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Family Photography: Alain Laboile

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Alain Laboile is a French family photographer born in Bordeaux, France 1968. He is a father of six and uses his family as his subjects when photographing. In 2004 Laboile put together a portfolio of his work as a sculptor, this is where he picked up a camera and developed a taste for photography. A while after this Laboile pointed his camera onto his large family becoming his major subject. This is now what Laboile is known for, creating strong images of his family as well as being able to be at the heart of the family and documenting his children growing up. I like the concept of this because as a father he would be expected to go out and work but instead he is able to make stronger bonds with his children and be there for them whenever they need him as well as Laboile being able to do his photographic work which he is now known for.

“I am totally self-taught. When I began, I had a very limited photographic culture, no technique.” – Alain Laboile

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Laboile’s website: http://www.laboile.com/index.html

Lensculture ‘La Famille’ Archive: 
https://www.lensculture.com/alain-laboile?modal=true&modal_type=project&modal_project_id=8491

Lensculture Interview: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/alain-laboile-video-interview-alain-laboile

“Through my photographic work I celebrate and document my family life:A life on the edge of the world” – Alain Laboile

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Interview with Alain Laboile: http://www.all-about-photo.com/photographer.php?name=alain-laboile&id=528

I do like the work of Laboile as he simply makes images of his family when and wherever some good photo opportunities arrive. I think that his images look very professional and really capture some great family moments that can be quite similar to our own experiences and bring a sense of nostalgia to the spectators mind making them think more about the ups and downs of their own childhood as well as looking at Laboile’s photographs. I find these images very visually pleasing as each image is very crisp and clear allowing the spectator to see everything from a professional standard. These photos are really amazing with the composition and the entire mise-en-scene of the images especially from knowing that Laboile is a self-taught photographer and has only been photographing since 2004. He makes very strong and personal images showing not only the good side of being in a large family with lots of children but also the down side of having such a huge family where kids can fight etc. I do really like his work as it is so raw and real and is better than a usual family portrait kind of photo that spectators are used to seeing as he is an insider to the family and is part of the family so is able to use that to his advantage making images at times of the day and places that an outsider photographer wouldn’t be able to make.

1c12c0857411f2142f75ab5988ac8109-largeI find this image really funny as the girls are all dressing up and messing around with what could be their mothers clothes. I think that this is a strong portrait as everything from the girl jumping in the air to the others standing and posing is so crisp and clear. I think the entire mise-en-scene of this image is perfect as the spectator is able to see their surrounding area and what kind of house they live in [seems like an old-fashioned house] as well as the facial expressions of the girls being really strong with the girl on the far left looking directly into the camera with a very serious facial expression while the girl in the back far right is posing similarly to her sister and looking off into the distance. I like the way that none of them are actually smiling or laughing as if they are very serious about dressing up in random outfits. It does look as though the girls were having a lot of fun dressing up and running round in their mums clothing. I do think that this image looks great and it being in black and white, for me, makes it a much stronger image as the spectator isn’t distracted by the colours of the light coming through or the colours of the clothes that those girls are wearing. Overall I think that this is a really strong image and is interesting to look at.

3a61400834ebf9bd122654aef12e30ed-largeThis is one of my favourite images because it is so simple. I like that Laboile caught one of his daughters walking along the patio of their house. I like that this photograph is taken from a more of a low angle as Laboile would most likely have been on his knees or leaning down low to make this image. This makes the patio balcony look a lot larger making the girl look smaller. The composition of this photograph is great as the spectator is directly drawn to the slight right of the image looking at the young girl. I also like what the little girl is wearing as her wellie boots suggest that she has been out in the muddy garden [shown in some of Laboile’s other images] as well as the back of her shirt looking wet as if she had been in a water/mud fight. I like that Laboile makes all of his images in black and white bringing across a theme as well as consistency of editing in the same style. This image is interesting and brings happy memories as it reminds the spectator of their youth and being younger with no cares or worries at all, we never even worried about getting our clothes muddy or dirty.

adeb70a9381d2ba40af65d014f2f11f6-largeI love that in a lot of Laboile’s images his children look like they are having the time of their lives and seem like such free spirits. I chose this image as I think that it really does show how free and comfortable these children are. It brings some nostalgia to the spectator bringing back memories of when they were younger and never had any cares and would just run around naked. I like the moment that Laboile has captured in this image, he has caught them laughing and having fun while throwing water from their wellies at one another. It seems extremely muddy where they are as the spectator is able to see the bottom left corner where the child’s foot is slipping. I find it hilarious that we only see one of the children laughing and having a good time while the other is too busy  trying to defend herself with the water right in her face as he wellie is lowered and the water is just tipping onto the muddy ground. It also looks as though there are more than just two of them having a water fight as in the right hand middle corner there is water about to catch the young girl on the back suggesting that there are more people involved. I think that this is a very strong image as it is very clear and easy to look at. It is more of a fun environmental image showing what ordinary children tend to get up to in their free time.

Analysis, Evaluation

Moises – Evaluation

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Background

‘Moises’ is a book produced by Argentinian photographer Mariela Sancari. In 1980, when Sancari was 14 years old, her father Moises Sancari committed suicide. Sancari and her twin sister went through traumatic periods of grief, and have suffered from episodes of anxiety and depression.

After her father passed away, Sancari tried to fill the loss of her father through her imagination. She would stare at any stranger who bore resemblance to Moises, a habit which soon became an obsession. Sancari went through a stage of grief known as denial and effectively created a fantasy that her father was still alive somewhere, and seeing men  that would of been her father’s agitated this obsession.

Sancari, who trained as a photographer worked for eights for a large Mexican newspaper. See soon however became disillusioned with this and starting to work to her own, personal photographic projects. In 2011 she gained a photographer in residence place at the Centro de la Imagen, and during this time she worked on a project entitled ‘Moises’.

Evaluation

‘Moises’ is a very personal and unique project. Sancari put out a newspaper ad asking for men in their 70s that bore resemblance to her father, (the age Moises would have been if he was still alive) to pose for portraits.She dressed the men up in old clothes of her father, getting them to complete similar activities she remembered her father doing, such as shaving and brushing Sancari’s hair. Sancari described the process as a “very strong, intense situation”. The outcomes of this photo-book, displayed in an unusual pop-style display are very raw, original and authentic. The images are effectively a retrospect of what her father may have been like, had he have lived.

I find that the concept of this series to be very effective and powerful. Sancari uses memories of her father, as she describes, “my memories of him are very childlike. I’ve built a shrine.”. The images included in the photo-book are very simplistic, classically composed portrait styled photographs with a plain blue background. The subjects in the book stare camera into the camera, conveying a plain, neutral expression. I find that this simplicity is very effective makes the story very raw and grounded solely in the theme of Sanceri father. The impression I gain about Moises through her retrospective representation of him is that he was a very normal, loving family man. A theme that Sanceri subtly explores through the photographs is intimacy, convey most clearly through close ups of one of the men saving.

Overall I enjoyed this book. The handmade, pop-up style makes the book very personal and the story Sancrini tells is very subtle, poetic whilst at the same time being heartfelt and consistent to the difficult but fascinating theme of Sanceri attachment to her deceased father. It tells a personal story

I like how Sanceri has used men her father’s age to fill the gap as obviously she can’t photograph Moises. This might be an interesting theme to explore within my own project, the use of other subject to retrospectively image what my granddad may have looked like had he still been alive today. The image composition is very basic and simplistic, whilst at the same time being strong and striking. This simplicity is something I want to emulate more when I take my images. Is emphasis of mood over how an image looks is interesting and my exploration into vernacular photography is a good starting point to reflect within this.