Street Simulacrum

Hyper-reality, Street photography and Branding. Blurring the line between fiction and documentary, these images aim to communicate on different levels depending on one’s perception.

 

 

This series was inspired by Danish street photographer Peter Funch, who had a very cinematic style. Much like him, he’d set up a tripod on the street and take multiple photos and then combine aspects from each to create a composited hyper-real image. This raises questions concerning authenticity and perception. The past, present and future have blended together and created new meaning. There is also a commercial aspect in this series whereby certain brands have been featured but in a subtle way. This adds to the overload of information that the viewer must decipher.

 

Each image involved a minimum of 30 minutes shooting and then a long process of categorizing and hand picking images to be used in post-production. Shoots always had to be carefully planned with detailed itineraries. Many considerations regarding set-up, lighting, angle and location were vital to get right before spending a hours shooting. Locations that had associations connected to it, were ideal as it was then possible to exaggerate a stereotypical scene or go against it. The key to success was to anticipate types of people, behaviours, footfall, and direction before setting up a shoot. 

 

 

Many of the underlying themes touched on here can be linked to my Degree Dissertation>>