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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:

Gregory Crewdcin
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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Community- Jersey Battle of Flowers

Jersey Battle of Flowers 

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. 

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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. 

battle of flowers carnival pic david ferguson
battle of flowers carnival pic david ferguson

 

Family shoot – The box

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.

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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.

Party shoot – Community

A friend of mine is having her 18th birthday party at a heritage site in Jersey. The party is going to be held at L’Etacquerel Fort on November the 14th. The party is also glitter theme so I have a few ideas for images. I especially think the glitter will look really effective in the photographs. This will relate to the theme of community as our friendship group is a big community, we are all basically like family so I am hoping to capture some images that reflect that. Iam photographing this party due to my recent study on community for Corinne Day. One of her shoots was based on the party scene, I intend to take some similar pictures for a shoot for community.

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Martin Parr

Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer and photojournalist.  He is known for intimately looking at modern life in a critical way especially through documenting different social classes within England and more broadly documenting the wealth of the western world through anthropology, being the study of human beings and their ancestors through time.  In 1994 he became a member of the Magnum Photos he has published 40 solo photobooks and has been part of 80 exhibitions world wide. Martin has also won many awards for example more recently in 2014 he won a  Lucie Award, Achievement in Documentary Photography and an award for an Exceptional Achievement in Photography, Amateur Photographer, London.

The Last Resort

“…if the seaside was tatty, and more than a little run-down, it was also vibrant.” – Martin Parr

In 1982 Parr and his wife moved to England permanently, where he switched to colour photography being inspired by photographers work such as William Eggleston and Stephen Shore.  During the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985 he photographed the working-class people at the seaside in nearby New Brighton a couple miles from Liverpool.

Martin Parr

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I think that the composition of this photograph is good because, the woman’s head was cut out of the photograph however in the reflection of the mirror we can see her face as if she is about to eat something. This picture is also environmental, it shows litter scattered all over the floor which allows the viewer to interpret what type of place the picture was taken in. The photograph also captures emotion the little boy seems to be red in the face from crying. The photograph was taken from a right angle rather than standing in front, I think this makes it look more like an outsiders perspective and the people in the photograph are probably not aware that the photograph is being taken. There are no bright colours in the photograph apart from a speck of red from the coke can however I think the photograph is still eye catching however I can’t grasp why.

http://www.martinparr.com/books/

Jersey Museum Takeover

 

For 125 years, islanders of Jersey have been reading the Jersey Evening Post. Through their visual storytelling, press photographs can tell remarkable and untold stories, inspire discussion and reminiscence. For much of its history JEP photographers have documented Island life, following the daily activities of Islanders and recording the changing landscape and cultures which have developed insignificantly over time to create the Island we live on today. On Friday 20th November,  we went to the John de Veulle Gallery, Jersey Museum to conduct research on Jersey’s Heritage. The JEP’s proposal was that Jersey Heritage participates in the national Takeover Day campaign to encourage children and young people across the country to get involved behind the scenes at museums and art galleries. Echoing the structure of a modern newspaper, this exhibition has shown highlights from the hundreds of thousands of photographs which have appeared over the year, from headline stories, news events, community features, entertainment and sport.

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exhib Temps Passe H.Q. Calling …. 1964 No mobile phones in these days …. Police with walkie-talkie sets were used at peak periods to alleviate the problems caused on the Route de la Haule / Beaumont junction in November 1964, where the Jersey Electricity Company were laying a new main cable and where only single line traffic could pass. P.C. Susan Bond answers a call from Police Headquarters. Pic taken Wednesday 18th November 1964 Picture: Ron Mayne Report in JWP 26th November 1964 page 12 From Police box 23, neg bag 376 REF:01060515 Sixties chosen

At the museum we had the opportunity to partake in the following roles:

  • Curators – selecting the work to be exhibited and how it is hung, writing captions
  • Designers – deciding how to hang the temporary exhibition and producing a logo for the blank wall at the entrance to the gallery
  • PR – using social media to promote the exhibition and liaising with local media
  • Documenters – making a short documentary film or photographing the production of this pop-up exhibition.
exhib TEMPS PASSE SNOW 1962   ON THE ICE -  A DRAWER FROM MUM'S CHEST OF DRAWERS MAKES THE PERFECT MAKESHIFT SLED FOR THESE CHILDREN OUT ENJOYING THE SNOW DURING THE FREEZING COLD WINTER  IN DECEMBER 1962.   (PIC TAKEN FRIDAY 28TH DECEMBER 1962) (FROM SNOW BOX 7, GLASS PLATE 109)  Sixties chosen
exhib TEMPS PASSE SNOW 1962
ON THE ICE – A DRAWER FROM MUM’S CHEST OF DRAWERS MAKES THE PERFECT MAKESHIFT SLED FOR THESE CHILDREN OUT ENJOYING THE SNOW DURING THE FREEZING COLD WINTER IN DECEMBER 1962.
(PIC TAKEN FRIDAY 28TH DECEMBER 1962)
(FROM SNOW BOX 7, GLASS PLATE 109)
Sixties chosen

This collaborative project has given me a chance to work behind the scenes with Jersey Heritage staff to curate and mount a pop-up exhibition. This has provided me with an excellent experience at museums and art galleries. Jersey Heritage has benefited me from developing a close working relationship with young people and their responses will enrich our understanding and knowledge of the collection.

What effect did the exhibition have on you? 

What where your favourite images from the exhibition? 

What do you think the photographer is trying to communicate with this image? What is it you like the most about this aspect? 

What is wrong with your least favourite image? How do you think it could be improved? 

Can you see any revelations within a selection of images? 

Here is a link to the photographs of the exhibition from the website – http://jerseyeveningpost.newsprints.co.uk/search/byg/p/u/48/1/jep_125th_anniversary_exhibition_images

Jersey Museum Takeover

Jersey Museum Takeover 

Students at Haultieu have been offered the opportunity to be involved in a collaborative project with Jersey Heritage. We will have the chance to work with staff at Jersey Museum behind the scenes and mount a pop-up exhibition on Friday 20th November 2015. On Friday 23rd October we will be going on a trip to the Jersey Museum in order to engage with the images and gain experience and inspiration. The exhibition was held to to mark the newspaper’s 125th anniversary. It consists of a snapshot of the photographic archive, which goes back nearly 100 years. The assignment is to produce a response to the exhibition, Your story, our history: 125 years seen through a JEP lens. However, our version will be your story our history: 125 hours seen through a teenager’s lens.

  1. Write down the first thoughts about the exhibition that enters your head when you walk in?

The first thoughts that entered my head when I walked into the exhibition was the contrasting colours of the red background and the black and white photographs. I thought that it was clever to present the images in this way because it captured your attention, plus, the neat and precise display may it easy to understand which photographs went with the text. I also thought the photographs which had people as their subject were the most interesting to me; they stood out for me. However, overall I thought the exhibition came across very confusing, I didn’t understand why the project was called 125 years when only approximately 50 years was displayed. Also the little tiles of text were quite random and didn’t always clearly correlate with the image closest. In my opinion, I think the photographs would look more aestheically pleasing if they were displayed in a better way, possibly more spacing between the images and making them a better quality print as well as enlarging them. 

  1. Look at all the images on the walls. Now find 3 images including your favourite image in the exhibition and one that you don’t like and write a short description of them.

The three images below are my favourite photographs from the exhibition mainly because they all incorporate people and society into the theme. The first image I selected as one of my favourites was because I like the authenticity of it, it feels almost movie like. I like the black and white style because it looks sophisticated and brings out the tones. 

Temps Passe Decked out for Summer 1982 Summer at last! - Locals and visitors alike relax in the sun at the Havre des Pas Pool Fete on Bank Holiday Monday in May 1982 Pic taken Monday May 31st 1982 Ref: 82-1649 neg 7 Eighties exhib chosen
Temps Passe Decked out for Summer 1982
Summer at last! – Locals and visitors alike relax in the sun at the Havre des Pas Pool Fete on Bank Holiday Monday in May 1982
Pic taken Monday May 31st 1982
Ref: 82-1649 neg 7
Eighties exhib chosen

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Temps Passe Robert Bisson 1988 Writng On The Wall: Island character Robert Chalmers Bisson pictured outside his property "The White Lodge" or "The Retreat" at Mont Cochon in February 1988 (also known as Tekel) Pic taken Thursday February 4th 1988 at 2pm Picture: Reg Cridland Original Ref: 88-367 neg 14 REF:01101901 Eighties exhib chosen
Temps Passe Robert Bisson 1988
Writng On The Wall: Island character Robert Chalmers Bisson pictured outside his property “The White Lodge” or “The Retreat” at Mont Cochon in February 1988 (also known as Tekel)
Pic taken Thursday February 4th 1988 at 2pm
Picture: Reg Cridland
Original Ref: 88-367 neg 14
REF:01101901
Eighties exhib chosen
  1. What is it that you like about your favourite image?

The reason I picked this image as my favourite from the exhibition is because it represents women fighting for something they feel passionate about. I also like the angle it has been taken at, it offers a different perspective showing all the women’s faces from young to old. It is an inspiring image which shows a variation of textures and depths. Furthermore, the framing is also extremely important in this photograph, it captures the power and enthusiasm the women feel. 

  1. What is wrong with your least favourite photograph?

I don’t have a least favourite photograph in the exhibition because I think there are some photographs that really stand out and then the rest are average. In my opinion, as I mentioned earlier I don’t think the images were shown to the best of their ability; they could be a great deal more powerful. Although, I didn’t particularly understand the photographs of the Jersey Evening Post being made in the early years of its existent. I didn’t like these images as much because I don’t think they are that interesting or inspiring. 

  1. Do any of the photographs in the exhibition show similar events or activities to what you will be doing in half-term?

Lots of the photographs in the exhibition show similar events or activities to what I will be doing in the half term. The landscapes in the photographs are the same as today because the buildings have been kept the same. A great deal of the images involve people from the island which I think is an important aspect to consider. 

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Henri Cartier-Bresson:

Henri Cartier-Bresson is a well known and successful photojournalism photographer. The Paris born man was the co-founder of the successful Magnum Photos Agency.

He used to be an ordinary photographer until he saw a certain image. In fact he was moved by a picture that was taken by Martin Munkacsi. This 1930’s picture had many tones and contrasts, that fascinated Cartier-Bresson. He stated: “I must say that it is that very photography which was for me the spark that set fire to fireworks”. He referred to the picture below:

Martin Munkacsi - Three Boys At Lake Tanganyika.
Martin Munkacsi – Three Boys At Lake Tanganyika.

“As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s own originality. It is a way of life.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

He first wanted to be known as a ‘Surrealism’ photographer, but was soon told that that wouldn’t be very successful as the world wouldn’t take that title seriously. Therefore he changed it to ‘Photojournalist’ and then he continued his passion.

His first book was called ‘Decisive moments’. It was what established him as a photographer and inspired many other people. Cartier-Bresson photographs people in a ‘candid’ way that reflects onto his photojournalism. His amazing work got him known as on of the ‘Fathers of Photojournalism’, which is a great honor. Here’s a picture from the 1st book:

Henri Cartier-Bresson - Seeing beauty where other not.
Henri Cartier-Bresson – ‘Seeing beauty where others not’.

He got his title ‘The decisive moment’ from the following quote: “There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment”, which was said by a 17th century French Cardinal.

I think that the picture above is a great photojournalism picture. The two extremes add impact and create polarization. Polarization is two completely different concepts and views of each other. In this case the two main things are war and peace. The men on the left are holding sharp weapons and are pointing them in an aggressive fashion. Meanwhile the woman on the right looks completely relaxes and innocent. Her non-malicious body language demonstrates that she is completely at ease. This is great because it portrays a very interesting meaning. The woman may be trying to communicate that she see’s beauty in the littlest things, such as the flower she’s holding. Cartier-Bresson has maintained a great composition by balancing the two ideals in a symmetrical manner. The leading lines are also efficient and work well as the weapons point to the woman and the flower points to the men. Symbolically, weapons are a representation of the following: war, aggression, male power, power, anger, defense, pain, revenge, sacrifice, betrayal and more. On the other hand, flowers represent the following: happiness, freedom, nature, natural, patient, cheerful, life, innocence, hope, health, everlasting love, friendship, devotion, sympathy, youth, devotion, faithfulness and more. Therefore, the two majorly different ideals create a very fascinating photograph.

Here are some other famous pictures of his:

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Henri Cartier-Bresson – Mahatma Ghandi – Magnum Photos.

“Of all means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes a precise moment in time” – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Henri Cartier-Bresson - The dying days of a regime: Shaghai in 1949.
Henri Cartier-Bresson – The dying days of a regime: Shaghai in 1949.

“In photography, the smallest thing can become a big subject, an insignificant human detail can become a leitmotiv” – Henri Cartier-Bresson. A ‘Leitmotiv’ is defined as: ‘A recurrent theme that’s associated with a particular person, idea or subject’.

I found a website that includes 29 of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s best quotes: http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/12018/29-quotes-by-photographer-henri-cartier-bresson/

Exploring Family

Ideas of Family: 

With the recent development of my life as a family, it is suitable to base this project on the transition of me moving house in early December 2015. This building project has been live for nearly over 5 years, and has been a long process due to the reserves for materials, dealing with the National Trust and allowing the correct methods to be done in order to restore the house’s natural and original  form. Le Petit Fort, for nearly half a decade has become the pivitol force within our lives as a family. Both of my parents have spent countless hours on the development of our new family home, as they have effortlessly incorporated the minimalist details of their own lives with reflects on what life was like when the house was first originally built.

As a starting point, I have researched past images of the house in order for me to make a comparative link to suggest more relevance within my ideas. This was all done with help from the Societe Jerseiase and Jersey’s Photographic Archive. With help from Gareth Syvret, we researched these past images of the house with the references tagged along with the images. This was all stored in a box of photographs given by the Bailiff of Jersey, between the era’s of 1930’s and 40’s: a post war memorial. I then learnt that my house was an important artifact and gem to the German soldiers which were residence in St Ouen’s Bay during the time of the occupation in World War ll.  From this, my ideas then began to develop, I found relevance into my project by being able to contextualize and relate to the history of my new house.

  • Contextualizing with the changes and developments society have influenced the concept of a family.
  • Noticing society’s expectations of of a family: what is the control of responsibility? What are guidelines parents have to follow?
  • How do individuals within a family react towards each other? How are they genetically similar?
  • Are there individuals that look similar? How can you dictate these similarities?

This aspect for me is very interesting, and I would like to investigate these factors in greater depth by recreating this style myself. The style and resiliency of the prints when disposed are unconditional to the time period and era. The rustic and compound prints objectifies images in greater detail, as colours are abbreviated allot further along with edges and geometry created from sharp lines. This could be captured with use of a disposable camera. Exploring this theme of disposables allows me to reconnect back into my childhood, as a way of integrating with the present without compromising and changing the perceptions of the past. For me, as a kid, using disposable camera was a source of fun for me and my family. The camera acts almost as a time capsule, reflecting back on the times humorous and laughable things that wouldn’t usually be remembered by memory. As a kid, using this camera as a game enabled me to take chances with the outcomes, as once taken, I would look forward to the interpretation of the moment once developed.

As you can see from these pictures, a sense of history is elevated.   I want to approach this task open-minded, as from 2010, the growth and development of our family has changed and continues to change with a developing world.

I plan to initially capture my dad as the driving force of this project. He began this project initially from his idea, he was the one that initiated this move and constructed the foundations of the house as well as the various plans.

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.