Colour photography is an area I have always wanted to explore, the use of colour (or the lack of it) can really define an image and be a great tool in creating beautiful, eye catching and exciting photographs. I feel like the world is becoming less colourful and more dull with most modern buildings being painted with colours such as dark greys and whites. Nowadays, cars too, are either coloured in white, back, grey and silver also logos are losing their colour and signage is becoming more dull. It does not help that the sky is usually overcast and grey which can dampen your mood.
I am not the only one who notices this with a study finding that three out of four manufactured cars are painted in monochrome and the most popular carpet colour is grey. Researchers from the science museum group also analysed thousands of photographs and found that in the 1800s monochrome colours only represented around 15% of all the items in the photographs, but nowadays that number has increased to around 60% of items being either black, white or grey (Aleksandra Pękala, April 2024).
To combat this, I want to show the importance of colour by creating colourful and vibrant photographs. A fun and effective area of this is painting with light because it has the potential to be creative and illustrative. The artists I want to analyse, both use light painting in their work as well as other photographic techniques such as long exposure and bracketing. Will Lakeman and Benoit Paillé, both create interesting and beautiful dream like images through the use of colour photography, night photography and light painting. I want to respond to their style of work by capturing and trying to recreate the dream like effect their images have as well as the way they use colour to help compliment their work.
In this photoshoot I went to the beach near kiosk, because this was a beach I used to go to very often when I was younger, and even up until last Summer. I also go to kiosk quite often, so this setting and the activities presented here represent my identity very well. We also visited a shed that we used to go to in Summer, but it has a lot of damage now, so I took photos of the setting and us exploring.
Contact Sheet
The images which are highlighted green are the photos that I have chosen to edit, because they represent my themes of youth and identity the best, and they have the best compositions and lighting.
Edits
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would slightly brighter and more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be slightly more exposed, as the lighting was not the best, as it had started to get darker.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed and slightly more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be slightly less exposed, as I has used the flash, so the lighting was not the best. I also wanted it to be slightly more vibrant, so that the colour of the rocks would pop more.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I have done this, so that the image was less exposed, because the lighting was too harsh, due to me using the flash. I also wanted the colours of the rocks to be more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights, saturation and blacks. I did this, so that the image was less exposed, because of the harsh lighting due to the flash being used.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, because it was very dark, so I needed the image to be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to the image, because there was a lot of blue tones throughout the image.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more exposed and more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the paper was less white and had more of a yellow tone, so that it would appear older.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and whites. I did this, so that the image was more exposed, so that the subjects flash was brighter and more could be seen.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more vibrant and saturated.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that it is more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter and the paint splatters were more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image had slightly warmer tones through it, rather than cool tones.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter and the colours of the paint were more vibrant.
I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so the image would be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint, because the image had lots of blue tones through it, so I wanted to cancel them out.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more exposed. I also added a yellow tint, because the image had lots of blue tones through it, so I wanted to cancel them out.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the whites, saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that so the image would be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to this image, because there were lots of blue tone throughout it.
I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the whites, saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to this image to cancel out the blue tones in it.
Photoshoot Conclusion
Overall, I think this photoshoot went well, because I was able to create and present different narratives of activities I used to do when I was younger. I was also able to experiment with shutter speed in this photoshoot, so I could create movement in my photos.
However, I thought the still image walking down the lane was more visually pleasing, but I am glad I experimented.
I was also able to get detail shots, which would be good to use in my photobook to break up my images a bit.
Detail Shot
However, next photoshoot I would need to go out a bit earlier, as it started getting dark very early, meaning I had to use the flash, which didn’t create the best lighting for the images.
Photobooks are a typical format for presenting a photographers gallery of images. These images are contained into a concept, collection or a story, having an overarching theme. Sequencing and placement of the images are defining factors that contribute to the aesthetic of the book, however many photographers sometimes use text to relate these images to more qualitative information too.
Laia Abril – ‘The Epilogue’
“giving voice to the suffering of the indirect victims, the unwilling eyewitnesses of a very painful degeneration” – Laia Abril, Burn Magazine
I chose Laia Abril’s photobook ‘The Epilogue’ to deconstruct as not only does it surround a sensitive topic, this being the story of the Robinson family after the loss of their 26-year-old daughter to Bulimia, but it also incorporates many unique techniques in order to keep the narrative consistent and detailed.
“Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are brutal holidays in our family” – Cammy’s brother
Abril works closely with the family to reconstruct Cammy’s life through memories and flashbacks to depict the second-hand implications that her family were affected by also, showing not only the absence, frustration and guilt that her family share, but to act as a memorial to her wilfulness and energy. By doing so, this photobook comes together to act as a bittersweet way of remembering a loved one.
However, this photobook has wider applications through its explorations of the dilemmas and inner conflicts that many young girls and their parents face, and by giving voice to the suffering of the family or the indirect victims of eating disorders, such as close friends, it allows their eyewitness stories to be heard to process this grief, or allowing the viewer to relate and feel seen in order to prove that they aren’t alone in their battle against it. This conveyed narrative of loss, tragedy and remembrance provides a tone of solace to the viewer through the rawness and honesty in documenting Cammy’s story.
Being quite a large photobook, Abril has multiple genres in relation to her image-making in order to depict the Robinson’s family accurately, whilst also being paired with information in a text format, including ‘testimonies’ from family members, as well as small captions describing what the image represented or what it involved.
The Epilogue employs contemporary pictures, archived family images, letters, interviews, and documents in order to attempt to answer the complex question of Cammy’s identity and highlight how she was beset by psychological problems. This breaks down her life into a distressing amount of detail and picks apart the events in her life leading up to her death so that we, as the viewer, can gain a holistic perspective of her and her family dynamic.
The book begins with candid images of the Robinson family paired with more landscape images to gain an initial understanding of who this person may be and allows the viewer to have a glimpse into what Cammy’s life was like:
The beginning images connote love and connection, this could be suggestive not only to the bond they share in their times of remembrance and grief, but also how Cammy was surrounded by adoration from all members of her family. This could also be relative to how this story began until her Bulimia deteriorated her.
Similarly, Abril incorporates contemporary images of items too, such as strawberries or trainers in the back of the car, possibly symbolising how remnants of Cammy are everywhere, and how they feel that she is still with them.
Abril includes medical information too. Towards the beginning of the book, Cammy’s new born identification sheet is digitised, creating a familiarity between the viewer and herself. Abril also does this with what seems to be Cammy’s ECG paper (tracing her heart) as it states earlier in the book that she previously had more than one seizure in relation to her eating habits.
Diary entries and letters from Cammy and family members also take multiple formats in The Epilogue, either being digitised, for example:
A diary entry from Cammy detailing her triggers
However, Abril also plants sections of these documents and data by making them look like leaflets overlaying the images that the viewer can pull out and read. I really like this aspect on Abril’s work because this creates a more physical perspective for the viewer rather than it being a singular visual narrative to make it more engaging. This could be a symbolisation of how her illness had good and bad days, explaining how her illness could spike at any given moment even in the midst of happy memories. I thought that this was extremely effective.
Abril also employs the use of archived images in order to be reminiscent on Cammy’s life and the moments that she felt enjoyment in order to make The Epilogue encapsulate the fluidity of emotion around this topic. Her use of various image styles and methods reinforce this idea, and this allows Abril to rehearse the story of the Robinson’s family overall to really assess what the situation was like and how this impacted all members.
With the image below, its clear to see that Abril uses a multitude of formats when layering her images too. This includes:
Double page spreads,
Single page,
Half page spreads,
Abril also would play alternate with the sizing and placement of the images, sometimes making the image look as if it came from a polaroid, in contrast to placing the image just off-centre.
Laia Abril:
Abril’s work in photography is heavily affiliated with themes of bio-politics, grief and women’s rights. Abril pushes the boundaries from looking into the failing structures of law that continue to perpetuate rape culture, to the impacts of abortion control in varying cultures, leading to her various projects surrounding the impacts of eating disorders – Thinspiration, for example, being a self-published zine that challenges the use of photography in pro-ana websites (websites which use the promotion of behaviours that influence anorexia nervosa).
Her bodies of work strive to advocate for inequalities, specifically more feminist matters, which are able to act as forms of activism for the female community, and give those less fortunate a voice. I feel that with The Epilogue, Abril is striving to speak out to young girls who may be struggling with body image or an eating disorder themselves, and strives to assure them that they are not alone. This also provides solace to parents or families who may have a young daughter who struggles with an eating disorder or recovering from one, so that they can hear the Robinson’s story and use this to find peace within their possible own grief. Eating disorders are a sensitive issue and I feel that Abril intended to show the harsh reality behind them in order to spread this awareness, and could possibly be used to create preventative methods against them through the spread of awareness.
The Epilogue “… is a sombre and affecting photobook … dense and rewarding … At times, it makes for a painful read. From time to time, I had to put it down, take a breather. But I kept going back.”– The Guardian, Critic Sean O’Hagan
The Epilogue has received numerous awards, some of these being:
In 2014, The Epilogue was shortlisted as First PhotoBook award in the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards
The Hood Medal of the Royal Photographic Society
In 2023, the Spanish National Photography Prize
The PhotoEspaña Best Book Award
The PhotoBook festival in Kassel
Narrative, Design, Concept:
The term ‘Epilogue’ actually means a final or concluding act or event, usually a section at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment or conclusion on what has happened. I find that this being paired with a graphic rectangle over can be assumed to be Cammy’s face is very powerful as it secretly hints at her death without giving away any specifics until further into the photobook. I find that this could be metaphorical for how different she became, as eating disorders do not change just a person’s body but their attitude, personality and mindset too. Although the title is literal, I find it quite poetic too as this is concluding what happened to Cammy until the end of her life, resonating with the ending of the book. The weight of the book goes hand-in-hand with the title too as it tacitly hints at the dark and heavy subject matter that Abril is representing.
The beginning and last pages have an ominous blue tonality to them, appearing to be leaves against a wall at night-time. This adds to the solemnity that the front cover inhabits, preparing the viewer for this dark story. The photobook has a hard cover that has been printed on, however the graphic section of blue is slightly raised in an embossed way. This is where the design is raised up from the surrounding material. Within the book, this also consists of three chapters categorised into dates so that there is a progression of her illness at three intervals. All of the pages are kept white and portrait, however some images have been enlarged so that Abril could have pages which fold over so that it is interactive.
Defining image
Whilst all the different types of images that Laia Abril employs in this photobook, the image of the scales above is the most defining image of the photobook. This image is extremely powerful, being that it would have been used by Cammy when tracking her weight. The swift in tonality between the scales themselves and the white background creates an ominous tone that can be echoed throughout the rest of the photobook with support from Abril’s other images, adding a ghostly effect to the scales themselves. In my work, I would like to be able to use this idea of having a defining image in my photobook, because Abril has been able to use this to solidify and verify the narrative that the other images were implicitly hinting at. Images like these can tend to pause the viewer so that they can take time to really connect with the context of the narrative and think about the deep conceptual meaning behind it.
QUESTION IDEA- How are women portrayed in art by the work of Helmut Newton in comparison to the work of Cindy Sherman’s untitled film stills?
DEADLINE: Essay Introduction Draft MUST be handed in Thursday 18 Dec 2024
DEADLINE: Final Essay MUST be handed in Fri 31 Jan 2025
Literary sources: Go to this blog post here: Theory: Literary Sources and copy relevant key texts relating to the subject of your essay and list in alphabetical order in your bibliography. In addition, find your own key texts in relation to artists selected for in-depth analysis in your essay and list these too. These texts could be interviews with the artist, or reviews/ critique’s written by others. See useful online sites/ sources here .
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages, page number to be used for in-text referencing etc.
Essay Plan Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have PRODUCED.
‘To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.’ (Sontag 1977:4)
Photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have the right to observe.
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used:
Sontag,S. (1977) ‘In Plato’s Cave’ in On Photography. London: Penguin Books.
Judith Butler is an academic and writer who is an authority on feminism and gender studies, incl queer theory. Her seminal book is: Gender Trouble which we do have a copy of in the Library LRC and in Media. Here is a good overview of her work – make sure you read it all and watch video as well.
For my second personal study photoshoot, I chose to use 4 of my friends as models and recreated scenes inspired by Justine Kurland, Ramona Wang and Roberta Tocco. The location of this shoot was in indoor and outdoor locations, meaning I was able to get a range of different images portraying different feminine ideas and perspectives. This differs from the first shoot I executed because it was only based on outdoor scenes, meaning I only had a limited amount of different backgrounds to include, which didn’t add any unique elements for me. Although this photoshoot incorporates factors from both my artist inspirations as they share focus on femininity, within this photoshoot I have portrayed similar aesthetics to Roberta Tocco specifically because she includes female models often displaying a close relationship with one another, for example physical touch, in her images. I have recreated these by photographing my friends including myself exhibiting these ideas, where we are often seen as being feminine by ‘comforting’ one another. I believe that the use of physical touch between females successfully links to my project and the overall themes, this is because stereotypically, women are seen as nurturing due to us having duties of having children, and this highlights the importance of having emotional connections with others. Other photos I captured such as portraits of one model individually can also link to youth and femininity due to the fact by having one female model in an image the viewer is able to make assumptions of why the image was taken, what I am trying to portray and identify what the main subject is. Contrastingly, I did photograph outside in a dark and empty car park, where we took the images of the girls out the car window and on the car bonnet. The reasoning behind this was to illustrate teenagers girls and their fantasy life, which again links to Tocco and her focus. These images show the feelings girls have towards growing up and becoming young adults who need to find their own identity. By photographing youthful and women-like factors, it allows me to begin telling my own story through my own personal experiences of being a young woman who is slowly steering away from childhood, and I feel that these images represent girlhood and youth effectively.
On Lightroom, I imported all 273 images from my shoot, and placed them in a new collection named “Personal Study photoshoot 2” so I could have future access to this photoshoot. I then flicked through all the images, and deleted the ones that had no potential and perhaps did not reflect my artists or display the themes I am focusing my project on. Next, I categorised all my images into one of three categories by colour coding; green, yellow or red. Which makes the editing process easier as I will only want to edit the green images, the ones that have the best lighting, camera focus, shutter speed and iso etc. During this, I also flagged the best images from the shoot, meaning I can differentiate them from the rest when I come to edit them, and therefore only focus on my best outcomes.
Furthermore, to begin my editing process I selected just my flagged images to edit so it separates them from the least successful outcomes. This made it easier for me, so I can identify which images I want to include from my shoot into my final book.
Editing:
For my first edit, this image has an overall mood of melancholy due to the models facial expressions. Therefore I wanted to exaggerate these feelings through decreasing the saturation of the image, which makes it appear colder to the viewer. By increasing the contrast too, I extenuated this to add more depth into the image and overall increase the intensity. However, despite it looking effective by itself, I don’t think this image will fit into the rest of my photobook as it is not the aesthetic I am aiming to show.
I edited this image again, this time keeping saturation within it as I feel it gives the image some life. Although the models facial expressions show sorrow and dejection, I believe that by adding more vibrancy it is able to lift the overall mood of the image, which will take the viewers attention away from just her face and allowing the viewer to appreciate the background. I decreased the highlights in this image because I didn’t want the LED lights on the mirror to be too distracting and blinding, yet they are still noticeable, which I wanted them to be as mirrors and lights can link to girlhood and youth through ideas of makeup.
Edit 2:
With my second edit I took a similar approach to the first, as it is the same model in the same location. However I feel this image has more potential due to it being a portrait, which immediately implies that the main subject is the model, rather than letting the viewers eye wonder through the image. I wanted to include her outfit into this image, specifically the skirt as I think it represents feminine qualities and stereotypically, red is a lustful colour that women wear. As these elements within the image are prominent, I decided to keep the editing minimal to prevent distractions and giving the overall outcome a fictional aesthetic. I increased the contrast to add exaggeration and make the image look magnified, and keeping the whites and highlights significantly low so it doesn’t look too luminous.
Edit 3:
I decided to recreate some of Roberta Tocco’s approaches to editing this image, by keeping the image vigorous through decreasing the exposure which allows the colours and tones within the image stand out. I decreased the clarity in this photo, giving the image a more delicate and romantic mood. I think this works well as throughout my project I will be highlighting romance and delicacy in order to portray ideologies about femininity. Furthermore, I slightly increased the vibrance to accentuate the shades of red because I think they are an essential factor of the girlhood theme.
Edit 4:
As this image was taken at dusk, it has slightly cooler natural lighting, which is definitely something I wanted to take advantage of because this was one of Tocco’s main components, as it gives the image a more simplistic overall look. To make this stand out, I decreased the exposure slightly so the section of sky in the background wasn’t too outstanding and so it could blend in naturally with the rest of the colours throughout the image. I did not increase the contrast in this image specifically because it allows the image to appear softer and perhaps more feminine, rather than harsh. Similar to the previous image I edited, I also decreased the texture and clarity to make the image look simplistic.
Edit 5:
As my fifth photo had artificial and vibrant lighting, this contrasts from the rest of my images as it doesn’t execute the same realistic theme, so I wanted to make the image appear brighter so it could still be eye-catching. Therefore, I increased the exposure slightly so it wasn’t too dark, and kept the rest of the adjustments minimal to stop it from looking insincere. Again, I decreased the highlights and whites significantly because the candle on the left of the image was too bright and exposed, leaving the rest of the image looking bland. Yet, I kept the contrast neutral so the darker tones within the image were still visible.
Edit 6:
Firstly, I decreased the exposure slightly because I wanted the range of colours throughout this image to be seen as I think the different colours contrast each other, which makes the background more exciting. I kept this image in colour as I believe it adds a sense of realism as we see the world in colour and not black and white. Moreover, I am trying to portray a realistic idea within this image especially as I feel that my models facial expressions indicate jealousy. As jealousy is a common emotion felt by females growing up, I am able to draw the viewers attention to this which may be relatable. Therefore, there is very little editing in this image besides slightly increasing the contrast to add depth and emotion.
I also experimented with using a black and white filter on this photo, however I do not think it looks as effective as in colour. Despite black and white being stereotypically associated with sadness and realistic emotions, I feel that the image in black and white gives a surreal theme overall. Additionally, I believe it emphasises how the image is staged, which defeats the purpose of the themes I am portraying.
Edit 7:
With this image, I decreased the temp to 0 because I wanted to give the image a cooler tone, where the colours within the image can contrast each other, as well as allow the main subject to stand out against the background. By increasing the contrast and decreasing the exposure, this allows the viewer to focus on the model as it exaggerates the use of the flash on the image. Overall, the main subject already stands out due to the shadowy background, I wanted it to stay this way so I ensured the viewers eye would wonder through the foreground first, and then through the background.
Edit 8:
As this photo was taken in a unique location, I wanted to make it black and white to reflect girlhood and the struggles that come with growing up as a girl. Overall, the image has a melancholy mood to it, I wanted to accentuate this idea by decreasing the exposure so it is easier to notice the details in the image, and so it didn’t appear too blinding to the viewer. I also decreased the whites and increased the blacks to bring out the depth in the image and therefore add more of a depressing effect.
Edit 9:
Due to this photo having multiple people in it and the frame is full, I did not want to edit excessively. I decreased the exposure to make is easier to see what’s in the image, as well as decreasing the contrast so it wasn’t too intense, as I think the models already carry the overall photo. Due to the lighting being typically darker already, this brought out many of the textures throughout forcing it to look grainy. Therefore, I slightly decreased the texture to minimise this, yet increased the whites significantly to add some vibrancy.
Edit 10:
This image is similar to the previous one above so I changed it into black and white so the differences between them can be interpreted easier. However, I believe this image already has a staged approach and I think the black and white emphasises this. I decreased the highlights to -100 as it allows for the different tones to contrast effectively with each other, as well as not having too much light in the image. In addition, I slightly increased the contrast because it exaggerates the black and white effect, although I think it decreases the authenticity of the overall photo. I did not edit much more because I didn’t want to draw too much attention to the fact it is staged. Overall, I believe this image would look significantly better in colour to defeat this narrative.
Edit 11:
This edit is very minimal, as again it shares a similar aesthetic to the two previous outcomes. However, due to this one specifically having coloured lighting, it already stands out from the others. Meaning I had to decrease the highlights and the whites to keep an overall neutral lighting, and I wanted the fire from the lighter to be visible and vibrant. I increased the shadows to bring out the main subjects, which I think looks essential for the theme of my photoshoots. Lastly, I had to decrease the texture to add a smoother effect because the lighting is darker in this image compared to the others, meaning it was harder for the camera to capture accurate interpretations of the setting.
Edit 12:
This image of two models is very close up and personal, so I kept the editing minimal so I can represent my theme of youth and identity well. This is because I believe I need to present my photoshoots as realistic, and staged as little as possible. I decreased the texture so the viewer can focus on the eyes and the jewellery on the models, as they are a very important factor of girlhood and representations of being a girl. I decreased the exposure so there was the right amount of luminosity in the image. I also decreased the temp to -100 as it gives an overall neutral tone, as before this edit the image was very cool-toned. Lastly, I slightly increased the contrast to exaggerate.
Edit 13:
In this image, I figured that by matching the exposure and contrast so they can reflect each other, this would bring out the main subjects yet not bringing in too much lighting. I wanted the car to appear vibrant and colourful, as I feel this is a way of presenting girlhood and youth too. I increased the contrast to keep the dark background, I feel that this links effectively to Justine Kurland and the rebellious behaviour from the teenage runaways. I also decreased the highlights to prevent the camera flash from reflecting too much on the car.
Edit 14:
As this image is very similar to the previous, I kept the editing very minor to bring out the main subjects and so they can work well against the dark background.
Edit 15:
For my last edit, I changed it to black and white to create a drastic and tense effect. I thought this would compliment the overall artistic effect, which also works together with the dark background. I decreased the whites and highlights so they didn’t appear reflective, and by doing this it made it easier to focus on the models face, without too much brightness.
DEADLINE: Essay Introduction Draft MUST be handed in Thursday 18 Dec 2024
DEADLINE: Final Essay MUST be handed in Fri 31 Jan 2025
Copy this essay plan into your own blog post, titled: Essay Draft:
Literary sources: Go to this blog post here: Theory: Literary Sources and copy relevant key texts relating to the subject of your essay and list in alphabetical order in your bibliography. In addition, find your own key texts in relation to artists selected for in-depth analysis in your essay and list these too. These texts could be interviews with the artist, or reviews/ critique’s written by others. See useful online sites/ sources here .
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages, page number to be used for in-text referencing etc.
Essay Question
Think of a hypothesis and list possible essay questions
Below is a list of possible essay questions that may help you to formulate your own.
Some examples of Personal Study essays from previous students:
Essay Plan Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure
Essay question:
Opening quote
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
Essay writing: Here is a link to another blog post which will provide you with guideline about how to structure each paragraph in your essay.
“Available light is any damn light that is available!” – W. Eugene Smith
When we talk about his work, it’s very hard to present his pictures in a complete way. He typically shot what we would today call a photo essay: when he was assigned to cover a story, he would bring tens of thousands pictures to support the it. So even though I know it is not possible to cover every event in his life I have picked some assignments that I think will demonstrate his photography.
Essay question: How has W Eugene Smith developed the modern photo essay?
Opening quote ‘Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it’ (Sontag 1977:4)
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
Bibliography
Sontag S. (1997) ‘In Plato’s Cave’ in On Photography London: Penguin Books
W Eugene Smith was the fundamental photographer when it came to the creation of the modern photo essay. It first became apparent after his ‘Country Doctor’ project, he spent 23 days photographing a local doctor in charge of caring for the entire ranching town. Smith created one of the most known photo essays to exist even in modern day, having done this he quickly became associated with the modern day photo essay format. Show cased within his work is sheer depth, looking into everyone element of life, forcing the viewers to acknowledge all the good but more over the less documented raw reality of some of the subjects, from war and all it’s atrocities to the bleak reality of a country town doctor pushed to him limits, in an isolated area. Unlike previous photo essay structures Smith left no rock unturned taking photo journalism to a new level, showcasing a new photo essay style in which he pushed to the limits to get a true account, unlike previous styles that simply took some good technical photos and left it at that, providing biased, unrealistic images.
Para 2 -Smith’s dedication to his craft – summary of work, style spent 4 days photographing doctor without film first
W. Eugene Smith made a dramatic impact on the photo essay model as he took his projects to hear, rather than looking at it like a job, he involved himself in every part of the process possible. This gave a whole new light to photographers, re-inventing the job, not just the photo essay format. When creating his most prominent photo essay Smith spent four days following the doctor, shooting without film, allowing the doctor to relax in front of the lens. Advising future photographers to not only document but work to document reality, the true reality which often involves more work than expected. This completely contrasted the previous style of photo essay, produced within photojournalism, going from biased, small glances to raw, full insights into the reality of others.
Para 3 – link to own work, how I have responded documentary style
Para 3 – country doctor, info on project, style, how many photos he took, how it was displayed, why this was a change to previous, look at single shots + analysis and photos
Para 4 – further projects, new projects inspired by Smith, how eye opening his work is, a little about how much he gave up/dedicated to create the new style of photo essay, why other photographers hadn’t already done it – didn’t want to give up what Smith did
Para 5 – conclusion – completely changed style, for the better, showed photographers it’s not a job so much as you need to delve deep into the subject. Only had maybe one photo he was happy with, add photo, but still creating world changing pieces of photography. He was the first to truly explore every element and show the brutal reality of many things others hadn’t. Aimed to capture emotion, not good technical photos.
