Realism and straight photography was a movement of photography that came around in the early to mid 1900’s. Pictorialism was phasing out of popularity and photographers had begun a new style of photography. Paul Strand was a pioneer of the realism and straight photography genre of image making. In the early 1900’s pictorialism was still popular, artists and photographers would use techniques such as putting vasaline on the lenses to make the images soft and and scratch the negatives to make the images look like painting. The emphasis on pictorialism is to make the images not look like photographs and look more like art, pictorial images soften featured stage scenes or actors posing for the camera rather than documenting. Paul Strand wanted to get back to the true meaning of photography and the roots of why image fixing was invented. He wanted to document the world exactly as he saw it. This meant not post processing the images in the darkroom and not affecting the image making process in any way.
Key characteristics/ conventions: Go back to the qualities of photography as it recreates accurate and sharp images. They wanted to take photos of what they actually saw. They took things the way they were and not manipulated in the darkroom. Trying to emphasise and focus on shape. The art came from the skill of the photographer
Artists associated: Paul Strand transitioned into and pioneered straight photography. Walker Evans, Ansel Adams. Group f.64 – A group that were interested in capturing the amazing natural landscapes.
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Photographers interested in the genre of straight photography would use a very small aperture to get everything in focus. A group was formed called group f.64. This represents the smallest aperture a large format camera can go to on the lens. This became a trademark and a common feature of photographers like Paul Strand and Ansel Adams
1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.
The book is about the way the Robinson family and how they remember and grieve about the passing of the 26 year old daughter ‘Cammy’ in 2005. The book features a series of images from and pieces from various mediums. The book includes letters from family member and letters to and from friends and church leaders. There are also extracts from newspapers and hospital reports. All these documents help to tell the story of the struggles and issues that led up and after the death of Cammy Robinson.
2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)
Laia Abril is the photographer who produce this book. She created this book because she wanted to give a voice to the suffering and grief of the family as they remember their daughter. The book highlights how the mothers day and fathers day can be a very sad and sombre time for Cammy’s parents Wujen and Jan Robinson.
3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:
Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
The book is hardback with a scaly texture on the front and back cover.
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
Photopaper was used for the images and thin paper for the photocopied letters and texts. Colour images were used throughout.
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
Portrait, 160 pages, roughly a4, spine is on the left
The book has a hard cover with the images printed on the front and back covers of the book instead of using a dust jacket. The pages are bound by a perfect binding method.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
The title is intriguing but fitting to the book.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
The story is about a 26 year old woman who died of Bulimia. The book follows a family as they celebrate fathers day while mourning and remembering their daughter who passed away at such a young age.
Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.
The use of other material such as archival pieces like newspaper cuttings or old photographs is repeating throughout helping to build the story futher.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
The book includes some fold out pieces added into the book. Most of the pages are either 1 photo per page or 1 photo as a double page spread.
Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
The book does not include a lot of juxtaposing images rather just showing the progression of Cammy’s illness.
Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others. Use of captions (if any.)
Short captions are use to explain who is in the image and what they are doing.
My book is about the relation between the human body and nature. I will look at taking abstract images of human body features creating intrigue, focussing on the depth of detail within the body features. I will also photograph aspects of nature, e.g. the beach, pebbles, flowers, plants. This will represent the beauty within nature. This natural beauty of the earth can be linked with the natural beauty of the human body creating love for oneself. My aim is to encapsulate the beauty of nature and our body parts, with the main focus being on depth of the image and capturing the abstract linking in the sublime.
Design:
I want my book to look simple, with all the detail and interest coming from within the images. I will use light colours to not draw any attention away from the subjects photographed. The title will reflect the contents of the book with it linking to natural beauty. The design and layout of the book will be clear, with space between images and pages to enable focus on a single image at a time and the cover will be intriguing, engaging people to want to look further into it.
1. Research a photo-bookand describe the story it is communicating with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.
The photo book, Illuminance shows the photographers passions through simple but striking images. Some people explain the images as solitary. Illuminance consists of 176 photos, taken over 15 years. The book was inspired by the aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi, which is “a philosophy of reduction, modesty and the beauty of imperfection” / the Japanese philosophy of accepting your imperfections and making the most of life. She creates her own unique perspective of the world.
2. Who is the photographer?Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)
Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer, born 1972 in Shiga Japan. She lives and works in Tokyo after studying graphic design and photography at Seian University of Art and Design. She is known world wide for her varied use of colour and power in composition. She draws attention to small details and looks at the world around her with enchantment. Her images offer us a captivating view of the world around us. Kawauchi says: “differentiates between a photograph and an artwork. Seeing two images next to each other opens up the imagination and gives birth to something else. Flipping through the pages of the book, it can arouse feelings of excitement, sadness, or happiness—things that are hard [for me] to do with words.” ~ https://time.com/3776240/rinko-kawauchis-illuminance/
3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both. ~ Matte Paper, bold colours, smooth texture.
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages ~ Portrait, 163 pages.
Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello ~ Clothbound Japanese binding.
Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping ~ Printed image of a flower.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing ~ Intriguing.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told? ~ The beauty of imperfection
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts. ~ Single pages, bottom part of the page left blank.
Since throughout my project I have been closely referring to Richard Billingham and his documentary approach to photography, I feel as though it is most suited to deconstruct one of his films. Billingham’s intention is close to mine, I am planning on making a film of my Mother and he has closely photographed and filmed his parents for many years. Thus, I feel as though this deconstruction is particularly relevant to me.
Billingham takes a strong documentary approach to where he simply films his parents going about their every day lives. His Father is an alcoholic who often demonstrates peculiar behaviors (Ray) and his Mum (Liz) is an overweight, temperamental women. Although, Ray seems to be the main character throughout. In the beginning, there was no particular intention to photographing his parents, apart from using the images for references when painting them. However, when the images became a success, he continued to photograph them, and then began experimenting with film.
Here is a link:
https://youtu.be/tTQjx_RyFzA
Deconstruction
Immediately, when watching the clip, I find myself very uncomfortable as the scenes are very raw and real, almost as if I am there with Billingham and his parents. The scenes take place in their home; in the kitchen and in the lounge mainly. The camera angles vary, from being very close up to his parents’ faces to quite far away and including a shot of their home, which then adds to the atmosphere and essentially, ‘sets the scene’. Billingham often enjoys zooming in to a large scale, almost as if he is experimenting with his camera and seeing what works best. I’ve noticed in particular that he enjoys getting close ups of his father’s face and his father acting in his general, over exaggerated, humorous manner. There is most likely no editing that goes into Billingham’s ‘FishTank’ series since the scenes are quite messy, unplanned and not very visually pleasing. However, this doesn’t make the documentary ‘bad’ in fact it makes it that bit more intriguing. The main character in the series is clearly his Dad, most scenes are of him drinking and generally being rowdy. But his mother and brother are also included in the scenes. His scenes capture a range of different events in his home including; drinking, play fighting, smoking, his mother putting on makeup, arguing between his parents, the TV etc. He also tends to use the real-life sounds that come with his videos. There’s no editing with the audio and no sound-scaping or overlaps. This intensifies the documentary feel to his videos and again creates the feeling that you are there with them while watching. You also find him speaking behind the camera, which I find interesting and gives you his point of view of the situation, through audio rather than camera. The general colouring and toning of his footage is also completely natural, no editing there, however the lighting is mainly created by the artificial lights that are in the house. Technically, the camera he uses is clearly quite old (it was filmed in 1998 and he was able to get hold of a small hand-held camera) which again adds to the atmosphere and emphasizes that documentary feel. Billingham has stated previously that he didn’t want to focus on visuals too much and wanted to make the footage moving rather than aesthetic, which explains the lack of editing and composition.
Theory
Focus: The moving of the lens elements until the sharpest possible image is achieved. Depending on the distance of the subject from the camera, the focusing elements have to be set a certain distance from the camera’s sensor to form a clear image. A typical auto focus sensor uses a charge-coupled device (CCD).
Billingham tends to experiment with focus quite a lot within his Fishtank documentaries, this usually can be seen when he zooms in closely to his father’s face. His camera tends to de-focus with the fast paced movement with the zoom, then Billingham readjusts the focus so that the footage of his dad is clear.
Depth Of Field: For many cameras, depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image.
Billingham tends to have a short depth of field. It is clear that he is very up close and personal within his methods. As mentioned, he likes to focus his camera very closely on things, and enjoys zooming in closely. Emphasizing his short depth of field.
Angles:
BULLS EYE COMPOSITION (When you place the Main Subject right ‘smack’ in the center of the picture area )
CANTED ANGLE
I’d say that Billingham doesn’t use a specific angle method as he is simply holding his camera and filming what is in front of him. However, out of all the angles within photography, I would say that he mostly uses the bulls eye composition method where the subject is pretty much smack bang in the center. This can often be seen when he his filming his dad in particular. He also tends to use canted angles which is where the camera is slightly tilted however I don’t think this is purposeful.
Movements:
Different movements in photography consist of; tracking, pannin, craning, titling, Steadicam etc. However, these are more high-end, technical filming techniques that usually come with larger cameras.
HANDHELD
Billingham uses a hand-held approach. His camera was a hand-held one at the time when he was filming Fishtank which often came with shaky, real-life visuals. This increased his documentary style and made it feel as though we were there with him at the time.
Shot Sizes:
MEDIUM SHOT
CLOSE UP SHOT
BIG CLOSE UP
EXTREME CLOSE UP
Billingham tends to use these shots when filming. He also uses establishing shots that show the scenes of his house however when filming his parents he tends to use these specific shots above. He uses the close up, big close up and extreme close up mainly on his father in the video I linked above.
Editing:
As mentioned earlier, Billingham didn’t tend to edit his footage too much as he wanted it to be as raw as possible. The editing method he is most close to using is Continuity Editing. Continuity editing is the process in film and video creation where you combine related shots, or different components of a single shot, into a sequence which directs the audience’s attention to the consistency of story across time and location.
Continuity editing aims to create a sense of realism or ‘believability’ which essentially is Billingham’s aim in his documentaries.
I will most likely be using this method of editing in order to create a realist experience within my work and to increase the documentary style.
My film project starts off with a series of landscapes, only a couple seconds long but they serve as the establishing shots, creating the setting of the whole narrative. I had decided after some evaluation of the shots I already had that it would be better if I included some of my house and bedroom as well, to make it more personal, so I just used my tripod and set up in the areas I planned to use.
After selecting only the video that were successful (not over or under exposed, everything in frame, not too shaky), I imported them into Lightroom and made some minor edits, mainly focusing on the making the colours similar vibrancies to the rest of the beginning landscapes, and ensuring they were all as bright and clear as each other, to make them all a cohesive set even though they weren’t filmed on the same day.
Then I exported them out into Premiere and worked on trimming them to the same length as the other clips and inserting them in-between the natural landscapes, mimicking the way the rest of the film flicks between shots of inside the home and outside in the woods. All in all, I like the way this turned out and I think it has the desired effect.
OTHERS-
Because my plan is detailed enough that I know exactly what shots I need, I’m able to film whatever I’m able to and don’t have to do it all in chronological order while making it up on the spot. Because of the natural lighting fading quite quickly at this time of year, I was only able to film bits inside the house that were more object-focused, or were directly near a light source.
After I was happy with what I saw in my camera, I moved it into Lightroom and cut down any footage that was out of focus in a way I didn’t like, or where the framing was off, or the timing. I made the same sort of minor edits to the final chosen images that I have to the rest of the videos; just small colour corrections and adjustments to brightness.
Next, I carried on with the same routine and exported them into Premiere and trimmed or spliced them into their respective chapters of them film, still just placing them either directly before or after another clip as they were planned to, or just in the general region they would be in the film if the footage for before and after hasn’t been shot yet. This is good as it gives me a better sense of what pieces I am missing and have to prioritise, and a better idea of what the film looks and sounds like as a whole.
This shot was more challenging to edit as I had to make not only a fair few corrections and adjustments to the light and tint of the image, but it was also framed slightly off so I had to crop the actual video to avoid any weird borders or off-centre clips. I figured out the easiest way for me to do this was, after editing it as much as I could in Lightroom, to export it out into Premiere as is and use the Crop tool in the Effects bar to trim it how I needed, and then (still in the video effects section) to use the Motion tool to re-frame it in the centre of the screen and eliminate any unslightly black border.
Altogether these shoots have gone pretty much the same as all the others, which is good because it maintains the same style throughout the whole film, and I’m looking forward to completing the actual filming process soon.
For this project I decided to use images from an older shoot and incorporate them into my film:
I will re-use these final images and and the unedited photos and form those images into sequences to then create a stop motion effect.
I will create another photoshoot by using my self and my old childhood photos. I will be following the same process with my unedited photos as stated before. Finally I will also use images from my old project showing my childhood portraits and once again use them to create gifs/moving images.
Audio:
For audios I will use voice clips in which I recorded over the period of lockdown and add and layer them onto my film.
I plan to find audio/video clips of news reports talking about Covid
I will research music to find a simple instrumental song to play in the background of the film to help tie the film together
