When thinking of photography, the sense that often comes to mind is sight. Through looking at images and examining their contents, sight is the sense we rely on to form an understanding of an image. However, more often that not, these understandings are usually also informed by the other four senses. Without realising, most images in photography are presented to all five senses which allow us to feel a greater connection to certain images through feelings such as familiarity and relatability. The visual language, in which photography is received, is often more successful when an image can tap in to our own experiences and memories. For example, an image of a waterfall is frequently received alongside the implied sound of falling water that us as viewers are all familiar with. It could also present the smell that is associated with water and more specifically outdoor environments. These senses subconsciously work together to build a stronger sense of understanding for the image and the ability to really connect with a photo. In this work, I aim to produce images that also invite a deeper sense of connection through using the different senses and to employ those stereotyped visual elements to provoke them.
Jane Fulton Alt: The Burn
”Wisdom comes in many guises. To look deeply, and to not shy away from the shadows and what they might hold. USA based photographer Jane Fulton Alt‘s work grows from this place. Her insight bubbles just beneath the surface of her striking, atmospheric images.”
- Georgina Reid, Editor
Fulton’s series ‘The Burn’ focuses on fires within landscapes in which she concentrates on capturing the smoke caused by these fires. In the context of senses in photography, her work is the epitome of working with the sense of smell. Fire, smoke, wood, are all scents a lot of viewers are familiar with, this allows the images to be more successful and provides them with an ability to be connected with through shared experience even if the specific event is different. I am inspired by her work and interested in using smoke as a way of provoking a sense of smell.
I particularly like this image, I think the white shade of the smoke particularly carries the familiarity that as a viewer I can connect to. It speaks to the sense of smell and while it is a photo of a burning landscape, the use of the senses, allow the viewer to connect through the shared knowledge of smoke’s scent and enables us to place ourselves within the environment. I additionally like the composition and how the smoke lends itself into creating a lot of negative space, building an atmosphere, and highlighting the subjects within the image. The shallow depth of field allows for the forefront subjects to be seen in detail, in which, their burnt appearance adds to the fiery environment.
Mark Haydon: Food & Drink
Mark Haydon specialises in food advertisement and commercial photography. His work focuses on close up shots of well known food items, photographed in ways that make the food look as desirable as possible through colour, texture, and composition. Unlike a lot of commercial food photography, he doesn’t often resort to a flat lay composition. I think this is what makes his work so successful, in that his compositions position the viewer in a natural point of view to the product, one in which they would be when consuming. I particularly like his use of colour and using colour theory to his advantage, as well as bright overhead lighting with the use of reflectors to fill the frame with strong artificial light. The sense he is focusing on being taste, his work presents a professional yet relatable scene in which easily catches a viewer's eye.
The use of contrasting colours in this image is what stands out to me, also the use of red and yellow - known in colour theory to provoke hunger and the sense of taste. Additionally, creating a scene familiar to those in restaurants and fast food places creates a sense of relatability for the viewer. The vibrancy works with this to enhance the image and make it more eye catching, ultimately drawing viewers in and leading them to a familiar environment.
Ideas
After researching into the idea of senses in photography and reviewing multiple artists working in different fields, I know that one of the senses I definitely want to focus on is smell. Particularly in the use of smoke, inspired by Jane Fulton Alt. Using smoke in a more accessible way such as candles or incense would allow me to experiment with lighting, shutter speed, and ultimately creating a purposeful sense of smell in the images. I am also interested in experimenting with the idea of texture in the context of the sense of touch. In Mark Haydon’s work, he focuses on food as a way of contributing a sense of taste, however, I think simultaneously, his work allows you to see the textures of the products which works to his advantage. Taking loose inspiration from this, I could work with textured common objects in order to highlight the sense of touch and allow a viewer to connect with an image through knowing how certain textures feel universally. Things like: wood, fur, walls etc.
Photoshoot Plan
I plan to carry out two photoshoots, each tailored to a different sense. The first being touch - I intend to use outdoor subjects such as bark from trees and other additional plants and standout subjects to capture different textures in sharp detail. This will take place outdoors, therefore I will be using natural light. I could also bring a tripod with me to ensure quality in my images and avoid any camera shake, although I can also use a fast shutter speed to combat this depending on the amount of light.
For my second shoot, I am focusing on the idea of smell and scents. I plan to use candles to carry out this idea as they are typically associated with the sense of smell and I think will work well under this brief. I want to experiment with different lighting - waiting until it is dark outside to create a dim and cozy environment, then using different artificial lights and also flash to test which creates the best finish. I also want to try and capture the smoke from the candles to further add to the stereotypical idea of smell. I will use a tripod to experiment with slow shutter speed on the flames and also to give me more access to changing compositions.
Photoshoot one
For this photoshoot I explored capturing a number of outdoor textures such as trees, plants, and water droplets. I decided to do this shoot after it had rained because the water droplets would add additional texture to the images focusing on the sense of touch. I used a fairly fast shutter speed of 1/125 to ensure my images had a sharp focus and avoid camera shake, I used a deep aperture of f/12 as I wanted to make sure the entire frame was in focus to enhance the texture, however with some of the plant images, I lowered this to f/7 to blur the background and enhance the texture of the subject. I adjusted my ISO accordingly with these settings and using the light meter as a guide for good exposure. The ISO ranged from 200 to 600 in darger areas as I was using natural light on a cloudy day, each scene differed in strength. I’m happy with the images I took, I think there are many options for me to edit and enhance the textures however, if I were to redo this shoot, I would use my 45-200mm lens as opposed to my 18-45mm to allow me to zoom further into subjects and capture a more detailed image of their textures.
Edits
I kept the editing fairly simple, using lightroom to select my favourite images, I focused on their levels and blacks/whites in turning the images b&w to enhance the textures and shadows. I additionally cropped the images, focusing on the sections with the sharpest focus and to create a more abstract final image. I wanted to edit these in black and white as opposed to colour to not only intensify the texture, but also de-contextualise the images so that the sense of touch is the clear motive behind them instead of nature. If I continued editing I could experiment with colour and how that can interact with texture however, I am happy with the finishes of these photos.
Photoshoot two
For my second photoshoot I wanted to focus on the sense of smell. Candles being the subject, I experimented with different compositions, lighting, using flash, and different shutter speeds. For lighting, I used an orange coloured light to create a warm and autumnal like atmosphere to work in conjunction with the ‘cozy’ effect that candles create. I think the association between autumn and candles helps the images to carry more of a feeling and in turn, a sense of smell in familiarity. I tried to capture the candles smoke as they were blown out however this proved quite difficult to capture as they didn’t produce a large amount. This was when I experimented with flash, following the idea that flash freezes motion, however the images proved to be too bright even after adjusting settings accordingly. Despite not being able to capture this as successfully as I intended to, I am still satisfied with the images and plan to edit them to further build a cozy autumnal atmosphere.
Edits
Again using lightroom, I chose these two images to edit as I liked their compositions and particularly the smoke in the left image. I worked with colour grading to balance the hues and create an appealing atmosphere. I also decreased the clarity as I found the softer effect to appear gentler and more inviting. I am happy with the results.
Final Images
After deliberation, I have chosen these for my final images as I felt they were best suited to the brief and successfully portrayed the idea of senses in photography. I think their specific senses are clear to a viewer and are successful in portraying the desired effect. If I were to carry this project further and experiment with the other three senses, I would be interested in working with less stereotypical subjects in order to further challenge myself. I also think it would be interesting to work with mixed media such as embroidery, specifically for the idea of texture and touch for a more interactive experience.
