Bibliography
Online
https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/bruce-davidson-subway/
Bruce Davidson Subway. New York City, USA. 1980.
“I wanted to transform the subway from its dark, degrading, and impersonal reality into images that open up our experience again to the colour, sensuality, and vitality of the individual souls that ride it each day.” (Magnum, Subway 1980)
For my political landscape project I am planning to focus on the juxtaposition of walls and how they have been misunderstood and used in a way that creates a sense of isolation and entrapment.
Throughout my project I looked at the theory “When Walls Talk”. By using this theory, it has given me the opportunity to look at different artists with different ideas however, with the same concept behind their images. Their were multiple artists that were used throughout this theory although, there were two that stood out the most.
I felt these two photographers reflected this theory the best and I also thought that they inspired me the most due to their different styles that I felt allowed them to standout over the other photographers. The different themes of photo journalism and documentary photography I thought were the main themes within the two photographers styles due to the subjects within the photographs.
Bruce Davidson and his ‘Subway’ photographs corporate human life within the dull underground graffiti which allowed these images to produce a powerful story and concept and a strong meaning with a concept relating to when walls talk. Bruce’s work is in colour which allows for the different layers of graffiti to stand out which also creates a sense of depth throughout his images.
Alex Webb and his photographs from Haiti are documentary photograph and conveys the idea of isolation and intimidation however some of his images also contrasted against each other as they were also breaking the rule of isolation as it shows subjects challenging the theory. His images are in colour which allows for the use of vibrant colours in these run down areas which reduces the sense of isolation. 
There was an artist that also stood out however he conveyed the theory in a different way. Josef Koudelka’s use of a panoramic camera allows himself to create photographs that mimic the monumental quality of a barrier that links to the theme of isolation and the theory that I am studying. His images are all in black and white which creates strong and empowering shadows which creates a strong contrast throughout his images.
Family Photos have been taken for hundreds of years as a way of capturing precious moments of people with their loved ones. in this essay i am going to look at to different photographers who have studied members of their family in their work. I will compare and contrast their work in a hope to gain a greater understanding of their photographic style and meaning of their work. I want to look into the relationship between the photographer and their subject to see how and if it effects the the end result. I also want to explore how this relationship is communicated to an audience, and how these private and personal photos can also be seen and read by outsiders. The two photographers I am planning on looking at have developed their work in very different ways but both manage to show great connection with their subjects and tell beautiful stories with their work. Rita Puig Serra Costa created a book surrounding her family history, the book contains a variety of images, from portraits, still life, landscapes and archival copies it creates a broad description of her family dynamic and the memories she has with them (be more specific about the book dealing with the memory of her mother). Linda McCartney on the other hand was originally a professional photographer of celebrities until she met her husband and musician Paul McCartney. As they got to know each other and build a family she captured and shared a large selection of photographs. Being in the public eye the family were regularly photographed however there is something very special about the connection they had which came across in the images. By researching this area I hope to gain a greater understanding of family, relationships and memories in photography to help me with my own project about my Grandpa. You need to provide more details here about an overview of your own project, what and how you intend to make photographic responses.
Over all there is very little evidence of any research and reading around the subject of memory and family photography. You must read the texts I gave you on Roland Barthes and his memory and philosophy around looking at an image of his mother. Include at least one direct quote from Barthes and comment on it.
For this shoot I wanted to shows some themes of surrealism and also emotions expressed through their style of traces woodman and how she blurs people moving in order to express an emotion. I chose a dancer due to the effect of the abstract shapes and forms creating patterns in the sky and such. I belive this response is quite interesting and definitely does contain more abstract themes to my previously more straight photography style of showing a clear demonstration of emotions. I belive due to how blurry it is as it forms a similar relation to both landscapes and portraiture both mixed into one similar over ruling theme. I wanted to experiment with both editing with and without colour, I have done this as I quite enjoyed experimenting with the juxtaposition of the bright red shoes, I then also developed more in photoshop and overlaying the images and ow this can combine to show a chaotic over ruling theme of both emotion and action, I belive those images clearly demonstrate that of stress, and a sense of frantic worry. I think dancing itself is an oxymoron. It is so beautiful yet causes the dancer themselves so much pain throughput the extensive training.
This is one of my favourite images from this shoot, I think the movement of the light and juxtaposition to the arms moving so quickly and frantically to that of the simplicity of the dancer being on point. I this creates an almost type of paradox that perhaps it could be further conceptualised to that of pleasure and pain all into one image itself.
This image has such a strong surrealistic undertone. The way the light forms and looks as though it is lifting her up. I believe this movement and almost angelic light shows a freedom and a peace to the image. I think this image is the symbol of the sublime, you could never plan this image which I think is such a primary purpose to being a significant and sublime. There is a freedom and unpredictability, there is also an expectation of danger as she will have to fall back down. I think I should do further experiment with this image and do believe possible with a lower saturation this will be such a successful
I think overlapping these images makes them less clear in the way which you are now unable to see the point of the composition. I belive if I add more quotations which philosophers have spoken about which have a relation to the image it could be successful and further conceptualises the photos themselves.
After multiple different ideas and discussions, I came to conclusion I would focus my project on the idea behind walls and the messages behind them. I used the theory “When walls talk” by Thomas McMullan as inspiration. I was able to use this theory to inspire this specific project by focusing on the meaning behind walls and how they can create a sense of inclosure and isolation. I intend to capture different areas where these aspects stand out and I want to make aware of how these subjects can also create a sense of intimidation due to these man made structures. In relation to my photo book, I want to create a book that broadens the viewers awareness of the ever-everchanging and isolating environment within Jersey.
Throughout the theory there were multiple artists used however, there were a few that stood out massively and caught my eye over any of the others. Bruce Davidson and his ‘Subway’ photographs really stood out due to the fact he corporates human life within the dull underground graffiti which allowed these images to produce a powerful story and concept. Davidson was a strong source of inspiration as he included two aspects that I wanted to use throughout my project in the sense of the meaning behind the walls and also how society reacts to it and I feel that he has completed this strongly throughout his project. Furthermore, I thought that the artist Alex Webb and his photographs from Haiti was another strong source of inspiration as his documentary photographs conveyed the idea of isolation and intimidation however some of his images also contrasted against each other as they were also breaking the rule as some of the images showed holes within the walls which allowed the subjects to pass through them. I felt that this aspect created a strong however important contrast within the idea of isolation as his images show the subjects challenging the theory.
Photographs can most certainly lie as people interpret them differently due to the fact that a photograph can tell multiple stories within the single image. Whether the photographer has been manipulated when the photograph was original taken or on photoshop it can have a massive impact on how people look at the image, it can sometimes produce a bias approach. Furthermore, The photographers use of different angles can further change how the photograph is seen as it can change and sometimes remove important parts of the image which changes the story behind the image and how the viewer sees the image. Photographs can be used as a reliable source however can also be used as an unreliable source due to the point about viewers interpreting it differently due to the different angles and alterations made to the image. Furthermore, the photographer will have his own opinion on how he views the image had how he wants the viewer to see it. A photograph can be used as a certain delivery of facts due to how the photographer wants the viewers to interpret an image and whether he claims the photograph is truthful or not. The truth would be shown through different ways depending on the photographers agenda. This photograph above is a good example of how a photograph can lie due the fact this image was either a real life image or a tableau photograph. This could fully determine the images truth behind the image. For example Jeff Wall is able to capture an asian man being racial abused by a man walking alongside him whilst his girlfriend is unaware. Jeff Wall could say he witnessed this however, if the photograph had been set up it could create a different story. In addition, we are unaware for the reason that the white man is abusing the man walking alongside him as we are only able to view this scene from the one photograph which makes the view think more into the truth behind the image.
After exploring a variety of paths which I could follow with this project I have decided to chose ones focused on my grandpa. He was a teacher at the Hautlieu from 1963- 2001 as well as an avid poets, and was involved with various activist movements throughput his life. I want to talk to people who had close relationships with him such as close friends and family members so I can learn more about Guardian reader which links back to the breaking the rules task.
I have found inspiration from the photographer Rita Puig-Serra Costa and her book where mimossa bloom. In the book Rita explores her family history by developing and displaying memories and personal stories which have constructed her as a person.
at the beginning of the book her family tree reveals itself as you turn each page, eventually an image of Rita is displayed and we can see an overview of her relationship with her family. this acts as a sort of introduction to the book and gives us some context for the photos. Rita uses a large variety of images in her book, archival images make a big appearance and connect her new photos with the past. There is staged portraits, still life, double page landscapes and even text and photo copies of documents. Bellow I show some of my favourite pages in the book which have given me a starting point and direction for my own work. I love the way the book is constructed and how all the images compliment each other and also have an interesting narrative.
I have met up and spoken with my gran who is going to help me pick some relevant topics to focus the project on. We spoke about his involvement with groups such as the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) and concern which was an environmental group in jersey during the 70’s. He also took part in various protests, such as the one at queens valley against the flooding on the area for a reservoir and helped at local elections. A lot of the poems he wrote also had a political story behind them, he often found inspiration from from famous photographs from wars and conflict which he came across in the newspaper. He also had a strong connection to the land, his environmental interest continued into his own home and garden where he spent a lot of time conserving the land, growing organic vegetable and plants for the wildlife. He was a big fan of Bob Dylan, a famous singer-songwriter in the late 60’s who often made political statements in his music.
I am interested in combining all these elements to construct the photo book, I like the idea of using archival images of him that link to my chosen points interests me because it will be a flash back to his life and give a wider understanding and context to the project.
