In this blog post I am going to be comparing the old images to the new images which I have created inspired by Irina Werning.
1: For this first image I took I photographed my grandmother in a red jacket similar to the original image which was taken when she was 16, and in the new image she is aged 71.
1968
2024
I think this image is successful as I was able to achieve some similar colours such as the red jacket and the handbag. I may try editing the new one to match the tone in the old one.
2:
3: To recreate this image I made sure to have the model wear dark clothes similar to the original image. She also pulled a similar face to the original one as well as crossing her arms.
4: This is one of my favourite images which I have recreated as I managed to capture the same purple/ pink tone of the old image using lightroom and adjusting the tint of the image.
This is my photobook layout where I have carefully chosen the order of the images so that they help tell the story of the photos. I then added my essay into the back three pages of the book and added images to show the work of the artists.
This is my front and back cover which suggests that the sun is my grandad looking out for us and has symbolic meaning which sets the narrative for the rest of the book. I wanted these images to be the front and back cover because they look the most aesthetic and make the book more eye catching for people to want to look through the book.
I really like the way the images are set out, I focused on capturing cute girly moments. I used to colour pink colour to show the ‘stereotypical’ girl type. There are different tones and settings, like the beach and a car where the girls are singing and eating food which I think captures the scene of girlhood, the girls are giggling and enjoying spending time together with no boys there. The images are set out in a certain way to try and capture this element of girlhood which adds value to the images.
The lighting is natural with a warm colour temperature and the arrangement of the images is specific to try and capture each image by itself so nothing blends in. There is a sense of repetition within the images as they are all interlinked and are very similar. The idea behind this work is that Gen-Z have a very different lifestyle when growing up, therefore I’m trying to capture this within my images. The essay provides a detailed text of what my project is really about and its very important for my photograph’s and photobook.
1. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design with reference to the same elements of bookmaking as above.
Narrative:What is your story? Describe in:
3 words: exploration of fears
A sentence: I want to explore my own fears and how they can be presented in different ways.
A paragraph: Fear isn’t limited to one particular set of imagery. I want to explore the different ways to present the same few fears with both natural and urban backdrops.
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel: I want my book to look like an old library book with a plain/basic hardcover.
Paper and ink: I will use plain white paper instead of black for the colour images.
Format, size and orientation: To create a library book I would have wanted an A5 portrait. Portrait would let me create full bleeds with any landscape images while also keeping some smaller images for variety.
Binding and cover: I want a plain cover either with a basic pattern and title or like the slip has been removed without much going on at all.
Title: I decided on ‘Guillemot’ like the bird black guillemot. I choose this because not only do I find large birds freaky but also because birds fly and rise above any difficulties. The black guillemot is a black and white bird which matches my black and white images too.
Design and layout: I will have two different sequences going at once so I will need to differentiate between the two by size or where they’re laid out on the page.
Editing and sequencing: The images will be arranged quite sporadically. I was contemplating arranging each image by photoshoot or if they’re all black and white in a gradient however I didn’t want to make a comforting sequence. I will either arrange each image in a random order or start mostly in some sequence and change it every few pages. Additionally most images are in black and white however I will make sure to place a few coloured ones in between.
Images and text: I don’t plan on having many bodies of text except for the essay at the end which will be arranged in columns with uniform text type and size.
In terms of sequencing I sequenced all my black and white images and coloured ones separately before interspacing them. The black and white ones I tried matching with the one before going from a park outside through a street and into a dark room like walls gradually closing in on the viewer.
The coloured ones I did the opposite. I started closer and worked outwards from wallpaper and being inside to being isolated and left outside.
Then I interspaced the two different sequences.
I tried two different sequences. The first where I used the coloured images to split between images when they changed for instance birds > moth. While this made more sense I didn’t want to create any sense of comfort in predictability and tried one when the images are more sporadically spaced out:
I liked how in particular the dog looks as though its trying to eat the cat since I find it quite funny. The beginning of the first one and the ending of the second one and decided to combine the two.
All the coloured images were laid out on the right side as its what’s seen second in either of these templates:
The black and white images were aligned on the left side as its what’s seen first in these 2 templates:
My initial layout looked like the following:
I knew I wanted the essay to fit in separate as a newspaper clipping attached separately to the back so I didn’t need the blank pages at the end. I wanted to add some blank pages throuhg out also which would be a good way to loose all the pages at the end.
In terms of the cover I was unsure wether to put an image on the back or not.
I think that the double looks better so I compared two different images on the cover. Since the book has a sequence going in both directions the same cover inverted like a mirror makes sense.
The single tree works best as portrait while the landscape looks better landscape or open. I decided on the landscape image instead.
I will insert my essay as a newspaper clipping between pages 68/69.
I tried with black pages and grey pages too.
Black pages create a much darker overall appearance. I like how this looks for the darker pictures like these^ however for lighter images like these I’m not so sure on the black pages:
Additionally i tried multiple shades of grey:
I think that the lighter grey works best because it matches with he cover as well as being darker than bright white for the dark images and light enough for the lighter images. I added the essay at the end in columns and added the title and name to the cover.
For my photobook, I chose these images as my front and back cover. I really like the contrast of the images from colour to black and white. I used my final images that I had edited on Lightroom to choose out of. On most of the pages there is an image of the girls playing in the woods, inspired by my first artist Justine Kurland, paired with a black and white portrait picture inspired by my second artist Mary Ellen Clark
The sequencing of my photobook is one in colour and one in black and white on most of the pages. One being girls having fun playing in a woodland type of area and the other being a portrait image of a girl. I have done this because I think it makes the book look more intriguing and interesting with the contrast of the two images. When putting the images onto the page, I ensured that the image was covering the whole page for each one. This was to eliminate all the white around the photograph. I think this looks good because it means that the whole page is covered with my images and it draws the viewers attention to the images. To cover the whole page, I used the “Zoom” tool to zoom in and out to make the image as big or as small as I needed. I made sure that the image was zoomed in enough so that none of the white on the page was showing.
When choosing my images, I ensured to choose ones that correlate with girlhood the most. I picked the images that were inspired by Justine Kurland to show the protection and care that girls have for each other and I wanted to show that through the images. I also chose to make the portrait pictures in black and white to make them dramatic and to add a sense of sadness to them which is inspired by Mary Ellen Marks photos.
The title of my image is called “Devine Feminine”, I like this title because it doesn’t give the viewer too much information as to what is in the book. However it may give the viewer an idea that it is about the empowerment that females have and the protection they have together as a society.
To start with this process, I carefully selected around 20-25 images I was sure I wanted to include in my photobook. To do this, I used the flagging system in Lightroom so it was clear which ones I would be using. I then transferred these images from my ‘Photobook’ folder to my ‘FINAL’ folder. To create my photobook I am using Adobe Lightroom Classic.
Front and back cover:
From these 26 final images, I chose which image I would like to use as my front and back cover. I picked an image which stood out to me as there is an array of vibrant colours and it can be stretched over the entire book cover.
Initial cover:
From this, I sorted my images into three sections. One as the beginning of my book under the title ‘Age of Innocence’. Second is the middle part of my book, which is completely black and white, under the title ‘The Insecurities’. Finally, the ending of my book which is under the title ‘The Present’. These sections represent the different narratives I am trying to present, which could be seen as a reflection of a teenage girls’ life. Viewers are able to create their own versions of the narrative, although I am aiming to create the main messages.
First draft of the three section’s front covers:
These are my initial ideas for the first photo in each section.
Throughout the photobook, I am hoping to present feelings connected to colours and tones of my images. For example, the entire ‘Age of Innocence’ section is beautifully colourful and bright, reflecting nature and happiness within the girls. This section metaphorically represents ‘time before social media’ for girls and how everyone was so carefree in society. The middle section, ‘The Insecurities’, is entirely black and white, to show how depressing and low girls feel when they gain insecurities, which could be from scrolling through social media and seeing numerous photos of other women who they may feel threatened by. Finally, the last section ‘The Present’ is an attempt to show the lives of girls that have gone a little bit off the rails with their friends, due to the effects of social media and it’s impact on how girls react to it.
In the last section, I used a range of colours and tones to convey different moods of the photograph. For example, the black and white photos are representing a drunk, lonely girl, who is seen invested on her phone. The coloured images represent sensuality and an intimate feminine connection. Lastly, the bluey toned images convey freedom and rebellion, as we see the subjects hanging out of a moving car at night time.
Final front cover:
Final edits:
Initial:
Final:
Initially, I had both of these images their original way. I started experimenting and thought about flipping one of these images horizontally to make it inverted. I definitely preferred the inverted image as it made the whole photo look more central.
Initial layout:
Final Layout:
I decided to remove the subheadings for the start of each photoshoot as I felt it was more powerful without them and can leave viewers questioning on the narrative behind the images.
I was inspired to create this photoshoot based on the work by Samiksha Chaudhary who created photos of objects which held meaning and memories to him and his family. I chose specific objects mainly related to my grandmother. I went through my images and selected my best images and considered which ones I am going to edit.
I selected these as my best images which I will edit.
These are all my images which I have edited in colour.
These are all my images which I have edited in black and white.
Best edits:
This is my best edit from my shoot as I like the unique angle as it creates leading lines where it draws the viewers attention deeper into the image. As the ruler extends the image becomes more blurred, this creates the idea that memories also fade as they get further away. This ruler belongs to my grandmother and is from 1966, when she was 14 years old.
This is another edit which I like as I like the close zoomed in shot with the variety of colours. I will be using this image along with some other coloured images in my photobook. This doll holds meaning to my auntie as it was a gift given to her during 1989 from a friend who visited Caketown.
This edit is of my great great grandmothers ring and is from around 1890, it now belongs to my grandmother after being passed down the generations. In the ring I managed to capture the small details of the engraved names of my great great grandmother and grandfather.
This is another edit of the ruler which I like as it is at another unique angle, I also like the colours within the image.
This image is of both my grandmothers’ ring and her grandmothers’ ring together.
Evaluation:
Overall this photoshoot was successful as I managed to photograph many old objects which hold memories and meaning to my family members. If I was to improve next time I would use a different camera as the one I used did not allow me to zoom in much.
For this image I’m increasing the contrast and the exposure to make the brick wall and the rocks stand out and look a lot clearer against the sea.
With this image I increased the shadows to make the rock shadows darker and look more ominous and I also increased the whites so the sun in the corner of the image is a lot brighter.
I decreased the exposure in this image to get the photo darker and then I clicked the masking tool to edit the subject of the photo and the background of the photo separately. Then I increased the white stairs to contrast against the brick wall that I made darker.
I used the masking tool for this image and made the subject darker to create contrast against the white bars of the background. I then also increased the shadows so the lobster pots contrast against the darkened sky and the darkened wooden bridge.
Best Images
These are my best edited images that I’m going to put into my photobook. I have gone through all my images and rated all of my best photos 5 stars and made them green to show that they are my best images.
Firstly, to start with my selection process of images, I moved all of my green rated images and some of my favourite yellow rated images into one folder on Lightroom named ‘Best Images’. From this, I then carefully selected my few favourite images from this folder and moved them into a different folder named ‘Photobook’. This allowed me to significantly reduce the amount of final images I had to chose from. The folder ‘Photobook’ also includes the edited images I could use.
Here is my selection rage of my favourite images, in which I am going to pick a final few to use in my photobook.
What went well?
I think that these three photoshoots were hugely successful as I achieved to create a narrative within my photos, similarly to Justine Kurland. I hope that viewers are able to create their own narratives for these photos, depending on how they want to view them.
Finally, I am going to create another folder named ‘FINAL’, in which I will transfer a few of my favourite images that I will be using in my photobook.
To do this, I will use the flagging system on Lightroom Classic to make it clear which photos I need to transfer to my ‘FINAL’ folder.
I really don’t want to change these photos significantly. I want them to obtain their authenticity, and I believe that altering them too much will take away from that. I have sifted through almost 2000 photos and narrowed it down to 15 photos that I believe will fit my project the best and tell a story individually as well as together.
