I plan to explore ‘Power dynamics’, I want to play on the idea of dominance and submission and what forces a person to adopt either role. I began a mind map to explore what power involves and consider what materials and artists could be of influence.
After reading about Richard Serras work I began to create a series of drawings that help to imagine an installation dealing with the way a space can manipulate a persons importance.
Taking up space 
Using these response drawings, I moved on to planning out a hypothetical space.
I feel each space asserts control over the participant, It decides where they go and how they interact with each other. However, this doesn’t play on both sides of the power dynamic, It presents more of an overbearing feeling rather than the experience of both power and submission in the exchange. This idea also requires quite specific materials and space that are fairly inaccessible, but I will keep it in mind and use it to inform my further work.
I feel like the solution to this is to use photography as a way to reproduce the same feeling but using materials that I can easily get my hands on. My next step is to find imagery that is relevant and figure out how to create a set to take photos in.
Body language
Looking into body language I found out the extent that this nonverbal communication can change someones perception of you. By adjusting your posture, eye contact and performing certain gestures you can create the illusion of power. I wanted to explore this in a video to practice how I will hold myself if I were to use my body as the subject of my photos.
This photo series Is comprised of screenshots I took from the video, each photo either presents a powerful posture or a position that shows weaknesses .
The body dominating the space and coming out of the edge of the photo creates a large presence as if there’s more to encounter. 
Relaxed, layed back as if the body feels unthreatened. 
Flicking back the hair is known to be a sign of readying oneself for a fight, this combined with the relaxed body creates the illusion of confidence. 
Closed fist and the body leaning forward feels overbearing/challenging 
crossed begs and arms seems closed off as if the subject is concealing something; plays with the power and threat of a hidden identity
These poses are either relaxed and settled or challenging and confrontational; all traits that present some kind of power.
This posture seems nervous as the subject is making their body smaller in a protective manner. They are on the edge of the seat clearly uncomfortable. 
Removal of clothes is an action that suggests vulnerability. 
Crossed legs and closed of, holding the neck suggests the subject is uncomfortable. 
Turned away posture indicates avoidance along with the crossed legs and arms hiding themselves. 
curved over and turned away, this posture holds a timid attitude.
These poses all hint towards a nervous, gentle character, lacking in confidence.
Due to the camera angle my head was cut out of all of the pictures, this made me consider the removal of identity as a trait of power. The lack of facial recognition facilitates the dehumanisation of a person and alters the perception of them into an objective outlook. The absence of information about someones identity can create an illusion of power and mystery; fear of unknown.
The perspective of the photo also feels as if its a secret observation of someone during a meeting as if they were in conversation with someone else . This gives the suggestion that it is someone in their natural environment, however, it doesn’t portray an aggressive output of power which is something I will play with next.
Balaclavas are a form of headwear attached to many connotations, they portray the idea of war, concealment and protection; all of which play with the idea of power. They rid oneself of prejudice expectations and breaches freedom from intimidation and judgement.I’ve decided to use this as the main focus of my photography , the first step was to recreate the body adjustment video but with a costume to convey a powerful threatening figure.
I then used these stills to play with further in the form of collage and photoshop, exploring the idea of hidden identity and removal from setting.
I felt the photos don’t have much of an impact, they feel quite stagnant. This doesn’t portray the idea that i want it to as i need it to feel overwhelming and movement is a big part of that experience. The next step was to involve the previously filmed clip into a video.
After viewing Pipilotti Rists work i was inspired to make my work more immersive, i found her work to overpower the viewer and take them on some kind of journey. From this i came up with the idea to reproduce a ‘power trip’, a period in which a person is asserting their power over another as a way to boast their own ego or feelings of self worth. These next videos show my exploration of techniques that i feel portray this experience.
This first video was knocked together quickly with imagery i felt continued the idea of ‘overpowering’. The controlled movement and consistent noise of the factory reminded me of the nonstop pressure involved in a power trip. i like the imagery of the dragonflys, the contrast between the fight and the idea that they are both the same fragile creature ties into the idea of the irrationality of performative power. The clip of money counting also brings forward the idea of someones financial control or the idea of boasting and keeping count of what they own as a way of seeming more powerful.
I played more about with the way the clips appear to see if it had more impact, the more selective appearances mimics the kind of control someone has during a power trip.
Using a microscope tool in this video, i played with perception, discovering how i could highlight certain elements to enhance them. I liked the idea of it but it didn’t feel right to incorporate it into the final piece.
I feel that this edit has been successful with the involvement of sound and text, however, it feels too soft to portray a power trip. The text is comprised of a list of things i or my friends have heard whilst someone is seemingly on a power trip, each statement is intended to make the receiver seem small or humiliated. They are read out as a list in a monotone voice, this makes it sound authoritive as if it is a set of overriding instructions. I want to add more layers to this one in hopes of it coming across more aggressive.
Resolved work
Abigail yeats CAP 