I used the same process as with my last set of images, starting off importing them all into Lightroom and using that to sort through them.
After that I flagged the ones I wanted to keep, remembering that I only had a limited amount of images left in my zine, so I was a lot more critical. I started off with roughly 140 images, so a lot less than my first shoot, and after flagging I ended up with 12.
I then used the colour label feature and gave the remaining images either red, yellow, or green. After adding a filter so I could only see the yellow and green ones, I went through them again and re-evaluated to see if I had mislabeled any.
At this stage, I had 4 final images that I liked and believed would work well after editing in the same way as the others, and was ready to move into the developing stage in Lightroom.
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.
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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:
A zine is defined as a product of an individual person or small group of people with the main purpose of exposure or raising awareness of an issue, or simply spreading your own work in a more put-together and professional way. The content of a zine isn’t limited to photography, and the concept of a zine is also used in illustration and design. (also historically forming the basis for comic books)
“A photography zine, for example, is a tool that photographers can use to tell a visual story, to inform an audience about a specific topic or issue, to showcase and advertise a new idea or simply create a preview of an ongoing project.”
www.eyeem.com
There aren’t any set rules for making a photo zine, any theme or topic is possible to present as a zine as they are a form of creativity and self-expression. As a result, they can be incredibly introspective and personal to the photographer or the subject of the zine, often bordering on topics to do with family, personal trauma, mental health or one’s childhood.
INSPIRATIONS / EXAMPLES :
#1-
An example of a successful photo zine is ‘The Epilogue’ from photographer Laia Abril, who documented a the Robinson family and the impact of the loss of their daughter Cammy to bulimia in 2005. As can be seen below, it features archival imagery as well as Abril’s own images, and archival documents as well such as Cammy’s birth certificate, letters between her and other family members and friends, as well as various papers documenting her illness and her funeral. It also has transcribed conversations from her parents, siblings and friends, explaining Cammy’s life story and how she suffered, as well as how it affected them and their lives, and how they dealt with the grief following her death.
the epilogue, by Laia Abril
Much of the archival imagery’s colours are faded and grainy, and the modern photographs are either dark with a neutral colour palette. In my opinion this represents how ……
Overall there is a clear narrative of a young girl’s life, from her childhood and her adolescence to the aftermath of her death and how her family are coping. The reader is following Cammy’s story as told through the eyes of her family, people who knew her, and finally the photographer herself through her camera lens.
#2-
Another successful example of a zine that I can use as inspiration is from a previous Hautlieu student. I find that her editing style, specifically the way certain images had handwritten words over it and the way they look as though they’ve just been doodled on, is very inspiring and interesting, and it adds a more personal tone to the images, specifically as they are of her friends so it makes it seem more intimate and engaging. Her images look as though they were taken on an old film camera, and as a result have a fairly timeless sense about them. Below are examples of screenshots from Lightroom of her finished product before it was made into a physical zine, taken from her blog :
These images all show a narrative of friendship and personal reflection, as well as being creatively engaging and compelling. The person reading this zine is looking at the photographer’s friends through her own eyes, through the medium of the camera lens, which is also emphasised through the angles used: mainly at eye level but occasionally from above, as if standing above that person in real life. This zine, unlike the previous one, does not feature archival imagery, however this works in its favour as it tells a continuous story in the present, instead of a story that began in the past and has ended. Finally, the monochrome throughout adds more emphasis to the red lines/writing used occasionally, and ties all the images together as a single set, or narrative.
will probably use the same bunch of friends, in order to keep the same main subjects throughout the whole project
WHERE-
i’m planning on doing this shoot in a coffee shop or a similar environment, because it’s a common place for us/people in general to hang out, so it’ll feel natural. again, I’ll be taking mainly candid pictures during actual interactions, but I may also ask my subjects to pose in a couple ones. however my main focus is still keeping a natural sense to all the photos, as if they were taken in the moment.
WHEN-
it will probably be during the afternoon, but because it’s inside there’ll be artificial lighting instead of natural daylight
HOW/EDITING NOTES-
I’ll be keeping with the same editing style in order to retain the same narrative throughout all of my finished images and make a cohesive set of final photos
I tested keeping these images in colour, as there was some lovely lighting in a couple of them that I was torn about keeping or not, but eventually I chose to edit them all in black and white, as per my original plan. I used Lightroom’s “Auto” button to see how the program would automatically edit them, but after that I did change a couple things myself, such as the black and white mix of certain individual colours in some images, to make sure that I got a good tonal range and the same effect in black and white as there was when the images were in colour. I had practically the exact same process for every image, because although they were taken in different places and with different types of natural light, they were mostly very similar in terms of light and exposure.
Below is a side-by-side of every one of my final images form this shoot, before and after I edited them. I was attempting to keep the same sort of casual, spur-of-the-moment sense that they had when I first took them, so the changes aren’t wildly drastic.
Overall, I am pleased with the way these turned out, and although I am planning on editing them in Photoshop later in a more artistic and creative style, I do like the way they look now and how effective Lightroom was as a piece of editing software. Below are all of the images in their finished state:
The screenshots above are a selection from the original 700 that I decided to continue working with, many of the images I didn’t select were either doubles of other images, or had an issue with the ISO or blur that I didn’t like, or they were simply not the sort of pictures I was going for. I ended up having 50 images in Lightroom at this stage.
The next stage was to go through and flag the images using the SHIFT+P/X shortcut depending on my gut reaction. Then I gave all the ones I flagged as “keep” a star rating from 3-5, 3 being the lowest.
I put the remaining images through another rating process using the Colour Label function, (green=keep yellow=maybe red=reject). I based this on how much the individual image worked with the others as a set and also how much I felt it kept with my original idea for the narrative I’m planning.
Next, I added a filter to only see green images on my screen in order to have a better idea of the set of photos I was working with. I decided to look through the images again and double check ratings, re-evaluate and change any ratings if necessary, and ended up moving two images out of the “green” category and into the “yellow”, leaving me with my final nine pictures and allowing me to start developing those images.
I’m currently planning on using a couple of my friends consistently throughout the multiple shoots as the main “characters”, and am thinking of choosing those who have a different “look” (clothing style, hairstyle, etc) to each other in order to have each person stand out in their own way
WHERE-
This first shoot will most likely be in a couple different locations, probably at the green by the Waterfront, and also maybe on a beach or somewhere by the coast, and I may be able to take some pictures in the car on the short trip between the two locations. These places are normal for us to travel between and we go to them regularly, so the subjects will be comfortable and at home in their environments. This way I will hopefully be able to take many pictures with several good ones in different settings.
WHEN-
I am planning to organise this shoot in the late afternoon, going into the early evening, and with the changing seasons I may even be able to capture some images during night/when the sun is down so that I’ll have a different type of light and make the final group of images more diverse and interesting.
HOW/EDITING NOTES-
I am going to slightly underexpose my images so that when I am editing them into black and white the background keeps its detail, the highlights of the image are preserved, and to retain any interesting shadows or light patterns that would otherwise be lost. When editing, I am going to be very experimental and just test how much or little I can add to the image (handwriting/doodle/scribble/borders).
Write a specification that provides 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?
3 words: friendship, youth, together
A sentence: I am going to show the love a group of friends have for each other and their youth.
A paragraph: My main focus will be taking candid shots of my friends during some of the times we spend together on a regular basis, attempting to capture some of the more memorable and timeless moments on camera. Hopefully I will be able to portray the strong platonic love within the group as well as possibly showcase how fleeting youth is and how we are just trying to make the most of it. I may choose to take some more posed images and therefore be able to capture some of the less-than-happy times as well (e.g. arguments, falling out, mental health issues) to properly showcase all the highs and lows of a teen friendship group.
NARRATIVE:
How will you tell your story?
Images > new photographic responses, photoshoots in a few diff. locations, candid shots from everyday meet-ups
Archives > old photos from our phones
Texts > notes passed in class, old bus tickets, quotes, poems
AUDIENCE:
Who is it for?
teens/younger people
my own friends/people featured in the images
myself
no particular social demographic, as the language of love and friendship is universal and does not need much explanation to be clearly understood
AESTHETIC CONCEPT:
What is it going to look like?
Currently I am planning on keeping all of the images in black and white, to add to the sense of timelessness and how this particular platonic love story has happened all throughout time and isn’t anything new. I am also planning on editing the images with overlays of handwritten quotes, possibly from from my friends but it may also be my own handwriting, depending on how much time I have, as well as doodles, markers, general scribbles and possibly editing the images to make it look more like photographic film (borders, fading out, etc).
An example of the sort of style/aesthetic I am aiming for is shown and linked below, from a previous student’s photobook work.
Alec Soth was born in 1969 in the USA and his work mainly features American stories, particularly the midwest. He has described himself as focusing his “photographic career on finding chemistry with strangers” and making portraits of a wide variety of people from all walks of life, often in their own homes in the form of environmental portraits. In this respect, he is similar to Ernest Badoux. He has published several books, and the images below are all taken form his most recent publication, “I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating”, which is mainly comprised of environmental portraits of strangers in their homes.
“This is how photography works — this appreciation of all these surfaces, all this beauty. But you can’t quite get inside. It’s about making do with that.”
Nick. Los Angeles
Yuko. Berlin
Vince. New York City
Galina. Odessa
Anna. Kentfield California
Leyla and Sabine. New Orleans
Contrasting Ernest Badoux’s black and white portraits taken in a studio environment, the tone of which is very formal, these portraits are colourful and taken from various different and more contemporary angles, giving them a more informal sense and creating the sensation that the camera lens is acting as the eye of the view. This, coupled with the fact that the subjects are (mostly) staring directly down the lens, adds to the feeling that the viewer is interrupting a private moment and intruding on their personal and private space, completely opposite to Badoux.
“When I photograph people, I want to find a new way to engage with them. Where it’s not driving around, snagging people, talking them into stuff they don’t want to do.”
Soth also differs from Badoux in the way that his photos are titled, simply being the subject’s first name and the city they live in, in stark contrast to Badoux’s formal and stiff use of titles (Mr, Mrs, Miss) and last names. This makes Soth’s portraits more personal and engaging than Badoux’s.
As well as portraits, he also included a few images titled as somebody’s “view”, which in themselves reveal little about the people who’s views they are, but more about what sort of environment they are living in. In a way this is still a very personal and intimate subject to photograph, as it’s what that person would see every single day as part of their routine, and so it is a central part of their life.
Véronique’s View. Toulouse
Cammy’s Vew. Salt Lake City
Susanne’s View. London
PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS-
Galina. Odessa
This image features much more symbolism than Ernest Badoux’s work, as its intention is more to tell a narrative and convey a meaning than simply document a person’s existence. This photograph could be said to carry a strong theme of identity, represented in the multi-faceted mirrors and the photo frames on the vanity. The way that the subject is looking back at herself from multiple angles as well as having pictures of her younger self (I am assuming) reveals how the passage of time has changed her and perhaps signifies a loss of identity or self-love. Her expression seems sad and tearful, which is by choice rather than necessity, as it was with Badoux’s photography, therefore it carries more emotion and significance in it. The lighting in this image is bright and from above, as it was taken inside, and the whole image’s colour palette is fairly monochrome and neutral, contrasting much of Soth’s other work featuring bright interiors and clothes. Finally, similar to Badoux, the subject is the centre of the image which draws the eye in and reinforces her as the main focal point of the photograph as a whole.
Born in France in 1828, Ernest Badoux worked in Jersey from 1869 to 1887, later joining and working with his son. A grand total of 13085 photographs are available in the Société Jersiaise’s archive, mainly portrait work (his speciality) but also featuring landscapes of the island. Badoux can be described as the “first significant chronicler of island life” through the means of photography.
He often used the chromotype process (carbon printing) for his images, which adds a sepia-tone to the portraits and their subjects, and makes the photographs more expensive to produce but of higher quality.
Mrs Hacquoil
Miss Anthoine
Mr Chevalier
Charles Stone, Jersey swimming club champion
Mr Le Feuvre
Mrs Le Cornu
Louise Patterson
the Le Quesne children
Miss Allix
The portraits themselves are excellent examples of the fashions of the period, as the subjects would have worn their best clothes to the sittings, showcasing their wealth and social standing. For the children, this meant fancy dress most of the time including sailor outfits for the young boys, which showed how influential Jersey’s maritime industry was during that period. the facial expression of the subjects also reveals more about the practice of photography during that era, as they were most often pictured as being stern and not particularly happy. This was due to the need for them to be very still in order to have a clear and sharp picture, meaning holding their pose for a far longer period of time than nowadays.
These people would all have been fairly wealthy, to be able to afford such a high quality and professional portrait and the fine clothing that they wore, and much can be judged about each person’s life from each image. However, the majority of them are photographed in what appears to be a studio, with the same plain background and furnishings, the exception being the photograph in the bottom right corner, of Miss Allix on her horse.
PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS-
This image is an example of the “chromotype” method of photography that Badoux often use, which can clearly be seen by the sepia colour palette and the higher quality of the image as a whole. This image in particular was not labelled with a name so the subject’s identity is unknown, but we can guess from the context that she was wealthy, and from her wedding ring we can see she was married. the subject is centered and the portrait is a half-body posed type of image. There is clearly a fake background hanging behind her, which is simple and not overly distracting, which draws all attention to the subject as the main focal point of the whole image. She is facing the camera, however is looking just off into the distance, and her expression is plain and neutral, due to the long time it took to take a photograph in those days.
