As well as producing my photo-book I have printed some of my other photographs which I took and edited digitally but did nor fo onto using in my photo-book, I plan to explore different layouts for mounting them either on foam board or using a window mount.
Below shows the images I have chosen to print and also what size I have chosen to print them in, over the course of having them I will experiment with the different layouts of them of how they can fit together as photographs.
I began by researching and looking into different ways that I could trial laying out my photographs on board or in window mounts, as my photographs create and tell one fluid story, narrative I feel I should lay them out in a way which leads the story or highlights important parts of them which I would like to emphasise.
Looking at the photographs I printed out I made three in three different sizes, A4, A3 and A5, I printed out two of each of these sizes to give me some variation in what way I could lay them out. I am still unsure as to whether I place them all collectively together or as separate displays. My photographs are showing two different parts of the story each, one that leads on towards the other, however I am unsure as to whether I should put them all together as one larger narrative or in two separate narratives to keep the two parts separate from each other and as individual stories. This would also allow me to experiment more with my layouts as I could have two different versions rather than one.
Below are four of my trials for display options for my printed photographs, I trialled having my photographs separated onto two different displays and also all together as one collective display, I feel some my photographs might have more of an impact being displayed on foam board and some on window mounts so I want to trail and see how I feel that they would fit and work together, due to having 6 and 3 different sizes I feel that one display may become too crowded which is not what I want to eventually achieve so I feel for this reason I may begin to split up my photographs.
Final Display Plans
Below I have my plans for my final prints, I decided on doing three separate displays due to the types of photographs I had, my middle display I felt is a strong image any itself so decided to keep it singular and in a window mount to keep it in a frame. My left display I felt the photographs worked well together with the repetition of the subjects but also the colour schemes going through the two photographs, I have also decided to window mount these photographs as I feel they will work well with the dark black paper, sunken into the display as the sink into the dark musty green colours of the background I feel works well together. For my last display I paired these three photographs together as they all have very similar colour hues which ascetically work well with each other, as well with the subject matter the close up of the eyes works well in contrast to the action of them being blinded and hidden in my other two photographs which is why I have chosen to place them all together working with each other, I will be displaying this on foam board as I feel they should stand out above the page as well the white I feel will work with the bright blues and purple colours coming through in the photographs.
Text is an important part of my photo-book as my images were telling a story. The photographs tell a narrative themselves however I felt it important to include the written stories I was telling to make more sense for the viewer and to help the narrative of the book flow.
Narrative Text
I began with the narrative text, experimenting with the placing and the images I was going ton put the text to. I put each story down into 3 paragraphs or miniature stories each. I found this work best as a sequence and then wanted to keep each story the same to help with the flow of the book. I also had to trial and experiment with putting the text at the top, bottom and centre of the page. I personally found that in the centre worked best as my images were mainly centred that I was using so it worked on the adjacent page to have the text in a symmetrical position. I placed a subheading at the beginning of each paragraph as I felt this looked better but also gave some context towards the stories and what was going to be told to come.
I began experimenting with the size of text as well as its compression, I started with size 15.4 text and moved it down to the main body of text being size 11 with the heading being size 12, this worked best as in industry production this is the regular size text would be and it won’t look overly large and too big on the A4 size paper that I have. I also began to add a buffer to my text boxes, making the lines shorter but adding the text onto more lines, this worked better than having all of my text stretched out it made it look more clean and put together and neater than having it stretched out, this also helped with the centring of the text on the page.
Essay Text
I personally chose to add my essay into the end of my photo-book as I felt this was an added touch to finish of the whole personal investigation together. I chose to stick to some similar layouts throughout as I felt it looked better with consistency rather than changing it every single page. I tried to make each spread round off and finish in a good place so to make sense and to help the flow, using the size 11 text I felt this was the best size for large bodies of text and then further used size 10 for the image labels and captions so that the did not begin to get too bulky or take up too much room compared to the main large body of text.
Below are screenshots of each page spread of my final book design entitled ‘Mr Ronald Welling and Mrs Welling’. As mentioned in my development blog post the title came about to show dominance and authority of my Grandad, Ron, through the formality of the title which can also suggest his business side. The photograph on the dust jacket is from their wedding day, suggesting the ideology of religion, family and happiness beginning the ameliorative mood of the overall photo book. My final book design can be viewed below:
‘Mr Ronald Welling and Mrs Welling’ is my photographic book which portrays the narrative of the occupation of lifestyle on my Grandparents, and how their upbringing in the 1940’s reflects their lifestyle in the modern day. The book includes mainly portraits of the two subject which shows intimacy, religion, family structure, authority and aspects of relationship which all cast the same underlying theme of lifestyle. In a sense the sequencing of the photographs are broken into three sections which are not explicitly sections. The first section establishes the couple, their relationship and the ideology of my Grandad being the provider for his wife and having the authority over her, this is presented through portraits inspired by Walker Evans, LaToya Ruby Frazier and some of my own artistic influence to compose the photograph. Within this section I have used archival imagery to present a compassion of their lifestyle when they were younger and present day allowing a more reliable reflection of their lifestyle. In addition, I decided to include one interior and exterior photograph which begins to reinforce the luxurious lifestyle they live through a new subject, reinforcing the ideologies of my project. The second section looks at family events and how my Grandparent’s lifestyle adapts, reflects and compares to my lifestyle. These photographs follow a family photograph style capturing the highlights of the religious event ‘Christmas’. The interaction between my Grandparents and my family, illustrate their lifestyle clearly at a major event. In the final section I mainly focus on the interior and exterior of their house through mainly landscape imagery. I also use more portraits to show my Grandad’s relationship with the specific rooms, creating semantics towards the imagery and reinforcing the idea of intimacy. For the majority of the time I have stuck to having just one image for two pages, using a single, 3/4 or double page spread. However, I have used up to two photographs over two pages if I need to emphasise a certain point. The photo book itself is a Standard Portrait, 20×25 cm. My pages will be white and printed on premium matte paper, as it makes the book seem like an official file. As stated above I will be using a dust jacket, meaning the actual hardcover of the book has not been designed. I intend to use a fabricated cover, subtle cover, as many family photographic books at the time they were raised was often this material, thus making it relevant and appropriate to use. The essay found at the end of my photo book explore the extent to which we can trust documentary photography to reflect reality, which follows the same path as the images found in my book. This presents viewers with the question of how accurately my images reflect my Grandparents lifestyle, adding a more academic response to the book. The essay includes photographs of artists work as well as my response to their work showing exploration and understanding of key theories within photography. To conclude, I believe the sequencing displayed above clearly illustrates my intended narrative which compliments my essay in response to my hypothesis. This well thought out design has gone through many experimentation and development in order to make the images powerful in the message they present as well as having a clear narrative which flows smoothly because of my sequencing of my photographs.
For my first final print I wanted to utilise the eclectic layout to illustrate my Grandparents lifestyle. After consideration I decided I did not want to use all of the photographs as I felt, that it became to chaotic and took away from my intended narrative. I decided to use the three interior images and the two photographs inspired by LaToya Ruby Frazier as I felt these images complimented each other to convey the ideology of lifestyle, authority and luxury. I decided to come away from the ‘randomly spread out’ idea and made it all lined up and straight in order to show more structure within their lifestyle. Personally, I really like the way the images compliment each other as they follow a similar simplistic composition, as well as conveying my narrative for the project.
Final Piece 2:
Using these two images almost juxtapose one another, however I believe it informs us a lot about my Grandad. They both hold the ideology of spirituality, the top image shows red wine which suggests the last supper and a common drink had within church services as it represents Jesus’ blood. Additionally, the photograph below is an image of intimacy showing my Grandad reaching out and praying to god. Placing these two images together clearly represents the ideology of spirituality, and therefore making it a successful outcome.
Final Piece 3:
In my third final outcome I selected the two portraits, one of my Grandma and the other of my Grandad inspired by Walker Evans. I chose to use a window mount to illustrate the ideology of authority and family structure and hierarchy, as the portrait of my Grandad is larger in size, thus implying the conceptual representation. I really like the way in which they compliment each other through a similar composition as Walker Evans, as it suggests a relationship with the outdoors and their home, which showcases lifestyle. I believe this outcome is strong and clearly shows my narrative, thus making it successful.
Final Outcome 4:
For my last final outcome I chose to frame the A3 photograph of my families interaction with my Grandparents during a religious period in time, Christmas. The image is displayed in a black window mount, and holds an ameliorative atmosphere, as it explains how the two different lifestyles compliment one another. The photograph alone is structurally quite busy, thus making it effective on its own, as the monochrome composition allows detail and structure to be emphasised, reinforcing the happiness shown on the subjects faces. Personally, I really like this design as I feel it clearly illustrates the meaning of family as well as informing viewers about my intended narrative.
Evaluation:
To evaluate, I believe I have successfully selected some of my strongest imagery from the project in order to display my intended narrative within the project. I have creatively experimented with ways in which I could display my photographs, with showing a variety of methods, window mounts and stuck on foam board. The simplicity of the display allows the authenticity of my photographs to be up held. I have shown my ability to place ‘like’ photographs together in order for them to compliment and almost hold a mini narrative of their own which adds to my overall narrative. Therefore, I have successfully displayed my photographs, as well as being satisfied with my outcomes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
