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Project Objective:

Visualize time and movement through a transitional space.  

transitional space: a space connecting two other spaces or places passed through  to get from one place to another

I began the transitional space project by searching for a space that showed as many transitions as possible.  The first space I considered was a busy subway station stairwell at a public park between Chinatown and SoHo.  My goal was to show the contrasts between culture and economic status between the two neighborhoods and the differences between the relaxed people in the park and the busy subway commuters.  After several attempts at photographing this location resulted in cluttered, busy pictures, I realized I was trying to include too much information in one photograph.  I reconsidered and tried to photograph the project at the Astor Place subway stairwell.  Its aesthetically pleasing awning and interesting surroundings attracted me.

My goal here was to show the stairwell, the subway platform, and the ground level above.  I tried to capture my image three different times before deciding the area was too small and cramped to allow me the right point of view to capture the image.  Finally, I discovered that the Union Square SW Stairwell was the right mix of aesthetically pleasing and practical design that allowed me the right perspective for the project.  At the top of the stairwell, you can see the park above, the area below, and the stairs that connect the two spaces.  The gate around the stairwell neatly separated the above and below ground levels and there was a place for me to stand and capture my transitional space and the spaces between which it transitioned.  Overall, it was an easier place to clearly capture the objectives of the project.

Photographing the Union Square station stairwell was a prolonged process of trial and error.  I wanted my picture to capture the streams of people ascending and descending the stairs.  During my first two attempts, I stood on ground level and held my camera above my head.  This produced off-angle pictures that didn’t compliment the symmetrical structure of the stairwell.  On my third attempt, I decided on a shutter speed that showed enough movement of people without losing their form entirely.  I climbed on a chair, which a friendly Union Square chess player kindly lent me, to have a steady hand to capture from a higher perspective. What I learned was that my process takes time, experimentation, and thoughtful planning.  It takes me a long time to achieve the picture I want and I often become frustrated that I cannot get the picture I imagine.  I must clearly understand what I want in a photograph and make sure that I have all the elements required to convey my vision.

Multiple Images

The second part of our transitional space project involved conveying a sense of time and motion through the juxtaposition of multiple images taken at the same space.  This was another lengthy process with multiple revisions.   At first, I planned to make a comic book style picture series that showed the action of moving between the park and the subway turnstiles.  My first plan involved photographing two friends in a photojournalistic narrative style during rush hour.  Dealing with the large crowds while trying to capture my narrative was incredibly frustrating.  I tried again with another friend, this time trying to shoot for a graphic layout that showed my friend’s path up and down the stairs.  My friend’s progress would be portrayed along points of an arrow, with varying picture sizes forming the shape of the arrow.  I also tried to show the process of tuning out the outside world by donning headphones and sunglasses.  The resulting layout, despite its order and symmetry, was too cluttered and had too many objectives to clearly convey the main transition.  My final layout didn’t focus on a single person and showed people along their path down the stairs.  I wanted to simplify my design graphically while showing the sequence of passing through the transitional space to the subway turnstile.   The revision simplified my vision too much and lost the comic book feeling of stylized movement I desired.  I learned that I must prioritize my design choices and decide how to effectively achieve them to make my projects creatively stimulating for me.