 

10. view frame: the frame of the half-open window cut the photo into parts, on the right side it is the green mountain view yet on the left it is a cemetery.

 

 

 

11. chiaroscuro: a photo shot on the same corridor in one morning, the light condition is generally dim, but a small light beam cast itself on the end of the corridor.

12. seriality: Born to death of a rubbish bag [Night/Farewell/Reborn]

[B]Technical view description – seriality

“Serial” pictures can usually depict a narrative story of the subject. Here I chose the story of a rubbish bag through capture the bag at different times of a day, and see more information from them.
This is an object that one can encounter quite a few times daily. After the outbreak of the virus, people started to care more about their hygiene conditions, while rubbish bags are one of the subject ones that may (subconsciously) pay attention to.
By looking/encounter with the rubbish bags, one will see how a new rubbish bag is placed in the morning, gradually filled with wastes (adding both its volumes and its smell, colors…). After it accomplished its responsibility, it will be taken away to remain the resident space to be clean and tidy, while itself being demolished in somewhere else. A great sacrifice.
While one observes the rubbish bag, it seems like the rubbish bag is also staring back at you, the person who cleans himself/herself daily, and throws away the rubbish and useless things (both physically and mentally). To some extent, these rubbish bags reassure the anxiety of people under the outbreak of the virus.

 

Chen Yushan 

UID:3035660354

1 thought on “[Field-Homework 1] Where is everybody?

  1. Ina Wu says:

    You demonstrate a good understanding of and personal engagement with the course content with regard to the task. The photos as a collection demonstrate your topic with clarity. Am curious about the intention of the one color photo you placed in this series of photos. Are you trying to convey that the cleaning trolly is the only active thing that occupies the empty communal space in your dormitory?
    The selection of the subject matters of your Zoom and Focus are unique while applying accurate photo techniques. However, Bird’s eye view and Worm’s eye view are not entirely correct. The former refers to the view from above, like a google earth view (Literally a bird’s view when in flight in the sky). The latter refers to a view directly from below – literally what a worm sees when it looks up. For Skew, the image you provided is a tilted angle photo. For a skew angle, the perspective line will be very dramatic.
    Further, appreciate your effort in narrating the rubbish bag’s story. However, the set of photos chosen for Seriality lacks the ability to convey your narrative. The narration would be easier to grasp if it can be shot in the same location consistently in the three photos or even more.

    Reply

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