November 2021, we successfully delivered our second photography course for young adults with a vision impairment in London. Six young people headed to the London Institute of Photography for expert guidance from founder and head of the institute, Holger Pooten. After gaining inspiration from a range of photographers and thinking about the project brief of ‘themselves’, our group headed out on a street photography expedition. Discovering and engaging with the exciting urban world around them, their photographs truly reflect their own personal view of the world. Back in the studio, our group were able to put even more of a personal stamp on the images, learning how to crop, edit colours, manage perspective and deal with contrast, highlights and shadows. All designed to help their photographic visions come to life.

Below are the photographs that our young photographers selected as their final pieces.

Photograph By Haya Hassan

Photo description
Looking down into reflections formed on a puddle on a London road. You can see the textures of the road and pavement curb and there is an oily texture to the water. Reflected in the water is a bright blue sky and the roof and chimney of a house. To contrast this urban landscape, a green leaf is floating on the water.

Photograph By Haya Hassan

Photo description
Green lily pads floating on water which Haya found in a water feature near Spitalfields Market. The plants are surrounded by lots of different colours reflected in the water with an interesting rippling effect. The photograph has the feel of an impressionist painting.

Photograph By Haya Hassan

Photo description
Fairy lights hanging in vertical lines in a glass window. There are rain drops on the glass and you can see through to the glass on the other side. In the top-right corner the sun is glaring through, creating a striking effect. The structure of the building is dark and the highlights caused by the sun are creating a high contrast of yellow and orange.

 

Photograph By Haya Hassan

Photo description
Looking up to the sky surrounded by the tops of high-rise modern buildings in the City of London leaning in. The sky is a murky blue colour and in the bottom corner the sun is burning through into the picture.

Photograph by Lucy Williams

Photo description
Bold graffiti on a folding, metal lockup door. The graffiti is of a woman’s face wearing bright pink lipstick, large earrings and what looks like a brightly coloured sari. She has brown eyes and is holding her hand to her forehead which also has an eye on it, giving the effect that she has three eyes.  

 

Photograph by Lucy Williams

Photo description
Lucy has photographed a lamppost which has graffiti on it. The graffiti is of a star with brush strokes going out from it forming a flower type image. In the studio, Lucy has turned the photograph and the backdrop of the street grayscale. She has then picked out the bright colours of the graffiti so that it pops out from the photo.

Photograph by Lucy Williams

Photo description
Vanitas photo – Lucy’s vanitas photo features objects that reflect her personality staged in a formal setting to give the effect of an old painting. Lucy’s photo features an open book with Dungeons and Dragons gaming dice falling down the middle of it. They are sitting in a metal bowl with bright yellow flowers carefully arranged around them. Lucy was able to find these flowers from a seller during her photography walk in London. In front of the bowl is a metal butterfly clasp.

Photograph by Lucy Williams

Photo description
Lucy’s second veritas photo shows the book closed with the flowers spilling out of the centre of the pages.

Photograph by Matthew Clark

Photo description
Reflection of Matthew taking his own photo in a window. Matthew is leaning against a sculpture with his white cane crossed in front of him. The photo is taken in an outdoor courtyard with traditional brick buildings and street lamps reflected in the background. It has a washed out colouration to it with subdued tones.

Photograph by Matthew Clark

Photo description
Young lady wearing a rain coat sitting on a slatted wooden bench. She is holding out her arm over the bench which is casting an interesting shadow of her hand across the slats. There is a modern urban building in the background with fairy lights hanging down across the windows. Matthew has chosen subdued colours with high contrast that really shows the dramatic light catching the objects at this time of day.

Photograph by Matthew Clark

Photo description
Matthew had an interest in showing how people with vision impairments might navigate the city. This photo has a strong composition of two halves, with a pedestrian/cycling crossing sign in the foreground on the right-hand side of the image. The left-hand side shows the glass buildings of the city and the angles of the glass. Reflected in the lower panes is the famous ‘Gherkin’ building.

Photograph by Matthew Clark

Photo description
This photo follows Matthew’s theme of people with vision impairments navigating the city. The photo shows a man (Matthew) standing on the raised pavement dots that indicate to people that they are approaching a crossing. The right-hand side captures just his legs and feet. The left-hand side shows the backdrop of the city, people and cars bustling about amid striking buildings of metal and glass.

Photograph by Matthew Clark

Photo description
Light painting – Matthew has experimented with light painting in the studio by featuring two objects which are significant to him – a braille pocket watch and a ball bearing watch. They are arranged on a dark background and the light picks out the highlights and shows up the braille dots. The light has created a bright, blurred lighting strip effect with stripes of pinks and yellows along the top of the image. 

Photograph by Michael Alford

Photo description
Photograph of the City of London showing contrasting angles created by the buildings. On the right-hand side, the glass and metal Lloyds Building cuts into the photo at an angle. In the centre of the photograph is the all glass ‘Gherkin’ building with contrasting old brick buildings including a church in front of it. To the left another very modern glass building frames the image. Michael has used high contrast colours to really flood the image and pick out colours you might not at first notice in the city.

Photograph by Michael Alford

Photo description
A photograph of a fairground carrousel at night on the South Bank in London. Michael has used high contrast to showcase the carrousel against the black night sky, with colours of red and orange and highlights of green. You can see some of the leaves of the trees where the light catches them. Just behind the carrousel, the red lights pick out highlights of the London Eye towering above.

Photograph by Michael Alford

Photo description
Michael’s vanitas photo shows objects personal to him in a formal arrangement similar to an old master’s painting. The photo shows Michael’s drum with a drumstick hanging from it, a metal jug and bowl with leaves spilling over, Michael’s favourite trilby hat and his camera in the foreground. 

Photograph by Michael Alford

Photo description
Light painting – Michael chose to feature his drum and drumstick in his light painting. Sitting on a dark backdrop, Michael has used lights to really pick out the details on the objects and cast an interesting lighting effect.

Photograph by Rosie Begum

Photo description
Rosie has photographed a mural on a building in London which has been painted to advertise the ‘Gucci’ movie featuring Lady Ga Ga. She is wearing a sequin skirt with the different colours really highlighted in this photo. To the right of the building you can see the modern sky scrapers of London in front of a blue sky. 

Photograph by Rosie Begum

Photo description
This photo has high contrast colours flooding the image to stunning effect. In the centre of the photo in the background is the ‘Gherkin’ building, with blues and greens reflected in it – it appears to be emerging out of the blue sky. The image is framed by an angular metal structure on the left and autumnal trees coming in from both sides. They have striking green and orange colours, with the light captured as it falls onto the leaves.

Photograph by Rosie Begum

Photo description
Rosie was interested in the old buildings hidden within the modern City of London. She has photographed an old stone church with a metal gate. Rosie has edited the colours to take out a lot of the saturation, giving the image more of an antique feel.

Photograph by Rosie Begum

Photo description
Vanitas photo – Rosie’s composition which reflects herself, features her shiny leather handbag with a gold chain strap, with yellow flowers arranged around it. In the foreground are two of her rings.

Photograph by Rosie Begum

Photo description
Light painting – Rosie has experimented with light painting in the studio with the subject matter being her favourite ring. Placed on a dark, fabric background, Rosie has used the lights to highlight the blue gem and detail on the metal. The light is shining through the back of the gem and creates a slightly blurred, atmospheric picture.