Following the success of Artists Rifles, Paul re-joined the discourse with the masculine identity in Make My Night. Ostensibly a record of a very laddish night out, Paul used a similar technical method to that of the previous series combined with the use of multiple self-portraits. As before, he becomes the anonymous everyman but this time is more overtly the narrator as well as the protagonist of a frequently observed ritual – here
Governed by group approval and time honoured rites, a world of bravado and sexual tension vies with drunken frivolity and a certain vulnerability to occlude any notion of a new masculinity. From the preamble of high jinks and drinking games, to bar fights and stand offs through to its nauseous conclusion, each scene has been painstakingly researched and detailed – here
This style of photography caught my eye because of the ‘in the moment’ feel of them. They appear to be ‘professionally un-professional’ in the sense that some aspects are blurry, out of focus or over/under exposed. But these ‘un-professional’ aspects add a character to the photograph that makes it unique and captures the ‘vibe’ of the room at the time, hectic and busy.
About Paul M Smith
Paul M Smith was born in 1969 in England and is a British photographer and educator.
He studied fine art at Coventry University from 1991 to 1995. After completing his degree he completed a masters degree in photography at the Royal College of Art. Whilst studying he explored the meaning and construction of masculinity, focusing on the creation of various ‘alpha male’ identities.
Read interview, make notes and identify 3 quotes (that are thought-provoking, revealing or contentious
“Even when revisiting Carnival Strippers I had to think back to the context at the time – the debates in feminism about such women, the idea of giving voice to the women from the inside, and so on” I think this quote is thought-provoking because Meiselas uses her work to provide an alternative perspective on a group of women who many would argue project many negative stereotypes about women. However Meiselas proves these stereotypes wrong.
“I don’t go in with a concept; the concept evolves and becomes self-evident at a certain moment in the process.” I think Susan Meiselas’ method of production is interesting because she doesn’t necessarily plan her shoots before she does them, and it is more of an ‘in the moment’ process.
“Many of my projects live in more than one community simultaneously and the challenge becomes slightly different.” I liked this quote from Meiselas because she states that her work is rather universal and can be seen as relatable by different communities, which I think is a difficult process as you have to have a strong idea of other cultures or communities to do this.
Select one image from the photographer and analyse in depth following this method: TECHNICAL, VISUAL, CONTEXTUAL, CONCEPTUAL – focus on the last two aspects of analysis to achieve highest marks
“Lulu, Tunbridge, Vermont” – Susan Meiselas (1974)
This image, titled “Lulu, Tunbridge, Vermont” was taken by Susan Meiselas in 1974 as part of her series; “Carnival Strippers”. This series became the spark of Meiselas’ photography career, and even became the reason that she fell in love with photography. She became intrigued by these women and wanted to know why they did what they did and how it affected their private life, so she began this series photographing the girls both on stage and off stage, including moments of their private lives.
The lighting in this image is harsh and intense. It creates dark, gloomy shadows compared to radiant highlights. The shadows can be seen in the sunken parts of the face, especially around the eyes and around the nose of the woman’s face. The lightest sections of the image can be seen in the highlights of the face, such as the cheekbones and tip of the nose, as well as the bright blonde hair. Despite the lighting producing harsh shadows and highlights, the lighting is natural daylight. Due to the lighting appearing predominantly on the high points of the face, the direction of the sunlight seems to be coming from above the model.
There is a sense of line within the photograph, with the thick, folded lines of the circus curtains behind the model. These lines create an upwards direction which influences the viewer to look at the model from bottom to top, these also create the leading lines for the photograph. There is also a sense of line with the direction and bending of the model’s arms, this bending sends the viewers eyes towards the direction the flower in the hands of the model, which then directs the viewers eyes to the face.
There is no real sense of repetition in this image, due to the organic and candid nature in which it has been taken in. The image is taken in black and white also, so it is impossible to tell whether there is a repetition of colour.
The shapes within this image are purely organic. Despite the image featuring artificial shapes, they are bent and folded in order to create curved and distorted lines rather than straight-edged, geometric lines.
There is a strong sense of depth within this image, as the model is in clear focus compared to the blurred background of the curtains. There is no negative space in this photograph, as all sections of the image contain a pattern or subject of some sort.
There is a range of tones from dark to light within this photograph. The darkest area of the image can be seen in the gaps of the curtains, as well as around the eyes of the model. The lightest areas of the image can be seen in the white segments of the curtain, the blonde hair of the model and the model’s fair skin. Overall, the image tends towards darkness, which creates a dark and almost sinister atmosphere.
There is a lack of colour in this image. Because of this, an intense juxtaposition has been created when comparing light and dark, and shadows and highlights.
The composition of the image can be said to follow the rule of thirds, as the model has been placed in between the three vertical thirds. The image is balanced due to the lack of negative space, and with the subject being placed central of the image. The distinctive focal point of the image is the model holding the flower to her face.
4. Write a Statement of Intent that clearly contextualise; What you want to explore? Why it matters to you? How you wish to develop your project? When and where you intend to begin your study? Make sure you describe your chosen theme (IDENTITY & COMMUNITY), subject-matter (topic, issue), artists (inspirations, references) and final outcome (photobook, film).
What I want to explore:
For this project, I want to explore my own sexuality, the LGBTQ+ community, and personal experiences that I have gone through as a member of the community
The project will introduce the reader to a same-sex couple having dates, and having intimate moments while at the same time conveying the idea that those moments soon become nothing but memories (this is achieved through blurry images to give the sense of imagination).
The project will also include messages that I have been sent, some involving death threats, stories of cheating, being taken advantage of, and some messages which involve Grindr messages of guys who want nothing but use you.
Why it matters to me:
This project matters to me because it is a way of putting everything that I have been through into something tangible and for others to see; a way of letting others know that they are not alone, that others have and are going through the same experience.
It also serves as a way for me to let go of some events and put an end to it all and start a new chapter.
How I wish to develop my project:
Magazine – the magazine will serve as a physical way for the appreciators of art to see my project. The magazine will include all the final images and messages in a layout that will show a story of someone getting intimate with someone of the same sex as well as comments and messages that person gets sent. It serves as a way to enlighten others to the reality of the LGBTQ+ community since not everything is a sea of roses.
At this moment in time I aim to create a film in lieu of a photography book because, as a amateur film maker and considering film is what I want to study at university, it is the most obvious outcome for me to make. I plan to focus on the topic of Island Identity and zoom in on the subtopic of Community with a focus on cultural food. This is a subject I have explored in a past project but not with the detail I plan to have in this one. I intend to accomplish this in a documentary style, reminiscent of media channels such as insider, BuzzFeed and As/Is who often create similar content to educate people on what food looks like around the world. To stay within the brief of Island Identity I intend to only film people who live in Jersey. I plan to feature at least five different nationalities including Mexican, Polish and Portuguese to show the range of people from different cultures who now reside in Jersey. To ensure differing opinions and responses I endeavour to use different age groups when filming and ultimately plan to have a range between those in their teenage years to much older people, some being in their 70s and 80s. Instead of focusing completely on the end result of food I want to interview different people about how this particular dish has effected them personally and the importance of it to them. I think food is very significant in regards to socio-economic factors and can tell a lot about ones upbringing and social life, working as a bridge to preserve knowledge and connect older and younger generations.
Photo taken from a insider video showcasing different school lunch meals around the world
For this project, I want to focus on the theme of identity, and display my identity in a deeper sense. I want to show how my life has changed based on events that have happened in my life so far and how they have shaped me into who I am today. I also want to show how my family have influenced me throughout my life, and how different parts of my personality are shaped from them. This idea is important to me because it explains how events in my life have affected me and is more personal than other work I have made before. I think presenting my life through photos also leaves an aspect of ambiguity to anyone else, as the photos without context allow for alternate viewpoints of meaning. I want to develop this project into a photobook, as I didn’t find making films as interesting as making a physical piece. I feel like making a photobook would be more interesting because I can alter the images as well as the physical pages, which adds another level of personalisation. I may begin my study by looking through family albums to get more of a sense of my life when I was younger, and especially the times that I don’t remember. As I have lived in the same house surrounded by my family all my life, I could take my images in my house or my neighbourhood, as it is a big part of my life. I enjoyed making one of my final projects in year 12, influenced by the artist Carolle Benitah, so I may do something similar for this project. Since my family has a very interesting and extended heritage, I want to include aspects of this too. I may write about Lillie Langtry, who’s maiden name was Lillie Le Breton, or Fletcher Christian who was a mutineer on the HMS Bounty and a relative on my grandmothers side of the family. I want to do more research on these figures and maybe work out direct relations and asking older relatives in my family about these topics.
In a past blog post I focused on the idea of happiness and mental health as this photographer had suffered from depression and anxiety. I always found his work beautiful as you can feel his emotions through his physicality rather than his facial expressions. I enjoyed doing this project as I used an old photo to cut up and rearrange in a new order to show chaos in a simple photo by collaging the new cut up pieces.
Edward Honaker is a a 21 year old photographer who documents his own depression through the use of self portraits, the black and white images illustrates the photographer’s experience with depression and anxiety. In an attempt to raise awareness of the topic, Honaker says about the project: “Mental health disorders are such a taboo topic. If you ever bring it up in conversation, people awkwardly get silent, or try to tell you why it’s not a real problem. When I was in the worst parts of depression, the most helpful thing anyone could have done was to just listen to me – not judging, not trying to find a solution, just listen. I’m hoping that these images will help open up conversation about mental health issues. Everyone is or will be affected by them one way or another, and ignoring them doesn’t make things better.”
With this photographer I enjoyed the timing of the photos by slowing down the shutter speed but still being able to find the right timing to move the mask so it wasn’t so blurry that it is just a white dot or too slow that you can still see the persons face. the use of masks was very interesting and I found was very affective as he uses a lot of masks but if I was to use this photographer I would try find doll masks to use to give a rustic atmosphere to the images.
Before
Keld Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer who was inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch. He became famous through his colour photographs but he also published several books of black and white images that explore dramatic contrasts of tone. Some of these photos were only black and white without any tones as they had been removed. Helmer-Petersen published his first photobook, “122 Colour Photographs” in 1948. His work was then noticed for its inventive photos, which he turned landscapes and buildings into abstract patterns. He embraced coloured photos as black and white photos were only seen as being serious.
This was another photographer that I enjoyed interpreting as the use of extreme black and white as I felt was very effective as the two colours are very contrasting and I did find editing the images enjoyable but it was difficult to find images that was easy to have a great depth of contrast so would be needing images with solid colour which I found difficult with the sky as the layers of clouds made it difficult but with the images I chose after testing out the editing, I feel worked really well with the editing and the outcome.
While mind mapping ideas for my personal project I focused on the seven aspects of the Island Identity project to give me a clear focus and not get distracted from the main idea. I used some points taken from our class posters such as the Siam cup and jersey as a tax haven however the idea I want to further study is the diverse food in migrant communities. I briefly touched upon this topic hen creating a zine however I only explored traditionally jersey food such as les pais au fou (Jersey bean crock) In this project I want to explore this more in depth, celebrating the culture of our many migrant communities and educating myself along the way.
To create my mood board I found many photos online of cultural food and people eating it. Most of the images I found were predominantly Asian whilst the demographic for my project will be mainly Europeans since that is he highest demographic in Jersey. Whilst searching for images I came across the work of MAGDA ADAMCZAK whose photos really resonated with me and my idea for what I want to do for my own project.
Photo by Magda Adamczak- displayed on the national geographic magazine
Mind-map of the theme of Identity , to help with my personal study;
MOOD BOARD-
By doing a small research task on The Island Identity, this has allowed me to understand what makes Jersey unique and the important factors that make up Jersey for what it is, it’s identity. This has allowed me to think about my personal study and how I wan to do it on something that’s important to me and identifies me as an individual.
