William Eggleston

William Eggleston (born July 27, 1939) is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Eggleston took the majority of his images in his hometown, Memphis. I like William Eggleston as a colour photographer to take inspiration from for this project as he takes pictures that indirectly link to community by taking pictures of places that communities may congregate instead of images of actual communities like a lot of other photographers that I have looked at. All of William Eggleston’s images are of places where people would be together such as cafes and shops. I like how he takes pictures of somewhat boring places and makes them look interesting with the way he captures his images.

I particularly like this image as it is not too overloaded with colour, however where there is colour on both the building and the car they look symetrical. I like how the image is took with the car placed in the middle of the view point so that the car colour matches the building in the background and how the lights on either side of the car are red matching the red on both ends of the building. I also think this image shows community well as it shows people going somewhere to possibly hang out and get ice cream or something like that together.

Mind Map

Mood Board

Statement of Intent

For this project I want to focus on colour as well as colour within the community; I want to explore how using certain colours in images can evoke a feeling and keep this in mind while taking my images. I have researched how different colours have different ways of influencing us, some colours make us feel calm, some evoke feelings of fear and tension and others make us feel happy. For example, yellow- it’s the colour of sunshine, warmth, and beauty. Different hues of yellow bring different impacts. Darker shades might enrich an atmosphere even with some dramatic effect while the lighter tones make things merry and happy. So, the colours are powerful tools for creating an emotional structure of photographs. I want to take images that feature a lot of yellows and greens, and am going to take images of things such as architecture that features these colours.

Review and Reflection

For our first Year 12 project we focused on black light and Albert Renger Patzch and Keld Helmer Peterson. We took images of things such as industrial buildings and edited them to look like Keld Helmer Peterson’s Black light photography.

My Images

We then focused on portrait photography for a while before moving onto identity. For this project I looked at artists such as Lisa Riverra and Claude Cahun. The photoshoots I done for this project were inspired by Lisa Riverras work ‘Beautiful Boy’.

Identity

We then explored rural landscape photography before, looking and new topographics and eventually moving onto our Anthropocene project which focused on how we as humans have changed the Earth.

My Images

We then finished the year by focusing on Identity and Community. For this project we first started learning about Jersey by going to a ‘People Make Jersey’ exhibition and learning about the history of the Island and Islanders. For this project I looked at artists such as Percival Dunham and George Georgiou.

Island Identity

The Island Identity project has produced a website and a report that has identified distinctive ‘qualities’ of island life in Jersey. ( https://islandidentity.je/report/heritage-culture-and-the-arts ). We were asked to produce a poster based on one of the following themes : Constitution and Citizenship, Communities, International, Economy, Education and Sports, Heritage, Culture and the arts, or the Environment.

What makes Jersey special and why does it matter to you?

Jersey has several unique reasons to why its special, these vary from different aspects of life jersey has to offer. One reason why Jersey is special is the weather this is due to the fact that it has several positive impacts on the environment as well as the community. The climate in which jersey has is highly suitable for the large farming industry in which jersey has.  This matters to us because without our farming industry we would have to import more products from elsewhere causing an increase in pollution within the ozone layer. Alternatively another positive impact is that jersey has a wide range of historical sights. It has several coastal fortifications (bunkers) from several different periods of time such as the English Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, and Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Channel Islands.

What does it mean to be ‘Jersey’, now and in the future?

I feel that living in jersey feels very compact, one may describe jersey as claustrophobic due to the fact that we live on such a small island which is 198 km². Additionally I also feel that as we are such a small island we have a small community with several; different backgrounds which creates a strong and powerful community. Furthermore in the near future I would like to see a more diverse community. Due to the old generations there’s still a lot of stigma around having a equal and diversity community.

What can we all do to solidify a cohesive and positive Island identity?

I believe that we should all be very welcoming to all backgrounds and accepting of one another even if we come from different places as we all live on the same small Island. This will therefore lead to a decrease in island problems overall due to the fact that people will be more willing to help people with problems such as a language barrier because people will be more understanding of this. Additionally this will lead to people becoming more confident in sharing their views on the island as well as making sure there’s next to no discrimination.

Are there barriers to a positive and inclusive Island identity? (What requires a greater focus and what is being missed?)

I believe that its highly likely that there will always be multiple positive barriers to and inclusive island. These consist of things such as when it comes to different cultures, some people may have certain issues or may not be as accepting as others. This can lead to problems as it would be holding back the progress of Jersey being an accepting community.  Additionally another barrier is that people from different cultures may not want to learn about jersey heritage due to the fact that they weren’t born in the island.

For this NFT project we started by researching what exactly an NFT is (non-fungible token) and then continued our research by looking at examples of NFT’s and really trying to understand what they are. We then discussed as a group what the question, ‘What will the future of Jersey look like as a community in the Metaverse?’ means and how we will go about creating a 30 second animated video to link to the question. We started by creating mind maps of what a community is and what it means to be a community. We then created mind maps and mood boards on our chosen theme; which we decided to create a film based on fashion. After we made the mood boards we created a statement of intent to decide exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. Within the group we decided on multiple different ideas which varied from using a projector to project different sort of patterns onto a model wearing plain and simple clothing to the model wearing clothes that replicate fashion trends over the years. Additionally we also spoke about how we may be able to use Photoshop or a similar software to edit over peoples original clothing, which may show that the digital world of fashion can be easily manipulated. Our last idea was to print out original photos which we have taken of our models and either collage or embroider over them to create different designs. We decided that we were going to have our model wearing clothes that best replicate fashion trends over the years. We then done a contextual study on NFT artists that link to our theme of fashion and researched NFT artist Toby Evans who focuses on digital fashion. After that we done a contextual study on the Bayeux Tapestry as it also links to the embroidery project we are also doing with Yulia, where we each made an individual embroidered piece that links to Jersey. After discussing more as a group how we were going to create the film we created a story board. We decided we’re going to start off with a wide shot and then zoom into a person wearing a 70’s inspired outfit (flares and a crop top), after that there would be an outfit change. Next, there will be another outfit change into a 80’s inspired outfit (mom jeans and a bomber jacket), then there will be a change into a 90’s inspired outfit (black dress). The clips will be shot with the model facing the camera and the clips will cut between outfits as the model walks forward towards the camera. The model will then change into a 2000’s inspired outfit (tracksuit) followed by an outfit inspired by current fashion (baggy jeans and a top). After deciding exactly how we were going to film it we brought in different pieces of clothing that we had at home to try to recreate old fashion trends. Making the outfits look as though they were from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s was one of the biggest challenges we faced as we only had our own clothes to use. We decided on which clothes best fit each year and then booked out a space in the studio so we could start filming. We started by preparing the studio for filming by setting up all the lights and getting are model in the first outfit. We decided to film on our phones so that the videos would be portrait. We had our model walk towards the camera in the first outfit as we recorded her and then repeated this in all the other outfits. We then chose our favourite clips and started by importing all the videos onto Adobe premier. We then cut each clip at specific times to make it look as though she was walking towards the camera while her outfits changed. We then decided which music to use as a group and uploaded it to the video. After the video was filmed we made a digital image from the video. We decided to edit the images we took on the day of filming in photoshop to make them more interesting. To edit the images I duplicated the image and then used the FX tool on the duplicated layer to turn off the green and blue channels on the layer. I then moved the bottom layer slightly to the left to create a 3D effect. As well as the edited photoshop image we also created a Gif. We used all of our images and copied one image after another to make it look like stop motion and create an illusion that the image is moving. We copied each image over another and created a new animation layer in order to play them one after another and create a frame. This turned out well as it achieved our aim of showing the different changes in fashion through decades by creating a gif and making it look like its one big moving image. Once all of the layers were there we included all the images we wanted to use and created a timeline to create the final gif. We also done an embroidery workshop that links to the question about community in Jersey. For the workshop we took all of the individual pieces of embroidery we have done as a group and placed them together on a big piece of fabric. We sat around the table as a group and decided whether or not we liked the positioning of the individual pieces on the larger piece of fabric.  As there wasn’t enough individual pieces to fill up the fabric we had to overlap some and leave some spaces in the fabric. Once we decided that we liked the placement we all chose thread colours that we like and started stitching the pieces onto the fabric.

Final Digital Images

Final Tapestry

Final Film

For this workshop we took all of the individual pieces of embroidery we have done as a group and placed them together on a big piece of fabric. We sat around the table as a group and decided whether or not we liked the positioning of the individual pieces on the larger piece of fabric. As there wasn’t enough individual pieces to fill up the fabric we had to overlap some and leave some spaces in the fabric. Once we decided that we liked the placement we all chose thread colours that we like and started stitching the pieces onto the fabric.

My Piece

Tapestry

The Process

For this NFT project we all had different roles. Editing the video was Niamh’s role. She started by importing all the videos onto Adobe premier and then cut each clip at specific times to make it look as though she was walking towards the camera while her outfits changed. We then decided which music to use as a group and uploaded it to the video.

Film Link

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/744704d6-9530-45ed-90ef-886d0c5627f8

The Process

For this experiment we had to make a digital image out of our footage from our NFT video. We decided to edit the images in photoshop to make them more interesting.

To edit these images I duplicated the image and then used the fx tool on the duplicated layer to turn off the green and blue channels on the layer. I then moved the bottom layer slightly to the left to create this 3D effect.

Edited Outcomes

Final Outcome

After editing all four images we decided to put them in a row next to each other. I think to make this image better she could be in the same position in all of the images with the same shade background and the images could be better quality as they are quite small and low resolution.

GIF

Storyboard Plan

First we’re going to start of with a wide shot and then zoom into a person wearing a 70’s inspired outfit (flares and a crop top), after that there is going to be an outfit change with a clip shot through a door or a mirror. Next, there is going to be an outfit change into a 80’s inspired outfit (mom jeans and a bomber jacket), then there will be a change into a 90’s inspired outfit (black dress?). The clips will be shot with the model facing the camera and the clips will cut between outfits as the model walks forward towards the camera. The model will then change into a 2000’s inspired outfit (tracksuit) followed by an outfit inspired by current fashion (baggy jeans and a top).

Embroidery and Narrative

Artists who use embroidery

Debbie Smyth

Textile artist Debbie Smyth is best known for her stitched illustrations. By plotting pins with acute accuracy and then stretching thread between them, she creates work that is beautiful and somewhat disconcerting; the boundaries of textile art, fine art sketches, embroidery, and illustration are well and truly blurred.

My Embroidery

For this experiment we had to use materials that related to Jersey and the history and community of Jersey. I decided to use this image as it is a well known building and business that is still there. I decided to keep it simple and just stitch on words that I cut out from the text that was originally below the image. I chose to only use the identifying words in the text, such as the business name and the year the image was taken so that it didn’t take away from the actual photo.