Category Archives: A2 Personal Investigation

Filters

Author:
Category:
A2 Personal Investigation

Shoot 2 – Alex Webb

Leave a comment

Contact sheets

Favourite edited Images from the shoot

Further experimenting in black and white

Evaluation

From this shoot I have tried to represent my theme of the project but also in the style of Alex Webb. I have not only captured the sense of isolation but in a way challenged it too. The sense of isolation throughout is clearly evident as I have chosen to take pictures of gated areas, cctv,  signs and high walls. I have chosen to do this as I believe these things have connotations of isolation as it prevents people from doing things they want to do or travel to where they want to go. However, I found a gated area with the gate open. my photographing this subject it allowed me to challenge the theme as the gate wasn’t preventing anyone from passing through as it was open. I feel by including this image it portrays a strong contrast to the other image as it was the odd one out and I believe that by including something that challenges a theme creates more of a story to it.

 

 

A2 Personal Investigation

Photoshoot plan 2 – when walls talk

Leave a comment

Alex Webb

Image result for alex webb photographer

These images are from Alex Webb’s Haiti collection and ones I am using for inspiration. I am using these as inspiration as I feel his images have different concepts behind them when relating to the theory I am studying. When looking at the first image we can see a wall, however there are two openings in it which could suggest that Alex has taken this image in a way that challenges the theory of isolation as the sense of isolation isn’t there. In addition, the second and third images do relate to the theme of isolation. The second images relates to the theme of isolation as the high walls and gates create a sense of isolation and entrapment which is a clear indication that it links to the theory. Furthermore, the third image also has connotations of isolation as the two in the corner look trapped possibly indicating that they are inclosed in that area. These three images I can easily respond to by photographing areas that challenge the theory but also link to the theory.  I will focus on areas round St Helier which have built up walls but specifically gated areas and run down areas. I will mainly use natural lighting as it is clear that Alex has only used natural lighting too.Image result for alex webb haitiImage result for alex webbImage result for alex webb haiti

A2 Personal Investigation

Photoshoot plan 1 – When walls talk

Leave a comment

Bruce Davidson

Image result for bruce davidson photographer

These are images I thought where strong images out of Bruces collection and are the ones I am wanting to replicate. I felt these were some of the strongest images from his collection as I thought they clearly relate to the theory in great detail. I will use artificial light from my camera and also a torch as a source of light as within Bruces images there isn’t any natural light as they are underground in the subway. Furthermore, there isn’t a subway or unground tube in jersey so I have chose the location of a bunker in St Ouen’s which is open to the public. This location has a lot of graffiti and is dark  which will work well when I add artificial lighting when taking the images as it will create the same affect and style as in Bruces images.  I have also chosen this location because the location in Bruces images look very run down and old and I think that my location when responding to his work will have the same affect.

Image result for bruce davidson subwayImage result for bruce davidson subway

A2 Personal Investigation, AO1 Develop Ideas, Case Study

YOKO ONO

Leave a comment
Yoko Ono in her short film ‘Cut Piece’

One of Yoko Ono’s early performance work was ‘Cut Piece’, a recorded film where Ono sat on stage in one of her best suits in front of an audience and invited them one by one to approach her and cut a piece of her clothing and take it with them, until eventually she was left with almost nothing on her body. This simple act carried a great message behind it even though Yoko never communicated anything to her audience other than their instructions and instead sat motionless and expressionless. This aspect of this piece was to promote peace even when cutting her clothes off carried a brutal and horrifying message about the way women are looked at and used by men and women. Yoko explained

Yoko Ono – Cut Piece

‘So of course I was saying, hey, you’re doing this to women, you know? We’re all in it. But also, at the time, it’s much better to just go with it. And that thought of letting women know that, you know, we’re all going through this, but don’t fight, let it happen. By not fighting, we show them that there’s a whole world, which could exist by being peaceful.’ – Yoko Ono. Cut Piece. 1964 | MoMa

The whole video was shot in black and white which comes with the use of an old film camera, with lighting coming from three directions; the front and either side of Ono which can be seen with the cast of two shadows on both sides of her on her shoulders. The video was shot in one take which adds to the simplicity of the piece. The focus of the art within the video is not the technical aspect of the camera but the simple acts of cutting away at Yoko’s clothes, providing more attention on the issue of the objectification of females in society, media and art, inflicted by both men and women.

The objectification of women has been an ongoing issue within all areas of the world because this notion is constantly reinforced in many ways. This ranges from what people take in through the media that people in developed countries are constantly surrounded by.  To simply learning from a young age the false roles and traits of men and women through watching parents and peers. Women have always had a fixed role in society, the reinforced idea of being submissive to men and being seen as a pretty object rather than a being that are just as capable as men.

Throughout art history, when female artists have been discussed their art has always been regarded as biologically determined, that all associations of femininity are linked to their style of painting and the subjects they choose to paint. Female artists were seen as the minority. This was stemmed from the common ideologies of gender norms within society that restricted their subject matters in their paintings – only painting objects that reflected their femininity like flowers or portraits of miniatures, using mediums like pastels and watercolour. Moreover, women who were subjects within paintings were often objectified by the male artist simply for the pleasure of the receiver.  Typically within paintings of the nude, women were often stripped of their sexual power so the spectator – typically a man- could monopolize their own sexual power and feel dominance of the submissive subject within a painting. Women within art have always been overlooked and restrained of their creativity because of male dominance within society. Even at present day, female artists struggle to create pieces of work that don’t have a hegemonic hold and connotations or histories of traditional ideas of femininity. This can be perceived as boundaries, so therefore female artists usually find other ways of creating art like installations and producing pictures, or in Yoko Ono’s case: video art. These are contemporary ways of producing art and therefore don’t refer to a particular or dominant gender.

By Yoka demonstrating these ideas in a video, it brings this issue attention and provokes thought that could help change the collective mindset of society.

A2 Personal Investigation

Artist study – Bruce Davidson

Leave a comment

Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson was born September 5, 1933 in America. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958. His photographs, notably those taken in New York, have been widely exhibited and published. He is known for photographing communities usually hostile to outsiders. Bruce was interested in photography from an early age and at age 10, his mother built him a darkroom in their basement.

Davidson went on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, where one of his teachers was artist Josef Albers. For his college theory, Davidson created a photo essay that was published in Life magazine in 1955, documenting football players behind the scenes of the game. After graduating, he was drafted into the army and was stationed near Paris, France. It was there that he met his lifelong mentor, Henri Cartier-Bresson. He took inspiration from Henri, and went on to reevaluate the genre of photojournalism with his singular style and methods. He is best known for his photo-essays documenting subversive and counter culture groups. 

Once Bruce left the military service in 1957, Davidson worked as a freelance photographer for Life magazine and a year later joined Magnum photos. Unlike other photographers before him, Davidson embedded himself in the world of his subjects for extended periods, the results of which formed a series of powerful photo-essays. One of the earliest examples of this dedication was when he joined the circus in 1958 in order to become fully immersed in the environment.

Image result for bruce davidson photography

USA. New York City. 1980. Subway.Image result for bruce davidson brooklyn gang

USA. New York City. 1959. Brooklyn Gang.

 

A2 Personal Investigation

Artist study – Alex Webb

Leave a comment

Alex Webb

Born in San Francisco, Webb was raised in New England, Webb first became interested in photography as a high school student and in 1972 attended the Apeiron Workshops in New York where he met Magnum photographers Bruce Davidson and Charles Harbutt. Alex Webb is best known for his vibrant and complex color work within his images.

He went on to study history and literature at Harvard where he graduated in 1974, but also studied photography at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. By 1974 he was working as a photojournalist and in 1976 he became an associate member of Magnum Photos. During this time he documented small-town life in the South American . He also did some work in the Caribbean and Mexico , which led him, in 1978, to begin working in color, which he has continued to do. Webb now lives and works in Brooklyn with his wife, Rebecca Norris Webb, who is also a photographer, and they have collaborated on a number of photo books.

Webb’s work has been exhibited around the world, including at the Walker Art Center, the Museum of photographic arts and many more. His work is also seen in numerous collections. He has received commissions from the High Museum of Art as well as the Banesto Foundation in Spain.

Image result for Alex webb photography

 

A2 Personal Investigation
Leave a comment

Future of St Helier

Then write your own evaluation / experience of  being part of  the newspaper and hoarding installation etc.

 

Hoarding Installation

The unveiling of the Future of St Helier Hoarding at the International Finance Centre on the Esplanade in St Helier took place on Thursday 13 Dec 2018.

First published as a 52 page newspaper supplement in September by the Jersey Evening Post the work produced by A-Level Photography students at Hautlieu School have been transformed into a 34m outdoor installation as part of Masterplan Community Arts and Education Project

We were challenged with responding to specific areas, streets and neighbourhoods divided up along the urban vingtaines of St Helier and to explore through research, archives and photography the built-environment, urban living, diverse communities, town planning, land use and re-generation projects.

We thank all sponsors and collaborators for making this a successful contribution to the island’s cultural records and historic archives Jersey Development Company, Camerons Ltd, MJP Architects, Archisle, Lewis Bush, Photo-Archive Societe-Jersiaise, Kevin Pilley, States of Jersey and Connétable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft

Earlier today we unveiled the Masterplan Future of St Helier hoarding display at the International Finance Centre. Lots of local media interest from Jersey Evening Post, ITV Channel TV and BBC Jersey who broadcasted live on radio talking to photography students at Hautlieu School, Constable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft and sponsors Jersey Development Company, Camerons Ltd, MJP Architects about the future of the island and its capital. An excellent example of how a community arts and education project can generate a debate that affects all those who either live, work or visit St Helier.

If you are interested in our views of young people tune into BBC Radio here (listen from 3:18:30 onwards or watch the six o’clock news tonight on ITV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06rlpdw

If you missed the news last night at ITV Channel TV you can catch up here with Hautlieu students talking (15m.12s) about their images on display at the Masterplan Future of St Helier hoarding on the International Finance Centre.

See link here

The outdoor installation on the hoarding around the construction site is a great way to engage the public in art and debates concerning the future of the island’s capital but, what we need in Jersey is a new contemporary art space that will provide a new venue to showcase art produced in the island, but equally also bring international art to Jersey for the public enjoyment of its residents and visitors alike.

The recent Culture, Arts and Heritage Strategic Review, commissioned by the Government of Jersey makes 20 new recommendations that will revitalise the island’s cultural infrastructure and achieve a wide range of social and economic objectives from tourism, to health and well being to external relations, to planning and environmental developments – in the hope that in partnership with Government it will enrich and enhance Jersey’s quality of life.

Let’s hope those in power who can make real changes to St Helier’s build environment will include such a new art space in the revised Masterplan of the Waterfront. All we need is political will and re-prioritising public funding for the arts. States of Jersey

Future of St Helier Newspaper

The outcome of students work was first published on Tuesday 18 September 2018 as a 52 page newspaper supplement, Future of St Helier that was printed in 14,000 copies and inserted into a daily edition of the Jersey Evening Post and distributed island wide.

Here is a video browser of our Future of St Helier supplement printed and distributed in today’s edition of the Jersey Evening Post. Hautlieu photography students were challenged with responding to specific areas, streets and neighbourhoods divided up along the urban vingtaines of St Helier and to explore through research, archives and photography the built-environment, urban living, diverse communities, town planning, land use and re-generation projects. Each student designed a page spread which was then split in half producing a fragmented image reflecting on the nature of experience and diversity of St Helier.

Here is a video browser of our Future of St Helier supplement printed and distributed in today’s edition of the Jersey Evening Post. Hautlieu photography students were challenged with responding to specific areas, streets and neighbourhoods divided up along the urban vingtaines of St Helier and to explore through research, archives and photography the built-environment, urban living, diverse communities, town planning, land use and re-generation projects. Each student designed a page spread which was then split in half producing a fragmented image reflecting on the nature of experience and diversity of St Helier. Make sure to get your copy before the shops close!Thanks to everyone involved in the creative process Archisle Lewis Bush, Jamie Cole, Simon Crowcroft, Kevin Pilley – States of Jersey and our sponsors Jersey Development Company and Camerons Limited.

Posted by Martin Toft on Tuesday, 18 September 2018

A2 Personal Investigation

Essay questions/ Hypothesis

Leave a comment

Questions used for inspiration

How does people control, interact and construct the environment in which they live?

Questions I have created using the questions above as inspiration that could be used for my personal study.

  • Compare How Alex Webb and Josef Koudelka’s photography represent the concept of isolation?
  • How do people react, control and effect the environment by creating man made structures that cause a sense of isolation.
A2 Personal Investigation, Analysis, AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Essay

Essay introduction and plan

Leave a comment

Essay Question:

My hypothesis and narrowed down six possible questions are:

.Examine how the sublime and reality work hand in hand to  visualise how they reflect a personal emotion. And how the artists… and ….. show this in different ways.

.How can politically movements of photography such as surrealism and the sublime effect the way which photographs see and demonstrate emotion in their work.

.How does the power of pain and beauty found within the sublime, have such s strong influence on the emotions of artists and photographers.

.Does objectivity and reality effect how we view and react to our emotions. How does the sublime have such an emotional response dependent on the persons current emotional status. And how do photographers capture such a unique set of emotions all at once.

.Merging the boundaries of the sublime and surrealism; How are emotions and personal identity represented conceptually throughout photography. Why do these photographers …..consider their work to be sublime.

.Examining the sublime: A photograph should not be able to have such strong emotional occupancy, so that it effects how someone perceives reality and views their own emotions.

I belive I am able to start writing this essay now as all of these titles link in a  successful manner and I should still be able to communicate the same ideas and themes through the beginning of the essay without knowing the specific title itself.

Essay Plan:

Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure.

  • Essay question:
  • Opening quote:”the sublime is something which has power to compel and then destroy us. Pleasure is only pleasure if it is felt and the is to be said about pain. ” Edmund burke 
  • Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?

“The sublime is something which has power to compel and then destroy us. Pleasure is only pleasure if it is felt and the same is to be said about pain. ” E:burke .The area I have chosen to study is the Sublime. I have done so as I belive the sublime owns such power it is often metonymic. It allows the thinking eye to add more value of what it is sees, but it is sole proof of seeing emotion as a medium. To develop a photo is a chemical reaction but what is develops is undevelopable in the essence what has been taken and experienced by someone, can not ever be repeated. The sublime is an instance of instances, It causes an independent reaction to each persons’ emotions and what they believe to have seen. It is not only something to be shown through art and photography, but a philosophical question which I want to look further into. My area of study will be how can the sublime be shown through the representation of emotions through the human body. I have chosen to compare two artists and two philosophers within my own subject of work, as they both focus on the ideals of human form reflective through such powerful emotions. The hypothesis I propose to answer is ‘Merging the boundaries of the sublime and surrealism; How are emotions and personal identity represented conceptually throughout photography. Why do these photographers …..consider their work to be sublime.’ The argument I intend to prove and also challenge, is the argument derived  as a  defence of the deliberative value of immoderate speech from an unlikely source, the  account is ‘ I say the strongest emotion, because I am satisfied the ideas of pain are much more powerful than those which enter on the part of pleasure. Without all doubt, the torments which we may be made to suffer are much greater in their effect on the body and mind, than any pleasures which the most learned voluptuary could suggest, or than the liveliest imagination, and the most sound and exquisitely sensible body, could enjoy.’ Burke states here how a persons emotions are strongest when pain and terror are so closely used, yet not to the extend of deat. This certain pleasure has a breadth of imagination that people can use for enjoyment. To my mind, this is has some truth, so through my three artists and two philosophers I will develop and explore their hegemonic and oppositional ideas, responding  trough the work of Tim Walker and how his style has such a strong juxtaposition to that usually expected within the sublime. Walkers tablo worldly images that inspired a transgressions of out of place beauty combined with incoherent objectification of mythology form interesting compositions that could be addressed as ‘sublime’. However I will be comparing his work to Claude Cahun and Franceseca Woodman, These two women’s styles catapulted the understanding of social and political issues when it comes to dealing with emotions It is ironic how they were both raised and worked in a time before the period of post-modernism, as their work stemmed from the view to change and explore how authorship of work should be an expression of identity and not to follow a path paved by those gone before. Historically the sublime is a term in which refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement, or imitation’  It was first written in the 1st century AD though its origin and authorship. However it is evident that the sublime did not become a common influence until the 16th century, having a strong contextual reference to that of the renaissance period and its association to ‘romanticism’. My official aim is mimicking how photography can access political and emotional dependancy of reality through landscapes and portraiture to express a non direct emotion. My images will form a narrative of emotion further expressed through the colouring and text developing the surrounding piece itself. My investigation to how strong emotions can be seen such as pain and beauty ( which makes up the sublime) links successfully from my practical work and both my analytical.  This ares of work has always fascinated me as it s so fabricated and philosophical that there is no direct answer but just a group of proposals and theories. This allows my artists never to be wrong while expressing their opinion but just subject to exploring in various ways without being deemed as wrong or incorrect. The relation to romanticism and emotions seen within a landscape still has a clear connection to the subject matter of political landscapes, and if anything forms more themes of cohesion throughout my project itself.

Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. Link to powerpoints about isms and movements M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Personal Study

  • Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  • Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  • Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
  • Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Essay Introduction, to include: 

  • Begin to read, make notes, identity quotes and comment to construct an argument for/against.
  • Explain how you intend to respond creatively to your artists references and further experimentation and development of your photographic work as part of your POLITICAL LANDSCAPE project.
  • Complete a draft version of your introduction 250-500 words) and upload to the blog by Mon 26 Nov.
  • Establish coherent and sustainable links between your own practical work with that of historical and contemporary reference.

Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g. what and who are you going to investigate. How does this area/ work interest you? What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument? Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against. What links are there with your previous studies? What have you explored so far in your Personal Investigation, or what are you going to photograph? How did or will your work develop. What camera skills, techniques or digital processes in Photoshop have or are you going to experiment with? Show evidence for an on-going critical and analytical review of your investigation – both your written essay and own practical work in response to research and analysis.

Overall essay structure: 

The plan: ,My question,Post modernism,Barthes analysis of photos,The emotion ,Cahun living and working what movements and ism why (modernism and post hadn’t come about),Sublime,Edmund Burke ,Discuss what I want to capture,Discuss about those three words of reality and such,Tim walker ,Tablo and created the likelihood and false reality of the danger of the sublime itself,My official aim wanting to access political, emotional dependancy of reality,How this links to political landscape,Overall what I want to have in my images and shoots,How these artists and philosophers have changed what I think about my work,My overall aim,Closing and finial analysis of question

 

A2 Personal Investigation

Academic Sources: refrencing

Leave a comment

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)