For this photoshoot, I want to take photos in a natural environment of the individual/individuals who are being photographed as this will further show stereotypes within teenagers as it shows where they are and what they do. I could also use the studio for these images as well.
I want to restage a photoshoot that I conducted in the femininity and masculinity project. This was a photoshoot which included my friend being the model and wearing her dance outfit and doing dance moves which I was able to capture on the camera. I want to redo this photoshoot again with her wearing a different dance outfit to show the difference in the photoshoots but also include some photos from the previous photoshoot as I really like those images. The location of these images will be in the studio. This is because I want to make use of the studio lighting and also explore using different colours on the lights as well. I also think these photos turned out well with a plain background instead of an environment such as a dance studio
I also want to take photos that represent other things that are stereotypical to a specific gender out of the studio and in the environment of that person. eg a male on a football pitch, females doing make up, males looking at cars/ in cars etc. And also show the opposite.
The editing process and the format of my photos:
apart from editing the quality of these images, I want to keep these photos fairly natural without any further editing such as AI so that I can show a good representation of teenage stereotypes. However, I may need to use AI if I am unable to show the stereotype with just the image on its own. Some of the images that I take in the studio I might edit further such as colour splash or layering to make the photo more interesting to the viewer.
Photoshoot 2– Exploring stereotypes over generations
This photoshoot will focus on older photographs from photobooks which will then be restaged. This explores generations and how thing have changed overtime. I will ask my Nan if I could look at photo albums of her and also of my mum.
The location of these photoshoots will generally only be in the studio as the restaging can’t be in the same place as the older photos as they will all be based in the UK.
I am not planning to use myself as the model in the restage photoshoot, instead I will use my friend. This still works as it still will represent my generation as she is the same age.
Things that ill focus on in the photographs:
Changes in women clothing
Changes in camera quality
Changes in how women pose for photos
Black and white vs colour
The editing process and the format of my photos:
The old photos will stay in their original form as the camera quality in the photos will reflect the generation that its from. I will keep some of my own photos in colour and some in black and white. I am also going to keep some of the photo album photos as a main image and possibly use AI to change it into my own.
Our first visit was Jersey Art centre to see Marc Medland.
We next moved to the CCA Gallery to see Glenn Perotte
Glen Perotte has been photographing Jersey for a decade, mixing commercial work with his creative photographic projects. His ‘2020:A Year in Vision’ portrait exhibition saw him capture us islanders and his 2021 ‘Remnants of Life’ saw him turn his hand to hyper-detailed still life of dream-like plants. Building on that foundation, Glen got in shape both physically and mentally to take his work to a new level this year. His subject this time couldn’t be captured in Jersey, but only at the heady heights of Mount Kenya, where Glen had been captivated by the flora and fauna on a previous visit tow years before. The landscape is hauntingly beautiful.
Glen tells us “I wanted to explore the flora of Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest mountain after Kilimanjaro and a uniquely special place. More than a visually striking landmark, Mount Kenya is steeped in spiritual significance, revered as a sacred site by East African communities and beyond. The mountain is seen as a divine presence, drawing people for prayer, meditation, and reflection”. The focus for him was the astonishing plant life that manages to take root in this volcanic and harsh landscape of thin air and rocky terrain, sometimes by banding together and at other times finding a small niche to settle in alone. “Strange, yet wonderfully captivating, these botanical wonders exhibit adaptations honed over millennia to survive the harsh mountain environment. From bizarrely shaped succulents clinging to rocky crevices to peculiar, other-worldly ferns thriving in mist-shrouded valleys, each species tells a tale of resilience and ingenuity”.
At the Jersey Art Centre we saw a project by Marc Medland who creates absurdist collages with different materials. Many were 3D to create depth. One of his projects were creating crime scenes with floor plans to map out the crime, a visual collage to represent the nature of the crime and a description of the actual crime too.
At the CCA Gallery we saw Glenn Perotte who photographed plant life on his journey up a mountain named: Mount Kenya’s Rooted Resilience. These images used a HDR approach to achieve much richer depth and colour.
At Arthouse Jersey we saw two projects:
Dancing Together: A Ballad by Kaarina Kaikkonen. She arranged tops to create works of art. The exhibition we saw moved the shirts from outside into a small gallery room to create a totally different sculpture.
And the sound of colour which projected a story onto a church ceiling. There were two parts, one being the history which is the one we saw.
James, who has been The North Wall’s Propeller Artist for two years, began exploring the idea of GIRLHOOD during the group show ‘Fourteen’ which she facilitated and took part in for ‘Photo Oxford’ 2021. As a way to understand her journey of grief, she began investigating the vulnerability of adolescence as a metaphor of how she felt straight after her father died. Since then, James has been documenting teenage girls, all born at the start of the smartphone era and in a period of transition; gradually moving away from childhood yet nowhere near adulthood. Every adult was once a teenager, and we can all add to the conversation regarding our own teenage years. James tells us, “I, probably like yourself, was invincible as a teenager, yet now as an adult and as a mother I see how vulnerable teenagers are.” The artist’s ability to capture the essence of teenage girls allows for honest and sensitive imagery. Philippa James meaning behind her photos is that lot of teenage feels like waiting for adulthood, waiting for freedom, waiting to be taken seriously. This brilliant, stirring exhibit captures those feelings as well as the excitement kinship and joy of that time, told through McDonald’s trips and post-school bedroom hangouts.
James’ work here recalls the dreamy female gazes of photographers like Petra Collins and Ashley Armitage, although intentionally more grounded and unposed. In Girlhood, the camera seems to simply bear witness rather than glamourise or caution. Her strategy pays off: the unpoised vulnerability and freedom become the collection’s chief strength.
I’m going to be taking pictures of my friends doing their normal weekend ot day to day activity, such as shopping, doing hair, posing, doing make up etc.
For this photoshoot, my initial idea was to go to the woods and experiment with different poses to produce a variety of images with contrasting backstories. I then felt like I could relate this photoshoot to how girl’s lives were before social media and the internet through the vibrant colourful clothing, and smiling faces.
This photoshoot was inspired by Justine Kurland and how her photoshoots follow the lives of runaway teenage girls, choosing to rebel and use their freedom to their advantage. Kurland’s photographs are typically natural editing and lighting, therefore I have chosen to continue this style of editing within this photoshoot.
Edited images:
I really liked this photoshoot, because I felt it worked really well in the woods as it shows how nature can contrast with social media. I also tried to portray a clear understanding of the difference of girls when they’re on social media, compared to when they’re not. Here we can see that the subjects are wearing bright colours, and seem more natural than they would online. This also shows a clear sense of community between the girls.
Evaluation:
For these photographs, I wanted to convey an idea around life before social media, and show the contrast between my photoshoots and the development of teenage girls as social media grows and becomes an addiction.
In the 1950s, smoking was seen as the epitome of cool and glamour throughout industrialised nations. Cigarettes were originally sold as expensive handmade luxury goods for the urban elite. I wanted to present this idea myself through the subjects smoking, as it shows a clear idea that this photoshoot is supposedly meant to be of time before social media. As social media has grown, smoking has become socially unacceptable and there is now recognition of tobacco use as an addiction and cause of cancer, along with concerns about the ill-effects.
Through the use of social media, this information is easy access and has been spread around the world, therefore the rates of smoking is decreasing.
For my personal study, I would like to explore the different styles of Architecture through the ages in Jersey. I would like to do this because I am passionate about Architecture and I aspire to be an Architect in the future. I also believe that Architecture is so important and can transform the way people act and feel within a building. For this project, I will aim to capture the details and shapes of different buildings, both historic and modern. Firstly, I would like to photograph historical architecture such as the unique facades at Havre des Pas. I am interested in taking photographs of older buildings as they have great detail which gives me the opportunity to capture architecture detail photographs. A key Jersey Architect who’s buildings I would like to photograph is Adolphus Curry. Adolphus Curry is one of the most notable photographers and engineers in the history of Jersey. Curry was a member of the Societe of Jersey and played a big role in the development of the Museum and the preservation of many of the island’s historic buildings. Furthermore, Adolphus Curry was a very well-known and loved man and the week leading up to his death in 1910, there were daily updates of his health in the newspaper. Overall, Adolphus Curry was more than just a designer, he contributed to Jersey’s Community by having involvement in other things such as the harbours, railways, sports, rubbish disposal and more. Source
Buildings designed/altered by Adolphus Curry:
These buildings include:
Jersey Opera House
Ladies College
DeGruchy
St Helier Railway Station (At Liberty Wharf)
2-6 Queen Street
Victoria Club, Beresford Street
Ommaroo Terrace, Harve des Pas
Midland Chambers
Masonic Temple
For these images, a key photographer who I am inspired by is Keith Dotson. Here are some images by him which I would like my outcomes to be similar to:
On the other hand, I would also like to photograph modern buildings and their shapes and details. I would like these results to have an abstract approach. I will do this by thinking creatively about the angles in which I take the photographs and paying attention to the framing and composition. A photographer who I am inspired by for these photos is Alex Upton. Here are some of his photos which best indicate what I would like to do:
When reviewing my images, I would like to create juxtaposition between old and new architectural styles by finding images which I can match together. I would like to present my final images in a photobook, starting from historical, detailed architecture to modern, high-rise buildings and the juxtaposition between the styles.
Here are some examples of inspiration for these juxtapositions:
I can recreate these ideas by using images of high-rise buildings, such as Horizon Apartments and the International Finance Centre, and manipulate them by editing images of historical/old buildings onto them in Photoshop.
In addition, I would like to do a typology study of the external facades of buildings at Havre des Pas as they have a unique architectural style.
My Inspiration:
Bernd and Hilla Becher, Preparation Plants, 1966-1974
Overall, my personal study will be focused on architectural styles and details and the contrast between the old and new.
Tom Wood, born 1951, is an Irish street photographer, portraitist and landscape photographer, based in Britain. He was often known as the ‘Photie man’, as he would never forget to bring his camera around where he lived. Wood is best known for his photographs in Liverpool and Merseyside from 1978 to 2001, “on the streets, in pubs and clubs, markets, workplaces, parks and football grounds” of “strangers, mixed with neighbours, family and friends.” Most of his most famous photos where a 5 minute walk from his house in Liverpool, creating interesting stories in each of his street photos. The critic Sean O’Hagan has described Wood as “a pioneering colourist” and “a photographer for whom there are no rules”, while keeping it “up close and personal”.
‘I started doing portraits of these kids hanging around on drugs, or whatever, and some of their parents. It was really tough’
Here are some photos shown in various national museum’s in Liverpool:
As you can see, each image can be a very interesting image on its own, as the context and amount going on in each photo allows that. He didnt have a set way to take his photos, he used whatever he had at the time and walked around looking for interesting subject to take a photo of, some being staged and others being street photography. So many photographers grub about until they have a formula, and then force all their pictures into the same mould. Not Wood. Forever unsatisfied, never content to make a series when a single picture will do, his curiosity and his intellectual powers always fully engaged, he has roamed around making pictures of the world he lives in.
Partly due to cost, from time to time he has used old cine film and out of date film stock for his pictures. This lends a grainy quality to the film, most evident in Bus Journeys. However, his use of medium formats lends fine detail to the negative, allowing much more visual information to be revealed through the printing process. Wood has also tirelessly experimented with printing papers to create the exact colour balances and textures he requires. For him, analogue rather than digital printing, and making his own prints in the darkroom, are important. He sees photographing, printing, selection and editing as inseparable parts of the process of photography.
101 pictures- 2020
Here, I chose 2 photos from his book ‘101 pictures’, it includes many of his most famous photos from his many years of taking photos.
The Final Thought… Champagne PV Tate
Here you can see five people stand apart looking towards and contemplating an artwork out of the frame of Wood’s picture. The lighting is almost oversaturated, and its cropped to only show the people looking at the picture. The temperature is defiantly on the warmer side, with more red and orange colours that blue and purple. This photo is a big contrast from his usual photos, with more upper class people being included. The fact that they are standing equally apart, disconnects this image to reality. This could also be seen as the upper class disconnecting and distancing themselves to middle and lower class people. This is further added by how everyone is lost in there own thoughts, with no connection between each of them, their sobriety of behaviour matched by their dress, which is echoed in the browns of the gallery space. Even the brown, equally spaced framed images behind the subjects matches the overall boring, repetitive theme of this image. However, the 6th subject on the left seemed to have seen the camera, giving this photo some reality, allowing this image to stay somewhat similar to his others.
Beans and chips 2, 1990
This image is a more ‘traditional’ tom wood photo, taken in Liverpool, which contrasts the imaged I used above with everything, from the lighting to the way the subjects are portrayed. here, light is an essential feature of this image, with the suns patchy light illuminating four young people as they eat there chips and beans at the sea front, with a colourful blue rail behind them, adding a barrier between the foreground and background. The barrier also adds lines across the photo, drawing the eyes towards them, thus drawing the eyes towards the unrepetitively placed subjects. This uneven placement of people makes it seem real (documentary). Each person in this photo is wearing bold and brightly coloured clothes, further giving this image life and value. I think the best part of this image is the peoples faces, each being unique and funny, which makes the viewer think about there stories and the connections between them.
Sam Taylor-Johnson – crying men
Sam Taylor-Johnson, born in 1967, is a British film director and artist. She began her creative carrier with fine art photography in the early 1990s, collaborating with Henry bond and creating a pastiche of various things, like the photo taken by Annie Leibovitz of Lennon a few hours before his assassination. However, she isn’t known for her photographer work back when she was younger, rather her as being a famous film director. So why am I talking about her? its because she created a series called ‘crying men’ which shown many male actors crying in films. From 2002 to 2004, after Sam had battled breast cancer, as an ‘exorcism of tears‘ she photographed actors crying, a mix of old Hollywood actors as well as young up and coming actors at the time. It was a revealing look at some actors you may not have seen cry on screen and raises questions about how masculine vulnerability is portrayed on screen, as well as how society has drummed it into men not to cry. I think this series is very impactful to see, as actors like Michael Madsen can be seen crying, and he’s usually depicted as the ‘tough guy’ in films. Men’s mental health is becoming a serious issue that’s been overlooked for many years and only now people are beginning to take action. For example, the highest cause of death for men under 45 is suicide, facts like these brings more attention to the topic of men’s mental health.
Soliloquy 1
Here is Taylor-Woods image ‘Soliloquy 1‘, we see a man exhausted on a sofa, with his right arm hanging lifeless to the floor. This pose is emulates a very popular work by painter Henry Wallis, the death of Chatterton (1856). The light source coming from behind keeps the main subject mostly in the shadows, giving a more dramatic image.
Neil Leifer
Neil Leifer (born in 1942) is probably the most well known sport photographer and created some of the most iconic shots. I will getting some inspiration from him when I turn towards sports, specifically basketball, when linking it to masculinity.
Leifer often uses unique angles and perspectives to tell a story through his images, setting him apart from other sports photographers. His style is characterized by a keen eye for composition, timing, and the use of colour and light to create dynamic and striking images, allowing him to capture the intensity and emotion of the athletes in his photographs.
Here are some photos I like:
All these photos are incredibly dramatic, from the intense facial expressions to the detailed backgrounds, each with there own unique stories. The photo with Muhammad Ali (likely the most famous boxer of all time), is particularly dramatic. It shows a victorious Ali standing over the defeated Sonny Liston, shot during a 1965 world title fight. Leifer admitted that luck played a big part in getting this picture, since if he was positioned in a different part of the ring, it would the photo would never of been as famous. However, even with his luck, creating a photo like this requires lot of skill, as the cameras back then where not as easy to use as they are now, as well as trying to get that close to the ring side. The buzz and excitement is also been presented very well in this image, with countless camera all around the ring, and the tense Ali standing in the centre of the frame. Below are some quotes that I will take note on with my photos:
“I always try to tell a story with my pictures. You have to know the sport and the athletes to be able to anticipate the action.”
“Lighting is everything. The difference between a good picture and a great picture often comes down to the way the light falls on your subject.”
“I’ve always believed that you can’t be in the right place at the right time unless you’re in the right place all the time.”
Some more research that I may or may not use
I had also done a little bit of research on these photographers:
Sarah Jones
Gregory Crewdson
Jeff Wall
Tom Hunter
Philip Lorca Di Corcia
Justine Kurland
Troy Paiva
Paul M smith
Martin Schoeller
New York-based photographer whose style of “hyper-detailed close ups” is distinguished by similar treatment of all subjects whether they are celebrities or unknown. He has managed to get many famous people (like Koby Bryant) to be in his portrait photos.
Sophie Day is another photographer I will be getting inspiration from. She spent three years continuously photographing close male friends, amassing an archive of their shared experience. Along the way, she refined her own understanding of masculinity – a girl amongst boys, reflecting on their social codes and behaviours. Here are some photos I like:
Throughout this project I am going to explore the theme ‘Street photography.’ I feel there is much more to explore within street photography, as what usually goes unnoticed is actually the most interesting thing to capture. Through my interest in art and painting, it had inspired me to look differently at what makes up the streets, for example colour to features of buildings, road signs, lights, signage, posters, and letters. I feel like this alone makes the street a much more vibrant and lively place when you look closely into it, revealing alsorts of hidden features. From this I am going further experiment looking closely into visual elements such as colour, shape, texture, composition, pattern, line, and space. Looking at the graphical and structural elements that contrasts each other is what I am interested in exploring. Further developing my photos in lightroom to intensify the original colour, and formations.
o explore this concept of ‘capturing unnoticed,’ as this will not only engage the viewer but reveal something. Exploring this I
Why it matters to you?
Through knowing different styles of art, I look at the streets in more artistic was paying closer attention to minor details, colours or formations which all work together to create very visually appealing streets. I like admiring colours expressed through graphical signs/ prints and on architectural buildings, to further looking closer at relfections and shadows or people and other interesting objects that make up the street. Fomalism is abstract art. The particular way colours are distinguished between more colours, separated by distinct lines is further represented within the streets whether we notice it or not. This concept really inspires me as I admire this contrasting effect formed through different ways. The graphical prints created by the sold block colours which are further expressed with details create this type of contrast as unusual shapes and outlines are formed through this.
How you wish to develop your project?
Inspiring artists Saul Leiter and Lee Friedlander, show how they use similar techniques being inspired by formalism. I am going to take various approaches they use, in particular abstraction. This idea of presetting photos in an unrecognisbae way, but engages you through the use of expressive formations and vibrant colours presents a unique perspective of street photography.From for example using popele as subjects withtin the street. This will allow me to create a contrasting feature to explore with overall adding more to the image.
I want to use aspects of street photography within my own work, inspired by Lee Friedlander and Saul Leiter. Then further zooming into aspects that are personal. For example looking at signs, then seeing this in relation to someone within a photo, like getting their expressions and relation to the words. Further developing this by zooming in on how this signing and wording has a relationship with them personally. This will create this documentary and series of photos that express this gripping narrative, and unique approach to street photography. Exploring this through the composition of lines, pattern, space, form to colour, texture and tones, which will help me achieve this high contrast effect between these different elements, working together communicating this engaging and visually appealing narrative.
Which form you wish to present your study (photobook, film, prints etc)
When and where you intend to begin your study?
I am going to start off with capturing interesting formations and structured elements that i and interesting and unique, from signs and wording, to reflections of people through windows to buildings which will create this visually appealing composition. When taking the photo I want to have in mind this element of high contrast which I am going to express through the photo; layouts, lines, how the person is displayed within this, overall creating engaging shapes and colours.
how you interpret the themes of ‘OBSERVE, SEEK, CHALLENGE’
Throughout Observe, seek and challenge I am going to explore street photography and people but making it personal through using people I know and places I am familiar with, documenting a story that personal to me, following . Inspired by Saul Leiter, I love his use of bold compositions created by contrasting elements through colours, reflections, lines, shapes. I love this structural look created by colour, shape, texture, composition, pattern, line, space ,
This will overall help me a I feel this approach wiI want to show a journey throughout, creating a sequence of photos.
I am going to take photos at different points of the day, for example during peak hustle and bustle times of the day, to during the evening and at night.
At night – capture people going out, in their outfits,
look at buildings that have a meaning around time then focus in on someone – follow them i the moment
