Alcorcón is the football team of a neighbourhood in the outskirts of Madrid with the same name. They are in the second division, and their colours are blue and yellow. It is a very humble club, but well known for beating Real Madrid in 2009 in a cup tie by 4-0!
I went to photograph the first game of the season against Huesca football team, hoping to get some crowd images.
Unfortunately the scorching summer weather, and the different times in which people like to get to the stadium, made it difficult to get many people together. However, this allowed to achieve some detail photos and some images inspired in my research and the photographers studied in this section of the course.
1
Some people gathered before the match, had a drink and a chat before getting into the stadium, excited about the new season.
The photo is composed so the focused branches of the tree in the foreground are framed by the clear sky. The unfocused background does not allow to see the people, but once you realise the colour theme is yellow you can link the photo with the others.
The photography reflects the style shown by Kim Kirkpatrick or Gianluca Cosci, where shallow depth of field focuses the viewer's attention in the, initially, less relevant foreground, while the background is still part of the composition.
2
The lads from the junior squad wont miss a match. They go all equipped with their training kit. Here they are by the stadium shop window.
We don't have this information when we see the image, but it is critical for the series, as the tattoo in one of the boy's calf is the first reference to football, linking theme of the pictures.
The photography is again inspired partially in my
research for the assignment, see image by Elliot Erwitt.
3
We are now in the stadium, and the match has begun. This image uses again shallow depth of field to focus in the spectators, which was my main interest.
In terms of composition, it is to notice that the subject has been framed following the rule of thirds.
4
The camera man is framed with the tier roof as background. Camera, roof lines and subject attention are all focused to the same line, which gives the image a sense of equilibrium.
In the distance we can see the junior squad, standing on the upper tier.
5
It is half time, and some supporters stretch their limbs.
A deeper depth of field allows to see even a player in the field with his son.
6
In the second half tension builds up in the match and some supporters stand up. I find interesting in this image the repeated action by several spectators. This would somewhat remind to some of Lisa Larsen's images of crowds, where we can appreciate how crowds use very similar body language. This has been photographed many other times, and in football probably the best example would be the epic
Premier League photo of the last decade by Phil Noble.
7
The match is over. Alcorcón has lost the match by 2-3. The young team leafs the stadium with their heads down.
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills
The
assignment has been shot in colour, landscape format. Colour is important for
this sequence as it is acting as a link throughout the photos.
I
used my 18-105 lenses so I had some focus length versatility and could take
both wide and close ups.
The
sequence begins and ends with unfocussed background images, which supports
the narrative of the series.
Although
I have realised during the assignment submittal preparation that I shot in ISO
250, generally the photos are well balanced. I have done some post-processing
of curve editing with Lightroom software to avoid areas too dark (i.e. image 5,
if I would have balanced the exposure in the foreground, the background would
be completely blown out, as for example happens in image 6). For Image 5 I
studied the possibility of leaving the people as silhouettes and did some tests
before making a decision.
Quality of outcome
The sequence is well presented and, within the available
information achieved in the day of the shot, the narrative is correct.
I have also tried to use different techniques studied in the
course to add to the narrative (as mentioned before, the sequence begins and
ends with soft focussed backgrounds).
The research carried out previous to the shootings has
proven to be very useful, as it has helped to try to find other perspectives
and points of view.
Demonstration of
Creativity
In this area I may have scored less, as research has really
influenced my images. I had some previous ideas, but I think they have been
strongly influenced by the studied photographers.
Context
I have prepared for the assignment doing online and reading
research. The topic chosen though has proven to be a very difficult subject to
photograph and the results differ from my previous expectations. On this
regard, I had in mind more images of different protagonists mingled in the
crowd, probably looking at the camera.
Overall, I am
satisfied with the results, although as mentioned before, disappointed with the
outcome, as my expectations were different. I understand you would need many
hours of shooting to get a really good quality set, linked together in meaning
(hours which unfortunately I do not have for the assignment). It was
challenging to choose between the two days of shooting I did (see assignment
planning), but finally I decided this set was better in terms of completeness,
narrative and meaning.
