19/09/24

The Southbank Centre’s Sugimoto exhibit opened my eyes to the different ways a photographer can think of form and shadow when engaging with their subjects. I took many photos of the work but I have to admit, without a polarising filter at my disposal a lot of the images contained too much glare on the glass to pass as adequate. Especially as it pertains to his Portraits series which sees the photographer capture these dark, solemn portraits of Madame Tussauds figures, my images proved images of images of simulacra—this is to say there was a silliness to it all. 

The portraits of Victoria were taken with my 50mm f/1.4. On my a77 this equates to a 76.5mm crop factor, which is great for portraits. I think she looks great! I was not planning to shoot for black and white, but the Southbank around Christmas time employs the use of these very strong blue lanterns, which I found unflattering and clashing with the warm lights across the river behind her. I think in black and white, the play of light from the bokeh becomes subtler and more of a pleasant backdrop. 

In the last photo there was this gang of Santas (good band name?) on the platform across from us at Embankment, and I only had a few seconds to try and capture them before they got on the train. I’m kicking myself now as they all came out out–of-focus, and this is with my LA-EA4 adapter that allows for autofocus. I should have had the acuity in that moment to stop down but the train arrived too quickly, and I only managed to get one in-focus shot off that you see here.