On Location
Jeremy Webb
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This was a transitional
shot used within a short sequence of "information" shots to simply
illustrate in a more abstract way, the diverse and appealing city
centre architecture, old & new. The contrast between warm red brick
and cold blue sky stood out here, as well as a certain sense of disorientation
which stimulates the brain and demands a bit extra from the viewer. |
Sometimes the most rewarding commissions
arrive at a time of year I least expect. With late Summer just passed and
October underway, I assumed I'd put to bed the last location shoot of the
year. With shorter daylight hours on the cards, I was fully expecting my
usual Autumn drift back into the studio when I was approached out of the
blue by a regional multimedia company to produce a set of images which would
become a CD Rom and interactive website. The images would be used to promote
a development site of 22 acres intended for scientific research and development.
To quote from the brief itself,
"The aim is to attract new scientific developments - not only to
the site, but also to Norwich and Norfolk as an area with good communications
and quality of life."
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| Despite the calmness of this
image, this was the result of a mad dash made with time running out
to get an appealing shot of Norfolk countryside. Whilst not inherently
Norfolk (it could be anywhere really), this location gave a gentle
nod to the Broads, and the remote and unspoilt countryside on the
doorstep of the city. With the late afternoon sun fast disappearing,
my intention here was less to represent anywhere specific, more to
capture a scene where people could imagine walking their dogs, jogging,
and other country pursuits in a scene of tranquil beauty. |
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In effect, the commissioners of
this project were after a high class, closely- scripted multimedia show
(of about 10 minutes duration) for presenting to an audience of scientists.
The website and CD would include graphics, voice-over, and music - all
integrated into one power-packed presentation. Thankfully, they were keen
to avoid creating some cobbled-together collection of stock images, and
were willing to commission fresh imagery specifically for the project.
At the time I was approached the
deadline was 2 weeks away and, unlike some, this was a rock-solid, non-negotiable
kind of a deadline. That was the bad news. The good news was that the
leaves were still on the trees and there was a generous budget for the
job. I had other work to fit around this commission but I'd have to work
around what the unpredictable October weather could throw at me. I was
also very grateful to be doing the job on 35mm which would be infinitely
kinder to my back and shoulders than lugging around my Bronica and associated
clobber.
| A splash of colour to allude
to Norwich nightlife and eating-out. Hardly earth-shattering, but
mixed into a sequence the image communicated its purpose with simplicity
and directness. |
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| Norwich Cathedral
spire has been a major part of the Norwich "Brand Identity" for centuries;
featuring in Insurance Ads, Tourist logos, ancient scrolls and tapestries.
This silhouetted skyline was taken on a sunny but hazy afternoon and
only needed a gentle warm up filter to achieve this rosy, warm glow. |
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| A very dull subject
by anyones standards, but a necessary image for the project as a whole.
A low viewpoint with wide angle lens gave just the right degree of
distortion and also caught the suns reflection off the surface and
into the lens to increase the contrast, and maximise the monochrome
nature of the scene. |
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| Rejected from the
final selection, this image was surplus to requirements as it was
considered pretty and appealing but ineffective in terms of its communication
of raw information. The large shadow on the left also disrupted the
balance and feel of the composition. |
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The shooting script was discussed
and finalised between the client and the agency and then handed to me
- 20 or so different locations to visit and around 150 images to submit.
This would effectively mean shooting around 500/600 frames and then carefully
editing down to the final 150. The locations themselves were quite specific
- Norwich Airport, The University, Norwich Marketplace and so on, and
would be used to reflect wider themes which emphasised quality of life,
good schooling, decent housing, abundant nightlife, rich heritage etc
etc. It was possible to plan a timetable of sorts but more importantly,
I had to firstly tune into the requirements of the brief and enter the
heads of the ultimate consumer of my work - the audience.
Pretty pictures are all well and
good, but my ultimate audience of boffins would be considering the impact
of a move on their families too if they decided to re-locate. Its true,
Norwich and the University of East Anglia have a reputation for scientific
and research excellence, but what would they do with their families at
weekends? How easy are the road and rail links? Are there cycle lanes
and parks for the children? What about those house prices? The client
and agency worked hard in preparing the presentation and subsequent shooting
script in order to meet these potential concerns head-on.
From a more technical and aesthetic
point of view, a high-impact multimedia presentation offered opportunities
to compose images which would melt and merge sympathetically with the
next, as with good old-fashioned(?) slide/fade audiovisual style. Some
subjects such as road signs gave little in the way of interesting or artistic
merit but simply provided visual proof or evidence and had to be represented
dynamically in order not to look dull (which of course road signs will
always be!). Nevertheless, this project would fail if it contained an
endless sequence of distant shots of attractive places without any variety
of angle, viewpoint and composition. Acting like a prat in the middle
of a traffic island was a small price to pay if it meant that I injected
some dynamism, however limited, into a very dull subject.
Some of the locations I had to
visit were research institutions that serve the agricultural and genetic
research industries. The challenges here were nothing to do with aesthetics
but actually getting any sort of picture at all. In the past, I've had
some shaky run-ins with Tanzanian Government officials, but that was nothing
compared to the secrecy with which one particular site carried out its
work. Protection from outside intrusions was second to none - such was
the politically-sensitive nature of its work. Despite written requests
from the client and agency, polite explanations and copies of all briefs,
any permission to photograph was flatly refused.
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Very much the heart
of the city this location is usually tackled from the front, with
stalls visible and City Hall behind. Because of the timetable and
angle of the sun at that time of year, I took a different view of
the marketplace to make the most of the soft sunlight at a particular
time of day. The colourful awnings seem to contrast well with the
deep monochrome shadow behind, allowing a tree picked-out in a brief
shaft of light to bridge between the two. |
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This prestigious building is at the heart
of the University of East Anglia and was designed by Sir Norman Foster.
It is included within the presentation in order to illustrate such
important key themes as Modernity, Investment, Academic Excellence,
Reputation and so on, even though the Sainsbury Centre itself houses
Art and is unrelated to the field of scientific research and development.
A 200mm telephoto lens was used here to squeeze 3 different architectural
features into 1, and a single figure was essential to give the image
a sense of scale which would otherwise be lacking. |
Ever the optimist (our profession
demands it!) I even turned up on site with the naive idea that the personal
touch would work and once the Head of Security came to meet me personally,
I planned to reassure him, let him know all about our exciting project,
and all would be well.
How wrong can you be. I was denied
any co-operation and escorted politely but firmly away, despite all my
efforts at charm and persuasion. As it turns out, I was lucky to even
get that far. In the end, after some further negotiations with client
and agency we settled for a telephoto shot which was taken in early evening
light to show the recognisable outline shape of the building but none
of the details of fences, gates, compounds and so on. This would have
to do.
The sequence of images that accompanies
this feature will hopefully give a flavour of the variety of locations
and styles appropriate for this commission. Ultimately, this project required
constant awareness of the process involved, and the sound and graphics
media that would accompany the images, rather than a quest for single
stunning images to be judged on their own isolated terms. As links in
a chain, the pictures were critical to serving the overall message contained
within the brief, and formed part of a moving sequence of synthesised
images within the presentation. By the end of the fortnight, I was also
feeling a lot fitter.
| A simple image to accompany a brief section
on Shopping within the presentation. Other retailing locations featured
the Castle Mall which, once inside, is much like any other mall in
any other major city. The Royal Arcade has interesting Art Nouveau
features and illustrated an important point with a more attractive
location. I had to be careful not to feature recognisable people while
still showing a bustling, thriving ('though never over-crowded) city
centre. On this particular day a thick fog made outdoor landscapes
impossible, but I had built in some flexibility to the shooting schedule
earlier on which meant I could tackle more 'interior' shots if problems
like pea-soupers arose to scupper my plans. |
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Low, early morning light picks out figures
as they stroll to work. This photograph proved to be a seductive introduction
to a short sequence of images which were much more informative than
eye-pleasing. |
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| Sometimes an aspect can say so much more
than the whole, and an architectural feature like this one simply
adds variety, graphic boldness and colour to the project. |
Right from the word go, a central
theme to the presentation was Transport and easy links from the county
to UK, Europe and beyond. This theme required images of rail, air and
road which often had to be grabbed between other destinations due to the
timeframe involved.
Here, I returned to a sweeping
curve of dual carriageway I had seen the previous day in early morning
light where the Autumn trees made a far more interesting backdrop than
those of Summer. As a photograph in its own right it hardly sets the world
on fire, but I've included it to illustrate how even mundane subject matter
should be treated with a positive approach. A telephoto lens helped to
compress the scene and the strong sidelight gave the scene some depth
and lift. The left-to-right sweep of the road works naturally with our
own eyes preference for left-right eye movement as with reading text in
a book. This is a compositional factor so often ignored - and if you don't
believe me, sketch the image and flip it in a mirror - it just doesn't
"feel right" the other way round.
