Henry Mullins

I chose this layout above by choosing 2 of my best final images and adding a drop shadow and a dark blue frame.

Below is a Virtual Gallery with the Photos I hand picked.

Henry Mullins moved to Jersey in 1848, where he set up his studio in the Royal Square known as the Royal Saloon. His photography was represented in Societe Jersiase Photo-Archive, producing over 9000 portraits of islanders from 1852 to 1873.

His work was placed in various albums during the 19th century, showing individual faces and bodies of the first generation of islanders, in which he would place his clients in order of social hierachery. He would photograph Jersey Political elite, mercantile families, military officers and professional classes.

He used carte de visite to print his portraits, which was a small print called albumen print that was then sealed by egg whites, bind together with the photographic chemicals on the paper. These prints were affordable and common to many islanders, which were traded among friends and visitors, while albums and cards were also featured in Victorian parlours, during the 1860s. The portraits became very popular, which lead to the publication of portraits featuring famous people.

The four headshots Mullins captured are put together and presented in a Dimond Cameo which is a process where four separate portraits of the same subject are printed on a carte de visite.

What are Culture Wars?

Culture wars are conflict’s between social groups, that have different cultural ideas, beliefs and philosophies. Commonly found where there is an overall disagreement on societal values, it is usually occurring in western countries where their democratic systems can generate issues and discussions with topics such as Abortion, multiculturalism, Sexuality or even values such as morality or lifestyle.

With the US having a vast geographical size, historical background and variation of demographics of different religions, cultures, morals etc it isn’t uncommon to see how it is the breeding grounds for culture wars to emerge from. The USA has seen numerous examples of them such as the prohibition era from 1920 to 1933, where many people campaigned and had the selling and consumption of alcohol banned. As a result however many states protested against it and eventually had the law revoked allowing alcohol to be unbanned. Another can be seen with the protests against the Vietnam war from 1955 – 1975 where many people saw it as an unnecessary war against communism to prove democratic supremacy and political power, which eventually ended after the loss of life was to high and political unrest back home in the US made it unpopular.

(Anti-booze campaigns held by pro-prohibition activists and campaigners)

(Anti-prohibitionists rallying to demand the laws removal)

(Anti-war protests in Washington DC, demonstrators displaying the iconic piece symbol and flag)

(Peaceful protestors placed flowers in the barrels of the rifles of national Guard soldiers outside the Pentagon)

(Soldiers in the conflict displayed their own acts of protest with slogans and art on their helmet covers)

Culture wars pose a real discussion about ethics and morality in society today, with the most recent example being over the choice to have an abortion in The US. At the start of the year, The US congress made the decision for abortion to be illegal in states that desired it. As a result since then, 24 states have made the decision to ban abortion. With pro-life events prior, many religious and anti-abortionist groups declared it was murder and held protests outside of abortion clinics. This however sparked outrage among other groups who opposed the idea of being forced into keeping the child as it meant in some cases rape victims or accidental pregnancies couldn’t have a right over their own body in deciding if they wanted to commit to having a baby.

An example of a culture war in Jersey can seen with the modern usage of the English language. Prior to Jersey becoming a crown dependency, the population spoke the language of Jèrriais, a Norman-French dialect that had evolved into its own dialect. Since the Victorian era, more and more British traveler’s settled in Jersey, establishing schools such as Victoria college, however with them came the english language which soon became increasingly the more common language. In schools, Students who spoke Jèrriais were punished for it, only speaking it at home to their parents and other relatives. Additionally many locations names were changed to make them more understandable for people who spoke english. With such examples being the parishes. St Jean’s became St John’s, St Pierre became St Peter and mainly the town centre St Hélyi became St Helier.

(Victoria College)

However with the modern day, more recognition of Jersey’s history and langauge is being fought for and represented by organisations such as Jersey heritage and the Jèrriais Organisation who educate through museums or in schools.

Recent examples of this fight can been with the states of Jersey installing their Jèrriais name and translations to their building and website, as well as Liberty Bus including the Jèrriais parish names on the side of its Buses.

(The governments name translated)

(Below the windows of the upper deck, the Jèrriais Parish names can be seen in a multi coloured line)

Culture wars, pose both positive and negative outcomes depending upon the cause. This is evident with campaigns to remove something negative upon society like laws against the rights of other groups of people, like slavery for example. When it can become negative however is when the decision is being forced upon the government to make decision for example with the case of abortion, it can result in unpopularity on both sides as one cultural group may not agree on it whilst the other one might.

MY SETUP:

I took these headshots in the lighting studio with two different models. I wanted them to be comfortable and embrace themselves, this helps to make the photos I took to be natural and portray whatever mood they are feeling at the current time. I also then categorized these photos I took into different groups with colours separating them. I chose to take around 250 photos which is definitely larger than the photoshoots I have done in the past. I chose to do this amount of photos to have a larger region of choice when it comes to taking photos and choosing photos to edit in my different cameos in my headshots topic. I had 3 people help whilst taking my photos, I first had one person moving around my flash head in order to get different angles of lighting through the flash. I then had a person moving and manoeuvring a reflector in order to reposition lighting on my models face. I also then had myself taking the photos of my model with the best angles possible. I then finally had my model posing with multiple poses in order to create an array of photos.

I chose my low quality images with a low shutter speed or blurriness to be RED – Here is a few examples of some red images…

I then chose my ‘good’ photos to be YELLOW ,these photos are okay but not my best work – Here is a few examples of some yellow images…

I then picked my photos that are high quality and good enough to use for display in GREEN – Here is a few examples of some green images…

I then used BLUE to show my absolute best images I took in this photoshoot.

My BEST Images

These are my best images and also my ‘blue’ images which are classed as my most highest quality images in this photoshoot and the photos I could get the highest marks from whilst using lighting techniques.

These photos that I marked with the colour blue, truly capture the effect I was going for, for my first headshots photoshoot. I really like how I attempted to have my models use their hands slightly but not too much. Whilst editing the photos I only slightly changed the contrast, increased the clarity and the sharpness to help my photos look more professional and efficient. I also think the most effective method whilst editing these photos was to cut and resize them, I really think this helped with the more professional and ‘headshot’ look I was aiming for. By cutting out the parts of the images that are plain or had a white or black background.

Diamond Cameo

Here is how I made my diamond cameos…

I first opened Adobe Photoshop and imported 4 images of my first model from Adobe Lightroom.

I then clicked and dragged these photos into a diamond formation with my model looking at angles where it looks like she is looking up, looking left and looking forwards.

I then selected the rectangular marquee tool and pressed the elliptical marquee tool in order to create an oval shape around my photo.

This diamond shape then cut my image into a diamond shape with no background, I did this by deleting the layer by dragging it into the bin.

I then clicked the free transform button to arrange these oval shaped images into a diamond shape, this helped to create a ‘diamond cameo’. This is in inspiration of Henry Mullins’ work of diamond cameos.

I also created another diamond cameo with my other model Lexi, for this I compiled an array of images where Lexi was looking at some other angles and doing other poses whilst I photographed her. These are the four photos I included in my cameo.

I chose these 4 images for my diamond cameo, after choosing these, I then edited them in Adobe Lightroom…

However, after careful consideration, I decided to use the unedited images to use in my diamond cameo, I did this because I wanted my photos to be more raw and less digitalised in care I wanted to take my diamond cameos further with editing in Photoshop.

To present the entirety of my headshots project together I have collated my best three outcomes of each project and put them together in a virtual gallery. I chose not to mis the projects and present all the same editing style images together so it doesn’t look too busy as the portraits are already bright, colourful and high in detail with interesting things to look at with each one. I added frames on the grid photos to make the photos feel finished and add a bold outline to the grid.

Final Project Evaluation

Overall I really enjoyed this project, it allowed me to try using different studio lighting and then go onto edit creatively using new photoshop techniques while drawing inspiration from prominent photographers. My outcomes are solid and well executed leaving me with lots of new editing tricks and ideas and it helped spark a further interest in studio portraiture.

What is Identity politics?

Identity politics, put simply is the tendency for people from certain religions, ethnic groups, social backgrounds and other groups to create exclusive political alliances, rather than choosing on the brood-based party politics. With the term made in 1977 by the Combahee River collective, its usage went on to become more popular in the 80’s, where events based on identity became more prevalent. Such as with the social activisms of People from The Feminist, LGBT and Civil rights groups. The most recent case of this term can be seen with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a decentralised political and social movement that strides towards showing the highlighted issues around racism. Being an international movement, it can be throughout many countries where black people have experienced racism and oppression. Due to the numerous reported cases of African Americans being killed by white police officers such as Breanna Taylor, the situation grew larger and larger with riots being held in protest. The most significant riot was held when A man called George Floyd was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck. After this, city’s in the US developed into chaos as members of their black community’s and people who supported them, rioted against the police about the unfairness law enforcement had treated them, with the issue becoming so widespread celebrities became involved in the marches held In major cities across the world.

(Such as: John Boyega in London and Jonah Hill in Los Angeles).

(Police and protesters: Clashed amongst the rioting, with fires, tear gas and batons).

With the cases of rioting however, unnecessary violence and property damage, causes harm to both people in and outside the cause. In some cases black business owners found their stores looted and destroyed during the BLM riots despite being supporters of the cause. This raised a question to at what point did it stop becoming about the actual objective of the movement and instead became an excuse for greediness and senseless violence.

Due to foundation of many areas being built on the backs of slavery, the movement found itself originating in America, with one of the major events in history for the cause being the civil rights movement. Spanning from 1954 to 1968, black people held a campaign to abolish Racism, discrimination and segregation in the US. Key figures arose from this such as Rosa parks’ and her bus boycotts as-well as Martin Luther King Jr, speaking out on behalf on creating a world where Black people could be treated equality to other people. 

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.”

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”

On a local level, The Black Lives Matter movement can be found amongst the Channel Islands. One example being the push by protestors to remove the George De Carteret statue in June of 2020 due to his strong links to slavery after the death of George Floyd Sparked a worldwide debate on who should be immortalised in the form of statues.

Since 2020, 168 statues of historical figures who had links to the slave trade have been removed. One of these statues who sparked controversy was the one of George de Carteret outside the George de Carteret Pub we’re it was vandalised for his links to the slave trade.

(White paint was seen to thrown of him in the early stages of the protest, with later protests having ‘blood’ on his hands and bound in chains).

Identity politics can be seen to spark conversation about the issues faced by certain members of our societies. However with the rise of demonstrations amongst different groups it seems that people are at a culture war to make themselves standout amongst each other. However with actions of hardship publicly shown and protested about by these groups, it goes to show how much it is relevant in the world and how it needs to change to make it a better place for everyone to live in.

These are my contact sheets for this shoot, I picked my best shots by making the best shots green and the worst red. I was looking for photos that the lighting was already good prior editing and were well composed.

Edit One

I started by opening one shot on photoshop and dragging a second shot on top of the image, for this one I chose completely contrasting shots, one is black and white and one was taken with coloured gels.

The next step was to adjust the blending layers so both shots were visible creating the unusual multi exposure effect.

Edit Two

Edit Three

Final Outcomes

These are my final outcomes for editing using double exposure, while this is a technique that can be achieved by using a slow shutter speed on the camera I wanted to actually to try and merge two images together using photoshop. The results are quite interesting and like the previous editing of this project I chose too try three quite different edits within the technique I was trying.

Best Shot Evaluation

This is my favourite edit, I love how the colours blend together and let the black and white image poke through beneath the top layer adding depth. The two images have combined to look like one as the bottom layer has the models arm in the shot which I made sure lined up with the top layer fading into the bottom layer. The bottom layer which is the black and white layer has also lined up with the top layer so the models hand is under the colourful layers chin creating lines of grey in amongst the bright colours. The black and white image creating a sort of patchwork appears like the image is pushing thought the top layer. I love how unusual the image looks but for two completely different shots they combine very well looking intentional and focused. It is a playful result of using this editing technique which can create so many different outcomes and styles, however I love how the image isn’t as it first appears and in fact the more you look at it the more details emerge. I think it askes the viewer to look deeper into the photo and while it doesn’t have a deep meaning I aim for it to teach people to not just glance at things and in fact learn form everything you can and that allows you too as it isn’t always as it seems.

These are my shots from both shoots, I have marked the ones I like and will consider using with green and yellow. The red shots are not useable but not at all what I’m looking for or are a bad shot as the model is blinking etc.

Edit One

The first bit of editing I did on this shot on photoshop was to crop the excess blank space out of the image and then use the rectangular marquee tool to select a section of the photo, the models eye.

I then used the move tool to move the selected area and start to create my photo montage.

I repeated the process making sure I moved the selected aeras to new parts of the photo making for an off kilter appearance.

I then created a new selected area and copy and pasted it multiple times, this allowed me to create a layered effect but using the same part of the photo.

Edit Two

For this shot I used the elliptical marquee tool to create a circular shape instead of a rectangle, I repeated the same process as the previous edit but used a circle instead.

I wanted to create something unusual with this photo so I used the filter tab on the one of the selected circles, I did this to be able to then have a blurred circle.

I wanted to create a black and white element within the photo so I used the new adjustments layer on the selected circle selecting the option from the bar below the selected circle.

I then adjusted saturation to make the circle black and white. This adds contrast to the over all photo making for a more interesting montage.

I then selected the background copy layer, once I had done this I used the move tool to move the entire layer moving all the circle selections into an interesting shape and creating further depth to the photo.

Edit Three

I then selected remove background on the triangle layer. Leaving the white triangles over the models face slightly opaque.

I also reedited the first photo I edited by using all the skills I had learnt doing the other edits, I chose to use the polygon lasso tool to allow me to cut out interesting and free hand shapes, I made three out of four of the cut outs black and white by once the area was selected going to image-adjustments-saturation-contrast+brightness adjusting each to suit the area of the photo.

These are my final four photos, I have tried very different ideas on each one. By doing this it has allowed me to experiment with new techniques on photoshop.

This is my favourite final image, it was actually the first one I did but I really like the ‘glitch’ effect created by the editing. The coloured lighting created by using coloured gels on the honey comb flash head has added intrigue to the photo as the lighting is split perfectly down the middle of the image it adds dimension to the shot, however as the hoodie was a reddish colour it has allowed for the editing of the layers to blend in and create an interesting pattern from the shadows and meeting of fabric. I like how it draws the eye into the displaced parts of the photo and creates a powerful feeling as the pose, having the model looking down onto the camera feels like the model is above/ higher figure of authority. Particularly, I like having the black background and how it contrasts well with the blue of the far left displaced rectangle. It doesn’t change the original photo much but does make it a unique image and one that draws the viewer in forcing them to look where parts of the photo are from and ask why it was done. Following this shot I edited two other photos however I think sometimes the simplicity of this photo makes it a very strong, well balanced image. It askes the viewer questions they might not even know the answer too, and as a the photographer and creator of the image myself I am not all too sure ether, it askes the viewer to reflect on why we always look at peoples face first and that is what we tend to judge off of but as humans we have many different layers which one we choose to show an individual is up to us. To explain this idea I used crops of the image and pulled them across and misplacing them to show we look the same but there are different layers to a individual from our emotions to how we react in certain situations.

IDENTITY POLITICS: a political approach based on a particular identity, such as; race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, and social class.

This can be conceptualised being about the presentation and representation of identities. This is founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups, typically aiming for political freedom (at times wishing minority groups) within a society where they are not able to exist freely, attempting to make others understand what it is like for them in a day-to-day life.

The second half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of large-scale political movements—second wave feminism, Black Civil Rights in the U.S., gay and lesbian liberation, and the American Indian movements. Identity politics is greatly connected to the idea that some social groups are oppressed which can lead to stereotyping, violence, appropriation of identities or even erasure of them. The term was coined by the Combahee River Collective in 1977 and gained use in the 1980s, gaining currency with the emergence of social activism, manifesting in various dialogues within the feminist, American civil rights, and LGBT movements, disabled groups, as well as multiple nationalist and postcolonial organizations, for example: Black Lives Matter movement.

For example, in more recent years, the Black Lives Matter movement gained immense news coverage of people of all identity speaking up on the injustice that this group of people face within a society. This movement seeks to highlight racial violence and police brutality within society against black people, with the hashtag created in July 2013. This formed after the after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of a teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. It became nationally recognised for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two more African Americans, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, being only some of the protested names of people who died at the hands of racial violence by the police. In the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 US election. The originators of the hashtag and call to action, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, expanded their project into a national network of over 30 local chapters between 2014 and 2016. Street demonstrations and public protests emerged of people, regardless of who they were, standing up for this cause.

CULTURE WARS: a type of conflict which occurs when different beliefs and cultures clash against one another, the struggling for dominance of their personal values. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal values. This can occur on a micro or macro scale, able to give explanations for violence or even wars.

Cultural conflict is likely to emerge when the rules and values of one cultural group are substantially different from another, and members of the cultures come in contact with each other. This is commonly also phrased as a culture clash.

This term is usually used in western politics concerning issues such as homosexuality, transgender rights or racial viewpoints based upon personal views, morals or lifestyles. An example of cultural conflict is the debate over abortion in the United States, where it is legalised in some states however illegal in others. Ethnic cleansing is another extreme example of cultural conflict. Wars can also be a result of a cultural conflict; for example the differing views on slavery were one of the reasons for the American Civil War.