‘Secret Stories: voyeurism, surveillance and making the private public’, My chosen theme is surveillance, the reason is because London has been described as the most surveilled city in the world, with thousands of cameras positioned across the city. I would like to explore and investigate about this particular theme through the use of photography. Derived from the French word ‘surveiller’, meaning ‘to keep watch’ or ‘to watch over’, the surveillance camera has been used to police borders, to assist war-time reconnaissance, to gain advantage over political enemies or simply to gather information. Techniques of surveillance are closely linked to developments in photographic technology – from the earliest aerial photographs to satellite pictures. In the twenty-first century, cameras on street corners, in shops and public buildings silently record our every move, while web-based tools such as Google Earth adapt satellite technology to ensure that there is no escape from the camera’s all-seeing eye.

Research show, UK is being watched by a network of 1.85m CCTV cameras, the vast majority of which are run by private companies, according to the only large-scale audit of surveillance cameras ever conducted.  However, CCTVs seems invisible, it is trying to fit in our society. Public are either not aware of the fact that they are being watched most of the time, or they are very aware it. But my concerns of these cameras are who are we being monitored by, is it 1 person or a group of people, what are the purposes of it. It raises the question of ‘Who’s behind the camera?’ My intention of this project is to remind the audience/ viewers of this issue.

 

I planned my route around where I am living, I start walking from Cursitor Street - Furnival Street -High Holborn - Chancery lane then back to Cursitor Street. Just a short 10 minutes walk i discovered over 48 CCTV cameras, haven’t count the hidden ones that I didn’t see.  When i was photographing the CCTV cameras, I create different composition to build stronger images for example, positions of the CCTV cameras, use of different angles, use of different linings and the colour contrast within the image. All the images are purposely shoot as the way they are. The photographs are shooted with a 5D Mark II camera, and it has been retouch via photoshop. During my editing process, I picked 10 strongest images as final to present, the use of dull and gloomy colours are added to create a dark and depressing mood. This particular mood is very suitable for my chosen theme “surveillance” as I wanted to portray the messages of ‘you’re being watched’