About Us
ASSIGNMENT 9
Narrative Project
The purpose of this assignment is for you to get some experience in crafting a narrative.
​
Like a story written in words, a photographic essay has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In photographic terms that means the decision you make in the order of how your images are presented, will lead us on a visual journey. You want to set the tone of your essay at the beginning and leave a lasting impression at the end. This process starts in the planning phase of your project and comes together during the editing phase.
During the planning phase, you identify the theme or object of your series.
Night Time - Street Lights
1. Dunster House, Cambridge, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 8:00pm
1/60s at f=3.2, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
This light is spotted when I left our dining hall after dinner, I was attracted to the diagonal composition of the tree, the warm colour of the brick wall as well as the reflection of the light in the window.
2. Dunster House, Cambridge, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 8:15pm
1/60s at f=4.0, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
I really applied the skills from Eggleston for this last assignment, minutes after I took photos of the first light, this light grown in the tree branches got my attention; compared to the first photo in where in tint is warm and bright, the colour tune of this one is darker and colder because of the steel fence.
3. Leverett House, Cambridge, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 8:28pm
1/60s at f=4.0, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
This pair of lights are on the way from the dining hall to my dorm, there are two kinds of light in the image, one is the white-ish light on the ground floor, and the other is the yellow-ish light from the basement ceiling; I also noticed the reflection of the light on the metalic surface of those steel fences, thus I reframed the picture through the fences to capture the refelction as well.
4. Quincy Market, Boston, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 10:08pm
1/60s at f=4.0, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
This cluster of bubble lights is found near the Quincy Market, there are quite a lot of them, I chose this one that is standing in front of a Christmas gift shop. If you look closely, those little santas in the show window are staring at this bubble light as well.
5. Armenian Heritage Park, Boston, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 10:17pm
1/30s at f=4.0, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 200
I noticed this light on my way from the market to the wharf, the light-yellow tune works well with its surrounding plantations, and echoes the marry-go-round in the background.
6. Longwarf, Boston, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 10:45pm
1/30s at f=4.0, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
This light is found on a semi-floating deck near the Long Wharf, it is totally isolated from the dark and forms contrast with the light of the boat in a distance.
7. Longwarf, Boston, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 11:06pm
1/30s at f=3.6, exposure bias: 0 EV; ISO 640
This light is on the ground level of Marriott Long Wharf, it is so clean and transparent that the light bulbs inside can be seen clearly. I was interested in how it interacts with the building finishes, it reveals different textures of the stonework, the rough concrete as well as the red bricks.
8. On an Uber, Boston, MA, USA. 27/07/2023, 11:20pm
17s at f=13, exposure bias: -1 EV; ISO 640
This is a trial of long exposure along my way back to my dorm, the movement of the car can be shown in the track of the lights: the relatively straight lights are captured when the vehicle was in high-speed whereas the curvy part was captured when the car stopped at a traffic light.
REFLECTION:
​
I really benefitted a lot from those three weeks, I bought my camera earlier this year but for most of the time I used automatic exposure shuttle speed and aperture settings, sometimes I did adjust the exposure levels, but I cannot stop thinking how much of this camera is wasted in my hand, but now at least I know the functions of every buttons on my fuji and I do change them manually to incorporate different lighting condition and design decisions.
​
When I chose photography as the course for my exchange program, most of my friends and tutors were surprised because they think it is irrelevant to the degree that I am taking right now, which is mainly architectural design or dealing with problems that happens on a construction site. Well, honestly speaking I don't think I can relate much from construction techniques to photography; however, I do realize that it does have a lot in common in term of the considerations of architectural designs. They are both manipulations of space and light; They both admires and celebrates the beauty and purity of geometric forms; They both can be narrative and thus create certain spatial or immersive experience for the audience; and most importantly, they reflect the personality of the designers themselves.
​
I think I learned more than photography this summer. I literally don't know nothing about documentary photograph before I came here, the responsibilities and sacrifices one has to bear in order to record and present things that are happening in this world but obscured from any other information. I guess that's the meaning of life: we can always do more for the rest of the world, we can always be more that ourselves and fortunately we can help "save the world" in a career that we truly enjoy.