Planned locations. The top left image is where a park now exists, however, is unavailable to see on google earth due to outdated images.
This shoot will aim to explore the theme of absence and distance through the use of natural fog. Rather than photographing people directly, I wanted to focus on environments that suggest human presence without confirming it. When checking the weather, I noticed heavy fog will be happening 9am tomorrow morning (19 Jan) and I'm using it as an opportunity to capture naturally obscured environments. I will use it as a visual barrier to limit clarity and detail, encouraging the viewer to sit with the uncertainty and partial scenes. The aim is to create images that feel quiet, detached, and emotionally distant, reinforcing the idea that not everything is meant to be fully seen or understood.
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This shoot is loosely inspired by Uta Barth, exploring perception, visibility, and what exists just beyond clarity. Barth's work prioritises atmosphere over subject and leaves the viewer in the role of storyteller, which I feel will be the same with these photos. I am also inspired by the
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I intend to shoot local footpaths and a nearby park. I chose these spaces because they include objects associated with everyday human activity, such as swings, football posts, and walking routes. Photographing these spaces while they are hopefully empty will help suggest presence through implication rather than depiction.
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I will carry out this shoot early morning around 9am, when the fog is expected to be at its thickest. I will also monitor the weather conditions in advance to ensure that the visibility is reduced enough to create the desired atmospheric effect. I will be using natural light exclusively to maintain a sense of realism and subtlety.
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With this shoot, and project as a whole, I am particularly focused on being more mindful of composition and lighting while I am shooting. Being conscious of how the images look straight from the camera to reduce any post production steps and maintain a raw and 'relatable' tone. I will be focusing on using the fog as negative space and to create a sense of distance. Softening edges of potential subjects and obscure background information, guiding attention toward form and atmosphere rather than detail.
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I also plan to take 2 lenses, my 18-45mm and 45-200mm, using the wider angle to capture vast scenes and emphasises the sense of absence, while swapping to the zoom lens to capture smaller details or faraway subjects.
This photoshoot was planned due to a forecast of heavy fog, which I saw as an opportunity to explore themes of absence, obscurity, and perception within my project. Having recently researched Uta Barth, whose work frequently addresses lack of clarity, peripheral vision, and what is withheld from view, I felt the fog would provide a strong conceptual link to her work while still allowing me to approach the idea in an original way. Unlike Barth's use of blur and very shallow focus, I aimed to create images that remained technically sharp while being visually obscured by the environment itself.
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I conducted the shoot at around 9am, when the fog was set to be at its thickest, to maximise its atmospheric impact. I explored several locations local to me that I knew would create a more convincing sense of absence and eeriness, including a footpath and a nearby park. These spaces are typically associated with activity and presence, so photographing them empty and partially erased by fog allowed me to emphases what was missing rather than what was visible.
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Within the park, I photographed objects such as swings, playground equipment, football posts, and a basketball hoop. These subjects were deliberately chosen as they imply human presence and interaction, yet in the images they appear abandoned and inactive. I used the fog to create large areas of negative space, where sections of the image appear visually "cut off", reinforcing the idea that information is being withheld from the viewer. This lack of visibility encourages uncertainty and prompts the viewer to question what lies beyond the fog.
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I was particularly interested in using leading lines and visual evidence of presence to suggest a narrative. The footpath functions as a leading line disappearing into the fog, implying a journey that has already occured but cannot be fully seen. Similarly, tyre tracks in the grass act as traces of movement, guiding the eye into obscured space and reinforcing the idea that something has been and gone. These elements suggest absence not as emptiness, but as the aftermath of presence.
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Technically, I worked in manual mode throughout the shoot. I primarily used a shutter speed of 1/125 to maintain sharpness as I didn't have a tripod and was actively moving, with an aperture of f5.6 to allow sufficient light into the camera and to enhance the bright, white negative space created by the fog, while still maintaining a relatively shallow depth of field. I kept the ISO low at 200 due to the brightness of the environment, however, in certain instances I increased the ISO to 400 to capture more information on finer details such as spider webs, tree branches, and the structure of the swings, using the light meter to guide this decision.
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Composition was a key focus during this shoot. While I used techniques such as the rule of thirds, I also intentionally disrupted balance within the frame by placing subjects off centre or allowing them to be partially swallowed by fog. In many images I wanted to shift my perspective while photographing and focus on the fog as the main subjects itself. This approach challenged my usual instincts as a photographer and allowed me to create a subtle sense of discomfort, subconsciously reinforcing the mood of absence and lack.
Some of the images produced also remind me of the work of Todd Hido, particularly in his use of fog, muted tones, and quiet suburban environments to create a psychological unease. Although I have previously research Todd Hido in another project, this shoot has encouraged me to revisit his work in more depth as potential future inspiration.
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Overall, the theme of absence is communicated through the obscuring quality of the fog and its refusal to allow the viewer full access to the scene. The images invite questions as to what exists beyond the frame? What has happened here? And who has occupied these spaces? The fog limits visual information forcing the viewer to construct their own narrative from what remains visible.
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If I were to repeat this shoot, I would experiment with a slow shutter speed, bringing along a tripod to capture motion, particularly focusing on the swings. Using an ND filter to compensate for the high levels of light, I would explore the idea of capturing movement as a trace of past activity - suggesting presence through motion rather than visibility - to further develop my concept.
During editing, my primary focus was on refining the atmosphere of the images rather than heavily manipulating them. I reduced the overall vibrancy to create a more muted colour palette, without turning the images completely black and white. This was intentional as I feel the subtle presence of colour, suggets that something still exists within the scene, while the lack of full vibrancy implies that it is diminished, distant, or already past. To me, this restrained use of colour reinforces the concept of absence, not as complete emptiness, but as something partially removed or faded.
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I avoided heavy contrast or dramatic tones as I wanted the fog to remain soft and dominant within the images. Maintaining gentle highlights helped preserve the white negative space created by the fog, preventing it from becoming overly harsh. This ensured that the fog continued to function as both an atmospheric element and a conceptual device, rather than simply a visual effect.
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Very little cropping was required during post production as I was extra mindful of composition at the time of shooting. Paying close attention to framing, balance, and negative space on location meant that the images largely translated as intended straight out of camera.
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Overall, the editing process was used subtly to enhance the mood and conceptual intentions of the images rather than dominate them.
