To be begin with I’m going to explore the American photographer Gregory Crewdson. He tends to photograph homes and suburban neighborhoods. He is referred to as a ‘realist landscape photographer’. Here are some of his photographs:
Gregory Crewdson.Gregory Crewdson – Dream House.
Since he’s a tableaux photographer, Crewdson’s pictures are completely staged and prepared. His work combines both nature and strange concepts. In my opinion, his amazingly interesting and dramatic set-ups create a dramatic essence.
I’m going to be taking my own photograph’s as a response to Crewdson’s tableau’s.
Gregory Crewdson.
For my first shoot, I took inspiration from the image above. There are various individuals gathered around a table to eat dinner. Strangely they are wearing masks as a form of disguise or identity. They are in a dimly lit room and Crewdson seems to have used flash as there is hard lighting.
For my response, I set-up an equally bizarre environment. I had my family member place a mask on and lay in bed. Then I placed a blue scarf around his neck. This strange combination embodies the same essence as Crewdson’s image. I also gave the man an empty plate and spoon for him to pretend to eat from.
I then asked him to pretend to eat whilst looking at the cupboard mirror. This reflection gave the photograph an interesting edge.
In celebration of the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra the island of Jersey decided to stage a parade. The event that was held on August 9th 1902 was so successful that organisers decided ti repeat it the following year- a summer tradition was born that is carried on till this very day. During the early days of the event, the floral floats were mainly horse-drawn. The tradition at that time was for flowers and petals to be torn from the float and thrown to a lady in the crowd, in the hope that one might be thrown back. This is how the battle got it’s name.
There has only been two periods throughout the battle’s history when world events forced its cancellation, these being during World War I when the parade was abandoned and not restarted until 1926. Similarly, during the Second World War and Occupation of the Channel Islands the Battle of Flowers was suspended. It was much later in the 1950s when a group of local businessmen decided the Battle of Flowers needed to be brought back as a much needed focus for the community as well as the benefit for the island’s tourism sector. The tradition of throwing the flowers from the floats stopped in 1964, although, the name has stuck and has continued to flourish. The parade has continued non disturbed, welcoming an excess of one million spectators over the years.
The Battle has always and will continue hopefully to be a sense of community, commitment and pride. However, the friendly competition between floats remains fiercely strong. As the battle has grown and developed over time as too has the floats in both size and design. Nowadays, floats can reach 45 foot in length and horses have been replaced by hidden motorised machinery to drive the floats along the avenue.
In 1989 in order to enhance the carnival atmosphere even more, the Moonlight Parade. This event is very similar to the day time one, although the floats are illuminated. It is one of the island’s biggest community events involving hundreds of volunteers from across the island. I think this tradition is extremely important for the island in order to share a memory that has lived for years. The spectacular event is community driven, without the residents of Jersey there would be no parade.
I choose to focus on this idea for community because I am able to tie in lots of different aspects for example, my grandfather, who I have focused the family themed project on, use to participate in the parade with his eight children and wife many years ago. I also think it would be interesting to include some archival images as I am sure an event of this magnitude for the the island must have a selection of photographs. From looking at my grandfather’s photographs and talking to my grandmother, I think the battle came across as being a great deal more focused on smaller family groups. Whereas today it’s mainly groups or businesses making larger floats in comparison, which has both negative and positive impacts.
Ian going to do a family shoot, using my idea of “The box”. I have done a previous post on this idea explaining how jam going to conduct the shoot –
“For my Family study i have decided on an idea called ‘The Box’, This idea comes from a ‘special box’ that i was given when i was born. My sister was also given an identical one also. Throughout our lives, my mother has collected things from our childhood that have been of significant memory and has put them in the box. These things range from baby scans of us inside my mother, hospital bands from he day we were born, our first shoes, presents we were given as children and much much more. These objects in these boxes have become very special to us, and are restricted and hidden in chosen places in our bedrooms. My parents, imparticularlly my mother doesn’t like anyone who is not family looking at these boxes, I’m unsure of the reason why but i assume privacy reasons. I would like to study thing as my “Family” area of work as i feel firstly it is a very family related idea and very few people could tell this story as all of the objects in the box have sentimental value and memories related to them that nobody would understand apart from me.”
Iam borrowing a camera from school and taking the photographs with that camera so the quality is better than previous photos that were taken on a disposable.
To try an create the image i have in my head jam going to borrow some pieces of black card, to create a mini studio to place the objects on and take pictures. Ian hoping the images will turn out similar to the set up that Phillip Toledano used for his project ‘when i was six’. His project is what inspired my shoot and his setup is also something i would like to recreate as i felt it set the tone and mood for the shoots very well with contrasting lighting.
In the half term I visited Southampton due to a university test that I had to do. I was there for 2 days. I only really visited the town where the shopping centres were so didn’t experience much of what there society is like. It was a very dull town so I wasn’t inspired as much as I thought I was going to be. I didn’t take many photographs as I didn’t feel very inspired. I have taken a couple of images from the train station that I liked. A lot of my pictures have motion blur as I like the idea of having motion in a photograph. I took these images on my phone and added the iPhone effect ‘noir’. I like the pictures of the train station as they look very gloomy which perfectly represents the place.
This is my favourite image as I like the rustic look it portrays. I like the train tracks underneath and everyone are strangers, they all look and dress different and I like the overall composition.
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