My photo book will be about the contrast of good days and bad days in relationships and showing the difference of a healthy relationship and unhealthy relationship.
A paragraph:
For my photo book, I want to show the pejorative and ameliorative sides of a romantic relationship. I am going to investigate what a ‘healthy relationship’ and a ‘unhealthy relationship’ is as I want to show the contrast of the two. I also want to investigate the intimacy of young relationships and show the difference of different relationships within my friendship group. Another idea that I want to investigate is the relationship between myself and my boyfriend, as I have never looked at myself in a project before.
Design:
How you want your book to look and feel: I want my photo book to look plain and simple as I think this will look best and is good for presenting my photos. I want it to feel smooth so that it is nice to hold.
Paper and ink: Premium Lustre 148 gsm
Format, size and orientation: Standard Portrait (20×25cm)
Binding and cover: Hardcover Image Wrap with a matte finish and
Title: ‘Espera’ to wait in Portuguese. Links back to the idea of waiting for somebody or telling someone to wait.
Yoshikatsu Fujii’s book ‘Red string’. I enjoy the tactile feel of the book.
Fujii’s project “Red String,” was highly inspired by his parents’ divorce, produced a hand-made limited edition photobook. red string is a reference to Japanese legend that people who are destined to be together have been tied together by invisible red string. he documents thier lives and includes old family images.
Red string feels fragile, made of felt like material with red string stitching, sewing on the title and small image. Its a soft cover, no image wrap or dust jacket. It has both black and white and colour images with the black and white images his original images and the coloured ones are the original childhood ones. The book’s orientation is portrait, roughly A5 size with roughly 80 pages (40 or so each half). Each half is bound together with Swiss binding (no binding in typical bending place). The title itself is relevant and poetic as red string is a reference to Japanese legend that people who are destined to be together have been tied together by invisible red string, which Fujii comments on at the end of each half. The narrative of the book is Fujii documenting his parents lives after their divorce. The book is a mix of his own images along with old family photos. The book has a very interesting design as it is split in two with, it seems, his mothers story on left and his fathers on right, relaying the message of his divided parents. The photos sometimes go over each half to read as one full image. Most of the double page spreads dont usually take up the whole page with archive images layered over originals images. One singular image rarely takes up whole page and image placement varies with some pages having multiple images. Pieces of paper with messages inserted into the book. The original images take by Fujii are not highly edited other than putting the images into black and white and slight photo montage between the original and old family images. It doesn’t seem to be sequenced specifically other than the book being in two halves. There is some text at the end and 3 inserted bits of paper with some text but not much.
The main photographer i will be studying is Lauren Greenfield.
Lauren Greenfield Is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has published four photographic monographs, directed four documentary features, produced four traveling exhibitions, and published in magazines throughout the world.
She is extremely well renowned predominantly for exploring class, status, wealth and extravagance within her own work, primarily through documentary photography.
Some of her main work pieces are as follows:
Generation Wealth:
Her main body of work surrounding this field is named “generation wealth”. This project is multi-platform and had been worked on from 2007 to 2017 through first-person interviews, with Greenfield starting in Los Angeles and spreading across America and beyond. It was based around the visual history of our growing obsession with wealth and it demonstrates a revelatory cultural documentation of wealth for viewers to explore, looking into depth at and documenting how we export the values of materialism, celebrity culture, and social status to every corner of the globe. Greenfield also uses this project to put across this modernised attitude people have acquired of wanting to get rich at all costs which has boomed in recent years. Such as the stories within this project like those of some of the students, single parents and families interviewed, who are overwhelmed with debt, yet determined to purchase luxury houses, cars, clothing and holidays. Some of Lauren’s most popular and influential work that relate very well to the area that I am studying within documentary photography are as seen below in her projects named, “Fast Forward” and the more popular of the two, “Generation Wealth.”This visual history of the growing obsession with wealth uses first-person interviews in Los Angeles, Moscow, Dubai, China and around the world to bear witness to the global boom-and-bust economy, and to document its complicated consequences including materialism and the desire to be wealthy at any cost.
The Los Angeles children encountered early in the book have become defined by the search for status through material acquisition. They buy multi-thousand-dollar handbags to take to class. Other kids in their grade are given BMWs when they turn sixteen. They compete over whose family can afford the best designer clothes, the most elaborate bar mitzvahs, the biggest houses. A 12-year-old whose working-class mother is bankrupting herself to finance the girl’s love of Ed Hardy designer tank tops is interviewed at one point. She explains how she knows she is putting great financial strain on her mom, and says she sort of feels bad about it, but explains: “I want the world; I want designer clothes, I want eternal happiness, the fountain of youth. I want to be able to afford ritzy private schools. I want the best of everything. Money is most definitely important for everything on my list of what I want.”
Fast Forward (Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood):
“Fast Forward” is a powerful look at Los Angeles youth culture and its influence on the rest of our society. From the affluent children of the Westside to the graffiti gangs and party crews of East LA, young Angelenos reckon with an overwhelming barrage of advertising and entertainment images emphasizing money, possessions, and eternal youth. This collection of 79 colour photographs, accompanied by interviews with the children and their parents, reveals the realities of growing up fast in a culture that is at once irresistible and unforgiving. A compelling precursor to Greenfield’s widely praised “Girl Culture,” “Fast Forward” is a telling document of the direction in which today’s ultra-image-conscious culture is pointed. It also documents the experience of growing up in Los Angeles, and the ways children are influenced by the values of Hollywood. The quest for “fame,” the preoccupation with trends, the culture of materialism, and the obsession with image that characterizes Hollywood is reflected in the everyday lives and rituals of L.A. youth. A recurring theme in the project is the fleeting quality of youth. As one teenager says, “You grow up really fast when you grow up here. L.A. is so fast-moving, and kids really mature at a young age. Everyone is in a rush to be old, to be going to the clubs, going out… It’s not cool to be a kid.”
Image: Mijanou and friends from Beverly Hills High School spending their Senior Beach Day at Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angles. Mijanou won the title of “best physique” at Beverly Hills High.
The photo that really launched Lauren’s career was called Mijanou and friends from Beverly Hills High School on Senior Beach Day. A picture taken in 1993 in Santa Monica, California, as part of this project. Greenfield came to make this picture circuitously through an internship at National Geographic, which was the professional experience to which Lauren’s career is also indebted. In the process of making this photograph and the project for which it became the iconic image, Greenfield explains how she found her voice as a photographer. The photograph of Mijanou ended up being the cover of the book and was published and exhibited internationally. Mijanou wasn’t rich, but she lived in a world where her friends were. She explained to Greenfield about the pressures of her world and how it was hard when you could not keep up, but she also recognized that her beauty allowed her entrée into the popular clique.
A representation of what it felt like to experience depression and anxiety.
A paragraphs:
A primarily surrealistic representation of my feelings during, what I’ve since dubbed as, the worst year of my life. Drawing inspiration from the works of Francesca Woodman and Mark Ellen Mark’s Ward 81, this book looks at both the emotional and physical aspects of depression and anxiety.
Design: Consider the following:
How you want your book to look and feel:
The book will focus on a darker theme to fit with its images. Grey will be
Paper and ink:
Premium matte paper.
Format, size and orientation:
A4, Portrait.
Binding and cover:
Hard Back binding. Image wrap on cover.
Title:
My book will remain untitled. This is a choice I made to symbolise the subjectivity of mental illness as it can vary for different people and I didn’t want people who couldn’t relate to the title to disregard the rest of the book.
Design and layout:
It is important to me that my book is somewhat visually pleasing. There’s an element of peace and acceptance to my images that my book needs to be consistent with. To do this I will use black and white to follow the themes of my images. These colours when used together can symbolise the sadness present while also removing colour that can often be associated with joy.
Editing and sequencing:
As previously mentioned, My book needs to be somewhat visually pleasing. Another way to achieve this is with the sequencing of my images. The book will follow a pattern; An environmental portrait -> A collection of images with the same theme -> A head shot style image. This will be repeated throughout the book.
Images and text:
There will be no text to accompany the images. I had thought about adding text to further create a personal feel to the images. However, I hadn’t written down my feelings at the time and I didn’t want to add in words that may be tainted by hindsight.
In the next four week focus on beginning to edit and collect all your images, archival material and texts, including finishing writing your essay needed to complete your photobook.
INTERIM DEADLINE: FRI 7 FEB DRAFT PHOTOBOOK LAYOUT
You want to aim for a draft layout and hand in draft version of your essay before your Mock Exam day, then use that day to fine tune design and complete essay.
1. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design. Produce a mood-board of design ideas and consider the following:
Narrative:What is your story? Describe in:
3 words
A sentence
A paragraphs
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel
Paper and ink
Format, size and orientation
Binding and cover
Title
Structure and architecture
Design and layout
Editing and sequencing
Images and text
2. Create a BLURB account using your school email address. With Blurb you have different options on how you design your book:
a) Using Lightroom to design your book which is integrated with BLURB. Only for use on school computers, unless you have LR at home on your own laptop.
b) Download Bookwright via Blurb onto your own laptop and work offline at home and you can work indecently of school. Here you have full control of layout/ design features. Once completed, you upload photo book design to Blurb
c) Choose online option if you want to work directly online. Very limited layout/design options (not recommended!)
For those who wish to make their own hand-made photobook using Indesign follow the same steps as below in terms of documenting and annotating your design process. or if you want to customize your Blurb book see me for more details on how to do it.
3. Using Lightroom make a rough selection of your 40-50 best pictures from all shoots. Make sure you have adjusted and standardised all the pictures in terms of exposure, colour balance/ B&W, contrast/brightness etc.
4. Print a set of small work prints (4 to one A4 page) on the Laserjet, cut them up in guillotine and lay them out on the big white table for editing.
5. Decide on format (landscape, portrait) size and style of your photo-book. Begin to design your photo book, considering carefully, narrative, editing, sequencing, page spreads, juxtaposition, image size, text pages, empty pages, use of archival material etc.
6. Add your illustrated essay at the end of your photo book, including title, any captions (if needed), bibliography, illustrations of artists work (incl data) and images of your own responses. Think carefully about font type, size and weighting.
7. Produce screen prints of layout ideas as you progress and add to Blog for further annotation, commenting on page layout/ narrative/ sequencing/ juxtaposition of pictures.
Film/ Podcast; produce screen prints as work progress that show your editing skills/ decisions.
8. Final prints: Select a set of 5-6 photographs as final outcomes and evaluate – explaining in some detail how well you realised your intentions and reflect on what you learned in your Political Landscape project.
9. Save final prints in our shared PRINT folder (no later than 15:00 end of your Mock exam day) in a high-resolution (4000 pixels on the long edge.) Save each images in your name i.e. first name_surname_title_1, and 2, 3 and so on.
10. Make sure all blog posts are finished including, research, analysis, experimentation, annotation and an evaluation of final outcomes.
A sentence- Photographing sentimental/ personal items to my dance journey.
A paragraph- The narrative for this photo book is me capturing important images/ objects/ articles/ costumes etc which have a sentimental value to my dance journey.
Considering Design
Want the book to feel/ look- I would like the book to be A5 sized with glossy paper to add a luxury feel to the book. The front and back of the book I would like for it to be soft back and glossy as I feel as if a hard back would not compliment the simplistic cover wanted. Carrying on, I would like the front and back of the book to look aesthetically pleasing ie, white backgrounds with simplistic writing. I may include an image of the dancers ballet shoes on point for the front of the book but I am going to play around with images and standard colors. Overall, I would like the book to feel luxurious but also look very simple and not overly complicated.
Paper and Ink- As for the paper I will like to use glossy paper with white backgrounds for the cropped images as this will add to my simplistic theme. For ink I will be typing all my text as again I personally like for them to look proper and i don’t feel as if written text with ink would look right in the book compared to the type of images that will be used. The ink for the front of the page will also be typed ink.
Format, Size and Orientation-
Binding and Cover- Ideally, I feel like a simple cover will be good for my book, ie either a hardback or paperback.
Title- For the title I aim to use a image from a photoshoot and add a title which adds to the narrative in a successful way.
Structure and Architecture- The structure for the photo book will be set out a certain way to add to the wanted aesthetic. This will mean that there will be the title written again on the first page with my name, the left hand side of the page will be left out before introducing each shoot. Next to the left hand side page I will use an image from the shoot following which will be small and places in the middle of the page, there will be written text on top to introduce the section ie. the name i’ve called that shoot. Following this, I will write an explanation of the shoot before showing the images
Editing and Sequencing- My initial idea at the moment is that I will show my images in chronological order in order to add emotion.
Images and Text- I would like to include minimum text in my book except for my essay which will be positioned at the back of the book. I will be using sequencing of images to tell a story.
The photo below has been chosen as it encapsulates the elements of the photo-book that interest me and relate to my essay.
The image has been taken using studio lighting, as evidenced by the background and the direction of the lighting. The light appears to be coming from slightly to the left of the camera, this can be inferred from the direction of the drop shadow as well as the amount of shallow details visible on the right face of the sculpture. Not much else can be inferred about technical aspects of the image due to the use of studio lighting, this allows a lower ISO and faster shutter to be use to reduce grain however this isn’t implicit in the image. The image features a single central subject, that being the chalk sculpture made by making clean cuts onto a block of raw chalk. these clean incisions strongly contrast the textured surface from the uncut chalk; in conjunction with the studio lighting, the flat, clean surfaces of the chalk appear to be flat and are often painstakingly oriented to line up with the table occasionally creating the effect that the image is composed of 2 separate images spliced together. The word ‘erratic’ referring to “a rock that has been transported by a glacier to somewhere far from its native environment.”. The body of work is focused of rock formations and sculpted chalk with the subject of the photos alternating across pages between the found rocks (particularly the stones within the desert at the start of the book) where these monolithic structures are contrasted with the man-made chalk sculptures. The outdoor shots spanned from the white cliffs of Dover to eastern Egypt. The use of sliced chalk facilitates the contrast of the textured, natural surface of the stone as well as the smooth faces where it has been cut.
For this photoshoot I wanted to capture images showing my father, my brother, and my brother’s family. I’m planning on taking these images at a bonfire event we will be attending. I think this will be interesting as it will allow me to get some more “natural” looking images since, for the most part, I will not be telling the subjects how to pose allowing me to capture more candid looking outputs. Since it will be dark, I will have to use flash when talking all these images, along with a quick shutter speed as I will be moving around a lot. My aim is to show close bonds between the family members.
Selecting images on Lightroom:
Editing my best images:
When editing the below images, I followed very similar steps in order to make sure these images had a more uniform look. I wanted to make sure my subjects stood out amongst the background since we were in public and there was a lot of distraction, and it was important they were the main focal point of my image as my aim was to show a close bond between everyone. I increased the contrast and decreased the exposure the appropriate amount for each image. In combination with this, I also increased the vibrancy to reintroduced some colour into the image, after the exposure was decreased.
pictured above (left to right) is my father and brother.
Pictured above: My brother, his girlfriend and her daughter
Evaluating the shoot:
On the whole, I feel that I was able to capture some technically successful images using my camera, and flash. I think I was able to show key members of my family and also the concept of family. On the other hand, I think that I may struggle to make these images fit in with my photo book narrative because These images are taken at an event, not portraits.
Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
The book itself feels light, the front covers smooth and glossy, coloured a pale pink with white letters saying ‘ All My Love’.
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
All of the images are placed or printed onto smooth white glossy pages. Most of the images have been printed into the pages directly using printer ink, apart from a few images which have been printed separately and stuck in on top of the pages. The images use a mix of colours and black and white tones,
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
The book is presented in a portrait orientation, and seems to be bigger than an A5 but just smaller than an A4. It contains 45 sheets of paper, giving us 90 pages in total.
The cover is a soft cover with pale pink glossy paper. It doesn’t contain an image wrap, leaving the book bare. The binding within the book has been hidden from the viewer.
For the cover of the book it uses glossy card to encase the book. It doesn’t contain any images on the front, it is just a blank pale pink with three small white letters printed near the bottom.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
The book contains poetic images which tell the tale of his parent’s divorce. He uses images of every day objects or people within his family which reminds him of his parents and their divorce. For example, he includes an image of a dandelion being blown away. This could symbolise his parents divorce and how marriage can be shattered with something as gentle as a soft blow, and that it leaves shards of their previous life behind.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
The book is about his parent’s divorce. He starts with an image of what looks like a page out of a children’s story book, showing a couple sitting by a window for dinner and a paragraph down the side
‘ In a world of rush , and crush and crowds, it all comes down to this, a tender word, a gentle touch, a smile, a look, a kiss…’
By including this as the first page of his photobook he starts of with a symbolic image, one which was meant to reference to the relationship his parents once had when they were married.
Throughout the rest of the book he tells the story of his parents divorce and how he dealt with being split between his two loved ones. He often included images of other people, himself and objects which he saw as important and nostalgic.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
He placed his images in many places among the pages. He included full-bleed on double and single pages, had some smaller images spread in many places, in the corners or the middle of the pages. Despite how random the placing might seem it does also seem to be well thought out.
To what extent can we trust documentary photography to tell the truth about reality?
“The process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object, or a scene with our cameras: we choose a portrait or landscape format” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18)
My personal investigation looks at my grandparent’s lifestyle and how it has been influenced by the time period they grew up in, the 1940’s. I have explored the influence of religion and spirituality, gender roles within the family structure and social norms during this time period which are still present in their lifestyle to this day. Holding strong connections with my grandparents led me to want to base my project on them, as I know I will be able to easily retrieve useful insight into their lifestyle, enhancing the imagery I produce, on top of forming a piece of work in which my family will cherish. In this essay I aim to discuss the extent to which documentary photography accurately portrays reality, with reference to two documentary style photographers, Latoya Ruby Frazier and Walker Evans. In this essay I will be referring to Walker Evan’s photographic series entitled ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’ (capital letters on title) and Latoya Ruby Frazier’s photographic series ‘The Notion of Family’. Analysing photographers who captured imagery in two different periods of time, contextual and contemporary comparison, allows me to illustrate whether the reliability has changed overtime or stayed consistent, providing a valid argument.
The art movement of realism and straight photography looks at creating imagery which showcase life how it is, this emerged in the 1840’s. Artists who work within this area look at raising social and cultural issues relevant within society at that time, in order to make the audience aware of this issue in hoping something can be done to make a change. This area looks at documentary photography and photojournalism to document the events which are occurring. Artists stick to the original techniques and purpose of photography, the use of photography for science, to create detailed, sharp images showcasing real life. Henry Fox Talbot created the calotype, which is said to be the basis for how photography is practised today in documenting everyday life. The calotype was done by creating a paper negative, exposing a sheet of paper coated with silver and chloride to a light source. His photographs used a short exposure time and allowed multiple prints to be produced through one negative. He believed that photographs were the cause of light, the influence of nature, on a paper negative and is illustrated through optical and chemical means. Artist Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre, also shared this ideology behind image making and stated that photography “consists in the spontaneous reproduction of the images of nature received in the camera obscura, not with their colors, but with very fine gradation of tones.” (Daguerre Mandé 1838: page no – if known?). This illustrates how this art movement allows nature to present itself showing the reliability of imagery, which is then contradicted as it states its a spontaneous reproduction suggesting the accuracy of the imagery is reduced. Artist Frederick Henry Evans’ ‘A sea of a step’ clearly presents realism through the composition and use of the formal elements of light and space. Conceptually, the imagery portrays the climbing up the stairs, as if the stairs lead towards a euphoric feeling. “He drew on the Symbolist manner of using objects to directly express esoteric ideas.” (The Art Story – need help referencing this please – okay, where did you get this quote from?). This use of symbolism creates a subjective perspective reducing the reliability of this art movement. Paul Strand took a different approach to capturing objects, using a macro technique with clear focus on light and shadow and the contrast between the two in order for the work to “be brutally direct; devoid of all flim-flam; devoid of trickery and of any ‘ism’; devoid of any attempt to mystify an ignorant public, including the photographers themselves.” (need help again referencing). This suggests how Strand’s work produces a more objective narrative which clearly depicts reality illustrating how this art movement can be truthful. Looking closely towards documentary photography, a style of photography which places into this art movement, artist Walker Evan’s and Latoya Ruby Frazier use portraiture to showcase the lifestyle of the subjects presented in the frame in their natural environment, somewhere familiar to them that they have a relationship with, but to what extent does these photographers accurately portray the subjects lifestyle? With my topic being based in my grandparent’s lifestyle, I felt that using a documentary approach to photography would be the most appropriate to showcase this, as well as the project looking at social issues of family structure and gender roles being raised, thus drawing connections with realism and straight photography.
Comments: This paragraph provide a good historical overview of the origins of photography and its relationship with reality. You need to comment on photography inherent inability to represent truth as the act of photography is always subjective and artifice ie. the person behind the camera decided where to point the camera. And, the photograph itself is only ever a representation of a reality. I will try and think of a relevant essay fro you to read that questions photography and veracity seen from a postmodern perspective – I will email or send an online link via comments on the blog.
Walker Evan’s ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’ photographic series explores the exploitation of Tenant farmers in Alabama during the Great Depression, through the medium of documentary portraits. With close analysis to the ‘Allie Mae Burroughs’ produced in 1936, the portrayal of the narrative clearly illustrates the dire conditions to which these families are subjected to, and draws upon the ideology that they do not know life any differently to the life they live now. “The essence is done very quietly with a flash of the mind, and with a machine. I think too that photography is editing, editing after the taking. After knowing what to take, you have to do the editing.” (Evans 1971 : page no – if known?) – Evans suggest that although his photographs are trying to capture reality, manipulation of capturing or editing still effects the photographs and the way in which it truthfully presents the Tenant’s pejorative lifestyles. In an article, published by the Guardian, the author describes Evan’s imagery to accurately present reality, “You can’t sniff the stink of the quilts in the Evans pictures, nor itch with the lice in the pillows. The foul beds take on a Shaker dignity of form. A gasoline pump on the porch of a post office metamorphoses into sculptural permanence within the fixed focal length of Evans’s lens.” (author ?? 2001 : page no – if known? ). His positive critique to Evans’ imagery emphasises how accurately he managed to capture the raw living environments of the tenant families, which allows viewers to sympathises for these families, as we understand that they do not know life any differently, which contradicts the viewpoint of Evan, but who are we to believe more? Simplicity in the composition allows an accurate reliable source to be illustrated. Evan’s subject is placed in the centre of the frame, and using naturalistic lighting he captures the subject gawking into the lens as if they are asking for mercy. He captures the subject in their naturalistic environment allowing the authenticity of his imagery to be upheld, and allows reinforcement for the sympathetic connection to be between the subject and viewers. Technically, he uses a large depth of field, due to the whole frame being in focus, suggesting a small aperture and slower shutter speed. It is recorded that Evan has four different variations of his ‘Allie Mae Burroughs’ which reduces the reliability of his work, due to manipulation of his subject in each image, which can lead to us not fully conforming to believe in this social implication, as it not being a reliable source due to several versions of the same image, with only one outcome being used. In my response, I captured my Grandparents outside of their homes, in locations where they spent the most time when outside, or the areas in which they felt illustrated their lifestyle. Similarly, using a small aperture and slow shutter speed, I used a tripod in order to produce detailed and well structured portraits. The natural light source from outside and naturalistic environment, allowed me to maintain the authenticity of my imagery allowing for a reliable source presenting my Grandparents lifestyle. In terms of concept, I captured my photographs mainly outside using simplistic backgrounds illustrating their lifestyle, but I also decided to explore this connection of subject and location with the interior of my Grandparents house, as they spend more time inside than out.
Bibliography:
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H.(2019), Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House
Rule, V. (2001). Review: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/aug/18/historybooks.highereducation [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].