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My Documentary Spread – Magazine Layout:

The layout of the page is very important when presenting your photography. For our images we can apply them onto an A3 size of paper. Here’s a mood board of a few magazine spreads showcasing photography that i found:

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I have produced a two page spread that includes my favorite documentary outcomes. I’ve placed the pictures in a fairly varied layout. The photograph’s are all different sizes and dimensions. Accordingly, the angles at which I took them vary. I enlarged the image that I wanted as the main focus, because it intertwines the theme of ‘Family, Faith and Community’ in the best way.  All of the photographs are edited in some way or another. I included some very strong contrasts and vibrancy in them.

Here is my main picture:

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This particular shot appears to be ‘layered photography’ due to the many subjects in one. In fact, no changes were made to the picture’s composition and nothing was moved.

Me and my family had just strolled to our car, that was parked in the church’s car park. As everyone was getting in the car, I took the opportunity to spontaneously take this.

I find it quite lucky that my friend was holding the booklet that we got given at our ‘Jersey Museum – 125 Hours’ visit:

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“Your story, our history” booklet – Guidebook given to us at the Jersey Museum

I like how it shows the task booklet and gives a small detail about the photograph’s meaning. I believe that this manifests the theme of ‘community’, because it shows the assignment that our school was given to complete as a whole. Additionally the church in background adds depth whilst embodying the theme of ‘faith’. The girl in the picture is representative of the subject of ‘family’ in that I consider her to be my family.

I’ve tried out various designs in Photoshop as a form of ‘trial and error’ so that I could find the one design suited to illustrate my story.

Original layout:

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Magazine spread – Original with no text

This was my initial magazine spread but i decided to alter it. I found that some of the images were out of context and didn’t relate to the overall subject.

Second layout:

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Magazine spread – 2nd try with no text

For my second copy, I removed the picture on the bottom right-hand side as it was sort of an anomaly. I then moved some of the picture to create a balance. I aligned the photograph’s so that they would look more proportioned.

Third layout:

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Magazine spread – 3rd copy

For my third alteration I expanded the titles so that they went across the top border of the A3 page. I wanted the writing to be spread out and aligned with the pictures.

Fourth layout:

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This is my 4th try at the layout. I have added the text to go along with it and included some inspiring quotes associated with the subject I was doing. I also moved the two detail shots from the middle of the page to the top. This gives the layout more space for the writing and looks more balanced. Additionally, I altered the titles changing the color into purple. Purple is representative of imagination and individuality. ‘Impulsion Du Moment’ means ‘Spur-of-the-moment’ and this explains the whole spread, since I took the picture quite spontaneously as I wasn’t expecting to experience certain scenarios.

CREATING A STORY BOARD

I have created my own story boards using my own images, similar to typical picture stories this story has the 6 or 7 key image categories – Person at Work, Relationship Shot, Establishing Shot, Detail shot, Environmental Portrait, Formal Portrait, Observed Portrait. Making these story boards proved harder than i thought as you have to make sure everything is aligned properly and sized well.

Here are some of my designs –

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Photo editing

Continuing on from my second idea family beyhond blood, I took photographs at a birthday party, some which were formal and others were observed. I have choosen my best ones and edited them on lightroom using exposure, contrast and expermenting with blacks and whites. Some of the photographs were also blurry so I had to ajust the clarity of them. Last time I did a photoshoot I used my phone but the quality of the photographs wasn’t great so this time I used a camera I think this improved the quality.

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Jess Freire

Jess Freire (3)

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Photo shoot of Community Member:

As we departed for half-term, I began to take some general photographs of themes like: street photography, portraiture and environmental shots.

Whilst I was in a cafe with family and friends, we came across a familiar man. The family friend had been a customer where my mum had worked for many decades and everyone grew to know him well.

The thing that struck me about him was his strong character. Although he was suffering through a very difficult condition he still managed to smile through it and enjoy himself. His uplifting demeanor and happy attitude was refreshing.

I then respectfully asked him if I could take some pictures and he agreed to let me. I instructed him to stand outside the cafe whilst I tried out several shots and angles. However, I didn’t instruct him to pose or stand which he did naturally.

Here are my edited outcomes from this shoot:

This was the first shot that I took. I wanted to capture his device which he must carry around with him in order to breathe properly. I tinted the image into light blue. Blue is a cool color so I think that it made the mood gloomy which is what I wanted.

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This picture below is both an establishing shot and a portrait. It involves the man’s body and environment.

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I then took a side shot, because I wanted to incorporate a full-body shot.

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As the family friend was looking away I captured this. In the distance, a greatly-timed cyclist appeared.

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I think that the photography below is very striking. The man ‘s expression is very strong and he seems to be very concentrated.

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I experimented with various colors whilst editing. Firstly black and white and then a purple solid color.

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As another experiment, I did the same to these one’s except with the shades of grey and blue.

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This is my favorite image. I changed it into black and white to demonstrate the intensity of the contrasting shades. He is looking directly into the camera with sharp eyes and a great presence. The look seems very real and the fact that he isn’t smiling is even better. This is because smiles tend to hide the truth about how someone’s feeling, so this is good to imagine.

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Contact sheet reviews – COMMUNITY

After gathering these images for my community study, I went through all 53 images and selected my favourite ones. Screen_Shot_2015-11-03_at_09.02.44[1] Screen_Shot_2015-11-03_at_09.02.13[1] Screen_Shot_2015-11-03_at_09.02.56[1]

I chose the following images as i felt these were the most interesting and artistic. This is because of the angles, colours, and context of the images. All of the above images were taken on disposables, i took 6 disposable cameras to Reading festival as i love the style the cameras produce. They give a rough old look which i feel matches this topic perfectly. The below images are the images I have chosen as my favourite –

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Out of these images there are a select few that I feel are the best – The above and below image I picked as they both were actually intended to be the same image. This did not happen as i dropped and wet the camera multiple times, I believe these mistakes cause the split image and the damage that can be seen in some of the images. The above image uses the rule of thirds as it has something interesting in each section of the photograph, however there is a lot of negative space as the majority of the right side of the image is black, with a few splashes of red, spot lights and some water marks. The right side of the image was taken at the main stage of the festival and the left side in the camp with friends. I think the ‘mistake’ of the damage actually benefitted the image as I feel it made it very arty. The below image is similar as it is split, however i do not know where the left side of the image came from. The right is the other half of the previous image in camp. The below image I like as I feel it looks more laid out, The black block line down the centre of the image splits the two time periods and scenarios in two and joins them together. I also enjoy the image due to the emotional message behind it, the left side shows the mud, litter and dirt that is produced by the festival and the right side show the more intimate and emotional side that is also a big part of festivals. These two messages are on opposite sides of the festival spectrum but due to some freak mistake are shown in the same photograph.

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The above image was taken in the arena of the festival while waiting for another act to come on a stage. I like the layout of the image as the main subject is in the centre. However surrounding her is a lot of negative space as it is just black. This image also has a lot of water marks which I feel makes it artistic. This image has also been damaged by a sort of split, as the subject is missing her arm. In real life her arms were spread apart like a star fish and in the produced image her arm has been removed and replaced by darkness and moved vertically. This is not very noticeable but I feel adds to the roughness of the image well.

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The above image was taken in camp of a friend who had just woken up after passing out for 8 hours. Water marks again make the image look rough and dirty, and the poor angle and positioning too. However the subject still remains roughly in the centre of the image. This image also looks better on its side or upsidedown. This is because when it is upright and normal, it looks ‘too normal’ and not arty enough.

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The above two images also have watermarks and were taken in camp aswell. The angling is quite straight on which I feel makes the images quite clear.  The thumb print in the second image is the reason I chose it in a select few. The first image has a range of colours i feel contrast each other well, aswell as the odd act of two gas balloons in ones mouth, the blue contrasts well with the red tent in the background and the rubbish on the floor.

Gregory Crewdson’s Tableau’s and My Responses:

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:

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Gregory Crewdson.
Gregory Crewdson - Dream House.
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.

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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.

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I then asked him to pretend to eat whilst looking at the cupboard mirror. This reflection gave the photograph an interesting edge.

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Family Response:

As a repose to my ‘Specification for Family Shoot’ post that I uploaded before I have produced a set of images.

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Above, is a photograph of my cousins daughter. She is simply playing on her game. Her body language is laid-back and relaxes as she sits on the sofa. Her full concentration is placed on the mini screen. The placement of the boots on the stone floor adds balance to the picture. This is because the shot doesn’t feel as empty.

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The picture above was taken spontaneously as my family we in the middle of a conversation. I took this is an un-staged manner. The coffee cup is placed on top of a dark red car, which adds interest to the picture.

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This shows my family members chatting before the man in the helmet leaves. Again this picture was taken in an un-staged manner, as they were casually occupied and oblivious that I took this picture.

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Above, is another shot that I took in an un-staged manner. As you can see it’s very hectic and animated. There is a lot going on here, from the man moving his bike, to my cousin drinking his coffee and my uncle in the green top, walking out. With that comes the confused face on the girls face as she figures out what’s happening. Everybody seems to be in their own little world and they’re all doing something different. Nevertheless, their faces all show confusion as they are mostly squinting their eyes and pursing their lips.

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Here, my dad is pictured on his motorbike. I asked him to pose for this image and asked him to look at the camera. This is a medium shot, so it shows his whole body and also some surroundings. In addition, I also captured the following two photographs from this set:

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This is a much closer version of the previous on. Additionally, the motorbike driver is looking away.

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Finally, my dad is seen leaving the house as my small cousin looks on. You can tell that she is very intrigued and has even left her game to look up and see him leaving.

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Later, my male cousin and uncle were having a discussion outside the house. The tattoo is a sign of permanence and meaning so it’s significant that he has it on his arm. My cousins sheer look of concentration whilst speaking demonstrates that he’s probably very interested in capturing my uncles attention and the mix of facial expressions and body language points that out.

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Above, my cousin turned around as I was taking this and I caught him mid-talking. My uncle in turn was left to look at hi neck and ponder what he was doing. My cousin seems alert and annoyed. The raised eyebrow may suggest that he is suspicious.

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I captured this shot by using different focuses. I wanted to catch the neighbor just behind the girls head. He was doing some yard work and sweeping excess waste from the floor. I positioned myself at eye-level to my female cousin and then focuses solely on the man.

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Then I got my uncle to let me take a self portrait of him. He usually dislikes taking pictures, therefore he wasn’t very eager to let me take this. I used the grey wall from the backyard as a background. My uncle’s didn’t smile, which I believe is great. This shows a real rawness to his character.

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Next, I decided to explore inside the house. My cousin was talking to me as I took this. She was showing me around the house and the floor captured my attention. Since the house is being  re-furbished and new carpets are yet to be put in the wooden flowing was left looking dull. You’re able to see the discolored pieces and jagged edges of the material. This is just a small detail of the house which on a whole adds to the meaning.

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Meanwhile, this is another close-up shot of the door that leads up to the bedrooms. The door is covered with cream tape and in effect is unfinished. The natural sunlight coming from the far right enters through the small squares on the door, that have been created by the tape. The light shines on the wall on the left and I think that it looks very magical.

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Here, my auntie posed in front of her car. I didn’t even have her to pose as it was an automatic response. In this case the photograph is categorized as staged. This is because she acted differently in accordance to me having a camera with me, whereas in the other ‘un-staged’ images, my family was caught off-guard.

The following images are of my auntie. My auntie hates getting her picture taken therefore she’s always hiding in some way or covering her face:

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In the one above, she hides her face looking down at her feet.

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When she saw me, she immediately turned her face away whilst I took a photograph of her leaning against the blue car. Her pose is quite relaxed but she seems tense in her mood.

Moving on, I captured some more details around the house.

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I believe that this photograph has good very good balancing elements: from the scrupled-up black plastic material that’s being held down, to the grey meter on the left. I like how the meter is small in size and compares to the heavy materials placed on the right. Also the fact that it’s not neat and simply left there adds interest to me.

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I also incorporated more inside shots into this response. Here my uncle, which is standing up is trying to unravel his granddaughters blanket as a playful act. The family dog is seen scratching herself also. All in all there is a lot of different movements going on here: from the dog scratching, to my uncle lifting the blanket and my cousin relaxing on the couch. This was taken in an amateur approach as I didn’t bother with compositional elements or any professional photography basics. I simply captured the moments as I saw it, and in turn I was able to exude the emotions in the picture.

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My auntie and also godmother was piking up some vegetables when I took this. She remained unaware that I was taking this and carried on with her routine.

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Then after a while the little girls mother arrived. She had just come from work and the vibes of tiredness and stress were felt. Here, I took a medium shot, to catch the moment in which she interacted with her daughter as she got home.

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After that, the mother discusses something with her husband. I captured this from afar and let them have their moment. Meanwhile, they were completely candid and in an un-staged manner. You can see their facial expressions and gestures to each other.

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Another moment in the kitchen displays the girl dancing as the mom tidies the groceries. Her expression seems to be agitated, although that’s just my opinion. It’s a bit shaken, for instance on small cousins arm where the movement blurred her hand.

The following two pictures are taken of my two cousins playing with the family dog. It captures excitement, happiness and sometimes anxiety from the animal:

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Below, are two action or movement shots that I took in the front porch. The dog is playing with his new toy and is very energetic and excited. The dog’s persistence to bite the pink toy is present. She’s filled with pure joy as she runs around biting and exploring the new smells with her mouth:

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Halfway through a green apple, the mother is looking up at her surroundings. In this particular image, she was aware that I was taking a photograph of her, therefore she looked away. Although her frustration was kept whilst she chewed the fruit.

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Outside again, my dad and my aunties boyfriend were inside the car on the laptop. My dad was teaching the man what to do. The window was already rolled down a bit, so this gave me the perfect opportunity to take this.

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Then, other family members stood outside showing each other the houses and talking about building. I captured this in an un-staged manner and in a amateur way.

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Also, this one was un-staged, the woman was simply laughing at my little cousin outside of the picture frame.

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Below, my dad is in the background whilst my cousin is pictured smiling and looking up at someone. Her smile looks real and joyful. Meanwhile my dad is staring at his phone. I like how this picture has a realness to it and depicts a truthful moment. This is because I didn’t plan this and took it randomly.

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For the next series of images, I photographed my godfather in his room:

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To begin with I took an establishing shot. This is the room in which he shares with his wife, my godmother. I wanted to show the environment and the different details in it.

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Since, he was alone it was harder to capture him in a un-staged way. Therefore, I chose to create portraits of my uncle whilst he sat on his bed. In this photograph the man was looking at the wall in a posed manner. I edited the lighting and saturation to create light tones.

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Finally, this is my favorite picture out of this series. My uncle has a very relaxed pose. I only instructed him to look at the window, but I think that the way he placed his hand on his chest added personality. He appears to be thinking very thoughtfully about a certain think and generally seems to be day-dreaming or mesmerized. This is kind of like an environmental portrait because he’s in his own environment of his room.

Family Pictures I Took:

In order to explore the theme of family, I decided to take some pictures of my extended family. I went to my aunt and uncle’s house to do so. Since they were at home, I was able to capture more natural moments due to their familiarity and comfort in that environment. I took most of images in an amateur manner. It didn’t really matter whether the composition was perfect. I wanted to photograph with a casual approach, just like Richard Billingham did for instance. I made sure to experiment with different zoom lenses and angles. I also took staged and un-staged images, meaning my family didn’t have to pose.

I visited them on two different occasions. The first time I went, I mainly captured them outside, whilst we were having a BBQ. My parents were also there that day and the atmosphere was very different.

The second day, I shot them inside, in the lounge and dining room. They were doing ordinary things, for example my cousin was playing games and my aunty was doing house chores. I also caught some social interactions, like when my uncle played with my cousin.

Here are some examples from the first occasion:

Here are some pictures from the second occasion:

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Blanket Series: Air

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This is my first edit from the ‘air’ series. This was the picture that I took first. The zoom was larger and as I went on I decreased the zoom. The pictures from this experiment are quite different. We did about three different throws, therefore the results vary. Particularly in this one, the rule of thirds is quite good. The blanket intersects the lower horizontal line of the grid. This adds balance to the image, and directs me to look exactly at the blue blanket. Also the colour is important. The blue shaded windows in the background, balance the foreground to it. It almost reflects the colour.

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For my third picture, it shows a further away shot. There is a lot of depth and certainly a lot of distracting features. The angle upsets the symmetry, but this is what causes the composition to be very interesting and amazing.

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I’ve edited this image to increase the contrasting colours. There wasn’t much vibrancy, so I also altered it. Moving onto the compositional elements, I think that this photograph has got a great rule of thirds. Since the blanket is intersecting one of the two vertical lines, the images has a sort of balance to it. The leading lines in the background are very distracting. The rectangle and square shapes on the buildings create a very abstract view. I think that the curled up blanket, that’s soaring mid-air adds an interesting component to it. The off-balance distracts me from the solid background and I think that the difference is perfect. Also, the angle at which is the picture was taking is also quite intriguing. I was standing at the bottom of the staircase, whilst pointing my camera lens upward. The way in which it was taken really changes my perspective and even makes the blanket look bigger than it really is. It’s hard to tell if the blanket is closer to the building or to the wall. This picture has great depth. The background, middle ground and foreground are all filled with objects, therefore it has a three dimensional effect. The layers in the scene draws me into the image.

This in all, creates a series, which shows the blanket being thrown. You can see where the blanket starts, higher up in the left hand corer of the staircase and where it ends up. The result of this performance was very effective in my view. At the end, the blanket goes over the top of the wall, which I managed to capture at the last minute.