I believe Gas Stations are a common place for all Americans to go. For me, it is a weekly ritual to fill up my tank. With the gas prices increasing and decreasing everyday, it is difficult to determine when the best possible moment to fill up your tank is. In this project, I wanted to show the relationship we have with gas stations, for the fact that they have become an important place in everyone's driving life. I chose the photos that I believe show the steps that everyone goes through while standing at the pump.
When I first started taking these photographs, I was taking them straight on. I realized that this won't capture what I was trying to say, so I tried taking them from different angles and zooming in on a specific object. This really helped me try to take what could be distracting out of the photo and let the viewer focus more on the detail of the subject. I also let more light into some of my photos so the colors were able to pop out more, like the third photo with the gasoline buttons. I really wanted the viewer to look right at the buttons and different kinds of gasoline then what was in the background that wasn't important to the photograph. I really wanted my photos to intrigue the viewer.
While taking these photographs, I wasn't sure how I was going to show that gas stations are a part of everyday life. I ended up taking around 200 pictures without even know it. I was really getting into trying to capture the gas stations and everything that tend to come with them, such as the air tanks, the different signs, the promotions they were advertising, and just regular advertisements like Sunoco being the official fuel for NASCAR. Usually, people have a routine, and once they get in that routine they don't usually see the details that can be around. I wanted to show the detail in my photographs. Then, when I went to look through all my photographs I was able to see even more detail that I hadn't saw when I took the photographs. For example. in the last photo with the receipt, in the glass covering the amount of the sale, the reflection of the car is showing. It surprised me that it came together like that and fit in perfectly. For this reason, it is probably my favorite photo that I took.
I liked the third image. The considerable wear on the cheapest fuel option testifies to the extreme prices we are forced to pay for gas.
ReplyDeleteThese are captivating images of a familiar location that we frequent in our society, but may not typically consider a visually exciting space. The emphasis seems to be on price, and follows the consumer from beginning to end of a transaction. Personally, I am most attracted to the third image, which shows wear on the cheapest gas price button.
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