Andrew Catellier isn't a well known photographer. In fact, I found him on flickr while looking for inspiration. While not being very popular, and I wouldn't call him the best photographer in the world, some of his images relate a lot to my work and have inspired me to shoot more while i've been in a bit of a ruff with my idea, and so I think it's only fair for me to include him.
This is the initial image that sparked my interest. Titled Inconvenience, this image from 2009 demonstrates exactly what I want to make my audience feel. A small amount of frustration because something didn't go exactly to plan.
The image depicts a car coming into a driveway while another car sits in the space, leaving no room for the car coming in. The one feeling an annoyance is likely to be the car trying to come in which in this relatable scenario the audience can also feel by putting themselves in the shoes of the person driving the car.
The point of view it's shot at is interesting because it's not what i'd expect. As an observational person I would have automatically shot from the side if I could, showing both cars in an observatory manner, however the photographer took the photo from sitting in the car and so we're placed inside the car, with our eyes being the lens of the camera and all. While you'd expect that this placement would make us have a different reaction from that of a placement outside of the car observing in a more fly on the wall way, or from the other car, I think that our ability to recognise the inconvenient situation lets us put ourselves in the feet of the driver coming in no matter on the location of the lens.
However, because the camera is in the car, we are also able to laugh at the situation, because we find humour in others small misfortunes (think about friends tripping over or dropping a bit of food down themselves) in a way that isn't devilish but simply a little funny as it's not happening to you. This doesn't eliminate the ability to place ourselves into the shoes of the driver however, as it's likely the viewer has experienced both or can imagine what it's like by using other experiences as a guide to how it feels.
Stylistically, I really like the simplicity and tones of the image. While it's not what i'm going for at all the naturalness really works for this image as it feels completely real. Going by the artist's caption, I believe it was a real encounter;
"wes got really ticked. i couldn't stop laughing, and i was the one with a plane to catch. i guess he really, really wanted to get rid of me."
This second image also represents the small inconveniences in our everyday life. Having a path or road closed that means you have to deter from your usual route and interrupt your plans is annoying. It's not life changing but it can irk us, as we like everything to be perfect.
The framing is clever in the way that it shows the sign telling pedestrians to change their route, a detour sign behind it and the reason why this has happened; we see it fenced off. While we don't see the specifics, it's still satisfactory to me.
The sign looks worn, only accentuated by the stickers placed over some of the letters. These imperfections can cause further dissatisfaction fuelled by the previous inconvenience. I personally feel annoyed for the workers who will have to get those stickers off, annoyed at the individuals who did it because there's really no reason. I don't see why people can't leave things be. I like things to be as they're supposed to.
The exif data on the flickr page for this image suggests it was take at f1.4, and so this leaves the background rather blurred and draws our attention towards the sign, only for the arrows in the signs to lead our eye to the mess in the background.
In conclusion these images are exactly what i'm trying to show in my own work, just in a different style.
I'd like to recreate these but i'm not quite sure how to in the way that I want to shoot my images.
This is the initial image that sparked my interest. Titled Inconvenience, this image from 2009 demonstrates exactly what I want to make my audience feel. A small amount of frustration because something didn't go exactly to plan.
The image depicts a car coming into a driveway while another car sits in the space, leaving no room for the car coming in. The one feeling an annoyance is likely to be the car trying to come in which in this relatable scenario the audience can also feel by putting themselves in the shoes of the person driving the car.
The point of view it's shot at is interesting because it's not what i'd expect. As an observational person I would have automatically shot from the side if I could, showing both cars in an observatory manner, however the photographer took the photo from sitting in the car and so we're placed inside the car, with our eyes being the lens of the camera and all. While you'd expect that this placement would make us have a different reaction from that of a placement outside of the car observing in a more fly on the wall way, or from the other car, I think that our ability to recognise the inconvenient situation lets us put ourselves in the feet of the driver coming in no matter on the location of the lens.
However, because the camera is in the car, we are also able to laugh at the situation, because we find humour in others small misfortunes (think about friends tripping over or dropping a bit of food down themselves) in a way that isn't devilish but simply a little funny as it's not happening to you. This doesn't eliminate the ability to place ourselves into the shoes of the driver however, as it's likely the viewer has experienced both or can imagine what it's like by using other experiences as a guide to how it feels.
Stylistically, I really like the simplicity and tones of the image. While it's not what i'm going for at all the naturalness really works for this image as it feels completely real. Going by the artist's caption, I believe it was a real encounter;
"wes got really ticked. i couldn't stop laughing, and i was the one with a plane to catch. i guess he really, really wanted to get rid of me."
This second image also represents the small inconveniences in our everyday life. Having a path or road closed that means you have to deter from your usual route and interrupt your plans is annoying. It's not life changing but it can irk us, as we like everything to be perfect.
The framing is clever in the way that it shows the sign telling pedestrians to change their route, a detour sign behind it and the reason why this has happened; we see it fenced off. While we don't see the specifics, it's still satisfactory to me.
The sign looks worn, only accentuated by the stickers placed over some of the letters. These imperfections can cause further dissatisfaction fuelled by the previous inconvenience. I personally feel annoyed for the workers who will have to get those stickers off, annoyed at the individuals who did it because there's really no reason. I don't see why people can't leave things be. I like things to be as they're supposed to.
The exif data on the flickr page for this image suggests it was take at f1.4, and so this leaves the background rather blurred and draws our attention towards the sign, only for the arrows in the signs to lead our eye to the mess in the background.
In conclusion these images are exactly what i'm trying to show in my own work, just in a different style.
I'd like to recreate these but i'm not quite sure how to in the way that I want to shoot my images.
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