Recent views on spectacle
As I said in an earlier post, my views on spectacle have changed significantly since producing my artefact on the subject a week or so back.
Spectacle lodges in the memory
- It is distinctive
- Out of the ordinary
- Different from everyday life
- Very memory based and link to vivid images.
We remember things that are different as they stick out. They are the very opposite of regular and normal.
Will Barton explained that spectacle gives us the illusion of participation but is something we are not actually part of. An example of this would be a football match, where we feel emotionally attached to our team and feel affected by their winning or losing but have no control over the situation. We watch as a spectator and have no input on the situation yet we are hurt when they lose and feel like we are on a journey with the team. The spectacle of football is also a good analogy to how people like to do things in groups. We go to a football match not only to support our team but to belong within a community. By wearing the same coloured jerseys and chanting in unison. This is something supported by Gustave Le Bon in his book Propaganda.
Spectacle can be used by the powerful to gain influence over the mob. Evidence of this goes as far back as Ancient Rome where games we held in the Colosseum, much to the delight of the Roman people. Not only that but in more recent times, Germany in the time of Hitler. His intentions were horrible but through spectacle he gained influence over the German people. There was nothing sensible about what the Nazis were trying to do but they swept an entire nation off their feet.
Spectacle can also have political motives. Spectacle is usually – but not always – made by the powerful for the consumption of the public. Those not of power. The most obvious form of spectacle created by the powerful would be “terrorist atrocities”. The coverage of that has definitely became a large spectacle in our society. At the same time spectacle can be used by those without power to make claims about the powerful. We see this very regularly in things like rallies and protests.
Police supervising a protest
I like the identity side of spectacle most so would adapt that into my idea from the artefact to expand it. I mentioned some of the things I wanted to do and change in the reflection.
Reflecting on my spectacle artefact
I thought photography would be the best format do get across my idea of spectacle as I thought moving image wouldn’t get across my idea as well as stills did. I’ve never done a photography assignment at university but still wanted to as I thought spectacle and photography go hand in hand. The idea behind the work was to show that even in big crowds and no matter who I photographed they were all displaying the ideas of individuality.
Picture 1 – The Bull outside the the Bullring is pretty iconic in Birmingham now as it is seen as the pinnacle of shopping around the area. I had a lot of shots of The Bull but I liked the man walking on the side of it carrying a bag in one hand and using his phone with the other. I thought it added to what I wanted originally and matched what I was trying to show. The bag is a ‘Timberland’s’ bag but from seeing this would we want to go out and buy something from there or avoid it? That’s something I plan on going into more if I take my idea for spectacle further.
Picture 2 - I wanted another almost iconic shopping centre in Birmingham so chose The Pavilions. Ideally I wanted a much more zoomed out shot to really see the centre in comparison to the shops around but because the adjacent shops were so close and the pavement was on the narrow side I decided to go for the entrance and welcome sign. This worked from street level as it let me fit pedestrians into the frame, which is something I did not plan for. I tried maintaining the theme of no close ups in my 15 stills as I like the idea of a big scope to look at instead of a more singular and focused photo. One of the main focuses of this artefact was to show that people don’t want to look the same. In this photo there are no people who look identical.
In the shots I took of The Pavilions I managed to capture two people on the right in uniform. The idea of uniform links heavily with my idea of spectacle but also to power. Are those in uniform seen as those in power? I think so. I say this because “non-uniform” is our right to freedom, so uniform must convey authority and the willingness to accept authority from those in power. This idea could give me the platform to expand on my original thoughts. Perhaps link it to the spectacle of crowds and mobs, which is something I will go into further.
Picture 3 - Here I found a group of friends but the reason for the photo is that the contrast between each of them is very noticeable. They each have their own sense of what style is and just looking from person to person it is quite obvious the difference between them. Something very common in city centres and something I wanted to show in my work. A way for me to expand on this would be to stage something similar in a studio. Where I can really put across the idea of contrast.
Picture 4 – I liked this picture as it looks quite natural. Like the person viewing is an observer. But like I said above I could experiment with that idea and try to put across the same idea in a staged area to see the difference in results. This picture again shows a group of friends where no one looks similar to the other. Less obvious to other pictures I put up but I liked the setting. It was by the fountain at the end of New Street. It just shows that individuality is so ripe wherever you go. If I do take this forward I would like to take my work to London and spend a few days getting some photos from there as I think I would get some really nice photos. Not only that but maybe people would perceive my photos different? like perhaps think that these people really are the trend setters in a way as they live in the capitol of England. A different setting could change how people look at my work.
Picture 5 – The exact same idea as pictures 3 & 4. I think that looking at people’s style we can also tell a lot about their influences. Like this specific look is very hip hop; with the hat, the trainers and the general dress sense. The influence behind why we do certain things interests me as these people hold a lot of power over us. Most likely the people we see on TV and read about in magazines.
Pictures 6 & 7 – These photos are all about the crowd. People as a whole. Everyone almost doing the exact same thing or what at least looks like it. I think I went for too much in 15 stills so would like to narrow down on my thoughts and concentrate on one idea. I think my 15 stills get divided into little groups of photos trying to tell something different so I should address this if I am to expand on it.
Pictures 8 & 9 – I liked picture 8 as it gave you the sense of somebody standing out. There is a man central in the frame wearing light colours but everyone around him is wearing something dark so I put that in just to show people have their own choice to the colours they wear and what they wear. Picture 9 I just wanted to show people shopping or just walking with bags but what turned out well in the picture was the framing. With some of my pictures the framing is quite loose and could be better if I re-shot them but I’m happy with the framing in both of the pictures.
Pictures 10-15 - They show what I am trying to get across in my ideas with individuality but these ones I would like to re-shot entirely. Pictures 13 & 14 especially as I should have done this at a time the Bullring was busier. Not only that but I think I could have shot pictures that better matched my previous ones.
Something I really want to do is put in an element of time. As I said earlier, the Bull outside the Bullring is pretty iconic so perhaps taking pictures in the night with people around could have worked just to show it doesn’t matter what time it is, places like this will always be busy. I was thinking something weather based as well. It was snowing quite recently so a re-do of picture 1 in the snow might work just to show that outside factors change but the core remains the same. I could find someone walking past the bull carrying bags in the rain, snow or sun. Not only would that give the sense of familiarity in my photos but consistency to a theme. To keep it fresh the framing would not be exactly the same. I would keep the location the same but vary my shots to keep a visual contrast.
My views on spectacle have changed since I took these photos and that’s down to what was said in a Will Barton lecture on spectacle. There is a link between spectacle and individuality but there are examples of both sides to the story. Where people want to be in a crowd and people who don’t. I think the idea of challenging both in the same artefact could work well.
Do we live in a society obsessed with the spectacle of individuality?
Birmingham, alone, has a population of roughly 5 million so is it fair to say people are under pressure to stand out from the crowd? I think not but some people would feel so. In a recent 300mc Genre, meaning and production lecture we were all asked if advertising has a direct influence on what we buy. Only one person put there hand up, which showed me that most people were unwilling to “conform” to what advertising wants us to wear and buy. Personally I think individuality is important and is something that seems quite evident in our generation but is there a line that once crossed becomes something more then individuality? To express yourself is your right to freedom but do some people force individuality for the sake of it just to stand out?
We live in an age where people will pay hundreds of thousands for private number plates, which sums up people’s desire to be individuals in a crowd of many. Number plates are similar to prison numbers in the fact that you are given a number to identify you. To the government our driving information can only be retrieved by seeing who is assigned to that number. To me it is no surprise that people are willing to spend ridiculous amounts on a piece of plastic as it gives them the comfort of individuality in a world where we it doesn’t come easy.
When walking through town or busy places these people catch our attention for standing out from the crowd. They draw attention as it is seen as “cool”. As people we can be very shallow in some ways by judging someone by what they wear or even what shopping bags people carry. This subject fascinates me as people think they know something about you just from that. Modern popular culture has given people the idea that standing out is the only way to be cool. It is the only way to rebel against the conformity we face in society to look a certain way. The spectacle of the celebrity helps this message as they are seen as role models to most and the pinnacle of “cool”. We see them everyday in magazines, on TV, in films, on billboards and we aspire to be them.
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