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photobook process

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SHOOT 1

For my first photoshoot in my photobook project, I took photographs of old baby and childhood images of myself from my family albums. I also took photographs of some childhood objects, including my hospital and Christening bracelets, and my first stuffed animal. Additionally, I chose some objects from later on in my life, such as an 18th birthday card I received from a friend, and an 18th birthday badge. I decided to include these images and objects as a way to show my transition from baby, to child, to adult, and to add another interesting layer to my photobook by combining old images with new ones, which I think will be more engaging for the reader.

PROCESS

To start my shoot, I set up a tripod attached with two lights on either side on a table so that the lighting would be clear and even. I then placed a plain piece of white paper underneath where the camera would sit so that the background of my images would be clean and bright. I then attached my camera to the tripod with the lens facing downwards, and placed each of my physical photographs onto the paper and captured them accordingly. I made sure that the photographs were positioned as straight as possible to save myself further editing later in the process. I also took care to ensure that the two lights on either side of my camera did not reflect on the glossy surface of the photographs, as this would ruin the effect. Additionally, I also tried to eliminate any shadows that the photographs made on the paper. I then imported all my images onto my computer and into Lightroom, where I began to edit and adjust them as needed.

After I had imported all of my new images into Lightroom, I made a new collection called ‘Photobook’, with another collection set inside which I called ‘Shoot 1’, which I imported all of my images into. Usually after this I would go through a selection process, however since I only had a few images and I was happy with them all, I decided to keep them all.

When editing my photographs, I mainly adjusted the exposure and contrast in order to make my images appear older than they actually are, as a way to further emphasise my transition through the different stages of life. By increasing the contrast, I could also add more colour and life to the more worn images, so that the detail within them could still be seen. Additionally, the old look of these photographs would juxtapose the new images, which would be bright and full of bold colours, adding another interesting visual layer to my photobook

SHOOT 2

For my second photoshoot in my photobook, I aimed to capture as many candid and staged photographs of me and my friends when we were all together. I found that the best times to do this was on special occasions, such as friend’s birthdays or parties, or when we were all on nights out together. I tried to incorporate as much colour and life as possible, which would later juxtapose the old, much more muted feel of my baby pictures. I also aimed to keep the images as unfiltered as possible, as a way of allowing my audience to gain a real and raw insight into our lives.

I imported all of my images into Lightroom into a folder I titled ‘Photobook’. I then began the selection process, whereby I filtered out any repetitive images, images of poor quality, or images which I thought didn’t fit in with the rest. By the end of the selection process, I was left with around 60 of my best photographs.

When editing my photographs, I aimed to emphasise all the bright colours already present, so as to make the images full of fun and life, in order to reflect how we were feeling. Additionally, I wanted to create a contrast to my baby photos, which I edited to appear older and more worn out. To do this, I mainly adjusted the vibrance, saturation, and contrast. For the most part I left the contrast the same way it was, as the images were already bright to begin with. I continued to adjust the different settings and features until I had a result that I was happy with for all of my images.

PHOTOBOOK

In order to begin the process of creating my photobook, the first thing I had to do was to decide to do either a portrait book or a landscape one. I decided to work with a standard portrait orientation, as most of the images I chose to include were portraits, and with the landscape photographs I could easily place them in the centre of the page without the book looking too messy or too disorganised.

I then experimented with different types of layouts for my photobook, such as full bleed pages and double page spreads. I wanted to incorporate a range of different photograph sizes and layouts in order to keep my photobook interesting and engaging for the reader.

For the cover of my photobook, I decided to use two juxtaposing images; one of me when I was younger on the front cover, and then another of me when I was older for the back cover. I then had to decide on a title for my photobook. I wanted to use a title that would tell the readers what the book is about, but at the same time without being too explicit. I eventually settled on ‘growing pains‘. I chose to keep the title in all lower case letters as I think that it looks more aesthetically pleasing and it also references the younger versions of myself present in the book. In addition, most people my age now prefer to type this way on their phones and laptops, which again references another version of me in the book. I experimented with different text sizes and fonts until I found one that I was happy with; I chose to use the font ‘Javanese Text‘ throughout my photobook.

Towards the end of my design process, I also decided to add small captions underneath each of my images in order to help the reader understand more clearly what is happening in each photograph. I think that it adds another interesting layer to my photobook, making it appear more like a personal album rather than a photobook.

FINAL LAYOUT

Controlled Conditions, Independent

Photobook layout, design and experimentation

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Experimentation with layout and images

The magazine is called “More Than Two” because there is always more than two people in a situationship apparently.

Using Adobe Lightroom, I uploaded all of my final images from my folder and gave them colours to show which ones I think are best and which images aren’t as good. For example:

As you can obviously see I experimented with the images on different pages seeing which images work best together. I also adjusted the size of the photograph and experimented with making some images full bleed and white borders. What I gathered was having the Bible texts as a full bleed gives a Bible book feel as well as having the front and back cover full bleed looks more aesthetically pleasing. Also, having a full bleed bible passage with a white-bordered image looks better on my layout and perfectly shows the juxtaposition between the two.

I also experimented with the order of the pages to test which order portrayed my story best and found that it was best to start off the book with the bible quote which was constantly being repeated in my mind when I was with my second ex; “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end, she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.” – Proverbs 5:3-4. This quote, to me, at the time, was like a warning, or a reminder that this guy, may be sweet but will soon become toxic which was indeed the case, sort of… We broke up because I wasn’t ready to take things deeper with him.

The book then proceeds to show same-sex partners getting intimate together, right at the start. This was actually done on purpose for if you know anything about Grindr and hookups, you get quite intimate scarily quickly.

Moving forward, we then have a landscape image to try and show the reader that this couple has been going on dates, getting to know each other, and acting like a couple. Also shown through the upcoming images. Some images are blurry on purpose; to give a sense of memory since in many cases, these cute moments end really quickly and you’re left with nothing but memories.

My book then goes on through a new twist; a bible passage. Ironically every bible passage within my book is the passages that talk about homosexuality, and in red are some of the gay stories and experiences that I had to go through. These texts are joined by some images to help the viewer better imagine these scenarios.

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photobook process

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I started my editing process by importing my photos into Lightroom.

Once imported, I went through my images and flagged the ones I wanted to use in my photobook.

Editing process, images inspired by Guy Bourdin

For my first image, I opened it up in Photoshop and cropped and adjusted it to how I wanted. My aim was to change the colour of the shoe to match Bourdin’s images. To do this, I used the Pen Tool and carefully cut out around the shoe.

After I outlined the shoe with the Pen Tool, I went up to the menu, under Window and selected Paths.

Within Paths, I selected Make Selection under the 3 small lines, this converts an outline drawn by the Pen Tool, to a dotted outline.

After this, I then selected Edit, Paste Special, Paste in Place onto a new layer so when I changed the colour of the shoe, the background is not effected.

I then selected Load Selection to select the area I want to edit individually.

Before changing the colour of the shoe, I adjusted the Brightness, Shadows and Highlights to make the shoe lighter so the colour will turn out more pigmented.

To change the colour I adjusted the Colour Balance.

I used the same process for the legs.

I saved my first edit as a PSD so it saves with all the layers so I can go back and change the colour without having to cut out the shoes again.

This next edit I needed 3 legs instead of 2 to match my edit to one of Bourdin’s photographs. To start, I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the leg and I cut and pasted it onto a new layer.

I then positioned it to where I wanted it to be.

I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the background, then adjusted the brightness to make it brighter, but only the background.

Then again I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the leg I wanted to change the colour of. Went up to Image, Adjustments, Colour Balance and changed the colours of all 3 legs.

Finally I used either the Spot Healing Tool or the Clone Stamp to clean up around the shoes.

Final Edits inspired by Bourdin

Analysis

Bourdin explored with a lot of vibrant colours in his work for Charles Jourdan. Jourdan and Bourdin produced a large amount of work on shoe advertisements, I liked the range of bright colours throughout these images and decided to take inspiration and produce a version of my own. Both mine and Bourdin’s images have solid blocks of basic colour instead of pastel or deeper colours for example. The images are eye-catching and don’t require too much thought. They are very positive images but don’t have much narrative, however the 3- legged images to create a sense of curiosity.

Inspiration for the above edits – Guy Bourdin

Bourdin Polariods

Edits Inspired by Bourdin’s Polaroids

Polaroid Editing Process

First I opened up my background image and used the Pen Tool to cut out the telephone box, once the box was cut out I went up to the menu and pressed Select, Inverse so everything but the telephone box was selected and changed the background to black and white and adjusted the brightness and contrast.

I opened up an image I had previously edited and used the Pen Tool to cut out the legs and cut and pasted it onto my background and adjusted them into the position I wanted by using either Edit, Transform, Scale or Edit, Transform, Rotate.

I then opened an image I had taken of a polaroid picture I had at home, I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool to cut out the image within the polaroid, cut and pasted my edited image onto my background, put my edited image on the bottom later and on top placed the polaroid frame.

I then repeated this process again for a second image.

Analysis

What I like most about my polaroid images is the worn/ old fashioned effect they have. The photographs are edited to match Bourdin’s images which are faded with a slight coloured tint on top. I think polaroid photos are more gripping than just an ordinary photograph, they have more texture and character about them.

One of my final images had things in the background that I didn’t want in my image, to remove the canvases on the wall I used both the Spot Healing Tool and the Clone Stamp.

After the canvases had been removed I used the Quick Selection Tool, selected the background and adjusted the brightness to make it brighter.

Final Edits

Analysis

What I love most about black and white photographs is there is no colour to distract you from the structure and depth of the image. Black and white images are a good way of capturing dark shadows and bright highlights. These images have the greatest sense of narrative compared to the others in my photobook, however these images can be interpreted in several ways and have a strong sense of curiosity, for example, the worn dress and heels on the bed, make you wonder where the woman had been that night and did the night end good or badly. The idea that the shoes and dress are both black could be telling us that the night ended badly as black is seen as a fearful, negative shade. The black and white also create deep emotion, the woman on the bed in the first image for example, lays there looking lost, however you can’t see her face so your mind will make up a story about how she may be feeling.

Photobook Process in Lightroom

First I imported my edits into Lightroom.

Selected book

Began adjusting where I wanted my images

Titles

My titles in my photobook are inspired, again, by Charlotte Cotton’s book on Guy Bourdin.

I started by opening a blank white document and selecting the Horizontal Type Tool and deciding on a font and adjusting the colour to a dark beige to match the one used in Cotton’s book.

Front and Back Cover

Cotton’s cover is one image that folds from the front cover around to the back. To start my front and back cover, I opened up a document in photoshop then layered the same brown colour I used for the first and last page in my book and placed it in the middle so it will fold from front to back.

Next I opened the image I wanted to use for my cover and cut out half the image and pasted it onto one side of the brown strip. I then Select, Inverse, Delete so the other half of the image was cut exactly, and pasted it onto the other side of the brown strip.

To add the text onto my front and back covers I used the Horizontal Type Tool.

Main Title

All in Good Taste

When the book is closed, the image will be folded around both pages.

For the first and last page in my book, it will be a solid brown colour like Cotton did.

Comparison

Final Layout

This blog post below includes an artist reference on Guy Bourdin and his impact on the fashion industry and social identities.

essay

Overall Evaluation

Altogether I am happy with the outcome of my personal study. I found the photographers I researched in relation to my study interesting which helped when writing my essay. Guy Bourdin, French artist and fashion photographer, influenced most of my work on the fashion industry and social identities. I found his work gripping and fun which inspired me when it came to taking my own photographs. The layout of my photobook is inspired my Charlotte Cotton’s book on Guy Bourdin, including the layout of the cover and inside pages. What I liked the most about Cotton’s layout is the simplicity of it, I like how the background is a pale white so there is no distraction from the photographs. I found the polaroid images fun to take and edit, as they aren’t an ordinary photo, they have a faded, old-fashioned look about them. Overall, I liked this project the most, mainly because of the freedom to do it on whatever you liked.

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origin of photography

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The beginnings of photography

Evolución de la cámara fotográfica timeline | Timetoast timelines

The word photography comes from the Greek words phos “light” and graphos “written” or “recorded”, so it is a writing with light or a recording made with light. The history of photography spans from the 19th to the 20th century, but has many antecedents in earlier times. It is one of the most revolutionary technologies that man has developed. Photography has made an impact on the sciences, the arts, and historical documentation. It also gave rise to other technologies, such as cinema, among others. The idea of ​​capturing images and preserving them is something that humans have wanted since ancient times. It is what gave the appearance of painting, sculpture and, later, photography. There were old attempts to capture an image automatically, especially by means of the camera obscura principle, which is the same as that of photographic cameras. The camera obscura is a closed space, totally dark, in which light penetrates through an opening in one of its sides and projects an up side down image of what happens outside. This technique was known from the time of Aristotle or later from the Arab scholar Alhazén. From that work, scientists such as Giovanni Battista della Porta or Gerolamo Cardano experimented with the camera obscura in 1558. In the 16th century, the German Johann Zahn developed this technique in a wooden device, which was ready to become a camera. The first image obtained in history was made by the French scientist Nicephorus Niepce. He achieved results by prolonging exposure to light of pewter plates covered in bitumen, inside a dark room. The first image was in 1826 and took eight hours of exposure in broad daylight. In 1827 Niepce met Louis Daguerre and they signed a work agreement that left the latter with all the knowledge of Niepce’s photographic techniques after his death in 1833. Daguerre added to the mechanism a polished silver plate, on which the impressions, thus greatly reducing the exposure time. Later the daguerreotype appeared. This new technique allowed portraits to be taken, and was the best-known form of photography for a long time. However, other inventors were studying their own methods to obtained similar prints.

historia de la fotografia primera fotografia niepce
First picture taken by Nicéphore Niepce in 1826
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Creating A PHOTO-BOOK In Lightroom And Blurb

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I took all the photos that I wanted to use and, that I have already edited from the photoshoots in Photoshop, then I created a new collection set in Lightroom Classic to import the photos into.

The editing process is shown on the photoshoots blog posts.

After importing the photos into the photo-book collection I used the “pick” and “reject” method using the “P” and “X” keys.

Next, I used the different colours to visualise what type of photo each image was, e.g. aerial (yellow), underwater (blue), hillclimb (green), etc.

These are all of the images that I plan to use in the final book design.

My Book Specifications

Before I design the book I need to decide the specifications and think about the design.

This is information about how I will make the book and about the materials and requirements it needs.

How you want your book to look and feel.

Ideally, a hardback book would be nicer as it has a more genuine feel to it, and it lasts longer. However, it is more expensive compared to a regular, softback book.

Paper and ink

The premium paper will make the images better and isn’t to different to the standard paper, price wise.

Format, size and orientation

I will use a normal A4 book. (8×10 in)

Binding and cover

I will use a hardcover with an image wrap, with Mohawk proPhoto Pearl 140#.

Title 

Bouley Bay

Design and layout

  • Single image full bleed
  • Single page image with white borders
  • Double page full bleed
  • Double page spread
  • Double page single image.

Editing and sequencing

I will try and create a zoom effect with the images and use certain objects to carry to flow of the book.

Images and text

There won’t be any text except for the essay at the back of the book.

2. Produce a mood-board of design ideas for inspiration. Look at BLURB online book making website, photo books from photographers or see previous books produced by Hautlieu students on the table in class.

This is a mood board of books that have inspired my design process. I found them Blurb’s bookshop page on their website.

https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11080504-empty-spaces
https://www.blurb.co.uk/books/11080310-katy-stone-force-field
https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11080001-i-dream-of
https://www.blurb.co.uk/books/11078338-dudley-after-dark

I mostly chose these pages from these books as the display the images in a unique way that engages with the user.

I reorganised the order which I the photos would be in, in the photo-book. Then I clicked the book button where I chose to use the “Standard Portrait” book, then put the images in the order that looked the best.

I made use of the page setups to arrange the images to create an interesting composition. I mainly had two images on the double page spread and, they either linked with each other or were opposites.

To create a narrative I tried to create a zoom effect. I started by getting images that where of a general overview of the bay, then I focused on the pier, the water coming on to the pier, then I focused on the long exposure shots of the water on the rocks, which transitions to underwater photos. Once there is a brief introduction to the bay there it focuses on the hill climb which brings in the areas “character”. After I introduce the bay again by using the greens hill and the green around the waterfall in the bay, which shifts the focus back to the bays features like the L’Islet, and the heritage site. I often compared close ups of objects and match colours to create an interesting concept and presentation.

My favourite images are these below, I chose them as they are unique and interesting, and showcase great camera skills.

I achieved my goal, which was to accurately recorded a physical location through images. These images above are the strongest images I have taken which help showcase the environment that is Bouley Bay.

Unfortunately, I deleted all of my work, which meant the pervious book design disappeared. Therefore, I had to redesign the book, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing a I had too many images. This helped me reduce the size of the book and add more contrast, as the pervious version was more illustrative.

This result is more balanced as there is a greater mix of content and I feel that I have used a wide range of different page layouts to shift the viewers focus whilst looking a different images. My favourite pages are, 8-9, 14-15, 16-17, and 32-33.

I decided to add 2 more images. One would be a 2 page spread using full bleed and, then second would be a single image, which would probably be on a double page however, it would only use up one page. I plan to do this to a few more images earlier on in the book and eliminate some of my weaker images.

Creating the book cover

I decided to use an image that had a wide view of the bay which clearly shows where and what the book is about. I am using the image from the extra photoshoot I made with my drone. For the back of the book I wanted to have an abstract image where it is hard to work out where it was taken. Doing this makes lets the front cover have all of the attention. These are the two images I’m using for the book cover:

Left: Front Cover, Right: Back Cover

I needed to create a design for the spine, I thought I would blend the edges of the two images above to create a fade between them. After, I would add text to the front cover, and the spine.

I used layer masks to create a gradient fade on the edges that meet with the opposite image. Then used motion blur to smoothen the transition between the images. This will look better when I add the text to the image.

This is what it looks like without the text on the cover. As you can see it looks good, even without the text.

I have created a mood-board to gather inspiration on books about places to decide how to design a title. These are the designs that inspired me:

Using Photoshop I have made 3 different front cover designs, and just needed to chose with one I wanted to use. I used clipping and laying masks to help me design and layout my process throughout creating the cover.

I decided to use the design on the right as it is more ascetically pleasing than the others as, it is on one line and incorporates a more complex design whilst keeping it simple.

The design on the right I used blending option on the text such as, stroke and inner shadow, with a clipping mask of the image to let the image show through.

For the two similar covers, I used a layer mask to remove parts of the text to show the island, to give the simple look and complex effect.

I changed a few small details, such as moving the text up a bit. Then I added and replaced the image on the front of my book and on the spine to see what it looked like completed.

I added the text to the 2 files (spine image and front cover image) that I had open in Photoshop to my the final cover images.

I quickly made an inside cover page with just text on, which is the same as on the front cover.

Final design and layout

These are the rest of the pages in my photo book:

After some last small adjustments, I’ve come to my final presentation of the photo book. I removed the panorama of the bay, the image on page 54 (underwater image), and I change the bleed on some of the images to removed some of the borders, you can see the before (above) and after (below) of the changes that I’ve done.

I feel that this is the best design and layout, as it includes multiple double page spreads, 2 image layouts with borders, full bleed pages and single page spreads. I decide not to add my essay into the back of the book as I feel that it would ruin the “professional” look.

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Photo-shoot 3

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  1. what? This time I’ll focus more in the fashion side show the beauty of Mexico. Shoots: Mexican objects, Garden of flowers (between the flowers), Family photo, Strong women Frida Kahlo or Carmen Miranda
  2. how? Colours and patterns will be needed. Pay attention to details like the clothes, the accessories, make-up, background, lights…
  3. when? March
  4. where? I want each photo to be a different story so for me it would be more suitable if I do each photo in a distinct location, They mostly be in house but I want to be spontaneous so anywhere that reminds of Mexico or I think is a perfect place for one of my stories would be great.
Carmen Miranda

My full inspiration will be on Martinez Gutierrez. Her photos are so colourful and represent indigenous people in a modern way that will be my challenge to acquire. She uses a lot of fun makeup and outfits all well thought. Here are some images i would like to produce

My photos

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artist reference- martine gutierrez & Cindy sherman

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Martine Gutierrez & Cindy Sherman

Martine Gutierrez is an American artist born 1989. She has become a published musician and producer, featured by several fashion houses including Dior and Acne. As a photographer, Martin explores the relationship between gender, identity, and perception, redefining and reshaping boundaries through the staged photograph.

Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in New Jersey. She is an American photographer. She is best known for her imagery, particularly her “disguised” self-portraits, which generally criticize social role-playing and sexual stereotypes. Sherman presents viewers with an ambiguous portrayal of women as sex objects. Sherman stated that the series was “about the fakeness of role-playing as well as contempt for the domineering ‘male’ audience who would mistakenly read the images as sexy.” She is her own model in her photographs, using wigs and costumes that evoke images from the realms of advertising, television, film, and fashion and that, in turn, challenge the cultural stereotypes supported by these media.

Feminism?

Sherman and Gutierrez both participate in making image which reflects femenism.In 2014 Martine Gutierrez created a series called Girlfriends. Girlfriends is a series of black-and-white images in which Martine Gutierrez poses with a single mannequin,  They were composed and taken in upstate New York at Gutierrez’s grandmother’s cabin. It is evident that Gutierrez’s use of mannequins is as girlfriends, as in many of her works of art. But Gutierrez also uses the mannequin to soulign the mannequin’s idealistic appearance. Especially in its artificiality, it is the “perfect” body, comparing with the reality of the imperfect human body. Despite the hundreds of portraits toying with female stereotypes that Cindy Sherman has produced throughout her career, Sherman’s big artistic break came with the “Untitled Film Stills.” To make the series, the artist served as both photographer and subject, transforming herself with makeup, wigs, and elaborate costumes into figures that recalled the movie stars of an earlier generation. With the series Serman explains how ridiculous it is that women in movies are always young, thin and pretty.

Image analysis

Girlfriends anita and marie 7 (2014)

In the image of Gutierrez there are two female characters, the two characters look identical but when you look closely you can realize that one of them is actually a mannequin. The outdoor environment makes me think of a scene in Forest Gump that happens in the southwestern United States. But the sitting seems to be a Mise in Scene, it is clear that this is not reality or the artist is using a background. We can say by the fact that you can see in the background at the top of the sky some undulating parts. Including the mannequin and using a background are the choices the artist made. She make us wonder who or what in this image are real. What are we defining real? Cindy Sherman is also in what we might consider the American Southwest. She’s sitting in a tree, which would be an unusual thing to discover out there, that makes it seem like it could also be taken in a studio. Like in Martine Gutierrez image we wonder what’s real or is the setting real? But this time Cindy Serman chose to just use her as a model in her image.

Cindy Sherman untitled film still number 43
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newspaper design

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Our next project is newspapers. We choose photos to put on the newspaper based on images from both our current and previous projects, including zine project based on historical migrant neighbourhoods in St Helier or work we did in Yr 12 too (Identity, Anthropocene, Landscape) and select the best images. We then need follow these instructions to create our zine:

  1. Create new document in InDesign with these dimensions: 400mm(h) x 280.5mm(w), 10 pages, Orientation: Portrait, 2 columns, Column gutter 5mm, Margins: 10mm, Bleed: 3mm 
  2. Only use in high-res TIFF/JPEG files (4000 pixels)
  3. Use design ideas and layouts from your zine/ newspaper research as well as taking inspiration from artists listed here as a starting points for your spreads.
  4. Incorporate texts and typography where appropriate.

The images I have chosen to use our from my identity project nd Mexican stereotypes photos. I think both intresting photos and topics to discuss and I think they are the best work i have done. I had a lot of fun making them and is a topic that is important to me, is part of who I am.

we must design the following spreads:

  1. FULL-BLEED
  2. JUXTAPOSITION
  3. SEQUENCE
  4. MONTAGE

I decided to put my image full-bleed wich means selecting one image as a full-bleed spread because my image is an in landscape and I thought the image in full-bleed had a good balance on itself.

For created a montage on the left image and the other one is the same shoot but with none editing. To create a montage I choose to work in Photoshop for more creativity and the I import it into InDesign as one image.

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Deconstructing photobook

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Sam Harris was born in London. As a teenager he taught himself photography, turning his bedroom into a darkroom. During the 90’s Sam has photographed portraits and done illustrations for a range of British artists. He has also collaborated as a photographer for magazines such as The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine and Dazed & Confused. Today, Sam Harris creates covers for artists’ books, directs and shoots films, leads workshops in Australia and of course continues to take photographs. The book I have chosen from this artist is called The middle of somewhere. The middle of somewhere is an A4 book portrait. The book is about 100 pages including a travelogue, the images are all in colour. The cover it’s an beautiful green with some and an yellow fun draw pattern , it creates texture it. It’s an hard, perfect binding cover. There also a long white tape which the title is written on. At first view it seems like a diary or an album photo which symbolise that the book is personal. While doing my research on the book I realized that the cover had a lot of meaning and sense since the photographer Sam Harris explains his pictures is like his family diary. The book revolves around his two daughters,  Uma and Yali growing up. After Sam Harris left his my photographic career behind in London in 2002, Sam Harris and his family passed several nomadic years before settling down in Australia where his series began. His work is a celebration of childhood, family life, love and their simplistic lifestyle surrounding their environment. As he witness his daughters’ transformation he urge to preserve something of their time living together. We also sometimes find dates and a travelogue to follow their story. In his album we can see fights between sisters, arguments between parents, laughs… We also find daily objects like little notes from his children, everyday brushes, creams, to do lists which reinforces the idea of a diary. Sam Harris has exhibited over several countries like Spain, Greece, Argentina , Portugal and France. His photobook ‘The Middle of Somewhere’ won a Lucie Award in 2015.

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Photos- shoot one

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Plan

  1. what? First shoot: what stereotype do I often see on the media, My Mise en scene : First shoot – Mexican Drunk ; Second- Mango ; Third shoot- Angry Mother and final shoot – Luchador.
  2. how? Mimic those stereotypes like Cindy Sherman or Martine Gutierrez. Pay attention to details like the clothes, the accessories, make-up, background, lights, the mood… to create the Mise en scene.
  3. when? I’ll start to do my shoots during Christmas holidays.
  4. where? I want each photo to be a different story so for me it would be more suitable if I do each photo in a distinct location, They mostly be in house but I want to be spontaneous so anywhere that reminds of Mexico or I think is a perfect place for one of my stories would be great.

First selection:

Editing test


The challenge for my shoot was to create an advertisement poster, I used the Mango to aid in this process and therefore mimic the work of Martine Gutierrez, who uses this technique to convey the numerous messages in her work: (white wash, cover girl, go go boots). I began the poster by experimenting with various shades of brightness and contrast. I decided to do to make it darker. I played with the vibrancy/saturation. To create texture on the image you must first unlock the image, then you have to press the blend option. You then press the option texture, I chose grass effect for image. I then looked for an old Mexican fruit brand to put on my image. After having chosen my brand, I use the quick selection tool that helps you select what you want more easily. Copy, paste on my image and I repeated the same process that I did to create texture on my image. Finally I decided to name the brand ”Rico Mango” which means delicious mango. I’m wearing a sombrero and a poncho which is stereotypical items of clothing of Mexico. The outfit is very colourful, that’s what you notice first on the picture. The photo is staged the light is also artificial.