Photographers researched for Assignment 5
David Loftus
Whilst researching assignment 5, I came across the work of David Loftus who took photos of Jamie Oliver and the 2 Greedy Italians amongst his clientele. In 2012 he was voted the 65th most influential photographer of all time by the Professional Photographer magazine. Loftus's food photography makes dishes look inspiring to readers of books and magazines because of his emphasis on ingredients looking real rather than dishes looking perfect.
I was drawn to the simplicity of his style, and the fact that in his portrait photography he makes the chefs look approachable. In my opinion his lighting and colours look masculine. I liked the use of rich, saturated colours of the images. The portraits of the chefs shot on location give a sense of place e.g the two greedy Italians were shot on location in Italy, and I think for a cookery book of Italians cooking Italian food it adds authenticity to the image.
I compared the title page (link) of a Jamie Oliver book (photographed by Loftus) to mine. In comparison, Loftus’s image has more contrasting colours and he has a framed it differently (less in the foreground than my image.) I had to leave room for a title in mine and my image could be adapted for use in other people’s houses as most people have a plain wall somewhere.
I compared the title page (link) of a Jamie Oliver book (photographed by Loftus) to mine. In comparison, Loftus’s image has more contrasting colours and he has a framed it differently (less in the foreground than my image.) I had to leave room for a title in mine and my image could be adapted for use in other people’s houses as most people have a plain wall somewhere.
Bibliography
http://www.davidloftus.com/jamie-oliver#7
http://www.davidloftus.com/jamie-oliver#7
http://www.davidloftus.com/home
Georgia Glynn Smith
Glynn Smith has worked with several of the TV chefs whose books I have or have read. She also works for magazines such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, The Daily Mail, Country Life, and I think I have quite possibly been influenced by these images without realising it. Her website cites that she has taken images over for 70 books, directed 20 or so commercials, published images on billboards and when magazines are included this sounds like a lot of work. It's no wonder then that her images have probably influenced me as a consumer and acted as inspiration for this assignment.
This shot was inspired from a combination of Glynn Smith's fun images and images I had researched of chefs in kitchens. I had to engage Josh in a necessary activity such as greasing a tin so I asked him to pour from a great height and concentrate on what he was doing. This ensured he was absorbed in the task in hand and his facial expression matched it.
This image shows Josh cutting an apple using a safe technique and the correct size knife. Reading through Mary Berry’s latest book (front cover pictured here) (link), it occurred to me that the close up action shots of peeling and slicing an apple were not too dissimilar from mine. I had not seen this book before I took my set of photos, and further research showed that Glynn Smith has worked with several of the TV chefs whose books I have or have
readas well as magazines such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, The Daily
Mail, Country Life, and I think I have quite possibly been influenced by these
images without realising it.
Hindsight is great for making me realise how I could have done something differently. Working with the Bramely apples, I was taken back to an assignment in The Art Of Photography 1 where I chose to work with fruit and vegetables. Having progressed along the Photography path with the OCA, I would now undertake this assignment differently. I learnt lots whilst researching food photographers which inspired me to consider attending the Photography Show at the NEC this year on the day when one of the subjects is food photography.
Bibliography
http://www.glynnsmith.co.uk Accessed November 5, 2014.
Clare Barboza
Clare Barbosa is a documentary food photographer who in my opinion is good at "capturing what happens behind the scenes to bring food to our tables. Whether it's documenting a busy kitchen or a working farm, I'm only too happy to pull on my rubber boots and shoot the action. That being said, I also love working in my studio, playing with props and creating vignettes of beautifully composed recipes". Barboza (http://clarebarboza.com/about/ accessed October 2014)
Barboza is trained in fine art and she explains that is what gives her images colour and texture. I like the way she styles her work before photographing it. I have discovered that some food photographers have food stylists and this is an area that I need to learn more about to make my images look more natural. Barboza demonstrates on her website where food comes from and how it is prepared by taking images of working farms, markets and chefs in kitchens.
As part of Assignment 5's narrative, I had decided that I would show where the food came from (in terms of the market purchase) and how it was prepared (in the kitchen). Barboza's images were a good starting point to look at how I could tell the story.
I liked her images of chefs in kitchens as there was plenty of atmosphere in the images and action going on. Whilst the hustle and bustle could not be achieved, I constructing my "set" (decluttering my kitchen) I decided to leave some kitchen essentials in to add character and make it look like a kitchen. This was in contrast to what I had done for previous kitchen shots in other OCA courses as this time I wanted the focus to be on the chef.
Being apple season, I was trying to convey the fresh look of the apples. Image 2 does show more apple and a slightly different perspective.
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| original image |
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| changed image following tutor feedback |
Jen Brook
Jen Brook is a model who works with photographers and I had the opportunity to attend one of her seminars at the Photography Show earlier in the year. She is very creative and has been involved with her own Dreamcatcher project which caught my attention. Brook writes articles from the point of view of the model which I find useful because she explains for example how moving the arms away from the waist of the sitter will alter their body shape and make the sitter look completely different. The sitter's self confidence is boosted when they see the results. This fits well with the argument that photography of people is about psychology. Two of her articles which I enjoyed were Dear Model...... from the other model, and one for brides to know what to expect from a photographer.
Jen Brook is a model who works with photographers and I had the opportunity to attend one of her seminars at the Photography Show earlier in the year. She is very creative and has been involved with her own Dreamcatcher project which caught my attention. Brook writes articles from the point of view of the model which I find useful because she explains for example how moving the arms away from the waist of the sitter will alter their body shape and make the sitter look completely different. The sitter's self confidence is boosted when they see the results. This fits well with the argument that photography of people is about psychology. Two of her articles which I enjoyed were Dear Model...... from the other model, and one for brides to know what to expect from a photographer.
Bibliography
http://jenbrookmodel.tumblr.com/
Todd Hido
Todd Hido is an American Photographer who exhibited a collection of photographs at Nottingham University's American Night Photography Exhibition towards the end of last year. This was the first time I had come across his work.
What appealed to me about his work was the way his images told a story without giving too much information away. It didn't matter if the images were unrelated; the viewer strung them together from the clues. The images were uncluttered. I bought a copy of his book because he explained his images and it made me question and rethink some of my ideas.
Excerpt from Exhibitions page of blog
"The photographer whose work I was most interested in was Todd Hido (figures 8 and 9 of the accompanying guide). These images were captivating in the sense that the people looked as if they were unable to escape their lives and I built up a narrative around the images displayed, trying to make sense of whether they are related or whether they are just a collection of images. His portrait images made me feel that I was looking in on another world, which I know is there but America don't want the world to see. His landscape images through the rain on the windscreen present a view which fits in well with the images. The grouping made me consider style and similarity of colours and tones between a group of images.
I spent time in the bookshop reading around some of his images, (and discovered that the images were not related) and have ordered a copy of the book "Excerpts from Silver Meadows" to read to follow up this visit. I think the exhibition fitted in well to where I am on People and Place 1 at the moment." Hampshire (2014)
Extract from Reading List page of blog
Following the visit to the exhibition, which was half way through shooting for Assignment 4, I took some night photos in Nottingham. My tutor suggested I should reshoot some and make them all night time or low light images because I had been influenced by seeing Hido's images and reading his book.
Extract from Assignment 4
"The colours change and unless I take several images, I cannot guarantee what colours I will have on the image. I was pleased with the blue lighting which is both masculine and emotional. I mounted the tripod on the edge of the fountain which was above head height and stood in a trough of water, waiting for the man on the left to stand still. Fortunately he did, and the people with him moved away from him. The man is balanced by the lights on the right hand side and the hint of Christmas decorations on the left sets the time of year. Separating the image from the reflection are a group of people enjoying themselves on the temporary skating rink. I liked the fact that the man has long hair and a carrier bag. When I analysed this image on the computer, I decided could see more about it than when I took it. It told a story of a man looking at the Christmas lights and wondering about the expense of it all. I thought it was quite reflective (contemplative) as well as the reflection adding to the “stop still and think” notion I was trying to convey." Hampshire (2014)
Bibliography
http://www.toddhido.com/ http://www.ahornmagazine.com/issue_6/interview_hido/interview_hido.html
Hido, Todd (2014) on landscapes, interiors and the Nude, aperture publishing, New York
Todd Hido is an American Photographer who exhibited a collection of photographs at Nottingham University's American Night Photography Exhibition towards the end of last year. This was the first time I had come across his work.
What appealed to me about his work was the way his images told a story without giving too much information away. It didn't matter if the images were unrelated; the viewer strung them together from the clues. The images were uncluttered. I bought a copy of his book because he explained his images and it made me question and rethink some of my ideas.
Excerpt from Exhibitions page of blog
"The photographer whose work I was most interested in was Todd Hido (figures 8 and 9 of the accompanying guide). These images were captivating in the sense that the people looked as if they were unable to escape their lives and I built up a narrative around the images displayed, trying to make sense of whether they are related or whether they are just a collection of images. His portrait images made me feel that I was looking in on another world, which I know is there but America don't want the world to see. His landscape images through the rain on the windscreen present a view which fits in well with the images. The grouping made me consider style and similarity of colours and tones between a group of images.
I spent time in the bookshop reading around some of his images, (and discovered that the images were not related) and have ordered a copy of the book "Excerpts from Silver Meadows" to read to follow up this visit. I think the exhibition fitted in well to where I am on People and Place 1 at the moment." Hampshire (2014)
Extract from Reading List page of blog
"Purchased following a visit to the exhibition on American Night Photography at Nottingham University. This book explains reasons behind choices and decisions of his images and how to use that information to look at my own images (those taken and those still to be taken). I found the book helpful to back up my knowledge and explore subjects like lighting, narrative and sequence. I found I questioned some of my images and also tried to declutter compositions, being aware that I should give the viewer something in which they should draw their own conclusions of what was going on. This book helped inspire me through Assignment 4 - people and place." Hampshire (2014)
Extract from Assignment 4
"The colours change and unless I take several images, I cannot guarantee what colours I will have on the image. I was pleased with the blue lighting which is both masculine and emotional. I mounted the tripod on the edge of the fountain which was above head height and stood in a trough of water, waiting for the man on the left to stand still. Fortunately he did, and the people with him moved away from him. The man is balanced by the lights on the right hand side and the hint of Christmas decorations on the left sets the time of year. Separating the image from the reflection are a group of people enjoying themselves on the temporary skating rink. I liked the fact that the man has long hair and a carrier bag. When I analysed this image on the computer, I decided could see more about it than when I took it. It told a story of a man looking at the Christmas lights and wondering about the expense of it all. I thought it was quite reflective (contemplative) as well as the reflection adding to the “stop still and think” notion I was trying to convey." Hampshire (2014)
Bibliography
http://www.toddhido.com/ http://www.ahornmagazine.com/issue_6/interview_hido/interview_hido.html
Hido, Todd (2014) on landscapes, interiors and the Nude, aperture publishing, New York
Eric Kim
Eric Kim describes his style as social critique street photography. He is based in Los Angeles and works internationally. His background in sociology and passion for teaching street style photography means that he is usually featured in magazines and websites that I read occasionally. I found his name cropping up on website searches during Digital Photographic Practice and like his style of explanation so I do follow some of his tutorials if I need to look a technique differently or need to look into something around street photography.
He has written a series of posts on his blog with regards to what we can learn from photographers such as Martin Parr, Steven Shore, etc which can be a good summary and a starting point for videos if I can't find anything on You Tube.
The main influence of Kim's work for my in this course was how to combat the fear of photographing people unseen or without permission. Some of his anecdotes made sense such as standing on a roundabout and seeing how many people a actually notice that you are stood there, then applying it to street photography.
Bibliography
http://erickimphotography.com/
Eric Kim describes his style as social critique street photography. He is based in Los Angeles and works internationally. His background in sociology and passion for teaching street style photography means that he is usually featured in magazines and websites that I read occasionally. I found his name cropping up on website searches during Digital Photographic Practice and like his style of explanation so I do follow some of his tutorials if I need to look a technique differently or need to look into something around street photography.
He has written a series of posts on his blog with regards to what we can learn from photographers such as Martin Parr, Steven Shore, etc which can be a good summary and a starting point for videos if I can't find anything on You Tube.
The main influence of Kim's work for my in this course was how to combat the fear of photographing people unseen or without permission. Some of his anecdotes made sense such as standing on a roundabout and seeing how many people a actually notice that you are stood there, then applying it to street photography.
Bibliography
http://erickimphotography.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/21532400
https://expertphotography.com/interview-with-street-photographer-eric-kim/
https://expertphotography.com/interview-with-street-photographer-eric-kim/
Dougie Wallace
Dougie Wallace is a British social documentary photographer who documents human interactions and emotions. Wallace describes his work as "visually exaggerated, hard edged" (http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014) and captures uninhibited behaviour of people. Wallace portrays his work as having a theme to it (rather than a narrative). I recognise this, having looked closely at his work on Shoreditch for Assignment 4.
In Shoreditch,(link) Wallace captures people who are under the influence of drink as well as everyday people in the street. He uses low, night time and flash which gives him more control of the images he takes. The low light levels add to the ambiance of the images and with some post processing enable the people to lift out of the page. I like his work and I found it difficult to emulate in Nottingham city centre. This may be to do with the drinking culture of Nottingham in recent years, and the measures in place now to combat this as the emergency services, A and E and the police are overstretched. Bouncers are employed who can breathalyse and offer pastoral care. It also has something to do with my lack of confidence in shooting with a flash at night in the faces of people who are under the influence (as described in assignment 4) I was happy enough shooting in some situations like the Christmas Market or the before the Nottingham Forest football game.
How do we know that this is Shoreditch and not just any town in Britain? The clue I found was on the bus, going to Shoreditch. In my images I thought about how I could include the name of Nottingham on something to give the collection of images a reference point. A landmark is fine if the viewer is local. Trams within the city centre state where they are bound for, which again doesn't help if the viewer is not local. I found "Nottingham" on a Narrowboat moored outside a pub, the symbol of Nottingham Forest on the side of the football ground and on the scarves of a memorabilia stand.
One of the images which didn't quite make it into my final selection of Assignment 4 was people on the outdoor skating rink in Nottingham. I spent time trying to capture people having fun and with an expression on their face. This was one of my earlier attempts would have been better if the girl was upright. I was still learning with regard to my flash settings balanced with watching the flow of people and trying to pick a moment to shoot. I discovered that using flash took more planning than just see something which may work then press the shutter and I am sure that over time it becomes easier.
Dougie Wallace is a British social documentary photographer who documents human interactions and emotions. Wallace describes his work as "visually exaggerated, hard edged" (http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014) and captures uninhibited behaviour of people. Wallace portrays his work as having a theme to it (rather than a narrative). I recognise this, having looked closely at his work on Shoreditch for Assignment 4.
In Shoreditch,(link) Wallace captures people who are under the influence of drink as well as everyday people in the street. He uses low, night time and flash which gives him more control of the images he takes. The low light levels add to the ambiance of the images and with some post processing enable the people to lift out of the page. I like his work and I found it difficult to emulate in Nottingham city centre. This may be to do with the drinking culture of Nottingham in recent years, and the measures in place now to combat this as the emergency services, A and E and the police are overstretched. Bouncers are employed who can breathalyse and offer pastoral care. It also has something to do with my lack of confidence in shooting with a flash at night in the faces of people who are under the influence (as described in assignment 4) I was happy enough shooting in some situations like the Christmas Market or the before the Nottingham Forest football game.
How do we know that this is Shoreditch and not just any town in Britain? The clue I found was on the bus, going to Shoreditch. In my images I thought about how I could include the name of Nottingham on something to give the collection of images a reference point. A landmark is fine if the viewer is local. Trams within the city centre state where they are bound for, which again doesn't help if the viewer is not local. I found "Nottingham" on a Narrowboat moored outside a pub, the symbol of Nottingham Forest on the side of the football ground and on the scarves of a memorabilia stand.
One of the images which didn't quite make it into my final selection of Assignment 4 was people on the outdoor skating rink in Nottingham. I spent time trying to capture people having fun and with an expression on their face. This was one of my earlier attempts would have been better if the girl was upright. I was still learning with regard to my flash settings balanced with watching the flow of people and trying to pick a moment to shoot. I discovered that using flash took more planning than just see something which may work then press the shutter and I am sure that over time it becomes easier.
Reference
http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014
Bibliography
http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014
http://www.dougiewallace.com/9365/shoreditch-wild-life/ accessed Dec 2014 http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/dougie-wallace-shoreditch-wild-life accessed Dec 2014
http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014
Bibliography
http://www.dougiewallace.com/ accessed Dec 2014
http://www.dougiewallace.com/9365/shoreditch-wild-life/ accessed Dec 2014 http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/dougie-wallace-shoreditch-wild-life accessed Dec 2014
Photographers researched following Assignment 3
Zilla Van Den Born
This is a holiday made up of photoshopped images by Dutch photographer Zilla van den Born who fooled her parents and friends by sending them postcard images and posting on Facebook to make them believe she was actually on holiday.
I was impressed at her photoshop skills and I think this is where planning an assignment in meticulous detail really helps. She had researched details such as time zones so she knew when to post on Facebook. The other question it raised was how believable it was - she fooled her family and friends and once the scam was revealed they were shocked that the images were not true. Self obsession is evident as she features on all the images and they are about her. I think the images are more creative than a holiday of selfies as van den Born has considered different poses, scale in relation to the building / landscape and lighting.
"I did this to show people that we filter and manipulate what we show on social media, and that we create an online world which reality can no longer meet. My goal was to prove how common and easy it is to distort reality. Everybody knows that pictures of models are manipulated. But we often overlook the fact that we manipulate reality also in our own lives." http://sobadsogood.com/2014/09/17/daughter-fools-family-friends-photoshops-her-entire-holiday/?fb_action_ids=10204427026457166&fb_action_types=og.comments accessed October 2014
Would she have got more out of actually taking the holiday? I am not sure. In my opinion, this must have been what she wanted to do because 5 weeks is a long time to pretend you are on holiday for. I am interested in what drove her to do this project rather than the fact that she actually did it, and the reaction of her friends at the time she was posting them on Facebook. A work colleague of mine is on her "holiday of a lifetime" and regularly posting pictures of the Maldives,Dubai etc. The pictures sit with postings from other colleagues on my feed and I pay as much attention to them as I do to other colleagues involved in activities. I think people can fool and be fooled by images and I believe that people do believe what they see, especially on Facebook.
Molly MacIndoe
Molly MacIndoe is a photographer who concentrates on social documentary and youth photography. She was involved with the free part scene and has documented it widely in a book called Out of Order. Reading an interview she did when the book came out, she states that she was interested in showing the truth about what was happening at the time.
I think looking at the images on MacIndoe's website, one can imagine the culture of the free parties, get an idea of what happens and the type of people who attend. I like her natural use of lighting, the graininess of the film (she uses film rather than digital for her personal projects). The images are colourful and I am able to look at the natural arrangement of people in relation to the exercises I have undertaken and use them to compare with situations I found when out and about. MacIndoe's work inspires me to find people arranged naturally in a way that is pleasing to the eye.
I was encouraged to look at a piece of work undertaken Molly Macindoe at the Boomtown Festival with Ladies of Leisure and felt that she projected the atmosphere of the festival to the viewers of the magazine. She states in her blurb that some of the people are people that she is involved with in another project. I presume that this is her free parties work which inspired her book Out of Order.
MacIndoe's work inspired me to look at photographing teenagers and young adults as part of the exercises for part 4 of the course and Assignment 5. My intent was to photograph teenagers and represent them in a way which they would be comfortable with and show the truth.
http://py-zine.com/post/96212793643/photographer-molly-macindoe-presents-her-exclusive accessed October 2014
http://inverted-audio.com/visual/molly-macindoe-out-of-order/ accessed Dec 2014
Photographer researched during Assignment 3
Photographer researched during Assignment 3
Peter Marlow
Peter Marlow (Magnum Photographer) is an English photographer who started his career in photojournalism. His work is varied from a book on 42 English Cathedrals to Undercover Spitalfields.
I came across Peter Marlow's work during Assignment 3 Buildings in use when researching Southwell Minster.I came across Marlow's work when researching Southwell Minster.
Marlow's images capture the essence of the building. In his book, English Cathedrals, the perspective of the naves are very similar giving the book order. (Extract from my reading list) "I especially liked the technical notes and images of notes on the back of envelopes which gave it a realistic feel and something I could associate with. I was amazed at his patience waiting to take an image with no-one present and the lengths he went to to achieve the right lighting.
I looked at images in his book and read his account of taking photographs of 42 Anglican cathedrals in England. What I liked about his images were the perspective, uniformity and the lighting.[...] I appreciated that the Minster may have visitors and it may be difficult to avoid photographing them. [...]The lighting in the nave was fairly dark. A tripod was essential and by measuring the light in camera I was able to take a range of images to look at in more detail at home and select the most natural one. It took time to position the tripod and camera so that the columns were as straight as possible. My image differs from Marlow’s because my tripod is lower. He cites using a stepladder, a small aperture, shutter speed of 1-5 seconds and focal length of 112mm. My aperture is larger at f8 and my shutter speed was 3.2 seconds. At such a slow shutter speed, figures became motion blurred. I had to take several images so I had a selection to choose from. I included the visitor in the image of the font because it added a sense of scale."
Link to Peter Marlow's original polaroid of Southwell Minster From Marlow's image, I would guess that he also took this in August as there are no chairs in the nave.
Reference
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed Jan 2015
Having looked at Ricky Adam's website on the BMX culture, I can see what my tutor means about dynamic imagery. His photos work well as a whole - location, colour, action and parts of bikes. It showed me that it was acceptable to take risks, be more creative and include just parts of rider and bike , the latter being something I had debated over. Looking back over my images, this is one that I had rejected at the time as it only showed a part of the bike. It does however, show the rider's muscles working and is more dynamic because of the shooting position and action that is being shown. I think it would be more acceptable to me if it was in landscape format. I will be practicing taking some images at a night mountain bike race in October so will have to use flash.
Vivien Maier
Peter Marlow (Magnum Photographer) is an English photographer who started his career in photojournalism. His work is varied from a book on 42 English Cathedrals to Undercover Spitalfields.
Marlow, on the Magnum website describes his work as, “I go for photography that overlays and enhances. By blending observation and wit with reason, I want my work to generate a sense of the unexpected, the hidden, and the seemingly spontaneous." http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 (accessed Jan 2015)
This is what appeals to me about Marlow's work. Certainly within his work there are surprises, such as a ceiling fan with a shark, or the BT centre in Newcastle with the pattern of cigarette ends mixed in with the stones. By looking at a collection of his work, one begins to build a story, and yet these images could be unrelated. (However, I didn't appreciate this until I read the book by Todd Hido) In fact, his work at Spitalfields made me think that had Sneinton Market still been active, I could have based my whole Assignment 4 around this area.
I came across Peter Marlow's work during Assignment 3 Buildings in use when researching Southwell Minster.I came across Marlow's work when researching Southwell Minster.
Marlow's images capture the essence of the building. In his book, English Cathedrals, the perspective of the naves are very similar giving the book order. (Extract from my reading list) "I especially liked the technical notes and images of notes on the back of envelopes which gave it a realistic feel and something I could associate with. I was amazed at his patience waiting to take an image with no-one present and the lengths he went to to achieve the right lighting.
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My image Nave 3.2secs f8 ISO100 28mm
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Link to Peter Marlow's original polaroid of Southwell Minster From Marlow's image, I would guess that he also took this in August as there are no chairs in the nave.
Reference
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed Jan 2015
Hampshire (2014) https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5167492774230945830#editor/target=page;pageID=8628684029051961915;onPublishedMenu=pages;onClosedMenu=pages;postNum=1;src=link accessed Jan 2015
Bibliography
http://blog.autographer.com/2014/04/15-minutes-peter-marlow-prestigious-magnum-photographer-discusses-photographing-family/ accessed January 2015
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed January 2015
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed Jan 2015
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed January 2015
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL535WE0 accessed Jan 2015
Hampshire (2014) https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5167492774230945830#editor/target=page;pageID=8628684029051961915;onPublishedMenu=pages;onClosedMenu=pages;postNum=1;src=link accessed Jan 2015
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr, (Magnum photographer), looks at people and situations in close up and draws out the quirkiness of society so that we see it. "Martin Parr sensitises our subconscious – and once we've seen his photographs, we keep on discovering these images over and over again in our daily lives and recognising ourselves within them. The humour in these photographs makes us laugh at ourselves, with a sense of recognition and release." Magnum Photos (http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF accessed Jan 2015) I would agree with this statement and is something I associate with his images.
My interest in this subject field began at a photography show before I started with the OCA. I met The Caravan Gallery, people who go on tour around Britain and take images of the dead conifers in gardens, signs with spelling mistakes on, people being very British and I bought one of their books. An image of theirs (I think) was at the Format Festival in Derby in 2013 of shoppers outside Primark with all the bags which appealed to me. From this introduction, I learned about the work of Martin Parr.
I watched a series of videos of Parr on a photoshoot at Ascot, reviewing his shots afterwards and narrowing down his images to his final choices. Parr is able to get in close to the image he wants and when seen or if the image is not quite as he wants it, he can alter it by engaging in conversation with someone. He is in control of the images he takes. I was interested to note that he shot with a ring flash on his camera in the video. (I found one of these videos after my photoshoot in Nottingham and wondered if that would have made any difference to the images which captured harsh shadow against buildings? Need to experiment). Parr makes statements about society through his images. For example, in the film, he shot several images of ladies from Walsall (which he described as working class) and ladies from Surrey (upper middle class). One of his images which he did not discard was of a lady from Surrey with a stain on her dress. This could have been from either group of people - it becomes a generalisation of society. Parr cropped in close with his lens so her face was not visible and the focus was about a lady dressed up with a stain on her dress. Martin Parr Ascot photographs (Magnum Photos) (link)
I learnt a great deal from these 4 videos on Parr - for example, shoot exaggerated images. Go out when it will be busy and shoot from perspectives to exaggerate what is happening in the image. This will hopefully turn the image into a more acceptable image than an everyday image. Find the ordinary in the extraordinary - mundane subjects have interesting photos within them.He illustrated this by using his "bad weather" project. Don't be afraid to get in close (this is where I need to develop my skills and confidence. Some of my images look like I am still on the outside) and don't be afraid to experiment
I looked at Martin Parr's images of train stations for inspiration during assignment 3. Through assignment 4, I had a "what if?" moment. When I took the images of Nottingham station, there were two trains for destinations that caught my eye - one bound for a festival and one to Skegness. Had I have done the exercises for assignment 4 at that point, I think I would have taken the interesting people that I could only talk about.
These images were taken in Mansfield one wet afternoon as part of an exercise for part 4. In hindsight to include the closed down shop names would be useful as it's part of the mining town's culture. I liked the idea of the last photo although it didn't work because I couldn't get the perspective right before I was clocked. A family outside Primark with Greggs sausage rolls. The kids in pushchairs are not being fed but the pigeons are!
References
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF accessed Jan 2014=5
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/03/26/10-things-martin-parr-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/ accessed Jan 2015
http://thecaravangallery.photography/ accessed Jan 2015
Bibliography
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF accessed Jan 2014=5
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/03/26/10-things-martin-parr-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/ accessed Jan 2015
http://thecaravangallery.photography/ accessed Jan 2015
Photographers I researched following Assignment 2
These images were taken in Mansfield one wet afternoon as part of an exercise for part 4. In hindsight to include the closed down shop names would be useful as it's part of the mining town's culture. I liked the idea of the last photo although it didn't work because I couldn't get the perspective right before I was clocked. A family outside Primark with Greggs sausage rolls. The kids in pushchairs are not being fed but the pigeons are!
References
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF accessed Jan 2014=5
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/03/26/10-things-martin-parr-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/ accessed Jan 2015
http://thecaravangallery.photography/ accessed Jan 2015
Bibliography
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF accessed Jan 2014=5
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/03/26/10-things-martin-parr-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/ accessed Jan 2015
http://thecaravangallery.photography/ accessed Jan 2015
Photographers I researched following Assignment 2
Ricky Adams
Ricky Adams is a BMX bike photographer who works for a BMX magazine taking and editing images as well as having other projects on the go. He goes out on his BMX with kit as light as possible but it does include flash and lights as well as different lenses. His images have a grittiness / grunge /urban look to them which I would associate with this culture having been to the cycle show in Birmingham observing stunts and culture on display to the public. Watching lads on BMX's at a newly opened pump track allowed me to appreciate some of the culture of BMX riding. Adams's work is different from mountain bike magazine images although I can see similarities and I think his style of images would w
ork (not so sure about the injuries - I have not seen injuries published in a mountain bike magazine!) I do love the quote used regularly by Guy Martin in his TV series that if you don't fall off you aren't trying hard enough which most mountain bikers sustaining injury joke about.
Having looked at Ricky Adam's website on the BMX culture, I can see what my tutor means about dynamic imagery. His photos work well as a whole - location, colour, action and parts of bikes. It showed me that it was acceptable to take risks, be more creative and include just parts of rider and bike , the latter being something I had debated over. Looking back over my images, this is one that I had rejected at the time as it only showed a part of the bike. It does however, show the rider's muscles working and is more dynamic because of the shooting position and action that is being shown. I think it would be more acceptable to me if it was in landscape format. I will be practicing taking some images at a night mountain bike race in October so will have to use flash.
http://blog.defgrip.net/2010/02/interview-ricky-adam/ accessed December 2014
Ricky Adam (http://www.rickyadamphoto.com/digbmxcom/) accessed August 2014
Vivien Maier is described as a Mary Poppins like character who photographed the world around her through a square format camera which she held at waist height. To enable her to take close up portraits of her subjects she had to be about 3 feet away from them. To learn more about her work I watched the BBC programme on her called "Who took Nanny's pictures". What I like about her work is the way in which she captured the portrait of the person, and usually in the only picture she took of them. I believe her daily walks enabled her to practice her art.
I looked into her work at the start of part 3 which helped me look at how people use public spaces. Her work resonated with me especially through part 4 and 5 of the course. I had to think of doing the exercises as spying on people, like Maier used to do. I came back to her after visiting an exhibition at Nottingham University on Lee Miller's work after an in depth discussion about how a curator chooses someones work to be displayed and whether the deceased photographer would accept the portrayal of their work.
The story of how the work was found initially in storage, then sold at flea markets and reconnected once auctioned off, then pieced back together by people and studied by a lecturer fascinated me, when clearly Maier is portrayed as such a private person who kept heself to herself. I noted that from her work, her influences could be analysed, such as after Jean Bertrand had stayed with them and then after visiting an exhibition by Henri Cartier Bresson and other photographers. A style could be seen emerging - her own voice - from the analysis of her images, and I wondered if the change in her images to show negative images and destruction later in her life was influenced by the Chicago riots or whether her personality was more like her mother's and she needed to express the change in her life.
I aspire to take images like Maier's and know it will take time for self improvement. I am also different from her because I am not prepared to endanger myself by wandering the streets of the rougher inner city areas alone.
I looked into her work at the start of part 3 which helped me look at how people use public spaces. Her work resonated with me especially through part 4 and 5 of the course. I had to think of doing the exercises as spying on people, like Maier used to do. I came back to her after visiting an exhibition at Nottingham University on Lee Miller's work after an in depth discussion about how a curator chooses someones work to be displayed and whether the deceased photographer would accept the portrayal of their work.
The story of how the work was found initially in storage, then sold at flea markets and reconnected once auctioned off, then pieced back together by people and studied by a lecturer fascinated me, when clearly Maier is portrayed as such a private person who kept heself to herself. I noted that from her work, her influences could be analysed, such as after Jean Bertrand had stayed with them and then after visiting an exhibition by Henri Cartier Bresson and other photographers. A style could be seen emerging - her own voice - from the analysis of her images, and I wondered if the change in her images to show negative images and destruction later in her life was influenced by the Chicago riots or whether her personality was more like her mother's and she needed to express the change in her life.
I aspire to take images like Maier's and know it will take time for self improvement. I am also different from her because I am not prepared to endanger myself by wandering the streets of the rougher inner city areas alone.
https://www.lensculture.com/articles/vivian-maier-vivian-maier-street-photographer-revelation#slide-1 accessed dec 2014
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v70590131KFPFjY7N?h1=BBC+Imagine+%282013%29+Vivian+Maier+-+Who+Took+Nannys+Pictures accessed dec 2014http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/ accessed dec 2014
Photographers I researched in Assignment 1
http://www.karsh.org/ acessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bANcJeySU accessed Dec 014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m3HubQgnZ0 accessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8OMksHFvs8 accessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z1l7DYnaho accessed Dec 2014
http://photographyconcentrate.com/7-things-yousuf-karsh-can-teach-you-about-photography/ accessed Dec 2014
The popular idea of the time which echoed across both left and right political parties was that "modernity reduced individuality and facial expressiveness" (Bruckle 2013) Modernity is the effect on people during industrialization, urbanization, and political democracy on a rural and autocratic society. Physiognomy was a popular idea too, in that people believed that a person's features or characteristic expression reflected their personality or that people judged character from facial features. Understanding what popular belief was and what was happening in Germany at the time of Sander's work made more sense to the context of the volume of his work.Sander was interested in creating images of the archetypal stereotype.
I had in the past come across Sander's image of the farmer from Westerwald taken in 1910. Fallis (http://www.utata.org/sundaysalon/august-sander/) points out that Sander has told the viewer he is a farmer because of the title of the photograph. The posture of the farmer is straight and his hands are clean. His coat is expensive but apparently doesn't match the quality of his trousers. The readers of Sander's book would take this information and use it to place him in a hierarchy of farmers. I like the position of the farmer within the frame. His body is turned enough that the viewer sees his posture and his face is in the centre of the frame and looks almost symmetrical. The lines on his face together with his beard create patterns which are pleasing to look at. The farmer is looking past the viewer and Sander uses a shallow depth of field which is apparently unusual for the age of the image. I think one is able to work out more about the person than in Ruff's portrait images because there are visual clues of the person's occupation are present.
http://vimeo.com/72119568 accessed Dec 2014
http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/face-weimar-culture-physiognomic-paradigm-competing-portrait accessed dec 2014
http://augustsander.com/ accessed Dec
2014http://www.utata.org/sundaysalon/august-sander/ accessed Dec 2014
Yousef Karsh
1908-2002
Yousef Karsh's career spanned 67 years during which time he took many portraits of world leaders artists, writers, thinkers as well as ordinary people. Karsh spent time learning to light his subjects with lighting rigs which he taught himself about whilst he was involved with a theatre company near his home. karsh had his own unique style of photography and in one video clip I watched, he describes how one of his sitters told of being "Karshed". Karsh explained that during one of his photoshoots there was no power so he improvised with a sheet and the light from a window. I have been asked to accompany a writer friend as his photographer to capture some images of sports personalities. So in preparation for this, what can I learn from Karsh?
- Homework is key - know about your subject. This came through on the interviews I watched with Karsh. He knew his subjects. Over the time methods will have changed - the power of the internet for learning about the winter sports and observing the personality will help. Having the knowledge about the person and the sport will help me to put the sitter at ease. This will enable the sitter to display a range of emotions which I hope to capture.
- Lighting is very important to the subject and Karsh demonstrates his understanding of light beautifully in his images. From using a window light and a white sheet to artificial lighting, I think the key is understanding what I am trying to do and practice, practice, practice.
- Karsh was prepared to let the situation unfold and re-photograph his subject if he thought he could improve upon it. He recounts a time when he photographed a sitter and during dinner, the candlelight changed the lighting and he started all over again. I was interested too in his discussion about a Russian dancer who he had photographed dancing and then took a different image of his head and hands which people were surprised about. I think the resulting image and anecdote captures the portrait of the dancer.
- Karsh always looked for the good in the person and described his images as capturing his subject's soul. I think in this day and age where the public are quick to find the negatives in someone, it is especially important to represent someone in the light they wish to be seen and along with this goes holding dignity and respect for the sitter. "There is a brief moment when all there is in a man's mind and soul and spirit is reflected through his eyes, his hands, his attitude. This is the moment to record."( http://photographyconcentrate.com/7-things-yousuf-karsh-can-teach-you-about-photography/) accessed Dec 2014
Reference
http://photographyconcentrate.com/7-things-yousuf-karsh-can-teach-you-about-photography/ accessed Dec 2014
Bibliography
http://www.karsh.org/ acessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bANcJeySU accessed Dec 014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m3HubQgnZ0 accessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8OMksHFvs8 accessed Dec 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z1l7DYnaho accessed Dec 2014
http://photographyconcentrate.com/7-things-yousuf-karsh-can-teach-you-about-photography/ accessed Dec 2014
August Sander
1876-1964 Sanders was a German portrait and documentary photographer who during his lifetime took over 40,000 images. During his lifetime's work, the plates to his book the Face Of Our Time containing 60 images of his larger collection were destroyed by Nazi's and later a studio was destroyed in a bombing raid. Sander's work on People of the 20th Century was categorized into a cross section of society from the Weimar Republic (an area of Germany in 1919 to 1933 which saw political unrest, rising prices and hyper inflation and high unemployment as well as cultural development and progression such as the Bauhaus movement, film making and literature).The popular idea of the time which echoed across both left and right political parties was that "modernity reduced individuality and facial expressiveness" (Bruckle 2013) Modernity is the effect on people during industrialization, urbanization, and political democracy on a rural and autocratic society. Physiognomy was a popular idea too, in that people believed that a person's features or characteristic expression reflected their personality or that people judged character from facial features. Understanding what popular belief was and what was happening in Germany at the time of Sander's work made more sense to the context of the volume of his work.Sander was interested in creating images of the archetypal stereotype.
I had in the past come across Sander's image of the farmer from Westerwald taken in 1910. Fallis (http://www.utata.org/sundaysalon/august-sander/) points out that Sander has told the viewer he is a farmer because of the title of the photograph. The posture of the farmer is straight and his hands are clean. His coat is expensive but apparently doesn't match the quality of his trousers. The readers of Sander's book would take this information and use it to place him in a hierarchy of farmers. I like the position of the farmer within the frame. His body is turned enough that the viewer sees his posture and his face is in the centre of the frame and looks almost symmetrical. The lines on his face together with his beard create patterns which are pleasing to look at. The farmer is looking past the viewer and Sander uses a shallow depth of field which is apparently unusual for the age of the image. I think one is able to work out more about the person than in Ruff's portrait images because there are visual clues of the person's occupation are present.
I am interested in the volume of work which Sanders made during his life and because he started when physiognomy and modernity was being studied, in my opinion his work fits into my understanding of the terminology and history of Germany at that time. I wonder if he had started his career later, would his style be similar? I think Sander's work has a place in my understanding of portrait photography and although I cannot say that I have been knowingly influenced by it, I feel that because I had actually seen some of his images in the past, I now have a greater understanding of what his work was trying to achieve.
Reference
http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/face-weimar-culture-physiognomic-paradigm-competing-portrait accessed Dec 2014
Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3RnfgRf2ec accessed Dec 2014http://vimeo.com/72119568 accessed Dec 2014
http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/face-weimar-culture-physiognomic-paradigm-competing-portrait accessed dec 2014
http://augustsander.com/ accessed Dec
2014http://www.utata.org/sundaysalon/august-sander/ accessed Dec 2014
Thomas Ruff
Thomas Ruff is a German Photographer who studied at Dusseldorf under the Bechers. In my opinion, some of his work is typical of the typographers - using the same proportions and scale to his collection of images. Among his published works are four series of portraits which have been made to look like large passport photographs. The idea behind this was to strip the personality from the image and make them devoid of feelings. When the viewer views the images, they look at the physical properties of the face - eyes, nose, mouth etc and are left wondering about the personality of the person. It is the viewer's own influences which are projected onto the portrait. In my opinion his work differs from that of August Sander because whereas Ruff concentrates on making his portraits from a group of artists with an age group of 10 years difference and showing no emotion in their faces, Sander concentrates on a much broader range of people from all social classes and tried to seek out the archetypal face to depict people in professions and employment.
On my first look at this work, I thought the portraits were evenly lit and showed the features well. I could not see anything remarkable about the collection by way of showing personality traits. The fascination for me was the questions the collection posed such as "why had Ruff made these?" "what was he trying to show?" "what was happening nationally at the time of making the images?" I found answers in an interesting conversation between the photographer and Gil Blank and the work on taking the portraits and mixing the features in search of superwoman or machoman I thought sounded an interesting concept.
I had previously looked at altering reality and making images still look realistic by changing colours of eyes and seeing if it altered what I thought of the image. For that exercise I had used an image of my daughter and decided that I couldn't alter it too much as it altered my preconceptions of her personality, so I could engage with this concept. Similarly, the discussion on using people not smiling I thought was interesting. Ruff explains that his sitters are between the age of 24 and 34 years and hadn't had too many life experiences making them neutral for the viewer to project their experiences onto. He also discloses that parents want children to smile in the images of them to show that they are good parents with happy children. I think this is a true observation and have noticed many parents in the past becoming disconcerted that their children do not smile for the camera.
Bibliography
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3595514/PHOTOGRAPHY-IN-FOCUS-The-deadpan-images-created-by-Thomas-Ruff-of-nameless-individuals-and-equally-anonymous-places-are-masterpieces-of-austere-neutrality.-By-Richard-Dorment-Now-for-something-completely-indifferent.html accessed Dec 2014
http://www.gilblank.com/texts/intvws/ruffintvw.html accessed Dec 2014
http://www.gilblank.com/images/pdfs/blankruffintvw.pdf Accessed Dec 2014
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/3577/Thomas%20Ruff accessed Dec 2014
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