1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

• Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
• Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
• Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
• Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello
• Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping.
• Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
• Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
• Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.
• Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
• Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
• Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others.  Use of captions (if any.)

Animals in Motion – Eadweard Muybridge

This book is a documentary book rather than a contextual book. I shows the research he photographer did during his study.

The front cover of the book is eye catching due to the contrasting colours as well as the large text. The book starts with a section about Eadweard Muybridge and his work. I then goes into a preface where it describes how the idea for the book came about, the build up to the shoot, the preparation and the shoot itself.

Throughout the book there are sections of text that describe what is going on in the photographs. It describes the struggles of getting the set of images due to the use of animals. The book has a red hard front and back with a plastic cover over it. The front cover has a large image collage filling the bottom half with a centre meter teal boarder. The top half has a red background, a large white title. It then has a small paragraph where it states some of the animals that were photographed as well as that the book contains over four thousand individual photographs that make up the collages. The pages within the book have a plastic and smooth feel unlike regular paper. It smells of ink as would be common in a printing factory.

The book is heavy to hold. The image on the front has different coloured tints however the images inside are all in black and white due the the images being taken before colour photography was invented.

Each image in the book takes up a full double page spread with a few centimetre white boarder around the edge where the name of the photographs are sometimes show and occasionally a small paragraph talking about that specific set of images. In this photobook the images are not singular images as seen in most other books. Each page has a compilation of images all of the same subjects. Due to the use of up to fifteen cameras many images were taken of the same motion in a small space of time with only a small amount of movement between each one. The grid style of images perfectly shows what the photographer was trying to. The different stages of body position during an animals movement.

There is no information after the final image of the book. There are four blank white pages.

In this essay I am going to compare two movement photographers. The first being Eadweard Muybridge who pioneered capturing speed in photography. I will also discuss the impact that he had on the photography community.  The second is George Marriot who is a local photographer in Jersey who works on all types of photography but primarily photographs sport, specifically football and horse racing. I will discuss the technical aspect of photographing movement including how the technology has changed from Eadweard Muybridge’s time of work to present day.

The art of photographing movement has been made far more accessible with modern camera technology. For Example, when Muybridge created his photos, he had upwards of fifteen cameras called a zoopraxiscope set to take an image at a specific time. With modern technology however it is possible to set a camera to take continuous photos when the trigger button is pressed. This feature is called a motor drive. The term motor drive in the field of photography originated in film cameras where high end cameras would use an electric motor to spin the film reel once an image was taken unlike regular cameras where the user would need to use a manual lever. Shutter speed is probably the most important aspect of photographing moving objects. Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter is open exposing the sensor. The two most important parts of movement photography depend on the speed of the shutter being perfect. These parts are light and blur. For the photographer to reduce blur in his image he must have a very fast shutter speed. However, if the shutter speed is too quick the sensor will not have time to collect enough light and the image will be too dark. This is also applicable in an opposite scenario. If the shutter speed is set too high. There will be plenty of light, yet the moving object will be blurry as is has moved a significant amount in the time she shutter is open. This is what makes movement photography so challenging as the photographer mut find the perfect balance between light and blur.

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer from the 1800s who made a name for himself in 1878 when he produced and published his most famous set of images. He showed the movement of a horse running using photographs. This photoshoot made use of a rig containing upwards of fifty cameras all set to trigger at the perfect time as the horse was in the centre. After researching Muybridge’s project, I found that the project was funded by Former California Governor Leland Stanford who wanted the photographs to settle a bet that horses have all four hoofs off the ground at the same time at one point in their gallop. After the success of his first photoshoot Eadweard began to experiment with photographing the motion of different objects. Using his stop-motion method he spent a lot of time photographing fencing. These images were incredibly interesting as they allowed people to see the details of actions, they would not be able to see with their naked eye. Eadweard Muybridge said “Only photography has been able to divide human life. into a series of moments, each of them has the value of a complete existence.” He said about how each one of the movements has the value of its own existence. This truly shows how passionate he was about his work as well as about his models. He also said that only photography has been able to divide human life. This could be meant in the literal sense being that the images are divided. I think that it is meant on a more metaphorical scale where the persons life can be divided into frames like a movie. Over the next few years Muybridge continued experimenting with stop motion photography.

George Marriot is a local jersey photographer who works for the jersey bulls. He has worked on many projects, personal and business, involving movement such as, rally, horse racing and football. George uses a canon EOS 750D as well as a canon 70-200mm telephoto lens. This setup is great for movement photography. The camera has a motor drive meaning he can take multiple consecutive photos in a very short period. This allows him to ensure he can capture a moment with a very short window. Additionally, the telephoto lens gives the ability to capture high quality images of subjects that are further away.

There are many similarities and differences between these two photographers. They are similar in the way that they are both showing movement in photography as well as using multiple images in sequence. It is their methods of creating the images that really separates them as photographers. Firstly, Muybridge used upwards of fifteen cameras mounted to a rig. This set up would be extremely expensive as well as very complicated to use as each camera would need to be reset with film.  Marriot however uses a single camera that takes multiple images. This method is a lot faster to set up and a lot less costly, as new cameras do not require film and do not take any time to reset. I find Muybridge photography to be more interesting due to it showing movement in multiple images rather than just the one that Marriot creates. This is because it is a much more unique style of presenting images. On the other hand, Georges images are much easier to present and look out as the viewer does not need to think. It is interesting that Muybridge decided to present his images as a collage rather than a single image. He could have layered the images to make an interesting holographic effect. That however would have been difficult due to the limitations of technology.

Bibliography

Animals in motion – Muybridge Eadweard, 1955, Dover Publications

Photography: A Cultural History, Marien, Mary Warner, 2006, Laurence King Publishing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eadweard-Muybridge

Academic Sources:

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.

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.

Essay themes

Movement

Speed

Essay Questions

How can movement be represented in still images?

How did Eadweard Muybridge show the speed of objects in still images?

What was the impact of Eadweard Muybridge’s images showing the speed of objects in photography?

Essay Plan

PICTORIALISM

time period : 1880-1920

Key characteristics/ conventions : to make photography an accepted art form. Not considered art from orginally as all you had to do was click a button. A camera was seen as a mechanical devise. Photography was a threat to other art froms as they could make such perfect images.

Artists associated: Alfred Stieglitz

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes: Scratching the negatives, vasaline on lenses

REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Time period:1915 – present

                                                                                                                    
Key characteristics/ conventions :realism, to photograph things as they were in the view finder without any manipulation

Artists associated: strand. – imspired by cubism, picasso, prague. Walker evens, Edward Western.

Inferences – Pictorialisms

Key works: Real, As seen,

Methods/ techniques/ processes: sharp images without any manipulation after the photo is taken.

MODERNISM

Time period:1900-1940s

Key characteristics/ conventions :

WWI and WWII, Self Conscientious

Inferences

Artists associated:

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

POST-MODERNISM

Time period:

Key characteristics/ conventions :

Embrace of randomness. Postmodern works reject the idea of absolute meaning and instead embrace randomness and disorder. …

Playfulness. …irony and even humour…a subverting of grand narratives at times

Fragmentation. …provocative and disruptive

Intertextuality

Lack of grand narratives

Postmodern art rejected the traditional values of modernism, and instead embraced experimentation with new media and art forms including intermedia, installation art, conceptual art, multimedia, performance art, and identity politics.

Artists associated:

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Susan Meiselas is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for her 1970s photographs of war-torn Nicaragua and American carnival strippers. – Wikipedia

Meiselas photography links into my personal study as she is know for documenting events from behind the scenes which is what i plan to do with motorsports events in jersey.

Robert Darch

This photo was taken by Robin Darch on June 24th 2016. The day after the UK elected to leave the EU. Robert said he felt the overwhelming sense of heaviness and isolation the morning this photoshoot was done. I believe Roberts feelings have been transefered intot he image. The subject in the image looks as though she feels the same as Robert describes himself.

What you want to explore?

I would like to explore motoring on jersey. Including motorsport such as sprints, trials, rally and sand racing. Additionally i would like to explore the vehicles on Jerseys roads.

Why it matters to you?

Motorsport is a large part of jerseys culture in recent years. There are many different events of all different styles taking place all year round. These include; Rally, Trials, Motocross, Sprints and sand racing. I am a huge fan of motorsport and vehicles in general so i would like to explore this topic as i find it very exiting and interesting. Additionally, i have relatives and close friends who are involved in motoring whose garages and workshops i could go photograph.

How you wish to develop your project?

I would like to create a Photobook containing images from upcoming motoring events as well as images of my friends and relatives vehicles as well and their workshops.

When and where you intend to begin your study?

There are some upcoming motorsport events including Trials on the 11th of December in greve de leque woods.. Sprints on the 30th of December on the 5 mile road. I also have images that i took from the jersey rally 2022. Additionally, I ride a motorcycle. Often me and my friends all go out on rides around the island. I think that this would be a great opportunity to take some photos that would show my passion for motoring even though i cannot be part of official motorsports events.

“Islandness is a sense that is absorbed by islanders through the obstinate and. tenacious hold of island communities, but visitors can also experience the sensation as an. instantaneous recognition. Islandness thus helps maintain island communities in spite of.” – google

Islanders from different archipelagoes share a sense of islandness that transcends the particulars of local island culture. Islandness is a metaphysical sensation that derives from the heightened experience that accompanies physical isolation. Islandness is reinforced by boundaries of often frightening and occasionally impassable bodies of water that amplify a sense of a place that is closer to the natural world because you are in closer proximity to your neighbours. Islandness is a sense that is absorbed by islanders through the obstinate and tenacious hold of island communities, but visitors can also experience the sensation as an instantaneous recognition. Islandness thus helps maintain island communities in spite of daunting economic pressures to abandon them- www.jstor.org

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30034161

We experimented with 3D sculptures made from our images in response to our trip to L’Etecq as well as give a new perspective of the images we took.

Creating my Photo Sculpture

I used the images from my L’Étacq photoshoot to create a photo sculpture. I decided to use black and white images as i think that they contrast against each other better than colour images. After selecting the images that i thought were the best i printed them out and mounted them of foam bored.

I decided to tear the images along the outline of the rocks as this would best show the jagged edges rather than trying to cut them out. After tearing the images i measured each one to find the centre and cut a hole. I then placed the images on a stick from largest to smallest.

Inspiration

I got the inspiration for my sculpture when looking at examples on the Internet. I saw this image and thought it was a really interesting idea. However as it was quite a common idea i knew that i could improve it. I decided that rather then mounting it from the bottom i could connect the images by the centre. This is so that the sculpture can be viewed from any angle and still look good.

My sculpture

Evaluation

Overall i am very pleased with my photo sculpture. However i think that there are areas that could be improved. Firstly, i think that the the images would look better if the jagged edges where i tour the foam board were on all sides. This would make the images more 3D and look better mounted on the base. Next, i think that i could have done a better job at centring the images on the pole. I would do this by making the holes before i tore the foam as on this model i tore the foam first and it was not always to get the exact centre of the board.