For my personal study project I have chosen to explore the theme of faith and religion through documentary photography. As I had grown up in a completely atheist household finding my way in faith is very special to me and has been an incredible journey as it’s one I’ve had to navigate by myself. Within this project I aim to present my journey with faith and how it has changed my life but to also represent how much things can change and the emotions surrounding these changes before and during my walk of faith. I intend to create a series of both landscape and portrait images of both myself and anything to do with the events in which I attend as a Christian.

I will experiment with different positions, angles, lighting, weather conditions and other factors and will use post-production editing skills to capture both the outside picture but also the deeper emotions that come with each individual image. I am particularly interested in looking at symbols through drawings I will do during the editing overlapping the images to represent the emotions. The main centre theme of my study is religion and faith both which hold very different meanings yet also very similarly bond together.

For my project, I want to focus on capturing emotions through natural light and also added drawings in post-production and exploring how it can completely change the mood of an image. My goal is to experiment with different times of day and weather conditions to see how they affect the atmosphere and feel of my photos. I also want to push myself to get better at presenting a story through my images. Perhaps by using dramatic shadows, soft lighting or even artificial lighting to create contrast. Overall I want my work to make people feel something through my photos whether that be a moment of connection to my work or even just a second of curiosity.

I am really inspired by the work of Henri-Cartier Bresson and the way he uses documentary photography to tell a story and represent certain emotions and situations. I have also been looking at Arnold Newman and I love how he uses Environmental portraiture to again represent a personal story behind every individual he photographs. For my project, I want to take all of these ideas and experiment with them in my own way. Ill research more about their techniques and figure out how I can apply them to my theme of work whilst also making sure my work feels personal and unique to me.

For my personal study I am going to be using my Canon camera because it gives me the flexibility to experiment with different settings and lenses, especially when playing around with the depth of field and lighting. I will also be using editing software such as Lightroom to enhance the mood and the colours in my images. I also really want to experiment with using natural light like doing shoots during sunset and also whenever the weather is foggy and gloomy.

With my shoots, I am planning to focus on a mixture of portrait and landscape images depending on the type of images I need for the specific shoot. I will end up with a variety of different formats and sizes with my images. Ill probably shoot in a few different locations for example, my local church, my actual church, the forests, nature walk areas, beaches, my own house and possibly even more to get a variety of different settings and moods. I want to experiment with different compositions; some wide shots to capture the context and some close ups to get every little detail.

By the end of my personal study project I hope to have multiple sets of images that not only show how much I’ve improved with all the technical side of photography but also to tell my story and create meaningful feelings through the photoshoots. I would like to be able to look back on this project and see that I have done it to my full potential and pushed myself to try out new techniques and ideas, even if some of them don’t work out perfectly. This personal study project gives me an opportunity to step out of what I am comfortable with doing in photography and explore something I’m genuinely passionate about and I am very excited to see it all come together within the final photobook.

Petrol Heads

The story of this photo book was about which cars he has and what types of modifications he is going to do on them and why. He explains how he enjoys driving around and talks about the operation canvas that happened over here on the Island. Operation Canvas was launched in July 2020 amid growing concerns at the manner of some people’s driving. The genre is something of non-fiction, focusing on car culture, an automotive-enthusiast. His approach to image taking was a documentary style, with some close up shots telling the story of what modifications he has made to the cars.

The photographer is called Jeremy Rodger, who made this book as a hautlieu student. I think his intentions were to reflect operation canvas and portray that this wouldn’t alter the way he lives his life and that it was overall pointless. He says ‘but what else are we meant to do’ which implies his negative feeling towards the police operation. I think that audience was for car enthusiasts along with DIY enjoyers.

The book was a paperback, with a few images that are wide spread, these images mainly being the car as a whole and then some zoomed close ups of the modifications he has personally done showing his proudness of the car. The title is relevant and intriguing leaving you to want to read into why he likes car so much. The narrative is told in a way of how much he enjoys racing around and why and implies that the police are not going to stop him.

We can apply Rowland Barthes theory of proairetic and hermeneutic codes. With the proairetic code, being the action/ movement which would be his text about operation canvas. The hermeneutic code which is his reflection and dialogue about how this makes him feel, which is his images of modifications to go against the police. The enigma code which is the way in which to intrigue and gain the audience, being the fact he is so reckless, calling the police scared of him.

theGETAWAY

This book was a story about a guy and his girlfriend, which explained how the only time they were alone was in the car. He portrays his love for the car and how it is there safe space. This book was made by another hautlieu student,m who had clear intentions of making it a romantic genre, one that show the teenage struggle of constantly watching each other. Portraying how we are so focused on ourselves and other people looking at us that we don’t realise they are also too focused on themselves to notice what’s even happening around them. He shows how him and his girlfriend go to party’s together, and socialised with their friends, but they show that they also need their personal alone time. I like how narrative driven this book is portraying the deepsense of the story. The book is a paper back with an intriguing title. With incorrect grammar to portray the informalness of the story.

The book has a tactile and emotional quailtiy mirroring the initamte and personal story it tells. Holding it envokes a sense of nostalgia, and even slight melancholy. The mix of matt and gloss paper symoblizes the contrasts between private moments of relection (matte) and vivid intimate moements with his girlfriend (gloss). With the book being primarly black and white igives a raw timeless feel. Useing some slught dim colours like darker green it highlights emotinal sognificatny moments. Like tyhe glow of the light when his girlfriend is doing her makeup in the car mirror. The small shape of the book rembles something perosnal, like a intimate nature, for example a doary or journal. With around 40 pages its enpugh to tell the story without overstaying its welcome. The binding allows the book t lay flat. With a wide image on the cover it gives it an approachanble feeling whereas a smaller image om the cover wouldvtr given ir a more tactile feel. The muted moodty images of the car, with dusk and raindrops on the windhsielf may rekate to the dark atmosphere of the title. The title has relevance, inviting interpretation. The book explores the car as safe and intimate, acting as an escape for connection. It is told through a mix of photos, the interior and close up of mirrors. There is repeated motifs like the use of eye contact, and a clear concept development through the cars progression from a sanctuary and intimate place to reflect solo imagery to paired moments. The images have been selected to have a chronological flow, the escape of the girlfriend. With empty car parks to create an intimate emotional push and pull. This approach ensures that every element of the book ties into its narrative, creating a deeply engaging and tactile experience for the reader.

• What you want to explore?
• Why it matters to you?
• How you wish to develop your project?
• When and where you intend to begin your study?

Make sure you describe how you interpret the exam themes; OBSERVE, SEEK, CHALLENGE, subject-matter, topic or issue you wish to explore, artists references/ inspirations and final outcome – zine, photobook, film, prints etc.

For my project I want to explore family: Doing this theme matters to me because it get to show different cultures and look at how different but interesting they are. Showing what they do in there everyday lives, what they get up to when on holiday, and also what it is like to be part of a large family on special occasions like Christmas when we all meet together. Freedom/ adventures: Specific key locations in Jersey, travels around famous land marks in Madeira, and these will all be taken with friends and family to represent the freedom we have to explore the earth. As well as the cultural differences between Madeira, where my parents were born and Jersey, where I was born. By making this photoshoots happen i decided to explore Théo Gosselin, Emilie Ristevski, Ashley Kaplan and Jimmy Nelson. Theo Gosselin is a French photographer who explores the themes of life, love, his generation, his adventures, and wide-open areas; He says pictures are a true admiration to freedom, captured like a snapshot. Theo Gosselin photography is very simple no set, no staging, just allowing the moment to happen. He shows how teenage life is most of the time because in your teenage life that’s when you get to life your life and start new adventures with the people you love, his work “portfolio” is a good example of living life. In addition, Emilie Ristevski is an Australian photographer visual storyteller and author. She describes her photography style as “storytelling, Escapism, Dreamscapes”. Her work is about finding the beauty in our world and always tries to capture things that often goes unseen sharing meaningful content. Emilie Ristevski book called “Forever Wandering” is a labour of love of many years full of countless wanderings around the globe, she poured so much of herself into creating this book and never been so exited to offer a home for her photographs to be held in a tangible form. Another photographer, Ashley Kaplan is a photographer who loves to take photoshoots of people to boost their confidence and families. She tried to take as many photoshoots to show people’s story. Finally, Jimmy Nelson is a British photographer known for taking portraits of indigenous people and documentation of different cultures and traditions. Jimmy loves what he does, I know this because he said “Through the lens of my camera, I am able to share the extraordinary beauty of our world’s vanishing cultures and inspire others to celebrate and preserve their unique heritage.” Jimmy book “Jimmy Nelson Homage to Humanity” shows an immersive journey through the lives of people with different cultures around the globe. This book provides an intimate and respectful look at their traditional, customs, and environment, showing Nelsons ability to use the camera. This book also offers insight into understanding and exploring cultures.

1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

The photobook I’ve chosen is called ‘FEMALE’. This photobook is made with individual portraits. Each photograph being completely different, a different person, place and style. If I were to assume that the topic of the photobook was ‘females’ then the artist has produced that perfectly. All models included in this project were women, and seem completely different, woman of all walks of life were included in this project.

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

The photographer is a woman called Jitka Hanzlova. A German based Czech artist. Jitka wanted her work to bring a sense of home to her viewers, she moved from Czech to Germany young, with her environments being uncertain, new people place language and surroundings. She didn’t feel like she had a place, so her work helps give herself and others a form of security and home.

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

For this Photobook, there doesn’t seem to be a story, but pages and pages of individual stories. Each and every separate woman included in this piece has their own individual story, and I believe that is more powerful then a singular story. It brings variety and experience from loads of different perspectives.

• Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.

The book is a hard cover book, thick paper with a papery smell. Thick paper for ease of printing the photo, and hardcover used for formality.

• Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.

The paper type stays the same throughout the whole book, I don’t know if that is because of the theme of neutrality throughout the photobook but it is very impactful. The first and last page is in sugar paper/cardboard too.

• Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.

Each photo is printed onto the A4 in landscape. The photos were taken with the technique of portraiture, almost mug shots. Simple quick photos of women. There are 128 pages (not including first and last page) in this photobook, which may be significant to Jitka Hanzlova in some sentimental way but from what I can see, there is no straight up reason for it.

• Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello

This photo is a hard cover book, with a plastically film surrounding it. Probably for ‘wear and tear’ reasons. To keep it safe.

• Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping.

The front page has a large printed photo on the cover. The photo from page 39. This photo must have some significance to Jitka for it to be used twice.

• Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.

The title ‘FEMALE’ is very intriguing, it leaves a lot open for interpretation. It is also very relevant for this specific photobook too, since every person photographed is a female/woman.

• Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?

From what I can gather, each page has its own story, each specific person on each page has a life and a story of their own. Their stories are told through not just facial expressions but body language too. The poise and structure of their stance, illuminates it all.

• Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.

The repeating technique of portraiture, shows a distinct similarity between each photograph, a woman in her own world, with no bothers in the moment the photo was taken.

• Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.

Each individual photo has its own 2 pages, while only sitting on one, is the photo. There is no fold outs or double spreads but only a couple pages with writing.

• Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.

The editing of these photos are difficult to point out, they seem like raw, untouched candid portraits. However the portraits show juxtaposition through the repetitiveness of the photographing style.

• Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others.  Use of captions (if any.)

This photobook contained an essay, however it was in Czech, so was not understandable.