All posts by Shannon O'Donnell

I am an A Level student currently studying at Hautlieu School. My subjects include, Media Studies, Photography and History. My blog includes updates of my current work in both media and photography where I am able to show research, planning and experimentation. I update this blog weekly with different posts relating to my subject topics.

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Experimentation, Record / Photoshoot

Family Shoot

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This shoot was made when celebrating my nieces first birthday party on Sunday 27th September. Here around thirty people, friends and family, came round to my brother-in-laws parents house to celebrate with us. I decided to take photographs of this to show true family life as well as documenting my nieces first birthday. I don’t think that I made many interesting photographs as they were mostly just family shots and some action shots. I think that family is a very personal thing to photograph and I am not comfortable photographing this, I think I will enjoy focusing more on faith or community. Here are the images that I took from the day, it basically just tells the story of a 1 year old’s first birthday, how the child doesn’t actually know what is going on while the rest of the adults stand around and chat. something that I found when reviewing my images was that her mother was a lot more excited about the party than her daughter was.

IMG_8598blogI like this image because it focuses on my niece trying to share her food with me. I found that throughout all of the photos my niece is the only one that acknowledges that I am taking photos and she constantly looks for me and tries to come next to me. This made for come interesting photographs. My niece loves to share as you can see in this image she is looking slightly above the camera at me and is trying to share her food with me. It also shows how she is surrounded by family as she is sitting on her nana’s [my mum] lap and her auntie [my sister] is sat waiting to pass her some more food. I like this photo as the light is creeping in the right side of the image as well as creating dramatic light on my mum’s jacket. There is a lot going on in this photograph giving the spectator more to look at.

family photos

This image was actually corrupt when I was looking through my photos but I actually quite like it. This is three images that have been put together somehow by my camera/SD card. I think it looks pretty good and I think it looks like a collage. I don’t think that this image is very strong as a final image but I do find it interesting as it was a mistake but it seemed to catch your eye. This image brings together three different photos from different times in the day and different elements of what was going on in the garden.
I don’t think that I would use any of these images to tell a story for family as I don’t think they are good enough. The photos are ok but there is no real meaning behind them with no real dramatic or standout issues. These images are plain and simple which I do not think is good enough after researching some family photographers. I really think that these images are boring as it’s only parts of an ordinary day with an ordinary group of people and nothing very interesting happened that day. I guess that for some people these images could be a good insight on someone else’s life and how other people celebrate birthdays etc. I think that to link to this idea of photographing my niece I would possibly follow my sister round for a day and see what it is really like to care for a small baby and to show that it isn’t as easy and fun as TV and films tend to make it out to be.

IMG_8197blogI like this photograph because it is quite simple. It shows my niece with her broken arm, my mum [her nana] and my brother-in-laws mum [her nanny]. I don’t really have a solid reason for liking this image apart from how clear and bright it is. Everything seems to  be well lite and it is an action shot from throughout the day of my niece’s birthday. I like that they are all ignoring the camera and acting like themselves. I find this image shows that her nana cares about her and is looking out for her to make sure that she doesn’t fall over while attempting to stand up using her chair. It also shows my niece looking up at her nanny as if in awe of her or just happily watching her as she fixes the balloons. I just like this image because of how clear the actual image itself is.

Here I have selected a series of 12 of my favourite images that I think work better together. I think that these images tell the story of my little niece and brings in different elements of the day for everyone. I think that these shots are good and interesting to see another perspective of other people’s lives during an event like a birthday. I think that these photos work well and give a clear understanding of what was going on throughout that day. The spectator is able to see what goes on behind the scenes of an Instagram photo or a Facebook post. I tried to get photos of my subjects off guard and not looking at the camera so to get the most raw photographs possible. If I had to choose a favourite image it would probably be the one below just because I find it the most interesting and it is quite off guard and isn’t staged at all which ties in with it being more documentary style.

IMG_8294blog

More experimentation

IMG_8201111blogThis is one of my favourite black and white images as it shows my niece trying to stand up on her own using her little chair for support. I think this image is simple and looks good. I like that my mum is cut off only showing her hands holding down the chair so that my niece doesn’t fall over on her face. The facial expression of my niece looks very concentrated as if she is trying really hard to stand up and using all of her power to do so. It shows a growing stage in her life and how she needs to work on her own and learn how to walk on her own two feet.

IMG_82673blogI also like this image as it shows my niece with her broken arm. She is looking up at her grandfather and holding onto his leg in the hopes that he will give her some of the crisps that he is holding for the party. I like that she is looking up at him as if she is begging for the food. I like this image in black and white as it makes it more effective and allows the spectator to focus in on what the subject is doing the facial expression of that subject rather than focusing on the environment and all of the colours surrounding my subject. For this shoot I took inspiration from the photographer Kristen Lewis by taking more action shots of the family and to catch them in moments, when something more exciting is happening or even when no one is going anything and are looking bored. I took inspiration from Lewis as I found her images very simple and I wanted to use that with my family photo shoot. I also like that a lot of her images are in black and white which I also like to use as it allows the spectator to focus in on the subject and what is going on within the picture rather than focusing in on the colours and environment surrounding the subject.

Experimentation based on inspiration from a glitch in a photo...
Experimentation based on inspiration from a glitch in a photo…
Research

Family photographer: Kristen Lewis

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I came across the work of Kristen Lewis when looking for family photographers. I looked into some of her work and found it very interesting. Lewis is a photographer from South Eastern Connecticut. Her mother was a photographer and her father a musician. Her work is the normal everyday, action shots. This work allows the spectator into the lives of another family, showing all of the different emotions that the family goes through together. I think that her images are very real and are good documentary photographs. It looks very real and as if she really did follow the family around while they were doing their thing. One particular set of images that stood out for me where her ‘Vacation Sessions’ shoot. This is where a family went on holiday and Lewis simply photographed the ups and the downs that they went through just like any other family.

Kristen Lewis Website: www.kristenlewisphoto.com

Vacation Sessions:  http://www.kirstenlewisphoto.com/vacation-sessions/

Lewis has a variety of different documentary shoots, with one being titled Vacation Sessions. Here she follows round families and just captures moments in their everyday lives. I think that these are interesting photos for the family to look back on as well as for the spectator to see into the lives of another famiy. It also shows the ups and downs of traveling with children and a lot of the shots seem very real and captured in the moment. Some of the shots I think Lewis has readjusted and asked for subjects to collaborate with her so that she can make a great photograph. I think that this shows off documentary photography well as this is what it is all about and I like the idea of showing normal families lives and what the kids and the parents go through on a daily basis.

I like Lewis’ work as it is very simplistic in that it is just documenting the vacations of different families, showing the ups and the downs. I think that the images with the children are strong as they show thier raw emotions and the spectator is able to tell straight away the mood and atmosphere within the shot. There are a lot of water based shots, the reason being because each family is on vacation and that is usually what families do, parents relax round the pool while the kids run around and play in the pool. I think it is interesting to document as most spectators are able to relate to this either in rememberance of when they were young and loved to run around making imaginary worlds and making friends or even relate to the adults just having a moment to themselves to sit back and relax while sunbathing and reading.

Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina

I chose to analyse this image as I think that there is a lot going on in it. The father has been blinded by his son sitting on his shoulders as the father reached out to hold his other son. The emotion in their faces, from left to right, are full of joy and laughter, to slight concern and confusion. I like this image because of the range of emotions within it as well as it simply being a captured moment of a family on vacation. I feel like we’ve all experienced a moment similar to the one captured in this image, either being dragged through the water by an older siblings or blinded/being blinded by another family member. This image is very positive and happy making the spectator happy too.

Mr T instruction, Planning

Documentary Specification: FAMILY

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Looking more into the idea of family, in groups, we were able to come up with some different ideas as to how we’re going to explore the documentary world of family photography. At first it was challenging to get your head round and really think about what family is actually all about but we managed to get quite a few good ideas down. This has helped me to come up with some new ideas for family photography as I think there is more to it than just following around family members for the day.

photog work

Experimentation planning

Over the weekend I am going to make some images of my family as it is my niece’ first birthday. On Sunday we are getting our family and my brother-in-laws family along with some friends too. We are also celebrating my mum’s, brother-in-law’s, my brother-in-laws brother and mothers birthday all on Sunday as each of their birthdays are within days of each other. I think that here I will be able to make some interesting photographs as well as being able to document my niece’ very first birthday. I want to mainly go for action shots within my photographs to make them as real as they possibly can be but I also want to collaborate with some of my family members and get them to look straight into the camera in some of the images with no expression on their faces, a neutral look.

Another idea I had would be to look at old family photographs and remake them or show the change over time and how we no longer look how we once used to. I want to do this as well as make some personal images of items that I have grown up with and love, memories. I think this will be really interesting to do and a fun experiment. I will be doing this throughout the course of the week.

Research

Documentary Photography: Family

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Family photography isn’t necessarily your immediate family. It could be about a specific lifestyle or a group that you are involved in everyday. Family photography doesn’t limit you to only being able to explore your own family but as an insider the shots may come out more natural and real as the people in them will be more comfortable with you and won’t be phased by the snap of the camera. You have complete access to your own family all of the time and you are able to make images whenever you want, at an event or even when you are just hanging out with one another and sharing normal everyday experiences’.

A film: The Genius of Photography
Episode: We Are Your Family

– images are more raw and real to grab spectators reactions making them think more widely
– photographs in the 1930s were about making celebrities look ‘devine’. Here some photographers rebelled against this, it was becoming outdated. Tony Vaccaro, an American photographer, took photos to show his own opinions and not to express the thoughts or opinions of the celebrity or the model he photographs. 0
– photographs should be about the person’s personality and characteristics not the face or visual aspects of a person.
– photographs are made to tell a story, true to the person’s life

Tony Vaccaro

Vaccaro
Tony Vaccaro [born 1922 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania]
Vaccaro is an American war photographer during the Second World War and between the years of 1944 and 1945, shortly after becoming a renowned fashion and lifestyle photographer for US magazines. He spent the early years of his life living in Italy.
Vaccaro tended to take action shots while doing documentary photography as he saw them to be the most raw. He did not like when subjects would try to pose for him essentially staging who they actually are. Only when the wall has gone and the subject actually allows Vaccaro in to a piece of who they actually are will he make a photograph. All of his documentary images were made using a film camera as at the time of when he did documentary photography digital cameras had not been invented yet.

“I’m gonna buy a camera, learn how to use it, and show the world the real pictures of the war.” -Tony Vaccaro

Long Exposure Film:  http://tonyvaccarofilm.com/

This film is about what Vaccaro went through during the war. It is a documentary film with guest appearances who comment on what he went through. The film itself has not been released yet.

Larry Clark

Larry Clark [born 1943 in Tulsa, Oklahoma]
Clark is an American photographer. His photographs are natural. He does documentary photographer as an insider and is part of the community he is photographing and so has an insight to reality within their group of people and those in his images wouldn’t shy away from the camera or try to be anything other than themselves. His book ‘Tulsa’ was very personal and showed his community of friends and family as who they truly were and did not fabricate a lie of who they all wanted to be portrayed as.

“Once the needle goes in, it never comes out” – Larry Clark

Clark’s Website:  www.larryclark.com

Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin [born 1953 in Washington, D.C.]
Goldin is best known for her images of her friends and her self portraits. She would often make images with herself in them showing her life as a victim of physical harm from her partner as well as making images of a lot of her transvestite friends. Goldin only ever makes images of her dear friends as she knows them and allows them to pick which images they like and those that aren’t so good. Photography is very personal to her and having an insight to her friends lives, as well as her own,  is one of the best ways to make real images. Goldin does confession photography, photographing real people within her community of friends. She calls trans people the “third gender”, they are treated as outcasts in the way they are treated and by the way they act.

“You can only really photograph your own tribe” – Nan Goldin

Goldin Portfolio: http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/7532

Family photography becomes more like a diary and is very personal. Goldin was inspired by film with how she presents her work, which she does through slide shows of her images put together with music in the background. She believes in being “fully present in the moment” but at the same time to “be there and get lost at the same time”. She also used film cameras to make her photographs making the images raw and real to the time and the actual events.

[Nobuyoshi] Araki

Araki [born 1940 in Tokyo. Japan]
Araki is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. He has created over 350 books and is still going. Araki often created work of a very sexual nature with some even calling it pornography. He made a book called Sentimental Journey while on his honeymoon with his wife, this is now a very famous book.

“taking these photos does help me to remember” – Araki

Araki Portfolio: http://www.artnet.com/artists/nobuyoshi-araki/

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“The very private became the very public” – anonymous

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Sally Mann

Sally Mann [born 1951 in Lexington, Virginia, VA]
Sally Mann is a documentary photographer that focuses on her family and often collaborates with family members in order to make her images. Here they will pose for her and allow her to make images of them whenever she needs to.  She would large black and white photographs of her young children and then later making images of landscapes representing decay and death within the environment.

“unless you photograph what you love, you are not going to make good art.” – Sally Mann

Manns Website: www.sallymann.com

Larry Sultan

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Larry Sultan [born 1946 in Brooklyn, New York City]
Larry Sultan is an American photographer with exhibits of his work across the U.S. making images of his family. A lot of his work is very personal but is also staged as he would often ask the subject to dress in a certain way and look at the camera in a specific way to portray them in the way that he wants them to be portrayed.

” photography is instrumental in creating family” – Larry Sultan

Sultan’s Website: http://larrysultan.com

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Often images reflect the photographer rather than the person being photographed. It tells the spectator more of their own personal views and experiences allowing them into more of who the photographer actually is themselves. I like the idea of documentary photography as it brings more of a real experience to the spectator, as humans I think that we are naturally curious especially to see what everyone else is doing. I think that I would want to photograph  my sister and the life of being a new mum and working at the same time. I want to show the more difficult side of bringing up a small child rather than the glamorized perfect lifestyle people are let to believe mothers and fathers have shown of TV and films.

Research

Documentary Photographer: Bruno Barbey

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Bruno Barbey is a French documentary photographer, born 1941. He photographed many wars throughout his career as a documentary war photographer. Barbey has published many books over the years, about 23 published. He has also created some short films throughout his career, including contributions for a BBC production called Assignment in Morocco. 

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Website: http://www.brunobarbey.com
Photographic portfolio: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53Z82A

Barbey has made a huge body of working in documentary photography. He often tends to go into the environment and asks the chosen subjects to look directly into the camera. It seems that he doesn’t tell them what to do or positions them differently to how they actually were. I think that his work is really good but none of it really stands out to me and I don’t really think that they effect me that much. I see these images but don’t really feel anything towards them, I am indifferent towards them. I feel that the images are necessary in the aspect of documentary photography and that they do document soon to be historical events but I just don’t really feel anything. None of the images are very hard hitting, they’re great images though. To me his work is more about the community and individuals living in the countries where these wars are going on. I feel like his work is aimed at communities within these places to show the effects that are going on in these wars rather than documenting the same war photographs that many war documentary photographers have. I like the idea of this and think that the images are effective and good but I am just not particularly interested in them all that much, there isn’t one image that really stands out for me as truly brilliant and amazing.

downloadI decided to go for this image as this one, for me, is the most natural and behind the scenes. This is an image of soldiers relaxing possibly getting ready in anticipation ready for battle or an after battle reward with a cigarette. I think that Barbey asked to make this image and the soldiers didn’t know how to react and so just smiled and carried on about their business. I do like this image as it shows more soldiers in the background as they sit, looking as if they are possibly preparing something. I like that this image is in black and white too, this was most likely taken on a film camera as that is what Barbey used, especially because of the time that this image would have been created [before the digital age]. I think making war images black and white really takes the spectator back to the time that it all happened and remembering it as a memory, which  black and white is often associated with in film etc. I think that this is one of Barbey’s better and more interesting photographs as it stood out for me among all of the rest of his images.

 

 

Research

Street Photographer: Garry Winogrand

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Winogrand was a street photographer born in 1928. He often photographed the way of American life, including its social issues. Throughout Winogrand’s life he published four books and was one of three photographers featured in the New Documents exhibition at Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1967 and also had solo exhibitions there in 1969, 1977 and 1988.

Article on Garry Winogrand:  http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/garry-winogrand

Article on Garry Winogrand:  https://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/garry-winogrand

A lot of Winogrand’s images come across as very upbeat and as if everyone is happy all of the time. This is a positive representation of the people of New York, where he lived and worked. I think that these images are great as it allows the spectator to see the positive impact that family and community have on people and that we don’t always have to focus on the negatives and we don’t always have to have sad and horrible images in the art of documentary photography. Most images are like action shots produced on a film camera, so each is unique and individual to its own. There are no similar images in his work, for me anyway. I think that Winogrand has approached most the these people and asked if he could make a photograph of them and he has photographed their reaction, not giving them any direction and just allowing them to do as they please. I think that back then it would have been a lot more rare for a person to ask to make a photograph of a stranger as cameras were more expensive and not as many people had access to them, it was mainly just photographers. Nowadays we tend to have cameras even on our phones that we carry around everywhere with us.
I really like Winogrand’s work and I want to attempt to make similar images at a high standard, almost as if creating these images on a film camera. I want to create the most honest images that I possibly can while studying documentary photography as I believe that is what it is all about.

Winogrand_030One image that I particularly like is this one. It seems as though there is a mad rush to get to work, rush hour. With all of these people in their suits trying to get to work as a photographer stands right in their way with a potentially large film camera, then at random taking a snap shot with the rush going on. I enjoy looking at all of the different facial expressions of the people in frame, some are happy, some look pissed off and others just look as though they’ve been doing it for years and there is no use fighting the current anymore. I think what draws your attention is the man right in the center of the image wearing glasses. He looks as though he’s been going through the process of trying to get to work on time for many years and is just going with it, contrary he could be partly trying to smile as the camera is right in his face. I then notice the two men right behind the first man to the right of the image. They look angry as though they are shouting at Winogrand himself to move out of the way of the huge rush, especially as the second man seems to be waving him to move out of the way. Next my attention leans over more to the right to see signs of protest. This makes me think that the business people are possibly trying to get out of the way of the countries ‘FIRST TEAM’. My eyes are then drawn right down to the two women on the left hand side of the image. They look a lot happier than  the men and seem to be portrayed in a more positive and happy light compared to the angry men who want the photographer to get out of the way. I really like this image as there is just so much to look at and as the spectator you can allow your eyes to wonder across different parts of the image.

Research

Street Photography

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Street photography is simply photography featuring the human condition within public places. I think this kind of documentary photography is very raw and something that a lot of people enjoy doing nowadays. This is the movement in which the photographer isn’t trying to send out a message about one form of society that needs to be changed but is simply documenting the world around them, showing the rest of the world what their own personal world looks like. I think street photography is the documentation of the people. We often forget about ourselves as communities when looking at the news seeing famine and crisis in other parts of the world as well as being hypnotised by the celebrity world. Our regular lifestyles are going to be the ones that the people of generations to come are going to focus on and look into.
Street photography is all about the timing and capturing people and places in its greatest form. It is less news and more everyday average life. These photographers tend to capture elements of peoples days that we would often overlook or not even think about. I like this style of photography as it shows that normal people are just as interesting as those of the celebrity world and that sometimes they can be even more interesting than those who are constantly in the tabloids and always camera ready. Here photographers are able to capture the most raw images of real people, some not even noticing the camera as they go about their lives. They can capture a person unexpectedly, like when we wonder we come across new people often unexpectedly. I think that street photographers simply photograph the usual elements of life that we see everyday and ignore. Here many amazing images can be produced.

I like to take photos of public spaces and put them on my social media sights. I do this as a way of remembering how my world was at this point in my life. I like to capture different people in my shots and to reflect on them and see what kind of people I’ve captured in my images, business people, parents, teenagers, tourists, children etc. Here are some of my own images that I have taken for my social media.

Research

Photojournalist: Robert Capa

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Robert Capa was a Hungarian war photographer [photojournalist]. He covered five wars; the Spanish civil war, the Second Sino-Japanese war, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the First Indochina war. Capa died while capturing images during the First Indochina war after stepping on a landmine, in 1954.

RobertCapabyGerdaTaro
Robert Capa

“It’s not always easy to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one” – Robert Capa

Robert Capa’s archive:  http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL535353

News article of Robert Capa: http://www.vanityfair.com/unchanged/2014/06/photographer-robert-capa-d-day

Robert Capa was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos and the International Centre of Photography. I think that Capa was a risk taker and did so to make the best, most inspiring images possible. One of his most iconic images came from the D-day landings, this image is one that inspired Steven Spielberg to make Saving Private Ryan. All of the images Capa took on the day of the D-day landing in France, June 6 1944, were almost ruined as the editor of the paper wanted them developed as quickly as possible. The photos that weren’t destroyed became some of the most iconic images from World War II. These images were slightly smudged and blurred but to me these look more raw and real as if the photographer was running in on the action and getting out of the way. I like the way this image looks as it gives you a sense of how fast pace the action is down at the war front that not even the photographer can stand still for a second to capture a photograph, he too has to remain on the move. capa_beachI like this image as it shows one soldier clambering his way through the blood covered waters in an attempt to make it to shore and fight the enemy lines. This image shows the rest of the world what soldiers actually went through during the war and how tough it was to fight and how easy it was to lose your life. The soldier in the centre of this photograph looks very serious and in the zone as if he is ready to fight for his country and to protect those he is fighting for.  The barriers in the background show some soldiers hiding behind them, trying to avoid bullets. Sometimes I feel that we are numb to the struggle that soldiers went through during the war, we forget how many of them lost their lives and how many of them barely survived. We forget that they are not only left with physical scares but also mental ones too. This image makes you remember, it makes the spectator believe every moment and allows them to remember the kind of tragedies that they went through every second of the war. Not only did innocent people die, but there were actually people willing to risk their own lives and happiness to defend their country to make a stop to the madness which was uncovered during World War II.

Research

Documentary Photography: Photojournalism

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A photojournalist is a person who makes images to illustrate news reports, to tell more of the story. This is an effective method as viewers often take in more visual images rather than just being told about what is going on in the world. To me photojournalism is the realest kind of photography, which is true. We often hear stories and think nothing of them until the hard-hitting truth sets in when images are revealed to the world through social media and tabloids. I think our modern world really benefits from photojournalists as it is not only a way of documenting our current world but it makes spectators reevaluate their lives, making them want change and thinking more carefully about certain situations. Photojournalists tend to get more up close and personal with others than any of us would feel uncomfortable doing. They not only tell the story but they become apart of it. By documenting the goings-on around the world, they are making history and publishing it. Growing up we were all told horror stories and we would believe that there were witches hiding underneath our beds waiting for us to get into bed and back then we would believe every word, scared of being taken by that witch. But for some reason as we grow older and get told real horror stories of goings-on in places like South Africa, Syria and former Yugoslavia yet we tent not to believe these stories until we can somehow see it with our own eyes. There is limited amounts of trust with the great powers of the world, only when images are reported and citizens of these countries speak out in disgust and outrage will these great powers begin to think about change. I believe that photojournalism is a very powerful thing and can make thousands, if not millions, of people all over the world stop living in their own little bubbles and reach out to try and help others.

A lot of photojournalist images are really hard-hitting, which they need to be nowadays for people to actually want change. I think that this aspect of photography is very important. Photojournalists aren’t there for self gain and to make a great photo, they are there to make an image that makes the rest of the world stop and think. In order for change to happen, we need proof that it’s actually been happening.

Photojournalism can be a tough job as sometimes there are moments of extreme distress and moments when you just aren’t sure whether to intervene or to make the image. It’s a tough decision to make and much criticism can follow but without these images we as a first world society would be unaware of the goings-on across the world. We wouldn’t know what people were doing to others and we wouldn’t know that we are just sitting around and letting it happen.
In recent events on the Syria refugees trying to flee the country to get to Germany on tiny boats and rough/risky means of transport. The world saw an image arise of a small boy [toddler] washed ashore. The small boy had fallen of the already tiny and overcrowded boat and was drowned. This image has had mass impact pushing the British government to make changes and to try and help these innocent people. When I first saw this image I got very upset, seeing such a small innocent little boy lying on the cold wet sand, lifeless. I could not understand how terrorists [ISIS] could actually do such a thing as to scare people out of their own country and for an innocent child to lose his life, not even old enough to understand what is going on and why he can’t sleep in his own bed. This boy had barely lived a life, he was most likely just running around and starting to make small sentences to communicate with his family. This is why it is important for photojournalists to photograph these events. We need to see these images in order to make us think differently and to make us want to help out. I myself didn’t really know much about the refugee situation until I saw this image of the little boy. These images almost don’t seem real to me as I hate to think that something like this could actually be happening in our supposedly modern and civilised world.

Another iconic image from a photojournalist is the one below of a little girl, starving being stalked by a vulture. This image was made in 1993, taken by Kevin Carter a South African photojournalist. This photographer received so much hatred from this one image, he was tormented and tortured by the things he had seen on his travels as a photographer and committed suicide months after this image was made. Part of his suicide note reads:

“I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain … of starving or wounded children” – Kevin Carter, extract of suicide note

kevin-carter-vulture

 

There have been so many iconic images in history that have stood out and actually sparked change. These images are the ones that will be remembered and kept for future centuries to come and our new generations will reflect on these as historical events with no one left who actually lived through these events. I hope that in the future these images will just be horror stories that are told as a memorial for all those who lost their lives in these events and for our future generations to try and make peace with one another and to stop these fatal events from happening. I know that there will never be a time where we have complete peace across the world but maybe human nature will become less destructive.

 

Mr T instruction, Research

Tableau Photographer: David Hilliard

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A photographer that I came across while researching tableau photography was the tableau photographer David Hilliard. He was born in 1964 and is American. He is a fine arts photographer, mainly known for his panoramic photographs. Taking inspiration from his personal life he creates great images of his natural surroundings. Most of his scenes are staged, mixing with fact and fiction.

David Hilliard’s website: http://www.davidhilliard.com

I found Hilliard’s images very interesting because of the panoramic style which is unique. I think that I will respond to some of these images creating my own scenarios while following the panoramic idea. I like that there are white lines separating the single image into a series of three almost. This gives the spectator more to look at and makes for a more interesting photograph. The images could have been taken each individually and then put together during the editing process but I think that it would be more likely that a single image was taken and the white lines were added in afterwards. Something about the lines really draws the spectator into the image and makes you focus in on the central part of the image first and then allowing your eyes to wonder round the background of the image and take everything in individually.

814This is one of my favourite images of Hilliard’s as I really like when photographers use the ocean as a means of the background of their images. I think the blue of the ocean really stands out and, to me, is very therapeutic and calming which is what the young boy seems to be too. The young boy on the right hand side of the image almost looks fed up, as if he’s been trying to jump in and capture the boat but every time something is pulling him back and he just can’t reach out and grab it, tiring him out. The boy on the left hand side looking back at the boy as he pushes off with his paddle looks confused possibly, as if he was waiting for his friend to come and join him on the boat and doesn’t understand why he didn’t get on it. It almost looks as if there is only one person in this image, possibly linking to surrealism as if in a dream-like state. He can’t catch up with himself and feels lost deep down. That is what I took from the image from first look at it. I like that tableau photography can do this, it allows every spectator to interpret the image and look at it in whatever way they like. I think this allows the spectator to actively engage with the art and opens up for discussion too.