Bellows

In photography, the bellows is the accordion-like, pleated expandable part of a camera, usually a large or medium format camera, to allow the lens to be moved with respect to the focal plane for focusing. The bellows in cars are used to deliver additional air to the fuel, raising the rate of combustion and therefore the heat output. I had always wanted to shoot on large format film (this was my first time) experimenting with new environments and I feel that I have learnt a lot from doing so. It is a way of shooting that has its setbacks, such as the cost and the longevity of getting everything perfect but in turn is satisfying and produces some excellent results. I feel that shooting this way has strengthened my project as a whole and allowed me to maintain consistency aesthetically when shooting in multiple setting scenarios. My idea, and the concept behind it was to create my own world and photograph it in such a way that it would appear to be real, or at least force a second look. As I developed in my understanding of my work from tutorials and getting images back from the lab, I gained more confidence in my work and began to add small playful narratives. These add so much to my work and almost create a movie still-like effect. My aesthetic turned out to be a very sharp and clear set of images with neutral colours leading to the model cars being the focus. This is how I had imagined the outcome prior to seeing it so to me that has been a success.