For this project I have decided to explore the idea of earth and power and the way in which the environment has a powerful and strong impact on the earth. Additionally this will create a clear comparison between different communities which have impacts on the environment. Furthermore another idea in which I wish to explore is how different peoples power represents there personal self in multiple ways. I have chosen this topic as I feel that the different impact it has on people is very different as the impact the earth and power has on people is very different. This may be due to people being power hungry as well as the power hierarchy. So overall I’m going to explore the way the environment reflects power.

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Power is often defined only in negative terms, and as a form of domination, but it can also be a positive force for individual and collective capacity to act for change. The most commonly recognized form of power, ‘power over’, has many negative associations for people, such as repression, force, coercion, discrimination, corruption, and abuse. Power is seen as a win-lose kind of relationship. Having power involves taking it from someone else, and then, using it to dominate and prevent others from gaining it.

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Camera Obscura

Photography began in the late 1830s in France. This started off with the camera obscura in the year 1021. A camera obscura is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce, a French inventor who was the first to make a permanent photographic image. To make the heliograph, Niépce dissolved light-sensitive bitumen in oil of lavender and added a thin coating over a polished pewter plate. He put the plate into a camera obscura and positioned it near a window.

Louis Daguerre

In 1839, Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotypes, are a highly detailed photographic image on a polished copper plate coated with silver. It was introduced in 1839 and became the first popular photographic medium.

Daguerreotype

The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history of photography. Named after the inventor, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, each daguerreotype is a unique image on a silvered copper plate.

Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot was best known for his development of the calotype, an early photographic process that was an improvement over the daguerreotype of the French inventor Louis Daguerre.

Richard Maddox

Richard Maddox was an English photographer and physician who invented lightweight gelatin negative plates for photography in 1871. He invented the dry plate, also known as gelatin process, is an improved type of photographic plate. It was invented by Dr. Richard L. Maddox in 1871, and had become so widely adopted by 1879 that the first dry plate factory had been established.

George Eastman

George Eastman (1854-1932) changed the world through his spirit, bold leadership, and extraordinary vision. He will be remembered throughout history for founding the Eastman Kodak Company and revolutionizing the photography, film, and motion picture industries. He was an American entrepreneur and inventor whose introduction of the first Kodak camera helped to promote amateur photography on a large scale.

In 1888, The Eastman Kodak Company was founded and now is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated in New Jersey.

My aim is to explore the question that I have about people’s identity ; How do you present who you are? I wish to dive into the expressive forms of tattooing, the permanence of a part of who you are. Over the year, I have had the continuous stream of questions like ‘Why would you do that to your body?’ , ‘You know that’s permanent right?’ and ‘I could never do that to myself?’. There has always been a stigma around people with tattoos which upsets me as it can be a beautiful artform to express your identity.

In this project I will document my friends’ and families’ tattoos and pair the photos with what they mean to them, either a handwritten note from them or an object/photo that ties in with the meaning behind. I’m exited to do more research into this subject matter, including the history and culture values which i can add to my final piece if appropriate.

I will present my final photos as a photobook as I preferer working with still images, not only that but as the images are still and physical, it gives the viewer more time to absorb the essence of what tattooing can achieve.

The artist I have chose to study is William Klein and looking at his interview with David Campany, from his book ‘So present, so invisible‘.

my chosen quotes from his interview that I thought were interesting;

in the interview William didn’t talk about the image I have chosen but I think they were interesting as they fit into his work as he has previously photographed children during a war as well as many photographs of famous models or individuals for when he worked for Vogue.

“we didn’t know too much about the war in Vietnam, it was horrible”

“when i was in the army i won the war”

” i had one camera and two lenses”

1. TECHNICAL, VISUAL, CONTEXTUAL, CONCEPTUAL 

Technical- the lighting in Williams photograph of the two boys is natural and taken in daylight, as you cant see any set up lighting or flash to capture the picture. He used a nice level of control to show the contrast between the dark and light areas in his photo, as you can see some very dark, basically black tones (like their clothes) and then very light grey-white tones mostly seen in the background and the two main boy’s skin. Their positioned in the centre of the image to make them the main focus on the image and very little background activity which makes the viewer directly aware of the boys and the gun one is holding as the gun is positioned right in the middle and in front of the two boys which makes it stand out. I would say the image is slightly over exposed as it has such a sharp tonal range which makes the image appear sad as it’s in black and white and gives it quite a gloomy/sad atmosphere. The shutter speed must have been quite high as the image isn’t blurry which quickly captured the image. Using his quote and what he said “i had one camera and two lenses” shows that even with such little camera equipment he still captured a powerful image to try tell a story of two boys during a war, as he has a lot of experience being in one.

Visual- This image isnt taken in colour, it’s in black and white which fits the atmosphere of the image a lot and makes it more dull as it was taken during a horrible event, therefore using colour most likely wouldnt be appropriate. It has a range of light and dark tones to create a nice sharp contrast and as its a photo telling a story there isnt any texture, lines or shapes to it as its a portrait photo.

Contextual- I think this image adds a lot of value in Williams work, as he himself was involved in a war which he mentioned in his interview and he said “we didn’t know too much about the war in Vietnam, it was horrible”. This explains why he probably wanted to photograph two little boys during one , holding a gun which can make the viewer slightly uncomfortable to look at as it’s not everyday you see a young child holding such a violent object. It contrasts between an innocent human and a violent object which makes you question why he’s holding one. In some way maybe William wanted to show his young self through taking this image as he spent such a huge time of his life at war.

Conceptual- I think William wanted to show his experience at war , “when i was in the army i won the war”, through photographing two innocent boys holding a gun, which shows that during these horrible times even children got influenced , and in the image you can see the boy smiling and laughing when holding the gun as he probably doesn’t know the harm it can cause or what the true intentions of a war is. This creates this really strong contrast between the two things as you don’t see children just casually holding guns. It can also show that these boys look up to men, like William at war as they’re fighting for them and they’re just trying to be like them. However during this war, that might have been the last image took of the boys before the war begun , which William maybe wanted to do.

What you want to explore?

For my personal study , I want to focus on portrait photography, as in year 12 it was my favourite part of photography. I really enjoyed having a set up and how professional the images looked with the lighting. I think portraits are a very strong way of presenting ideas as you can interpret them in any way and when it comes to editing them you can basically transform them in any way. I think by doing portraits it will present the theme of identity perfectly. For my personal study, I want to focus on capturing different emotions and feelings through portrait photography and look into how mental health can be presented and shown through photography. I think it plays a massive part in the theme of identity, as it’s a personal aspect to everyone, and everyone goes through different emotions.

Why it matters to you?

It matters to me as I think mental health is a really important and key factor through my teenage years. I want to try present it through taking portrait photographs.

How you wish to develop your project?

By taking portrait images, and editing them afterwards to show different emotions.
When and where you intend to begin your study?

I will use the studio to take all my images as it’s a professional set up and get it started as soon as I have free time in school and get a model to photograph for this project.

My chosen theme is identity, as I think mental health can identify an individual massively as it’s a very personal matter. The final outcome I want to have and achieve by the end of this project is a photobook. The artists I am going to take inspiration from are Gabriel Isak and Edward Honaker. They both focus on photographing mental health through different ways. Gabriel includes loads of blue tones in his images, and takes them out in an open environment as well as mainly capturing the silhouette of the individual instead of a clear face shot. Whereas Edward focuses more on his editing and blurs the faces out using different techniques which shows he focuses more on editing his images rather than taking them in a certain way. I think by using both of them it will give me a nice overview of both sides to this project