Ceyda Hall Photography: February 2014

As part of my Advertising Assignment I am required to take part in the New Blood Awards, held by D&AD. From a range of different briefs, I chose Nokia's 'Decisive Moment' brief which focuses upon revisiting the idea of Henri Cartier Bresson's 'decisive moment'.

The brief states the following; Use your intuition to capture an image that is not disposable but speaks of, or represents, a particular moment in time. Revisit the concept and evolution of the ‘decisive moment,’ whilst considering the access and immediacy that photographic technology has now enabled. The challenge is to understand your own world-view, knowing that a picture can say as much about the photographer as the subject in front of the lens. Through a single image create a distinctive piece of cultural reportage.

I undertook in-depth research into the principles of Nokia's brand, their history of advertising and legislation within the advertising industry before creating digital mock-ups, sketches and visual mind-maps to explore initial ideas and concepts. I formulated four main concepts for this brief including;

1. The 'Decisive Moment': for this concept, I wanted to incorporate Henri Cartier Bresson’s theory about the ‘decisive moment’ to create an image explores cultural life and popular experiences as a form of self-expression that is relevant to the consumer.

2. Incidental Photography: focusing on accidental photography and capturing incidental elements within an image as well as the main focal points. This can include reflections, movement, energy, background details, signs, hidden meanings as well as lighting and shadows.

3. Mobile Photography: this genre has changed the way people use mobile phone cameras, it allows anyone to pick up their smartphone and create images whilst providing professional photographers with another creative opportunity. This concept would appeal to Nokia's target audience - the social, connected, in-the-know types. I was also interested in how popular their new Nokia 1020 smartphone has become – used by David Bailey and other professional photographers who enjoy the high quality images that can be achieved with the phone’s 41-megapixel camera.

4. Differences/Contrast: this concept focuses on representing the different ways in which the public own and use mobile phones. It emphasises how far digital technology has come since the first mobile phone was produced and how each year new smartphones, with more features than the ones before, are being developed.
Below are a few of my digital mock-ups, created using images found on stock websites or via other photographers. (Permission to use images has been attained).