Connecting essay 1

This is a photograph by Lee Friedlander from his 'America by Car' shoot where he travels around america shooting photographs from his car window. This photograph and shoot shows a journey specifically because he is using a car, which is a means of transportation as a prop in different locations. Looking at all of his work within this project the theme of journey is clear and done in a uniquely interesting way as I have not seen this style in any other photographers work that links to journeys. He uses black and white throughout all of his photos which doesn't allow any other interpretation for the photos other than journey. The areas of the car that have been included in each photograph are large however do not take focus away from the location, as this is a large part of the images. 

This is my own work, which has been based around Lee Friedlanders photographs. I have used black and white when editing my images, the reason I had done this was because it creates different levels in the image, creating the sense that outside the car was lighter than within. This also allows the viewer to focus on different areas of the photo, not just one main aspect. I have shot my photographs including different parts of my car for example I used the steering wheel, seats, mirrors and frame work of my car, the reason for this was because it allowed me to view the surrounding area in different lights, which creates a completely different scene in each photo. Shadowing was something I encouraged within my photos as I likes the darkness that it included especially around the bottom of the images. 

There are many similarities between my shoot and Lee Friedlanders work due to the fact that I had based my shoot around that. Similarities include the use of the car within the shot to imply that a journey is being taken in a car, I however used different parts of my car where as Friedlander mainly focused on the steering wheel and side mirror. We've also both travelled to different locations to imply that a journey is being taken. A little bit of shadowing can be seen in Friedlanders images however I don't think that this was done intentionally, whereas in my images that was an aspect that I really tried to include so that a larger contrast could bee seen between my images. The use of black and white can be seen in both our photos also.

I love Lee Friedlanders work and have tried to influence him within this shoot as much as I could. I am extremely happy with how my photographs have turned out and I think that they show journey in a clear and alluring way.