Project 29: Applying the Elements of Design

This was a beast of a project, requiring at least 10 images of a similar subject to demonstrate all of the following effects:

• single point
• 2 points
• several points in a deliberate shape
• a combination of vertical and horizontal lines
• diagonals
• curves
• distinct shapes
• at least 2 kinds of implied triangle
• rhythm
• pattern

From the offered groups of subjects, I chose food as a subject, specifically jellybabies. I first took a jelly baby series when I did my Open University course on photography, and I have wanted to revisit it for some time. Although I dislike still life photography, jellybabies make good subjects because of their human form and bright colours, making for some fun and attractive colourful images. I photographed most of the sequence on my hob, using the remarkably effective oven light, and the hob was cleaned up in Photoshop! This gives added visual interest in the form of reflections.

So here goes - thoroughly sick of jellybabies after this sequence! My favourite of the set is the "Two Points". It tells a story, which can be one of humour or one of sadness & despair, it's down to the viewer to decide. This makes it the most interesting of the series, in my opinion. This was a surprise, as 2 point compositions are often unsatisfying (referring back to the notes). I guess this illustrates the point that the subject matter drives the design, and there are no hard and fast rules. The "curves" shot didn't really work, but I didn't want to simply set up a curved line as that seemed a bit contrived, especially in relation to the other images.