Here is my final layout, I have experimented a lot with different ideas, but in the end this is the one I like the most. I like the overlapping of the images to show close ups of the cameras and how easy it is the hide them. No one in my house has figured out that there is a camera pen in the pen jar as of yet, the teddy bear still has the camera in it and my nephew was cuddling it, without knowing, obviously I have turned them all of, and do not intend to take images without anyone’s consent, but the principal is that they are unaware of these cameras in the house. Which I am not a fan of, but it is quite fun to see how easy it is to hide cameras, even when doing a project on Hidden cameras.
I wanted to get the element of childhood in here as this is where my feelings started to come out, hence why I used the teddy bear and the camera hidden in the lego. I had a warm atmosphere and lighting around the camera as these are in private ‘safe’ spaces where you would never expect to have a secret camera filming you or taking your photo, especially with the bear and the lego images.
I am mostly happy that I managed to get some great shots of people looking straight into the camera without even knowing it was there!
Surveillance is something which was extremely covert until fairly recently but now it is quite obvious everywhere. CCTV cameras in shops, banks, offices and on streets – seemingly accepted by all and sundry as necessary to keep us “safe” in this age of automation and high tech gadgets.
When I was 9, and my sister was 4, my mother’s then-partner placed a security camera in our bedroom, claiming that it was to “keep an eye” on us because my little sister had cut a hole in the carpet! However, it created a sense of insecurity in both of us to different degrees – it was a literal example of “big brother is watching you” as expressed in George Orwell’s 1984 about a dystopian society where everybody was watched and monitored to the nth degree.
I do not think that everybody understands this feeling of being watched – although it is a very real sensation. The brain is such a powerful tool – one can begin to feel that one is being watched even when this is not the case. Just as a dummy camera can be as powerful as a real one.
The powers that be promote surveillance - as a form of keeping us “safe” and preventing theft in retail establishments and generally ensuring that people conform to the basic rules of our society – preventing homes being burgled. However, the tables can be turned and it can be used by people to spy on their neighbours or other people.
In this body of work, I have included a number of different cameras – small, hidden cameras – motion sensor wildlife cameras – DSLR cameras which have taken images and self-made hidden cameras using tiny apparatus hidden within objects to disguise their use.
Although one could argue that the feeling of being watched can make people sometimes conform to the rules laid down by our society – one can also argue that the brain can become so confused by this thought that it may at the time, not realise what is actually happening.
I have often experienced such a sensation.