Work Stations Anna Fox, 1987 Carli, Ross & Steph “Colour photographs with text captions. A study of London office life in the late 80’s, a critical observation of the highly competitive character of working life in Thatcher’s Britain this work extends Fox’s earlier interest in working with text an image. Commissioned by Camerawork and The Museum of London in 1987. Published by Camerawork in 1988 with an essay by Sunil Gupta. ISBN: 1 871103 00 2”
Work Stations: The Series: Office Life in Colour photographs with text captions ● London Snapshots of London office life in the late ● 1980s An era of extreme social & political change ● Anna Fox, 1987 - 88 Works text with an image ● Commissioned by Camerawork and The ● Museum of London in 1987 The Visual Narrative: A critical observation of the highly competitive ● character of working life in Thatcher’s Britain Insight into the character of London city life - ● fashions, relations The role of the male office worker versus the ● role female office worker A historical record of the bizarre elements of ● ordinary everyday life
Key Photographic Elements LIGHTING SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH (EMBODIED IN TEXT) ● Explores use of flash in new ways Topical, current affairs inspire commentary ● ● Rich, dark quality of images and flash lights which contrasts with the image on display only certain sections to make them look like Use of satire and humour to engage audience ● stills from horror films Social exploration ● “I wanted to use colour and flash because of the very “I was doing two things, as I saw it: the first was to immediate feel that they give to the work – you really record history and the second was to make a critical feel like it is happening here and now rather than in commentary on society as it was and focus the distant past or far away when you look at this particularly on aspects that were not normally looked type of aesthetic.” (Fox, 2013) at by photographers – the middle classes.” (Fox, 2013)
Photographic Elements Motion ● Vantage point ● Concrete subject ● Background ● Mood ● Cropping ● Lighting ● 'Should a competitor threaten to kill a sale, the modem would provide a lifeline back to base computer'. Women in the workforce were often ● overwhelmed and made miserable by the relentless mundane tasks they were forced to complete.
Photographic Elements Vantage point ● Colour ● Concrete subject ● Foreground ● Background ● Expression ● 'There is nothing wrong with avarice as a motive, as long as it doesn't lead to dishonest or antisocial conduct' 'There is nothing wrong with avarice as a motive, as long as it doesn't lead to dishonest or antisocial conduct' Women in the workforce at the time ● were seen as unimportant and restricted to secretary roles
Photographic Attributes Low light , concentrated in left corner on back of man’s head ● Focus - again on back of man’s head; woman in background ● Caught in the motion of work - provokes the viewer’s thoughts → is ● it a dictation? Is the woman taking instruction? Point of view - man from eye level; woman from above ● Composition The man’s shape looms over the woman’s ● Line of desk draws woman into the background ● Angle of the desk + man’s shoulder draws attention to the woman ● Colour indicates the era in history ● Depth created by shadows and lines; woman appears small ● Content ‘Having a secretary is a status symbol’ Concrete subject // Abstract subject ● Dark background ● Two people - man overshadows woman, woman’s head is bowed ● Story - workplace dynamics ● Camera Technique A woman in the Narrow aperture - although dark background, still in focus ● Short shutter speed - dark picture & frozen action ● shadows… Wide depth of field - even though man is focal centre, the woman + ● office background is still within focus
Photographic Elements Photographic Attributes Light ● Focus ● Content Subject ● Background ● People ● Meaning ● ‘If we don’t foul up no-one can touch us’ Working woman on the go
Photographic Elements Content Subject ● People ● Story ● Meaning Photographers intention/purpose ● Composition ‘8.30am’ Angle ● Tone ● Photographic Attributes Light ● Focus ● Working man in a rush Point of view ●
Work Stations Bibliography Fanno, N. (2013). ASX Interviews Anna Fox (2013). American Suburb X [online]. Available at: https://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/06/interview-anna-fox-asx-interviews-anna-fox-2 013.html [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018] Fox, A. and Caruana, N. (2012). Behind the Image: Research in Photography . Switzerland: AVA Publishing, p. 9. Available at: https://jpgenrgb.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/natasha_caruana_anna_fox_basics_creative _photogb-ok-xyz.pdf [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018] Fox, A. Work Stations. Anna Fox . Available at: http://www.annafox.co.uk/work/workstations/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018]
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