Making figures anonymous

The object of this exercise is to take images where the place is the principal subject, but the image is enhanced by the addition of person(s). For this to work, the person(s) must not be prominent in the image.

We have already come across this concept in the previous two exercises: a single figure small by definition emphasises the place ahead of the person, and in busy traffic, we are concerned with the sense of many people going about their business rather than them as individuals within the setting. The four images used for the previous two exercises could easily be used in this one.

The notes suggest two to four images to be selected. I chose five, as each offered a different perspective on the anonymity.

St Michael's Mount in Cornwall is a famous landmark in Cornwall. The aim of the image was to emphasise the defences of the castle. The people add at least three dimensions to the image:

• colour and a sense of purpose about the place;
• a sense of scale next to the battlements;
• a sense of perspective in the vertical plane - the figures on the lower level are much smaller in the image then the two closest

This is a slightly different use of the concept of silhouette. Taken with a smartphone in the Brecon Beacons, the slightly stooping figure appearing from the mist adds to the sense of gloom and drabness.

Here the principal subject is the view of the Scottish islands with a yacht in the middle ground and the darkening sky. The figure on the left is clearly taking it all in.

In this image we have a partially obscured person at the foot of the stairs. The principal aim of the image is to focus on the light falling on the stairs and on the landing; adding an indistinguishable person to the image adds some interest and scale and avoids the image looking too clinical; being semi obscured to the right of the image we can see the two spotlights on the landing clearly.

In this image of  Medieval Art at Cloisters museum in northern Manhattan, I use the concept of shooting from behind people to add interest to what would otherwise be a rather flat image of an alabaster sculpture with a fresco above. The people emphasise the building's purpose as a museum. Both are looking upwards so there is a strong implied line towards the painting. The light falling from the right helps to add some form to the image.

This exercise helped me think more analytically about the relationship of place and people in the cases where one's principal aim is to photograph the place, but the addition of people can help emphasise the purpose of the place, and add scale and form to what might otherwise be an uninteresting image.