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.
The photo below has been chosen as it encapsulates the elements of the photo-book that interest me and relate to my essay.
The image has been taken using studio lighting, as evidenced by the background and the direction of the lighting. The light appears to be coming from slightly to the left of the camera, this can be inferred from the direction of the drop shadow as well as the amount of shallow details visible on the right face of the sculpture. Not much else can be inferred about technical aspects of the image due to the use of studio lighting, this allows a lower ISO and faster shutter to be use to reduce grain however this isn’t implicit in the image. The image features a single central subject, that being the chalk sculpture made by making clean cuts onto a block of raw chalk. these clean incisions strongly contrast the textured surface from the uncut chalk; in conjunction with the studio lighting, the flat, clean surfaces of the chalk appear to be flat and are often painstakingly oriented to line up with the table occasionally creating the effect that the image is composed of 2 separate images spliced together. The word ‘erratic’ referring to “a rock that has been transported by a glacier to somewhere far from its native environment.”. The body of work is focused of rock formations and sculpted chalk with the subject of the photos alternating across pages between the found rocks (particularly the stones within the desert at the start of the book) where these monolithic structures are contrasted with the man-made chalk sculptures. The outdoor shots spanned from the white cliffs of Dover to eastern Egypt. The use of sliced chalk facilitates the contrast of the textured, natural surface of the stone as well as the smooth faces where it has been cut.
For this photoshoot I wanted to capture images showing my father, my brother, and my brother’s family. I’m planning on taking these images at a bonfire event we will be attending. I think this will be interesting as it will allow me to get some more “natural” looking images since, for the most part, I will not be telling the subjects how to pose allowing me to capture more candid looking outputs. Since it will be dark, I will have to use flash when talking all these images, along with a quick shutter speed as I will be moving around a lot. My aim is to show close bonds between the family members.
Selecting images on Lightroom:
my flagged images.I then colour coded the images in order to find the best images.
Editing my best images:
When editing the below images, I followed very similar steps in order to make sure these images had a more uniform look. I wanted to make sure my subjects stood out amongst the background since we were in public and there was a lot of distraction, and it was important they were the main focal point of my image as my aim was to show a close bond between everyone. I increased the contrast and decreased the exposure the appropriate amount for each image. In combination with this, I also increased the vibrancy to reintroduced some colour into the image, after the exposure was decreased.
Before
After
pictured above (left to right) is my father and brother.
Before
After
Before
After
Pictured above: My brother, his girlfriend and her daughter
Evaluating the shoot:
On the whole, I feel that I was able to capture some technically successful images using my camera, and flash. I think I was able to show key members of my family and also the concept of family. On the other hand, I think that I may struggle to make these images fit in with my photo book narrative because These images are taken at an event, not portraits.
Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
The book itself feels light, the front covers smooth and glossy, coloured a pale pink with white letters saying ‘ All My Love’.
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
All of the images are placed or printed onto smooth white glossy pages. Most of the images have been printed into the pages directly using printer ink, apart from a few images which have been printed separately and stuck in on top of the pages. The images use a mix of colours and black and white tones,
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
The book is presented in a portrait orientation, and seems to be bigger than an A5 but just smaller than an A4. It contains 45 sheets of paper, giving us 90 pages in total.
The cover is a soft cover with pale pink glossy paper. It doesn’t contain an image wrap, leaving the book bare. The binding within the book has been hidden from the viewer.
For the cover of the book it uses glossy card to encase the book. It doesn’t contain any images on the front, it is just a blank pale pink with three small white letters printed near the bottom.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
The book contains poetic images which tell the tale of his parent’s divorce. He uses images of every day objects or people within his family which reminds him of his parents and their divorce. For example, he includes an image of a dandelion being blown away. This could symbolise his parents divorce and how marriage can be shattered with something as gentle as a soft blow, and that it leaves shards of their previous life behind.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
The book is about his parent’s divorce. He starts with an image of what looks like a page out of a children’s story book, showing a couple sitting by a window for dinner and a paragraph down the side
‘ In a world of rush , and crush and crowds, it all comes down to this, a tender word, a gentle touch, a smile, a look, a kiss…’
By including this as the first page of his photobook he starts of with a symbolic image, one which was meant to reference to the relationship his parents once had when they were married.
Throughout the rest of the book he tells the story of his parents divorce and how he dealt with being split between his two loved ones. He often included images of other people, himself and objects which he saw as important and nostalgic.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
He placed his images in many places among the pages. He included full-bleed on double and single pages, had some smaller images spread in many places, in the corners or the middle of the pages. Despite how random the placing might seem it does also seem to be well thought out.
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” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 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 style photographers, Latoya Ruby Frazier and Walker Evans. In this essay I will be referring to Walker Evan’s photographic series entitled ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’ (capital letters on title) 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.
The art movement of realism and straight photography looks at creating imagery which showcase life how it is, this emerged in the 1840’s. 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 hoping something can be done to make a change. This area looks at documentary photography and photojournalism to document the events which are occurring. Artists stick to the original techniques and purpose of photography, the use of photography for science, to create detailed, sharp images showcasing real life. Henry Fox Talbot created the calotype, which is said to be the basis for how photography is practised 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. Artist 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 1838: page no – if known?). This illustrates how this art movement allows nature to present itself showing the reliability of imagery, which is then contradicted as it states its 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 – need help referencing this please – okay, where did you get this quote from?). 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.” (need help again referencing). 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, artist Walker Evan’s and Latoya Ruby Frazier use portraiture to showcase the lifestyle of the subjects presented in the frame in their natural environment, somewhere familiar to them that they have a relationship with, but to what extent does these photographers accurately portray the subjects lifestyle? With my topic being based in my grandparent’s lifestyle, I felt that using a documentary approach to photography would be the most appropriate to showcase this, as well as the project looking at social issues of family structure and gender roles being raised, thus drawing connections with realism and straight photography.
Comments: This paragraph provide a good historical overview of the origins of photography and its relationship with reality. You need to comment on photography inherent inability to represent truth as the act of photography is always subjective and artifice ie. the person behind the camera decided where to point the camera. And, the photograph itself is only ever a representation of a reality. I will try and think of a relevant essay fro you to read that questions photography and veracity seen from a postmodern perspective – I will email or send an online link via comments on the blog.
‘A Sea of Steps’ (1903) – Frederick Henry Evans
‘Bowls’ (1917) – Paul Strand
Walker Evans – 1936 – Allie Mae Burroughs
Walker Evan’s ‘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 to the ‘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 1971 : page no – if known?) – 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’s lens.” (author ?? 2001 : page no – if known? ). His positive critique to Evans’ imagery emphasises how accurately he managed to capture the raw living environments of the tenant families, which allows viewers to sympathises for these families, as we understand that they do not know life any differently, which contradicts the viewpoint of Evan, 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. 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 Evan 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 to us not fully conforming to believe in this social implication, as it not being a reliable source due to several versions of the same image, with only one outcome being used. 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 Grandparents house, as they spend more time inside than out.
My Response
‘The Notion Family’ – Latoya Ruby Frazier’
Bibliography:
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H.(2019), Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House
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].
After my close analysis to the work of Walker Evans, I decided to conduct a photo shoot which captured my Grandparents lifestyle, by presenting their narrative through their outfit and emotion through facial expression, like Evans’ imagery of Allie Mae Burroughs. I intend to capture a lot of this imagery outside, using the exterior of my Grandparents house in order to make close contentions with his work and also plan to take a few (not many inside) to experiment with this technique and whether it will withstand the same conceptual representation as it would if the photographs were taken outside. Prior to this shoot, I contacted my Grandparents and asked them to wear an outfit which they believe showcases themselves and their lifestyle. In addition, I asked them to choose areas of their house, outdoor and indoors, which they spend the most time in and feel most comfortable in, which will allow the naturalistic documentary photography to accurately depict their reality. With regards to my camera, I intend to use my DSLR, utilising a quick shutter speed, low ISO, and experimenting with the aperture to add depth of field, and dependent on the natural lighting provided.
Edits:
Edit 1 – Flagged
Edit 2 – Star Rating
Edit 3 – Colour Rating
Outcomes:
In respect to editing my outcomes from this photoshoot, I wanted to produce final imagery which held the stylistic features of Evans’ work. In order to achieve this I made all of my outcomes be presented in black and white, and looked at creating high tonal contrast to allow facial features to help express and convey the lifestyle in which my grandparents live in. To achieve this I looked at adjusting the contrast, structure, blacks whites and shadows in order to achieve this intended effect. My final selection are images which I believe have the same simplistic composition, but still holds strong conceptual and contextual representation, about the life my grandparents live and providing information about how they achieved this lifestyle, which is further explained in my photograph analysis.
Analysis:
The two photographs below is my photograph which has taken inspiration from Evans’ imagery, which I believe shows my understanding and application of Evans’ photographic technique. The framing of the two images are very similar, both present the subject in the foreground, with the background being wooden and simplistic, not distracting the viewers.Similarly, both images are presented in black and white with high tonal contrast, which has allowed the detail and structure of the subjects to clearly stand out to present conceptual representation. In addition, the methodology used to capture both photographs share a lot in common, with a low ISO being used, a quick shutter speed, low aperture due to no significant depth of field, and natural lighting being utilised. Comparing the two images visually, my image shows more structure and detail, which allows a warmer atmosphere to be presented holding ameliorative connotations, which contrast Evan’s image which is a lot more smooth and naturalistic which holds a cold atmosphere, creating pejorative connotations. Along side this, the outfits of the two models are different as it clearly shows two different socio economic status of two people, and showcases their lifestyle.
Conceptually, Evan’s captured Tenant Farmers in Alabama, and their lifestyle through portraits of different families. Where as I have captured my Grandad in order to present his life story, from when he was younger working in finance and making his fortune to be able to live his wealthy and happy lifestyle now a days. Contextually, the subjects in Evans’ imagery had low income and would not be able to change their lifestyle due to their situational factors. Where as, I contextually presented Jersey as a finance institute which holds the most income on the Island, it also shows how my Grandad worked in this field as he know he could make a lot of money for it in order to afford this lifestyle later on in life.
My Imagery
Walker Evans – Allie Mae Borrough
Conclusion:
To conclude, I believe I have reinforced my ability to produce photographs which take on the stylistic features of another artist. In addition, I have also been able to apply similar conceptual representations within my work as another artists, which shows my ability to apply different elements of artists work through my understanding of their methodology. I have been able to explore capturing my subjects in a different environment, which presents them in a new ‘limelight’. Technically, I have shown my ability to capture portraits in an outdoor environment, and have again reinforced my ability to capture high quality portraits. I believe this photo shoot has been successful as I have been able to produce high quality imagery which clearly showcases lifestyle in the stylistic way of Walker Evans.
For my second shoot I will be taking portrait style images inspired by one of my case studies, Daniel Meadows. I will be taking these images in order to show my dad’s family now. Since Meadows took his images in the subject’s homes, I have decided to also use my father’s family home as the location for this shoot. I will most likely be using the lounge/livingroom as a location, as it symbolizes family as its where we spend most of our time together. I plan on organizing my family members in a distinct way as you can see in the mood board on the left, in order to make the portraits look more clean and put together. I will most likely be using a tripod in order to make sure my images are in focus, the shutter speed will not be too high as it will most likely be late towards the night when I do this shoot and this will help make sure my images aren’t too dark. The ISO will have to be quite high, and I will need to make sure my white balance Matches well with the lighting around the house.
Picking my best images using Lightroom:
Below you can see the process of how I chose my best images through screenshots. I began by flagging my best images, in order to get rid of the bad photos then I color coded them using red, yellow and green.
Editing:
original
edited
Although I didn’t intend to take images like the one above, This is my favorite outcome as one of my archival images with my parents looks very similar, and I think this could be interesting in showing how my family has changed.To edit i reduced the brightness and increased the contrast. I wanted the faded tattoos on my dad’s hand to be more visible so it is obvious to the audience it is him, although the majority has been laser removed.
Reflecting on the photo shoot:
My intention for this shoot was to capture what my father’s side of the family, now that he has a new partner, no longer together. I wanted to make the portraits similar to the ones above in the mood board, however I feel that during the photo shoot process the images turned out more candid that I originally wanted, as I also ended up capturing some detail shots also which I had not planned on doing. On one hand I believe this lets some personality shine through the images, but on the other hand I would have preferred to also capture something more professional looking because I feel that will make the photo book have a more polished look. I think I may redo this shoot, in order to achieve my original intention, then compare and see which images look best. If I do decide to retake, I would prefer to use a different setting as I think the background of these images are far too distracting to facilitate successful portraits leading to a minimal amount of successful images from this shoot. I also felt as if these images made my narrative less personal since the foundation of my project is based on my biological parents and my brother.
1 Sentence: An exploration of the slave labour and resources used in the construction of Jersey’s German defensive architecture.
1 Paragraph: An exploration of abstraction as a medium in response to the question “how does the work of Darren Harvey-Regan explore abstraction as an intention and process?”. An interpretation of the works of both Darren Harvey-Regan and Donald Weber and how they explore abstraction with an underlying theme of the slave labor used in construction of Jersey’s defenses with familial links relating to German forced labor throughout WW2.
A photo by Walker Evans, from “Cotton Tenants: Three Families.”
Visual :
In this black and white image you can see a family standing on what looks like the front porch of their run-down home. By the tatty clothes they are wearing you can assume that they are a working class family and are struggling with poverty. You can see 5 members of the family standing there, each doing their own thing, with a dog hidden behind the legs of the young boy at the front. The windows of the house seen quite dirty and the wood looks old and damaged – their house doesn’t look well-looked after.
Contextual :
Walker Evans photographed 3 families who were struggling with poverty during his work on capturing the Great Depression in Hale County, Alabama. The people in this image above was one of those families. This family was one of the many who were struggling with living their daily lives due to the Great Depression. At the time of this image, it was the height of it. You can clearly see how the effects of the Great Depression are taking a toll on these families – they wouldn’t have been able to afford clean clothes, enough food or the right equipment to clean their windows or fix their deck.
Latoya Ruby – The Notion of Family
Visual :
In this image you can see two women placed in the middle of a room which looks like the living room of a home. While they’re very different in appearance – one looks old, with wrinkles and grey hair, while the other looks youthful – they both look like they have a comfortable relationship sitting on the floor together both looking into the camera, as if they are family.
Contextual :
In her series ‘The Notion of Family’, Latoya Ruby looks at her family’s struggle with disease and poverty. She photographs three generations of her family – her grandmother, her own mother and herself – to portray their struggles.
USA. San Francisco and Hollywood. 1986-92. Polaroid Grid.
The book is quite large, at around A3 size it is bigger than most photo-books I have seen. In hand the book is heavy and looks as if it is packed full of high quality images on thick paper. It is smooth and glossy on the outside and feels not much different to any other new-ish book. It contains a mixture of mostly black and white images and some coloured ones, accompanied also by notes and writings on each image written by the subject of the photo themselves. The paper texture remains the same throughout: slightly glossy. RBW is a mix of full bleed landscape images covering two pages as well as portrait. It is a soft back book that can be bent easily, there is no cloth cover or intricate binding.
The title is probably what attracted me most to the book; ‘Raised By Wolves’ is a term which was coined by one of the subjects who was being photographed, he wrote it down on a note and Goldberg has displayed it next to his portrait in the book. I interpret the meaning of this title as coming from how most of the young subjects in this book have been abused physically/sexually etc, by their own parents and have been brought up around constant drug abuse. Therefore they couldn’t escape from this way of life and ended up living on the streets and mostly following in their parent’s footsteps- the young runaways had been set up to fail since birth.
USA. Hollywood, California. 1989. “Dave at McDonald’s.”
The focus narrative in RBW is the story of Tweeky Dave and Echo. The pair share an appetite for heroin but not much else. He moons after her, proposing marriage and children, fueled by impossible, sweet bravado as he walks, half-starved, down Hollywood Boulevard with his bedroll. She recognizes him as worse than a bad risk and dumps him to run with other boys, who abuse her. She becomes pregnant, has her baby, then returns, broke, to her mother’s home. This is all portrayed through numerous written interviews with the two, as well as other characters, and through constant photos and notes that they have written.
Jim Goldberg USA. San Francisco, California. 1991. “Echo, 4 Days Before the Baby was Born.”
“I didn’t really fit in to my family as much as they wanted me to and I think that lead me eventually to photography. A camera back then, and probably still now, was like having a calling card that let you into places that you normally wouldn’t go to, or to people you normally wouldn’t talk to. I moved to San Francisco at the end of 1976 and probably soon thereafter I started going out on the street. Some of the people that I met were living in transient hotels, and they invited me into their homes and I photographed them.That was interesting to me. I was dealing with a group of people who I had very little contact with; they were poor, they were hidden, they were invisible people in these grimy rooms.”
Jim Goldberg spent 10 years photographing, audio-taping and videotaping to prepare this book. The book pairs images of the adolescents in their makeshift environments with extensive interviews. Their stories are accompanied by testimony from social workers, doctors, parents and police. The truth about a runaway’s childhood is sometimes hard to determine. These kids seem acutely aware of what adults want to hear. Some may not separate the rights of parents to exercise authority from fantasies of child abuse. But the blase accounts they gave Goldberg of violence at home and of streets rife with prostitution, AIDS and hard drugs are too numerous to be discounted.
“I had the idea of having people write their stories on the photographs and, although I didn’t really know what I was doing, that turned out to be something really integral to my practice for 40 years. I just saw something that I felt I needed to try and make sense of. And using text enabled me to do that.”
There is a definite link between the images and text in the book. As each image more often than not came alongside a note or physical writing on top of the photo, in the subject’s handwriting. Goldberg has since been using this process for many years as it allows a more open discussion between the subject and how they are being portrayed through the photograph, in their own words.
