Introduction

Photography started with many years ago with a camera obscura, and using this camera obscura we began creating different ways of capturing the light. Some of the first ways where the Daguerreotype and Calotype process. The Daguerreotype process required a perfectly reflective silver plated copper, almost like a mirror, to capture the light. The Calotype process used a sheet of paper coated with silver chloride and exposed to light in a camera obscura, which is basically a small window into the real world, creating a negative image (the Daguerreotype process also used a camera obscura). So the idea of windows and mirrors in practical photography have been around for hundreds of years. However, as cameras become more common with a larger and larger catalogue of images, there became a pattern which most images followed, with some images being more subjective and romantic (a term used to show the indispensable presence of its maker in the picture), and others being more documentary like and objective. These ideas relate to mirrors and windows respectively. However, using the ideas of how a camera works, with view finder, or the window into the camera, and how the photographers view is almost always reflected onto the photo, means its hard to find an image that fits into one category.

Mirror

This image by Cristina-de-Middel is clearly very staged and manipulated. Its one photo in a collection by her to rebuild some a little Zambian story about astronauts, you can learn more here. It is of a person, with homemade clothing walking like there are on the moon almost. The background contrasts the subject in a way that makes it look edited (with the background being dark and rocky and the subject having colourful native clothing on), further enhancing this manipulated look. The covered up face with the helmet adds a sense of curiosity to the image as we don’t know who is under it. Its also a tableau as it has a model positioned by the photographer, reflecting there views on the scene. This also links to John Szarkowski’s quote about mirror in photography, “reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it”, as she added her own twist to the original Zambian story. However Jed Pearl’s review on Szarkowski’s thesis opposes this view of a clear ‘mirrored’ image of the artist, as all of photography by its very nature can create a inclusive acceptance of fact and objective structure, yet the choosing of images and the facts to show for them is the romantic/mirrored part of a photograph. In my opinion, I think Szarkowski’s thesis is the most correct as he believes all photographs are on a continuous axis but most lean towards one side. So with this image, the romanticism side is obvious with the planned shots and the modifications of the original story of the Zambian astronaut, but the fact that there was an original story leans the axis slightly less towards the staged side and towards the factual side.

Window

This picture was taken in 1969 by the Garry Winogrand in Los Angeles, in public. He is a famous street photographer so already the photographer cannot add his own input to the subjects in the photo, only the subjects can change from the photographer being there. For example, the three women that are in the light may notice the camera and make themself appear better. This already makes this image more of a truthful, and natural image, and removing the romanticism from the image, contrasting the tableau image above. The person on the left, with his curved back, contrasting the straight lines of the lights and buildings, further emphases the truthful nature of this image. The photographer can, however, add input to the composition of the photo, like how he tilted the camera to create more diagonals in his images, adding more dynamism and drama, as well as cropping images to remove some of the truth, to create an image that matches the photographers desire. in Szarkowski’s thesis realist is ‘generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure, and the logic of process and system’, however, this image can never be a realist image by those standards as its already subjective by the photographers modification on the composition of the image. In Jed Pearl’s review of Szarkowski’s thesis, he states that his thesis, ‘gives little value to photography’s a priori status as a realist activity’. I agree with this point as with this photo, its objectively unedited and natural, making it a documentary photo, instead of a tableau, where as Szarkowski believe there is not a definitive line between those two categories.

@t-little14

So, How can photographs be both mirrors and Windows of the world, I believe its because we cannot draw a line between the mirror photographs and the window photographs. Above I said that drawing a line between a documentary and tableau photo makes sense. This is because those words cannot be subjective otherwise they would be pointless to use. However, when it comes to mirror and window photographs, like Szarkowski said, its very hard to leave one photo in one category as even with documentary photos, its hard to not reflect some of the photographers visions (consciously or unconsciously) onto the final photo. I disagree with Pearl’s review, which was that no photos can be mirrors as, by nature, they are a window into the world, because of the fact that the photographers visions will always be reflected onto the photo. The opposing concepts of objectivity and subjectivity with windows and mirrors both features displayed in almost aspects of a photo, as I have explained above with two images. Even with the the image being more ‘Window’ like or ‘Mirror’ like, I have shown that it will still display aspects that oppose its original ‘designated’ category.

Introduction:
Photography can turn something ordinary into extraordinary, photography transforms what it describes. Early origin’s of photography starts with Camera Obscura, this is when you have a blacked out room, with a tiny hole from the outside world showing the light into the room. After around 1-2 hours of patiently waiting, there will show an upside down natural photo of exactly what is on the other side of the hole in the wall. A darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object on to a screen inside, a forerunner of the modern camera. In the modern world, images can act as (emotions, memories, and identities), suchlike humans, offering a view into lives, places, and perspectives outside of our own. These dual roles make photographs complex and multi-dimensional objects and allow photographs to explore so many options. As mirrors, they allow us to see ourselves and our experiences through images. Whereas windows, they expose us to ideas, cultures, and ways people live their life’s, fostering a deeper understanding of the diverse world we live in. The balance between these two functions reveals how photographs can be both personal, but also explore the outside-world, intimately tied to the viewer’s own journey, while also broadening their view beyond them. The Daguerreotype and the Calotype are two early photographic processes, each with distinct characteristics and technical methods. The Daguerreotype uses a copper plated sheet with a thin coat of silver to create a detailed image on.
The Calotype is the original negative and positive process which was invented by William Henry Fox Talbot. This process uses a paper negative to make a print with a softer, less sharp image instead of the daguerreotype.

In my opinion and view, I feel like this photo is clearly classed as a ‘mirror’ photo instead of a ‘window’ photo because firstly, you can tell it’s staged with the young boys face being in one of the windows with the crack on it. But, also the fact that where a bullet or rock hit the window, (that’s what the shatter and damage looks like it could of been hit by), is exactly where the boys eye is, to perhaps symbolise the hurt within him or the struggles he has to live through everyday. Also, the fact that the photo is in black and white, also adds more thoughts and feelings on to the overall photo, whereas instead of it being in colour, being able to see the boys bright, vibrant clothes, with the house through the window which could’ve had a bright orangey/red roof or if there was grass on the floor. This would make the viewer not feel as bad and wouldn’t express the photo as sad as it should be. But, it is in black and white, to help persuade the viewer of the time, place and even the struggles that the boy had to live in everyday. Finally, a good factor that helps this photo, is that the boy is also very young, which helps photographs and ideas to showcase sadness and struggles from a young age.

“Photography was easy, cheap and ubiquitous, and it recorded anything: shop windows and sod houses and family pets and steam engines and unimportant people. And once made objective and permanent, immortalized in a picture, these trivial things took on importance.” – John Szarkowski.

“Authority and Freedom. A defense of the arts.” – Jed Perl

These quotes relate to each other with Szarkowski’s meaning how unimportant people are to be made as objective and permanent, immortalised people inside a photograph. Which is similar to Perl’s with his quote meaning that people aren’t free and do not have authority and so they are used in photos as well and that the lack of authority and freedom – objective and immortal, these circumstances act as a defense of the arts.

Paragraph 2 (250 words): Choose an image that in your view is a window and analyse how it is an objective expression rooted in a sense of realism. Choose one quote from Szarkowski’s thesis and another from Jed Pearl’s review and follow similar procedure as above ie. two opposing points of view and commentary to provide a critical perspective.

Conclusion (250 words): Refer back to the essay question and write a conclusion where you summarise Szarkowski’s theory and Pearl’s review of his thesis. Describe differences and similarities between the two images above and their opposing concepts of objectivity and subjectivity, realism and romanticism, factual and fiction, public and private.

The daguerreotype photographic process is a positive process. It is a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper with a thin layer of silver and this process has no use of negatives. This process is very delicate, and the sheet of copper and layer of silver must be cleaned before you start the process and must look like a mirror. The daguerreotype process is accurate, detailed and sharp. The Calotype process uses negative and positives and was invented by William Henry Fox Talbot. This process uses a paper negative which results in a softer and less sharp image than a daguerreotype image. To create a calotype image, the sheet of paper needs to be iodized by applying solutions of silver nitrate and potassium iodide under candlelight. The same surface needs to be sensitized using a “Gallo-nitrate of silver” solution and lastly the piece of paper needs to be dried and loaded onto the camera obscura. The calotype process produces a transparent image which can be easily multiplied by contact printing; however, a daguerreotype image can only be multiplied by using a camera. Therefore, the calotype process had an advantage over the daguerreotype process. An image can either be a window image or a mirror image.  

Mirror Image :

This is a mirror image by Cindy Sherman. The reason why this is a mirror image is because the image reflects Cindy Sherman as a person. In this image, it shows a woman in the kitchen and this is a stereotype about how woman are said to cook and clean for the men. Cindy Sherman has used this image to mirror herself as a woman who is also stereotyped to do this same thing. I really like the way Cindy Sherman has presented this image in black and white as it makes the image more dramatic and creates a solemn tone to the image. This could be to present the woman in the image as sad and upset about the ways that woman are viewed. I also like the way the woman is looking in the opposite direction to the kitchen as Cindy Sherman could be trying to portray that the woman doesn’t want to be included in the stereotype. Cindy Sherman has used gender role to metaphorically reflect on her own identity and used this to interrogate her own position in these roles. The use of the mirror image is a way to show differences between the identity of woman and the cultural expectations. “The mirror reveals to us the world of our own making”, this is a quote I have chosen from John Szarkowski’s thesis. This quote shows how mirror images reflect on the photographer and can portray the views and feelings of the photographer.

Window Image :

This is a window image taken by Gary Winogrand who was an American street photography.

Paragraph 2 (250 words): Choose an image that in your view is a window and analyse how it is an objective expression rooted in a sense of realism. Choose one quote from Szarkowski’s thesis and another from Jed Pearl’s review and follow similar procedure as above ie. two opposing points of view and commentary to provide a critical perspective.

Conclusion (250 words): Refer back to the essay question and write a conclusion where you summarise Szarkowski’s theory and Pearl’s review of his thesis. Describe differences and similarities between the two images above and their opposing concepts of objectivity and subjectivity, realism and romanticism, factual and fiction, public and private.

A Mirror reflects a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world.

In the summer of 1835 William Henry Fox Talbot experimented with various chemicals to develop paper coatings suitable for use in a camera. He placed small wooden cameras that his wife called “mousetraps” all over his estate. The earliest surviving paper negative dates from August 1835, a small recording of the bay window of Lacock Abbey (left). In 1978, the German photographer Floris Neusüss visited Lacock Abbey to make photograms of the same window. He returned again in 2010 for the Shadow Catchers exhibition at the V&A to create a life-sized version of Talbot’s window.

The idea of photographs functioning like windows makes total sense. Like the camera viewfinder, windows frame our view of the world. We see through them and light enters the window so that we can see beyond. Photographs present us with a view of something.
However, it might also be possible to think of photographs as mirrors, reflecting our particular view of the world, one we have shaped with our personalities, our subconscious motivations, so that it represents how our minds work as well as our eyes. The photograph’s glossy surface reflects as much as it frames. Of course, some photographs might be both mirrors and windows.

“The two creative motives that have been contrasted here are not discrete. Ultimately each of the pictures in this book is part of a single, complex, plastic tradition. Since the early days of that tradition, an interior debate has contested issues parallel to those illustrated here. The prejudices and inclinations expressed by the pictures in this book suggest positions that are familiar from older disputes. In terms of the best photography of a half-century ago, one might say that Alfred Stieglitz is the patron of the first half of this book and Eugène Atget of the second. In either case, what artist could want a more distinguished sponsor? The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is: is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world?” 
— John Szarkowski, 1978.

Edit 1: Colour splash

For this edit, I decided to do a colour splash with this image. I chose this image because to had many vibrant colours to choose from. the yellow boat stood out to me as it was slightly out of the group of boats and also the most noticeable colour. I first went to saturation of individual colours and turned all saturation down to 0 for each colour apart from yellow. This then left me with the image on the second screen grab above where I had the yellow boat visible but also many other yellow parts in the image were also visible and not in black and white. I then clicked the brush tool, circled in the top right, and turned the saturation down for the brush. I simply needed to brush over the rest of the image around the yellow boat so that the image was all black and white apart from the yellow boat.

Final Edits:

Edit 2: Marquee tool experimentation

For this edit I chose a photo and decided to make it more interesting but adding a section in the centre that stood out. I used the Elliptical Marquee Tool to create the circle and clicked shift to make it a perfect circle so all I needed to do was adjust the six and the position of it. I put it in the centre of the image and then right clicked the circle and clicked layer via copy. I experimented with the shadowing and position of the circle by adding a drop shadow to create the effect that it does below. I made this shadow the whole way around the circle. I then went down to the layers on the right and made the middle section black and white and kept the background in colour to create the second image below.

High saturation edits-

For this edit I simply had to change the saturation dial on Lightroom and make it the highest possible one. As well as doing that I also went on each individual colour and upped the saturation on each to make sure I had the highest amount. This made the image look more vibrant and less dull and grey looking.

The photoshoot of the harbour included many different areas which meant I was able to get a large range of images. This included the new harbour and the old harbour. personally I prefer the old harbour photos and I also put some of them in black and white to match the more older theme to the photo.

I merged all photoshoots into one as some of these were taken over 3 different times.

I think to improve this shoot I should go down on a different day when the weather is brighter as a large number of the photos have cloudy skies which make them much darker. However, this also worked well with some photos as the black and white effect matches well with darker/ cloudy skies.

Black & White Images

For this photoshoot we went to Jersey’s Maritime museum where we listened to a talk about the history and then had our own time to look around and gather photographs of the museum. There were may different parts to the museum such as the occupation section which focussed on the world war.

I liked this photoshoot however I don’t think I will use it in my final zine as i would struggle to find many things that linked together. The images that are larger above were my favourite images from the photoshoot