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Evaluation

The requirements of the brief was to create a documentary series from one of the title names we were given, throughout this project we was supposed to create a documentary photo book which shows a narrative which will help the audience know what the series is all about. For the creative process I have taken a selection of photographs and placed them in a way I think they would make sense due to architectural being. The sources of inspiration I used was researching different photographers and looking at how their photo books worked out, I was mainly inspired by the local sights within Rotterdam and wanted to use the images within my work to show a narrative through the Netherlands. When planning the photo book I had many ideas and tried each idea out to create a narrative within a book however I didn’t like how the ideas turned out which lead me to use my backup idea which was to use photographs from Rotterdam and Amsterdam to create the photo book. When creating the photo book I had to think about which photos worked well next to eachother throughout the photo book to make it so it made sense towards the audience, I liked the way the photos turned out as they look mesmerizing and makes it so the audience can see what Rotterdam looks like. I used raw editing within Photoshop to create the colours and the contrast etc within the photos, I will in the future re edit these photos to make the final piece look better by editing the dirt that was on the lens out of the photos, I didn’t do this beforehand as it looked like the dirt was on the computer screen as the screen is quite dirty, to prevent this I will also edit my photos on a different computer to make sure that there is no imperfections like the dirt within my photos.

My final piece is a selection of photographs from Rotterdam which communicates the theme of architecture and I think they are very successful as it shows what Rotterdam is like within a small selection of photographs. I chose these images as they were the best images I have taken throughout the whole of the project, I had no research that was involved in my decision however my personal reason was to show people how nice Rotterdam is, I mainly wanted to show these selection of images to the people who have never been to Rotterdam before. Some of my images go together as they are based on similar photos throughout the photo book however to improve this I would look through all of my photos in the future to create a better narrative within the photo book.  In my opinion I am satisfied with my final piece as it is one of my favorite pieces since the start of this year as these photos are the best I have taken this year. My strengths were binding the photo book and editing the photos within the photo book whereas my weaknesses were not being able to identify the dirt on the photos as I thought it was the dirt on the computer screen, if I were to do this project again I would re edit the photos differently and have a strong idea throughout the whole project instead of changing my mind as soon as something goes wrong.

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My Final Piece Outcome:

21/03/19

[sarahangfordproject4]

40 Days

Within this task I took photos of the same subject for between 30 and 40 days, The subject I chose to take photos of were clouds. It was very difficult to take these photographs as I couldn’t take photos within the same place as there wasn’t clouds always in the same location which made me experiment with the 40 days task to have it in different locations instead. I did the study of clouds as I wanted to show that clouds are different every day and that no cloud is the same as one another, this interests me as I can see the differences between each cloud and that no matter how we look at them they will never be the same as one another.

20/03/19

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Solargrams

Describe what a solargram is and how they work?

A solargram is a photograph that has been burned within an amount of time on light sensitive paper, while the paper is being exposed to light it captures an image over time which will be burned onto the paper to show us an image which will be a solargram.

Find examples of photographers who make solargrams and write about them

There are many photographers who make solargrams and these photographers produce solargrams really well, One of the photographers that I am interested in is Justin Quinnell, I think his solargrams look very interesting as they are all different and they look better the longer he produces them for. Also he places his pinhole camera in unusual places such as grave yards, these solargrams inspired me to create my own as I wanted to see how mine would turn out in the space of a month, this is because that’s the amount of time we were given to do the solargrams for however I don’t know if mine will turn out similar to Justin Quinnell’s or not. 

I like these solargrams as their compositions are different and I like how he captures the graveyard and the boat as the photos look like they move slightly due to the pinhole camera being place between three and six months which will create this effect and make it so the photos slightly look like they have a fish eye appearance to the photos.

Explain how you have made your Solargram

For my solargram I have decided to use a black film canister and cut a small square within it then placed some aluminium can within it with a small hole (pinhole) which will allow the light to enter the canister to allow the light to reach the light sensitive paper which is also within the film canister which is placed on my landing window as it’s where the most light is reached within the house.

Evaluate the process and your final image

For the process of the solargram I placed the light sensitive paper within the canister in my bedroom by doing it in the dark with my torch on my phone being red to mimic the room as a dark room, I did this so the light sensitive paper wouldn’t be exposed to any light. After this I placed the canister in the window and secured it with bluetac then I took the bluetac off of the hole within the canister to let the light to start to expose the light sensitive paper. 

Once the four weeks were over I scanned the image and sent it to my college email as a Jpeg, after this I opened it up in Photoshop cropped the image copied it onto a new page and inverted the photo to make it look like a positive and I slightly edited the photo to make it look like there is colour.

20/3/19

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InDesign

What is Adobe InDesign?

Adobe InDesign is a software application that allows you to make booklets, posters etc. With Adobe Indesign you can add text and photos to create a booklet or poster however you would like it to be. When making an A5 zine, what do you have to consider when setting up your document?

You will have to consider the size you would like, I went and clicked print and selected A5 with this I then changed the amount of pages to 8 meaning that I had 6 images and a front and back cover to the booklet. Evidence a step by step process on how you populated your zine with text and images – make sure you annotate the screen shots in detail .

1) Firstly, select new document and click print on the top bar, after this select A5 and change the pages to 8 as we had to have 6 images within the book and make sure the photos are on the portrait orientation . After this is done select create for the document to be opened up.

2) Secondly, You will select the text tool and name the booklet whatever you would like, you can also add a little message at the bottom of the page that will say a little about the photo-book. Re-position the text to where ever you’d like it to be.

3) Thirdly, You will go to file and select place, once this is selected you will select a photo that you would like include within the booklet. 

4) Then, to resize the image put the image to the top left corner and drag the image to resize/enlarge it to the size you’d like, then you can move the image to the position that you’d like.

5) Repeat step 3 & 4 until all the 6 images are on the pages (1 image per page) once this is completed save your file as an Adobe InDesign document as you will be able to adapt the document with any new changes you’d like to add to the document. After that you will also go to file and export your document and save it as an Adobe PDF to print it as a booklet.

6) Once the document is saved as a PDF you will open the document and click on file - print then a lot of options will appear, change them to booklet and select the printer you will be printing it on, this will then print out the pages ready to be folded as a booklet meaning you will only need to fold it and staple it together.

How does InDesign help you sequence your work? InDesign helps me sequence my work as it helps me choose the order I would like my images to be in and it helps me show the narrative of the photos as I can see the order of the images and see the flow between each image which allows me to think I am there within the locations of the photobook

What formats did you save your zine in?

The formats I saved my zine in were Adobe InDesign document which will allow me to edit the document whenever I want to change something which helps as I do not need to keep making new documents I can just edit the document already made, I also saved my zine as a PDF file as it helps the printing process easier as I can select to print it as a booklet. How did you print your PDF?

To print my PDF I clicked file - Print while it was opened as a PDF, I then selected the printer that I needed to print it out on (followmecolour) and then I selected booklet which made it so the pages were printed out like a booklet, once the pages were printed out I created my booklet by folding the pages in half and stapling them together/sewing them together. 

Photos of the photo book techniques:

13/03/19

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Photo Book Proposal

What photographers have you looked at so far?

I have looked at one specific photographer who is known as Nico Gooden, Nico is a well known photographer that takes photographs of urban/city life which shows both portraits of the people who live in the local areas of London and many amazing landscapes of London which inspired me to use the landscapes that I have taken while in Rotterdam/Amsterdam.

Which title have you chosen? Why did you choose this?

I have chosen the title ‘Local’ however there is a slight adaptation to it which is that it is local in a different country. The local areas that I have taken photographs of were Rotterdam and Amsterdam, the photographs show us that Rotterdam and Amsterdam are completely different to how it is living in Nottingham. In my opinion I think the Rotterdam/Amsterdam surroundings are peaceful and beautiful which makes it very easy to admire when visiting these places. 

In what way are you going to explore this?

I am going to explore this title by showing the people of ‘Nottingham’ how beautiful a place can be which will eventually encourage people to stop damaging our surroundings and do things to make our area look better especially as our area isn’t exactly nice to be in. Within the photo book I will be arranging the photos in a specific way to show a narrative of how the journey goes and by doing this some photos will be shown on a singular page or even spread onto a double page to draw the attention of the audience to feel as though they are in these places that are shown within the photo book.

What photographs have you taken so far? How have these gone?

The photographs I have taken so far are landscapes of the surroundings of both Rotterdam and Amsterdam while having a few portraits in between, in my opinion I think these photographs have gone really well and I am narrowing down which photographs I would like to use within the photo book which is some what difficult as I have a lot of photos that I really like however they don’t really communicate a strong narrative towards the audience due to them not being that interesting for them to feel like they are there. There are multiple locations that I have taken photographs of which are scattered in and around Rotterdam and Amsterdam, I shot the images here because I wanted to capture the moment of e looking out at these places and I wanted to keep them to show other people that didn’t go to these places.

How will you communicate your concepts through your work?

I will communicate my concepts throughout the photo book by placing the photos in a certain order which will show the journey throughout Rotterdam and Amsterdam which will make the audience feel as though they are travelling within these locations within Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

7/3/19

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Location Documentary:Rotterdam

Shutter speed: 1/125  Aperture: f/8  ISO: 800 Focal Length: 120mm

Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/11 ISO: 100  Focal Length: 39mm

Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/11 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 29mm

Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/11 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 48mm

Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/11 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 75mm

The photographs were taken in Rotterdam, I was intrigued to capture the moments I had in Rotterdam as I was having fun and spending my time with the best people I could ever hang out with. These photos mean a lot to me as I was with my best friend, two other friends in the group and with two new girls that are now some of my closest friends. I decided to document these specific locations as they show the beauty of Rotterdam and people having fun within the sun. These landscapes catch my eye as I’m drawn to the beauty of each photograph of the boats, buildings and sunsets this is because it shows the bright colours and other patterns which makes each one of us drawn to the picture as it involves many aspects of composition. 

I chose these locations as they captures the sights/culture of Rotterdam without anyone destroying the sights, I liked taking photos of the canals as we hardly see any canals here. I also chose these locations as I wanted to capture the beauty within Rotterdam before it gets damaged/changes for the worst. However if things change for the best/worst these photographs will be able to be compared to them. The narrative I was portraying within my images were the journey through Rotterdam and being able to visit many sights within Rotterdam, it also allows the audience to feel as though they were there actually viewing these sights. I used two different settings when taking these photographs, I needed the settings of  Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/8 ISO: 800 for the sunset as it was getting dark and the image was taking while on the bus, then for the remaining photos I used the settings of  Shutter speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/11 ISO: 100 as I wanted the photos to have the correct exposure within the photos before editing them. Each photo has a different focal lengths between 29mm and 120mm which means there is many long focal lengths within the selection of photos and some short focal lengths. I used these focal lengths as I wanted to focus on different things, I wanted to capture the whole section of the landscape that I wanted to capture, then for other photographs I just wanted to focus on one specific object. To improve this work to make it better I would of taken the photos at different angles to make the landscapes look better instead of the photos looking straight at what I am looking at as everyone will take photographs like this and I should change it up a little bit to make them more interesting. I framed one specific photo ( The Ferris wheel) the way I did as I wanted to just focus on that one thing, I looked through the gaps between the balcony balusters to take the image however they turned out black within the photo which I was impressed with as it frames the Ferris wheel in the photo. I found the shoot very fun and interesting as all I did was walk around some places in Rotterdam and took photos of the things I enjoyed looking at, I think what went well when taking these photos were how the photos looked after taking them as the compositions within each photo made them look interesting and appealing in their own way. I think the images look a tad blurry within each image which I could change in the future by changing my shutter speed to make it so they don’t look a little blurry.

25/2/19

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Typologies

A typology is a series of photographs that are of the same subject matter put into a grid. 

In today’s lesson we were told to find ideas of what we could take photos of for a typology, after we found ideas we came together as a group and make a list of 20 ideas and were given a number each which had a subject matter attached to the number to then go out and take photographs of the subject matter. After the photographs were taken we came back to the room to edit the photographs and then edit them onto one background by using a grid on Photoshop. I did not enjoy this task because we didn’t get to choose a subject matter ourselves in the future to improve the typology I would choose my own subject matter to focus on which would in my opinion make the typology look better than the one below. 

Research task:

https://www.bryanfreeland.com/photographic-typology/

The photographer that I am interested in is Bryan Freeland which in the photograph above documents different buildings in different locations which interests me as each building is very similar to each other which makes this series very interesting especially in black and white as they look really cool. I think the photographer placed the images in this order to make the photographs look better which makes me feel interested in his work as it is different to what other photographers produce. I think they have chose this subject matter because they are old buildings which intrigues most people that are interested in abandoned buildings as they are unique with their own history without anyone getting in the way of damaging what is already there, I think he chose to take these photographs to show us how old buildings look like before they get destroyed/vandalised by immature teens.

15/2/19

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Deconstruction Of Magazines

In today’s lesson, we looked at two different types of magazines which were ‘Vogue’ and ‘Vice’ which are completely different to each other in many ways which make both magazines unique in their own way however if I was to choose to look at one of these magazines it would be ‘Vice’ as it is more visually appealing to me as it doesn’t repeat the same portrait poses throughout the magazine like ‘Vogue’ does.

Vogue - Is a fashion based magazine that focuses on celebrities that are featured within the magazine for example Zayn Malik was featured in a vogue magazine also Vogue uses more editorial photography than what vice uses.

Vice -  Is a more realistic perspective of things which focuses on real life news without having any attempt of sharing fake news to their audience, the news within this magazine is not mainstream news which doesn’t influence a large group of people. Vice is also a more explicit magazine which shares a lot of adult content to interest their audience as they don’t want them to be bored while reading the magazine.

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Vice:

What type of advertisements are in the magazine?

Vice has multiple advertisements throughout the magazine which advertises multiple clothes and many brands such as ‘Puma’ and ‘Vans’ which are well known brands to many people. Vice produces the advertisements by using portraiture photography, on-location photography and product shot photography to capture these advertisements. These adverts are aimed at different subcultures such as skateboard subculture and alternative subcultures as well as the younger generation which makes Vice a good magazine as it is aimed at a teenage ranged audience.

What do the photographs look like in the adverts - where do you think they were produced?

The photographers take the product shots in a studio which makes the adverts for products look better than them not being produced in the studio, whereas the portraits and the on-location photos will be taken outside and in the studio with low budgeted studio equipment which makes the photographs look bad in some situations however within this magazine the photos look really good.

What do the photographs look like in the articles – where do you think they were produced?

The photographs within the articles can look really bad due to the low quality this is due to the photographs being composed badly with bad lighting however the photographs can be the complete opposite and be better quality than other photographs, The portraits are candid as they are setup and documented for the magazine.

How are the articles written?

The articles are written informally as the audience will understand the slang that is being used in the magazine, Vice writes their articles like this because they want to make the magazine realistic and relatable. Vice also swears within the articles which makes each article have a controversial language and writing style within each article that is being written while trying to relate to the audience.

What are the articles about?

The articles have a range of subjects that they talk about such as sex, drugs and alcohol, they don’t ever talk about mainstream news as they focus on little subjects to keep the audience interested without making them bored to skip to the next following pages. The magazine tries to be as entertaining as possible by talking about things people will be interested in to keep them reading the articles and keep getting the magazines.

Who is the target audience?

The target audience is a younger audience such as teens as they are interested in alternative news, fashion and many subcultures which makes Vice a successful magazine as it keeps the younger generation intrigued in the magazine.

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Vogue: 

What type of advertisements are in the magazine?

Vogue has many advertisements which advertise different clothes, handbags, perfumes and much more. They advertise brands such as chanel and dior to encourage the audience to buy these products which is a good way to advertise them as most people read magazines.

What do the photographs look like in the adverts - where do you think they were produced?

The photographs have the same effect with the same models and the same compositional aspects, the models in each photograph wears heavy make up and poses the models can also be celebrities that are featured within the magazine. Each photograph was taking in a studio no matter what the subject is, both portaits and product shots were taken in the studio to look highly professional to interest the audience.

What do the photographs look like in the articles – where do you think they were produced?

The photographs in each article look high quality due to the photographs being produced professionally, the models are posing the same way in each photograph and each photograph that is produced is editorial as the photographer would edit the photos to look flawless within the magazine. Each photo would either have a well known model wearing a lot of makeup or celebrities which would be in a spacious studio with high standard equipment to make the photos look high quality.

How are the articles written?

The articles are written formally due to the audience being older, as well as the articles being formal they have a proper use of grammar and sentence structures throughout the article. The articles can be about personal expieriences and have reviews about certain subjects, the magazine will also have guides to help people with what to do on things for example there could be a guide on how to do a specific make up look which will interest the reader as they will follow the guide as it is helpful.

What are the articles about?

The articles are mainly about fashion and giving reviews on different products that are used within the magazine to persuade people to buy those products, as well as the magazine having fashion articles it also has reviews on places to go for people who are interested in going to new bars/restaurants which is very helpful for the audience if they want to try something new.

 Who is the target audience?

The target audience is aimed at young weathly women who are very interested in high end expensive fashion, this magazine is perfect for people interested in fashion however it isn’t everyone’s type of magazine which I personally think should be improved to have different things other than fashion.

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Vogue/Vice task:

The models outfit was fashionable as they were wearing a Adidas hoodie which is from a well known brand that most people buy from as the clothes look very nice on different people and it shows off their style to make them feel better individually. Osiris shoes the model wore these shoes as we were going out to a field which was a little muddy as he didn’t want to make his other shoes dirty, also these shoes are very comfortable to wear which made the model feel comfortable when climbing these shoes are sold from the very well known brand Osiris which sells a lot of shoes all around the world. Lastly the black jeans that the model is wearing are made by Lee cooper which makes good sturdy jeans for people to wear.

The model is interested in music as he can play multiple instruments such as the drums and piano/keyboard, the model also has an interest in watching anime and playing videogames as it is one way of him entertaining himself when he is board. A few hobbies that the model has is playing instruments and playing video games which he classes as a hobby as it is what he does all the time. The styles of music he is interested in are rock, hardcore style and dubstep which he listens to a lot of the time.

As I didn’t know the task was to photographs strangers I asked the model (my cousin) if he would let me take photographs of him and he agreed and by doing this we went on a family outing to a park/field to take these photographs as there is a lot of space and areas around the field to take photographs in different ways, e.g sitting on a bench, climbing in a tree etc.

I told the model to pose how they would like as I wanted them to be in control as I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable with me telling them what to do, with me doing this it made them feel at ease and made the shoot a lot easier as they made the shoot about what they like to look like in a photo which makes the photos look like they belong to a Vice magazine.

I used the settings, shutter speed: 1/100, Aperture: f/4.5 and ISO: 100 as I took the photographs outside which in my opinion look a lot better than they would of looked inside as the sun was out making the pictures have natural light within them.

I think the images were successful from this model as the model got to pose how they wanted to while having a neutral facial expression, however to improve these images I would make the model pose like a model in a Vogue magazine as the model is wearing clothes that models in Vogue would wear however is posing like someone in a Vice magazine which made the photograph look like a mixture of both the magazines.

13/2/19

[sarahangfordproject4]

Series Comparison: Martin Parr

In today’s lesson we were given ten images to sort out into two different series of photographs. It was a difficult task as we didn’t have any context given to us to start with which made it difficult as the photos were very similar.

How was your series set up differently to the original?

In the first attempt, we worked as a pair to put the photographs into two groups which we thought the photos went together in a series, after we were given the two series names “home & abroad” and “cost of living” which I thought would make it a lot easier to put into the two series however we were still wrong by quite a few photos as we thought they fitted in those series however they didn’t.

Why do you think you placed the images in those series?

We placed the images in those series because I thought they linked with each other as they were all very similar, We thought this because of families and friends being together in their homes which made it look pretty straight forward where they were supposed to be.

Has this helped you understand more about putting images in a series? Why?

This has helped me understand more about putting images together in a series as it showed me which photographs linked together to tell a story which can help me with my photo book in the future, this is because it will help me link the photographs in order to tell the story more effectively.

First Attempt:

Second Attempt:

Correct Series:

13/2/19

[sarahangfordproject4]

Documentary Photography: Portrait

1: INSIDE:

I chose to take the photos within the kitchen at home because there is a plain wall which I thought would look nice within each shot as there isn’t a distraction behind the subject, I used the settings of Shutter speed: 1/50  , aperture: f/6.3, and ISO: 100 Auto because inside was too dark and the ISO being auto brightened up each photo. I used both short and long focal lengths whereas the images below I used a focal length of 55mm within both images to capture just the subject and then both the subject and the background as I wanted to experiment with both focal lengths. I didn’t use any other equipment as I didn’t think it was necessary as I had a steady hand while taking these photographs, I think to make these photographs better I would change the location inside and use a tripod to make the photos look better. I framed the photos this way as they looked appealing to my eye however I would try new ways to frame the image to make them look better in the future. I found the shoot very fun and I would do it again in the future with a different subject.

2: OUTSIDE:

I chose to do it outside in the garden and had the subject stand in front of a hedge which I thought made the photographs look very interesting as the background was something different, I used the settings of shutter speed: 1/100  , aperture: f/6.3, and ISO: Auto  , because the photographs would look too dark other wise. I used a large focal length as I wanted to focus on the subject and the background within the photographs. I didn’t use any equipment other than my camera as other equipment wasn’t needed due to the settings having a high shutter speed. I framed it the way I did because I wanted the subject to look kind of natural within the image without it looking too staged, I found the shoot very easy and interesting trying to make the subject laugh was a big problem as I didn’t know how to make him laugh in the photos.

12.2.19

[sarahangfordproject4]

Mystery Narrative

What is narrative?

Narrative is a story that can be shown differently for example a narrative can be shown behind an image, narrative is told in a better way than a story as a narrative is having more thought and structure of how to narrate an image which can be interpreted in different ways.

Key points to narrative:

Narrative requires structure.

Photographic narratives are open to interpretation (Emorace This).

A series follows an order.

With a series, you can explore space and time.

In today’s mystery narrative task we were given a mystery narrative in a group of four, in our group of four we were given mystery narrative four and we asked ourselves multiple questions (who,what,when,where,why) about what is shown within these images and what the images show us. We all came together and wrote our ideas down about how all the images link and we thought that the images were all the same with the areas being the same size and shot in the same place, the stores are repetitive which is important during the series as it emphasises the colourful environment and the amount of rubbish that we buy as they are completely full in a small amount of space.

MYSTERY NARRATIVE 4

As a whole class we spoke about our ideas towards this series and then looked at the series in more depth when looking at the page the information is on. The series of photos were taken in Yiwu, China at an Yiwu commodity market which we basically buy all our plastic rubbish from which places such as poundland buy from to provide us with these unnecessary goods. The Yiwu commodity market is full of little stalls cramped into a small environment trying to sell as much as they can which is why they fill their stalls to the brim meaning that the stalls have hardly any room in them as they want to buy in bulk and sell as much as they can so they can sell to more people however the staff look bored as they hardly get any customers in person as the majority of their customers buy in bulk online.

Richard John Seymour – Yiwu Commodity Village

8.2.19

[sarahangfordproject4]

Document task: College Life

Today’s task we were told to take at least 6 photographs to document college life in a realistic view instead of professional views as people can’t see what college is actually like when it is staged. This task was really fun to experiment with to make it so the students weren’t focusing on the camera which made the photographs more realistic as they weren’t posing for the photographs, however two of my photographs of the courtyard were when I was caught taking photographs of the two people and the woman decided to pose for the two photographs which made it where it wasn’t staged however it may come off as staged even though she was smiling and having a laugh. I decided to shoot in corners and through small spaces as it is unlikely for students to see the camera meaning that the photos will look natural without anyone posing, and I personally think this went well as the majority of my photographs turned out very well which I am pleased about especially after editing them. I don’t like the first two photographs went well as one of the subjects noticed me taking the photos which made her pose for them however you can see some emotion of her being happy which makes the photographs look better than I thought they would be but in the future I would prefer it if the subject didn’t notice me taking the photographs. To improve I would make it so I am not as noticeable to get a more accurate perspective of college life instead of it all being staged.

Research task (10 images):

Fan Ho:

The photographer that I am interested in is Fan Ho who is a Chinese photographer, Fan Ho documents the life in china and photographs the environments differently, his work has different factors that makes his work very interesting such as him using lines and patterns within the photographs which draws our attention to look at the main subject within the images.

Fan Ho achieves the effect within the photographs by maintaining the lines within each image, the tram lines lead to the two subjects walking across the road looking like silhouettes as they are completely black like shadows. Whereas the second photo the lights are shown as lines pointing to a little girl walking towards the steps. The camera technique Fan Ho uses is black and white photography which makes the photographs look better in my opinion as it sets a mood within each of his photographs.

Fan Ho documents the life in china and how the environment is and by doing this he creates a message that the environment is not that great and that people are suffering, with this message it communicates to us that poverty is a big issue within china due to china being very highly populated and there is nothing they can do about it as there is not enough room for everybody to live there. Within this image Fan Ho uses the composition of lines, as the sunrays point to the little girl walking towards the tunnel. This shows that the children have a job to do while living in poverty which is wasting their childhood away as the child is doing a job to help their family instead of running around playing with her friends.

Within this photograph Fan Ho is communicating to us that poverty is a big issue however even though the children are living in poverty they are still happy to run around and play which makes them feel better. This image makes me feel sad as it is very distressing due to the children and their families living in poverty with not enough clothes to keep them warm and without having shoes on their feet. I feel as though this is intentional to make us feel bad for the people living in poverty and it works very well with this photograph as it shows the hanging clothes drying and an elder with children to help us think about helping them to have a better and stable life.

Alexander Savvas: 

The photographer is Alexander Savvas he has documented many photographs which I am inspired by two series’s that I am interested in are ‘Lau Soung’ and ‘Without Land or Sea - The Moken’ I am inspired with both of these series as they are both different however focus on similar things that the people of these places are suffering. 

Without Land or Sea - The Moken

Within this photograph the damage of the Moken village is being damaged and throughout this series it shows all the damage that the Moken Village has come across and how the people within the Moken village is suffering.  The photograph was taken in south east Asia and shows how the environment has changed due to natural and human disaters that the Moken Village people will have to suffer from these changes. The photograph is communicating to the audience that the Moken village used to be an amazing place until it got destroyed and looks near enough abandoned, it shows that people don’t care about the Moken village and that the remaining people there are left to suffer for other people being inconsiderate. This photo makes me feel upset as I wouldn’t expect a place like this to look damaged and I feel as though the people there shouldn’t deserve to suffer with whatever has happened within the Moken village, I think the photographer did this intentionally to make the audience not take things for granted and to respect what we have and not destroy what we have. The photographer has successfully achieved what they were trying to photograph by focusing on the compositions that they have used such as the colour and the leading lines that the path and the wood holding the sign is pointing at.

Lau Soung

Within this photograph it is documenting the emotions of a little boy that is holding a cleaver, This image can be interpretated in many different ways depending how the audience is looking at it. It makes me feel personally that the little boy has lost someone close to him such as his parents due to violence which is where the cleaver comes in. The cleaver could show that it was used to harm the people the little boy cared about the most. I think the photographer intentionally did this to grab the audiences attention to the little boy crying as nurturing people will want to help the little boy and will feel empathetic to what he is going through. The photograph was taken in singapore where the crime rate has increased which may explain why the child is crying while holding the cleaver. 

James Mollison:

James Mollison created a series that I am really interested in which is ‘Where Children Sleep’ I like this series a lot as he has travelled the world to photograph children and their bedrooms. Within this series you can see the difference within each bedroom and each child due to where they live and what conditions their country and environment are in. Mollison has intentionally documented these photographs to show us how grateful these children are for their bedrooms and the lives they have, Mollison also shows us that we don’t have to have everything that we want to be happy as having very little makes a lot of people happy. 

Mollison has taken a photo of a little girl at the age of four who lives in Kentucky, Usa and showed us her bedroom. The photograph shows that the little girl is very spoiled and that her bedroom is full of pageant awards such as crowns and sashes that she has won within being in these pageants, Mollison intentionally photographed this to show us how this little girl lives her life and how proud she is of the way she is living it so far. I personally feel that the little girl shouldn’t be doing pageants at a young age and it upsets me that her parents kind of force her to do them just to win all these crowns, I am also annoyed that she gets to have whatever she wants as if she was a princess which just screams spoiled child to me. The photograph also shows that the family is sort of rich as her bedroom is posh for it to be just a bedroom.

This bedroom is where a 14 year old girl sleeps within her counry of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The little girl sleeps in a place which no one would ever want to sleep due to it being out in the open and not very environment friendly as anything can happen. The photograph of the girl looks as though she is pregnant which isn’t very nice for a 14 year old to go through especially with living conditions she has. This makes me feel sympathetic towards her as I would wish for her to live someone else in a better environment especially if she was to raise a child which will mean they get a better way of living. The photographer has intentionally photographed the photos like this to show that the girl is poor and is sleeping/living in poor conditions, the photographer has also photographed this so it shows the whole of where she sleeps and the outside walls to show that her bedroom is open which means anyone has access to that room.

This isn’t exactly a room it’s just a mattress in what looks like a field. The mattress belongs to a four year old boy that lives in Rome, Italy. This photographs personally upsets me a lot as I don’t like the thought of children being homeless and sleeping out on the streets/ out in the cold as they honestly don’t deserve it as they should be looked after without being harmed. The photographer has intentionally shot this photograph the way he has with possibly a wide angled lens to show the environment the boy is sleeping in with the mattress being the main focus. The communication with this image as well as the other two images is to communicate the conditions and where the children rely on going to get sleep even if its being rich or poor every child deserves a good place to sleep. 

Nan Goldin:

Nan Goldin is a well known photographer that photographs people showing their lives in the raw also known as candid photography which shows us how many people live their lives through their sexually experiences, abuse, depression, anxiety and so on. Goldin photographs her subjects like this to show us their emotions for us to emphasise with them.

This photograph documents two of Goldin’s subjects on a bed with a woman laying on her side and the man facing away from her, this photograph communicates some form of abuse with it either being sexual or physical abuse either way it’s affecting both of the subjects. Goldin has intentionally photographed this to communicate to the audience that abuse is a thing and it isn’t nice for either the abuser or the victim as they are both trapped within the situation, the abuser mentally/emotionally dwelling on the past that’s made them abusive and the subject suffering from the persons abuse not knowing how to escape it. I personally feel like the woman is being abused which angers me as she possibly doesn’t deserve it however I also feel sympathetic towards the abuser as he is trying to fight his own demons but doing it in the wrong manor which makes me want to help the woman out of the situation to stop the abuse and to get the abuser some professional help.

This photograph documents abuse and was taken not long after Goldin’s boyfriend at the time abused her which makes this intentional as Goldin wanted to show us what some people are like and what the effects are when being abused. It makes me feel sympathetic towards her as I don’t know personally what she has been through but it upsets me a lot of the thought how people can abuse other people when they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Goldin has taken this photograph as a self portrait to show what her ex partner had done to her as evidence that he is an abusive person, this photograph is one of her well known pieces that most people has seen which is a really impressive photograph.

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[sarahangfordproject4]

Richard Avedon:

Richard Avedon was born in New York City, United States on 15th may 1923. He was first involved in a camera club at the age of twelve and he attended “DeWill Clinton high school in bronx” where he helped edited the schools literary magazine, in 1942 Avedon joined the armed forces where he served as a photographer and produced “over one hundred thousand photos”before he recognised he was becoming a photographer. Avedon’s first series of work was released in 1956 and was known as ‘Suzy parker evening dress by Dior Paris studio’, of the images from this series is really well known and is recognised by the name of ‘Dovima with Elephants’ which has a famous model well known in 1956 posing between two elephants in a Dior evening dress which made this photo recognisable. The series is a fashion series of Suzy park in Dior evening dresses that were taken in a studio which made the photographs look really good as the lighting was accurate however his piece ‘Dovima with Elephants’ was shot inside the famous ‘Cirque d’hiver’ located in Paris and the scene was lit my natural lighting, Avedon used a film camera for these photographs which explains why they are taken in black and white and shows that the concept of the series was to capture the dresses in a unique way that no one has ever done before as well as having high correct exposure and the correct amount of contrast within the photos to show the black and white dresses.

I think his photographs are really good in his first series showing fashion in an interesting way instead of it all being taken within a studio which makes the subject matter boring, I like how he tried different ways to make the dresses stand out to the audience to show off the dresses. I think Avedon effectively communicates his ideas in this series of work as the main focus is on the model wearing a dress, our eyes are drawn to the dresses in each photo as it stands out due to the black and white colours then we have our opinions on the dress to buy it or not. Also Avedon got told to make the photographs as creatively as possible which makes us question why is there elephants within the photographs however this is what makes us notice the dress first as it is the only odd thing within each photograph.

I like these two images as she is wearing two different dior dresses while posing differently between two elephants, during this shoot the model was scared to pose with the elephants even though they were chained to the ground which made her be very careful and gentle when posing with them to make sure she didn’t frighten them or upset them in any kind of way. The scene was also lit up by a skylight when taking the photographs and in my opinion both of the dresses stand out more in these two images as it is the first thing we tend to look at due to the bright white colour within the dresses.

Each dress that was worn was a dior dress however this image shows a dior dress being worn in a studio which was lit by a skylight the model is posing in a different way to the other two photographs which makes this photograph interesting about the dress as she has to hold the fabric around her which makes the photograph interesting as it looks like she is holding some of the backdrop. I personally prefer the other two images as they are more intriguing and different as it is a whole new way to show off a dress.

6.2.19

[sarahangfordproject4]

Research

In today’s lesson we were given books to research many photographers that have made photo books and how we would consider our photo books to be by the end of the project, by doing this we manage to discover their styles and techniques used within each photograph in the photo book. By looking at these books I have started to think of my idea which is going to focus on a main issue within society which is homelessness and it is really upsetting and I want to capture how they are feeling about it and try to change it in the future, I will ask them questions which will help with some dialogue that I will include within the photo book.

What is the book about? Can you summarise the subject in one sentence?

The book I am interested in is Genesis which is made by the photographer known as Sebastiao Salgado which photographs the natural world that has been untouched in different places within the world.

 What are the intentions of the photographer with this collection of images?

I think the intentions of the photographer with the collection of images were to show the beauty of the untouched locations around the world capturing it’s beauty before it gets destroyed by human kind.

Does the book communicate the intentions?

yes because it shows the locations that have not been touched or destroyed which is showing us the world how it should be instead of us keep destroying it because once we lose the beauty we can never get it back which is making the world slowly die. While taking these photographs he had considered how to portray the images and how to show them to make this effect on the audience.

Does the style of photography and camera technique suit the subject matter?

The style of photography and the camera technique works really well with the subject matter as the photographer focuses on the natural environment and the different animals in that natural environment capturing them naturally as well as showing us how beautiful these places are especially as they are untouched which tries to get a message across to us that earth is an amazing place and that we should stop destroying it. I think is shows the style and technique very well as it has one main focus which is on the natural environment as the photographer is an environmental activist which wants to capture the environment how it is and in a beautiful way, he has visited 30+ countries for this book and he focuses on wildlife and landscapes throughout it without going off topic which shows he has a passion for wildlife and that each landscape is showing the best of the environment making us think how beautiful it is.

Does the placement of images seem based on conscious choices or is it haphazard?

 The photographer places the photos based on conscious choices as he has placed the photographed in order and in a group as it creates a series of photographs that link together to show a story of the environments he is showing the audience and how the wildlife behaves throughout this environment as they live in these biomes.

How much does this book stick with you after viewing it?

This book sticks with me a lot as it inspires me to travel to these places to take amazing landscapes and look into more wildlife photography. These photos within the photo book sticks with me because it makes me think about the beautiful places the world has and how we are destroying earth very quickly and not being able to capture all these amazing locations before they slowly get destroyed.

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