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Graded Unit Evaluation

file:///D:/College/HN2A/Graded%20Unit/Evaluation.pdf

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Hyper-real

I took this base image of five eggs on a thick, pale blanket.

converted it to black and white;

masked on the nail; which was photographed stuck into a lime under the same light conditions. I blended a mask between the lime skin and egg shell.

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Graded Unit Images

In no particular order

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Graded Unit Inspiration

Josef Koudelka is a social documentary photographer born in what was then called Czechoslovakia. His career began in early sixties, and has largely continued until today; he’s 80 at the time of this posting.

He photographed the soviet invasion of Prague in 1968, producing images like (below), which would earn him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for “photographs requiring exceptional courage”.

I’ve been looking at his work and it’s really amazed me. Photographers who make use of natural light have always been my favourite; I think the effect is irreplicable. His work is largely quite people-centric, which is a kind of photography I’d like to have more experience in. Both of the images below seem to be made timeless by the photographers mastery of capturing the ambient light, they’re brilliant.

This is an image of mine, below. I can see at least a degree of parallel between Koudelka’s work and mine; he’s an example of the kind of photographer I would really love to become.

His work includes candid photography also, like;

I think what makes this picture work is primarily the composition and where those four people are. It’s also dated by the clothes seen worn. Whereas my portraits aren’t to this standard, I still think I’ve caught a genuine moment, where composition has certainly been considered.

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Visiting Speaker Report

Your Name/Class Group: Alwyn Hyde HN2A Guest Speaker Details: Andrew Dobbie, CEO of Made Brave

Identify an element of the guest speaker’s talk that resonated with you in some way.

Andrew’s talk was very industry-focussed. I don’t see myself following his lead in having to create a business which is totally shaped by the market and, by extension, is heavily focussed on maximising profits - although it’s understandable that he decided to run his business that way. The aspect of his presentation that did resonate with me was his focus on having a unique selling point, something which i’ve heard a lot of photographers and creatives mention. It’s plain to see that a USP can be a powerful commercial tool, and I believe that it is a tool which can be used not just to maximise profits, but to help define (yourself) as a creative to the viewer and to yourself. It is this second idea which I am more drawn to.

What question will/did you ask the visitor? How naturally did the business side of starting a company come to you?

His response: He developed his business skills out of necessity when he decided to commit to the business.

How do you think this will impact your own practice as a photographer? His story reaffirms what I already believed - which is that, ultimately, if you put your dedication into a well-contrived project, it will come to fruition.

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Editorial

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something old

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something new

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Fashion Major

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Fashion Major Proposal

This shoot is going to take place by the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh. I’ve been looking at a couple of images;

There are two common features between each which I think gives their appeal; they both use a shallow depth (arguably overly exaggerated in PS) and both include full-length models entirely in frame, totally differing these images from a half or three-quarters length portrait. The first image is shot using the bright sun as a backlight, and the second is shot on an overcast day. Both are examples of photographers ensuring there are no unattractive shadows on their models.

I intend not to include a dress, as is quite common in this style - clothing that could feasibly be worn in the given environment appeals to me more and I think gives the image a bit of credibility.

I’ll take a couple of lenses, but I expect that an 85mm will be the star of the show.

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Hyper-real compositing tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf3jJL191Go

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Fashion Brand Proposal

This shoot doesn’t come naturally to me; I’m not overly interested or well versed in the kind of fashion and labels that make the foundation of the brief. The brands which do appeal to me tend not to be very glamorous, and that is reflected in their style of advertising.

However, I was surprised to find that the manufacturer of workwear that I tend to use, Dickies, actually have some really interesting advertisements. Below are a couple of my favourites.

The first three pictures are clearly in the same style - I found several other images also in that style. The key commonalities between them is the use of intense, short statements in bold text and similarly overt subject matter of men in a traditionally masculine environment. There is also a strong emphasis on both the longevity of the brand (as is common with well-established manufacturers) and on the American origin of the brand. Featured are traditional American symbols like the big, lowrider motorcycle or the rancher struggling with a bull, above.

The last image differs in several ways. The format and graphic design is slightly different, yes, but what drew my attention was the overall more dark image. It looks to me to be reminiscent of older photography which, stylistically, is comparatively less like an advert and more like an artistic or expressive image that you could find a traditional social photographer producing. I like it.

My proposal for the two images will be inspired by these images, but without an emphasis on Americana. My location shoot could take place in an industrial setting; I’m sure I could find a suitable place in and around Glasgow, and I feel like it would compliment the brand. I like the black and white images, and will most likely also shoot in black and white - I’m also quite keen on how the images don’t put a massive emphasis on the actual articles of clothing; this lack of emphasis is furthered by the lack of colour.

The studio image for this brief may prove a bit harder for me - I feel as if the brand may not lend itself quite so well to pristine, studio imaging - but I’ll give it a shot. I think perhaps a relatively minimal set could work well in contrast to the far more contextual location image. A textured background of some sort, like a large tarp or other repurposed fabric would compliment the brand image far better than a clean background (though i recognise that a clean background isn’t applicable for this brief anyway).

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Documentary Project Preparations

This is quite a daunting brief to me; but I do recognise that having a clear, solid idea to form the basis of the project really is the best way to approach it. Below is a selection of very famous social documentary photographs ranging from the late 19th century, through to the mid 20th.

Bandit’s Roost - Jacob Riis (1888), above

Child Laborer - Lewis Hine (1908), above

Powerhouse Mechanic - Lewis Hine (1920), above

Migrant Mother - Dorothea Lange (1936), above

These are all social photographic pieces, which is not necessarily the only way to approach this brief. However, I love these pictures.

I ask myself, “what makes them great”? Well, I can condense their appeal to me in just two statements. The first appeal is in the relevance they have, as any good documentary should. They are excellent examples of a single image holding the weight of an entire society, culture or people. Secondly, they are beautiful - undoubtedly shot on a hundred-year-old large format camera, using only natural light (with the possible exception of “Powerhouse Mechanic” - though I doubt that). This creates a quality and authenticity that simply can never go out of style in my opinion - “Child Labourer” is 110 years old, but i would’ve believed it if I were told it was shot yesterday.

It’s ambitious of me to aim for anything like this quality of images; however, if I could replicate - even just partially - either of these two appeals, it would certainly be a good place to start. 

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Something New Research

I thought the best way to approach preparing for this brief was to do a preliminary shoot; technical information on this shoot isn’t easy to pin down and I thought I could learn more with a bit of experimentation. The below three images are a few of the best I wound up with after a few hours shooting atop a black perspex with three lights - including a large softbox backlight.

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Fashion Story Research Task

The theme of the story is a light-hearted take on alcoholism. The heavy involvement of alcohol as a focal point and as a part of the environment in these images reinforce this idea. The second last image being so questionably focused could allude to this idea in it’s reflection of drunkenness. The order of the images convey a clear story, chronologically. The use of bright daylight in the opening image could be a tool to convey the idea of all-day habitual drinking. The pictures were clearly shot in one sitting, in one location. However, they do differ in several other ways - the focal points, angles, and poses are the key tools in creating the narrative (as well as changes in location within the building). The models clothing and appearance, especially her leopard print coat, are key in tying the images together. They are lit only by their environment and are all fairly neutral, passive images without a strong mood. I’m not sure what differentiates a photograph from being either proactive or reactive - but I’d have to assume that these images are reactive in that they are taken in response to a narrative (that would be pre-existing if it weren’t a fiction), rather than taken in order to create one. The photographer here is the partner of the model and blogger/vlogger known professionally as Emma Inks, who is referred to only as Pablo - he shoots all of the fashion and blog content for Emma, including lots of work much stronger than this particular shoot - like this;