For the framing of my images I had the idea of tessellation prior to selecting my images. This eventually evolved to the idea of arranging the images similar to the logarithmic spiral created in accordance with the findings of Phidias (more commonly known as the golden spiral or golden ratio). As such I arranged my prints in such a manner that the images appeared to roughly halve length-ways, with equal spacing between the images in all directions.
Erasure
Uncomfortable Skin
Display Box
Below is a link to the final composition
The sequencing of my photo-book is primarily for aesthetics reasons, as to not crowd particular sections of the photo-book with images to visually similar to the images proceeding them, with much of the narrative aspect coming from the photos as a collective as opposed to a linear narrative.
Interspersed within the images are commentaries on abstraction and photography as a medium from myself and other photographers/ writers.
In order to occasionally break up the landscape oriented images are several studio photographs to introduce more elements of 3D shape in form.
I decided against including the essay directly within the book in order to prevent the book from being broken up by several large blocks of text. As such I decided upon creating a booklet using Adobe InDesign. I instead decided to intersperse my photos with commentaries on photography and abstraction from myself and others.
Final essay booklet layout
I decided upon using ‘Zawody’ as my final title for the book. This is the polish word for occupations under the context of work synonymous of professions as a form of wordplay due to the forced labour of many Europeans used in the construction of the subjects within my photo-book. The initial title was simply ‘Occupations’ however I had felt that this didn’t bring any personal connection to the title, as such I chose to use the polish translation of the word in it’s stead.
I had decided that I wanted to include a strong graphical element in my title-page and thus I began studying German military markings used during WW2 and looked for one that i believed would be of sufficient impact for a title-page. I decided upon the general composition of the title-page prior to creating it digitally.
The original edit consisted of a deadpan shot of the sea wall, converted to monochrome with very low levels with minimal highlights to suggest the presence of texture. I did this as i didn’t want to simply use a black background due to the lack of room for further experimentation given that approach.
The marking was then created and weathered using blending options on Photoshop combined with a low radius Gaussian blur filter in order to reduce any aliasing produced by the blending.
I later decided that the yellow was too harsh a contrast to the rest of the subject matter within the book and thus brought it down to a more subtle tone.
The decision was later made to have the title-page on the first double page spread of the book instead of as a cover, leaving a linen cover. Due to this decision the title-page once more harshly contrasted the rest of the book, thus I brought up the shadows quite heavily and reduced the contrast. The text and markings were also brought to a tone and colour closer to that of the sand in the images.
Virtual version of my book: https://www.blurb.co.uk/books/10010414-a-family-story
After gathering photographs and photo shoots i decided that i will present them in a form where they’re not completely visible or just make it hard to tell what is happening in the photograph by editing them through Photoshop and exploring new filters and editing techniques.
I decided to make my photographs indirect as to represent my confusion about my decision to join the navy, due to the fear of racism that i might receive if i commit my life to that base, and i only think that because of the racism i received at my marines cadet unit. And i think hiding my identity or making it unclear will show my feeling about the hard decision i am having to make at this very moment till next year.
I will be importing the photographs i took on my camera to the schools computer and using Photoshop cc as my main source for editing, first of all i will be choosing the usable photographs that i will be using by deleting the unwanted ones, after that i will start editing the chosen photographs by cropping unwanted areas of the photographs, after that i will be experimenting different filter and editing techniques, mainly blur effects to hide my identity or to represent my confusion for example my giving a sharp photograph of myself wearing uniform a motion blur effect. After that i will be exploring different effects to hide my identity for example inverting or posterizing my photographs.
I like the invert effect as you can see in the image above. The effect adds a lot of meaning to a photograph and specially it is very related to my topic as invert effect is just the negative of a photograph which represents my negativity towards being in the marines.
The story about my great grandfather Mashhoor Hadeetha Al-Jazi as told in my photobook got me thinking about war and how war has been photographed. The military has always played a significant part in my family. Nine members of my family have all had a distinguished career in the Jordanian military, but my great-grandfather’s, who was a Jordanian army commander in the Battle of K has always fascinated me and to a large extent influenced me in following in his footsteps. In this essay I will be investigating how war in the Middle East has been documented in photographs. This study will be based around analyzing a set of images from my great-grandfather’s Battle at and compare those images to images of recent conflicts in the region
The Purpose of War Photography:
I am really effected by the way wars have changed over time and how now a days war is much easier due to the industrial revolution some countries can destroy a whole other country from the comfort of an office. And years ago soldiers had to actually go on battle fields and put their lives at risk and that is how I lost my great grandfather.
“If war truly is a force that gives us meaning, photography is a force that gives us a means by which to envision that meaning.” (Bob Duggan,2012:1) Duggan is saying that photography of war is just as important as the war itself or else the war wouldn’t have much meaning.
This is my favorite war photographs, it was taken in 1964 in the Karamah Battle and you can see Mashhour in the front taking the lead. With his great heroic character as seen in the photograph wearing his CO uniform giving him this leader image. This photograph was taken by a war journalist back then when they had to be embedded within a troop risking their life to take these photographs that are the most important aspect of a war to complete its meaning as if there is a war without much photographs not many people will give it their attention, as the sad reality is that what people haven’t seen to them it hasn’t happened. The photographer took this photograph while Mashhour was leading his troop towards the war field and he took it just in time when you can see even though they’re headed towards war Mashhour still had a smile on his face which represent how proud he was to be the one chosen to lead these heroes to bring independence to their country. They were barging through the grass reaching half way their height, off road marching on the desert sands, waiting patiently for something to happen.
The photograph was taken under natural day light where the broad day desert sun light was positioned from above, making the photograph a bit over exposed mean while giving it a good glare. The aperture was made to be a wide range giving the photograph a deep depth of field but due to the poor quality of lenses at that time the photograph was not very focused and gave the image that small blare effect. And high speed shutter speed wasn’t available at that time so it there was a slight motion blur. The chosen shutter speed gave the photograph high grain. More over, the white balance of the camera settings made the photograph quite warm. The combination of the grass and soldiers give the image textural quality that is ‘busy’ to look at. The color of their uniform blends in with the background. And the combination of the dark soldiers with the bright environment gave the image more quality.
This is a recent photograph of a modern day war in Afghanistan taken on November 2001, these american marines where in a country that isn’t theirs and were fighting the locals in it. You can see the difference between this photograph and the old photograph of the Karamah battle, in this photo it represents how much the soldiers had to carry on their back as there is too much evolved technology so war became more competitive with time. These marines look very exhausted as they’re walking through the sunny desert sun with a lot of load on them. Further more, in the Karamah battle photograph the background was just of an old tank which is what they used to use in the old days meanwhile the back ground of this photograph is off a more evolved and technological weaponry vehicle which is a helicopter. And i believe that war now a days is not as much effort taking but if more destructive as to the evolution of weaponry which increased competition between nations.
This photograph was taken using a state of the art camera which is easier to use as its lighter with better quality and finally more settings option. This photograph was taken with the sunlight that’s positioned facing the soldiers as the main source of light, you can see that as the reflection of the light on their faces prove it. And that brightness made the image over exposed with a slight glare. And the advanced lens was more focused with a deep depth of field making it sharp. Due to the option of faster shutter speed with new cameras. The shadow effect on the soldier’s faces contribute to the secrecy of them. The white balance on the photo though made it quite cold. The pattern of the soldiers walking in a single file behind each other on the arid land gave the photograph a good pattern quality.
War photography was harder to achieve good quality photographs in the old times although it was easier to have access to war. Zooms were then clumsy, heavy and of poor optical quality. Meanwhile digital cameras today can automatically adjust the film speed setting to the available light, are much better than film in very low light, have rapid auto focus, and can be used with zooms that give good optical quality across a wide range. With a laptop and a satellite phone, pictures can be adjusted and sent to the publisher within minutes, while in the old times the photographer had to keep his camera safe with them until they reached back to their base, but if they got stuck on the way or died then the photographs will never be published. And unfortunately now a days there is so many restrictions on taking photographs in a war zone mostly because the countries with the greater power don’t want to show the world what they are doing so basically no photographs that show evidence of war is allowed in these countries, which is very discomforting as people are just sitting in their homes doing there daily stuff normally around the world and have no clue about what is actually happening in these countries with war. What is even worse is that now editing photographs is very easily done so countries with more power can just easily edit a photograph that shows something disturbing to show something normal from the comfort of an office.
In conclusion after doing my research on the purpose of war photograph and got deep in it, i found out how important a photographer can be, as if a war didn’t have any photographs it would have much meaning to the people who weren’t there. And then that lead me to questioning how war changed with time and evolution of technology. And the most artist who inspired me but i didn’t mention her a lot was Julian Stallabrass who went and risked her life in the Iraq war to get the finest of war photographs, and used her words through my essay to direct me on the right path of war photograph.
Bibliography
Julian,S.(2013) Photoworks. Grand Parade, Brighton, BN2 9
How do the photographers Mary Ellen Mark and Francesca Woodman explore mental health issues in their work?
Ward 81 was the maximum-security section of the Oregon State Hospital, in which photographer Mary Ellen Mark lived with the female patients for 36 days, sharing and recordings their feelings and moods. Mark, best known for her photojournalism didn’t want to take this approach for Ward 81. She explains how her outcome from her time at Ward 81 represented a scrapbook more than a story. Mark wanted to “capture the different aspects and range of personalities” during her time there making her project.
During her time at Ward 81, Mark found that the women had very strong emotions, she explained the difference was that those in Ward 81 had more exaggerated emotions compared to those outside, “There’s no bullshit; the emotions are pure”. With Mark looking for the range of emotions within the patients, she didn’t define them down to the mental health issues with which these women suffered with, so instead of saying, “This one is schizophrenic, this one is paranoid”, she explained “this is the romantic, this is the social one”. Mark lived in Ward 81 for 36 days in which she only left twice for hamburgers which she stated was “to enhance the hospital cuisine”. Mark had met patients who had undergone electro-shock therapy and even some who had been lobotomized, she explained how the patients who were admitted to the Ward were deemed harmful to themselves and others, Mark further explained how at night, the ward “echoed with their cries”.
This photo of a patient who is sat next to a portrait, is explained to be and childhood portrait of a patient and her sister (who is also a patient at the hospital) which was a gift from her father which he gave to her that day.
Within the photo you can see that Marks point of focus was the patient who is sat posing in the chair, the foreground of the image is clear and sharp, as you look into the depth of the image you will see that in the middle ground (where the childhood portrait is placed) this area, whilst still being in focus this area of the photo has been blurred slightly, which highlights the relevance of the portrait which is sat on the desk. The background is blurred even more with the wall and radiator not holding much importance to the photo. The main thing that you notice visually about the photo is that it is in black white which is emotive for a person looking at the image as it has been drained of colour leaving a dark feeling, a sense of being scared and discomfort. The edge of the photo has been taken to leave the edges of the photo to have been under exposed and the middle of the photo to be more illuminated, forcing us (the viewer) to focus in in the subject.
The body language and the facial expressions of the patient in this photo shows sadness, discomfort and pain. With her body tucked into her and with her clutching her legs shows discomfort, it gives the impression that by her tucking in close to herself that she is trying to imitate human contact to comfort herself. When you investigate her face, you can see that she is showing pain, discomfort and sadness. The distance between the camera and the patient is quite small, showing that the relationship between Mark and the patients were very close, which helped allowed her to see the patients for their emotions instead of what they are labelled as in terms of behavior and mental health issues.
Francesca Woodman was an American photographer who was known to incorporate the theory and idea of mental health into her work. She used herself as a model for most of her shoots, which allowed her to keep her style of photography and the incorporation of her mental health to be more personal than it would if she had used other models more frequently. Woodman used the technique of long exposure time, in order to create a warped and disappearing into the background effect, which created the effect of having a cluttered mind. There is something otherworldly about her images, silently haunting. Woodman herself suffered with mental health issues which in turn lead to the end of her early career and short life at the age of 22 when she committed suicide. Her images to lead up to her suicide, resemble that of an unhealthy mindset, with the beginning her posing for herself with clothes on and nude, and having other people pose in this way, but towards the end, they took a drastic change, to the use of the long exposure to create that warped effect.
Woodman was working within a tradition started by important surrealists such as Man Ray and Claude Cahun.
This image of a warped and ghostly figure sat falling on the floor can have the representation of what Woodman felt like (mentally). The broken/falling to pieces house and set up can be deemed as a representation to a mindset of being broken and falling apart. This would then have a personal relationship to Woodman as she can be showing the viewers how she feels mentally.
The use of the long exposure and having the model move during this time frame creates this ghostly figure that almost disappears into the setting and background, which creates a meaning of her deleting herself from memory, like her disappearing and no one being able to recognise who this figure is, much like at the scene of her suicide where she remained unrecognisable.
The image is in black and white which evokes a sad, lonely and depressed feeling towards the picture, especially in which it is set and the setting in which it is placed. The over exposed windows allow the room to be lit up and exposed to the camera, but it also adds the feeling of the background being harsh with this vivid lighting as if there is nothing outside. Whilst the long exposure allowed the ghostly figure from the moving model blend well into the background, the broken room was captured and looked a sharp image and had defined lines which allow the viewer to see the dimensions and the depth of the room.
The distance between the figure and the camera shows that the relationship may not have been as close between the camera and the figure, or the purpose of having this distance was to show the separation and distance between Woodman’s state of mind and life and how she may have tried to keep her worries and issues far away and not tackling them.
Both photographers Mary Ellen Mark and Francesca Woodman explored mental health issues in their work that they had created, Mark through showing the personalities and real emotions and expressions of the women who were institutionalised to the maximum-security section at the Oregon state hospital and Francesca through long shutter speeds to create a ghost-like figure illusion. Whilst both artists had a different approach to the topic of mental health, with Mark (not pointing out) the mental health issues with her subjects, but just taking photos of them in their physical state there and then, and Woodman using the pictures to try to convey and underlying sense of human fragility.
They both use black and white images to create a sense of sadness and depression, which really gives the images their emotion and where the viewers can understand the topic and the general emotion without needing to understand the story behind the photo.
In both images which I have analysed they backgrounds/surrounding rooms are simple and bland, which helps draw the focus to the main and most important part to the image which in both photos are the person which can be seen. Whilst both artists include a person but at different depths which could be due to the intense or lack of relationship between the model and photographer, they both have placed the model in the same place which is just over two thirds of the way across the picture, which limits the room that they take up allowing more background space, but this use of limiting how much foreground they take up increases how much the viewer is drawn to the figure.
A clear difference that can be seen within the photographs and general photographers work is that in Mark’s Ward 81 work is that she is always up close to her models due to the trust, respect and relationship that has been made and gained, but she is always focussed on the face and body language and general actions around her and the camera. This allowed her to explore the patient’s personality and how they really acted.
But Woodman would do a range of keeping the form of the figures shown in her photos to using the long exposure settings to create the in-humane like figures and forms, in order to create that feeling of being misplaced from humanity and slowly merging onto the background. Woodman also poses models nude in some of her photo shoots, which could represent not being held down by expectations. She used the photos to represent and show her mental health through the work of her photography. In many ways it was an explanation of herself, a form of therapy and catharsis.
In conclusion Francesca Woodman uses her point of view and her representations of mental health to present in her work, by exploring these ideas of disappearing into the background and being in places where the setting is falling apart, which represents an unstable mind, and the mindset of someone with these issues. Whereas Mary Ellen Mark explores mental health by placing herself in the shoes of the women in Ward 81, but instead of the models being put into positions and movements to symbolise their mental health, Mark allows them to be free with their movements to capture the real emotions of the ladies in Ward 81. Both artists show their own representations of what they feel mental health looks like, and both share similar ideas with using black and white to interpret darkness and gloom. Woodman creates moods by altering reality and not capture humans in their state of mental health, whereas Mark uses reality to show the effects of mental health issues on people, by photographing their faces and how they act daily, the reason for this, is Mark would have been sensitive to the codes of representation, standards and ethics that documentary photographers are bound to (hence why there is an anonymity with regards to their name and condition). To be able to touch our emotions as viewers, as an audience, we must be able to connect with these codes. In the form of a book we are able to immerse ourselves in the work in a quiet and private way, but viewing the work in a gallery space the work can take a shared and communal edge.
In this post, I will be looking at the layout of my photo book and describing the way I have presented each image. I have made decisions regarding the order of the book and the size of the photographs, paying close attention to how they occupy the pages in relation to one another. The book features a number of different layouts for the images, as I wanted to present an array of different arrangements to enforce variety. The way that the images are presented is very important as it dictates the way in which the story is being told to the viewer.
The cover of my photo book displays an image of my family sat on the sofa in our house located in Peru. This is where our family journey started. Alongside the archival image is a handwritten note on lined paper saying “El hogar es donde está el corazón” which translates to “Home is where the Heart is”. Writing the title as a note was a good idea because it gives the book a personal touch. I chose the colour dark green for the background because for me this colour represents memories, nostalgia and importance. Although it is a simple cover, I think it’s effective as it conveys to the viewer that within the book I will include archival images where I explore my family and the past.
My photo book is mostly in chronological order and only breaks this pattern when reflecting on the past with present photographs such as souvenir images. This order will make the reader feel like they are going on a personal journey as they experience my childhood through archival images. I start the narrative of the book before I was even born, focusing on my mother and my father and their first encounters together. All these images are accompanied with a blank page on the left side to ensure focus on the singular images. The first page depicts a family portrait from my mother’s side in a collage combined with Peruvian textile. On the second page I have incorporated another image that depicts a family, however this time it showcases my father’s side. Finally, the third page depicts a third digital collage which tells the story of when my father moved to Peru. Through applying to jobs in different countries, he ended up in Peru which is where he met my mother Isabel. The two images showcase the culture in Peru and the different locations he visited once he arrived. One of the photographs depicts my father visiting Machu Picchu for the first time, an iconic landmark in Peru. On the right side is another piece of Peruvian fabric I decided to incorporate into my digital collages.
The sense of chronological order is continued with the following pages shown above, which displays my parents first encounters together. On page 8 and 9, I have displayed two archival images depicting my mother and father on a trip around Peru. I chose to pair these two images together in a double page spread because the composition of both images are similar to one another. Page 11 displays an image of my parents relationship blossoming. I chose to stitch a heart using pink thread to represent their strong connection.
These following three images showcase the marriage between my parents. The image on page 13 depicts a handmade copper and bronze Ayacucho Church sculpture. I decided to photograph this sculpture because my mother’s family side are Christians and they regularly attend church. It is also displayed as a metaphor “hearing the wedding bells ring” as a sign of the upcoming marriage between my parents. I experimented with the layout by having it full bleed on one page. I chose to present the image in this composition because it’s a small souvenir, so I decided display the photograph in a large scale. The image on page 15 depicts a snapshot of my parent’s wedding and layered on top is their marriage certificate. Page 17 features a current photograph of my mother’s hand wearing her wedding ring. This is presented after the archival image of the wedding to showcase that the marriage between my parents is still going strong.
The following outcomes are inspired by Claudia Ruiz Gustafson. I have created digital compositions which incorporate archival documents. The images on page 19 and 20, 21 display the events that followed after I was born. The right side on the first image contains my birth certificate and layered on top is the band I had around my wrist in the hospital. The next double page spread also incorporates an important document which is my mother’s Peruvian passport. This is the first image within my photo book that goes across two pages. The fold on the passport is directly on the fold of the book. Layered on top of the document is an archival image which depicts the first few months we spent in Peru before we shifted countries. Similar to the first souvenir image, I made the photo on page 23 full bleed for the same intention. This depicts three people closely bonded through textile. This represents me and my parents strong connection together as well as our connection to Peru since its where my mother and I were born and where my mother and father met.
The two digital collages are also inspired by Claudia and depict the time when my family decided to move over to Singapore. I scanned two separate images and decided to combine them together through Photoshop. The archival images on the right display my mother and father looking after me as a baby. On the left side of each collage, I decided to combine the photographs with an iconic landmark from Singapore. I paired them together in a double page spread because they display the same country and have a similar collage composition. they occupy the space well because both are presented in a square frame.
For these photo-manipulations, I used thread for my archival images to be sewn over with geometric patterns. I recreated the abstract aspect of Annegret Soltau’s work by joining facial features together with thread. I specifically chose a photograph which had a close up of my face in order to see the patterns through line. I think these photo manipulations were a success as I managed to recreate Annegret Soltau photomontages with my own archival images. I think this photo manipulation portrays the idea of identity, specifically questioning personal identity on an abstract scale. I liked the symbolism behind her work and wanted to incorporate that into my own work. I wanted the thread to act as a metaphor for the displacement in my life. the thread showcases that movement doesn’t necessarily mean freedom. Although constant movement can be exciting it doesn’t allow you to settle down in one place. It’s restricting in the way that you feel out of place, a sense of not feeling like you belong at “home”. I paired these two images together because they present artistic manipulation using thread.
These collages are influenced by Carolle Benitah as well as Claudia Ruiz Gustafson. They depict countries where I used to live or places where I have visited during childhood. I have replicated Benitah’s series Photo Souvenirs by reworking old family snapshots. I have mainly used red graphic ink pen in order to draw illustrations on top of the images. I created these red marks as a metaphor for leaving my traces behind in each country. I decided to present these collages by themselves so the viewers understand that each place I go to is a new chapter in my childhood journey. They have a larger impact when presented on a singular page since the viewers only focus on that image.
Similar to Claudia Ruiz Gustafson, I have continued my exploration of my cultural identity by creating photomontages which merges self portraits from present time with archival images to exhibit how my cultural identity has shaped me as an individual. I created these double exposures on Photoshop to be able to blend my self portraits with archival images that my parents have captured from Peru and England. I presented these together on a double page spread because both are inspired by Antonio Mora. They pair together well since I am facing in the same direction and because I wanted to present the contrast between Peru and England and how my mixed identity has shaped me. These images are displayed after the montage of memories to show my current self to the viewers.
This photo montage of my parents presented on page 41 is inspired by John Stezaker who overlays images. I have recreated Stezaker famous series called Mask where he fuses sitters with natural landscapes or architecture in order to create a new outcome. I photographed my parents together and used an archival image from Peru to layer on top of their faces. I have presented a portrait of my parents together since when I think of “home” I associate it with them since I haven’t had a long term house or place I have lived at. I chose to have the portraits in black and white in order to contrast with the colourful archival image concealing their faces. The image is in full bleed on a singular page because I wanted the final photograph within my photo book to have a strong impact on the viewer. I chose to have current portraits of me and my parents as the final images to show how these memories have shaped us. It ends with a portrait of my parents together because they started this journey together and are still happily married after 17 years.
For the following pages, I needed to incorporate my essay at the end of my book so viewers can understand the influences behind my personal project.