Currently at Blakelaw...

Photographs taken without edit:

I went to Blakelaw park to take photographs of the construction. They have already taken the skatepark and playground and are starting to build a scaffolding for a building.

Photoshop edit:

I used photoshop to edit the photos. I thought it would look best in grayscale. I think it emphasises the negative emotion as it's deprived of colour. The only colour that I kept which is present in only 2 photographs is red. Red can provoke emotions of anger and sadness but can also mean danger. I chose this purposely as red is mostly linked to negative emotions as well as standing out.

Anonymous quotes from Young People in the local areas:

I gathered some thoughts from the young people in project4change that live in the area and used to use the park regularly. These quotes will be used with the photographs. I asked them prompt questions.

- What was your most fond memory in Blakelaw park?
- What's your reaction to the city planners taking away Blakelaw park and allowing a multi-million-pound sports hub to be built?
- How do you feel when you see the construction currently happening?
- Will you be using the new sports hub?
- Where will you go if you can't get access to the new sports hub?
- Does this change affect you/the local community?
- Do you think this change will benefit the Blakelaw area?

Here are their responses:

“Aye keep the skateparks any amount…”
“Not a lot of people can afford the footie…”
“Not a lot of people would pay for the footie…”
“A million percent keep the skatepark…”
“Definitely need lights…”
“All it needed was lights”
“It’d be sad if they took away the skatepark…”
“It’s the best in Blakelaw…”
“I wouldn’t be sad if they took out that skatepark and put a new one in…”
“I’d be sad if they just didn’t want to put a new skatepark…”
“My dad taught me how to ride my bike there”
“Summer hanging out with my friends.. “
“Going out with my friends there, especially in summer when we would all be bored so we would meet in the park”
“Painting with my friends”
“Sad knowing that the entire field and the park won’t be there anymore”
“I am shocked, over the years many memories have been built in Blakelaw park from dog walks, picnics on the fields and playing on the swings.”
“ It won’t benefit us at all from someone who lives in Blakelaw”
“ Stop the construction!”

Photos to print in A1: Final outcome

Photo order in the display:

Photo 1 Quote:

“I am shocked, over the years many memories have been built in Blakelaw park from dog walks, picnics on the fields and playing on the swings.”

Photo 2 Quote:

“I’d be sad if they just didn’t want to put a new skatepark…”

“All it needed was lights”

Photo 3 Quote:

“ Stop the construction!”

Photo 4 Quote:

“Sad knowing that the entire field and the park won’t be there anymore”

Photo 5 Quote:

“My dad taught me how to ride my bike there”

“I am going to miss going out with my friends there, especially in summer when we would all be bored so we would meet in the park”

Photographs during Shaun Project Space critique

For the Shaun Project Space critique, I could only print out 1 A1 photo as I was showing it with four other people within my class, and we were sharing a space.

From the 5 photo series, I chose the best photo to represent the project topic. I chose this photo of the playground in Blakelaw Park and what it currently looks like due to the sports hub building. I already picked out the quotes from the young people that will be used in each photograph beforehand and felt that the quotes related to this photo were the most powerful in the overall composition.

I wrote the quotes on acetate using Posca pens. I rushed to write the quotes quickly in my handwriting, which looked messy. I plan to change the font so it can be read clearly and would be more visually appealing during the exhibition. I originally wanted the quotes to be all in red, but I think that would confuse the audience and assume that it's one long quote split into two. I added the yellow to diminish the confusion. Having two colours would better indicate two separate quotes.

This is how I displayed my work in the critique. The A1 photograph is directly behind the stack of blocks.

Exhibition Layout Plan

During the critique, I had the skatepark GIF projected on the projector, and I had second thoughts about using the projector for the actual exhibition. In layout number 1 would've been the choice to add all the 5 A1 photographs on the largest wall of the space, with the only portrait photograph being in the middle.

I changed my mind and went with the option of not using the projector in the room so the lights could be entirely on so the audience could interact and see the activities in the room. So for the exhibition, I went with layout number 2.

Final Exhibition placement

This is the wall nearest to the door. This wall from the layout initially only had 2 A1 photographs, but I found an article able the building of the sports hub at Blakelaw Park in the newspaper. I have decided to include it in the exhibition. The collection inspired me by Cover Vision, the series "Torn" by Graham Dolphin, and particularly news articles about the JFK assassination. That piece showed me that news articles have great importance, especially how it creates a piece of permanent written information that will be around for years. In knowing this, I wanted to include the article from the perspective that having this sports hub in the area is an excellent opportunity to create a contrast.

I changed the font of the text. I chose the font on my laptop and traced it through the acetate. This created neater quotes which are easier to read and aesthetic to look at. Some photographs only had one quote, I used red to keep red the major colour of the quotes.

This wall is the largest in the space. I placed the photos where the landscape photo is in the middle of the collection.

Exhibition Statement: Currently at Blakelaw...

Currently at Blakelaw…

Five A1 Grayscale photographs – Edited on Photoshop + Newspaper Article + Quotes from young people with Posca pens on acetate

I visited Blakelaw Park in mid-March 2022 to see how the park has changed since its construction in January 2022. I took pictures to show what was taken, including the skatepark and playground. Part of the park was closed off to the public as they started constructing metal foundations.

I choose five photographs to edit. I edited the pictures to grayscale (taking the colour away), which mimics the idea of the council taking away the community park. Changing the photograph into grayscale highlights the quotes as they are in bright colours of pastel red and yellow (written with Posca pens on acetate). I included the thoughts and opinions of the young people who consistently used the park of their experiences and what they will miss. I matched the quote to the picture.

Photo 1 – A metal fence and sign to stop people from entering the construction area. The metal foundations of the construction can be seen in the background.

Newspaper article – Citylife - Your council magazine, Spring 2022, Page 7.

Photo 2 – This was the placement of the skatepark, which is now a pile of dirt. This view faces the construction site.

Photo 3 – Close up of the construction site.

Photo 4 – The foundation of metal support beams at the beginning of construction of the sports hub.

Photo 5 – This was the placement of the playground. A complete set of swings and slides were here. This view faces away from the park.