Lawrence’s work features harsh shadows that often completely obscures some parts of the image, creating a stark contrast between the otherwise bright and colourful images he produces. Lawrence’s work ranges from landscapes that delve into the surreal and abstract to heavy portraits that symbolise beautifully the subject Lawrence is portraying. Most of Lawrence’s work features nature and/or the church, sometimes linking them together, giving each of his images a powerful message, in particular, his ‘Blackwater River’ project clearly depicts themes of nature, culture, politics and religion, with most of the images featuring heavy shadow and bold colours.
Moodboard of his Work
Image Analysis
This image was taken in Lawrence’s ‘Blackwater River’ project, which involves both landscape and portrait images. This acts as the cover for the photobook, and it seems to encapsulate Lawrence’s style greatly; using harsh shadows (the version of the image above is lighter than the original print) to contrast with the lit-up red flowers. With regards to shadow, Lawrence says ‘I am fascinated by how shadow can construct a narrative’ which outlines Lawrence’s reasoning for producing his images the way he does, as being dark, almost chiaroscuro in some images. I like the effect the flowers create as it not only gives colour to the image (which Lawrence also frequently uses), it also gives the image a sense of mystery and perhaps artificiality. The use of a shallow depth of field puts further emphasis on the branch and gives the image a more otherworldly feel. Similarly to Rut Blees Luxemburg, Lawrence allows ‘light to dictate some of the form or the context’, which is the idea that, when using a low shutter speed, the image you create will not be fully in your control, as the lighting will not be exactly as you imagine it.
Source:
Abel-Hirsch, A. (2019), ‘ Blackwater River’ in British Journal of Photography. Issue 7890: 50-67
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
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
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Bibliography
List all the sources that you have identified above as literary sources. Where there are two or more works by one author in the same year distinguish them as 1988a, 1988b etc. Arrange literature in alphabetical order by author, or where no author is named, by the name of the museum or other organisation which produced the text. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources in alphabetical order e.g. websites/online sources, Youtube/ DVD/TV.
Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source
How should you reference?
Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.
I wanted to begin my photoshoot in a personal place where I could comfortably explore aspects of me and my identity so I decided to take photos in my room. From here, I knew I would be able to generate ideas and play around with different types of lighting before exploring them further in future photoshoots.
Contact Sheets
I took some inspiration from my previous photoshoot a year ago on my identity and played around with new ideas and props. I really enjoyed this photoshoot as I played around with various items, lights, shadows and camera settings. For example, at the start of the photoshoot I used my phone as a light source to reflect green light onto my face, creating a basic overlay that I had total control over. Later on in my photoshoot, I used a post-it note to make a cone and create a mini spotlight to project onto me which I then used to explore different compositions that focused on my facial expressions. At the end of my photoshoot, I used a slow shutter speed whilst waving around a stick of incense in front of the camera and around my face which made a really interesting blurred red line across each image which I really like the look of.
Example of my exploration with coloured lighting
Example of my exploration with a spotlight and shadows
Example of my exploration with incense
I also put a lot of thought into my colour choices throughout the photoshoot, making sure to use yellows, reds and greens; the colours on the Portuguese flag. I thought it would be a subtle way of incorporating a big part of my identity into the photoshoot as the details may help to connect the images with my future shoots later on.
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube video .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
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
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Quotation and Referencing:
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
What should you reference?
Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source
How should you reference?
Use Harvard System of Referencing…see PowerPoint: Harvard System of Referencing for further details on how to use it.
Bibliography
Our London Nights exhibition included images from the Metropole series by Lewis Bush. He spoke to us about whether London’s skyline is beautiful or repulsive, and where you should be in London at midnight.
Key characteristics/ conventions: Made photography a physical process (like art), abstraction, camera is used as an instrument for a new vision of photography, subjective and spiritual movement, scientific invention, replicate other artworks, Allegorical paintings (figurative mode of representation that convey meaning unlike the literal way).
Artists associated: Louis Daguerre, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Picasso, Edward Western, Walter Evans, Julia Margaret Cameron, Emerson’s book about Naturalistic Photography, Vienna Camera Club, Sally Mann.
Key works: Paul Strands Portfolio of Modern Art, Straight photography.
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Smeared Vaseline on the lens to make it seem like a painting, Sharp/soft focus, clearly focussed and face reality (no manipulation, do this after in a darkroom), emphasize selection and framing, abstract form, scratching the negatives afterwards, using chemicals.
Louis Daguerre work.
Emerson’s book of Naturalistic Photography.
Edward Western’s work.
REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Time period: 1900s
Key characteristics/ conventions: Photographers who believed in the qualities that represent the realism and accuracy of the real world, ‘Photographic’ rather then ‘paintings’, Monochrome painting, camera used to record as it is seen in front of the lens unquestioned (such as in the media with news stories).
Artists associated: Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Lisette Model, Lewis Hine, Henry Frederik Evans, Margareth Bourke-White, Jacob Riis.
Key works: Family of Man by Bernice Abott, MOMA by John Szarkowski, The Steerage by Stieglitz, Hale Country by Walker Evans, Cubism, Fauvism.
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Soft/crisp focus, wide depth of field, digital photography.
The Steerage by Alfred Stieglitz.
Hale Country by Walker Evans.
MOMA by John Szarkowski.
MODERNISM
Time period: Early 1900-50s.
Key characteristics/ conventions: Fauvism, Primitivism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Suprematism, Constructivism, Neo-Plasticism, Surrealism, Spatialism, Abstract Expressionism, Social Realism, Straight Photography, Formalism, focus on the object rather than the subject and form.
Artists associated: Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, Ernst Haas, Saul Leiter, Aaron Siskind, Henry Callahan, Frederick Sommer, Paul Strand.
Key works: Harry Callahan and Chicago (1948), Frederick Sommer and Three Grazes (1985), Paul Strand and Porch Shadows (1916).
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Makes references into photographic techniques inside the art itself such as the form, composition, medium, material, skills, techniques, processes, etc.
Harry Callahan and Chicago (1948)
Frederick Sommer and Three Grazes (1985)
Paul Strand and Porch Shadows (1916)
POST-MODERNISM
Time period: Late 1900s-2000s.
Key characteristics/ conventions: Used by Postmodernists/Architects who went against the international style of modernist architecture, relativism, used by postmodern artists to explore the way that society proposes the traditional hierarchy of cultural values/meanings, explores power and economic/social forces which shape identities of individuals/cultures, used by female photographers and artists in the 1980s, represents seriality and repetition.
Artists associated: Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Sam Taylor-Wood, Corrine Day,
Key works: Chapter 5 in ‘Intimate Life’ in which is Charlotte Cotton’s book The Photograph a Contemporary Art, Barbara Kruger and Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground (1982), Corrine Day and Diary (1997), Sam Taylor-Wood and Soliloquy I (1998).
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Postmodernists use text, speak in one voice, photographs/other works consists of having one meaning, the photograph is reproducible and adaptable, blown up, cropped, blurred, used in other medias,
Corrine Day, Diary 1997.
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground (1982)
Charlotte Cotton’s book, The Photograph a Contemporary Art.
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
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
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Quotation and Referencing –
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
What should you reference?
Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source.
How should you reference?
Use Harvard System of Referencing.
Essay question plan –
Key Subject: Weather, nature photography
Key photographers:
Martin Parr
Vanessa Winship
Question ideas:
How have Martin Parr and Vanessa Winship explored the concept of the weather in their work?
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, 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.
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
Bibliography examples –
Bonami, F. (2001), Gabriele Basilico 55. London: Phaidon Press Limited
In text referencing –
Direct quote: In his book on Gabriele Basilico, Bonami writes, “Gabriele Basilico doesn’t like to travel, and yet his photographs describe an endless panorama of places.” (Bonami 2001:2).
Paraphrasing/Summarising: Bonami (2001) makes a quote about Basilico’s work representing travel yet he hasn’t travelled because he doesn’t like it.
Online articles –
Campany, D. (Sept 27 20140, Into the Light, URL: Articles/page, Accessed 10/1/23)
