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Component 1 Personal Investigation

Final Essay

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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” (Susan Bright and Hedy van Erp. 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 photographers, Latoya Ruby Frazier and Walker Evans. In this essay I will be referring to Walker Evans’ photographic series entitled Let Us Now Praise Famous Men 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. These two photographers attempt to capture reality through portrait, but the validity of the imagery is reduced as the photographer is either insider looking out, or an outsider looking in which suggests a personal attachment to the subject or a conscious understanding of their situation. In my project I am considering an insider looking in, due to my subject being close to me both physically and emotionally, creating a more subjective view towards their reality, thus creating biased photographs.

Realism and Straight Photography looks at creating imagery which showcase life how it is lived. 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 the hope that something can be done to make a change. This area looks at documentary photography and photojournalism to document events which are occurring and its practitioners adhere to the original techniques and purpose of photography; the use of photography for science, to create detailed, sharp images. Henry Fox Talbot invented the calotype, which is said to be the basis for how photography is practiced 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. 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, L-J. 1838). This illustrates how this art movement allows nature to present itself showing the reliability of imagery, which is then contradicted as it states it’s 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, n.d.). 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.” (The Art Story, n.d.). 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, photographers Walker Evan’s and LaToya Ruby Frazier use portraiture to showcase the lifestyle of the subjects presented in the frame in their natural environment. But to what extent does these photographers accurately portray the subject’s lifestyle? With my topic being based in my grandparent’s lifestyle, I felt that using documentary photography would be the most appropriate to capture my subject, as well as looking at social issues of family structures and gender roles.

‘A Sea of Steps (1903) – Frederick Henry Evans

‘Bowls’ (1917) – Paul Strand

The debate on the extent to which documentary photography accurately portrays reality, has been ongoing since the 1930s.  In 1936, Arthur Rothstein claimed that he “moved the skull a few meters in order to obtain a more dramatic pictorial effect” (Wells. L, 2004: 72), suggesting in the early forms of this style of photography, photographers were strategically manipulating the frame and subject in order to gain a certain effect, reducing the veracity of the imagery. During the Victorian era, cases of manipulation for effect was still present; “In 1876 the philanthropist Dr T.J. Bernardo appeared at a hearing, having been charged with deceiving the public” (Wells. L, 2004: 71), – suggesting how photographers cannot accurately portray reality as an image is only a snapshot in time, a pseudo-presence to what actually occurred. This topic is still debated today, where Ashley La Grange regarded a photograph to “only show the surface” (La Grange. A, 2005; 34) – which implies that the frame may showcase reality but the interpretations of the imagery reduces the reliability as viewers can only see a snapshot of an event leading to misinterpretations.

Walker Evans – 1936 – ‘Allie Mae Burrough’

Walker Evans’ 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 of the image 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, n.d.) – 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’ lens.” (Rule.V, 2001). His positive critique of Evans’ imagery emphasis how accurately he managed to capture the raw living environments of the tenant families, which allows viewers to sympathies for these families, as we understand that they do not know life any differently, which contradicts the viewpoint of Evans, 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. The presentation of the subject does not put her in a position of respect, in the sense of her appearance and the tonal contrast emphasising her lower class within society. However, it allows the subject to be elevated and placed into the limelight, presenting the conceptual elements making her more respectful in present day and towards viewers. 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 Evans 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 us to not fully conforming to believe in this social representation, as it not being a reliable source due to several versions of the same image, with only one outcome being used. This is illustrated in Susan Sontag’s seminal book entitled ‘On Photography’ where she writes “taken dozens of frontal pictures of one of their sharecropper subjects until satisfied that they had gotten just the right look on film.” (Sontag. S, 1977; 6).

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 grandparent’s house, as they spend more time inside than out. In addition to this, archival material will allow for me to systematically show the connection between my subject and the outdoors.

My Response

LaToya Rudy Frazier – ‘ The Notion of Family’ – 2014

LaToya Ruby Frazier photographic series The Notion of Family aims to tell the narrative of her African-American family whom are struggling to come to terms with oppression (prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority) in Braddock, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and the negative physical and psychological effects of the city’s steel industry on their home life. Furthermore, it looks at the impact of racism in the small suburb as well as the decline in the community and family, showing her personal and political viewpoint towards this topic. In this she explores three generations of her family who have lived through these issues: her grandmother, mother and herself which reinforces the personal attitudes towards her imagery, making a subjective and unreliable presentation of this issue. “I am obliged to document and counter this reality, and ultimately re-imagine and rewrite it myself.” (Campany, 2014) – Frazier refers to her imagery as a way of documenting reality literally and re-imagines her lifestyle through the pejorative metaphors presented throughout the series, this clearly presents biases to this social situation, leading to misleading and inaccurate imagery of reality. In an interview with Frazier she made the comment “We need longer sustained stories that reflect and tell us where the prejudices and blind spots are and continue to be in this culture and society,” (Campany, 2014) – the connotations implied is that Frazier views her embodiment of work as a clear way of illustrating these social issues, and suggests that the camera is a “weapon” (Campany, 2014) of exposing reality, suggesting high reliability within the imagery. In contrast, the photographic series is a personal response to an issue relevant to the her as an insider looking in. This ideology of being an insider looking in is reinforced by a critique when John Berger says “Ms. Frazier reimagines the tradition of social documentary photography by approaching a community not as a curious or concerned outsider but as a vulnerable insider.” (Berger, 2014). In specific analysis of the imagery above we are presented with two members of Frazier family at a straight on angle, one in the foreground looking to the right of the frame with her eyes lightly closed and a female in the background looking direct into the camera, creating an emotional connection between the viewer and subject. The positioning suggests the female in the background is seeking help or obeying to the female in the foreground creating a sense of power and family structure, this implies an artificial positioning of the subjects reducing the reliability of showcasing reality. The presentation of the subjects allows cultural context to be illuminated, through the wig caps, patterned and plain clothing which also suggests low socio-economic status, which increases the emotional impact of the conceptual message on viewers. The use of a narrow depth of field and low aperture allows focus on the subjects and allows the background to compliment the conceptual and contextual elements through the African pattern stylised curtains. The naturalistic environment contradicts the artificial composition and creates a more reliable source of reality for presenting Frazier’s family. The low ISO being utilised and artificial lighting, allows a soft ambience to be illustrated, which juxtaposes the chaos in their lifestyle, suggesting more biases from Frazier due to the lighting, reducing the reliability of this image as documentary photograph. Critiques imply that the photographic series is “a cautionary tale and a force for educating the public and motivating reform.” (Berger, 2014) – due to these external motives connotes a reduction in reliability due to wanting social reform, she was aware that she had to create imagery which provoked emotion in order to achieve a reform.

In my response to Frazier, I captured my grandparents in their home in places suggested their luxurious lifestyle. Through the manipulation of the composition and positioning of my subjects, I created imagery which implied family structure and gender roles, which shows how the 1940’s has influenced my grandparent’s lifestyle. The positioning of my subjects creates a sense of power and authority towards my grandad as my grandma in the background looks at him and his high family status. Similarly, the naturalistic lighting and low ISO will allow me to create a similar soft and welcoming ambience allowing my conceptual representation of lifestyle to clearly be illustrated within my work, allowing my documentary stylised photography to be considered reliable in portraying reality.

My Response

To conclude, both Walker Evans and LaToya Ruby Frazier provide documentary portraits in order to raise particular social issues relevant to the subject and environment they live in.  Focusing on raising the issue through portraiture, allows an emotional connection between the image and viewers in both their work to be formed, making the social representation more impactful and allowing the imagery to act as “indisputable evidence” (Sontag 1977; 9). LaToya Ruby Frazier’s work is captured by an insider looking into the social issue, which suggests subjectivity of the imagery, as she is more likely to manipulate the frame in order to illustrate her family in a more pejorative situation in order to play up on the emotional response of viewers making the issue seem worse than what it actually is. Whereas Evans’ is an outsider looking in which may project more objectivity, however the reliability of his work is reduced due to many variations of one image, creating selective representation. Although, both artists have a sense of authenticity within their work, no documentary style photographs can be 100% reliable. This is because manipulation can occur through the framing, editing and selection by the artist in order for them to achieve their intended effect; “Even when photographers are most concerned with mirroring reality, they are haunted by tacit imperatives of taste and conscience” (Sontag, 1977; 6).

Bibliography:

Berger, M. (2014). LaToya Ruby Frazier’s Notion of Family. [online] Lens Photography, Video and Visual Journalism. Available at: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/latoya-ruby-fraziers-notion-of-family/? [Accessed 24 Jan. 2020].

Bright, S. and Van Erp, H.(2019), Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House

Campany, D. (2014). So present, so invisible. 1st ed. Italy: Contrasto, pp.61-68.

Evans, W. (n.d.). Photography Quotes by Walker Evans. [online] Photoquotes.com. Available at: https://www.photoquotes.com/ShowQuotes.aspx?id=196&name=Evans,Walker [Accessed 24 Jan. 2020].

La Grange, A. (2005). Basic critical theory for photographers. Oxford: Focal Press, pp.30-35.

Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre.(1838), Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. photoquotations: http://photoquotations.com/a/171/Louis-Jacques-Mandé+Daguerre

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].

The Art Story. (n.d.). Straight Photography Movement Overview. [online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/straight-photography [Accessed 24 Jan. 2020].

Wells, L. (2004). Photography A Critical Introduction. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, pp.71-72.

Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography. London: Penguin, pp.1-23.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation

Photobook Experimentation

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Initial Development:

Initially I began developing my photo-book by setting out my two stories that I have chosen to display, I began working forwards from the front and then backwards towards the middle with my last photograph, this helped me be able to see them beginning to join together rather than put one in and then another, going from both the front and back helped me personally merge them easier and also helped as I had previously began to choose out my narratives. I have decided to use a mixer of double page spreads and individual images to break up the narratives and help to create a flow.

Narrative Beginnings:

As I have two stories I had to find a way in which to show the beginning of my stories, I chose to do this with a centred photograph and a small caption underneath, I didn’t do any other photographs with this writing and positioning combination as to have them stand out and be noticeable from my other page spreads. For my first story I chose to use an archival image for my starting photograph, this is because the sight itself has a lot of tourism and history around it, the story brought a lot of news and tales so there was a lot of content which I found interesting, I personally chose to use a postcard looking directly through the Devil’s Hole cave, I chose this photograph as I feel it fitting for the beginning of a tale as it looks through into the story like a walkway. For my second story I began trying to also use an archival image to match and connect with the previous one, I decided against this as the sight I had visited for the shoot was badly excavated the first time so was no good documentation of the sight, I eventually chose to use one of my own photographs I had taken on sight which I did not plan to use in my narrative however I felt was one of my strongest photographs, the collection of hands which high contrast and bright intense colours stand out and the jarring angles work to entice and suggest the outer worldly sense of something abnormal.

Page Layout Experiments:

Setting out my photographs I found my narrative working best with a mixture of double page spread and individual photographs, I began to experiment and trial having my photographs in three quarter spreads as well, this is due to some of my photographs being I feel stronger when large however had an important figure going through the seam which would not work so I worked with three-quarter spreads instead as I feel this gave off a better effect than the smaller photographs but solved the issue I was having with double page spreads. Any double page spreads I did create I chose to do with my landscape photographs, this is because there was no disruption due to the seam and they worked well in breaking up the narrative to help make the narrative and the story flow better. I chose to go through with a flow of every double page or three page spreads I have a full bleed photograph to create a narrative and a good sequence ing of my photographs which I feel worked better than just having one or two double page full bleeds throughout my book.

Physical Photograph Use:

As I had worked on a disposable camera for some of my project I felt I wanted to find a way to incorporate them into my photo-book, I plan to by some photo-corners and stick them in once I finally have my photo-book printed as I feel this will present them nicely while still having the effect of the physical photographs. I began trailing and experimenting with which photographs I wanted to have a physical and which as digital images printed in the photographs. I began trialing this with some images that I had side by side and was using together. I eventually decided on keeping these as digital photographs as I didn’t want to overload my photo-book and I feel that they worked better with two digitally as I could get them aligned directly. I chose to use the photographs I was going to place individually physically as I feel it will be more impactful not the narrative and the book as a whole.

I plan on inserting strip of my negative films into the photo-book right at the very end for a personal touch and effect, I plan to only insert one strip with my best or most important photographs on. I feel this adds a good effect from the narrative of my photo-book as it is showing a sense of the taking of the photographs and the idea of these beings being in the island and the occupation they have on the island as a whole and them being real and here.

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Understanding Photo Book Design

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“Picture of My Life” by Junpei Ueda

Picture of My Life (signed) Junpei Ueda
https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html

Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper:

Cover is a bit rough, smells like paper and brand new book smell.

Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both:

There is a lot of different textured paper such as normal brown paper, premium lustre and net to strengthen spine of book all colours, also black and white.

Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages: Portraiture, roughly 100 pages.

Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/Swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello: Flat bind with a hard cover and a image wrap.

Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping:

Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing: Literal as he is documenting a part of his life by taking pictures.

Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told? : ” I have this desire to sum up my life in the form of a story. My parents killed themselves, one after the other, in the winter of 1998. My mother’s depression led her to take her own life, and my father followed her nine days later. Having suddenly a closer relationship with death at just 21 years of age, I decided to write down the things I saw around me, as they were, and to capture in photographs the emotions I would only be able to feel then and there. I was alone in the house we had all lived in as a family. I had almost completely lost sight of the point in living. But even so, I kept on living.” https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html Told by picture of him and his family, and pictures of the paintings his father did. Also included letters and translations of those letters. Is in chronological order.

Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts: Different every page, single and double page spreads with pages with writing on them, photos on top of photos.

Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others.  Use of captions (if any): Letters linked with images, chronological order, at the end of the book there is a short statement from the photographer saying thank you.

https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html
https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html
https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html
https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html
https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html
AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation

Photobook: Developing Narrative

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When developing the narrative of the photobook I began to do this with the physical prints of photographs that I had as I found it more useful to be able to move them and discard them in front of me physically, beginning with all of the photographs in front of me I went through the photographs and grouped them together based on situations and tells, the action photographs, scene setting and others, once I had them grouped I began to be able to build a narrative, moving from creating and setting the area, and developing a sense of character, using the photographs of just the girls themselves, showing them interacting with the scenery. I further moved onto the ‘action’ photographs, showing the contents of the story, ones with the hands across the males face and the crowding ones, this then would allow me to lead onto a ‘resolution’, using the more ominous photographs towards the end, the slightly out of focus and also the half exposed landscape photographs.

This act of laying the photographs helped me to develop this narrative, below I have my final groupings of a narrative in a ‘beginning, middle and end’ style as to help my design process. In Lightroom I will now be able to narrow down my photographs further however I have been able to create a starting base for myself to see what works in the photobook and the actual layout.

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Photoshoot Problems

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In using the old expired film there was a chance that they could come out completely empty giving me no outcomes and this is what happened in this instance. So I will be going back to the areas where I took my images with a new roll of black and white film that is actually new and in date.

The new film I will be using is ilford super 400 35mm. This film is a fast film known for being a sharp blank and white film with fine grain and a wide tonal range. It also is a true black and white film that can be developed with normal c41 colour film meaning that I can get it developed locally and quickly.

Image result for ilford super 400 box
Image result for ilford super 400
An example image taken with the film.
AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation

Final Piece Displaying Ideas

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For my first three layouts I wanted to explore typologies and how putting photographs in a triptych and diptych format in order to portray the narrative of the occupation of my Grandparents lifestyle. I decided to use the portraits which have emotional value and suggest important part of my Grandparents lifestyle as the first triptych. These photographs are being printed as A4 photographs and will be displayed with a 4cm gap between each photograph and will be either stuck onto foam board or put in a window mount on white card, as I believe white compliments the photographs the best. For my next triptych layout I printed out four landscape photographs of the interior of my Grandparents house, two in colour and one in black and white. The images are being printed as A5, and will be displayed in a similar format, 4cm gap between each photograph and displayed vertically. My final out come using typologies is a diptych which is a portrait of my Grandad and one of my Grandma. I printed one out as an A4 and one as an A5, the size difference of both will reinforce the ideology of power within family structure and how my Grandad has the most dominance. I will display the two images next to each other as a window mount or on white foam board with a 4cm gap between each photograph. These designs can be viewed below, as I created a layout of them using photoshop.

The next two display ideas are singular photographs, which would not work as a typology, and so I have deiced to display them on their own. The first photograph is of my family sat around a table at Christmas, showing the interaction of my lifestyle with my Grandparents lifestyle at a religious event. The photograph will be printed on A3 paper and displayed on white foam board. Below is a photograph of my Grandad praying, conceptually representing intimacy and the idea of religion on his lifestyle. The photograph is being printed as an A4 photograph as will displayed in the same way as the A3 photograph of my family. These full bleed photograph displays are visible below.

To show further experimentation and thought into the displaying of my photographs, I decided to create an eclectic display of all the outcomes. The chaotic design suggests that their lifestyle isn’t simple and has its ups and downs, and conceptually clearly presents my intended narrative. Personally, I really like the way in which this looks and will look at creating this on a large piece of foam board when the prints arrive, the design may change due to the size of the photographs, however I do want to see what this would look like with the real images and how impactful the narrative it displays is.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation

Development of My Photo Book

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Initial Design Process:

In the initial stages of my photo book design I wanted to ensure I maintained simplicity whilst making the narrative of my Grandparents lifestyle clearly presented. I started by experimenting with the sequencing of my imagery, combing interior and exterior with my portraits, trying to form a relationship between the two to create meaning to illustrate the lifestyle of my Grandparents. I decided to have two portraits or archives and then add an interior and or exterior to have a ‘break from the action’ to change the pace of the book. Although I liked the way in which it looked, I felt the sequencing of my photographs was not the clearest way of presenting my intended narrative, thus making me further explore the way in which I could sequence my photographs. In addition, in this first section of the book I wanted to include archival imagery which allowed a comparison between the past and present lifestyle to portray how their lifestyle has changed or stayed the same, thus emphasising how the time period they were brought up in has influenced their lifestyle. I felt this sequencing of archival imagery amongst present portraits was an affective way of showcasing my intended narrative and allowed a sense of flow within the book itself, therefore I am going to keep these archival images in this position of the sequence due to the reasons stated above. Due to the interior and exterior photographs not ‘fitting in’ well with this particular moment of my book I decided to move them into a new section, allowing for further experimentation.

Second Design:

Taking from the experimentation of my first design I took what went well and things needed to be changed to produce my second design. As mentioned in my book specification I wanted the book to start and end with a strong portrait of my Grandad as I felt it was a clear way of presenting my narrative at the beginning of the book, as well as using a similar portrait at the end to clarify and support the narrative, allowing the book to finish in a conclusive way. I then mainly had portrait and archival imagery in the first section, as this is what worked in my initial design. Occasionally, I did decided to implement 3/4 and double page spreads of interior and exterior to give a break from the action and present my narrative in a new light, however I did not over do this like in my first design. Moving onto the next section of my photo book I wanted to showcase the interaction of their lifestyle with mine at a family event, and so decided to utilise the photographs from Christmas. I occasionally added more archival imagery of family events in order to show the change in interaction of both lifestyles. Within this section I tended to stick with using single, 3/4 and double page spreads in order to show the interaction of lifestyles. I believe the way in which I sequenced these photographs was successful as it allows the narrative to flow, presenting a new way of looking at their lifestyle, with looking at aspects of religious events and how it impacts them. Moving onto the next section I wanted to use my interior and exterior images, as I believe these photographs are a clear way of presenting their lifestyle as well as them being some of my strongest outcomes. The sequencing of these images was kept simplistic, as I tended to show these photographs and then on the following page would be a portrait, to support the conceptual understanding of the location and my Grandparents relationship with it. In this version I decided to layout my essay within the book, I tended to have a combination of full page of text and the use of columns, to break up the chunk of text, making it seem more manageable, thus making viewers more likely to read the essay. To evaluate this design, I believe the overall sequence clearly presents my intended narrative of the occupation of lifestyle on my Grandparents, and flows smoothly with each image being an asset of presenting my intended narrative.

Fine Tuning My Design:

After the second design I am happy with the sequencing of my photographs in order to show my intended narrative. I decided to focus on fine tuning some of my spreads to make the photographs more effective in presenting my narrative, as well as improving the overall aesthetic of my photo book. A few of these artistic decision can be seen below, in order to show my experimentation in my design, as well as my decision making and thought process.

In my first fine tuning of my design I looked at the way in which I presented my double page spreads. For the most part I had a white boarder around the photograph, so it did not fill the whole page, I did this as it allowed the whole photograph to be showcased without anything being cut out, thus making my imagery more reliable in depicting reality. However, after consideration I felt that I was not achieving maximum impact of the photographs and so decided to get rid of the white boarder and have the photograph fill up the whole page. This meant that elements of the photograph was cut out, however I believe it allowed the sequence to flow a lot smoother as well as the photograph to have maximum impact on the side of story telling. The ‘cutting’ of the photograph was not highly impactful, as it did not cut out the main focus point of the chair it only cut out a slight part of the background, thus we were not loosing useful information, making this decision more affective. I decided to do this for my other double page spreads, in order to make all double pages look the same, in the sense to maintain my overall aesthetic. The old and new design are showcased below.

  • Old Spread
  • New Spread

The next fine tuning I wanted to focus on was the title page, this is because it is the first thing a viewer will see, thus I wanted it to be high effective and clear in depicting what is within the book. After consideration I decided upon the title ‘Mr Ronald Welling & Mrs M Welling’, I chose this as I felt it clearly presented what the narrative is about and conceptually begins to present my Grandad authority. Using the picture of the windowsill was a good artistic decision as the simplicity and inactive frame allows a sense of tranquil to be presented, suggesting an ameliorative and calm lifestyle. I wanted the text in white in the bottom left corner as I felt it was the most subtle place to have the text, emphasising the sense of calm. Initially I decided to use the typography of ‘Candara’ as I liked the way in which the letters were structured. However, after time and consideration I felt this effectiveness fell and so I decided to change the font to ‘Bookman Old Style’. This fonts structure reminded me of an envelope or address on an important letter. In a way it also reminds me of my Grandad’s writing, and therefore these two reasonings made this decision affective as it suggest the business side of my Grandad, due to the formal representations it holds.

  • Old Spread
  • New Spread

I then experimented with a different cover design using a photograph which more explicitly outlines the narrative of my book. I decided to use the archival imagery of my Grandparents wedding. I decided to change the front cover to a dust jacket, which has allowed this photograph to wrap around the book. The front cover holds my Grandad and the back cover holds my Grandma, suggesting the idea of my Grandad’s authority and my Grandma being the backbone of him in essence. Using the crop tool I accurately cropped the photograph so the dust jacket would fold on the same point of each of their eye, and on the fold in I placed their name ‘Mr Ronald Welling’ and ‘Mrs Welling’. Sticking to the title as stated above supports the idea of authority. In this design I decided to again experiment with text font and changed it to a more bold font which makes the title stand out a lot clearer. Personally, I much prefer this design as I feel it gets straight to the point and clearly presents my underlying theme and narrative. Therefore, I have decided to change my front cover to this design, as well as the text font.

My next piece of fine tuning was to do with the sequencing of my photographs in order to emphasises the authoritative conceptual representation of my Grandad. Initially, I had one portrait on each side so that they are next to each other, in order to emphasise relationship of the two subject, however I felt this was not sustained as much as the authority of my Grandad, and so decided to change the sequencing. The first image you see in the book is my Walker Evans inspired photograph of my Grandad on the right hand side, as the right is the page to which viewers first look at. Turning the page my Grandma is placed on the left page, as we do not immediately look on that side of the book, thus suggesting authority of my Grandad and the submissiveness of my Grandma, thus helping to portray my intended narrative.

Evaluation:

To evaluate, I believe I have been able to successfully sequence my photographs in order to present my intended narrative. Through experimentation, I have been able to see the layouts which are most successful, allowing the photographs to have maximum impact and flow nicely in order to showcase the underlying theme of lifestyle. In addition, I have been able to articulate my thought process and decision making as to why I have decided to sequence the photographs in a particular order and why I have chosen that page spread. The development of my photo book has been a long process and so I only showcased the major and most important changes, as well as details on each section and what its meant to showcase and suggest. From now to the final product, it is likely more minor changes will be made and will be discussed in my final photo book layout blog post.

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Introduction: 319

For me, photography is a way to express perhaps more negative emotions in a non-judgmental medium. Perhaps people interpret the meaning in the wrong way, but the act of capturing the image gives a sense of control over the emotion behind it. That’s part of the reason that I wanted to explore mental illness via photography. After struggling with depression and anxiety in the past and at the time not really having a way to express how I was feeling, I wanted to explore and remember past emotions to educate others on mental illness, while additionally finding a new way for me to cope in the future. I am particularly fascinated by the work of Francesca Woodman. The young photographer was herself suffering from depression and her images are often seen to reflect this as a result of her suicide. The images are very surreal and feel almost dream-like. While now related to her suicide, Woodman’s images were an exploration of her own identity and gender, often showing a lack of the former by obscuring the subject’s face. Individuality is important when it comes to mental illness; no one experiences it in quite the same way. Woodman expresses her illness in a way that is very personal to her and it’s interesting to gather an understanding of someone else’s experiences. However, I also wanted to see how people, who have never experienced severe mental illness, view mental illness. Mary Ellen Mark spent 36 days inside Oregon State Hospital on Ward 81. Mark was tasked with photographing the ward’s occupants along with journalist, Karen Jacobs who wrote a piece on their experience. Mark was primarily a photo journalist, however her Ward 81 project was a follow up to meeting the patients while photographing for 1975’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ In contrast to Woodman’s images, Mark gives a more realistic view of mental illness by photographing what she observed.

Historical context (Surrealism/Documentary): 56

In 1924, poet Andre Breton introduced a surrealist approach to art. Breton sourced his ideas from Freudian explanations of the unconscious, giving the movement a dream-like feel to it. Breton believed that artists should take an unfiltered approach to their work, taking down everything from their unconscious thoughts. He published his ideas his ‘Manifesto of Surrealism,’

Francesca Woodman: 606

Famous for her self portraits, Francesca Woodman preferred to work alone, but there’s more to her images than a representation of herself. At only age 22, Woodman threw herself out of a window in New York. This leaves her images forever tainted, in the sense it’s difficult to view them without wondering whether they’re a prediction of Woodman’s fate. In 1977, Woodman worked on ‘On Being An Angel’ while staying in Rome. The title in itself suggests a surreal approach to self portrait as the word ‘angel’ suggests the presence of a higher celestial being. While it is possible that the title could indicate that Woodman believes herself to be this celestial being, it is more likely that this refers to the faith, love, hope, strength and intelligence that angels often symbolize. However, this is a clear juxtaposition to certain extent. The images are in the black and white, mirroring the aesthetic of Woodman’s other works while also showing a darker undertone that suggests that Woodman sees herself as more of a misunderstood angel. It was not secret that Woodman was struggling with the lack of success and recognition her images were receiving. It had been clear to those close to her that her images were some of the best, so why didn’t others see that? One such image from ‘On Being An Angel,’ shows Woodman in a derelict building, her preferred location to shoot in, with two white sheets behind her as she leaps up in front of them as if flying. It is obvious that the sheet represents her angel wings and the image as whole suggests that Woodman wishes to take flight, to escape perhaps. Another striking feature present in this series is Woodman’s often completely bare chest. She has her breasts thrust out, however, this is not by any means sexual. She had previously explored her body in several of her other works and had grown comfortable with it. Woodman wanted to show a certain rawness and maybe even innocence that one would find when thinking about angels. As for the idea of flying, Woodman has also previously referenced the theme of weightlessness in some of her other works taken in Rome. It seems perhaps that woodman was toying with the typical idea of angels taking flight while also thinking about how she might like to do the same. The reasoning behind this, some would suggest, comes down to her death. In 1981, Woodman threw herself out of a window in New York. The similarity between her chosen method to end her life and the images of flying is astounding. An article in The Telegraph suggests that Woodman’s images are ‘…coloured by her suicide.’ However, I find myself disagreeing with this to an extent. Is it really plausible that Woodman had been predicting her end since age thirteen? Of course not. She was simply just a girl that was doing what she loved while exploring and learning more about herself and where she fitted in the world. On the other hand, I think that some of her work during the last few years of her life may have had some kind of warning to it. Some of the images Woodman took in Rhode Island between 1975 and 1978 are captioned with almost foreboding messages. For example, one image is captioned, ‘I stopped playing the piano.’ Assuming Woodman stopping playing through lack of interest could suggest the beginning of her depression as the early signs of such mental illness often includes a sudden lack of interest or enjoyment of activities that may have even been a person’s favourite thing to do.

Mary Ellen Mark: 360

In 1975 while photographing on the set of ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’, Mary Ellen Mark was given the opportunity to talk with the patients of Oregon State Hospital’s Ward 81. She returned a year later with writer, Karen Folger Jacobs. The pair spent 36 days on the ward. While know for her documentary style projects that have a clear narrative, Mark took a slightly different approach to how she presented her images from the ward. In an interview with American Photographer about her time on Ward 81, Mark said, ‘Instead of the 1-2-3-4 of a picture story, I was interested in doing pictures that would stand alone.’ This is to perhaps represent the isolation of each patient, while also giving them a sense of individuality that they may not get on the ward. Ward 81 consists of a series of images that give an insight into the side of mental illness that people had never seen before in the 1970s. Jacobs wrote ‘At first glance, they could be almost any group of women in any institutional lounge or day room,’ (Folger Jacobs 1979) and for the most part that was probably true. The lock ’em mentality of 70’s America was the main reason many of the women of Ward 81 were where they were and once they were institutionalised it was hard to introduce them back into society without seeing them return to the ward not long after. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Mark wanted to spend so much time with the patients while photographing them. She had always thought it vital to build a relationship with the people in her images so she could understand them. The image titled ‘300B-011-005’, perfectly captures the idea behind the project. It shows a girl sat on her bed. At first glance she could be considered a normal teenage girl with clothes that show more skin than her parents would like and posters and pictures above her bed that show the things she likes. That’s what you’re supposed to see first. However, you soon notice the cuts on her arms and the phrase ‘I wish to die,’ written on the wall.

Conclusion: 179

To conclude, both Francesca Woodman and Mary Ellen Mark show a deep understanding of mental illness as demonstrated by their image. Woodman, while originally exploring identity has come to draw people to her work with her tragic story, but has continued to keep people interested whether that be by instigating theories on how her images relate to her death, her clear exploration of gender, identity and feminism or simply the darker, gothic surrealism displayed in every image. She demonstrates, for me, the thoughts and feeling behind depression and clearly used her creativity to give herself a release while giving the impression that she knew what was happening to her was not her fault. In comparison, Mark gives a meaningful insight into the women of Ward 81 by allowing herself to really get to know them and understand them on a personal level without tainting her opinion with their mental illness. Her book tells the story of those 36 days by showing all aspects of daily life without censorship. This results in Mark presenting the women as just that, women.

Bibliography:

http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/american%20photographer/911T-000-001.html

Folger Jacobs, K. (1979), Ward 81. New York: Simon and schuster

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9279676/Blurred-genius-the-photographs-of-Francesca-Woodman.html