The thing that most inspired me over the summer was the ocean. The best part of my summer was spent near or on the sea. I always love spending time on the ocean because it is the place which allows me to think the most and feel free the most. In my opinion, the ocean is the best place to be, and it inspired me because I did a lot of photo shoots near or in the sea. It allowed me to experiment more, and be more adventurous with my photography. Here is one of my favorite images that I took over the summer using the ocean as inspiration. My friend took the picture, however the framing, setting and form of the photo was my idea.
I wanted to experiment with abstract forms by creating different shapes with my body, mainly with my legs. The lighting was really good on this day, and it worked really well with the current. The horizontal line of the sea works as a contrast to the vertical lines of my legs coming out of the water. The reflection of the light off the water, makes the image much brighter, and much more interesting. Overall, I am really happy with the outcome of this image.
For my environmental Portraits, I used the Documentary Photographer Sian Davey as inspiration. I really liked Davey’s work because she has a spontaneous feel to the environmental portraits. She always focuses on one particular character within the set of images, and this is what I tried to create within my environmental portraits. I wanted to achieve a theme within my images, slimier to what Davey does. For my project I chose to focus on my friend, who is like family to me. I wanted to do something which links closely to what Davey does in her images. According to Davey, she likes to link Psychology with her Photography, so I decided to incorporate parts of my friends personality within the environmental portraits.
Shes a very creative character, who likes to explore nature and live closely with the environment. I aimed to capture a set of images that showed this clearly through the setting and framing of each image. She also enjoys photography like me, so I wanted to interpret this within the photos. I wanted to create a natural, old fashioned documentary feel to the set of images, so I decided to edit them into black and white. I am really pleased with my final outcome because each frame is completely different, with some close ups and some far away. The way the model is positioned in each frame is also very different, so I’ve managed to achieve a vast amount of individual images which work together well.
Out of all the images from the shoot, this is my favorite one because of the framing, what shes doing in the photo, and the setting of the image. At the time of the photo, she was simply messing around in the woods, and I managed to capture a series of images of her in her natural environment. This image though is my favorite from the set because of the playful atmosphere around it.
Recently, I have discussed the life of my great grandfather as my interest in pool and snooker has reminded my mother and grandmother of his hobbies. Raymond Harold Cummins was born in 1912, the year of the Titanic. He was a through and through Jersey bean, born and bred in the island and in this tiny channel island he met my great grandmother, Denise Urroutia. In hearing and discussing my great grandfather’s life, I realized there is a lot of similarities in our interests despite the fact I only met him on three occasions before he died.
Following the Second World War (a topic I’ve recently studied in A2 History), Denise gave birth to my grandmother in 1949, which is when Raymond became a writer for the Jersey Evening Post. Raymond’s talent for writing is reflective of my passion for creative writing and the selection of English Literature as an A Level choice. As my grandmother grew up, she informed me of her memories from her father playing snooker in the local snooker hall known as ‘Jersey Mechanics Institution’, which was formed in 1902. She recollects how she went to watch him play at the club for the island against Guernsey, the local channel island rival. Raymond’s interest and talent in snooker compares to my hobbie of playing pool as I have also represented the island for pool as in 2015, I went to Blackpool for the U15 National Championships.
All of this combined led to me asking for pictures of my great grandfather which is when my grandmother produced this picture.
A perfect portrait of a man who is also described as perfect by my mother and grandmother. In this picture, he is in his late sixties/seventies.
I decided to recreate this picture but with me as a model representing my great grandfather as we seem to have so much in common. I collected some clear lensed glasses, a grey polo shirt and white sweatshirt. For taking the picture, I set up a tripod with the camera attached to the shoe facing at face height, basing my positioning as similar to the one in the image as possible. Once I chose where to take the picture/s, I set up the camera so it was on “Self-Timer:Continuous” so I could get a few images at a time.
I placed these images in a contact sheet in order to help me distinguish which is the most comparable to the picture of my great grandfather.
I edited the photo I thought was best suited to the image of my great grandfather so that it was in black and white. The difference between our two photographs is of course the person, the glasses, the actual clothes but technically, my photo was taken using flash as the room was dimmly lighted, where as Raymond’s looks as if it was taken using studio lights with a typical white studio background. My photo’s quality is impaired through the shadow on the back wall from my head, as well as the slight flash on my left lens. If I was to do it again, I would be sure to take the image in a studio with the correct lighting.
Developing my curiousity of my great grandfather’s snookering success, I researched the mechanics club online which is when I found this website: http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/jersey/directory/service.page?id=k81-QexVo6k
This website provided minimal information but I was able to find opening times. So I visited the club and unfortunately, it was not open. The building also looked like it needed renovation so perhaps it is closed temporarily. However, I did take some pictures of the outside building.
My Photo shoot was inspired by the photographer Larry Sultans photos of his Father. Especially the one of his Father practicing his golf swing in his bedroom. Just like Larry Sultans work I have taken photos of my Dad taking part in his hobby. This for my Dad is playing the guitar. Almost every night he retreats to his make do office where he places on his headphones and immerses himself in his own world playing his guitar for hours on end. I wanted to take a photograph my dad in the room he usually goes to practice his guitar however the lighting conditions weren’t ideal so in the future I would chose another room to do this. I also wanted to capture his make do practice room/office and how it isn’t anything special yet he spends to much time in that room.
The first two photos I chose to use natural lighting just as Larry Sultan does. I also used a reflection of one of the mirrors that had been placed in there. The second two photos I pulled down the blinds and used the flash. For the last two photos I decreased the iso giving it this blur look almost like another photographer i almost studied called Richard Billingham. I then changed these photos to black and white as I thought it suited the style better than color. By doing this I wanted to portray movement even though the subject wasn’t actually moving and camera was I wanted to portray a movement in emotion and mood that music has the capability to do.
CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: Truth in Documentary Photography Week 3-4: 20th Sept – 4th Oct
Can a photograph lie?
Robert Capa, Death of a Loyalist Soldier, 1936
Are all photographs reliable?
Joe Rosenthal, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945
A common phrase is to ‘shed light on a situation’ meaning to find out the truth.
‘A picture tells a 1000 words‘, is another aphorism that imply images are more reliable.
Picasso famously said: ‘We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realise truth.’
Magritte’s painting La Trahison des Images in which he painted a picture of a pipe with the words ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ (This is not a pipe) goes some way to towards an explanation.
‘The camera was there and recorded what I saw’.
A certain delivery of facts?
Claims of truth that most people take for granted?
Art or photography is not reality but can examine and model reality.
Traditional documentary believes the viewer to be a receptive subject taking in the objective information of the world through the photograph.
Documentary photography’s central aesthetic, political and moral associations are:
depicting truth
recording life as it is
camera as a witness.
TASKS: Produce a number of blog posts that show evidence of the following
DEADLINE: Wed 4th Oct
In order to complete the tasks successfully read and look through supporting material and consider the bullit points too that may prompt you in your answers . Make notes and include direct quotes sources. Conduct independent research too .
Documentary photography is based on assumptions that the photograph represents a one-to-one correspondence with reality, which is nearly accurate and adequate, and that the photographic image is capable of conveying information objectively.
Traditional documentary believes the viewer to be a receptive subject taking in the objective information of the world through the photograph
Can we rely on its ability to capture a moment in time accurately as historical evidence or as a witness to the world?
Postmodernism points out that all forms of representation is subjective? How? Why?
Digital photography has made manipulation much easier?
2. ANALYSIS: Choose one image (either historical or contemporary – ppts above) that questions the notion of truth and explain why. Follow this method of analysis: Description – Interpretation – Evaluation – Theory/Context
3. PHOTO-ASSIGNMENT: Based on your chosen themes, FAMILY or ENVIRONMENT make two images, one that you consider truthful and one that is not.
4. CASE STUDY – EXTENSION: Using current news images as an example, such as the drowned Syrian boy (read articlehere), consider if photographs can change the world or change people’s perception?
Here is a link to another article about the photographer who took the photos of the dead Syrian boy where she speaks about why she took them.
For a different point of view read this blog post by photographer and lecturer, Lewis Bush where he discuss the above in light of recent images of dead Syrian refugees in Europe. Incorporate his views and include quotes, for or against your own analysis and point of view.
EXTRA READING: For those of you who likes to read theory of documentary practice, see Susan Sontag (1977), On Photography , Roland Barthes (1982), Camera Lucida. John Tagg (1993) or the famous essay by conceptual artist, Martha Rosler, In, around, and afterthoughts (on documentary photography) in book: Bolton, R. (1992) ‘The Contest of Meaning’. MIT Press. See me if you are interested in reading of the above books and essays.
5. CASE STUDY – EXTENSION 2:
Kevin Carter and The Bang Bang Club
Starving Child and Vulture
Kevin Carter
1993
Kevin Carter knew the stench of death. As a member of the Bang-Bang Club, a quartet of brave photographers who chronicled apartheid-era South Africa, he had seen more than his share of heartbreak. In 1993 he flew to Sudan to photograph the famine racking that land. Exhausted after a day of taking pictures in the village of Ayod, he headed out into the open bush. There he heard whimpering and came across an emaciated toddler who had collapsed on the way to a feeding center. As he took the child’s picture, a plump vulture landed nearby. Carter had reportedly been advised not to touch the victims because of disease, so instead of helping, he spent 20 minutes waiting in the hope that the stalking bird would open its wings. It did not. Carter scared the creature away and watched as the child continued toward the center. He then lit a cigarette, talked to God and wept. The New York Times ran the photo, and readers were eager to find out what happened to the child—and to criticize Carter for not coming to his subject’s aid. His image quickly became a wrenching case study in the debate over when photographers should intervene. Subsequent research seemed to reveal that the child did survive yet died 14 years later from malarial fever. Carter won a Pulitzer for his image, but the darkness of that bright day never lifted from him. In July 1994 he took his own life, writing, “I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain.”Read more here:http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture
