Here are some of my best images from my first environmental photography shoot. I pictured Ruby in her bedroom as it expresses her interests and general life.

I based this shoot on Arnold Newman, I wanted to include the dishevelled look to my images which he has in his, I did this through the clutter of posters on Ruby’s wall, the stack of CDS and the rustic looking chair.

Original photos – unedited

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Edited

The Process

I used a camera stand to keep my camera level and directed Ruby to pose how she felt comfortable to keep the authenticity of the photographs. I chose to conduct my photoshoot at mid afternoon to capture the bright sun peaking through the window, highlighting the details of her bedroom.

I chose the placement for the images where Ruby is sat on the chair to capture the reflection of the mirror which also gives us a look into her interests, her wardrobe which expresses her love for fashion, a globe suggesting her interest of the world and two stuffed animals from her childhood. I believe Ruby’s choice of clothing was great as her minimalistic fashion choice made the background pop.

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before editing my photos I wanted to sort through the good and bad images, I used the star system which helped me group the good images together.

When editing my images i wanted to capture the black and white theme which is a prominent feature within Newman’s Work, i also adjusted the shadows and exposure to capture that subtle shadow which can be seen in many of Newman’s black and white pieces.

Further Experimenting

Using photoshop, I edited images to create some further edits of my images.

For this image, I took another one of my images from the same shoot and placed that in the reflection of the mirror. To do this I used photoshop, I then used the lasso tool to select the part of the image I wanted to remove. After erasing the original reflection from the mirror I inserted another photo and placed that layer underneath my original.

For this image, I wanted to contrast the vibrant colours of Rubys wall with the black and white of the Arnold Newman style edit. To do this I used the same image in colour, then i used the rectangular marquee tool to select the parts of the coloured image I wanted to include.

To create this futuristic mirror portal image I once again selected the original mirror reflection with the lasso tool and deleted the reflection, I then placed this image with a frenzy explosion of colours in its place, creating a portal mirror.

Who am I photographing?

I am photographing my friend ingrid

What am I photographing?

I will be taking a series of images of ingrid in her garden, as she spends a lot of her time here.

when am I conducting the shoot?

sunday 17th oct

where am i working/ location?

i am working in her back garden, it is filled with plants and her general space

how am i going to produce the images (lighting / equipment etc)?

I am going to conduct the photoshoot by firstly check the weather to see when the lighting/weather will be suitable, i will set up my tripod and direct Ingrid where to sit/stand

I am conducting my indoor photoshoot in the style of Arnold Newman.

Who am I photographing?

for my photoshoot I will be taking pictures of my friend Ruby.

What am I photographing?

I will be doing an environmental photoshoot regarding Ruby’s interests and everyday life, which is clearly displayed within her bedroom.

when am I conducting the shoot?

I will be conducting my shoot on Sunday 17th October

where am i working/ location?

I am working in Ruby’s house in St Lawrence, in particular, her bedroom.

why am i designing the shoot in this way?

I am designing the shoot in this way as her bedroom is filled with her interests, her walls are covered head to toe with posters, pictures, magazine pages and music. Her interests are portrayed through her walls including, her favourite musicians, movies, models and friends.

how am i going to produce the images (lighting / equipment etc)?

• camera
• day time light from window
• tripod from home
• lamps/lights from home

Arnold Newman (1918-2006) was an American photographer, remembered for his environmental photography. Newman studied painting and drawing at The University Of Miami. Due to a high costing tuition, Newman had to leave the university and started working at a studio in Philadelphia.

Arnold Newman gained his love for photography through the empathy he felt for artists and their work. Newman is often credited with being the photographer who articulated and who consistently employed the genre of environmental portraiture, “The surroundings had to add to the composition and the understanding of the person. No matter who the subject was, it had to be an interesting photograph. Just to simply do a portrait of a famous person doesn’t mean a thing.”

Newman’s Career in photography was very successful, he photographed icons such as Marlene Dietrich, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Mickey Mantle, and Audrey Hepburn. Most of his portraits were shot on large format view cameras however, some photographs were captured on a 35mm SLR camera, where the additional freedom is an advantage.

I have chosen to photograph Newman because i love the style of his images, they are minimalistic in black and white, but, paint a whole new picture through, objects, art and expression.

I have also chosen Newman as his photography links closely with the style I am hoping to create within my environmental portraits.

-3 environmental portrait

-3 people

1. location outside
2. location inside
3. 2 or more people

Mood Board

Plan

shoot 1 Inside – Rubys room

Bedroom, posters, music albums, Messy/Made bed, lighting in bedroom

shoot 2 Outside – Dads Garden

Housing Environment, hobby’s, lighting, Time of day.

Shoot 3 two people – 2 friends

Here are a few of my edited pictures from my Hamptonne photoshoot.

I chose this image as I love the contrasting colours from the wheel and the plants in the background, I wanted to add a green tone to the image to emphasis the plants behind.

I thought this image was good because the pigs represent the farm life at Hamptonne, I also liked the composition of the pigs because it captures them in their natural form.

I chose this image because of the almost iridescent feathers of the chicken, chickens are also a huge a part of Hamptonnes farm life, the composition of the chicken is also great as you can see its body and also its face.

This is an image of one of the actors who plays a wool knitter, this was an important role in jerseys history as it was a large producer of wool products. I decided to edit this image because it captures the clothing and the feel of life in the Georgian era, I also found the orange shade dress was a brilliant colour.

This is an image of another actor who played a the role of a common woman in the Georgian times, I edited this one in black and white I felt it captured the shadows and light nicely.

This picture is of the same actor, she is acting as if she was doing her duties of what a woman would do at the time.

I captured the furniture and room accessories of the time to show how much times have changed, from candle lit rooms, to automatic lights that we have today.

I love the warm feel of this photo, I feel it captures the end of summer well with the vibrant red berries, and the sun light sitting on the wall.

The Jersey Corn Riots is celebrated today as it is a celebration of our modern day democracy today. This began in 1769 when the corn riots took unfolded. Monday 27th September 2021 marks 250 years since the people of jersey protested against landowners.

A bad harvest in 1769 lead to the prices shooting up, many islanders were frustrated with the food shortages, higher prices and the unfair tax system leading to 500 islanders storming the Royal Court. The islanders rioted and protested with 13 demands for a fairer island.

Here are the 13 demands of the islanders:

• That the price of wheat be lowered and set at 20 sols per cabot.

• That foreigners be ejected from the Island.

• That his Majesty’s tithes be reduced to 20 sols per vergée.

• That the value of the liard coin be set to 4 per sol.

• That there should be a limit on the sales tax.

• That seigneurs stop enjoying the practice of champart (the right to every twelfth sheaf of corn or bundle of flax).

• That seigneurs end the right of ‘Jouir des Successions’(the right to enjoy anyone’s estate for a year and a day if they die without heirs).

• That branchage fines could no longer be imposed.

• That Rectors could no longer charge tithes except on apples.

• That charges against Captain Nicholas Fiott be dropped and that he be allowed to return to the Island without an inquiry.

• That the Customs’ House officers be ejected.

The power of protest

In September 1770, The code of laws were introduced to the island by Bentinck, Jerseys Lieutenant- Governor. These news laws aimed to make the law as fair as possible for everyone. These laws were laid down in 1771. The Jersey corn riots worked as a way of new fair life in Jersey for many years after.

The Camera Obscura

The camera obscura was first used in 400BC by a Chinese philosopher, Mo-tzu. The device is box shaped and used in a darkened room, which has a small hole for light. the light passing through the hole, reflects the outside view into the surface opposite the hole.

The camera obscura was formally used to study eclipses to avoid damage to the eyes, the device was also used as a drawing aid which allowed the artist to trace over the projection, creative accurate drawings of the outside.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce 1765-1833 was a French inventor. Niepce is often credited as the founder of photography. Niepce developed heliography, which produced a print made from a photoengraved printing plate. Niepce created these prints using the camera obscura. Nicephore Niepce is now known to have produced the oldest surviving photograph of a real world scene.

Louis Daguerre

Louis Daguerre 1787-1851 was a french artist and photographer. Daguerre is best known for his invention which he called ‘Daguerreotype’ , this was the first publicly available photographic process. It was used between the 1840s and 1850s and was also affordable. The images were produced using a sheet of silver plated copper and fumes, the photograph would take a few seconds or longer to develop.

Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot was an English scientist, inventor and photography pioneer. Talbot invented the ‘salt and pepper’ and the calotype process. Talbot used his salt and pepper process to create permanent pictures, he placed his paper into a salt solution, dried it and then coated in a silver nitrate solution. when placed in the light, the solution would darken

Richard Maddox

Richard Maddox was an English photographer. Maddox created the Gelatine Dry Plate process, Maddox would use gelatine on a glass plate and silver bromide which meant it would react when exposed to sunlight

George Eastman

Eastman was an American entrepreneur who founded Eastman Kodak, he helped bring the use of roll film into the mainstream. Eastman created his first roll of film in 1889 where he then began distributing it. The Kodak camera was a huge success and very popular due to its small size and affordable price.

Kodak Brownie

the Kodak brownie camera was created by George Eastman in 1900. The brownie ran off of film and was cheap at the time as it was made of cardboard and had very basic functions. Childrens love for the brownie meant it became widespread, the brownie began to popularise photography. Soldiers would take the brownie away to war and captured some of the images we see today.

I have uploaded my images to Lightroom and flagged the images i want to edit.

I used a star system for categorising my images, 4 stars for ‘maybe’ and 5 stars for ‘definitely’

The Cyanotype process was discovered in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, an English inventor. Herschel’s process leaves us with a white print on a blue background made by items found in nature. Cyanotypes work on a variety of surfaces but, being a textile artist, I use natural fibre fabrics, usually silk or cotton but also linen, hemp, rayon and silk/viscose velvet sometimes.

Cyanotypes as an art form

Anna Atkins, a botanical artist from Tonbridge made history with her cyanotypes as some say her cyanotypes created the first ever book to hold photographs, it has also been said that she was the first female photographer.

Atkins used a mix of exposure and chemicals to create her masterpieces which were mainly prints of flowers, plants from both land and sea. Anna Atkins images merged science and art, it also progressed the use of photographs in books.

My Cyanotype

For my cyanotype I collected plants, feathers and leaves from around Hamptonne. I enjoyed making these and found them very interesting as you can create anything you think of.