I believe that my overall exploration of occupation and liberation went well. The broad terms allowed me to contemplate different subjects to explore, however thought that looking into a subject that I was experienced and knowledgable in was a good idea. At first I was a little worried as I knew my bird eye view images were not always the best within photography, but I knew it was an aspect which needed to be done to allow me to develop skills within this project. I found that using artists such as Walker Evans and Diana Markosian and still-life photography allowed me to explore different ways of presenting my narrative through archival images, still-life photography as well as costumes photographs. Initially, I wanted to focus on my friend but as I started the project at the beginning I made the decision to place the general focus on myself instead which have proven out to be much more successful. I stuck to my first thoughts of using three different shoots to show my narrative of the book as after experimentaiton I found that including other shoots made the book chaotic and took away from my intend aesthetic. In terms of photographic style my project follows an underlying documentary style as I try to capture my dance career right from the beginning. I found it challenging to produce reliable imagery as I didn’t want to confuse the audience on my intended narrative.
Overall, the three photo shoots I conducted I was able to produce high quality images which showcase I am able to use a camera correctly. All my images are in colour as I feel as if it was in black and white it would be confusing to the audience, adding a depressing feel. I tended to stay towards the naturalistic edit as I didn’t want them to look over edited. However, to show my further exploration, I decided to carry on with the simplistic layout, therefore sequencing the images on white backgrounds like the book also has, again following aesthetic. The project itself has taught me a lot about my early stages in starting dance lessons, where I found images and documents I never knew existed. It has allowed me to become more knowledgeable with my past and the book is something I will cherish and show my children, therefore making this an awarding project to take part in.
Furthermore, in regards to my final outcomes, I believe I have successfully managed to show my display techniques as well been successful in artistically expressing my intended narrative using imagery. I also did this with expressing framing techniques which compliment my photographs and are basic looking. I have successfully shown my ability to be creative with combining photographs and producing high quality of word which further reflects my ability to edit photographs. I really like the way these outcomes have turned out as they how my best body of work with my project, further reflecting my intended narrative successfully.
As for my other final outcome, I produced a photographic book which clearly illustrates my narrative of representing my dance lifestyle from an. early age and how the different years influenced my approach to dance within costuming. The final sequencing of my photographs, clearly represent my intended effect through the use of intimacy as well as old images. Within this period of making the book I have been able to show my ability to use sequencing effectively while conveying a narrative.
To conclude this project, I believe that the six shoots and the final photographic book have showcased my abilities on using different equipment to explore Occupation and Liberation in a personal and intimate way. In addition, I have shown I am able to respond to artists word while carrying an aesthetic. I am pleased with the way this project has turned out and. the authenticity towards my work where I have produced strong images and kept to a structure. On top of this, I feel as if personal research and essay writing has allowed me to understand this project a lot more in terms of facts and helped me to clearly show this within my work.
For my final print display, I wanted to use a ‘mounting’ technique to display all four images on one large spread. The images will be printed in A4. I think using the A4 size will allow for all the images to be seen clearly and for there to be no unintended blurring. I also think that having all the images the same size will add to the aesthetic of simplicity which was carried throughout my photo book. Pairing all the images together will be a good idea as the images are linked through style and have enough resemblance to be seen as a group. After experimenting with how the images should be positioned, I decided to go with having the two costume images opposite each other diagonally, with the trophy and ballet shoes diagonally the other direction. I think this will showcase the narrative clearly as the trophy positioned next to the silver costume goes together for a narrative, where as the ballet shoes and the blue costume are also related. This design is also not too complicated so still adds to the simplistic aesthetic. I personally like this selection as the images compliment each other and I enjoy the simplistic composition.
Carrying on, the images produced are on a black piece of card which will be cut out with boarders to show the images in a creative manner. This is called mounting and I think the design allows a successful display on my photographs, with the white boarders separating the images well.
Evaluation
To evaluate, I believe I have successfully selected some of my strongest imagery within my project and have creatively experimented with displaying my photographs within different methods. The display can be seen to be very simple, showing I have thought about any design as it matches my photographic book. I have shown the ability to display ‘like’ images together to compliment and create a strong narrative. I have therefore successfully displayed my photographs and am happy with my outcome.
For my first three layouts I aimed to showcase images from my phonebook within a sequence. I plan to use all the six prints to work together, keeping the underlying narrative. For this I have decided to use a mixture of the three shoots, x3 costume images, x1 archival image and x2 still-life images. I have chosen these series of images as I found they worked well together and created the intended underlying narrative. I will be using two A5 images, two A4 images as well as two A3, the images will be displayed on separate white foam boards which will add to the simplistic aesthetic. I will be pairing images of the same subject together on one from board with a 4cm gap in-between the two images as I feel as if this adds to the narrative and also compliments the photographs. This action will be repeated for all the other image sizes to create a simplistic feel and create an aesthetic. I have produced examples of the designs I will be producing below which I created with Adobe Photoshop.
A5 Images
A4 Medium
Overviewing
After looking at how the images can out printed and analysing how they’ve been sectioned together. I have decided to use mounting as a way of displaying my images as I feel as if this will complimented the photographs more. I also decided to cut out the archival image as due to it not being good quality when it was first taken, it didn’t print well, I also took out the front facing blue costume image as I felt as if it was unnesseasy and the backless image had a lot more meaning behind it. I will display the four remaining images all on one mount as I feel as if it will add contrast to the images.
I have presented the screenshots of my final photo book spread below which is entitled “Keep Dancing”. This title has come from the block which was photographed in my still-life shoot, a block that I have had for many years and resembles an element of childhood, therefore I feel as if this was a goof start to my book. I also think that his book title is welcoming for the audience and is a simple heading.
“Keep Dancing” is a photographic book which portrays the narrative of my journey through dance from young to present, I look into sentimental items, costumes and archival images to represent my development and documentation of this narrative. This book includes mainly still-life images with also elements of archival images and costumes to show intimacy, documentation and relation which relates into the underlying theme of lifestyle. Onto sequencing these images, I broke them into separate sections which are separated by a page. The first section is five pages long and includes archival and object still-life images to go along with it. This section establishes a sense of beginning and the theme of starting my dance lessons and this developing into my first competition. We can see that the first image is an archival image on the left hand side which has been taken by my mother in a dance lesson. Aside this my own still-life image is presented on the right page next to it, a pari on ballet shoes which are the same I was wearing in the archival image, my first pair. I liked this sequence as it allowed two sets of images to go together, representing a beginning of a story. Following this, I displayed a tiara which is a double page spread up with no boarder. I included this still-life image as it added an element of childhood and innocence as a tiara is an accessory young ballerinas would wear, an accessory I also wore in a performance. Adding to this theme, I included both a singular and duet image from my first dance competition where I can be seen in a balletic tutu. This added to the sense of starting up as a new dancer therefore why I included it. To represent the different sections I then included a double blank page. Adding to this, I then included another double page spread which can be seen as a brochure and a t-shirt from my first dance show, again adding to the first stage of dance upbringing. To section this off again I used a blank page. The next two sections (page 14-35) includes three different elements that follow the structure of including elements that follow on the documentation, however there is not a set structure to this as I wanted to follow the narrative as well as possible. These pages showcase the middle stage off my dancing, therefore showcasing I was doing my competitions, explaining the certificates, broachers, trophy and archival images shown as being on stage. This also represents peak time in my career as the awards show my winnings. Following this, these pages showcase me now and the opportunities dancing has given me. This section started with images from my final Silhouette Studios show. This archival image can be seen with dance friends and represents how dance builds friendship. I then modelled the same costume shown on the right hand side of that page. Carrying on with the book it then ends with two archival images, pictures which have been taken by a photographer in my most recent project I took part in. The two double page spreads are show me and my friend modelling for a jersey magazine ‘The Gallery Magazine”, a dance inspired fashion shoot. I only got this opportunity because of the recognition gained from dance, showcasing the effect that dance has on other career opportunities as well as representing my development from the first dance competition I took apart in.
I feel as if this set up has allowed me to portray my intended narrative clearly through photo manipulation and documentation throughout my life. The set of images and sequencing between them have been experimented and I now feel as if I have a solid book which I am happy with.
In the initial stages of my photo book design I wanted to ensure I maintained simplicity while also representing a narrative of a dance journey which is to be presented clearly. I first started by experimenting with sequencing of imagery with also combining archival, costuming and still life images in order to represent a relation between the three, helping to show the series of dance elements included in performance. I decided to have two archival images together with the ballet shoes which were worn on the following page, this created a sequence adding to a sense of pace. Although I liked the way this looked I felt as if the sequencing was off as the intended narrative was not clear, therefore edging me to change the sequence. Carrying on from this, in this first section of the book, as well as throughout I will be using a lot of archival imagery allowing comparison between the beginning and the end of the book, showcasing lifestyle, change and development in both dance wear, accessories, costuming etc. I feel as if this is going to help my book have a sense of pace and clearly show that this is a documentation. However, I felt as if using two archival images at the beginning was too much and therefore decided to exclude one and move around the images to fit in with this edit.
First Design
Second Design
Taking from the first experimentation I took away the landscape archival image and instead added a costuming image which can be seen as the smallest of all the costumes photographed and the costume is there first one I ever wore for competition. As mentioned in my book specificiattion I wanted the book to start with an archival image as a sense of entering into my journey and creating the narrative. I then want a mixture of all three photoshoots in order to carry on the narrative in different ways which works in my initial design. I do want double page spreads displayed throughout the book to add a sense of contrast between all the images. These double page spreads will be still-life object images as I feel as If they are going to fit in better as a double however this is not included in the first section of my book as I feel as if it doesn’t fit in. Carrying on, with the next section of my book, I intend to carry on the narrative of my dance journey. This is where double page spreads and costumes images will be introduced as a development. These images are both sectioned together to reperesent a group of images around the same subject, ie archival, object and costume images are shown to again show development of the dance when it was first performed and now when the costume lays in my wardrobe. I believe this is a successful way of showing the development as it adds fluidity and showcases a new way of looking into the subject. Furthermore, the sequencing of the images is seen as being very simplistic, with plain white backgrounds as I intended to show cheese photographs and then on the following page a post relating to the subject. This adds to the aesthetic of the book and supports my book specification where I stated I wanted a simple book with no distractions away from images. In tis version, I have intended to layout my essay within the book and have a combination of text and images to show a visual aspect. I used a combination of block text, columns as well as break ups within text to adds to the aesthetic as it is visually easier to read. To evaluate, I believe this design has a good concept however could be manipulated on my final try to showcase my intended narrative more. I would each section to have more separation to allow for the different times in life to be seen more so, therefore I will be adding in blank pages.
Fine Tuning My Design
After creating my second design, I am happy with the overall narrative as well as some of the sequencing of the images which add tot her narrative. However, I will be changing some of the images and replacing them with others in order to add to the narrative. I am deciding to focus on fine tuning some of the spreads to make the images more effective in presenting my narrative as well as improving the aesthetic further. In order to show development I have displayed one of the edits below.
In the first fine tuning of my design I looked into the way I presented my double page spreads as I felt as if these could me manipulated slightly to allow for the narrative to run more smoothly. I first started my adding a white boarder so it did not touch the edges of the page. I feel as if this shows that nothing has been cut out, therefore making my images more truthful. I then went on to position this to the middle of the page instead of slightly to the left as I felt it added more of a impact. I decided to do this for most my other double page spreads as it meant they were all the same and added to the simplicity aesthetic, I did however leave the ones which looked good spread onto the full page as I didn’t want to ruin the image overall. Both the old and new designs are placed below.
Second Design
New Design
Evaluation
To evaluate, I believe that I have been able to successfully sequence my images in order to show my intended narrative. This has been done through much experimentation and I think that this has helped me to create successful images, allowing intended impact and allowing it to have fluidity to the book. Adding on to this, I think I have been able to show my thought process and decision making as to why I have done my actions. Overall this development process have been a long one which has taken a lot of thought process and experimentation, I do now feel that I have made successful changes to each individual section. I aim to make minor changes to images and book from now to the final product and will discuss final element in my last layout plan.
What are the differences between reality, witness and point of view?
“What are the differences between reality, witness and point of view?”– Bright and Van Erp 2019:19
My personal investigation includes documentation of my own dance training and how it has developed over time. I first started dance training in 2010. My memories and experiences are often supported by images from the time, but can often be in contradicted too. In the essay I will aim to discuss the extent to which documentary photography and the notion of narrative actually portrays reality.
Walker Evans photographic series ‘Let us now praise famous men’ and Diana Markosian’s photographic series entitled ‘Inventing my father’ both explore reality, witness and point of view in quite different ways. Photographers may attempt to capture or create reality through the making of imagery, but it is the transference of this information to the audience which gives the work “life”. This is shown within Evans photographic series where he uses portraiture to represent raw emotions in farmers during the Great Depression. Looking into these photographs they are very simple and the topic of ‘reality’ is significant in his work, further showing that he is a witness in emotional times within the family photographed. Continuing, Marosians archival project can additionally be seen as showcasing as exploring reality within her family life, presenting a personal feel to the project without witnessing the early stages of her life.
Realism and Straight Photography was a responseto and rejection of, pictorialism in the early 20th Century, and presents life “how it is”. This area mostly focused on looking into cultural and social issues of the time, this was done through creating high quality images which are illusionistic. Additionally, this is a documentary style which focuses on real people in their natural situations. This genre was most useful when trying to capture family history as it allows us to be able to see someones real life situation through a photograph. Photographer Diana Markosian focused on this element within her work when documenting the effects her father not being in the family had on her. This was a prominent aspect during her life and I feel as if it fits well into my personal study as it recognises the importance of capturing moments in time. Evans is also a great example of this subject as he can be seen to use the documentation style within his projects such as ‘Let us now praise famous men’. Images within this area of study can be seen as contradicting the pictoralist style while using sharp focus to capture emotion and effects clearly.
Walker Evans is known as being one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. His sharp photographs of the harsh realities of life for specific groups and communities shows us clearly what we “need” to see, without being biased. We can also see he has authenticity within his work. Walker Evans most recognizable work is from his project ‘ Let us Now Praise Famous Men’ a series where he explores Alabama farmers during the Great Depression from portrait using a documentation style of photography. It is clear to see what the families have gone through and how they don’t know any different. He is accurate with representing his work in the way he is successful at capturing raw images through simplicity. Evans uses natural lighting to capture his images and does not position the models, but photographs them in their typical element adding a sense of truthfulness and reality.
This image above is one of Evans most well known images, an image representing family lives and a sense of reality while showing truth during that time. We can see that the main subject of the image is a young boy who is sat on a what seems like old bed. Due to the black and white edit and contrast working together, it appears he is dirty while sitting in an also filthy and worn bed which can be seen from the thin mattress, also representing it was cheap. The bags under his eyes can be sign of tiredness or malnutrition, adding to the idea that the boy is in an unhygienic environment, causing stress. Looking into more detail, there is an old style of clothing which is worn which again can be seen as grubby. We do not know why his clothing is like this, but judging on the background of the image we can guess that is belongs to a working class family, further proposing that his family may work as farmers, a typical working class job in those days. The boy in the image is looking into the camera, suggesting that he may not know what the camera is, again repressing his class as he hasn’t seen luxury items like a camera. Furthermore, by looking at the boys face, it is noticeable that quite white in relation to other aspects of the image, this leads me to believe that a flash has been used to take the picture. Evans typical use of natural lighting can be seen as being used in this image from the deep shadowing on the right hand side of the image with an also brightly lit face.
Diana Markosian focuses on a non-traditional method in order to explore family concept as a way of showing personal exploration. Markosian can be seen to focus on emotion in her images where she focuses on the honest approach to her family instead of the. happiness and love which is what is typically seen in this type of photography. Her raw approach highlights how she grew up without her father which she uses as a basis towards her work. This is created through her use of archival images which are manipulated uniquely which I believe makes her work stand out. Due to using archival images in her work, this adds an element of truth to her work, helping to contrast to the stereotypical perfect family which puts a sense of emptiness into her work. Furthermore, this emotion can also be seen through the typical black and white effect which is associated with despair and creates a cold feeling within the audience. Markosian’s most well known project ‘Inventing my Father’, a project based on her mother leaving her father to move to California when Diana was seven years old. Diana had quoted “had no pictures of him, and over time forgot what he looked like”, inspiring her to later travelled back to Armenia to reconnect with the man she hadn’t’t had contact with for so long. For her mothers coping mechanism after moving away was cutting his image out of every photograph in the family album in order to forget about the life she had before California. She looked at these images as a way of coping with never knowing her father and decided to photograph and manipulate them to represent her documentation with finding her father one day. The images she took can be seen to be very raw and both truthful and untruthful at the same time. This allows for the audience to create their own interpretation of what the photos may convey. Carrying on from this, the truthfulness behind her images helps to show that archival imagery is a creative and efficient way of showing the past with black and white editing making it more emotionally detached. This represents that archival images can be a way to show the past truthfully and accurately at that point in time, concluding the investigation if this type of photograph can be seen as showing truth. Diana Markosian’s work clearly relates to my own because of the relation between archival imagery and us having our own idea behind the photographs.
Diana Markosian: “Inventing my Father”
This image shown above is from Markosian’s project ‘ Inventing my Father’ which explores her family history from when she was born to the time period where the project was published. The project is emotional and focuses mostly on the images she has taken. There is a raw approach to her work with a sense of truth to her work. We can see in the image above that conceptually it seems as if there has been a disappearance of a family member. The size and build appears to be a male; suggesting it is her father. The cut out also proposes that the father has either left or the mother has left him. Cutting something out is very drastic for precious family photographs, quite definite in fact. Carrying on from this, the cut out shows how important Diana’s mother was to her, being her only adult influence throughout her life. Furthermore, the edit also carries a lot of emotion through it which is obvious to the audience, these emotions include emptiness, loneliness and pain. To contrast, the contextual approach to this particular image is said that this particular image shows Diana’s mothers heavy emotion which can be seen as being in pain. She cut out her husbands image from the family photograph after she left him to move to California after he had been dissappearing for weeks on end and then showing up one day. The cut up also shows the loss of a family member and how he isnt ‘family’ anymore because of his unhealthy habits towards his loved ones.
“Inventing my Father”
“Inventing my Father”
“Inventing my Father”
In my response to still-life photography, I captured fully focused images of memorable objects used in my dance performances/ sentimental objects which had an influence in my career. Through positioning and composition of my objects, I created imagery which showcased the important awards/ hair pieces which were a part of typical performances. The positioning of these objects added a sense of authority towards my background as I was able to use lighting and camera settings to create realistic images which showcased the truth. The artificial lighting with the high shutter speed allowed me to create sharp focused images which could be been clearly, showcasing the ‘still-life look’.
To conclude, both Markosian and Evans have created emotionally charged bodies of work based on their own point of view on personal family stories. I believe that within Markosians work she is fighting mixed emotions towards her father; although there is also a sense of love, where as we don’t see these elements within Evans work as it is not based on him or his family, but other families. Evans’ projects contains mainly black and white image, helping to add to the emotional context behind it, possibly representing depression and negativity. Drama is created with high contrast, striking lines, shapes and clear cropping techniques. Similarly, Markosian uses the same technique to show distance between the family. Both photographers also make use of using portraiture as their main way of representing emotion and force us to confront our own sensibilities, emotions and level of compassion.
Bibiography
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H.(2019). Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House
Essay Question- Is it possible for photography to capture moments in time, truthfully?
“What are the differenced between reality, witness and point of view?”– Bright and Van Erp 2019:19
Introduction
My personal investigation looks at my own documentation of my dance training and how it has developed by the time periods when I first started in 2010. I have explored the influence of time periods within my own dance life which are still present to my lifestyle to this day. Having large knowledge towards both practical and academic dance, I decided I wanted to base my project on this as I know I will be able to easily retrieve useful information into my project, enhance the imagery I produce as well as establishing a piece of work which I can cherish once grown older. In the essay I aim to discuss the extent to which both archival images and documentary photography actually portrays reality and how these style of images can capture if this image is true. To go along with this I will be referring to Walker Evens photographic series ‘let us now praise famous men’ and Diana Markosian’s photographic series entitled ‘ inventing my father’. Analysing photographers who captured imagery in two different styles allows me to illustrate wether documentation or archival styled images are the most foremost at producing images truthfully. These two photographers attempt to capture reality through imagery, with both also having other underlying subjects. In my project I am considered an insider looking into my early life, allowing subject to emotion to be explored as well as helping to create a more subjective view towards my reality of being a dancer, creating biased photographs.
Historical Context
Realism and Straight Photography was first introduced in the 1840s and looks at producing imagery which displays life how it is. Artists who work within this area mostly focused on looking into cultural and social issues which were revenant within that time, helping to gain recognition to issues and showcase detailed images to exhibit real life. Artist Frederick Henry Evens and his project ‘A sea of a Step’ is known to distinctly present realism through the use of lighting and space. He uses symbolism of creating subjective perspectives while changing the reliability of art movement. Focusing more on documentary photography, artist Walker Evens uses portraiture to show lifestyle within an enviroment which can sometimes be shown as being accurate or inaccurate. This carries me to explore my own topic which is based on my own dance lifestyle and I left that using a small element of documentary photography within my project would be nessesary to capture my intended subject. Carrying on from this, Paul Strand took an interesting approach to photographing objects where he uses the ‘Macro Technique’ which shows clear focus on light and shadowing. This gives an idea as to how Strands work is seen and how his work causes a narrative which can illustrate how the art movement can be truthful.
It is known that there has been an ongoing debate on how documentary photography portrays reality and if it is accurate which has been going on since the 1930s. Manipulation has been previously mentioned for effect from the Victorian era and is known to still be used in the present day which helps to suggest that photographers can’t actually portray reality through an image.
Diana Markosian focuses on a non-traditional method in order to explore family concept as a way of showing personal exploration. Markosian can be seen to focus on emotion in her images where she focuses on the honest approach to her family instead of the. happiness and love which is what is typically seen in this type of photography. Her raw approach highlights how she grew up without her father which she uses as a basis towards her work. This is created through her use of archival images which are manipulated uniquely which I believe makes her work stand out. Due to using archival images in her work, this adds an element of truth to her work, helping to contrast to the stereotypical perfect family which puts a sense of emptiness into her work. Furthermore, this emotion can also be seen through the typical black and white effect which is associated with despair and creates a cold feeling within the audience. Markosian’s most well known project ‘Inventing my Father’, a project based on her mother leaving her father to move to California when Diana was seven years old. Diana had quoted “had no pictures of him, and over time forgot what he looked like”, inspiring her to later travelled back to Armenia to reconnect with the man she hadn’t’t had contact with for so long. For her mothers coping mechanism after moving away was cutting his image out of every photograph in the family album in order to forget about the life she had before California. She looked at these images as a way of coping with never knowing her father and decided to photograph and manipulate them to represent her documentation with finding her father one day. The images she took can be seen to be very raw and both truthful and untruthful at the same time. This allows for the audience to create their own interpretation of what the photos may convey. Carrying on from this, the truthfulness behind her images helps to show that archival imagery is a creative and efficient way of showing the past with black and white editing making it more emotionally detached. This represents that archival images can be a way to show the past truthfully and accurately at that point in time, concluding the investigation if this type of photograph can be seen as showing truth. Diana Markosian’s work clearly relates to my own because of the relation between archival imagery and us having our own idea behind the photographs.
Diana Markosian: “Inventing my Father” image
This image shown above is from Markosian’s project ‘ Inventing my Father’ which explores her family history from when she was born to the time period where the project was published. The project is very emotional and focuses mostly on the images she has taken which don’t include a lot of editing, adding a raw approach to her work and showing it for how it originally was, adding an element of truth to her work. We can see in the image above that conceptually it seems as if there has been a disappearance of a family member, due to the size and build it looks like a male suggesting it is her father. The cut out also proposes that the father has either left or the mother has left him as a cut out is very drastic for precious family photographs. Carrying on from this, the cut out shows to the audience how important diana’s mother was to her, being her only adult influence throughout her life. Furthermore, the edit also carries a lot of emotion through it which is obvious to the audience, these emotions include emptiness, loneliness and pain. To contrast, the contextual approach to this particular image is said that this particular image shows Diana’s mothers heavy emotion which can be seen as being in pain as she cut out her husbands image from the family photograph after she left him to move to California after he had been dissapering for weeks on end and then showing up one day. The cut up also shows the loss of a family member and how he isnt ‘family’ anymore because of his unhealthy habits towards his loved ones. Technically, we don’t know whether this image has been taken with a camera because of the high quality phones which are used in this day and age. However, we can see that there has been artificial lighting used in taking the image because of shadowing.
Evans is known as being one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century through his sharp photographs which have deep meanings behind them. His typical use of documentation showcases his ability to look into different elements of life without being biased. We can also see he has authenticity within his work. Walker Evans most recognizable work is from his project ‘ Let us Now Praise Famous Men’ a series where he explores Alabama farmers during the Great Depression from portrait using a documentation style of photography. Looking into his portraiture, it is clear to see what the families have gone through and how they don’t know any different. He has stated that he enjoys to use editing as a large part of his image as it develops an image even if you are trying to prove a realistic point. Evans imagery has been described as “You can’t sniff the stink of the quilts in the Evans pictures” showing a positive response to his work and emphasis how he is accurate with representing his work in the way he is successful at capturing raw images through simplicity. Evans uses naturalistic lighting to capture his images and does not position the models, but photographs them in their typical element adding a sense of truthfulness and reality. Capturing the subject in their naturalistic environment allows a sense of authority to the images, adding emotion and a sense of sympathy.
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.
Photo book chosen- “The Middle of Somewhere”– Sam Harris
Researching the Photo Book
Researching the photo book by Sam Harris, it is seen to be a visual book which showcases a family diary revolving around his two daughters growing up. I learned that Harris is used a focused lens to show his daughters childhood in a place where it is seen if very free and allows experience. There are naturalistic elements throughout the book such as trees and sunlight which are also shown through shadows and sunlight faces, representing ‘suggestive photography’. In a similar element, it has also been noted that most of these images took place in India, a location the family moved to in order for their children to grow up around culture, freedom and overall living in a simpler existance. The twelve year span the book was taken over is showing the families life day to day, supporting this it was seen that a travelogue was included in the families book, showing life on the road in Australia and villages in India where they birthed their second daughter.
Harris’s approach to this book is seen to be expressing meanings on love, growing up, family, landscape and sisterhood, all of which are personal parts to the family and show a certain type of intimacy while still creating memorable memories, creating an inspiring collection of images, all having a sense of feeling.
Related Quote- “My work is a celebration of childhood, family life, love and our simplistic lifestyle which intertwines with out environment.”
Image represents the element of childhood, nature as well as simplicity through the use of taking a bath.
Harris’s Intentions
Harris is an American author and podcast host who is known for his work focusing on topics such as neuroscience, terrorism and free will, helping his development in creating development images, leading me to research into why he’s chosen to create a photo-book when not having previous experience. Looking into Harris’s photo book, I personally think that his intentions when making the book was to show his fresh start living on the road in Australia with his daughters who were growing up quickly. This could also be a physical memory he wanted to look back on as well as show his daughters once grown up. This therefore shows his intended audience being for mainly his family who can relive memories. An active way of allowing the family to look back on memories is by including text in the book which represents dates and locations of where they were which is represented towards the beginning of the book.
Although the book has not gained any major awards, It is well known by other photographers and inspired people to create their own imagery to create personal images to book back on.
Deconstructing the book… Narrative, Concept and Design
-Book in hand- When holding the book in hand, it was clear that this has a soft, flexible cover with small texture to it on both the front and back on the cover (paperback). There seems to be no visible binder. The book is also quite heavy.
-Paper and ink- The images in the book can be seen to be presented in either black and white or colour on matt white paper which is smooth in texture. Their are post- it notes and written text inside the book which adds a feel of it being a scrapbook.
The elements of ‘written ink’ is shown within this image which had been written by his daughters.
-Format, Size and Orientation- This is a portrait styled book which is larger then an A5 size however not A4. There are smooth corners on the book which is in a rectangle shape and includes 2 inserts inside as well as post-it notes and 94 images.
-Title- The title to the book has. an element of mystery to it in coordination to the green background which can be interpreted as nature. This title could represent many different elements such as a relationship between nature and the author. Due to this sense of mystery this could draw in people to buy it as it has a metaphorical meaning.
-Narrative- The story is about him and his families travel through Australia and is a ‘family diary’ of moments they shared with their two daughters. It is said that he used this book in order to create physical memories which the family could look back on as a group. It is also said that they’re reason for taking the daughters away from the city is because they wanted them to experience nature for what it was and wanted them to live in a simplistic environment.
-Structure and Architecture- There are not many repetition motif’s going on in this phonebook, however it is seen that they include either written work such as dates/ locations where they traveled or hand written aspects on posit notes that their daughters had written to add a more personal feel to the book. There are also a lot of noticeable naturalistic images such as clouds, trees and roads which are included to separate the images taken of his children, adding to the feel of a journey and again showing where they were at the time the images of their daughters were taken.
Shows elements of nature
-Design and Layout- The photographer used a wide variety of techniques when displaying him images. Some are shown in a landscape form, some a portrait. Adding to this, some of the landscape ones are portrayed on a double spread where as others are shown to be on single pages etc. There are no fold outs in the book, only small elements such as posit notes which I personally feel as if adds the element of evidence it needed while not making it confusing. This allows all focus to be on the images taken.
-Images and Text- Throughout the phonebook there are pages which include text, mostly typed but also written. The typed text is used to show poems and location/dates as said beforehand which gives the book the separation that it needs from images. The use of this text also allows for the audience to understand the story of the book as well as appreciate the sentimental values which lies within the book.
Text is represented in this image in coordination with the image of his youngest daughter on the left, incorporating nature.
