One idea I have for the topic of journeys and pathways is going on a nature pathway. I went for a quick walk and documented some of the things I saw such as the landscape and the different flowers/plants that I encountered on the way. What I need to improve on some of the images is the focus and exposure, as some of the images such as the buttercups are over-exposed and out of focus. However I do like some of the landscape images I took.
Although I do like the idea of documenting nature walks, I don't think I would like to document them for my project. My reasoning is that I would prefer to study something more conceptual and meaningful. For example, I believe that documenting people would be more suited to my project because each and every person has a different and I could explore the journey of life.
Just below the gallery are some of the images that I manipulated from this photo shoot. I used adobe lightroom to manipulate the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, vibrancy and I cropped some of the images. I wanted to bring out the vibrancy and colour of the images and also fix some of the exposure problems. My favourite image is of the fox gloves because I love the pop of magenta, I also like the depth of field in the image.
My Manipulation of Some of the Images From the Photo shoot
As a class trip, we visited CCA Galleries and viewed the works of Carinthia West, Rupert Truman and Mike McCartney. Carinthia's drew me emotionally as I think she captures the emotions of her subjects so naturally. I also like the way she portrays her celebrity subjects in such a natural and carefree environment, showing how away from the limelight, they're just normal people. I also really liked Truman's photos because the more you look at them, the more minute but significant details you spot.
A photo of West’s workMy teacher discussing his opinions on West’s work.Some more of West’s work. One of Truman’s portraits.Some of Mike McCartney’s work, including a variety of portraits and architectural photographs.
I also liked a lot of Truman's work because you have to really analyse the image to make sense and realize the multiple underlying indexical meanings hidden in the images. Also I like how some of the meanings are difficult to interpret, leaving the imagination to try and sense what is going on.
I liked some of McCartney's work, however I feel they weren't as emotionally involved as West's work. Carinthia West's work seems more raw and really catch the normalities and fun the celebrities have, and McCartney's work seems to me more forced, almost like they're staged. Although his images are aesthetically pleasing and are very interesting, especially to Beatles fans, i feel they aren't as natural and raw as West's work.
In the 1970's Carinthia West was an actress and journalist and in her spare time she photographed many of her friends. In that era they turned out to be some of the most famous musicians, actors and musicians. West's work is viewed as extremely intimate and it shows a private side of the celebrities that is often hidden and secluded from the public eye.
Carinthia describes how she remembers her great-grandmother being a very keen photographer and how when she was 9 years old she received a little plastic camera. In the early 1970's however, West received a Canon EF which was a 35mm film camera. She toyed around with exposures as she took photos of her friends.
Rupert Truman
A collage of Truman’s work.
Truman claims that he's "been taking photos for as long as I remember" and that when he was a teenager he had a passion for black and white photography.
Truman completed a degree in geology, however realized that he wanted to pursue his true passion - photography. He later began working with Storm Thorgerson and later when he passed away, became one of the three individuals who storm left his studio for.
A lot of Truman's work is conceptual album covers that feature multiple indexical meanings that the viewers need to analyse to be able to interpret. Him and Storm Studios have created album covers for artists such as Pink Floyd, Muse, Biffy Clyro, The Steve Miller Band, Ian Dury And The Blockheads, Pendulum, The Cranberries, The Mars Volta, Alan Parsons.
Mike McCartney
A collage of some of Mike McCartney’s work.
Mike McCartney is a known as a rock photographer, who was known to take photos of his older brother Paul McCartney and his band: The Beatles. Mike particularly liked taking photos with a flash gun and gained the nickname "Flash Harry". Mike has released multiple books of photos he's taken of The Beatles and he also took the photo of Paul McCartney's album cover for Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.
