Contact Sheet

I flagged the images I wanted to edit

I wanted to edit them with a retro look, so I increased the temperature a bit.

Basic Edits

i brought the highlights up and lowered the whites, similar with the shadows and blacks. I then added dehaze to add more strength and depth to the image. After then adding temperature I felt like the images looked retro but are obviously new.

I have done this to link with these archived photos, that include a similar looking car.

I want to choose the best composition that includes the boats (because my grandfather owned boats and I can make this comparison too) and the car. I also need to decide which of the archived images I will compare them with.

The best two

COMPARISON

After comparing the images I am still unsure of which to choose, so I will decide when putting my photobook together.

I want to edit some of my archived images in the style o f Benitah because I find her work can present feelings and storied through her editing process. I am going to experiment with her ideas in my own style to present loss and highlight my grandparents in images. Here is some of Benitah’s work that has inspired me:

Rather than prints, I am going to experiment in photoshop because it leaves more room for experimentation and I can produce multiple outcomes.

I selected the images I want to use for these edits in Lightroom using the colour selection, and rating them green.

Basic edits

The two main things in the images that I focused on was blacks/ whites and detail. I didn’t edit them too much apart from correcting the amount of shadow and highlights. I then sharpened the images a bit, adding some noise reduction to reduce grain. I also added texture and clarity to define some images and make the details more prominent. Whilst editing I had to think about the quality for printing, and I know (from my previous prints) that adding too much clarity/ texture/ sharpening can cause the image to look worse when printing.

I began editing an image in photoshop in the style of Benitah, focusing on the different shapes she uses to cut out the faces, the tones of red, and how she constructs her edits.

I tried removing the face using the quick selection tool to cut completely along the lines on the face. However I felt this didn’t look right and tried circles – like Benitah.

I selected circles, and selected ‘create layer via cut’ to show the background through. However I feel like this would work better with an image with more faces in, so I experimented more.

I tried adding the red thread sewing technique that she uses, but with the pen tool. I added a drop shadow to make it slightly more realistic.

I tried drawing with a darker red on their faces, and made it coe from the wine glass. I have seen Benitah do this a few times in her work, giving the ‘string’ a place where it has come from. I like this edit more than removing the faces, and feel like it fits the tones more.

More edits- I experimented with different editing for these images until I found a final result that I liked. I want to keep some subtle because when putting the book together overall I don’t want it to be too much.

For this image I’m not sure if I should have the thread around just my grandad to emphasise his loss, or if it creates a better composition with them both outlined.

I want some basic edits so I made this image look like burnt paper – inspired by Jessa Fairbrother

I edited this image of my grandad and his sister, attempting to focus the image on him, however I don’t like the edit and I decided it doesn’t link to the project.

I didn’t like this image cropped or the blue in the background. I filled the space by selecting areas, clicking delete, then OK. This fills the space to create more of the area around it.

I also experimented with AI generative fill, and it created a more realistic look.

I still don’t know if I am going to use more black and white or colour, so I have edited some with both options

I have also experimented cropping this image because I feel like there is too much in one image, however I will see once it is laid out with all the other images.

Colour vs black and white

This is the image I attempted to create, replicating Alec Soth’s. It was difficult to make sure the reflection was in the right place, and not get myself in the frame. I can’t decide if I prefer colour, or black and white.

I have experimented with AI generative fill in photoshop again with this image because I didn’t like the background and wanted to see if it could create a better composition.

Overall, I am happy with my editing for this first shoot. I will take more photos and retake others after learning where I went wrong. Editing these has also inspired me to take photos outside the house, where my grandfather loved, as well as possibly remaking old family photos.

I only ended up with three images from this camera that I felt were good enough to be used in my photobook. I want to make sure I have the best image selection, so I will use most of my images from my digital camera. However I like these images, and the depth they have, as well as the look it gives, relating to my archives. They aren’t the highest quality either, but I don’t think this matters too much because I am attempting to make a nostalgic book, that tells a story and seeks into my grandparents relationship.

For this photoshoot I used my Papershoot camera, which is a digital camera that replicates a film cameras. I used 3 of the different colour settings: black and white, orange tint and blue tint. I wanted to experiment with it so I can create photos that look old, linking with the archived. It is difficult to know the exposures and light because the camera is basic, so there is no way of controlling shutter or aperture. I found some of my images were over-exposed so I adjusted the lighting manually in the room. The viewfinder is closer than the lens, so I had difficulty working out the composition.

Example of over exposure

I pulled the curtains to try and control this but it was still top bright – in my next shoot with this camera I will close the curtains fully

Contact sheet

Selected images – flagging

From my selection:

GREEN – best images

YELLOW – I could use but they aren’t the best compared to my digital images

Best images:

Inspired by: Alec Soth and Nan Goldin

Selected images – flagging

From my selection:

GREEN – best images

YELLOW – middle

RED – not the best/ won’t use

Best images:

I have looked into my Grandfather and Grandmother’s past, and discovered scrapbooks he had made about his success in his garage and boat business.

I might use these as backgrounds for my photobook, use them to fill pages in between some photos, or as a cover.

I am going to experiment with some of these artists in photoshop, using archived images and these scrapbooks.

Carolle Bénitah

Jessa Fairbrother

Alec Soth

I have photographed some of the archived photos I might want to use for my photobook. I made sure to use the ones that I will present a change in, and am able to recreate or link with my new images.

Black and Whites

Coloured

France

More coloured (early 2000s)

I want to focus my photobook on the change in my grandmother and grandfathers relationship over time, and how time affects it. These images are around the time my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, passing away in 2005. Showing the different time periods in the archives presents the change, and how death and time affects people and their image.

Overall, I am not going to use all of these images, however a few of them will work with the images I take, and link.

Alec Soth, born in 1969, is known to be a rather shy individual, who finds it awkward asking people to be in his shoots. This may be the reason why he is led to photograph loners and dreamers. He has collaborated with his seven year old daughter, whilst additionally photographing innovative images of strangers and even landscapes in America.

He chose to predominantly photograph people after planning to study staged photography. Diane Arbus had been a big inspiration for Soth, who captures unique black and white portraits.

He became wider known when he won worldwide artist recognition in 2004, for the publication of Sleeping By The Mississippi. This was a self printed book, comprising amazing portrays of landscapes/ interiors whilst he was on road trips along the river in Mississippi. He wanted to present feelings of isolation and neglect.

I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating

This is one of Soth’s most recent photobooks that he took the name from  a line in the Wallace Stevens’ poem “The Gray Room,”. These images were taken all over the world, and are quite varied due to the fact they are based on a certain place or population.

‘Soth’s portraits and images of his subject’s surroundings involve an enquiry into the extent to which a photographic likeness can depict more than the outer surface of an individual, and perhaps even plumb the depths of something unknowable about both the sitter and the photographer.‘ – mackbooks.co.uk

Soth took around a years break from travelling and photography. When he returned to it, he decided to revisit the basic elements of photography. He moved to photographing people and their interiors, from capturing the epic landscapes of America.

He focused on photographing just interior spaces, even if it meant each image was different.

“my goal was the same: to simply spend time in the presence of another beating heart.” – Alec Soth

Analysis

This is the series of his that I have been inspired by. I want to capture my grandmother in this style. The image above especially caught my eye because he uses depth of field, and his foreground and background to create a unique and intriguing image to many of his others. The vivid colours that link, such as the sage and deep greens, create the overall feeling of the picture, reflecting the woman’s personality.

I think this will be hard to replicate, so I might have to take a different approach, however I will look at Soth’s other images to bring me to that conclusion.

Photoshoot Plan

What? I will still photograph my grandmother but I will focus less on objects, but more her and her in her space. I will photograph her in a few spaces such as the garden, her lounge, her bedroom chair. I might also photograph her looking at the archived images I will include in my photobook.

When? again I will go just after midday to make sure that the light is bright as I am going to attempt to take a photo of her through glass in her chair.

How? I will use my DSLR camera for this shoot because Soth’s images are quite modern. I won’t be able to choose the light with aperture using a film or polaroid camera. I might need to use a tripod depending on the light, and shutter speeds.

HIs portraits can be quite uncanny, placing his subjects alone stood in an open space. I might take some like these to experiment, however I might not use them in my photobook.

I quite like the use of mirrors – It also links with Goldin’s mirror images

Exploring many themes such as, intimacy, AIDS/HIV crisis, LGBTQ, and the opioid epidemic, Nancy Goldin is an American activist photographer. Born in 1953, she has created a lot of popular work, including The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986). Documenting the post0Stonewall, gay subculture, the monograph incorporates her family and friends. This included addicts, hustlers, transgenders and prostitutes. Redefining photography, she explored what it could be and do.

Goldin seems to be an outgoing character, standing out from the normal group of photographers in her time. In an interview with The Guardian, they stated that she had a coyote hung in her house. She enjoys the fact that it startles her visitors, explaining, “It likes the light”. The coyote is possibly a metaphor for the ‘most celebrated and controversial photographers of our time’. Goldin doesn’t follow the rules, and typically decides to live on the edge of society.

Material –

From the age of fifteen, she began using polaroid cameras, provided to her by her teacher. She progressed, and started taking monochrome images of her friends in a transgender community in Boston. She also experimented with Cibachrome prints; prints made using a photographic printing process in which colour dyes embedded in the paper are selectively bleached away (destroyed) to form a full-colour image. Her medium then developed to presenting images on slideshows after she moved to New York. These were partnered with music by punk rock venues.

By experimenting with several mediums for her photography, she is able to present her works emotions and story. I like the idea of polaroids and prints because it adds texture, context and the overall look becomes more interesting than just basic digital images.

Analysis

This image represents how her images are no the typically ‘perfect’ edit. Although this image is full of strategic techniques, mostly using light, she has kept grain, very dark areas/ over exposed areas, and left the image at a slant. This adds to the documentary style of Goldin’s work. The imperfections in the image are what make it distinctive, and different to other photographers such as Alec Soth who perfects his lighting. In the photo she has used the bright beam of light to illuminate the front of the girl, creating a sharp shadow on her hips. She may be looking at body image in this photo, using the light and shadow to represent how the girl wishes to look, whilst facing the mirror. Goldin has left the photo with room for interpretation. The fact there is a large amount of shadow and dark space means that the window and the girls face are the focal point of the image. This photo is a key representation of how light is one of the most important matters in photography, and I will make sure to use it effectively.

My shoot

For my shoot inspired by Nan Goldin, I am going to try and use her distinctive style of vibrant and black and white images. Although I can’t capture as expressive portraits, I will try to remake her style with what I have.

What? I will take documentary images in the style of Goldin of my grandmother

Why? I want to portray her earlier life with my grandfather compare with now. I want to create images that are interesting, rather than plain/basic photos.

How? I will use my DSLR camera to capture most of the images. I will also bring a film camera and polaroid to get different mediums, adding to the nostalgic sense. I might also bring some studio lighting with me. I could experiment with butterfly, Rembrandt and split face shadow lighting to add intensity to some of the images.

When? I am going to do the shoot just after midday because it is when the light beams through her windows. I want to make sure I have a good amount of natural lighting to light up her face and the room, and possibly use as backlighting.

Link to theme? By exploring her and my grandfathers past I am seeking into their lives. I am now observing the change that time has caused, the death of the grandfather, and my grandmothers present life without him.