36) Edit 1 layout - 21/4/18

After my last tutorial with Amanda I decided my next steps were to start making a couple of different edits to take to the next edit tutorial. This blog post is documenting the first edit I made of my images and how they'd look in a newspaper format. You can see the sequence of pages below:

For the front and back cover I decided to wrap one image across the double page spread, so you can see the dog peering out the caravan window on the front cover, and the rest of the window on the back. After printing out my mock up I have realised the head of the dog is a bit hidden by the fold of the paper, so when making my final edit I need to move the photo over to the right a bit more. I also added some text on the front, including the name of the project 'Greenbank' and my name. I decided to go for the 'Times' font, because I liked the look of the serif on a newspaper.

For the inside pages of this edit I decided to just go for quite a clean layout, 2 images per page or one landscape image across a double page spread. Where boxes have been drawn is where I thought quotes or other text could be added in, which I haven't looked into yet because I just wanted to get the image placement right first.

I wanted to start the publication off in a strong way, so I've decided to put a portrait on the right page, full size. This will be accompanied with some text about the project itself and why I've been exploring Greenbank.

To follow on from the previous page, I decided to do a double page spread of a newspaper excerpt that the van dwellers showed me, which describes them as 'disgusting' amongst other negative comments. I think this contextualises the project well and shows the relationship the media and news have with this group of people, and how I'm trying to capture them in a better light and overcome this judgement. I also thought I could add a small quote at the bottom of the page.

Next up I decided to a double page spread which has a portrait and still life contrasting with each other. I liked these two images together because they have similar colours yet very different subjects. The portrait is well composed and shows the environment where the individual lives surrounding them, and I just like how it's a full body shot. I think it tells more of a story when you step back with the camera. I also like how the photograph on the left is showing the reality of where these people have to leave simple staples such as milk.

I just felt I had to include this image because it really shows the reality of how these people are living, their vans are their bedrooms, and whole home entirely. I thought it was quite comical how it's been pasted on the back of one of the vans. Again I thought I could add a small quote to this page to give it some extra detail.

I'm not too sure on this double page spread, but these were the two most successful hasselblad shots I took for the project, so I thought they should go next to each other. However I feel the layout of the pages looks a bit boring and flat, so I may play around with this in another edit. I also feel I could variate the images like I did in my other 2 image page, and have one still life and one portrait. This may also make the page look a little less boring and samey. I'm also going to put quotes underneath the images to fill more space, and use it to inform the viewer of the individuals depicted.

I felt I didn't really have much representation of the interior of these vans, and some really are incredible so I decided to add a double page spread of one interior which I thought was so eye catching. However I do feel this image sticks out a bit in the set and I could add other interior shots to give more variation between images and the environments they were taken in. I also need to make sure the colours in the darker images still have some information because I don't want them to be printed too dark in the newspaper itself when I send it off.

This was the final page I created for this first edit, and I just wanted to end it on a positive note by showing how they're ordering and sorting out all their rubbish, and also contextualise the project by depicting the street they live on. I also wanted to experiment with having one image smaller than the other, leaving more space for a quote on that left hand page.

Overall I'm really pleased with this sequence for a first edit because I found it hard to find images that went well together compositionally and it was hard just editing the images down from such a large selection. I don't think this is the perfect edit and I want to experiment with some other layouts too, so I'm going to make a second edit too and then take these to the next tutorial to review them with Amanda and Lee. I know the layout itself is still going to develop a lot within each edit so I'm not going to get too attached to the images and just see where it goes.

#creativeinteractions #editing