I worked out at the gym (forgive the play on words!) that since there was a lot of activity going on that it would be quite a simple building to photograph being used.
The gym was designed to help people get fit, whether this was to lose fat or gain muscle. In keeping with this those two aspects of getting fit were mostly separated: weight machines were located on the ground floor with the exercise balls and running machines on the first. Then there were also other rooms on the lower floor for dancing etc. My impressions of the gym when I actually arrived was it was spacey, which was a good thing: as the people who used it were respiring heavily this was a necessity in my opinion. There was also an abundance of windows: also a good thing as the people using it wouldn't feel confined. I saw this as a good thing for me too because it meant I could use the windows for different lighting.
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| 1. A low viewpoint replicating these three gym user's point of view |
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| 2. Symmetrical patterns in the mirror at the gym |
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| 3. A tilted orientation replicating the user's viewpoint again |
In order to make my photos stand out from the usual treatment I decided to employ three techniques for the three photographs. The techniques consisted of: a low viewpoint aiming to replicate the user's point of view. Secondly, I included mirrors in two of the images. This showed how people utilised the gym mirrors by looking in them while they exercised. I thought this was effective in demonstrating how the building was used while adding interest to the photographs because I felt it was an attractive feature of the gym. The reason for this was because the mirrors were large in size and obviously reflected what was going on in the gym and so could be used creatively; for instance symmetrical patterns. Lastly, I chose a tilted camera angle as the viewpoint for the photograph of two dancers using a separate space inside the gym. The reason I chose this viewpoint was to try and emulate their perspective of the space as they were doing a lot of acrobatic moves, which I thought was interesting.
With photograph 1. I thought the low viewpoint was effective because it showed both the user's viewpoint and a glimpse at the top of the frame of the different usage of the gym (aerobic) as I'd mentioned earlier on the top floor. This was in contrast to the heavy weights being lifted on the bottom floor.
I felt the strong lighting in 2. and the symmetrical patterns were impactful as well as functional so I was pleased with this photograph. The feel of the photograph was more open in my opinion, which was in contrast to 1. where the impression for me was more confined. This was mainly due to the strong lighting from the windows landing on the floor and more subtly the mirror served to create a seemingly larger space.
With 3. the mirrors somewhat resolved the sense of confinement that was present for me in the photograph but in some ways this sense of being inside a relatively (compared to the previous shot) small space wasn't a bad thing. This was because it was in keeping with the out-of-the-ordinary angle of the viewpoint, which was an attempt to immerse the viewer in the space.
