About

For this photo shoot I went to Gorey castle with my board games as well as some blue tack. Once there, I walked around the castle to find different locations which would serve the purpose of linking to the playing pieces of the board games. In order to create some of these shots I stuck the pieces down using the blue tack so I could compose the image in a way that would appear interesting to the viewer.

The main purpose of these images is to show the connection between the game pieces and the real life representation that can be found in a castle setting as well as to link to my artist reference Jan Roald. When editing these photos I once again kept the image tones to be muted while also creating some photographs to be monochrome in order to be able to connect all my photos together.

Images

Edits

Best photos

I selected this image as one of my best photos as I am very fond of how the colourful card contrasts against the dark metal of the knight. I also like how we can see the details of the knight, helping to provide texture to the photograph and ultimately making it interesting to look at.

I really like the composition of this photograph and that the black and white tones of the image help to make the details stand out more, for example the white in the brick. I am also fond of the placement of the card as it helps to highlight the connection between it and the statue.

Similarly to the photo above I am very fond of the placement of the playing piece and that the connection between the knight chess piece and the horse statue becomes very evident. Once again, having the photograph in black and white helps to highlight the details of the image, leading it to be one of my best photographs.

With this image I kept the tones muted to link it to my other photographs however I feel as though this helped to showcase a more medieval/old timely feel to the image. I am also keen on the lighting here as it helps to highlight the chess board as well as the chair.

Lastly, I liked the lighting once again here as the fairy lights in the background. I also think that overall the composition of this image is successful, with the stone table contrasting against the chess board.

About

This photo shoot aims to use lighting in order to make the game pieces appear more interesting. This, in turn, will balance out the other more complex images making it more visually pleasing for the viewer, since having too much going on will confuse the viewer on where to direct their attention. I took these images at home, creating a set up studio and using a floor light to create my lighting.

For editing, I plan to keep the consistent theme throughout all my shoot’s of having my photographs contrasted and the colours more muted down to make the images more aesthetically pleasing to look at as well as creating a connection between them.

Images

Edits

Best photos

I have selected this photo as one of my best images due to the way it focuses our attention onto the playing pieces through the lighting and the blurring of the opposing pieces. I also really like the amount of detail that can be seen here, for example the reflection on the board, as well as the angle that the image was taken.

This is one of my best images as I find it appears very clean and concise. While there inst a whole lot going on in the photograph itself I think it is still very successful in how nothing takes our focus away from the playing pieces. It also doesn’t feel crowded which means it will be a useful image to have when paring it up beside a more complex.

I chose this image as one of my best images also due to the composition and layout of it. While lighting isn’t a key factor here, the way that the checker’s pieces are sprawled out across the board creates an interesting arrangement that draws in the viewers attention.

Here we are able to see the texture of the board as well as how the lighting highlights the left side of the board, casting the shadows of the chess pieces. Overall, I think that the image is visually pleasing and provides us with a good account of the aesthetic of the game. I am also fond of the angle that the image was taken since I feel as though this helps to create more dramatic feel for the image.

Lastly, I selected this photograph since I find the muted colours create a more calming feel which contrasts against the many different games being shown in the picture. I also find the lighting here to be engaging and helps the viewer to focus their attention so the rest of the image doesn’t become too distracting.

Photo shoot 1 – Playing pieces

Firstly, for this photo shoot I plan to take photographs of the board and pieces by themselves, my main idea for it is to simply showcase the games alone while focusing on the lighting and layout.

I would most likely produce this shoot at home using a makeshift studio as to not move all the games around that will be included in the photographs.

Photo shoot 2 – Castle photographs

Secondly, I plan to go to one of the castle’s on Jersey, either Elizabeth or Gorey, and take photos of the playing pieces in the medieval surroundings.

This photo shoot is inspired by my artist reference, Jan Roald, as his project of ‘is the life also a chess play’ did a great job of capturing the viewers attention due to the links between the scenery and the chess pieces.

Photo shoot 3 – Costume photos

For my costume photographs, I plan to have my friend wear a red dress to portray the queen from both chess and cards since red often means power and was even adopted by kings around the middle ages to show their god-given right to rule.

I will most likely be taking my images in my garden due to the grass creating a more natural feel for the images. This shoot will also be inspired by Claude Cahun regarding the expressions and body language that she depicts in her own self portraits.

Photo shoot 4 – Portraits

For these photographs, my main plan is to try and showcase body language while playing a game. To do this, i’m going to have my friend sit down at a game and take photos of her playing the game in order to capture her reactions and expressions.

This shoot would once again be done at my house in order to make my friend more comfortable and give more natural responses. The shoot is also heavily inspired by the chess photographer, David Llada, who aims to capture peoples expressions as they play chess during tournaments.

Photo shoot 5 – Masks

In this photo shoot my aim is to display how we hide our emotions and expressions during games, or in other words how we showcase our poker face. To do this I will have a friend of mine wear a blank mask and have a game set out in front of them or have them simply looking into the camera.

The shoot will be inspired by my artist reference Gillian Wearing who uses prosthetic masks to showcase different meanings within her photographs.

Photo shoot 6 – Elemental photographs

Lastly, I intend to produce some photographs of the playing pieces in different elements, such as fire, earth, water etc. These images would symbolize different parts of game from emotions to different strategies, for example the fire could represent passion while water could represent loss or sadness.

Mood board

About

Gillian Wearing was born in 1963 in Birmingham, England. In Wearing’s photographs and videos she records the confessions and interactions of ordinary people she befriends through chance encounters. Her work explores the differences between many things such as; public and private life, the individual and society, voyeurism and exhibitionism, and fiction and fact.

The work that I plan on focusing on is her masked photographs. In these images, she uses prosthetic masks to alter her appearance, showing how we hide away our identity.

Why I chose the artist

I chose this Wearing as an artist since I plan to display how we hide our emotions during games, showcasing what is commonly known as a ‘poker face’ which is an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person’s thoughts or feelings.

In order to achieve this i would masks, while they may not be as detailed or high quality as Wearings due to cost efficiency, they would symbolize how we hide our emotions and allow the viewer to take a more tactical look towards the games we play.

Image analysis

In this image we are able to see the prosthetic mask protruding from the mirror frame, creating a rather unique effect. The fact that we are still able to see her human eyes behind the mask could mean that we often hide our true selves behind false faces, only presenting the parts of ourselves that we deem worthy or perfect to the world in the same way a prosthetic is perfect.

I would definitely like to incorporate the use of mirrors into my own photographs since the idea of refection is a key part in Wearings photographs. I especially like how she incorporated only the mirror frame in this image though, making it gold and shiny in order to draw attention to it and link it with her eyes which are the only other glossy part.

Links

https://www.artnet.com/artists/gillian-wearing/

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

Mood board

About

Claude Cahun, also known as Lucy Schwob, was born October 25th 1894, in Nantes, France. She would later pass on December 8, 1954, in St. Helier, Jersey. Cahun was a French writer, photographer, Surrealist, and performance artist who was largely written out of art history until the late 1980s due to her being an activist during the second world war.

It is thought that Cahun took her first self-portrait at around 1913, a year later publishing her first collaboration with Malherbe under the pseudonyms Claude Corlis and Marcel Moore. They contributed a piece titled “Vues et visions”, or “Views and Visions”, to the literary journal ‘Mercure de France’ with Cahun doing the writing and Moore doing the illistations. Although she had tried out other names, by 1917 she settled on and adopted the pen name Claude Cahun. Moore’s mother and Cahun’s father married in 1917, and the two young women moved in together later becoming lovers.

She is known for her self-portraits that portray her as ambiguously gendered. In taking the gender-neutral forename Claude and by shaving her head, Cahun actively and outwardly rejected social constructions of gender and sexual identity. To Cahun, identity was changeable, or unstable as shown in her self-portraits as she presented herself as a man, a woman and majority of the time androgynously. By fusing several gender stereotypes into a single character, she obfuscated her identity. It is not entirely clear whether Moore was the photographer of Cahun’s “self-portraits” or had some other role in their production. Moore did, in fact, photograph Cahun later on, and those pictures are attributed to her.

Why I chose the artist

While my project isn’t focusing on gender or stereotypes, I do plan to take inspiration from Cahun’s costumes and photography style in order to display a connection between the game and the person i’m photographing. To do this, I would likely have the subject of my photo dress up in a way that represents a certain piece from a game, such as a queen from chess or a joker from cards, and have them side by side.

I am especially fond of Cahun’s mirror photographs as it symbolizes many different things, like how we see ourselves in comparison to how others do. I would also like to try recreating some photos with the idea of reflection in a similar way to Cahun’s photographs.

Cahun links into the the theme of observe, seek and challenge mainly due to her photographs challenging gender stereotypes all while seeking to help spread awareness to the gender inequality many people suffer from. We, as the viewer, are able to observe Cahun’s work and understand the message behind her images.

Image analysis

In my opinion, this is a powerful image that displays an important message. By looking at the clothes, we are able to see a cloak that is embellished in masquerade styled masks, which are typically associated with hiding ones identity. This produces the idea that since there are so many masks that the subject is struggling with their own identity. The cloak itself also helps to strengthen this idea since cloaks are often used to symbolize a disguise of sorts, with the definition literally meaning to cover or conceal.

The photograph itself is also very strong with the patterned curtain behind the subject helping them to stand out and making them the main focus of the image. Additionally, I think that the photo being in black and white helps to enhance the overall aesthetic of the image as we are able to draw out a lot more detail without being distracted by the colour.

Links

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/history/claude-cahun-and-jersey/

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About

David Llada is a 46 year old journalist, organizer, photographer and author born in Asturias, Spain and currently residing in Donostia-San Sebastian. Majority of his work goes towards promoting chess and was even the editor-in-chief of American Chess Magazine for a while in 2018. Llada also has published a book called ‘the thinkers’ which is a visual tribute to the game of chess, showcasing the emotions, exertions and desires of the players.

Llada has been an official photographer in countless events with his photos helping to bring awareness to the game of chess across the world, even being recognized by other chess photographers as one of the best.

‘I am particularly impressed by his quick perception, his ability to spot and also anticipate those crucial moments that make a photo memorable.’ – Niki Riga

“What I like about David, first of all, is his enormous interest and devotion to his work and chess players. Secondly, his brilliant skills and technique, and his desire to be perfect. And finally, his attention to details.” – Eteri Kublashvili

Why I chose the artist

I chose Llada as one of my artists as I am very fond of the attention to detail in his images. He is able to create interesting and meaningful images which focus on the players and their expressions which is something I would like to recreate in my own images.

While expression is a key point in his photographs, we can also tell a lot about the subject by their body language, such as when they touch their face it could signal worry or surprise etc. I also admire how he is not only able to capture the emotions of the player but also the details of the game.

Llada links to the theme observe, seek and challenge as he observes the players of the game, watching as they challenge each other all while seeking to win.

Image analysis

In this image, we are able to see the worry and hesitation shown on player’s face as she carefully observes the game in front of her. The way her hand is placed over the other indicates that she’s about to make her move but is holding back, presumably rethinking or reanalyzing the board.

We are also to tell a lot about the image by looking at the board in front of her, we can see that she has less pieces than the opposing player, suggesting that she is at a disadvantage. However, looking to the bottom right of the image we can also see the pieces both players have lost, such as the bishops and queens, giving us slightly more insight to the game. For example, both players have lost their queens which is a powerful piece in the game, suggesting they’re equally matched.

Overall, the image provides us with the story of their match and when we pay close attention to the details of it we can begin to unwrap and visualize what the photograph is trying to showcase.

Links

https://www.chessbase.in/news/David-Llada-turns-40

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About

Jan Roald is a Norwegian photographer who lives in Elvemyrkroken in Norway. He offers his photography services for hire, allowing people to contact him for photo assignments.

His typical style is contrasted black and white images, though he photographs a range of styles such as landscape, portrait, still life etc. He does, however, take some images in colour if the client requests it.

Roald’s work relates to the themes of observe, seek and challenge due to his photographs always observing something or someone through the lens. He also links to seek as he aims to find interesting layouts and compositions for his images. also linking to challenge as he challenges himself to take the best photo he can.

Why I chose the artist

I chose to use Roald as an artist reference due to his album ‘is the life also a chess play’ which he created in June 2019. His album includes photographs of chess pieces in an almost castle like setting where he uses his surroundings to create interesting looking still life images.

I would like to create this using different game pieces. I plan to do this by visiting one of the castles in Jersey and taking the board game pieces with me. From there, I would use the different aspects of the castle, such as the cobble floor or castle walls, to create interesting still life images.

I would also like to create interesting images by creating different effects with the pieces, using different elements in order to imply different meanings behind the images.

Image analysis 

I chose this image in particular due to the potential meanings behind the images as well as the effective composition of the photo.

To begin with, we are able to see a snake on the board which helps to highlight the size of the chess pieces. The snake could be a symbolism since throughout history snakes have been used to represent themes such as death, wisdom and health. However, now days when referencing snakes we picture stealth and deceitful, so when applying this to games it could be used to symbolize cheating. The connection between the snake and the game becomes stronger when you take into account the colours, the opposing side being black which is the same as the snake.

If we turn our attention to the photo as a whole, there is a lot to it that can catch our eyes. For example, the shadows of the pieces and the black pieces in the background all help to set the scene of the image making it more enjoyable for the viewer to look at.

Links

https://www.fotojanroald.com/about.php

Statement

My intent for this project is to focus on the strategies and tactics behind games such as chess, checkers, cards etc. I will be photographing both people playing the games as well as the actual pieces themselves in addition to taking images that represent my artists references while sticking to my theme of games. My reason behind this idea of games is that it links into the theme of observe seek and challenge since we observe our opponents, the pieces and the game itself all while seeking to win and beat our opposition. The challenge is the game itself, coming up with strategies and tactics to best the person we are playing against.

When presenting my study I plan to create both a photo book as well as prints that I will manually edit. The main aesthetic that I plan to go for is contrasted black and white photos, while also having some of my images in colour but keeping the tones muted. This way, my images will all fit together when producing my photo book or prints as they will have a consistent theme while also remaining interesting to the viewer as it will cause them to focus more on the details in the photograph. In order to accomplish this I will be using Light room classic as well as Photoshop if need be to edit my images.

About the theme

Observe – To observe is to notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant. The origin of the word observe comes from Latin, with ‘ob’ meaning towards and ‘servare’ meaning attend to or look at. Other similar words to observe are: watch, notice, detect, spot, perceive. On the other hand, words opposite to observe are words like: overlook, ignore, disregard.

Seek – To seek is to attempt to find (something). The origin of the word seek comes from the old English word ‘sēcan’ which means to look for something. Similar words include: pursue, strive, aim, aspire. Opposing words would be: neglecting, shunning, dismissing.

Challenge – To challenge is to prove or justify something. The origin of the word challenge comes from the middle English words ‘ kalange’ and ‘chalenge’ which means to accuse or claim. Similar words are: dare, obstacle, ultimatum, opposition, objection. Opposing words to challenge are: acceptance, obedience.

Exam Paper analysis

When analysing the theme, I highlighted specific areas that I though may be useful regarding my idea for my project.

Firstly, ‘the images were painted by firelight’ gave me the idea of incorporating elements into my work in order to create more interesting pieces. I think the elements would also act as a way to depict emotions without having any people present.

The quote that ‘artists frequently use metaphors in their work to disguise the messages’ helped to link into my idea of using certain things as metaphors, for example an idea would be to use different kinds of theatre masks as a symbolic refence to hiding you emotions when playing games.

Lastly, the idea of ‘war zones’ or ‘life and death’ can be showcased through games such as chess due to the tactical aspect behind them. I could potentially portray this through my use of lighting and the way the playing pieces are laid out.

Mind-map of ‘observe, seek and challenge’

Mood-board of ‘observe, seek and challenge’

Initial idea

My idea for this project is to focus on the theme of games and how we observe, seek and challenge through them. Majority of the time, the games we play challenge us as we try to reach or attain a certain goal. Challenges often come in the way of other players or obstacles we have to find ways around. What we seek while playing games is to win, and while most of the time there is no harm if we lose its almost as if we have an instinctual drive to want to come out on top. Finally, observation is key while playing games, whether that be observing your opponents expressions or the game itself, observation is key and is often how we end up creating strategies against them.

The games I plan to focus on are board games such as chess, checkers, cards etc. I would like to take photos of the games themselves as well as people playing the game. When taking my photographs of the games themselves I would be shooting them in different locations in order to show the viewer some sort of symbolism regarding the outcome or feeling of the game (water could be equal to losing.)

Mind-map of idea

Mood-board of idea