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Partly due to cost, from time to time he has used old cine film and out of date film stock for his pictures.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.

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.

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.

Paul M Smith

do it in own timeALWDLKMAWKDMWKALDMKLDMKLDMAWLKDM

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 right, 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

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:

• What you want to explore?

I am going to explore street photography, by looking closely at visual elements when capturing the photos creating very graphical and visually appealing image. My aim is to create unique and engaging contrasting features through visual elements such as colour, texture, shape, pattern, line, and space. Through looking at different ways of light to the shadows produced creates these visually appealing, interesting tones and highlights that are created from this. I love this concept as it will reveal some interesting, hidden and unusual shapes and formations you and unknown an I want to explore this concept of ‘capturing unnoticed,’ as this will not only engage the viewer but reveal something. Exploring this I want to produce structured photos in terms of their compositions and layouts, looking closely at colour and shadows which come together creating this contrasting feature alongside the structured line and shapes. Within my photoshoots, I want to capture people and their relation between the streets. Looking at both people I know personally to strangers. Through looking at Lee Friedlander, part of his work he looks at signs and words, which are shown in a poetic and desirable way of how he sees his home, America. I want to further experiment with his concept, to show a relationship between different places. My aim is to produce compositional and engaging images,

• Why it matters to you?

I feel this concept

• How you wish to develop your project?

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

Using photoshop cut image/ subject out the photo – so it just shows this on the page

use a mix of colour and black/white

This shoot was challenging in terms of lighting and angles. After spending well over an hour shooting I only got 42 photos, I did get some good shots though. As shown above there were a few good shots but they do need some work as the lighting was yellow at times.

Edit One

I like the composition of this photo as it has a good angle and shows a good portion of the car. However before editing the colouring is very yellow which while it does give the photo a nostalgic look to it, it would be hard to link all the photos together in terms of lighting as daylight photos. It also means the true colour of the car is shown. To change the lighting I adjusted the temperature to remove some of the blue hue, I then went into colour mixer and selected mixer and went into the yellow and chose to turn down saturation so the yellow lighting was lessoned.

Edit Two

I spotted this heart drawn onto the car, it made for an interesting photo so I composed it outside of the rule of thirds as I didn’t want it to be the main focus so much as a part of the photo. I wanted a photo as I have a habit of drawing hearts onto my bike when it’s muddy so it will be a connecting shot to my own bike which probably also has a heart drawn onto it. I chose to make the shot black and white as I think it adds to the atmospheric feel to the photo. Within this edit I adjusted the tone to make it a high contrast image. This shot in itself is abstract, with minimal parts of the car shown but it will connect well with the next shoot as well as providing some family connection with the car having a heart drawn onto my mothers car and then a heart drawn onto my bike.

Edit Three

This photo is a great contextual image, I think it shows the love for the car and the age of the car being present in that all the books about it are still books not videos or online manuals. The composition of the shot is good so I didn’t need to crop it. However the colours are dulled down, so to fix this I reduced the exposure and then adjusted other contributing sliders. This helped bring out the true colours and made for a better photo.

Edit Four

This shot was a confusing one to edit, I liked the original shot but the colour of the metal was wrong as the yellow lighting effected it. To counteract this I changed the exposure and then the highlights and shadows. I still did not love this image as now the car was not true to it’s real colour. Black and white was the next step as then the yellowness wouldn’t effect it. I chose a high contrast, stark editing style, this highlights the details and shadows of the photo. I liked this as the ‘ford’ stands out really well against the darker background.

Edit Five

This shot on the other hand didn’t need much editing as the yellow lighting suited the brown of the dust.

Edit Six

This is again another shot that doesn’t need much editing as the colours already went well. Having used the 70-20mm lens the frame is already a tightly framed shot so the composition was important, having framed the car on an angle to the lens it added dynamic to the photo as well as providing a well composed shot, with interesting angles.

Edit Seven

This shot is interesting within itself with the age and condition of the car showing. However I found the background distracting so decided to change the photo to black and white to add not only deeper tone to the car but remove some of the complexities in the background. This also worked really well to neutralise the yellow tone from the lighting.

Edit Eight

This shot while a creative, interesting image, having been shot through a windshield with multiple leading lines and context on the car. Overall I like this shot but it is a much more impactful image in black and white as while the book still appears worn from its age it doesn’t have the same washed out colours. The tone of the image is completely transformed once the image was edited to black and white as the high contrast shot, similarly to the previous shot it removes all the background busyness that doesn’t benefit the shot. This also provides a base for any future black and white shots as I have a style to base it off of.

Edit Nine

This image again is much stronger in black and white, it has removed the washed out colours and new key colour but kept the apparent wear to the car. It has also brought out the highlights in the shot, showing the badge in the steering wheel and outlining the wheel itself.

Final Images

After editing these photos I noticed, while I didn’t dislike the results I felt I could get more similar shots with a different lens. I would like to redo this shoot with a 18-105mm lens as I would have a lot more range in the shots I could get. I did however end up with a strong set of images with a mixture of colour and black and white shots. I think the detail shots were particularly successful and created a strong starting point for this project. Having researched Keith Dotson’s work on old cars in a forest, left to rot I wanted to take a similar approach using highly tonal images with a range of wider angled shots and closely framed shots, although shown in both mine and Dotson’s work neither of us feature much of the background as for wat we are trying to show in the images it is not too important and can be distracting.

For my personal study, my inspirations come from the work of Carolle Benitah and Philip Toledano, two artists who utilise the theme of nostalgia, family, memory and loss in order to challenge events that have occurred in their lives, specifically in childhood. This is something I want to reinterpret in my own way and apply it to my own circumstances, that being growing up with a sibling who develops Bipolar disorder.

First Idea:

My first photoshoot idea solely comes from the work of Carolle Benitah. Benitah takes images from her own family archives, such as photo albums, and uses different mediums to symbolise different events that happened which are linked to the image itself, or the people within it.

She also uses the same consistent shade of red within each image to make them all link and be cohesive in the story that she’s trying to tell – this is something I have thought about doing but with a consistent shade of blue as this is my brothers favourite colour, however I need to think about this a bit more as I am unsure at the moment. But, if I do use this inspiration, I may be able to apply this into each photoshoot so that all my images link and show a clearer reference to Benitah.

As my inspiration, I am going to go through the images that my parents have involving my brother, whether that be just him, me and him or all of us, and photograph them. I am going to do this either by using the studio or creating my own small studio at home using black card as the background so that I can crop any spaces after. If this is unsuccessful, I will photocopy the physical image itself. This is because I don’t want to tarnish the actual picture, so by creating a copy this then allows me to be experimental with different mediums – such as paint, ink, thread, glitter – multiple times. I also do have digital images from my mum, meaning that I can print multiple copies off to also be able to experiment and not be worried about it being ineffective.

Second Idea:

My second idea stems more from the work of Philip Toledano, looking at the still-life’s he took of his sisters belongings from before she died as a nine year old child. Toledano took an assortment of Claudia’s belongings and keepsakes from her childhood and photographed them using a birds-eye view technique.

This is going to inspire me in my second photoshoot, beginning with me asking my parents for everything and anything they kept from mine and my brothers childhood, with the objects ranging from birthday cards to baby toys. Anything I can find I am going to photograph in order to have a wider variety of images to choose from as this will enable me to be more selective in choosing which images are the best, link the story well enough, and carry the most meaning. If I do this well, I think this will make my photobook more emotive, and encapsulate the heaviness of this topic behind it. I am going to try to achieve the lighting technique that Toledano uses, being that he uses geometric shapes in order to add that ‘out of place’ tone within the images. However, if this doesn’t work I will be able to find a way to do it on Photoshop by merging the two images and making one in black and white and the other in colour, then cutting out my desired shape in the black and white image, finally layering the two over each other so that the shape I have created is the only part of the image that is in colour.

Third Idea:

My third category of images that I am going to use is going to be of different locations that resonate with my brother and relate to his childhood. For example:

• My house
• Football fields
• My estate
• My garden
• The hospital that he goes to

These are only just a few I can think of at the moment, however I will ask my parents where the best places to go would be as they will know from taking me and my brother.

However, I don’t want my images to just be plain landscapes that don’t really fit in with my other two photoshoots so I am going to hone in on form for these images. My second zine that I did for Jersey’s maritime museum was very focused on the form of the landscape instead of the aesthetics of it, which is why I want to use this knowledge in my own personal study, as this is a good representation of seeking out the environment around me as well as portraying the context of my brothers story better. When I go to these places, I am going to take multi-shots to be able to distinguish the best images and be able to experiment better.

Overall, a key aspect of my work is going to revolve around form and shape, specifically in my third photoshoot, however this is also going to be demonstrated in my second photoshoot in a more discreet way. My photoshoots may change as I begin to work on them next week, however I need to remember to be experimental and explore different ideas by taking risks.

I will be taking inspiration from his project based on the Myths and Legends of Jersey. Danny Richardson discovered the art of photography over 10 years ago and since then he has used it as a tool to show people the way he sees the world. Richardson specialises in creative portraiture and conceptual Fine Art photography. He wanted to create a series of images with a local twist that reflected his style of photography, which is creative portraiture and conceptual imagery. This project gave Danny Richardson a sense of nostalgia and it was personal to him, “I saw it as an opportunity to indulge the nostalgic ‘dungeons and Dragons’ watching little boy I used to be” – Danny Richardson.

Richardson was initially inspired to start this project by the stamp creator Nick Parlett who created a series of stamps based on Jersey folklore.

“We all have our own perspective on the world around us and thankfully I can use mine in conjunction with my camera to capture moments and images that reveal an authentic truth or a story waiting to be told.” – Danny Richardson

This quote by Danny Richardson sums up the theme of myths and legends well as they are just stories waiting to be told and everyone has their own perspectives of myths and legends or whether they believe them or not.

Analysis

In this photo a woman is dressed in a white wedding dress and a veil, there is then another figure in the foreground who could possibly be the groom. I believe this photo tells the story of the ghost bride of waterworks valley. Smoke machines have been used which create an eerie look to the photo. The main focus of the photo is the bride as she is positioned around the centre of the image, and the figure in the foreground draws our attention to her as they are looking right at her. There is also little saturation in the image, the main points of saturation are the bride’s headpiece and her hands, this draws even more attention towards her.

How will I respond?

I will take photographs in a similar way to Danny Richardson as they will all be based on Jersey myths and legends, aslike are his photos. I will also be taking the photographs in the location that the legends and myths are based in, this is similar to his work as he also took images based in the same locations.

Jersey Myths and Legends by Danny Richardson

To begin I created an overall mind-map, which includes some photographs from the internet, to gather all my ideas in one area. I created this on paper.

I then chose to refine my ideas into a smaller mind-map where I have chosen to focus on the theme of myths and legends within Jersey.

 

Some artists I may take inspiration from:

The personal study is based around the theme observe, seek and challenge.

Mind Map

Mood Board

Mood Board Analysis

My mood board includes a large range of ideas for my personal study of observe, seek and challenge, because I am not sure what theme I am planning on doing for my personal study yet, so I have included them all the get an idea of my options. I have included the themes which I have talked about on my mind map.

This is a rather large mood board containing quite a few images, compared to the usual mood boards I make, because I wanted to include a large range of themes that I could explore.

headshots means that the portrait photo is cropped somewhere in the middle torso – so that the focus is on your face.

To take photoshoots for headshots you can either use:

Flash Lighting:

Camera settings (flash lighting)
Tripod: optional
Use transmitter on hotshoe
White balance: daylight (5000K)
ISO: 100
Exposure: Manual 1/125 shutter-speed > f/16 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal length: 105mm portrait lens

or, Continuous Lighting:

Camera settings (continuous lighting)
Tripod: recommended to avoid camera shake
Manual exposure mode
White balance: tungsten light (3200K)
ISO: 400-1600 – depending on how many light sources
Exposure: Manual 1/60-1/125 shutter-speed > f/4-f/8 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal length: 50mm portrait lens

MINDMAP & MOODBOARD:

Above is how I set up everything to take the photoshoot and below are some images from the photoshoot and the edited versions.

TOP 2 IMAGES:

These were my top choices because I loved the way its set and how the colours blend in so well with the face expressions and the mood in the image.

For my Landscape photoshoot we went to Havre De Pa and took some pictures there. A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal. The term “landscape” actually derives from the Dutch phrase landscape, which at the beginning meant “region, tract of land” however obtained the artistic connotation, “a image depicting surroundings on land” in the early 1500s (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). landscape painting, the depiction of natural surroundings in art. Landscape art work may also capture mountains, valleys, our bodies of water, fields, forests, and coasts and might or might not include man-made structures as well as people.

When did landscape photography originate?

The earliest known evidence of a landscape photograph was taken between the years of 1826 and 1827. It was an urban landscape photo taken by a French inventor by the name of Nicephore Niepce.

Below are some images that I chose to edit, I tried to make the photos more dramatic since it would be more interesting and would catch peoples attention more.

The Anthropocene is sometimes used to describe the time during which humans have had a substantial impact on our planet. Whether or not we are in a new geological age, we are part of a complex, global system and the evidence of our impact on it has become clear.

MINDMAP & MOODBAORD:

For my first photoshoot I went to frigate beach and take photos of the sea when is high tide and when its low tide. I took three different pictures but all in the same place but just different angles just like Michael Marten did as I found it very interesting on I was curious on how he did it so perfect. These are the photoshoots Michael Marten inspired me to copy and my final outcome of the images inspired by him.

For my second photoshoot I took photos of abandoned buildings inspired by Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre. The quality of their work cannot be disagreed, and they have added great value to the medium of photography. I like the way they take photos of completely different places, places that no one hardly goes. Where its nice and calm or sometimes messy but still calm and peaceful. Their work relates to Anthropocene because they take pictures of mostly abandoned places and that shows how places can be destroyed or not wanted anymore because of the environment, could also be because of war or other any reason.

Butterfly lighting is a portrait lighting pattern where the key light is placed above the subject’s face and aimed directly at the subject’s face. This creates a butterfly-like shadow under the nose. Also known as “Paramount Lighting” after the classic Hollywood glamor photo. Butterfly lighting is a type of lighting pattern for studio portraiture. It is used for taking flattering, glamorous portrait photos. The lighting is soft on the face. It forms a butterfly-shaped shadow under the subject’s nose, which is the source of the name.

Chiaroscuro is a high-contrast lighting technique that utilises a low-key lighting setup to achieve contrast between the subject and a dark background. Chiaroscuro balances high-contrast light and shade to give the appearance of depth, creating an enhanced or more dramatic effect. Chiaroscuro creates three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional plane, darkening the background and highlighting the subject in the foreground, drawing the viewer’s focus and attention.

LaToya Ruby Frazier

LaToya Ruby Frazier is a talented American photographer known for her style and documentary like work which often explores race, social justice, class, and the impact of industrial decline. Her most famous project is called The Notion of Family, produced between 2001–2014, where she documents the lives of her mother, grandmother, and even herself in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a town that was and still is devastated by the sudden collapse of the steel industry.

There is definitely obvious themes within her work and these themes include:

Key Themes:

1. Family and Identity: Frazier’s work obviously centers on her family’s experiences and revealing inter generational trauma and resilience amidst economic decline. The project also highlights the idea of family as a cultural and historical construct.
2. Social and Economic Displacement: Her portraits and images of Braddock, highlights the connection between the destructive industrial collapse and the social decrease of working-class Black communities.
3. Health and Environmental Issues: Her famous project foregrounds environmental racism and healthcare imbalance, engrossing on how industrial pollution and inadequate healthcare have affected diminised populations.
4. Portraiture and Intimacy: Frazier’s raw, and personal portraits question stereotypes of Black and working-class life, handing out a refinement representation of struggle and resilience.
5. Cultural Context: Frazier provokes the erasure of working-class, Black, and female experiences especially in mainstream narratives. This offers a window into a community that is often ignored in discussions about industrialization.

Reception:

The Notion of Family has been praised and is still being praised for its emotional depth and constant questioning of social constructs, earning Frazier an international recognition. Her work has been exhibited in major museums and is part of collections at MoMA and the Whitney. In 2015, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her contributions to art and social justice.

So in summary, The Notion of Family is an exploration of race, place, class, and blending personal narrative with broader social issues which offers a powerful, empathetic view of a undervalued community’s struggles.

Kürşat Bayhan

Kürşat Bayhan is an extraordinary Turkish artist and photographer who is known for blending themes like history, memory, identity, and contemporary socio-political issues. His interesting work combines conceptual and documentary photography, often exploring themes like migration, the urban environment, and the thick tension between tradition and modernity.

While he is not widely known especially internationally, Bayhans work is an important figure when in comes to contemporary Turkish photography. His projects challenge how personal experiences intersect with larger socio-political landscapes, often contributing to the discussions of visual culture and identity. He has exhibited his work both in Turkey and internationally, gaining recognition for his unique storytelling approach.

One project that is eye catching is the project callled “Away from Home” It is a photographic series which explores themes of feeling of displacement and migration. The work focuses on individuals who have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict or hardship which captures their emotional and psychological experiences of this difficult and unwilling exile. Through intimate portraits and documentary-style images, Bayhan humanizes the migrant experience, and reflects on feelings of mislaying, identity, and the search for belonging in foreign environments. The series also delves into the complex notion of “home,” highlighting the tension between the past and the present for displaced individuals. It also offers a personal and empathetic perspective on migration, beyond political or statistical stories.

Refrence:

larubyfrazier.com

www.instagram.com

www.artforum.com

Whitney Museum of American Art

Just a moment…

Wikipedia

People: Kürşat Bayhan | The Floating Magazine

Kursat Bayhan – PhMuseum

internationalphotogrant.com