For my home sweet home project, I happened to be in my grandmothers house in the Isle of Wight for Christmas. This Christmas was quite different to the many Christmases we have spent in the past at my Nans house as my Nan wast around as she is currently in a care home. With her care prices getting expensive, it is looking likely that we as a family will have to sell the house and this is a real shame for me as I have such fond memories of the place growing up and I have come to call it a second home. This though resounded throughout my family as it is my dads childhood home also. I set out to photograph the house itself as well as my family within it for my project and to highlight the feeling of home my nans house provides me and my family.
Images from shoot
Here are my images from my shoot alongside my thoughts on them
The exterior of my nans house. I have adjusted the exposure as the image was originally over exposed and this created a lot of noise and distortion within the image
The blinds in the rear bedroom of the house looking out onto the garden. I liked the contrast of the image as the silhouettes of the blinds act as a block to the light environment of the outside. I increase d the color filters and the vibrancy filterer to further enhance the color in the garden
My Younger sister playing in the back hall way with the light shining on her. I liked the candid nature of this image as my sister was unaware I took the photo so all actions in the photo are natural. The lighting is also a key element of the image
A penguin toy on the back mantle piece atop the heater. This penguin toy is significant to me as i remember it fondly growing up and it has played a key part in my childhood, adding to the atmosphere and feel of home
My sister in my aunties living room on Christmas day. In this image I was drawn to the warm light of the setting sun shining on the living room and the reflection of the decorations. To me this image has a very homely feel
My younger brother playing on his Nintendo switch. I took this photo as he was unaware I was taking it so he therefore acted naturally, making it a truly candid shot and due to the presence of the sofa in the background and the soft toy, further implying the feeling of home.
In preparation for this photo shoot I looked back at Sian Davey’s candid photography, in order to reflect on the techniques she used, so that I can implement her approach into my work. I wanted half to be highly staged, more like an environmental form, family portrait, and half naturalistic in order to showcase a true representation of my family, following more of a candid form of documentation photography. My camera setting where kept similar to the detail shot photo shoot, due to the shoots occurring on the same day. used the AV setting, allowing me to focus on the aperture and depth of field. On the day these photographs were taken, the lighting was dull, but well lit, which meant that I used a low ISO. My f number stayed on 5.6, unless the room itself was much darker. The shutter speed was set on a quick setting and the white balance was set to the day light setting. In order for further control I used manual focus, allowing me to control the depth of field and the overall composition.
Edits:
First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rating
Third Edit – Colour Rating
Colour:
For my colour edits, I wanted the outcomes to be kept as naturalistic as possible, so I ensure that the detail and structure was not over the top, creating soft outcomes, focusing on the conceptual reasoning, family love, to be presented within my imagery. I explored with adjusting the white and blacks and shadows in order to create outcomes which still presented tonal contrast, allowing the colours and environment and subjects to be the focus of the composition. I am pleased with the way in which these outcomes have turned out, due to me keeping the editing simple, to capture the naturalism of the photographs.
Black and White:
For my black and white outcome, I explored with an image which uses a birds eye view angle. The tonal contrast and new angle allows the conceptual meaning to be presented in a new way, which showcases this further exploration as successful. The photograph follows a candid style of photography, and presents my three subjects, with one looking at the camera, implementing an environmental stylistic feature to my work. The composition uses the rule of thirds, allowing viewers eyes to be guided around the frame. The formal element of space plays an active role with the outcome. In the frame there seems to be a lack of empty space, thus my models are in close proxemics to one another, which emphasise the conceptual representation of family love and bonding within the work. The background, is kept simplistic with not much going on showcasing my families naturalistic environment.
Technically, the photograph uses a small aperture, due to the the whole frame being in focus. The ISO used is low which is shown through there being no noise being created. This also allows us to understand that natural lighting produced by the daylight was used to capture this, and informs us that the white balance has colour accuracy and that it presents a sense of warmth, adding to the overall pleasant mood to the piece. In addition, the shutter speed is quick, due to no interned blur being presented within the outcome.
In order to achieve all of this, I kept the editing simplistic. I turned the photograph black and white and focused mainly on adjusting the black, white, shadows and contrast sliders in order to create the overall photograph.
Evaluation:
To evaluate I believe I have produced strong photographs which clearly showcases my understanding of ‘Establishing a shot’ and the ability to use candid photography in order to produce naturalistic outcomes, which explores a narrative within my work. I have reinforced my ability to have control over manual settings and shown my competence of using Lightroom in order to edit my photographs. Although I have produced strong imagery, I do not believe it is as successful as the detail shot photo shoot. However, the imagery still produced has an clear overall aesthetic and shows exploration into the home sweet home briefing.
When going about this photoshoot I kept in mind the technique the Martin Parr used when he captured detailed/macro photography, in order to create an effective outcome which can hold a lot of conceptual meaning. On top of this, I also took inspiration from the mood board created on the previous blog post, in order to create new ways and approaches of capturing this style of photography. When capturing this set of photographs I used the AV setting, allowing me to focus on the aperture and depth of field, an important feature for macro style photography. On the day these photographs were taken, the lighting was dull, but well lit, which meant that I used a low ISO. My f number stayed on 5.6, unless the room itself was much darker. The shutter speed was set on a quick setting and the white balance was set to the day light setting. In order for further control I used manual focus, allowing me to control the depth of field and the overall composition.
Edits:
First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rating
Third Edit – Colour Rating
Colour Edits:
For my colour edits I tried to explore with making the colours vibrant and over the top, to create a similar outcome as Parr. In order to do this I increased the contrast, vibrance, white and blacks. Although this worked well, I did not think that it was justifying my work, so I decided to edit them normally, as if it was a normal portrait, in order to allow the detail to clearly be showcased. To do this I subtly moved the sliders in order to correct the imagery until I gained my desired effect. I believe my colour outcomes are successful as they clearly showcase the formal elements of colour, texture, space and shape, which enables the macro photographs to meet the briefing and showcase my implementation of Parr’s work within mine.
Black and White:
Experimenting in black and white; I was a little skeptical at first as all my inspiration did not use black and white imagery to present the macro photograph. I then decided to go ahead with this idea, because I knew it would show exploration outside of my research. In order to achieve this effect, I set the image to black and white and mainly focused on adjusting the black, white, contrast, structure and shadow sliders in order to create the outcome below. I am happy that I experimented with black and white, as I believe that this is my strongest outcome from the photoshoot, with my reasoning for this being explained in an analysis of my work below.
Visually, we are presented with a landscape macro photograph of a models mouth, who is smiling showing her teeth. The frame is 3/4 full, with a sense of space on the left of the frame, presenting the technique of rule of thirds bring utilised in this outcome. The main focus point is the teeth, due to it being the area most in focus, which informs us that a large depth of field has been used when capturing the photograph. The photograph presents the formal elements of space, texture, shape and tone, which is being shown through the detail of the lower half of the models face. The photograph is presented in black and white which allows a clear tonal contrast to be showcased, making the imagery even stronger. The background is black, which enables our attention to be focused on the foreground, the face of the model, allowing the conceptual representation of happiness within a family to be clearly presented.
Technically, the photograph uses a medium aperture, due to the narrow depth of field being utilised in order to allow the focus to be on the mouth and teeth. The ISO used is low which is shown through there being no noise being created. This also allows us to understand that natural lighting produced by the daylight was used to capture this, and informs us that the white balance has colour accuracy and that it presents a sense of warmth, adding to the overall pleasant mood to the piece. In addition, the shutter speed used to capture this macro photograph was quick sue to no intended blur being presented in the overall composition.
Evaluation:
To evaluate this photo shoot, I believe that it was more successful than the previous home sweet home shoot, due to me producing stronger imagery, through more control over my camera settings. I have been able to show my competence with macro photography, as well as showing my ability to use manual focus in order to create depth of field and put different features in focus for effect. I have also shown my ability to take inspiration and implement it into my work, on top of adding my own artist style to show further exploration within my imagery. I believe that my overall outcomes are successful due to high control in my camera settings, and quality editing, making my work have a clear overall aesthetic.
“Contemporary Still Life brings together approximately fifty paintings, sculptures, drawings, tapestries, and photographs executed since 1960. The exhibition has been assembled with the intention of encouraging a rethinking of the traditionally narrow definition of still life”.
Laura Letinsky Case Study
Letinsky was born on Winnipeg and is a Canadian comtempoary photographer who is known for her still life photographs and graduated from the Yale School of Art in 1991. When starting photography, she started as a portrait photographer but matured through her photography to working with still life imagery. At present she is working at the Visual Art University of Chicago.
Her images reflect the famous Dutch still life but with a new feel which were described as “ripeness, freshness and decay”. This makes her still life different from Dutch still life, due to hers being more modern because of the elements included. She has said that she uses photography to convey our understanding of relationships and love which could link back to her “ripeness” in her photographs. It has been said that her association with still life associates with femininity, minor art and imbrication within the home.
Mood Board of Her Style/Images
Her Style..
Aesthetically pleasing
Landscape Images
Simple camera settings
Low ISO’s throughout
Fully focused images (high shutter speeds)
Monotone colours used
Analysation Image
Technical Analysis- Technically, we can see that the photograph has been taken with a simple camera setting, allowing conceptual factors to be an important part in the photograph. The shutter speed used must of been quick due to their being no intended blur on the image within the frame. There must have been a low ISO used on the photograph because of the soft lighting seen on the image which has obviously been done with artificial lighting which was created from studio lights. Their is an accurate white balance being used for the environment in. The aperture used in the photograph is seeming to be low because of the large depth of field in the picture.
Visual Analysis- We can see that this is a landscape image with the main focus being on the centre of the image which is a half eaten melon. Their are very monotone colours used in the image which helps to contrast with the yellow/orange melon which is placed in the centre of the image. The background is also seen as simplistic.
Conceptual Analysis- The creased table cloth is suggesting a sense of mess and uncleanliness. Due to Letkinskys work being about femininity, I personally am taking this unclean rug as a symbolism of an unpure women, and due to this being an object I feel as if the image is also representing women as not being objects.
The result of the first edit from 110 images to 47
The result of my second edit down to 28 images
Much of the edits for the first shoot consist of increasing contrast and detail as well as some experimentation with black and white edits.
As for the second shoot and emphasis was put on improving color depth and repairing blemishes in the background.
These images have had their background retouched in order to produce a cleaner line between the different colors as well as light retouching to the subject of the images to preserve as much detail as possible. the brightness of each flash-heads to achieve the desired lighting for each composition.
The 21st has opened up opportunities for artists to put a modern twist on still life images. While keeping the original ideas from Vanitas, contemporary still life incorporates what is important to people now, such as technology, with the same ideas about vanity and mortality.
Tabea Mathern
Lidia McGrigor
Krista van der Niet
Jonathan Knowles
Ori Gersht:
Israeli photographer and video creator, Ori Gersht demonstrates interesting ideas in his still life, favouring obvious choas and and violence rather than more subtle symbols shown in classic vanitas images.
Fragile Land, 2018
Liquidation, 2005
Floating World, 2016
Love Me Love Me Not, 2013
On Reflection, 2014
Time After Time, 2007
Most of Gersht’s photographs focus on what can be considered morbid ideas. He looks at the effects of violence, the distortion and perception of reality and draws inspiration from his own Jewish background. It is clear that Gersht wants to show the harsh truths that many of us are afraid to admit. For example, 2003’s ‘Apocalypse’ shows the effects human activity is having on the environment by capturing the aftermath of an oil spill in Spain.
“In many of my works, there is an act of destruction, which for me is kind of challenging the very notion of the still life because traditionally there is an eternal preservation,”
Analysis:
Blow Up 06, Blow Up, 2007
Visual:
Similar to Vanitas still life, this images represents the fragile nature of life by showing how easily something can be destroyed. Flowers are typically used to symbolise peace, however, Gersht uses his image subject them violence.
The image also clearly shows that the flowers were arranged to form a wreath. Wreaths can symbolise eternity due to their seemingly never ending appearance. However, this would crontradict the message of the Vanitas inspired image, suggesting that life continues or is never ending. A second and more likely meaning could come from the wreaths symbolism in Christianity. In Christianity, the wreath symbolises the circle of life. A part of this includes death. The image may be trying to show that everything has it time and death is part of the circle of life.
The definition of still life is a painting or drawing of an arrangement of inanimate objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware. Still-life art began to emerge in popularity during the 16th century but its roots date back to ancient times, it’s earliest form was of skulls, candles, and hourglasses as allegories of mortality ( vanitas were very popular at this time in the Netherlands, this is a collection of objects that symbolise the inevitability of death and the vanity of materialistic achievements and pleasures, it exerts the idea of repentance) as well as fruit and flowers which represented natures cycle and the seasons. The genre became of high demand for wealthy middle class to decorate their homes with as it was a modern form of art in comparison to the trends of portraits and religious art work. Today still life is a part of modern art but focusing on more contemporary objects to show how times have changed.
Analysis:Pieter Claesz
This art work is called A Skull and a Writing Quill and was painted 1628 by Dutch artist Pieter Claesz. It’s main focus is the skull as a vanita which was popular amoungst dutch artists, they symbolise mortality and how death it always inevitable. Vanitas were very popular at this time in the Netherlands, this is a collection of objects that symbolise the inevitability of death and the vanity of materialistic achievements and pleasures, it exerts the idea of repentance. The colours used are of a subdued palette with a monotone range this emphasises the depressive idea looming death and how life running up to it can we equally as depressing. Claesz is well known for including reflections in this art work this could symbolise the unknown paths of life and how their are parts that are light and happy, not all of it is gloomy, the white window relection goes in comtrast with the dark glass, like heaven and hell in a way. The quill adds a sense of reality maybe the skull is of a writers, this creates a more authentic feel that all types of people died, not just the poor as back in those times it was more likely for a person of the lower class to have a small life span due to lack of access to clean water, health care, shelter etc. The skull is a reminder of the transcience of existence. The depiction of the glass and quill whch were seen as luxury goods were often tempered by the presence of a skull or hourglass to remind the viewer that such luxuries would be of little use in the afterlife.
This is one of Pieter Claesz’s most iconic pieces simply titled ‘Vanitas Still Life’ featuring a very traditional vanitas composition and some harsh directional lighting.
Due to the intensity of the image it is unlikely that it is entirely lit using the single candle and thus is likely naturally lit with some additional warmth provided by the candle. The image contains harsh contrast resembling chiaroscuro lighting from left to right. the chosen color palette is quite warm possibly due to the age of the pigments. There is some prominent use of directional strokes visible on the larger rounded surfaces of the painting, this was likely to show the light interacting with the various textures in the image. The main 3D forms of the painting are the candlestick and the skull on either side of the composition with the skull being used as a symbol of mortality as well as potentially the candle as it is this finite, flickering flame destined to eventually go out, its transience may be a metaphor for the human life. This theme of transience also extends to the flower shown in the painting. The quill and ink-pot shown within the image may potentially represent the vain pursuits of man.
This form of documentary photography requires two or more subjects within the frame. The photograph almost acts like a tableaux as the photographer positions the subjects in order to convey a story and narrative, making this the main element to an established shot. In addition, the story can be presented through the background or the subject (is there an interaction or connection with the subjects in order to convey meaning). This technique is also used within film making, as directors, to establish angles and settings which would work for the scene.
Mood Board Showcasing Photography in the style of ‘Establishing Shots’
Sian Davey:
One photographer which I personally enjoy the work of Sian Davey who followed her teenage daughter round capturing her life on camera. The form of naturalistic images found within the ‘Matha’ series clearly conveys the narrative of Martha’s life, social interaction and her growing up and experiencing the world.
Sian’s Davey Photograph from the ‘Martha’ Series
Above is one of my personal favourite photographs from the series. Visually, the photograph is almost chaotic in the sense of a lot of things happening within the frame making it interesting for viewers to look at. The main focal point is the three girls located within the centre of the frame, with the background having other girls and forrest type environment. The photograph captures the girls almost rebelling, and doing things they should not be doing, like drinking and smoking, due to the age of Davey’s daughter only being 16. These are shown through the objects in the frame which help to tell the key narrative within the photograph. The key formal elements within this photograph is colour, space and texture, which is shown through the different elements within the composition as well as the positioning of the girls. The positing of the subjects is naturalistic, creating a sense of realism within this form of documentary photography. In a sense the photograph seems to be using the rule thirds, which allows the naturalistic feel to run through and allows viewers to perceive the photograph more naturally. The photograph is captured at a straight on angle with the orientation of the photograph being landscape.
Conceptually, the narrative told within the photograph is the teenage girl rebelling due to the restrictions she has in her life. In a recent interview with Davey said “providing me with access to her social situations—in a sense, access to her social world at an age where parents are typically explicitly kept at bay.” Contextually, the Davey wanted to explore social norms which was influenced by her interest in her main subjects, her two daughters.
Technically, the photograph uses quite simplistic settings in order to maintain a naturalistic feeling towards the overall image, and photographic series. The lighting is natural, produced by natural sunlight due to the outdoors environment in which the photograph was captured in. This lighting has a sense of warmth which is emphasised through the light beaming through the trees and the correct outdoors white balance being utilised. This also works along the low ISO which is shown as no noise being presented through the frame of the photograph. In addition, the shutter speed has been put on a quick shutter speed due to no intended blur, and the aperture has been slightly raised as a slightly narrow depth of field is being presented, as the background is slightly blurred.
Detail Shot:
This form of macro photography, looks at capturing a portrait to convey new conceptual meaning. The imagery produced has close connotations with identity and informs us about the subject being captured within the shot. Normally, the main formal elements produced within this style of photography are: texture, shape and space, which all work together to create a powerful set of imagery.
Mood Board Inspiring my Detailed Shot:
Martin Parr:
Martin Parr is a British photographer, who capture photographs in the style of documentary photography. His photograph looks at capturing an anthropological way of looking at modern life, with major focus looking at the still existing class system within the UK. Within his time as a photographer, he has published over 40 phonebooks and his work has put into 80 exhibitions world wide, showcasing his success. I will be analysing the work which was displayed in a exhibition name Souvenir in 2013. The images are apart of the ‘Real Food’ photographic book too, which contained images similar to the one below.
Martin Parr – 1996 – ‘New British’ + ‘Common Sense’
The above photograph is my favourite from the Real Food photographic book as it clearly showcases the techniques of a detail shot. Visually, we are presented with a photograph of a child holding a sugar doughnut which has been bitten into. The composition of the frame is full, however not busy, due to the photograph being considered as a macro style image, which creates a sense of containment and enclosure drawing us into the photograph. The main focal point is the doughnut, which is suggested through the central positing of the food in the frame and the narrow depth of field being used. This illuminates our understanding that the foreground is the hands and doughnuts and the background is the coat. The frame of the photograph tells us a lot about whats going on, the small hands, belonging to a small child wearing a vibrant coloured coat, which grip onto the doughnut, informs us that this child could be on holiday and enjoying himself. The photograph presents the formal elements of colour and texture, which helps to emphases the point just stated. The colours seem to be warm suggesting happiness, creating and overall pleasant mood to the imagery.
Conceptually, Parr wanted to capture an anthropological way of looking at modern life, which is clearly being showcased within the macro photograph. Contextually, Parr still noticed that the UK still presents a subtle class decided within modern society, which can be seen emphasised within his work. The colour of the coat seem to represent the same as a place like Butlins, holiday location in the UK, these places where considered cheap and accessible for those in the lower and middle class, which represent his negative viewpoint towards the class system.
To technically analyse this piece, Parr has kept his camera setting simple allowing the detailed shot to be successful and impactful on viewers. The lighting used half natural, through daylight, and half artificial, as it seems that he has used his flash allowing the foreground to be illuminated, with the background having shadows. This creates a warm atmosphere this was achieved through the correct white balance being used, which works in co with the low ISO being used due to the low intended noise. The shutter speed seems to be quick due to there being no intended blur. As mentioned before there is a small narrow depth of field being used to allow the doughnut and hands to be the centre of focus, allowing the conceptual and contextual elements to be illuminated.
Action Plan:
As an action plan I will now produce a set of images to respond to the ideology of establishing shot and detail shot, using inspiration from the work of Parr and Davey. I will look at using their methodology when capturing my family, and try and apply their conceptual reasoning into my work, adjusting it in order to fit within my family.
Letinksy was born in 1963, born in Winnipeg, and is a Canadian contemporary photographer, being best know for her work based around the genre of still-life. Letinsky has an BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from Yale University and received a fellow ship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman and the Canada Council for the Arts and is currently a Professor of visual arts at the University of Chicago. She has demonstrated aspects of exploring the expressive possibility of still-life photography, after shifting my photography of people on to still-life, she sates that ‘ For a long time I’ve asked myself questions about what a photograph is. While I was taking photographs of couples in the 1990s I began thinking about love, and about how photography relates to love, how it can functions within a kind of circuitry of production and consumption.’ (Sholis.B, 2013, Interview with Laura Letinsky; aperture)
MOOD BOARD:
ANALYSIS:
TECHNICAL: from this image its evident by the shadows and the bright white that there was a lot of light being produced/ placed on to the subject, this suggests that the exposure time is accurate if not slightly over exposed however, this could be misinterpreted due to the extensive white back ground contrasting with the darker coloured subjects on the table. The image is clearly very focused and lacks any blurring which add to the detail and focus of the food and drinks placed on the table, furthermore showing that there is low sensitivity as the image presents no grainy features to it. Finally the temperature of images presents a colder feeling due to the harsh white balance and background which the image is covered in which dramatically contrasts with the dark reds and purples on the able giving overall a better presentation.
VISUAL: From the image is evident that over the colouring of the image is white, however as previously mentioned it helps reflect and contrast the dark red and purple shades in the centre on the image on the table, the empathizes that this is the main focus of the image, this links to the idea of the image having a light tone due to the majority of the image being a bright white shade with suggestions of a bright light helping to illuminate the background.The image shows a table and from the curvature of the table it shows that it is out of place and not in the centre which demonstrate that symmetrical aspects where no required or needed for this image, with that in mind there is a lack of consistent patterns or repetition , although the white background is consistent the placement of the mood and a drink on the table is not. This projects a messy scene and add questions for the viewer.
CONTEXTUAL: From background research and y own knowledge i know that Letinsky was trying to project and capture the inner beauty of woman, she did this by breaking historical stereotypes of the disorganized placement on the table as well as the mess of the food and drinks with a wrapper still being placed on the table. This aided support of other aspect of her photography and allowed her develop her ideas and formats.
CONCEPTUAL: Through the contextual factors it helps the audience and viewers further aid and construct their own opinion on the photograph, as is gives them an understanding that it demonstrate the inner beauty of woman and the idea of trying to break away from stereotypes which gives the opportunity to lead on to many different ideas , as stereotyping a huge issue in out day society. This could lead on to the ideas of self love and being different form other, stepping away from the norm.
ACTION PLAN FOR RESPONSE:
After having researched Laura Letinsky in great depth its given be a much better understanding into the idea of being different and trying to tell a story in my own way instead of following the norm in the photography industry. This has given me the opportunity to grow an develop my own ideas for my current project and projects in the future as it is something that i believe to be such an important aspect of showing off your work. furthermore, its made be realize the significance and diversity of other peoples reflection and understanding of a photograph- when I see a photo is most likely my view o it will be completely different to someone else. As well as the deeper meaning of images, its given be idea of controlling and thinking more in depth abut the background of y images and how important they really are, and in concerns with camera skills its made be think about more carefully my IOS settings which will help be control the exposure of the image.
