Gavin Gough is very well know for his travel photography, where he is able to capture the culture and traditions of another country, showing the theme of journey throughout his work. His photographs consists of the technique of motion blur, which allows him to show movement and illustrate the speed of his subjects and create an exciting atmosphere.
This image by Gavin Gough shows the focus on the subject riding the bull rather than the background, this is shown through the motion blur in the image. The motion blur is also used to communicate to the viewer the speed and movement of the bull and the subject. This creates excitement in the image and allows the viewer to understand the theme of journey being depicted from the photograph - the motion blur technique is at a very high level, creating significant movement. If the viewers pay more attention to the image, they can see that the legs of the bull is also blurred as opposed to to the rest of it along with the subject - this further highlights how fast the bull is moving and thus, adding to this theme of journey and movement. The photographer has ensured that the colours contrast so that the bull can stand out from the background; this would have been easy to achieve due to the blurred scene but this was an extra step to ensure the viewers were focusing on what Gough wanted them to.
Gavin Gough uses the technique of depth of field in this image really well, he contrasts the different shades of the statutes, as the sunlight shining onto each different ones creates a different shade of gold, getting brighter as the viewers move their eyes along. As the objects get further away, the less focused each statue becomes, blurring out the end of the path. This inevitably creates a mysterious atmosphere and almost invites the viewer to imagine themselves walking down the path. To further add to this, the photographer has added a distorted figure at the end of the path, this is to show future through the colours of the clothing, which also contrast with the bright white shade of the scene. Moreover, this creates adventure and adds to the mysterious effect that Gough was trying to achieve. The orange/red colour from the top of the picture has been added to prevent the viewers eyes from wondering, acting as a blocker, forcing the viewers to focus only on the statues and the subject at the end of the path.
This image allows the viewers to feel the movement and excitement that is going on in this scene. By using the technique of motion blur once again, Gavin Gough almost allows his viewers to see the speed of the movements, which seem quite fast. He also adds the element of colour throughout the whole image and this shows a significant contrast all over the photograph, which further emphasises on the excitement and highlights the facts that there's a lot going on in the scene. The whole image is blurred - no part of it is sharp and clear. This makes the dance look quite hectic and highlights the journey of the dancers as they perform the whole routine. This could also show connotations of team work and dedication, as the dancers would have had to practice over a long period of time to be able to perfect this particular routine.
This image does not contain the technique of motion blur but it does consist of elements such as shadows, colours and tones as well as shades. The use of colour has been kept to a minimal but because the sky takes up half of the image, it seems like a lot of colour has been added. On the contrary, only two colours are present; blue and yellow, which fade into each other, creating different shades and giving the image more diversity and a more ombre feel. The silhouettes throughout the image add the element of shape as it outlines each subject and portrays the theme of journey through the bicycles and the empty scene. By preventing the viewers from seeing the subjects or what they look like, Gough is able to disconnect them from the subject, which allows them to focus more on the image itself and its context rather than each individual subjects. Overall, this enables the viewer to pay their full attention to the scene and understand what is going on in it, without getting distracted - this may also be why the photographer has limited the colours that are found in this photograph.
This is my image from my shoot of motion blur, where I was able to experiment with the technique of blurring and show journey in such a way. Unlike, Gavin Gough's images, my photograph shows a blurred subject rather than a blurred scene - this allows me to show the movement of the subject without impacting the scene.
Overall, I enjoy Gough's use of motion blur and how he uses this technique to manipulate his images. - this gives him power to show different speeds and influence the viewer in the way he would like to. I also like the way he uses colour along with motion blur to show diversity and create even more excitement in his work, enabling him to show culture as well as the theme of journey. I picked him because he is very inspirational and his techniques could help me with my project on journey. By doing a shoot on motion blur, I was able to experiment with angles, similarly to Gough and I could work with colours too.
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