When I first met Tom Pope, I thought he was very creative with his ideas. He defiantly inspired me when we went to St Malo, I really enjoyed doing spontaneous things with my friends and recording them. He connected with us as a young photographer and wasn’t scared to share his thoughts and his ability to push the boundaries with no fear was encouraging. I can tell he is passionate with what he does and his finals shows that. His exhibition in Jersey was interesting to look at, I really liked the final room which is where he had presented his own pictures with photographs from the archive. Especially the photos from the high jump, he Incorporated photos from the first winner of a high jumper back in the olden days and photographs from this years winner in the Island games and aliened the photos so the poles were at the same level. This made the pictures all at different heights which made it more interesting to look at. This connection from the archive made his work extra special as Tom is trying to exploit photographs from the archive back into our society. This enabled us to notice the differences of what it was like back then and how it is now. In the high jump, the equipment was just a bamboo stick and only the floor to land on, so to see the development from then to now is fascinating.
I also loved the slideshow he produced of old postcards from the archive with written quotes on them. Quotes that don’t even relate to the photograph, it made the postcard more intriguing and makes you look at it more. His connection with the archive was very interesting and something no other photographer has encouraged so much before. I think it was a great idea to spread what he could from our past society in Jersey.
What is the value of memory? Is there responsibility when one person has all the memories? Do memories have meaning in the modern world or are they just fuzzy interpretations of the past?
Memories are a source of emotion, wisdom and teaching. Memories are meant to be shared, they are secrets of the past which can be passed on to the next generation. They can enliven people or events we miss, they challenge our original ideas and give light to thoughts we may not of considered. The idea of memories stemmed from looking into my grandfather’s past, because he died when I was much younger I don’t have many vivid memories of him. However, the limited memories I have I am going to photograph them in order to symbolize my only thoughts of him. In my opinion memory is an extremely valuable characteristic human beings possess. There are several photographers that focus on the theme of memory in their work.
Socially Speaking: Photographs of the Socially Privileged, Denver, Colorado, 1986-1989
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.
I 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.
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.
I 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.
More experimentation
Previous shoot [1st birthday]
Previous shoot [1st birthday]
Previous shoot [1st birthday]
This 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.
I 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…
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.
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.
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Disney World: Orlando Florida
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
Vacation Sessions, Charleston, South Carolina
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
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.
This weekend I had a very unexpected trip and so wasn’t able to take the photos at the Teacher Strike and Marathon that I had planned to take. I had to take a last minute plane over to Birmingham, so thought I would take advantage of this to take a couple photos, although I was only there from about 5 on Saturday till 1/2ish on Sunday, and I forgot to take the camera with me everywhere, but I did still get some photos. The photos I took which are the most relevant to my project are the ones I took at the airport and on the plane. I didn’t get that many photos, but i can still use some of these. As I was staying with my Bother, who is currently away at uni, he took me around the university, although there weren’t really any people, and it would’ve been more beneficial to go on a weekday, the last photo I took in the University was quite good, and I have a couple of ideas now on how I could layout a photo book.
The photo is of a Cafeteria type area inside one of the Uni buildings, and although everything is locked up and there is no one there, the viewer can see that it is a place that would normally be pretty full, and I think it would be a nice mixture, having photos of places that should be busy, but have no one in them, and places that are busy with people.
When I was in the Jersey Airport before getting my plane I also took some photos as it was fairly busy.
I also managed to take a photograph when on the plane to Birmingham. I quite like this photo, because its a view that anyone who has been on a plane has seen, except they normally don’t see it when everyone is sat down and the plane is in motion.
Unfortunately past this point of the trip I either forgot my camera, or had too much stuff to carry to be able to take a photo when I wanted, but if I happen to go on another trip I have a netter idea of what I can do to take more photos, and I also have a better idea of the type of images I want to take in Jersey, and I may even go over to Guernsey or France on the Ferry to get some more images.
Within Tom Pope’s time in Jersey, he has explored various conceptual and contemporary ideas surrounding Jersey’s Photographic Archive. The Societe Jersiaise has worked with Tom in order to re-create aspects of the Archive by designing existing and inventive procedures so that the public can interact with historic events the library withholds. Gareth Syvret, the creator and program leader from the photographic Archive described pope’s work as extensive, underlining the sheer developments Tom made to bring the archive to life. Syvret contributed to tom’s influences by grasping ranges of sources which were kept untouched from the Archive, which were then later on added back into modern life by techniques of restoration. Gareth, in his report on Tom’s final exhibition goes on to quote Sekula from 1997:
“Certain theoretical perspectives directed at photographic archives have sought to interrogate the disciplining power of the archive as a system within which, once accessioned, photographs lose meaning by becoming abstracted from the networks of communication and use to which they were put before entering the repository”.
A section of the wearable masks Tom produced for the public to wear and use.
At the end of Tom’s time here, his ending exhibition: “I Am Not Tom Pope, You Are All Tom Pope”, which was presented in The Old Town Police Station in St Helier, Jersey, coincides towards his recreation of the archive. One of the techniques Tom used to present a section in time was to cut out faces which he thought were ‘memorable’ or ‘significant’ which were then later on post-created into masks. Pope then questioned the public into wearing these masks, significantly ‘activating’ the Archive. This then relates back to Pope’s title: ‘You Are All Tom Pope’, reflecting that you are now the active Archive. Within a section of his exhibition, Tom continues to prolong the initiation of the Archive by using full spread pictures, took from a section of history. When Pope visited our school, the starting activity was to place these full spread sheets on a flat surface. We were then encouraged to flip a coin onto these photographs and wherever it lands would be cut out. This circle where the coin once was got turned into a badge, effectively to be ‘wearing’ and travelling the Archive.
A collage of images I created of the movements of his video ‘Pushing The Boat Out’.
‘Come Play Me’
Toms indigenous ideas console the reflection of how his work is very interactive and playful. In his works ‘Come Play Me’ you see Tom standing upright being turned into a human naughts and crosses board. This idea of how us as the reader we can evaluate and become one with the image is evident, as you are almost thrown into the image by Toms direct.
‘We Can Be Together’Tom demonstrating his works ‘Low Vs High’.
Here, Tom initiates this idea of connecting the next section of his images by connecting the geometric and lines naturally composed within the image. ‘Low Vs High’ shows the connections between objects such as poles, stands and infrastructures in order to make the images ‘flow’. This narrates a different certain type of story and document of the different series and periods of time which allows the reader to relate in a significant type of way.
We visited the Tom Pope exhibition in St. Helier which represents the work he has created within the 6 months he has been in Jersey. One of his objectives for this project was to spread photographs from the Jersey archive into the community to ‘keep the archive alive’. Pope did this through his genre of work which incorporates repetition, chance and play into the making of his photography.
One of my favourite pieces of Tom’s work is “We Can Be Together” which is wearable face masks of people within the archive. I like this piece of work because I think it’s a good way to engage with the public, and it goes with Tom’s genre of play. For example one of the photographs displayed was of a group of people on the beach wearing the masks. However the way Tom displayed the masks in the exhibition wasn’t as interactive as the idea itself.
Another piece of his work which I also liked was the video which Tom made called “propositions”. The video displayed different photographs of postcards with photographs from the archive. Pope then wrote over the postcards and put the post cards into people’s bags without them realizing. I think that this is an interesting and unusual way of spreading the archive into the community. This idea came from back during the Nazi regime where a man put postcards into peoples belonging’s without them realizing and on the postcards there were retaliations against the Nazi’s.
