DSLR Photography Forum

Last week I was tasked with a photoshoot for a young local Perth indie/rock band called "The Plugs". In our search for a suitably gritty location I remembered that the Perry Lakes Stadium which played host to the 1962 Commonwealth Games was due for demolition and might be a good venue if we could get into it.
So after a couple of phone calls and the donation of a carton of beer I had the site manager happy to let us into the site after hours and supervise us during the shoot. For insurance, health and safety reasons we weren't allowed on-site without an escort, so it was really kind of him to give up a few hours of his own time to be there (hence the beers).
As it turned out, a lot of the offices behind/under the main stadium were still completely intact, and there were still bits of office furniture laying around that never got moved out. We were told the whole building will be knocked down in a week or so, so we could pretty much do *anything* we wanted.

It's such a shame this stadium is being demolished. It is an important part of Perth's (short) history, and right up until last year was still the training venue for a number of olympians and world champions in track and field. Of course the land it is situated on is prime real estate and being developed into expensive housing.
But... it's too late to stop it now. So we might as well have some fun. This is an opportunity that doesn't come up every day. So here are a series of photos that document the destruction of one particular office.

















Unfortunately the confined space and a few other restrictions limited my shooting to pretty much just a 15mm fisheye and 17-40L lens. I actually wasn't all that happy with the photos themselves, but when an opportunity like this comes up, you have to give it a shot. Besides, the guys had the time of their lives being allowed to smash up an office, so I don't think they particularly cared how the photos came out. It was totally worthwhile.
I ended up suggesting we do another quick photoshoot a couple of days later to get something perhaps a bit more useful for marketing, and I can post the results of that shoot (which I was much happier with).

This piece is so good that I just don't know where to start. The selection of photos flows with an tight narrative - the text sets the context and the story in motion, and then the images just run with it. Excellent!

Photographs? You betcha. On first pass, my first flush fav would be the big color one where The Plugs are looking through the wall - that's your CD cover, but overall great shoot with a tone of material - both the color and the B&W. You should be really happy with this session, I think.

Smashing stuff.

I don't particularly like to see destruction by youths as an image breaker type shot, even allowing for the fact that the building is being demolished. As the kids are image setters for the modern youth it seems a bit OTT.
Other than that the photos in the other series come across stronger for me. I like No 3 (in the 2nd series)
That is to do with the band side of it.
The photographic side of it in both sets, comes over mostly very strong.

I really like the group-through-the-wall photo, as well as the singles. Those together form a set all on their own, and some of the others – the gnome in the TV would be fun – can provide a little extra.

Nicely done – but it is very interesting to compare this with the later session. Here they're not trying quite so hard, with a different look as a result.

Ade, I hope I don't get flamed here but I'm largely in disagreement with even yourself!

That is, I think your choice of lens is seriously inspired for a start: the fisheye working in the confined space generates such a dynamism and tension... a sense of forced restraint at the same time as a width that introduces a feeling of dislocation or alienation. That so many young people attest to these very emotions, renders your work engaging and immediately communicative. Had you used the fisheye in an external space, this would have been too "stock" and hackneyed...which is always going to be the case with a fisheye if the user does not rein it in and make it say just what one wants to say. I think you've excelled yourself with riding a difficult set of horses here(the kit and "message", I mean).

Also, there is a story and a linear sequence here: the issues of destruction and nihilism are explored after the movement from the first images...but they are cathartically resolved for goodness' sake, not just left there in an offensive "no future" extended digit. You have so, so managed to embrace this by the final shots, as you move from fisheye to warmer and more intimate focal lengths, which defuses any negative emotion engendered by the images in the middle of the sequence.

I mean..think of a Shakespeare play: an initial exploration in acts 1 and 2; pivotal honesty, rock bottoms and reversal by the end of act 3; denouement, revelation, restoration and catharsis by end of act 5. Obvious innit!

Brilliant..so deal with it.
One personal observation: I'd have stayed within one medium for the sequence, possibly going for a pushed Tri-X look throughout..however, I can quite see that the movement from mono to colour works very well to suggest to the viewer that the earlier "destruction" was even more tongue in cheek than it appears, almost purposefully placing the mono stuff as an internal "dream sequence", which is replaced by the colour revelation later that these really are a nice set of lads 'avvin a larf.

OK then, I forgot the final tv image. Me no Leica.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I appreciate it all.

NT, that's a very interesting point you raise, and I must confess that I hadn't worried much about it until you raised it.

At the time we were simply looking for a gritty, decayed location for the shoot and had no intention of causing any damage whatsoever. It was only when the site manager told us we could freely trash the place that my mind instantly gravitated to the quintessential rite-of-passage cliche for successful rock bands; the trashing of a hotel room. This isn't a hotel, but it comes close. We made the decision on the spot to give up the gritty decay look in favour of a high-energy, descent into chaos vibe.
But despite the energy in their music and the look of these photos, these are a bunch of polite, friendly, well-mannered kids. I absolutely have a clear conscience about their actions on the day.
But, and this is a fairly big but, I understand that isn't really the point you were trying to make. Taken out of context, photos like this can portray a very different story. I believe you think these photos portray destruction and violence as acceptable behaviour, regardless of the circumstances surrounding these specific photos.
I can certainly understand your point, but in this case I don't feel they overstep the mark by encouraging violent behaviour. And the reason is simple.
I believe that having musical instruments included in-shot makes all the difference. It changes the context completely from "a bunch of vandals" to "a group of performers", and their actions change from acts of aggression to acts of self-expression. After all, the difference between a street performer throwing fire in the air and a rioter throwing a molotov cocktail is largely one of context, yet that context changes things completely for the viewer.
Some of those individual photos above seen in isolation could well appear to be simple vandalism, but that's why I deliberately showed this as a series to provide context.
But if this doesn't come through clearly then perhaps that points me to something I need to improve on in the future.

I don't apologize at all for trying to communicate the energy and frustration expressed in these kids' music, and "tearing down the establishment" is a pretty common desire for any young person since the start of civilization. I'm trying to capture that feeling just as their music tries to capture it and provide a vent for their frustration. But I would hope to do it in a thought-provoking way rather than a ham-fisted thuggish attempt that can be used to justify vandalism or violence. If I've failed in this respect then that is certainly something I want to work on.

Zig, thanks for your kind words. I think they're completely undeserved, and I think you've probably put more thought into these shots than I have.
I am glad that the story came through though. I did want this series to have a beginning, middle, and an end.
As far as the colouring goes, that was more a case of trying a few different styles to give the guys in the band examples of how things could look, and I just kind of left them like that and posted them here.