Work Stations: The Series: Office Life in Colour photographs with - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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: Office Life in London

Anna Fox, 1987 - 88 The Series:

• Colour photographs with text captions
• Snapshots of London office life in the late

1980s

• An era of extreme social & political change
• 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
• rdinary everyday life

Key Photographic Elements

LIGHTING

• Explores use of flash in new ways
• Rich, dark quality of images and flash lights
• nly certain sections to make them look like

stills from horror films “I wanted to use colour and flash because of the very immediate feel that they give to the work – you really feel like it is happening here and now rather than in the distant past or far away when you look at this type of aesthetic.” (Fox, 2013) SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH (EMBODIED IN TEXT)

• Topical, current affairs inspire commentary

which contrasts with the image on display

• Use of satire and humour to engage audience
• Social exploration

“I was doing two things, as I saw it: the first was to record history and the second was to make a critical commentary on society as it was and focus particularly on aspects that were not normally looked at by photographers – the middle classes.” (Fox, 2013)

'Should a competitor threaten to kill a sale, the modem would provide a lifeline back to base computer'.

Photographic Elements

• Motion
• Vantage point
• Concrete subject
• Background
• Mood
• Cropping
• Lighting
• Women in the workforce were often
• verwhelmed and made miserable by the

relentless mundane tasks they were forced to complete.

'There is nothing wrong with avarice as a motive, as long as it doesn't lead to dishonest

• r antisocial conduct'

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

• r antisocial conduct'
• Women in the workforce at the time

were seen as unimportant and restricted to secretary roles

‘Having a secretary is a status symbol’

A woman in the shadows…

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

• Concrete subject // Abstract subject
• Dark background
• Two people - man overshadows woman, woman’s head is bowed
• Story - workplace dynamics

Camera Technique

• Narrow aperture - although dark background, still in focus
• Short shutter speed - dark picture & frozen action
• Wide depth of field - even though man is focal centre, the woman +
• ffice background is still within focus

‘If we don’t foul up no-one can touch us’

Photographic Elements

Photographic Attributes

• Light
• Focus

Content

• Subject
• Background
• People
• Meaning

Working woman on the go

Photographic Elements

Content

• Subject
• People
• Story

Meaning

• Photographers intention/purpose

Composition

• Angle
• Tone

Photographic Attributes

• Light
• Focus
• Point of view

‘8.30am’

Working man in a rush

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]