Still life: Studio Photography

Once I was confident with my understanding of the lights and layout of the studio, I could begin taking photographs of the archival objects that were loaned from the Jersey Archives. I made use of the cameras already attached to the tripods but used my own SD card. After taking a series of images, I came out with the below series (unedited):

As some of the images were either overexposed, underexposed, or had the wrong composition, I uploaded the images into Light-room, and used the colour option to highlight which images I wanted to use, and which images I would reject. The following screenshot is the collection of all of my images after they had been colour coded:

Key:
Green: Final images
Yellow: Possible final images (need more editing)
Red: Rejected images

Out of the images I uploaded to Light-room, I only decided to edit 14 of my best (those highlighted green). The final 14 images can be seen below:

I took some of these images with the knowledge I would most likely use them in a series/pattern (for example, the final 3 images are the same object at different angles, which I took under the assumption that I would use them in series)

As a further method of rating each image, I decided to rate each of the green images /5 in order to record which images I felt would work best, and which ones I felt needed the most editing during the development stage:

The ratings of the above images ranges from 3/5 to 5/5, showing a variation of images at different levels.

I then began the development process, in which I would edit the images that I had labelled green. I used the Light-room editing software, as I find it more detailed and specific than the Photo-shop software. I found that editing the colour gradients and contrasts of my images would be the most important part of this process, along with altering the orientation of some of the images so that the objects lay parallel to the bottom of the image frame.

For many of the images, I increased the contrast of the colours in order to produce bolder outlines and harsher colours. I felt that this helped to make the images appear more sharp and clinical, and gave harsher outlines and contrast in the colours and shadows. I decided to do this as I feel this harsh, sharp appearance reflects the atmosphere of the occupation, as the occupation of Jersey can be seen as a harsh and cruel event that made the lives of the occupants of the island much harder.

Furthermore, I decided to increase the clarity of some of my images. I found that by raising the clarity, the clarity of every small damaged area/detail was emphasized, making the objects of each image look more worn and used. I decided to use this on a range of occasions to emphasize the time difference between now and the occupation, and to emphasize that, although these objects represent a time man years ago, the implications of this event is no less relevant.

I also adjusted the orientation of some of my images, as the way the tripod was set out meant that the camera took some of the images at a slight angle, meaning the lines of the objects were not parallel to the bottom lie of the image frame. I found this to be a small issue which could have reduced the viewers focus on the subject itself, as their attention may instead have been drawn to the conflicting angles at the bottom of the image. I altered this using the crop option found on the tool bar at the side of the screen, and simply rotated the image until the lines were parallel:

After the editing process, I was able to save the below images as my final images:

Bunker- independent approach

After visiting the different bunkers around the island and having different opportunities to further my photographic understandings and capabilities when capturing historical land marks, it was time to investigate by myself and explore other significant landmarks on the island. I did some research on historical bunkers around the island and decided on the features down at Corbiere Saint Ouens. For this shoot i decided to shoot during the day as i know their are lots sea views and wanted the chance to possibly get some imaged where the sun is reflecting off the ocean. So on a Sunday afternoon i drove down to the lighthouse and took my images of the bunkers, the lighthouse and the tower; when i returned home i put al my images on my computer and opened them upin Light Room Classic which enabled me select my best images and categories them in star rating which helped me slim down my choices for the final image selection.

MY FINAL EDITS:

For this image I wanted to highlight the significance of the sunbeam seeping in through the clouds and reflecting off the ocean, to do this i darkened the clouds and lightened the sun rays which help contrast them against each other.

For the two above pieces i wanted into reflect the old and the new, from the beginning to the end of the Second World War and show the significant features that are laid on our ground and continue to show the history that the island went through during that time period. Furthermore, I presented this idea through having one of the images in a much darker colour using black and white shade along side a background of warmth which adds more feeling and thought to the picture; compared to the opposite image which has lots of colour and warm radiating from the natural sunlight.

I liked this image a lot and decided to include it in my final collection as the focus of the image is on the tree and the rocks are blurred which I believes gives an enticing contrast and makes it original from the rest of my images

For this particular image I liked the idea of the isolation of the bench and the idea of looking out to a infinity of ocean and help point out historical meaning of what it may have felt like to be part of the Second World War

Francesca Stern Woodman

ABOUT:

Francesca Stern Woodman was born in 3rd April 1958 and died on the 19th January in 1981, and was an American photographer and was best known for her work based around black and white images using her self in self portraits or a female model to represent herself. In her images they were often blurred this was due to the movement of the model and the long shutter speed, and the subject would often start to merge with the background and surroundings of the image or faces and appearance would often be fairly obscure. From her personal life its important to consider her struggles that she experiences, in the late 1980, Woodman began to shows signs of depressions which was due to the consistent failure of her work to attract attention which was produced from a broken relationship, this was where she survived her fist suicide attempt in the Autumn of 1980 when in Manhattan. Tragically on January 1981 Woodman jumped out of a loft window at the age of twenty-two and died. ‘An acquaintance wrote, “things had been bad, there had been therapy, things had gotten better, guard had been let down”. ‘ Davison, Peter. Girl, seeming to disappear. Atlantic Monthly, 2000 May;285(5):108–111.

MOOD BOARD:

Image result for francesca woodman photography"

Visual:

Francesca Woodman’s images are always portrayed with such a strong once looking at them. In this image you see an empty room which some what looks dirty with the walls being marked. The room gives off a cold feeling and lonely feeling with the image of the woman, doing what looks like reaching down to the floor. However her whole figure is distorted and blurred so you are unable to see any feature of her body or face. Although her shoes are still in fair quality this will be down to the fact she hadn’t yet moved when the photo was being taken. By being able to see her shoes it implies a woman is being photographed due to the high heels that are worn. The woman is positioned to the left of the image and what feels fairly manipulated to be presented as far away from the camera right up near the wall.

Technical:

In this image there is a clear representation of shadows being produced this could have been effected by natural daylight shining in through the window. The main focus of the image is the woman who is located on the fair left and positioned far back at the wall from the camera. It’s clear that for this image to have the appearance it does the camera must have had an extremely low shutter speed in order to create the blurriness of the figures movement. To me this image is displaying a mixture of texture with the wall and floor almost feeling gritty and unsmooth compared to the figure who is over ‘’smooth’’ in the sense that there are no lines or clear outline to the woman creating a distorted feeling to the image.

Conceptual:

How does this image make you feel? The image present the feeling of loneliness this is represented through the feeling of the rustic empty and oversized room. With then only one distorted figure cramped in the order. Her movement almost like she’s trying to break out from that corner and start to spread out. The blurred figure gives the feeling of rushing that she was moving fast, possibly wanting to get away from something- the loneliness?

Contextual:

From research it is clear that Francesca Woodman ad a hard and what she felt dark. With loving photography so much and no one else appreciating it like she did. The idea of the loneliness in this image could be portrayed as Woodman emotions of her own work the idea that she was alone with no one else to look and view her work.