W/C 2/5 Progress Update

I wanted to introduce David Matjas to the story.

However, I didn’t want him to be the center piece. As I felt that I did not include an intimate portrait of Amelia, I decided that I would also not include an intimate portrait of David despite having one.

I realised, as I was embedding images into my story, that some pictures I wanted to include did not suit the narrative.

For example, another reason why I did not use this picture of David is because his clothing was completely different to what he was wearing in the other pictures, and I wanted to narrate the story as a single event. If I had included this picture it would possibly confuse the reader.

I like this picture because of how intimate it is. It also shows David’s micro-expressions on his face, which really gives the feeling of how exhausted he is. The slight downturned eyebrows also show him slightly disgruntled, perhaps oppressed by the heat.

I didn’t like the picture because, like the other portraits I have taken of Amelia, I realised that the eyes are not on show.

I think eyes are very important to the identity of an individual, and so I felt the portrait wasn’t very good given the story I wanted to do.

In future, I would make sure my subject takes off their glasses or anything which is obstructing view to their eyes. Sometimes, this could look good. But I definitely felt I needed more pictures of Amelia without her sunglasses.

In this picture, the sunglasses add story to the image. You can see David in the reflection on his bike, leaning in to Amelia and listening intently to what she had to say about women in cycling. This is a subtle detail but works brilliantly.

Below are further pictures I considered but discarded as a result of positioning and photo allowance.

I did not like the positioning of David here, even though you could see his height and face which I wanted to include in the story to convey the concept of masculinity and opposing physical appearance to that of Amelia; a marked contrast.

Though I like the placement of the above picture, I was a little upset I could not include it because I was only allowed to include around 11 pictures and I already has so many that I wanted to use.

I like the atmosphere, conveyed by the dark-ish hue, intensified shadowing. I also like how Amelia is looking at David, that she is in centre placement and that David can also be seen. It’s a symbolic contrast of the idea of female and male riders confronting each other in the cycling world.

To improve the picture I could have included more of David’s head whilst allowing it to override the frame. I could also correct the colour better so it is less blue-ish.