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These are some of the finished results I achieved, these are very different to the portraits I usually create however I really enjoyed the process and like how they turned out. And looked into further research that portrays the style of this new work.

Straight Photography

Straight/ Pure photography- originating around the early 1900’s was a movement branching away from Pictorialism and inspired by Modernism recognising Photography as an art form which Paul Strand helped establish. Straight photography was about capturing formal aspects (line, shape, texture, geometric form), and a more creative approach to Photography. It was imagery that comprised of high contrast, sharp focus, no cropping and underlying geometric structures.

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When editing the images I used the curves tool, applied a black & white filter, adjusted the the Brightness/Contrast and then the Hue/Saturation.

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I decided to experiment taking my pictures with my phone (iPhone 8), using household items and a single light set up. 

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Alessio Albi

Alessio Albi is a Italian Photographer. His work comprises of digital portraits that have a cinematic/filmic feel. They display a visual drama and emotion. I find them to have a stripped back element to them, he creatively uses nature or other resources within his portraits to cast shadow, exploring interesting outcomes.

Fig 5: Albi, A. (2017). Wormholes [image]. Available from https://www.instagram.com/alessioalbi/

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Project reflections

I love my current Photography project idea however feel I would not be able to explore it in full with the amount of time I have for this project. I would want to allow extra time and space to explore the basics again with studio Photography, testing out different lighting setups, modifiers, reflectors and sharpen my editing skills. Also would want to be able to document the process before reaching the main point of the project. I feel like I would need that to create the desired outcome I would want and to get me back into the swing of things as I haven't done a photoshoot in the studio for a long time so would be rusty on getting the results I wanted straight away.

Another factor that effects things is having models/subjects involved. It makes things complicated in terms of availability. And this takes time away from creating.

I still plan on executing this idea in the future once my skills are up to scratch. However, moving forward I thought of a new project idea that will bring things back to basics and help me grow and improve as a photographer. I’m going to challenge myself to use the resources around me to create imagery. An artist who brought on this inspired thought is Alessio Albi.

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Toyin Ojih Odutola

Toyin Ojih Odutola is a Nigerian born artist who grew up in America, Alabama. Through her multimedia drawings she explores social political issues on skin colour and explores her personal journey of transitioning from her home land to adjusting into conservative American culture.

Displayed are a few examples of her amazing work.                                                          

This image (See Fig 3) is called Industry (Husband and Wife), Published in 2017.

The materials used were charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper-displayed in a diptych format.

From the position of the people- the husband looking distant and out of the frame, to the wife having her back to the audience connotes the idea of ‘disconnect’.

Even though the power lines in the sky seem to overlay into both frames and connect the images, also pointing out the underlying meaning of a relationship in the sense of connection; it makes this disconnect more apparent. The clothing on both subjects appear to be summer appropriate attire connoting the idea that they are in an environment with warm climate. The facial expression on the male subject and the overall mood seems glum and unhappy, possibly expressing the unhappiness and disconnect in their relationship as a married couple. And the difficulties of marriage or two people coming together.

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These are the artists I drew inspiration from with this project. I love black art, paintings, drawings and any multimedia type art expressed in this way. This is where my photoshoot ideas stemmed from. 

Bibliography

Fig 1: Odutola, T. (2016). A misunderstanding with the mistress[image]. Available from  

Musemagazine.it

https://www.jackshainman.com/artists/toyin-odutola/

Fig 2: Odutola, T.  (2017).First night at boarding school [image]. Available from

Musemagazine.it

https://www.jackshainman.com/artists/toyin-odutola/

Fig 3: Odutola, T. (2017). Industry (Husband and Wife) [image]. Available from

Pinterest

https://www.jackshainman.com/artists/toyin-odutola/

Fig 4: Gardner, A. (2016). Two lions rest next to freshly killed prey[image].

Available from: https://alexgparadise.com/2016

Fig 5: Marshall, K. (2003). Vignette[image].

Available from: http://www.artnet.com/artists/kerry-james-marshall/vignette-O7oTZkPjSGUko1ry9JnNXA2

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The first set of images I took to test this theme. These are the unedited selected few I chose out of the bunch. And this was a home studio set up, I used a 50mm prime lens for the close up shot and a 18-35mm lens for the other shots.

This was a good warm up for me to get back into the practice of taking pictures and using a camera.

I briefly incorporated props and the cultural aesthetic by using traditional Ghanian material/fabric as a backdrop.

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I took to Pinterest to draw a visual reference of the ideas that were in my head based on what I wanted to shoot for this project.

Pinterest (no date) https://www.pinterest.co.uk/saharadennis9/photography/��[Accessed 6 December 2019]

Howard, B. (2019), Untitled [image]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/braelawren/

abdstudio (2019) Computer Blue [image]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/abdmstudio/ | https://www.instagram.com/eboneedavis/

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Pinterest (no date) https://www.pinterest.co.uk/saharadennis9/photography/ [Accessed 6 December 2019]

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#AdvancedMethods #Journal Task