Helen Stead

Camera Trapped II - Blackpool

  My practice is predominantly photography based and my most recent works have been an experimentation of social documentary and candid photography with the use of camera trap equipment, a device which is more commonly used by wildlife conservationists.
I have been exploring the potential of these camera traps and utilising its motion sensor and infra red settings that are used to capture photographs of animals in the wild. I have taken the trap out of its normal setting and have put it in a city environment to document humans as ‘social animals’ and also reflect on how CCTV and surveillance is used in Britain. 
I have tested a number of methods using the traps and it has produced a number of interesting results. The first series of works I ‘captured’ where taken by strapping the camera around my waist and documenting a journey around Salford and Manchester City Centre. The results were vivid, impressionistic landscapes of the environment which captured the movement of the city in a distorted and warped quality as the motion sensor was triggered rapidly as people and cars passed in front of me. The second series of work that was produced with the camera trap was based in Blackpool where I had attached the camera to various places in a local casino and amusement arcade and because the camera was kept stationary the images are much more focused and have an almost voyeuristic quality to them.

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Interesting concept and good pics Helen, would love to see more!

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