Personal Study – Photography
Question: Can the place where someone lives, change their overall outlook on life?
Introduction:
“If you wake up in a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?” – Tyler Durden. In this personal study I would like to focus on two different places and discover if they have affected my family and the locals. Since I was born in Jersey and have many family members from Madeira; I’ve always had conflicting ideals about these two worlds. I believe that my ancestors and other natives greatly prefer Madeira and I can notice it in their expressions. They seem happy, lively and at peace with the world. Most of my family have immigrated to Jersey, assumedly looking for better job opportunities and stability in life. However, I think that they still hold the thought of wanting to return to their hometown deeply within their heart: “When you finally go back to your old home, you find it wasn’t the old home you missed but your childhood.” – Sam Ewing. Personally, I feel that Jersey is quite draining, mainly due to visual aspects. For me, I prefer to be surrounded by liveliness and nature. Therefore, I want to find out if the: environment, culture, memories, etc., affect the way in which people in Jersey and Madeira feel and act. Also, if true happiness is determined by the place in which you live: “Paradise is not a place it’s a state of mind.” – Frank Sonnenburg. In my previous studies I looked at: street photography, photojournalism and landscapes; which I enjoyed and want to further explore in my personal study. In order to develop from my previous coursework, I’ll have to get a good variety of outcomes and capture more people in my frames. In Photoshop, I want to experiment with black and white filters, magenta and other general edits such as: curves, brightness and contrast, vibrancy, etc.
- Jersey and Madeira:
Firstly, I’d like to discuss if the two European islands affect people differently. The way that someone feels about a place has a lot to do with the connection that they make in it; be it negative or positive. In turn, this memory is crucial as it affects our reactions and perspectives of a location. The first photographer that I’ll be analysing is Sebastião Salgado. The Brazilian documentary photographer has travelled the globe searching for the most exquisite moments. His books Genesis and Migrations intrigued me a lot. Sebastião makes environmental links in his photography. I think that he aims to show the beauty of nature and preserve it in his shots: “Nature is the earth and it is other beings and if we don’t have some kind of spiritual return to our planet, I fear that we will be compromised.” Although most of the world’s environment had been ruined, Salgado’s quest aims to show pure scenery that I believe we should strive to maintain. In turn, I assume that the viewers will be enchanted by the unspoilt planet depicted and try to change the circumstances; since every human is dependent on oxygen from plants. I highly believe that us as human are happier living in an undisturbed land. For me, rural areas have little destruction and more tranquillity. If he were to document urbanized cultures, for instance with modern technology, I assume that the audience wouldn’t be as shocked, since they are already accustomed to these situations. However, Salgado’s meaningful book depicts his appreciation for untouched areas and depicts humans in less fortunate conditions such as those who live in poverty. Their culture and way of life is completely different from developed places; nonetheless, I feel that they are more connected to each other and to their environment because of where they live. Maybe they have a peaceful connection to the island. I feel so amazingly great knowing that I can escape and immerse myself in the natural world; it provides me with a true sense of humbleness and belonging to all life forms; whilst reducing my stress. This same effect possibly occurs to others, depending on their living locations. As the environmentalist John Muir says: “Going to the woods is going home; for I suppose we came from the woods originally.” Furthermore, I agree with the BBC researcher Anna Gislen in saying: “You want to help keep people safe and give them the best parts of modern culture, but in doing so they lose their own culture.” I think that people’s surroundings can impact their way of life, emotions and thoughts. Moving on, I think that the classic black and white filters that Salgado uses exude a timeless effect. I believe that this allows for the audience to focus less on the aesthetical qualities of the photograph and more on the raw feelings that are portrayed. He was influenced by Lewis Hine and other that had sullen and bold contrasts of black and white. Subsequently, this filter is also more dramatic, which may increase the importance of the message. He stated: “What people have is a way of photographing what’s inside them”, therefore their history. His past was economics and so I believe that this fuelled his future topics in photography.