For this photoshoot, I will be going to a bonfire since its that time of year. The plan is to show couples, planned and unplanned. For the tableaux photo, I will take photos of my friend with his girlfriend, acting out an argument, then forgetting about it when the fireworks start. For the documentary style photos, I will be trying to capture natural reactions to the fireworks. This may turn out badly because its a low light environment and I don’t have a tripod to use, meaning motions blur may become an issue.

Here are some of the images I used, including why I used them and how I edited them:

Here I captured this photo as a documentary style, trying to give a nostalgic look by editing the colour grading, adding greener shadows and bluer highlights. In this image everyone is walking away from the camera, giving it a sort of melancholy feel.

This is another documentary style image, with the subject looking towards the bonfire. I made everything black and white except the fire, drawing more attention to where the subject is looking. Since you cannot see the subject, it makes the viewer wonder who they are and why they are looking at this fire.

Here I again tried to create a nostalgic feel with this tableaux style photo. I asked my friends to pose in front of the fireworks, making a well composed image, with the couple looking up to the fireworks.

Here are 2 images that I quite like, with one having the phone in focus and one with the fireworks, this documentary photo could show how people cant enjoy something without needing to take a photo or video of it. Its also a little bit ironic because I was also taking photos so I wasn’t really in the moment as well.

Here is another image I like, its a tableaux image of my friend group. I like the composition as almost every space in the image is filled with someone.

1. Francesca Miller-Hard

Examples of her work:

Francesca Miller-Hard is a popular, but not famous, photographer who focuses her work around people and fashion. She was born in New Zealand, but bases her work in Melbourne, Australia. Francesca mainly bases her work around girlhood and the reality around beauty standards of women, which is the main reason I wanted to use her work as inspiration for mine. She created a project called ‘A Love Letter To Girls’, which is a collection of images that explore vivid images around girls and their lives. Francesca said that her work is an exploration of her personal experiences and the connection of feminine energy, which is what I would like my photography to focus on.

In Francesca’s collection of work, she has a name for every photograph:

One thing that really stood out to me was when Francesca said “I was inspired by my own teenage experiences to create a visual appreciation for the connections I made with girls that moulded me into the woman I am today“. I would like to photograph me and my friends, and our daily experiences together as girls. Although most of my photographs will be staged, I also want to capture candid interactions and genuine moments between friends.

On top of that, I also want to reflect my photographs onto my own childhood, so there is a personal aspect within my work. This will help to create a nostalgic vibe to my photography.

Angles/lighting:

In most of her images, we find that there is dim lighting, with a yellowish tone to convey a sensual feeling around the images. Most of the angles are seen as an overhead shot or birds eye view, which creates this idea that the images are more personal, almost as if they aren’t staged.

2. Justine Kurland

Examples of her work:

Justine Kurland is an American fine-art photographer who lives in New York City and is best known for photographing subjects in American wilderness landscapes. She has travelled across the United States to create these staged photos, but spent many months traveling through New Zealand as well. Kurland has become famous for her tableaux photography around landscapes dealing with young children, men, and women, often mixing the purity of youth with its unbridled wildness. Her works of feral and unsupervised children running around in a suburban wasteland reveals a clear connection to the theme of her photography.

Kurland’s narrative work is heavily influenced by nineteenth-century English picturesque landscapes and the utopian ideal as well as genre paintings, the photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron and Mathew Brady, and illustrations from fairy tales.

I am going to focus on Kurland’s staged tableaux photography that explores the social landscape of girlhood. Kurland is clearly very in touch with nature and the primal impulses of humanity, which I would also like to reinforce through my photoshoot.

Image analysis:

This image particularly stood out to me as I feel like it was the most creative and interesting one to look into. In this image, there is a group of teenage girls portrayed as rebellious and free as they are alone in the woods. They could be seen as slightly masculine due to the fact that the girls are seen as fearless and they make their own food by hunting animals to eat. This image conveys an idealised and utopian sense of the American wilderness through the subjects appearing to be the very image of self-reliance and individualism. All of Kurland’s photographs are staged in natural settings, such as the wilderness, yet Kurland attempts to make her photographs look realistic. We also see that there is rarely any eye-conact between the subjects and the camera, which reinforces this idea that Kurland attempts to produce photographs that look natural and spontaneous.

Anthropocene-

Anthropocene-

The idea of the current time period and how its very human-influenced

I focused on overpopulation and showing the busy streets of town .Although I do like how this photoshoot came out in the end I didn’t take much enjoyment out of it nor do I think its some of my stronger work.

Landscapes-

Landscapes-

The idea of taking photos of an area of land which is often seen as having an aesthetic appeal

I quite liked this photoshoot I found myself experimenting a lot more with this photoshoot than I do with most. I think I have got some good work within this topic but I don’t think its my best work.

Femininity vs Masculinity-

Lauren Withrow inspired-

I really enjoyed this photoshoot I found that taking photos of a model in more of a nature environment is something I enjoy because I can incorporate parts of the landscape within the photo. I think I could do a lot more with this idea and expand on it.

Robert Mapplethorpe inspired-

I really enjoyed this photoshoot I also think it was very successful. I enjoyed being in the studio with the model and trying out different techniques and doing slightly more abstract photos rather than normal portraits.

Portraits

Lighting-

Similarly I really enjoyed being in the studio and playing around with different lighting techniques. I think some of the photos came out really well whereas some other not as much but i still think it was a successful shoot.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, in 1954. Sherman majored in painting and graduated from the state university of New York buffalo and very quickly rose to fame with her work in art. During her major, she began to explore the ideas which became a hallmark of her work: She dressed herself as different characters, cobbled together from thrift-store clothing. She was frustrated with the limitations that painting offered her and quickly realised the advantages of photography and noticed that this was something she preferred and had a talent for.

 “I was meticulously copying other art, and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead.”

Cindy Sherman’s photography is very clearly focussed on the topic of female stereotypes. She regularly alters her appearance beyond recognition through makeup, prosthetics, and costumes. To create her images, she assumes the multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, and stylist. She becomes the character in the story she is attempting to portray through her images.

Sherman said, “I never thought I was acting. When I became involved with close-ups I needed more information in the expression. I couldn’t depend on background or atmosphere. I wanted the story to come from the face. Somehow the acting just happened.”

Many people have perceived Sherman’s photography to be uncomfortable creepy, or even terrifying since we see the depicted woman in a vulnerable position. a few of her photos show herself with her back to the camera which can also be an example of vulnerability as it could be seen as someone watching her and she doesn’t know.

What impact did she cause to photography or society?

Cindy Sherman’s photography is important because of the way it depicted how women are viewed in society. The exploration of identity, gender, and representation have inspired countless artists and photographers to up level and push boundaries when nit came to their own artwork.

In this photo, I could be interpreted by the viewer that Sherman is impersonating a stereotypical house wife from the late 1950s or early 1960s. This can be clear by the objects she adds to the image to subtly create this thought. the use of the pan and soap bottle suggest to the viewer that she could be pictured in a kitchen. as well as this, she is also wearing an apron.

The construction of the picture hints at a number of possible narratives and is open to a range of analyses. One analysis a viewer could make is a negative event occurring. The black and white can cause an ominous feeling or sense of tension and the tone of the image makes it feels like a dark and scary moment for the woman. she can be seen to be looking over her shoulder and the viewer can interpret that to what they like but it was usually be a negative thing she may be looking at as her eyes look concentrated on something that could be making her scared. Sherman is also seen holding her stomach which could be a usual comfort for a woman so this could further suggest something to make her uncomfortable is going on and further shows how she depicts the theme of vulnerability in her photos.

My plan for my personal study is to look at people’s fashion in the streets and how everyone is dressed differently. I’m not sure if I’m going to make my images staged or I’m just going to go round town and try to identify people with unusual styles that catch my eye. My plan If my images will be staged: I would quite like to get a model or a selection of models to wear some of their favourite clothes but to make it more fancy and less formal so that they stand out from the crowd. If I have a selection of models with me I would rather do one model at a time in the shoot so that there isn’t too much going on, or I could have a few of the models in the background and see a few of them on the sides so that the main focus isn’t completely gone from the main model in the image. I could also get the models to wear bright colours and position themselves around town and photograph that. The way for me to get a good set of images is to try and get a few ideas of a photoshoot so that at least one will be successful. If my images were not staged: I would go round town and try and capture anyone who has a unusual style as they are walking towards me, I would try and have my camera at waist level to try and recreate Vivian Maier’s photography, the aim would be to get them to look at me and not the camera so that they are distracted his would be an image of what I see in the moment of what I’ve captured, having all of their focus on the camera and stopping what they were doing. I would see what type of style is most recognised and try and find an opposite theme of clothing to photograph, I would quite like for the background to be filled with people to be able to notice the difference of clothing between the model and normal people walking around. 

For my first photoshoot I would quite like to try and get some un staged images to see if that works well, if that doesn’t work well and I can’t find anyone wearing different types of clothing I will use models to recreate the images. I would need to try and take photos of things like Vivian Maier’s and William Klein as I am inspired to try and recreate similar images that these artists had worked on. I’ve done my research on many photographers and identified how they have produced their images and what they did to make them as good as they can. I really like the street photography element, but it would be quite bland and it’s a broad topic, therefore I tried to find things I can incorporate in my images. I’ve looked at staged and candid photography and I feel like I might try and include both styles of photography in my work. For example, when looking at the artist William Klein, his photos were staged, and he dressed his models into really high classed modern clothing to make them stand out. William would use the streets as his studio and make his images more unique and inspiring to him. Whereas the artist Vivian Maier looks at people on the streets, she takes candid images and doesn’t let people know that she is photographing them, she holds her camera at waist level so that her camera is more discreet. Both those artists have very different styles of photography, but I feel like a mixture of both the styles could mix really well and it would help me to make a great set of images. 

I think the way I’m going to do my photoshoots will be inspired by William Klein where I am focused on peoples styles, most likely make my image staged and get some of my friends to help out, I would do through town or a busy scenery and get the model to stand in the middle or walk around as if they are part of everyone else except they stand out a lot more. To include Vivian Maier’s work into my project, I’m going to make most of my images waist length and tell the model not to look in the direction of the camera, this is just an experiment to see what works best for me, if this photoshoot doesn’t go to plan I can always try again but improve my plan and focus more on one artists than the other and still incorporate both artists ideas but change it and make it more original to me. I think it would be quite difficult for me to recreate as I don’t live in a big city and live in a small island which makes it more difficult, I won’t be able to find big signs and have a busy surrounding, this could help me make it more original to me and towards and beach and go somewhere near a lake, something that is more personalised to Jersey.

Although Vivian Maier’s and William Klein’s work are very different from each other and have completely different styles of photography as one uses waist length to capture the perfect image whereas the other one doesn’t quite use birds eye view but uses a higher angle to capture every detail around the model, I do like how both artists use a black and white effect on their images, it helps to make them more modern and less tacky, all of the colours in the background aren’t taking the attention away from the model and what they are doing . Most of the images here have models looking in the direction of the camera which makes the image look more mysterious and also makes them realise that their surroundings are different from usual. I would also like to make my images into a vogue magazine and help make them look slightly different to the artists and make it more personal to me. I will have a look at Anna Wintour, the vogue editor and see how she edits her images and why it makes them stand out. 

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the American vogue is widely regarded as the most influential figure in fashion since 1988.  She has greatly influenced fashion trends, elevated the status of fashion journalism, and shaped the careers of numerous designers. She eventually moved to New York City with her then-partner and continued to climb the editorial ladder at a number of publications. In 1988 she was offered the position at US Vogue, which she now holds “indefinitely” — as Condé Naste stated several years ago amidst a flurry of retirement rumours. The original US edition of Vogue was first published in 1892, with the British edition coming next in 1916. Currently, there are over 28 international editions of Vogue magazine. The expansion of the brand has shaped the global fashion scene.  Wintour’s editorial decisions have played a role in how the magazines operate in their respective countries. 

I would like to use the vogue symbol in my work as it will make it look more unique and special to me. I feel like making a magazine as my project can help me put meaning into my work. I would quite like to add the concept that people stand out some more than others and it’s identified differently. Each photo i remake could symbolise how each person stands out from the rest and why I am focusing on them and them only. Some of the models in my images will be dressed different on purpose to recreate the images inspired by William Klein and Vivian Maier, although the aim is to prove and show that everyone is unique and stand out differently whether my photos are staged or not, it makes the image look different from the rest and makes the viewer question why they are dressed differently and what is going through their minds to be able to attract attention. 

https://www.dw.com/en/the-endless-reign-of-vogue-editor-anna-wintour/a-70632960

Observe : A verb- notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.

Seek : A verb- attempt to find (something), attempt or desire to obtain or achieve (something).

Challenge : A noun- a call to someone to participate in a competitive situation or fight to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength, a call to prove or justify something.

Mind map-

Mood board-

Ideas –

M19 Bunker, Corbiere – The Bunker some of these men where in, and is where the soldier, Engelbert Hoppe was in command of at the age of 19.

Circa 1980s – Engelbert Hoppe, re-visiting the old bunker he was in command of from 1943 – 1945, Corbiere.

Project ideas –

• Idea centred around war: more specifically Jersey and its occupation, with the lives of German soldiers within MG battalion 16, 2nd Company, E.g. Horst Herrmann and Engelbert Hoppe.

• Documentative style photography: Candid, natural, In the moment.
• Past, present future: Current conflict, based on culture, immigration, economics, ideologies, prejudices.
• Threat of isolation, stationed far away from Germany, family, what was the physiological impact. With no contact mainland Europe after D-Day what would their concerns, or hopes be? Liberation or fighting to the death?

Inspiration –

Imageworx:

This social media page recreates iconic and some lesser iconic events from the second world war, with modern editing, these images are given a dramatized aesthetic which use a vivid colour pallet to retell these moving stories. With photos taken often in natural lighting it creates that immersive feeling as if they are coloured from originals. As their photograph Marcel Bahnen states, they “Visualise” the Second World War, this to me creates an accurate and genuine insight to these people from past, which I feel when I look at original photographs.

Another group, Paralightworx, a German historical film company, recreate these sorts of images also:

Using colour grading as well as practical and digital effects, these to me can effectively be used to tell a visually appealing story. Used in their short films, it is applied very well. Paralightworx also make create use of colour schemes based on location which I would like to try and replicate. Basing of the tone of the area, I will try to do the same within my photographs.

Another photographer who explores this sub-genre of historical visualisation is Michiel Peters. With numerous images covering the conflict he specialises in portraying these men and women who fought as accurate as possible, even down to locations they fought at. With his photography’s aesthetic style, I would like to recreate the gritty, low-saturated colour scheme he uses. Using his idea of photographing in the exact locations soldiers where, I will replicate that through doing the same within the bunkers of Corbiere. With many of the bunkers restored to look how they did during the Second World War, this was add to the depictive value I aim to replicate.

Story through photograph inspiration –

Germans of 2nd Company, MG Battalion 16 and their stories:

CIOS Review NO.35

Engelbert Hoppe –

Born on the 18th August 1924, In the town of Eschweiler, six miles from Aachen. Engelbert was raised by family as a roman catholic. At age 11, Engelbert experienced the Nazi regimes take-over, and would be forced into his future career: “I wasn’t a member of the Hitler Youth and I was ‘arrested’ along with some friends for wearing the blue shirt of the catholic boy scouts whilst camping in the Eifel woods. Even here the Gestapo had traced us. We were locked up in a barn for the day and our two leaders were taken to Aachen Gestapo Headquarters for Questioning which lasted for two days. This was all terrifying”. Being well-educated, Engelbert was studying at boarding school, awaiting his call to university, this however was not case as his conscription papers arrived and he was forced to report in Aachen. Assigned to Stamm-Komp./G.E.B. 464 (Regulars company/Grenadier replacement Batallion 464), there barracks where situated in his hometown, marching past his parents house, they had not known he had been drafted.

In May of 1944, He was moved to St Malo to then be shipped to Jersey, here a stroke of luck would occur. Running into the commander of St Malo himself, Oberst Von Aulock, he was ordered to report to a Bunker in St Malo, on presenting his ticket to Jersey he was able to convince him to allow him passage to his ship. This would prove to be lucky as in the later months of that same year St Malo was laid waste to a siege by allied forces.

Serving in Jersey, apart of MG Battalion 16, 2nd Company he was put in charge of the M19 bunker complex. Reaching the Headquarters of MG battalion 16 the Feldwebel at the desk asked him from, replying Eschweiler, near Aachen, the Feldwebel in shock replied he was too, and a frequent guest to Engelbert’s parents café. To Engelbert, although being far from home, he felt somewhat closer with this first impression of the island. When reaching Corbiere he gave his first impressions “walking on, all of a sudden I was fascinated by a wonderful seascape – Corbiere lighthouse. This wonderful sight made me stop for a while and take a deep breathe, smelling and tasting the sea air, I saw the Corbiere tea room and 2 bunkers on my right spoiling the view of the lighthouse”.

living in the bunker with 6 other men he would come spend a lot of time with them, all aged around 40, they all could’ve been his father. Life on the island was static, to pass the time, Engelbert and his comrades played games, fished, sung. One of his Comrades, Gustav, singing, when asking the lyrics he told Engelbert not to bother as this was a political song in support of a left-wing political view, and ideology that he had been punished for in the past and went against the sentiments of the Nazis. When exploring the area, Engelbert became friends with some of the locals, Mr and Mrs Le Brocq, when dining in their tea room, Mrs Le Brocq said to him that she did not see him as an occupier but a new neighbour, like with the men of the bunker, he saw them as his grandparents, feeling again somewhat closer to home.

By June 6th, 1944, the allied invasion had began. with the recapturing of Europe, Jersey was cut off, food imports stopped, hunger began. With allied planes over the island, the men where put on alert 24/7. With the food ration dwindling in the colder months, the local population began to starve. Within the cold concrete bunker, small stoves kept them warm. Food was gathered by ‘the poacher’ Karl heinen, hunting rabbits with his rifle, fishing was done by a West-Prussian, named Joszef Proehma who was skilled at the craft.

Being written a letter from home. Engelbert discovered his home town had been bombed, luckily his parents and sister had survived, His brother who also was in the war had lost his Bf109 over paris and was reassigned to a parachutist unit. With Germany bombed and Jersey not he was saddened at the unfortunate circumstances. With the arrival of the SS Vega in late December, the Le Brocqs had been given red cross parcels from Canada and New Zealand. Visiting them, Engelbert was given a small bundle of items such as chocolate, biscuits and butter. Brought to tears he had no way to thank them, spending time with them they used their secret wireless to listen to the BBC, the news gave him home that the war would end in a few months. Surviving the rest of the war Engelbert became one of many POWs (prisoners of wars) or as Engelbert named it POPs (Prisoners of peace), and was taken to England to then be sent back home.

Engelbert’s Poem:

An Die Nacht –

“Ewige Ruh liegt um mich her,

veträumt hör ich die wasser rauschen.

Ich sitz am weiten weltenmeer

und will den wellen lauschen.

Klar ist die Nacht der funkelnden Sterne,

Der goldne Mond spielt mit der Flut;

Komm, greif mich einsame Ferne,

Der Menschen Welt rings um mich ruht.

Leise erzählen die Wasser von Heimat,

Führen mich zu der Eltern Haus,

Bilder der Kindheit ziehn ans Gestad,

Steigen aus dunkeln tiefen heraus…

Stille Nacht, nun bist du gegangen,

Hab Dank für deine himmlische Macht.

All mein Gedanken hielst du umfangen

Und hast mach Jersey die Heimat Gebracht.”

– Im Juni/Juli 1944.

Translated to English –

To The Night –

“Eternal silence all around me,

Like in a dream I hear the waters rush.

Sitting by the ocean.

I listen to the waves.

Clear is this night of sparking stars,

The Golden moon is playing with the rising tide;

Come get me, distant loneliness,

The world of men around me is at rest.

The water murmurs of my homeland,

Leads me to my parents’ house,

Images of childhood come to shore,

Rising from the darkest depths…

Silent night, now you have gone,

I thank you for your divine power.

You engulfed my thoughts

And brought a piece of home to Jersey.”

In June/ July 1944.

CIOS Review NO.49

Horst Hermann –

Born, 8th March, 1925 In Berlin, Horst lived through a post-war capital, infested with hyper-inflation and political instability. Serving some time working for the state labour service, he built railways. At the age of 19 he was drafted in 1943. Being issued his uniform and an old helmet from the first world war, Horst saw this as a good Insurance policy however as due to its thicker steel it offered more protection. With 9 other Berliners, Horst spent some time fighting on the Eastern front. Due to his young age, he was not fit for fighting in such an active role so what ordered by a higher up that he would be sent to “some god-forsaken island off the French coast”. Travelling across Europe in Goods’ wagons he arrived at St Malo and was shipped off to Jersey in September of 1943. Alongside his fellow Berliners, they where all posted to 2nd Company of MG Battalion 16.

Stationed within various positions he mainly resided in the K2,Jagerstand. A Bunker within strongpoint Corbiere that housed a First World War, French canon. Living amongst ‘Country Bumpkins’ as he called them, him and his friends from Berlin found it difficult to converse due to their accents, these men were seasoned members of MG Battalion 16 as they where from the place in Germany where it was established. Whilst in the K2, Horst almost face court martial twice: With the first instance, Horst was given the chance to fire the gun, how it functioned was through the pulling of a lanyard, when instructed to fire, Horsts nerves got the better of him and it slipped through his fingers. The bunker commander, Feldwebel Werner Hentrich, assumed it was a misfire, to assure the safety of the men he ordered them to evacuate the room, after confessing his mistake he was not well liked and was threatened with a potential court martial. His second run-in with potentially getting a court martial, was due to accidently setting of a line of trip-flares. Putting everyone on alert, more specifically, the naval personal in the MP2 tower nearby who lodged a complaint about the “fireworks display”. On another occasion he kept quiet, whilst aiming the gun, he flinched prematurely at the firing of the gun, instead of hitting a designated rock close to La Rocco Tower it ricocheted and hit one of the southern machicolations of the tower, as smoke rose above it, he kept this a secret until revisiting the island in the island. If the shell had been a high explosive, the damage caused to the tower would be too severe, which they where ordered not destroy due to its historical significance.

Serving as Static Infantry, Horst was also trained as a machine gunner on the MG34. Training in the dunes, his lanky figure helped reduce the weight of the 12kg machine gun. The downside however, came with cleaning it after. Due to its complex German engineering removing sand from the working parts consumed a lot of Horsts free time. 2 pets lived in the bunker, a cat and dog which they adopted as mascots, as the war progressed however food supplies dwindled and the cat was unfortunately eaten, on recalling this story Horst would always have a tear in his eye.

After the war, Horst revisited the Island many times, in the years 1980, 1985, 1991 and 2005, until in March of 2007 the news was sadly given that he had passed away, aged 82.

OBSERVE, SEEK AND CHALLENGE

“The human desire to seek and explore the unknown has driven artists to look for fresh inspiration throughout the centuries” – The idea that people are looking out for something more than what they know has driven them to become very curious, they search for deeper meanings and never stick to the original meanings. This helps photographers to capture the best image possible. The aim for this personal study is to have a deeper understanding of my chosen topic, be able to compare its positives and negatives and produce my own set of images. Looking through my previous work that I have produced I have come to conclusion that a form of street photography has caught me in interest, the ideas of doing urban photography or fashion photography has made me wonder which one is best suited for me. Fashion street photography could be slightly harder than urban photography as you need to get the right people to wear the right clothing and capture the best image possible, whereas urban photography is more like taking pictures of the streets. The term street photography refers to Street photography being a type of photography that is conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places, usually with the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by careful framing and timing. Although fashion photography may be harder to accomplish it would be a good idea to try to organize the right way to complete it in easier ways, for example making the photos staged could be an idea as it’s not always obvious that certain photos are staged. Having a model by your side is a good advantage as you are in control of what actions they may do in each photograph, and you could change the way they are dressed to make the image seem less staged or precisely just a perfect moment captured. 

Other previous work like ‘windows and mirrors’ could help influence my decision on this personal project to get a better understanding on where my strengths and weaknesses are, as I do prefer to look at windows more than mirrors as the windows theory of identifying a photo is context based. I would rather not make the images too personal to myself but more personal to other people around me in general. The photos that will be produced will show a sense of reality or even fiction but not a personal story of myself. The windows and mirrors concept will guide me to understand what photos need to be taken. I like the idea of taking anonymous photos where people aren’t aware that there photo is taken meaning they aren’t posed, although when creating my own photos I do think making my images staged could help me get an overall understanding on what type of photography I like whether it is staged or taken at a ‘decisive moment’, a good artist I could look at would be Henri Cartier Bresson, he came up with the decisive moment being a method in photography where the thrill of waiting for the next person to walk by will make the perfect image. 

William Klein:

“William Klein was an American-born French photographer and filmmaker noted for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism and fashion photography”. William Klein has quite a good range of images that I could look at and work on, his work is quite inspiring although a lot of them look staged as the model is over dressed in some of the images, certain models are posing and doing different things that seem quite unusual, things you wouldn’t see on a daily basis. I do like the mixture of the photos being black and white as it makes them different but doesn’t necessarily make each photo more important than other photos. I do like how each photo is focused on one person in specific almost as if it’s trying to tell a story about the model, but the viewers must work it out. 

Martin Elkort:

“Martin Edward Elkort was an American photographer, illustrator and writer known primarily for his street photography. Prints of his work are held and displayed by several prominent art museums in the United States. His photographs have regularly appeared in galleries and major publications”. All these photos are in black and white which makes the images quite modern and sophisticated, these images captured are taken out of the blue, the people didn’t stop to pose for the camera, they kept normal as they were aware and sometimes it how’s everyone how the world I today and how it has changed throughout the generations and the way people dress has changed massive due to different ages which is good to capture and acknowledge. One thing that would be more difficult for me is that these images seem to be old fashioned and a lot of things have changed since this photographer has taken these images, which helps to make the images more personal to me and also make me experiment how things have changed throughout the years and what has changed, e.g. clothes, props (prams), transport and even buildings have changed.  

Overall, this is a topic I have a great interest in and feel as though it would be quite entertaining and challenging to do but will help me understand why each photo looks and feels different due to it being staged or just a good, timed image also referred as a ‘decisive moment’. The idea that the images I want to recreate are mainly based on the streets whether they are urban photography or fashion photography which could be more difficult if the image aren’t quite staged. I do like the idea of taking images of a big city and a crowded place but I would have to do the opposite due to living on a small island, though that will make images feel more personal to me as this island is my home and a place I feel safe in and I have experienced most of my childhood in. 

My plan is to go out and try to capture images of people who have quite an unusual and unique style that is different to the rest. Or I could get a few of my friends to dress up in their own styles to show how different people are and the effects of the world, how other people influence us to dress the same, why we feel to dress a certain way and why aren’t comfortable to wear certain clothes. Another thing that I could try and do would be trying to get my models to dress like a certain individual, a specific character from a tv show or possible a significant influencer to recreate their image and try and get a perspective of their life through what the images they put online. I would also like to get landscape photos of town/ somewhere busy to get the model to stand in, so that the background of the image is quite noisy. The slight problem I could have with that would be that the image might have too many details and make the photo look tacky and not as elegant as I would aim for. The best texture I’m looking for in the image would be a smooth texture but not too much to the point that it looks too boring and there is no details, I do like the idea of having a rough texture somewhere in the image, possibly the main event happing in the image as it will draw the eyes towards the main focus point. 

Photography is a way of seeking out what normally goes unnoticed, that can be seen as seeking for a photograph. Another way to look at photography is as a challenge, as usually they create the most interesting photos. Observing things, e.g. the ‘male gaze’ is another important feature to create be a good photographer.

Observe – “To notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.”

Seek – “Seek is the attempt or desire to obtain or achieve something.”

Challenge – “A challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination.”

I will be using these 3 definitions to form my ideas. Here is a little mind map to collect my ideas on what these definitions could me for photography.

I then created a mood board to gather my ideas together, allowing me to pick the best general ideas:

I like the idea of landscape photography, showing the beauty of nature. I also think I could do something with basketball as its been my biggest passion for many years, allowing me to get more creative with it.

Another Idea I have had is to show manhood and the hidden difficulties of it. I might, later on, find a way to relate this to basketball, giving it a more personal response. Here is a article about masculinity that I enjoyed reading and will likely use to help me with this project here. I might also be able to bring some old photos of my dad to show how manhood has changed.