How can reality be presented and altered through the medium of photography?
How can the concept of escapism be represented through the medium of photography?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek explored the concept of escapism in their work/ photography?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek used their photography as a form of therapy?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek explored the concept of ‘the real world’ in their photography?
Essay Structure Plan:
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Discuss the concept of escapism, what does it mean to me/to the world?
Area of study = anxiety shaping identity, celebrating the locations I would escape to/the worlds I would create to feel safe and calm in etc.
Responding using still life and landscape photography.
Taking inspiration from Robert Darch and Josef Sudek – describe summary of their work.
Discuss Rosy Martin and Jo Spence ideas on Photo Therapy, use extracts from their essay ‘Psychic Realism as a Healing Art?’.
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography, visual and popular culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Add images from Pictorialism movement – A.L. Coburn, Fifth Avenue from the St Regis
Explore how Pictorialism has impacted my project, how I think it links to both Darch and Sudek’s work.
Historical facts and ideas on Pictorialism – what influenced it? What’s its main concepts/message? How are Pictorialist images created, discuss use of Vaseline/manipulation in dark room etc.
Themes of Pictorialism that I want to replicate, eg; dream-like atmosphere/fantasy, altering reality similar to how I would alter my reality to escape to different worlds, escaping anxious thoughts etc.
Bring in idea of Susan Sontag opinions of photography, use quotes from series of essays ‘On Photography’ .
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Add images from Robert Darch’s ‘Vale’ Photobook
Discuss freedom of photography, how photographers can show us what they want to show us.
Robert Darch information, who is he? What’s his backstory? Why did he inspire me?
Use quotes from his website/from essays written on his work, eg; Dan Cox.
Analyse why Darch takes the photos he takes, what do they mean to him? Explore how his work has deeper meanings to do with childhood and past memories.
Analyse Darch’s photography style, his compositions/tone/lighting/shadows etc – why do they matter?
What did I do to respond to Darch’s work, how did I use him as inspiration>
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Add images from Josef Sudek’s ‘The Window of my Studio’ series
Discuss use of location in photography, question the values of a place connecting to photographers memories or life story.
Introduce Josef Sudek, his series ‘The Window of my Studio’ – how does it relate to my project? What do I see when I analyse his work?
Give Sudek’s background, who is he/what did he do/what was he famous for?
Talk about how Sudek’s injury and amputation may have hindered his life both physically and mentally, perhaps photograph was his escape from the outside world.
Use quote from critics of Sudek eg; Russell Lord discussing how Sudek isolated himself from society and became completely interested in capturing scenes from his window.
Analyse what techniques he uses, his links to Pictorialism and use of soft focus.
How I respond with my project, what similar styles did I use etc?
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Display selection of both Darch and Sudek inspired images from myself
Conclude by comparing both photographers use of photography as a healing art, how do they do it? Why did they do it?
Draw points together by mentioning photographer’s pasts, and how this influenced their imagery.
Discuss how I have responded with my work, what techniques I used and what they all mean to me, use ideas from critics and photographers to discuss similarities between artists.
Historical factors and movements (Pictorialism) that have been inspirations throughout project.
Close with idea from Patricia Marcella Anwandter about how photography reflects memory, and is therefore healing to the photographer.
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
List online websites
List essays I have read and quoted
Photobooks that inspired me throughout
Use Harvard System of Referencing to create bibliography
How to format references;
Photography book used = Zanele Muholi.
How to set out Bibliography –
Muholi, Z. (2020). Zanele Muholi, Tate. London: Tate Publishing.
In your text cite author’s surname, the year of publication and the page reference immediately after the quoted material e.g. Where a section of your main text directly quotes another source, or else uses ideas which have been drawn from another source, the end of that quote should have an entry like this …which is the point that Liz Wells’ makes when she says ‘one of the central principles of the documentary aesthetic was that a photograph should be untouched, so that its veracity, its genuineness, might be maintained’ (Wells 1998:40)
Themes and Ideas to Discuss:
Symbolism and metaphors
Windows = light, wellbeing, to grow, opening to another world
Mirrors = reflections of past, future etc
Comparison – Vale shows the idyllic escapism from anxiety, into different realities/worlds as one would in childhood imagination, whereas Sudek’s images, to me, represent the present hopes towards escaping – flowers and nature are cut down from their original source however they still thrive using a vase of water as a new way of living, its adapting to surroundings just like I have had to do when finding places to feel safe with anxiety.
Changes; possibly edit my Sudek inspired image in colour but softer vibrancy and clarity – inspiration from pictorialism – could mention in essay about the inspiration Sudek has taken from the pictorialism movement.
Quotes of Possible Use?
“It’s hyperreal and dreamlike,” Darch says. “I daydreamed a lot as a kid, I still do as an adult, and definitely in those years when I was isolated, I was inside, I was in my mind all the time.”
‘So successful has been the camera’s role in beautifying the world that photographs, rather than the world, have become the standard of the beautiful.’ Susan Sontag
“To suffer is one thing; another thing is living with the photographed images of suffering, which does not necessarily strengthen conscience and the ability to be compassionate. It can also corrupt them. Once one has seen such images, one has started down the road of seeing more – and more. Images transfix. Images anesthetize.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
“In the real world, something is happening and no one knows what is going to happen. In the image-world, it has happened, and it will forever happen in that way.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
“Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, YouTube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references.
It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages. Photojournalism, environment
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Why should you reference?
To add academic support for your work
To support or disprove your argument
To show evidence of reading
To help readers locate your sources
To show respect for other people’s work
To avoid plagiarism
To achieve higher marks
2. Essay Question
How can photography capture and record an environment, and accurately depict its atmosphere?
How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?
3. Essay Plan
Essay question:
Opening quote
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
4. Essay Introduction
Open a new Word document > SAVE AS: Essay draft
Copy essay question into Essay title: Hypothesis > if you don’t have one yet, make one! How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?
Copy your essay introduction (from Essay Plan) which will give you a framework to build upon and also copy your Statement of Intent.
STATE OF INTENT My idea is to make a photobook in which I explore the area Bouley Bay, overall I want to capture the activity, views, and close ups of key feature such as rocks, shells, heritage, the hill climb, and the bay. I could also look into the history of the bay and the Jersey Folklore, involving the Black Dog.
It is important to me as I grew up in that area, and have many memories of it. And I hope to capture it in the same way in which remember it. I wish to develop my project by exploring the bay and collecting lots of objects to photograph in a studio, and also to take long exposure, aerial, and underwater of the bay, as I have been inspired by many photographers, such as, Martin J Patterson (@ mjplandscapes on Instagram), Jaun Munoz (@ drjuanmdc on Instagram), and David Aguilar (@ davidaguilar_photo). Using these images I can look into topics such as, beach pollution, environment and beach life. Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz and Barron Bixler have studied environments, so it would be interesting to analyse them and their work.Identify 2 quotes from sources identified in an earlier task using Harvard System of Referencing.
4. Use one quote as an opening quote: Choose a quote from either one of your photographers or critics. It has to be something that relates to your investigation.
You say that you are “interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” Could you please elaborate on what this means to you as a photographer and how it influences you’re thinking when picture making?
1.
“This is about how I experience and encounter a place, and I feel that’s important to me when I’m taking photographs. I listen as much as look and am emotionally present when I photograph.”
In-text citation: (Isle, 2019)
Refrence: “I am interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” Jędrosz, H.K. (2019) Isle. Avaible at: https://www.isle-stories.co.uk/hanna-jedrosz (Accessed: 12 January 2022).
Foreworld – 9 Truth and landscape – 11 Beauty in photography – 21
2.
“With the help of a camera we can recognize and enjoy an unnamed New Mexican mesa or the Delaware Water Gap. Although we are not as naive as we once were about the accuracy of the pictures, we continue to value them initially as reminders of what is out there, of what is distinct from us.” page 14 beauty of photography
3.
“f64 is the smallest aperture available on most view camera lenses; by its use the depth of focus is maximized, and the most precise possible rendering of detail is achieved.” page 27
4.
“For a picture to be beautiful it does not have to be shocking, but it must in some significant respect be unlike what has preceded it (this is why an artist cannot afford to be ignorant of the tradition within his medium). p27
5.
“A photographer can describe a better world only by better seeing the world as it is in front of him.” p 26
5. Add sources to Bibliograpphy
6. Begin to write a paragraph (250-500 words) answering the following questions below.
Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. Or think more philosophically about the nature of photography and its feeble relationship with reality. You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g. What are you going to investigate. How does this area/ work interest you? What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument? Whose work (artists/photographers) are you analysing and why? What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against. What links are there with your previous studies? What have you explored so far in your Coursework or how are you going to respond photographically? How did or will your work develop. What camera skills, techniques or digital processes (post-production) have or are you going to experiment with?
Essay Introduction Draft
How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?
Introduction
“I am interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” (anna-Katrina Jędrosz, Isle, 2019).
Environmental documentary photographer Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz said this is how she experienced and encountered a place. She is an influential photographer to my project as I’m studying the environment surrounding Bouley Bay in Jersey. I plan to investigate different features, like Fort Leicester, the Islet, and boats, and other elements of the bay through different methods of photography, such as long exposure, aerial photography, and minimalistic close ups in a studio. This location is especially important to me as I grew up in that area, and regularly went to the beach in the summer. There are many memories that brings cheerfulness, for-instance meeting my friends at the pontoon in the bay, and many barbeques in the hot summer evening. I know this area extremely well and is relishing the opportunity to explore it from different perspectives and viewpoints. Using a selection of photos I have produced, I plan to prove that using photography you can accuracy depict an environment in detail. I plan to look at photographers Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz and Robert Adams as they document landscape environments well in in a clear way that captures the area in detail. I am using historical context of the bay from the Societe Jersiaise, because they have images and in-depth information on the history of the bay, which I can use in my project to juxtapose time. There are a few links to my pervious projects, such as the Anthropocene project, and how I linked it to water pollution by capturing images around Bouley Bay, which I used to create a photo manipulation from in Photoshop. I have also taken photos at Bouley Bay in other projects, for example, long exposure of the mini waterfall, and a slow shutter speed of waves crashing on the rocks near the L’Islet. For my current project I would like to develop long exposure photography of the bay, and it’s smaller features, also aerial photography to capture unique angles that showcases the bay that aren’t accessible to the average beachgoer. It would be displayed via a photobook that consists of images of the bay, the history of the bay and, images relating to the bay. All of the images that I will use in the photobook I will edit them in Photoshop, mainly using the camera-raw filter as it works extremely will since I only shot in RAW which, produces a .CR2 image. This helps me bring back shadows, highlights, and colour in post production as there is greater dynamic range. Compared to a JPEG file which uses compressed data as there is less information in the image file, so recovering and editing the images is more challenging. The processes I use the most in Photoshop are gradual and radial filters, spot healing brushes, and the clone stamp tool.
Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography, visual and popular culture
There are four main art movements and isms in photography and, they are, Pictorialism, Realism/Straight Photography , Modernism, and Post-Modernism. I plan to look at modernism, creating images inspired by Robert Adams and, Ansel Adams.
Firstly, pictorialism was most popular in the time period 1880-1920, and the goal of it was to make photographs look like art, and to make them look handmade. There were many methods of creating this effect. The main two ways were to rub Vaseline on the camera lens to blur parts of the picture. Scratch the negative, and use chemicals to create an interesting print, information from The Genius of Photography. (Archive, 2007). Alfred Stieglitz was later dubbed Hill “the father of pictorial photography” and featured his and Adamson’s photographs in his publications and at the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in 1906. (TheArtStory, 2018).
Realism and Straight photography was effective approximately around the time period 1915, and its purpose was to use the photographic medium and it’s ability to provide accurate and descriptive records of the visual world, information from The Genius of Photography. (Archive, 2007). Gustave Courbet was the first artist to self-consciously proclaim and practice the realist aesthetic. After his huge canvas The Studio (1854–55) was rejected by the Exposition Universelle of 1855. (Britannica, 2020).
MT: You need to redo the way you reference sources as it doesn’t make sense. Use Harvard system of referencing
Modernism is what relates to my project the most, and I what Robert Adams fits into, as he is most know for taking photos of the American West, which is the same objective that Ansel Adams had, who is considered the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century. (Britannica, 2020). MT: explain the difference between Ansel Adams and Robert Adams. They are both environmentalists and use photography as a tool to highlight areas of the natural world that they care about. However Ansel focuses his lens of nature beauty and produce romanticised images, compared to Robert who photograph the man-made world in the American West.
Modernism is characterised intellectually by a belief that science could save the world and that, through reason, a foundation of universal truths could be established. The common trend was to seek answers to fundamental questions about the nature of art and human experience. (The Genius of Photography, 2007)
Finally, Postmodernism is the newest art movement and ism, and it has been in placed since the second half of the 20th century. Postmodernism is relativism, and it is the belief that no society or culture is more important than any other. It explores power and the way economic and social forces exert that power by shaping the identities of individuals and entire cultures. (The Genius of Photography, 2007). There are many examples of post-modernistic art, however the most recognised founder of the Postmodernism movement is Jacques Lacan, who was a prominent French psychoanalyst and theorist. His ideas had a huge impact on critical theory in the twentieth century and were particularly influential on post-structuralist philosophy and the development of postmodernism. (Tate, 2017)
MT: provide an example of a postmodern work of art – within contemporary photography. For example, Jeff Wall
Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz.
The first photographer I’ve decided to study is Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz. She is a photographer who does documentary work with places, people and the environment in focus. In 2017 she did a photo series on the Rummu quarry. It stands as a remnant of the cold war. She highlighted the recent trials of refurbishing the area into something more beneficial to the nearby society. (Academy, 2021). This links with my study on a geographical point, such as Bouley Bay. I can study how Jędrosz has captured the quarry in a way which makes the viewer see the historical value of the site, before it is destroyed. Jędrosz uses several photographs from different vantage points to represent the location. Doing so she creates unique and interesting angles that reflects the areas age and emotion. The shots consist of a variety of close ups of walls with iron rods in them, barbed wire fences vanishing into the horizon and, a low squatted building on a frozen lake. All of the images have been shot during winter, and what seems to be a single photoshoot. This gives the collection of images a general look, which is a cold atmosphere, however it would have been nice to see the location in different seasonal states, as it would have give the quarry a whole different look. Although, after research, this aproach of showing the area in different lighting, seasons and, moods goes against Jędrosz’s way of work as this question in an interview was asked, “What influenced your photography?”, and she replied, “The people and places I photograph have the biggest influence on my photography. I try not to impose too much, and to respond to what’s happening in front of me in a genuine way, to make photographs that are a documentation of an encounter.” (Academy, 2021). This is evidence that Jędrosz likes to capture the initial, untouched environment, and how she doesn’t want to manipulate the location, as it wouldn’t produce an authentic image. This would take some of the meaning away from the final image. These are my two favourite images from the Rummu Quarry photo collection.
The image on the left is my favourite image. It shows the area in a wider perspective, and Jędrosz has made an extremely powerful composition by including small hints of the side of the cliff, which creates depth to draw the eye into the middle of the image, where the building is located. The spacing between the building and the land is mostly consistent, which adds to create a visually appealing composition. The building having the same colours as the rocky cliffs around it means that the blue, frozen ice emphasis the focus on the building. The blue ice constructs a balance between the light blue, hazed sky, which makes the viewer notice the brown areas more, this is because blue and brown are the main two colours in this image. Overall, the vantage point Jędrosz has taken this image from and inspired me to use high pinot to take images from to get the aerial photo type look.
The photo on the right is extremely different to the other image. It doesn’t show the general area that is surrounded by miles of trees, instead it show the security measures in place and provides a more realistic representation of what it would of been like to work at the quarry when it was open during the rein of the Soviet Union. The meaning changes when you look into the historical context of the quarry. “The workers were drawn from the near by Rummu Prison” (Hanna-Katrina, 2010?). Knowing that prisoners use to work at the quarry creates links to the barbed wire fences, and the graffiti, which could have been done by the released prisoners or street artists.
Robert Adams
The second photographer I have decided to study is Robert Adams, as he is a photographer who has documented the extent and the limits of our damage to the American West, recording it in over fifty books of pictures, both reasons to despair and to hope. (Fraenkel Gallery, 2012) His work is very well known and he fits into the modernism art movement, as his photos embrace its social, political and aesthetic potential, experimenting with light, perspective and developing?, as well as new subjects and abstraction. (Tate, 2016). Adams study on the American West link to my project in the same way that Jędrosz’s work does. This is through the study of an environment within an area. After reading a small section in Robert Adams book, “Beauty in Photography”, Adams describes how an image is meaningful even if it isnt the best image in the world. “For a picture to be beautiful it does not have to be shocking, but it must in some significant respect be unlike what has preceded it (this is why an artist cannot afford to be ignorant of the tradition within his medium). This is quote is from Adams influential book Beauty in Photography (which provides a theory on his approach to landscape photography), and it means Adams feels that for an image to be good it must be different and unique compared to what other people have captured. These are two of his photographs that I picked from a wide range of Adams work in Western America.
These two images where both taken by Robert Adams. The image on the left shows temporary caravan housing which contrasts with the mountain in the background, as the rectangular lines on the caravans clash with the smooth nature lines from the mountains on the horizon. The bottom half of the image being congested creates a busy, active, loud atmosphere that creates a conflict in emotion with the tranquil, clam, peaceful mountains and clear sky. Despite the cameras not being as advanced, this image is very clear and contains lots of details.
The image on the right is a more zoomed in shot to create a deeper personal connection. This effect is achieved by focusing in on the drive way of the house. The image is slightly under exposed, which makes the highlights more noticeable, therefore making the car a focus point. Adams commonly makes the 50/50 split in the image rather than using the rule of thirds, but in both of these image it works out well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Jędrosz and Adams capture an environment in detail and, they accurately recreate the atmosphere as if the viewer was there. The main similarities between both photographers, is that they both include a wide variety of shots from the same location to provide more infomation about the place. For example, a wide angle view of the location, and a close up shot of objects in the environment. On the other hand the main difference is that Adams shoots in black and white, where as Jędrosz shoots in colour. MT explain what effect the difference between monochrome and colour has on landscape images.
Another difference is that Adams composition in his images seem more precise, compared to Jędrosz. The main reason I think this happened is because Adams has to setup a massive tripod and allow a lot of time to take the image (MT Adams uses a large-format camera which is much slower to operate and can only make one exposure at a time – research this in more detail)
, whereas Jędrosz uses a digital camera, so she can quickly and efficacy capture images. Both photographers capture different environments in their own style, and affectively showcase a whole geological location in just a few images.
MT, Overall I feel the essay has a lot of potential, but you have not done enough research, especially around Robert Adams. You need to discuss more details and bring in different points of view. There are many interviews with Adams and many reviews of his work. For Jędrosz you need to reflect on her work in relation to how contemporary photographers work within a documentary landscape tradition.
Read this article and incorporate into your analysis
Opening Quote – “The whole point of photographing people is that you are not intervening in their lives, only visiting them. The photographer is a supertourist, an extension of the anthropologist.” – Diane Arbus
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Documentary photography centred around exploring the theme of identity. Which artists will you be analysing and why? Doug Dubois, his narrative style and inspiration around documentary photography and capturing the emotionof a subject. Tom Jenkins for his technical ability regarding sports photography. How will you be responding to their work and essay question? Through the medium of photography. Specifically a photobook, in which a narrative response is presented through the use of an essay and sequential imagery.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
