Surveillance

I began this piece of work while walking to university in Sheffield. I was intrigued by the number of CCTV cameras that l passed. We are constantly being watched but by who and what for? Is our city turning into a city of surveillance? We are often unaware that someone will be watching us on screen. I wanted to analyse this by becoming the CCTV camera, photographing people without them knowing.

I chose three photographs to draw from to create my piece. I wanted to focus on the detail of the face to represent the detail that a camera might be able to capture- this can often be very important for the police and security services. The photographs were taken without the subject knowing. I then chose to draw the photographs of people that l did not know as l am struck by the detail l can create by using pencil. I spent a long time drawing my three observations which gave me some insight into their personalities and life histories. I wonder what their reaction would be if l invited them to the gallery to see the finished work given that they did not even know l was photographing and observing them. Would this make them think about the way that CCTV cameras can capture them on film?