What you want to explore?

With this project I want to explore the subject of family, specifically generational and economic struggles that occur, as looking into my family history inspires me to create images that provide a truthful telling of the past. This topic also allows me to gain a wider understanding of my own identity and how I am in the place I’m in now.

Why it matters to you?

This matters to me as I believe that these issues are a part of everyone’s family identity, but in particular these are struggles that the older generations in my family have suffered and have had to work hard to distance themselves from. However these subjects are usually avoided when looking back on your family identity, due to it sometimes being considered taboo to talk about such topics, meaning you are sometimes unable to fully grasp the reality of your personal history. It is also something that I wish to learn more about myself as I continue this project, and hope to be closer to my family as a result of it. In addition, I believe it is important to talk about these things in order to destigmatise domestic struggles and not feel the need to present a picture perfect family.

How you wish to develop your project?

I wish to develop this project using various different mediums, such as stitching, collage and drawing in order to create my images. This is due to being inspired by artists such as Clarissa Sligh and Carolle Benitah, who produce their work in a similar manner. My aim is to do this using family archive photographs, documents and new sets of images that showcase my family in the present. With this I am hoping to focus on the upbringing and adult lives of my grandparent, comparing it to the lives they have created for their children and myself.

When and where you intend to begin your study?

I intend to begin this study by producing my first set of photographs in my house as well as other domestic settings taking family portraits, which will be staged. Once I create more artist studies I will have a better understanding of the style in which I want to shoot and what my final products will look like, using these artists as inspiration. After this I will be able to start these shoots during the holidays, as my family will be coming over for a short time from England.

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Quotes

“My inability to articulate in words the harmful and painful effects the environment placed on my family made me turn to visual art as an outlet”

“At times the text functions as an image and the photograph becomes the visual language that creates a tension.”

“I look for a narrative or context that will amplify the voices of the marginalized”

I agree with what Frazier is stating here, as I believe that photography can be used as a powerful tool for truth that is more difficult to communicate through words. I also agree that photography provides a platform for the minorities of the world and it is essential it is used in this manner.

Analysis

This black and white portrait photograph taken by LaToya Ruby Frazier showcases Frazier and her mother, with her mother in the foreground of the image peering down and concealing half of Frazier’s face, who is placed behind her and staring into the lens. Here the two women are framed centrally, with empty space on either side of them, allowing the dissection of Frazier’s face to occur in the centre. It can be said that leading lines in this image are created by the outline of the mother’s side profile, as it leads the viewers eye from the bottom left corner up and around the photograph towards the focal point, which I believe to be Frazier’s stern gaze, connecting with her features. The same can be said for the lines created by the folds in the curtains, which draw the viewers attentions down from the top of the image to Frazier in the centre. Contrast in this piece is created by the opposing tones of the mother and daughter’s matching hairnets with Frazier’s bright, white tank top.

From a technical viewpoint it can be said that Frazier took this image with artificial, soft lighting as if it were taken with the room lighting there would be shadows on the face similar to butterfly lighting, which there are not. Also the curtains are drawn behind them which minimises the possibility of Frazier using natural light. The aperture setting used here appears to be a mid to large as the domestic background behind the two subjects is slightly out of focus, allowing for more attention to be placed on Frazier and her mother. Furthermore, Frazier most likely used a mid to high ISO setting as it appears that the room is dark, with the exception of the artificial lighting placed in front of them, assuring the photograph would not be under exposed. It seems that the shutter speed setting used was a medium one, meaning there would be no blur due to movement but still allowing light to enter the lens for long enough to not create an under exposed image.

This image is a part of Frazier’s 2014 book ‘The Notions of Family’ which was an attempt to explore the legacy of racism and economic decline in America’s small towns. Here Frazier is trying to emulate the traditional black and white style of documentary photography, recording domestic subjects and settings. From the facial expressions conveyed in this piece it can be said that there seems to be some tension between the mother and daughter. This may be a comment on the effects the economic environment of Frazier’s home town (Braddock) has on her family. As well as this, these effects may result in strains of relationships, such as mother and daughter, as conversations on the topic of money are known for causing divisions, especially in a domestic setting. However, the matching hairnets the subjects in this image are wearing, may be a symbol of unity in Frazier’s family that still stands despite these strains. In addition, the position of Frazier and her mother can be argued to be a comment on generational reaction to injustice, with Frazier symbolising the rising voice of the youth who question and protest the governments fail to amend the crisis of poverty, in contrast with the older generations who may not see a reason to question the system in which they have lived their whole lives in.

What you want to explore?

Next I would like to work more in depth on landscape (seascape) as the ocean really inspires me to take images whenever there is a storm or big swell. Jersey coasts are a great area to capture this sort of imagery as the stormy seas cross over from the Atlantic ocean. I would like to explore taking images from different perspectives, angles, day light, and quality. I feel as if seascapes is a good theme to focus my future projects on as living in jersey its easy access to coasts.

Why it matters to you?

I would like to photograph the ocean as its a major part of Jerseys identity. This is because not only is the island shaped by erosion caused by rising sea levels over thousands of years, But the beauty that is found with the stunning scenery on beaches is all thanks to the huge tidal ranges we have every day. In fact Jerseys tidal ranges are known to be so significantly big that they are recorded to be in the top 10 biggest tides in the world.

How you wish to develop your project?

Firstly with looking at local seascape photographers work I will manage blog posts with artist references, mood boards, analysis etc. I want to gather together a load of contact sheets of different areas in jersey that receive the most swell from either a big tide or storm. I also want to capture erosion in action, such as sets of waves smashing into cliff faces or walls. I feel as if doing this will make it an easy link to jerseys identity physically.

When and where you intend to begin your study?

I intend to begin my study in the west side of the island where most swell is built up. Examples of areas I wish to visit to photograph are… st.ouens bay, plemont, grev, corbiere, stinky bay… After a few photoshoots and more research about Jerseys seas, I would like to put together a photo book relevant to whatever inspires me the most when physically taking the images.

With jersey being in the top 5 worlds biggest tidal ranges, Jerseys seas have history and passion. Whether its the historical intake for visitors such as Elisabeth Castle, Rocco Tower, The Lighthouse, or the natural beauty of the bays, or the power within swells and storms, theirs a variety of choice to photograph, view and visit when living on a rock. Jersey is surrounded by quickly rising tides all year round with erosion taking place frequently slowly over time. In my opinion Jersey Is surrounded by the ocean which makes the sea a very important aspect within its identity.

Throughout my past two years of being a A level Photography student I have covered many topics and learnt different photography skills such as learning the features of using a camera, using the school studio, light equipment, using adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom etc.) I especially enjoyed the abstract topic in year 12 as well as our project on focusing on plastic wastage as it interests me the most. Throughout the blog posts I have created I have felt as if the research and analysis has been my strong point and for the next few months I will be focusing on taking more photos than I did and to focus on being more creative with my final outcomes within projects. Here are some examples of my previous work..

“I have placed a pineapple among yellow watermelons for a strong contrast between the colours of yellow and cyan/green. To have the focal point on the pineapple I erased some black obvious specs on the watermelons and cropped the image to be more central. Finally I heightened the contrast levels and darkened the shadow level slightly as well as making a more vibrant appeal to the image.“

“This image above in red clearly relates to the theme of Anthropocene as it is describing the destruction of plastic and how damaging it can be. The red gloomy look makes the plastic looks as if it is deadly and is ready to do damage. The crisp edges seem to be sharp and aggressive.”

Currently I am focusing on an NFT film with my partner Chantal, here are some examples of what we are doing on adobe premier…

We are currently putting together a short film and learning how to use the features in adobe premier such as audio content, transformations between each scene, quality of video content etc.

Artist that intrigued me the most…. Mandy Barker

Mandy Barker is a British photographer. She is mostly known for work with marine plastic debris. Mandy inspired me the most out of many Photographers throughout the last year as her work expresses clear issues within the plastic wastage across out oceans. This image in particular I analysed and produced my own work on as I found it intriguing to find a solution in a way to photograph this type of photography

Clarissa Sligh, born in 1939, is an American artist and woman of colour who is best known for her work that comments on various social issues that relate to her own identity. Sligh creates her pieces through different mediums, including photography, collage and drawings. Sligh’s love for photography started at a young age, asking for a camera for her 12th birthday. However, Sligh only started to pursue this as a career path after quitting her job at NASA and working two part time jobs whilst taking painting classes at Howard University, after vowing to “find a richer life, with art making a part of it.”. It was here she claims she first started to see herself as an artist. Sligh’s series ‘Reframing the Past’, shown below, displays Sligh’s old family photographs and combines them with other images, drawings or text in a collage like manner. Here she re-reads and re-evaluates her family’s photo albums.

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Analysis

This collage image created by Clarissa Sligh showcases an old photograph of Sligh’s family standing in front of what is most likely their family car, placed in a setting of blossoming nature in front of what appears to be the USA’s capitol building. This image seems to be composed of cut outs of images and drawings, which could be from a post card, however the portrait in the centre looks as if it has been blended into the illustrated background, meaning that Sligh may have uses a tool such as Photoshop to artificially layer these images. The black and white tone of Sligh’s family portrait strongly contrasts with the vibrance of the surrounding artificial setting. Here the branches of the cut out trees frame the central portrait, encircling it. These branches act as leading lines in this composition, drawing the viewer’s eye around the edges of the piece and into the centre photograph, which acts as the focal point of the image, as well as into the background towards the capitol building. There is little amounts of empty space in this piece, with the exceptions being the sky surrounding the capitol building and the illustrated grass in front of the portrait.

From at technical viewpoint, it can be said that from looking at the central image, natural light was used to take this photograph, as it is taken outside in an informal manner. This appears to have been taken at midday, due to the shadows being directly below the car and the children. As a result of the children in the image it is likely that a fast shutter speed was used to take this photography, as the younger children appear to still be in movement but are not blurry. In addition, the aperture used seems to have been small to mid setting, as the photograph is taken from further back, allowing to capture all the children, and the car behind them appears to have the same amount of focus placed on it. However as the remaining background has been cut out, it is hard to say this for definite. The ISO setting here was also most likely low, due to the large amounts of natural light entering the lens.

This piece of work is part of Sligh’s series ‘Reframing the Past’ which she stated was an attempt to re-evaluate and re-investigate her family photo album. She did this after realising that her early family album project was a produced through the lens of a stereotypical white American family, meaning that with this project her aim was to create a record of positive images of her black family. With this information, it could be argued that this image was an attempt to place her family in an idealistic setting in which she wished she was surrounded by in her youth. With this the capitol building in the background could represent the traditional American family values she feels she was deprived of. This may be a comment on racial injustice and how black people in The USA were forced to conform to colonialist views that white people were more civilised. This in turn forced many black people to have to surrender their cultural identities and backgrounds to these Eurocentric ones that they had been forced into. Alternatively, Sligh may also be trying to communicate how it actually felt to grow up in her family, surrounded by life and vibrance, which the original photograph may not fully indicate.

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.