Concrete Jungle by Dale Konstanz

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In the zine ‘Concrete Jungle’ by Dale Konstanz, the images on each page show a clear link to one another. The photographer has made such a strong connection by following the same basic principle in each image, this being that there is a wall on the bottom half, with greenery flowing over the top. there is an interesting colour scene to the images, with cool grey colours coming from the wall and luscious greens and yellows common g from the jungle aspect of the photos . This clever layout has a direct bond to the title of the Photo-zine, ‘concrete jungle’, (concrete linking to the wall, and jungle linking to the foliage over the top of the wall).

This intelligent thought process has inspired me to ensure that I make clear and well though links with each image through the zine, most importantly to the title. I also enjoy the way the images are displayed on the page. They seem to fill the whole entire page with no white boarders, drawing more attention to the image itself

This equals That by Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin

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In the book ‘This equals That’ by Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin, there is a very clever layout of the photographs, and a clear and thoughtful story. Each image has a certain pattern, shape, colour that is reflected in the next image, each time you turn a page it starts with the image from the last. This reinforces the storyline, linking one image to another. The bond between the photos in shown in the image above (the first image image in the book), where the triangle of the wooden structure is complemented with the triangular shape of the sharks mouth.

The two images also contrast each other in colour, blue and red. I am particularly interested in the formal boarders around each image, which makes a brilliant systematic lay out. The book then finishes the the staring photograph liking back to the start of the book, but also giving a well rounded end photograph, showing the book has a clear and structured end and beginning. I would like to ensure that in my own photo-zine, there is a clear end and beginning. I would also like there to be contrast and links between photographs like in ‘This equals That’.

Looking For Alice by Sian Davey

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In the book ‘Looking For Alice’ by Sian Davey. The images are interestingly layed out in the book, for example in the image above, the photo fills one side of the page, however it only fills one half on the next. This leaves an intriguing black space on the right hand side of the pages. This is a clever concept and I may use this idea in my own photo-zine.

All Quiet on the Home Front by Colin Pantall

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These three images are from the book ‘All Quiet on the Home Front’ by Colin Pantall. The two images on the top are of his daughter (which the book is about). I really enjoy the layout of the two images on the left page, they seems to mirror each other even though they are different images. in all three photographs they seem to be positioned on the page to make them look like Polaroid pictures. I may use this interesting layout in my photo-zine.

For the last shoot I wanted to focus on the items we value hand have collected from each other throughout the years of our friendship. Here I wanted to show our friendship through objects and memories that symbolise us and our friendship rather than our physical selves.

For this shoot I kept the editing style simple as I just focused on enhancing the colours and quality of the pictures

PLANNING: Write a specification that provide an interpretation and plan of how you intend to explore A Love Story. This must include at least 3 photoshoots you will be doing in the next 2-3 weeks (these could include photo-assignments). How do you want your images to look and feel like? Include visual references to artists/photographers in terms of style, approach, intentions, aesthetics concept and outcome. Remember the final outcome is a 16 page photo-zine so you will need to edit a final series of 12-16 images that sequenced together as a set forms a narrative that visualises your love story. 

STORY: What is your love story?
Describe in:

• 3 words
  • A love story
• A sentence
  • Sequence of photographs of my neighbours life together.
• A paragraph
  • Love story of my neighbours. Starts with their wedding photos. From archives, photos that already exist. Photographing objects of meaning to their relationship. This includes rings, cufflinks, wedding shoes, wedding cake toppers and bracelet given to bride on wedding day. Next stage of their life, their home and family. Using the front door of their house, showing what they have achieved together and family portrait showing the product of their love and the love they now have for their children as well as each other.

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

• Images > new photographic responses, photo-shoots
• Archives > old photos from family albums, iPhone
• Texts > letters, documents, poems, text messages

AUDIENCE: Who is it for?

Most image makers tend to overlook the experience of the viewer. Considering who your audience is and how they may engage with your photo-zine is important factor when you are designing/ making it.

• Reflect and comment on this in your specification (age group, demographic, social/ cultural background etc.

RECORDING: Practice making portraits of two people and experiment with different lighting setups in the photographic studio.

• Lighting: Different lighting set-ups
• Recording: Headshots, half-body, full-body,
• Moods: Explore different moods, expressions, angles, framing.

EDITING > SEQUENCING: Upload and process images from both studio photo-shoots and your own shoots in relation to PHOTO-ASSIGNMENT: A Love Story using Lightroom. Make a rough edit of 8–10 images, both colour and b&w and annotate from each shoot and publish on the blog as work progresses. 

• Produce a blog post where you evaluate your first sequence of images, reflect on what story you are trying to communicate and how you can improve and develop your narrative.
• Edit 20-30 images down to an ordered series of 10-15 images.
• Think about start, middle and end images.
• Think about your theme or story.
• Think about visual relationship between images and their juxtaposition e.g colour, shapes, subject, repetition, landscape, portrait, object etc.
• What happens or changes over the series of images?
• Are you using your best images?

Michelle Sank : ‘My.Self’ : https://multistory.org.uk/project/michelle-sank/

Contact Sheet:

Contact Sheet:

Family archives- These are a selection of images from old albums, going back generations into the family, including my great grandparents’ parents. There are also recent images of the family now. For the old images, I took photos of albums under natural light for best results. These images represent the family going back generations. The old ones can be compared with the new ones, looking at how people and places have changed and showing how photography was different back then. Having these family archives creates meaning as it enables the young generation to look back at their ancestors and gather an understanding of what their lives were like. A comparison can also be made between the difference in events. The modern photos were taken during lockdown, therefore the separate families are distanced. These images show the history of the family and the history of the world and how the pandemic changed life so much.

Archive Photoshoot

I found photos of my dad and his band mate Jim from when he was travelling around the world to places like Australia and New York. He played at gigs around the world and became very popular around the 1980’s. Although his band was popular he still didn’t have much money and got by due the gigs he got and part time jobs on the side; he did this in order to travel to different places. He used to share flats with strangers as he travelled and earned a bed there by doing work fro the people who owned the flat.

Studio Photoshoot

My dad has a music school in St. Helier and on the top floor there is a studio for recording music. I decided to take photos of him playing his guitar as his school is his biggest achievement in life after all his hard work. The contrast between where he came from and what he has now is quite drastic; going from travelling around the world and not having much other than his music to owning a whole school, still gigging and still having his passion for music. He’s been playing the guitar for over 40 years and still loves his guitar as much as he did back then.

In Light Room I selected several images using the rating tool and colouring different images to show which ones I liked the most and which ones I thought were the best quality e.g. green being the best quality and red being the worst, 5/4 stars are photos i like the look of due to their composition or the vibrancy etc and less than 5/4 stars are photos i don’t like the composition of.

I left all the amps in their place in the background as I wanted it to look as natural as possible. I used a macro lens for the close up photos of my Dad’s hands and used flash for a lot of the photos as I thoiught the lighting looked better that way.

This is the first sequence I created for my zine

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The first half of the zine consists of high key images of Paulina and her sister where as the second half of the zine progresses in a darker lower key set of images. I am trying to tell the story of someone who has an almost split personality ( a caring and loving side against a darker more emotional side) The text on page 2 and 6 is going to change as it is only there as an example for now and I am likely to replace the image on page 5 as I feel it does not posses enough meaning or represent my narrative well.

My opening image is a strong portrait of the sisters to show the connection between them and develop a first idea of Paulina as an individual.

My middle image is an extreme close up of Paulina and also the first and colour image. I chose this image to separate the halves of this zine as it best represents the sense isolation and separation from love she feels.

My last page consists of two similar portraits of Paulina that both convey different emotion. I am using these images to emphasise the split between her feelings.

Final sequence

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My first and final image have remained the same as my first sequence however I have selected a more powerful image for the middle of the zine. This image is still the first colour image but is also now the only photo in colour. This further emphasises the importance of this image and it’s meaning.

Although the order of my images are not in separate halves any more the high key vs low key theme is still relevant and shows the split in her personality.

My new front / back cover shows two things that are meant to be together, however they are separated by the book. I liked this for my cover as it is an appropriate metaphor for the themes of this Zine and it is different from the rest of the photos showcased, this difference amplifies the meaning of the image.

I ended up with three alternate layouts. After some feedback I went with the 3rd layout shown below. This was the best layout as there was a constant and clear narrative throughout the sequence and it used my best images.

Overall I am pleased with my zine and I think it represents a good narrative with high quality images and an interesting sequence. I believe I could have completed an extra photo shoot to further develop the quality of my zine and therefore would have been able to follow my original specification more closely. I am happy with the final print of my zine as the dark images appear to merge with the black background of the pages. This brings the book together and incorporates it within the narrative demonstrating confinement and isolation. The images from different photo shoots are never shown on the same page as I wanted to truly enforce the idea of the split between her personality and the difference in the way she acts around loved ones and by her self. The final spread is the only bridge between these two feelings. I used this to finally compare the two sides to this story side by side so it was clear to the viewer.

WHAT DOES SEQUENCING MY IMAGES MEAN ?

Sequencing is merely ordering the visual flow, in this case in order to create a narrative of love. Sequencing a zine is a fairly subjective topic, as every narrative has the possibility to be expressed in multiple ways, depending on the photographer’s own individual thought process and general style.

“Some photographs, irrelevant as lone images, will trigger interest when combined with others in a series of photos.”

Alexis, www.film-photography-blog.com

Sequencing helps us in defining precisely what we want to convey, whether it is a positive emotion or a negative one, or whether the image is meant to trigger self-analysis or observation, or whether it is simply for aesthetic purposes in that particular section of the narrative.

Overall, it’s about balance and creating/enhancing meaning to a set of images.

HOW DO I SEQUENCE MY IMAGES ?

There are many different methods of sequencing a group of images, depending on the amount of images, how they are being presented, the photographer’s intentions and their personal preference.

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The most common and visually simple way would be to print all the image out on a normal printer, as high-quality isn’t necessary, then arranging them out on a flat surface and physically ordering and re-ordering them around in a trial-and-error type process until a pleasing sequence is found. This could be replicated digitally, using Lightroom or maybe just in a folder using the thumbnails. The benefits of this method are that it is visually simpler to picture a sequence when you are able to move all of your images about in front of you, physically. However a drawback could be that it may be fairly time-consuming, and may require resources that you do’t have access to.

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Another method could be to group the images by themes, whether they all showcase a particular feeling or emotion, or have a similar form or use of light, or even if they just have a similar colour palette that works well together. This has the advantage of creating a good flow of images, however it may be more difficult to deal with the outliers that don’t fit into your preconceived themes.

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Additionally, you could think about the zine as a whole and sequence images in “chapters” or as parts of a story. This can build tension in the narrative and is easier done with the use of archival imagery, as they can often provide more context and clarity to the story. These groups of images, or “chapters”, could show the progress of a person’s life or relationship with another person from beginning, to middle, to end, or they could focus on the relationships between different people in each chapter. They have the potential to detail literally any progression of events, depending on the photographer’s creativity, manner of thinking, and skill behind a camera. This is beneficial in that it really helps to create a strong narrative and engage whoever is looking at your images, however it is more complicated and may not work with every narrative or group of images.

The link below is to an interview with a Magnum photographer, who explains how he went about sequencing his photos:

https://www.magnumphotos.com/theory-and-practice/mark-power-the-language-of-pictures-exploring-sequencing/