I have chosen the below images as my finals for this photo-shoot, as I feel they best represent the initial brief, as they represent 2 different times in the same subjects life, showing the journey that they subject has been on between the 2 images, in 2 still-frames, leaving the viewer to wonder how the subject came to look/be the way they are today.
Like my previous photo shoot, I captured images throughout the day, however this time I decided to take pictures of the tide so the viewer can see the extreme change from low to high tide in Jersey. Jersey may be a small island, but it can boast some of the biggest tides in the world. When it recedes, the immense body of water seems to melt into the horizon, only to surge back onto shore with alarming speeds.
I planned this photo shoot by going on the website gov.je to know when there will be a high or low tide on Sunday the 24th of March. I found out that the tides will be high around 8:40 am and low at 3:20pm. This was a perfect day to take pictures of the tide changing since the difference from high to low would occur during daylight. I decided that I would take pictures every hour from 10am to 4pm. Taking pictures of the tide every hour meant that the viewer can see the gradual change from high to low tide.
I took pictures of the tide at Gorey beach since it’s only a 5 minute walk from my house. I made sure that the camera angle didn’t change drastically by having a fixed spot where I would take pictures from every hour. My spot was a bench on a hill overlooking the coast. Here I would be able to get some good shots of the tides.
For my edits with the Bunkers I wanted to produce final images which looked like my artist research who inspired this photoshoot. However, when I started experimenting I found it hard to find a way to make my photograph look like Jonathon Andrew’s work as his lit up bunker was taken at nighttime with artificial lights lighting up the bunker, but I knew I could make an image look like Paul Virilio as his work was simple to edit. Due to the simplicity of Virilio edits, I decided to conducted further experimentation and research into potential ideas in order to showcase my photoshop skills and make more interesting images.
Further Experimentation Ideas
I decided to attempt an Idris Khan inspired edit. In order to get a better understanding of Khan’s work I have decided to create another case study which will allow me to see the requirements of his work, which I can then implement into my work.
Idris Khan:
Idris Khan is a British based photographer/artist who intends to showcase history, art and music through densely layered imagery. Khan is a Muslim , which is one of his interests within photography, people say that his work is “compressed memories”, which creates a more powerful meaning towards his photography. He can be considered a successful photographer as his work has been displayed in multiple exhibitions around the globe, from Canada to Switzerland. One of Khan’s most successful moments was being asked to create a new wall of drawing for an exhibition for the British Museum in London
The image above is my favourite image that Khan has produced. Initially my eyes are drawn to the subject of the image which is the shed located in the centre of the frame. The more I look at the subject of the image the more detail I notice from the overlapping of the subject. The technique of overlapping has produced quite an abstract looking image but helps to present a narrative for the time of history he is trying to present. Technically speaking the overlapping may have been created on a photo manipulation software by duplicating, moving and Turing down the opacity of a lawyer, or it may have been created using a slow shutter speed. Having the slow shutter speed he could have moved his camera slightly which would have created this effect, however the image would be much more blurred than it is. In my opinion I think he has done this on a photo manipulation software which means a normal shutter speed was used. Alongside this I believe the ISO will have been raised as there is an intended blur and noise being created which has added to the texture which is being presented by the subject of the image. The depth of field being used seems to be narrow as the subject is mainly in focus with the background and foreground being slightly out of focus. The aperture Khan used may be slightly lower as the image seems to be naturally darker, so having this setting lower will make sense. In terms of the white balance I believe the image was taken using a normal outdoor white balance. The lighting is quite cold due to the grey and black which creates a eerie mood and helps to emphasis the historical aspect of the image. To achieve this I believe he took the image with natural lighting, but when the clouds covered the sun creating the coldness towards the image. The subject itself is the main focus point and presents the formal elements of Texture, through the overlapping, space, as the subject is located in the centre of the Fram creating a sense of space, shape, as the overlapping creates an overall abstract looking building. The image is presented in black and white which allows the image to show clear tonal contrast, presents the historical factors and adds to the overall eerie mood which is being created. Contextually, Khan wanted to showcase this building as an impressionistic drawing or blurred film, how things where when he was young. This was his artistic aim throughout this series. Conceptually, Khan wanted to present buildings but make them seem strangely imposing and alien like making viewers rethink about what the world is. To apply this concept into my work I will use a similar effect to make people rethink and understand the importance the bunkers had within the second world war in Jersey, thus helping to provide context to those who may not know why the bunkers actually exist.
Below are my attempts at producing super imposed photographs like Khan:
In order to create these images I started off by levelling and adjusting the curves of the image to create effect. I then desaturated my image, and duplicated the layer. Once the layer was duplicated I turned down the opacity of the layer and moved it slightly, repeating the duplication process slightly until I was happy with my final outcomes.
Comparison:
I believe that my outcomes are very similar to Khan’s imagery showing my ability to take inspiration from an artist an applying it to my work. When editing my images I took the same aim as Khan which allowed me to produce such accurate responses. To compare we both have used the layering technique which makes a visually stimulating and abstract photograph which showcase a historical event. Moreover, they are both in black and white clearly presenting the formal elements of texture, space and shape. Both elements seem to have intended noise which means that my editing technique has made my image seem more like Khan’s creating another similarity. One difference is that my duplications are more spread out, as I much prefer the look when it is more spread out as it helps to guide my viewers eyes around the image. Another difference is that Khan’s image has more structure with the lines which allows the effect to stand out where as mine is much softer which makes a weaker effect. Both images have presented a cold atmosphere due to the lighting and editing being combined creating an overall eerie tone towards the two images. Khan’s image is much more darker where as my image presents a more natural look which overall does not make that much of a difference. I believe that my image has more historical context towards it creating a more powerful meaning compared to Khan’s. As shown both images are much like one another but both showcase our own artistic style, creating successful abstract images.
Action Plan:
To further this experimentation I have decided to print some of these outcomes on acetate, to which I will hold up to the camera lens and recapture some of these bunkers. Moreover, I will use them to use a back projector which will project my images onto abstract walls creating further experimentation and cool outcomes. In addition, I have printed on of the images into 8 different segments of A3 paper, I intend to stick these onto card creating a massive bunker, take this big image to the location and capture the bunker itself with the big image showing the big impact it has. This will be my further experimentation towards this area of research.
I liked the ideas presented by the Boyle family when exploring different elements of the ‘journeys and pathways’ subject. The images produced tell a story of the photographer going on a journey, instead of having a model or exploring the conceptual ideas of a journey. The roads and pavements show not only how people travel (either walking or driving on the road), but the literal journey of the photographer. There is a strange reality to the images that make them seem relatable, as they are simple subjects that you see everyday, but never take into account the detail or abstract nature of the lines and symbols painted on the road, or the cracks in the pavement that everyone walks over without a second thought. There is a history in each photo, whether its the leaves in the grate of a drain, or the fading yellow lines parallel to the pavement, each picture shows a neglected slab of ground that nobody else thought to pay any attention.
Contact Sheet:
Final Images
The following images are my favourites from the second photo shoot; they have all been edited in varying amounts, from colour grading to applying colour masks and special effects.
Background:
Boyle Family is a group of collaborative artists based in London. Mark Boyle and Joan Hills met in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1957, Joan a single mother who had left her art and architecture studies to bring up her son and Mark was serving in the army. Within months they were collaborating, initially exhibiting their work under Boyle’s name until their work became widely known and they exhibited as Mark Boyle and Joan Hills. When their children, Sebastian born in 1962 and Georgia born in 1963, began to collaborate with them from the late 1970s onwards, the group became established as Boyle Family.
Best known for ‘earth’ photography, focusing on the different textures of the ground. These photographic works combine real material from the site they are using for the shoot (stones, dust, twigs etc) with paint and resins, preserving the form of the ground to make unique one-off pieces that suggest and offer new interpretations of the environment.
Photographic Analysis:
This style of image is a very unique way to show the journeys and pathways, as it not only shows the physical road/pavement that we walk on, but it also shows the history of the concrete, the paintwork, and cracked slabs on the pavement. It shows a different kind history that is so often overlooked. There are very distinguishable features in the textures which are amplified by the wet surface, helping show the more intricate details in the road, as well as creating more definition between cracks in the pavement.
In this photo you can see the light coming from the left side of the image. As there is only light coming in from one spot on the left, I would imagine that the light is artificial, however it could be the sun slightly shining through the clouds on an overcast day. Wherever the light source is coming from, it creates a very nice reflection that shows even more detail in the uneven surface of the road. Taken from standing height, I would imagine that the lens that Boyle used would have had a fairly ‘standard’ or ‘medium’ focal length for this picture, somewhere in the region of around 50-85mm.
Alice Wielinga: ‘A Life Between Propaganda and Reality. In her North Korea – A Life between Propaganda and Reality series, Alice Wielinga links the documentary photographs she took in North Korea to the propaganda images produced by the government. Her pictures are part of the North Korean Perspectives exhibition, on display at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, up until October 4, 2015.’
‘North Korean: A Life Between Propaganda and Reality’ is an ongoing project by Photographer Alice Wielinga. This project began in 2013, when at the time western media was following the steps of Kim Jong-Un closely during his missile test launches, Wielinga traveled 2500 kilometers through the inlands of North Korea.
“I decided to find out what was happening inside North Korea, behind its propaganda that masked such unfathomable despair and poverty. During my trip I collected propaganda material and took documentary photographs of the reality I encountered. In the final works, a dialogue between propaganda and reality has emerged, trying to reconcile the present and the future of the country nobody really seems to know.”
Wielinga’s main aim of her trip was show what the realities of North Korea were, compared to the idealistic version of the country: which is presented through propaganda throughout North Korea itself and other countries.
Analysis
The photo above is one of my favourites from this project, as I think it outlines her intentions the best and shows the greatest comparison between the two worlds. Beginning with the setting of the picture, on the real life version, it is gloomy, there is a lot of fog and mist. The trees are barren and there is no greenery in sight. In the pond, the difference between the two is very clear, the pond in reality is drying out and is surrounded by old debris from the area around it, there are broken boxes strewn everywhere and the buildings in the background are grey and seem to be decrepit, almost falling apart. The reality side overall looks like a wasteland. This juxtaposes the painting version of the scene. This was taken from an archive of government paintings of North Korea. The colours are vivid, the sun is shining and everything seems to be picturesque. There is no lack of greenery, the trees are full of leaves and there are flowers everywhere, this painting overall presents an idealistic view of the country, how it wants to be regarded by the rest of the world, who are forbidden entry. Lastly, the people in the image: in the realistic version their clothes are dark and look like government-issue workwear. In the painting they are wearing brightly coloured free flowing clothes, the women are wearing dresses and they all seem to have freedom. Which the outside world is aware that they definitely don’t have, everything in North Korea is controlled, even hairstyles. The facial expressions on each are also wildly different, in the painting they are smiling and laughing, happily getting on with their days work. In reality, the workers are forced, their faces are staring unknowingly at the camera and they look tired and worn out from the regime.
Brief History of Propaganda in North Korea:
Propaganda has been used throughout history to influence and sway public opinion, particularly in totalitarian states. Being subject to endless propaganda is common for North Koreans, especially anti-American propaganda. Throughout history it has become common knowledge that the North Korean State hates Americans, this is because in the Korean War, American planes dropped approximately 635,000 tons of explosives on North Korea (that’s more in three years than during the entire Pacific theater of World War II), including 32,000 tons of napalm.
That continued fear of deadly US military airstrikes helps the North Korean government to portray Americans as a far-away caricature, a faceless enemy that leveled their country and could do so again.
Above is a North Korean propaganda poster displayed at a kindergarten in 2012 in Pyongyang, North Korea. The Korean characters say “we love playing military games knocking down the American bastards.”
The North Korean state attempts to create a deep hatred for the United States. Kindergartners draw anti-American martial images. The Korean news media releases videos of the US military in flames. The June 25 anniversary of the start of the Korean War is “the day of struggle against US imperialism.”
Wielinga has also done a Ted-Talk since returning from the trip, where she explains what she learnt from working with North Korean Artists. I have linked this below. For my own work, I want to explore the technique in which Wielinga uses to bring the two realities together and bring a bit of awareness to certain topics, however on a smaller and less serious scale than North Korea.
Sources
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/26/asia/north-korea-united-states-relationship/index.htmlhttp://www.alicewielinga.nl/
This is the editing process of one of the photos from my second photo shoot. It mostly focuses on colour grading
The following three images are screenshots of the steps in which I applied the colour mask to the photo. I did it in steps so that if I made an error I wouldn’t need to start over.
These are the two final photos I have come up with after editing the original.
