People and activity - photography

Introduction

The weather was overcast and cold with occasional drizzle, which was fine for the photography that I wanted to do.

The first re-enactment performance was scheduled for 12 pm and the second at 3 pm. However, as the Spike is close to home, I went there mid-morning to see if it was possible to look around and also to book my seats. I tried a few photographs in the interior to see what the light levels were likely to be whilst it was quiet. There were notices stating that photography is not normally allowed in the interior, so I was indeed fortunate to have permission to take photos.

When I returned for the first performance there were half a dozen other people who had booked for the first show. For me, this was fortunate as it would have been more difficult to take photographs in the confined interior if there were more people.

The re-enactment started with a general introduction, but it subsequently followed the daily routine that I had expected:-

• Queuing outside for the gate to be opened
• Waiting in turn in an external shelter to be registered
• Registration and provision of food
• Having a bath and change of clothing
• Working breaking stones, cutting wood or producing oakum from old ropes.

I took as many photographs as I could as the performance moved from outside to inside. The second performance was unfortunately cancelled as there were no other people who had bought tickets - the bad weather had probably put people off.

I therefore have selected nine of the photos from the first performance for inclusion in this assignment plus one photograph of a person sleeping in a cell where the subject is a mannequin not a performer. I have set out comments on the individual prints below, but first, I will briefly describe the workflow that I used for making the prints.

Technical

As usual, I used Lightroom 3 to review and select the photographs. I used Silver Efex Pro 2 as a plug in to convert the photographs to black and white. This program is new to me so this was a good opportunity to explore the various presets and other controls. I chose a specific preset for each photograph based on the nature of the scene and the balance of the pictorial elements that I thought was the most effective. I decided to present the images as fairly plain monochrome prints. I chose not to give the pictures an artificial "antique" look with heavy vignettes, sepia colours and the like.

I also made a few dodging and burning adjustments in Silver Efex Pro. Back in Lightroom, I straightened up, cropped and cleaned up any blemishes as necessary.

Rather than print directly from the Lightroom adjusted RAW image, I created a specific JPEG image for printing at the precise size that I wanted. I printed the pictures using a home Canon Pixma printer set to greyscale instead of colour. Using the colour setting, the monochrome prints had a slight yellowish tint. The prints are on Canon Semi-gloss paper, rather than Canon Gloss paper that I have used previously.

Comments on photographs

The photographs follow the vagrants experiences from arrival at the Spike to departure on the following day.

Image 1 - At the gate

Nikon 18-200mm at 28mm: Iso 200 f4 for 1/200th seconds

A vagrant is confronted by an official from the workhouse at the entrance gate. The size of the official in the right foreground dominates the vagrant who appears smaller. He is understandably looking rather wary. The gate behind the vagrant was dark, but rather shiny. The black and white conversion was done to minimize the brightness of reflections so that the vagrants figure stands out.

Image 2 - The waiting room

Nikon 18-200mm at 28mm: Iso 200 f4 for 1/90th seconds

Some vagrants are sitting in the waiting room, a narrow shelter with a bench and a skylight. The lone figure in the foreground is frowning and he appears troubled. He is sitting apart from the others who are chatting together. The scene suggests some social tensions between this individual and the rest.

The conversion to black and white was done so that the figures in the background are in relative darkness. A skylight casts a pool of light on the left hand wall, but the conversion has left the floor surface a mid-tone with reasonable texture. The light in the glass door at the end of the room balances the other light areas in the frame and could be considered to have symbolic significance - a way out that is however closed to the vagrants.

The foreground figure is close to the edge of the frame, and if I had a second chance, I would have looked for a way to add a little more on the left hand side of the frame.

Image 3 - A wary look

Nikon 18-200mm at 200mm: Iso 200 f5.6 for 1/45th seconds

I zoomed in to take some head and shoulders portraits in amongst the more general photographs of the re-enactment, looking for moments when the performers gaze seemed interesting.

I selected this picture as it seemed to portray a little of the anxiety and suffering of poverty.

I used a black and white conversion that left the subjects hair as a darkish frame around the features of his face.

Image 4 - Tramp master and mistress at the workhouse entrance

Nikon 18-200mm at 70mm: Iso 800 f5 for 1/250th seconds

The Spike was managed by a Tramp Master and his wife, the Tramp Mistress. I have included this picture as the main subjects are the tramp master and his wife. Their position was powerful in the sense that they imposed the strict rules under which the vagrants were accommodated. On the other hand, the vagrants would in many cases be very difficult to deal with. It would almost certainly have been a poorly paid and thankless task. Their downcast eyes, I hope, express a little of this ambivalence and their mixed feelings towards the inmates.

On the left side of the frame, a vagrant about to enter the workhouse is blurred and lighter in tone than the two subjects. I think this adds depth to the image and I do not find this distracts from the main subjects too much.

If I were to print this again, I would possibly remove a strip from the right hand side of the frame in order to reduce the area occupied by the hand rail in the foreground.

Image 5 - What future?

Nikon 18-200mm at 150mm: Iso 800 f5.6 for 1/180th seconds

Portraits of the poor and desperate are some of the most recognized photographs of the 20th Century, e.g. Dorothea Lange "Migrant Mother, Nippoma, California, 1936" and Walker Evans "Allie Mae Burroughs, Wife of a Cotton Sharecropper, Hale County, Alabama, 1936". It is not realistic to take a photograph at a re-enactment that would inspire the same response as these great pictures. This portrait of a young vagrant momentarily in a reflective mood was the closest I got.

Image 6 - A survivor

Nikon 18-200mm at 48mm: Iso 800 f4.5 for 1/25th seconds

There were several reasons for including this profile of one of the vagrants. I like the rather dogged expression on his face, a suggestion possibly of suppressed rebellion. I also like the way the light falls on his face, which strongly shapes the face and the rim lighting around his hat and shoulder. The background is blurred, but hints of flaking paintwork are discernible.

Image 7 - Gruel, it's disgusting

Nikon 18-200mm at 22mm: Iso 800 f4 for 1/160th seconds

The workhouse was required to provide a meal to the vagrants. This was typically bread and gruel, a grey tasteless sort of soup. Any vagrants who appeared to have a contagious disease were also separated from the rest in the registration process.

This photograph captures the moment when the cook is offering gruel to one of the vagrants, whilst the Tramp Mistress is showing her distaste for what is being offered.

Image 8 - The bath

Nikon 18-200mm at 18mm: Iso 800 f4 for 1/160th seconds

The vagrants were required to have a bath, irrespective of whether there was warm water or not. For the performance, we just walked past the doorway with a brief moment to glance in.

I used one of the candid photography techniques where I held my camera down by my side and took a photograph on wide angle as I walked by. Naturally, I needed to crop and straighten the photograph to retain the elements that I wanted.

I expected the picture quality to be quite grainy as I had cropped down to a small portion of the original frame. The black and white conversion that I used was one that emphasized the grain suggesting a mistiness appropriate for a bath room.

Image 9 - Asleep in a cell

Nikon 18-200mm at 18mm: Iso 400 f4 for 1/6th seconds

The re-enactment did not portray the time spent by the vagrants asleep in the cells. Instead, I have included a photograph of a mannequin on permanent display in one of the cells. I wanted to include a photograph of one of the cells, as this seemed an important aspect of the workhouse. I also liked the lighting in this picture: the light from a skylight is illuminating the body and head of the sleeper whereas the rest of the cell is in shadow. I used a low viewpoint so that the perspective lines of walls and floor give a sensation of the dimensions of the cell.

In the black and white conversion, I ensured that the shadow area of the cell walls remains indistinct.

Image 10 - I'm off out of here

Nikon 18-200mm at 52mm: Iso 800 f4.8 for 1/25th seconds

To conclude the sequence of photographs, I wanted a strong picture and one that would fit the final place in the sequence. I selected this picture as I liked the subject's expression, maybe he is looking plucky and ready to go. I imagined a vagrant might have felt relieved to get out of the workhouse away from the strict rules and restrictions.

Conclusions

When I first looked through the photographs that I had taken during the re-enactment, I doubted whether I would have enough material for a sequence of ten pictures. However, I eventually put together a sequence of fifteen photographs that I have sent to the organizers for their use. I have selected ten of the people photos for inclusion in this assignment.

If I had had the opportunity to go to a second performance, I would liked to have taken photographs with more interaction between the players. In this re-enactment, it was not readily possible to anticipate what action was going to happen next. I could not usually get into a position where several individuals were visible together.