My Proposal

Location & Documentary Practice
Course Tutor – Ross Williams

Prior to reading ‘Year Zero’ and ‘Reading Year Zero’, I thought it would be interesting to document the homeless and the environment they live in, however I discovered how the subject surrounding the homeless was becoming a cliché and everything we need to know about the homeless has been explored.

Documentary photography is viewed by many as a catalyst, informing the viewer on a subject they know very little about. In relation, I have been fascinated by the BBC’s New Europe documentary by Michael Palin. In particular it was the many different cultures that existed within Europe and the picturesque landscapes, which excite me and have motivated me to go and see these places myself.

Documentary photography is a field I take an interest in and I feel that my own experiences working with the Wakefield Express and documenting weddings will put me in good step.

From an early age I have always been interested in the police force and given the opportunity I would like to document the various departments such as armed response, SOCO, police dogs and horses, etc. If I manage to gain access with the police, I am concerned whether the images will appear to flat, restricted and lack information. This is against one my personal objective.

One of my other ideas is to visit a number of tattoo studios within the Yorkshire region and document the art form. By documenting tattoo studios I will capture the emotion people experience when being tattooed and achieve great detail shots. The idea of photographing tattoo studios will help inform those who are contemplating having a tattoo and help break stereotypes.

I feel that documenting something current is key, for example the smoking ban and how the ban has not really changed the situation except move it outside. I have made the decision to photograph my project on film. The reason for this decision is simply because I haven’t photographed on film for some time and I want to avoid as little postproduction as possible.

Whilst waiting for my feedback I began thinking of other ideas to document. Something I would really like to photograph can be traced back to my interest with the police and photograph landscapes where crimes such as murders for example have taken place. Photographing on colour or black and white film is still up on the air and therefore I may shoot both. Other subjects I would like to document in the future are as follows:

o Abandoned umbrellas in the street
o The front and back of car windows
o Tattoo studios
o Road kill
o Smoking ban
o Parkour
o Allotments and their owners