Spotlight: First Year Extended Diploma Student Tom

The Beginning of the End

The Rainy Choices

The Plot Thickens

The original idea was to photograph abandoned locations and objects along the canal near me (Trent and Merseyside). I then wanted models or a model within the frame acting as though the item or object wasn’t abandoned. Taking inspiration from Trent Parke’s Minutes to Midnight photo-book and Duane Michals photo-sequences, to create my own surreal photo-sequence. These images required a lot of planning before shooting and a lot of coordination when producing the manipulated images.

The Photo sequence was called 'The Disconnected Businessmen' and consisted of three images, shot in various locations along the canal. They depict a very abstract story of a disconnected businessmen.

'The Beginning Of the End' is the first image in the sequence yet can also be seen as the end of the sequence as well. Within the frame are two models, one dressed in business attire and the other wearing casual clothes. The model in business attire appears in the image four times, two of which depict life and death. The model in the more casual clothing plays the role of the 'observer'. He doesn't intervene only observes which, as the viewer, causes you to question his specific role within the image.

The second image 'The Plot Thickens' gives the businessman a bit more character depth. He is looking at abandoned objects within the frame; a detective piecing together a crime scene. Again, we see the second character observing the scene but does he play a bigger role?

The third image 'The Rainy Choices' is the last photo within the sequence and finally reveals that only one of the two models is aware of the other one leaving the viewer questioning the narrative of the sequence and creating a sense of the uncanny. - Thomas Griffiths