Artistic Intention

To create an image that invites us to ask questions about the missing occupant of the bed and a sense of anxiety as to their well-being.

Planning and set up

.As part of a previous job, I had access to sets of crime scene photographs. One thing that always struck me and has stayed with me was the incongruity between the “normal” and the “abnormal”. This was particularly prevalent for crimes committed in the home. I have attempted to replicate the seemingly normal part of one of these images with signs indicating that all is not quite as it should be.

1. The image needs to look like it is the middle of the night.

Single bedside lamp, soft yellow orange light with the rest of the room in deep shadow

2. The missing occupant is elderly

Furniture, bedclothes, teacup and saucer

3. There is something not quite right about the scene which causes concern, anxiety

The occupant has not taken their glasses with them – many elderly people would be a bit lost without their glasses.
The dent in the pillow where they have just been lying and neatly folded back bedclothes – makes them more real

The room and furnishing need to indicate that the missing occupant is elderly.
The lighting needs to look like it is coming from one lamp that the occupant has turned on before getting out of bed, and that it is the middle of the night (No other light coming from anywhere) It needs to be the old orange/yellow warm glow over the top of the bed and the bedside table with the rest of the room in almost complete darkness.

I took over our spare room and gathered props, taking test shots as I went along. I used a large glass jar on the pillow to make the dent.

I needed to make it look like an elderly persons space, so I used a valance, sheet, and an old-fashioned bedspread . The bedside table was black and a bit too modern, so it was replaced by a wood coloured one that looked a bit more traditional.  The headboard was also distracting and modern so I covered it with a grey blanket to make it look less contemporary.

The lighting was a bit of a challenge but with a bit of trial and error and some tweaking in photoshop the image started to take shape (Img.1)

Lighting set up

 

I left the image alone for a day or so to allow me to see it with fresh eyes. The reading glasses appear staged and are not signifying that something is wrong. The drinking glass on the bedside table has no water. My partner mentioned that he would have expected to see some reading material in evidence, so I will add a book into the scene. I want something to introduce a sense of anxiety so will try the reading glasses on the floor beside the bed.

This seemed to work and I was happy with the glasses on the floor and book on the bedside table. I also added an additional light coming up and over from the end of the bed to introduce more of a pool of light on the bed and pillow (Img. 2-6).

Image 6 was the best for lighting out of all the test shots. I brought it into photoshop and increased the contrast to give more detail for the pillow and sheets, boosted the highlights on the bed and on floor where the glasses were lying. I also increased the saturation slightly to give more of a soft glow to the whole scene (Img.7)