I was really pleased to receive such positive feedback for this assignment. I had doubts about this assignment after I had submitted it because I began to think about other lighting I could have used.
My tutor “thought this was a really strong submission overall and think you will have benefitted from the technical activities required here. I was impressed with your use of both flash and tungsten lighting”.
Follow up work from assignment 3
- Looked at the work of Penn / Weston / Knight
- Started to develop a critical opinion about other photographers work and trying to link it into my practice.
- Made blog navigable
- Included a page on photographic exhibitions
My tutor thought my subject of a teasel was a good choice of subject as it has significant visual interest. I had wondered whether it was too simple. I had included my research into my accompanying notes which I think was helpful. I was interested to note that my tutor thought my images had a medical or forensic look to them.
I am pleased that I am now able to comment on an image and turn it from a photograph into words. It has taken some practice and hopefully I can build on this.
Some suggested follow up work is to look at the conflict in recent contemporary debate between monochrome and colour.
“You have demonstrated an excellent control of different lighting.” Some advice offered from my tutor is to sync flash at 1/60th of a second in future and use my aperture to correct exposure.
I gathered another teasel and experimented to improve my original photo.
Form (Photographic lighting)(Original is small photo)
 |
|
F22 1/6 secs
ISO100 105mm flash
|
1/60 F16 ISO100 24mm flash
I think the retaken photo looks more true to life. My original looked very stiff and artificial as if the lighting was too harsh. With the retaken photo, the flash was synched with the camera as above, but only for 1/60th of a second. I think less light has improved the photo. An aperture of F16 gave a good depth of field and clarity to the teasel. This photo was to show form (3D) of an image.
 |
F22 1/200
ISO100 105mm flash
|
1/60 F4 ISO100 45mm flash
Once again, the retaken photo looks more true to life than my original. I decided to use F4 which made the leaf structures stand out and the head blurred. As I had to take this picture in complete darkness so that the background remains black, F4 being a wider aperture let more light into the camera. I discovered that with this photo compared to my original, the flash was on for longer and I had to be careful where I aimed the snoot to stop the shiny surface of the velvet from being visible. I noted the shadow detail which fell onto the head and thought that gave extra definition and interest to the photo.
Although I had completed the exercises in the course material on colour temperature, it had not occurred to me to include it in my assignment. This will be remedied.
Learning Logs/Critical essays
- Easier to navigate my blog with the use of labels and pages.
- Try to attend one of the OCA study days near to where I live
- Referencing - surname and date of publication after the citation in parenthesis i.e. (Knight, 2002) and include full bibliographic entry
- If many editors have been involved with the publication of one book, name the first and replace the rest with ‘et al’ i.e (F. Hunter et al, 2007)
- Germain, Julian.2005: For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds Of Happiness. Steidl MACK. Gottingen. Germany ISBN-3: 86521-077-5
- Muller, Wolgang.2003: Karat - Sky Over St Petersburg. Nazraeli Press. Tucson USA ISBN-3: 932809-40-8
- King, Stephen.2009: Lewis’s Fifth Floor – A Department Story. Liverpool University Press. Liverpool UK ISBN: 978-1-84631-246-5
- Billingham, Richard.2000: Ray’s a Laugh. Scalo. Berlin. Germany ISBN-3: 908247-37-3
Look at the texts above if possible in a University Library with an Arts and Media Faculty.
24th April 2013
Follow up work from Assignment 4 included visiting a local academic library to look at a selection of books in preparation for Assignment 5.
- Germain, Julian.2005: For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds Of Happiness. Steidl MACK. Gottingen. Germany
- Muller, Wolfgang.2003: Karat - Sky Over St Petersburg. Nazraeli Press. Tucson USA
- King, Stephen.2009: Lewis’s Fifth Floor – A Department Story. Liverpool University Press. Liverpool UK
- Billingham, Richard.2000: Ray’s a Laugh. Scalo. Berlin. Germany
Billingham, Richard.2000: Ray’s a Laugh. Scalo. Berlin. Germany
The scene is set with very few words – a blurb explains “This book is about my close family. My father Raymond is a chronic alcoholic. He doesn’t like going outside and mostly drinks homebrew. My mother Elizabeth hardly drinks but she does smoke a lot. She likes pets and things that are decorative. They married in 1970 and I was born soon after. My younger brother Jason was taken into care when he was 11 but is now back with Ray and Liz again. Recently he became a father. Ray says Jason is unruly. Jason says Ray’s a laugh but doesn’t want to be like him.” http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/billingham-untitled-p11756/text-summary
What I liked about this book was the way Billingham communicated ordinary family life as a social documentary in such a way that I could associate with it. His use of colour and the way objects and pets just appeared in the photographs instead of being set up added to the meaning of the photographs. It made me reflect back on my own experiences of photography inside peoples houses, from the hurriedly moving away anything which may appear in the frame to give a clear background, to parents moving elderly relatives outside before taking their photos because there was less clutter, and the light was brighter and more natural. The difference between the re-organised photo’s I have experienced and Billington’s was the formality of the occasion and lack of spontaneity. I think Billington captured relaxed poses. I also think his artistic nature came through when composing his photographs and compiling his images in his book. He knew his subjects well and was able to anticipate for example, that Ray would fall on the floor or have a fight with Liz.
I noticed that Billingham included a couple of establishing images at the beginning of his photobook. I think they worked well at the beginning because they set the scene. I was aware that this was an estate and what the outside of the house looked like before exploring life inside their house.
I particularly liked the action image of the pets waiting to eat the peas and carrots which had just fallen on to the dirty floor. The expression on the pets faces was like it happened often. It reminded me of what Cartier-Bresson (1999) describes as the decisive moment.
I thought a couple of the portraits were different. The photograph of Jason sat at the table looking at his cigarettes (taken through the net curtain) I thought was an interesting idea – as if looking in on a different world. I liked Liz in her colourful dress doing her jigsaw; the jigsaw picked out the same colours as her dress. The plain brown background gave enough of a contrast to make both stand out. I had not thought of using colour in this way. The portraits showed the emotion in the faces and what was/had just happened e.g falls, fighting, making up, laughing, sitting with nothing to focus on. By including the rooms in the environmental portraits, I think the reader sees the subject (person) in intimate places such as the toilet or bedroom which gives a more detailed insight into the life of the family. The close up of Jason eating his no frills yoghurt standing up gives an insight into the poverty of the family.
As an overall photobook, I was struck by the fact that it did not matter that a photograph spread across two pages didn’t have a natural break across the page join. Having read some reviews, I understand that the cover photograph was taken through the fish tank, which I thought made sense.
The use of what Billingham describes as cheap film created grainy photographs and in this setting I like the effect. I noticed that Billingham used different perspectives – e.g Liz’s slippers taken at floor level and a photo taken above Ray looking at him across the bed. Using different perspectives helped to keep me the reader interested. For assignment 5 (Applying the techniques of illustration and narrative), I included photos which fell into the main 4 types required for a photostory – establishing images, action photos, portraits and close ups. I included a couple of different view points- an aerial view and a low position.
What I learnt from looking at this book is that my photographs still fall within the safe zone, and I try to create order. I need to experiment with pushing my boundaries further.
Bibliography
Henri Cartier - Bresson, The Mind’s eye, Aperture Foundation, New York, 1999
Book reviews
Germain, Julian.2005: For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds Of Happiness. Steidl MACK. Gottingen. Germany
'I met Charles Albert Lucien Snelling on a Saturday in April, 1992.
He lived in a typical two up two down terraced house amongst many other two up two down terraced houses… It was yellow and orange. In that respect it was totally different from every other house on the street. Charlie was a simple, gentle, man. He loved flowers and the names of flowers. He loved colour and surrounded himself with colour. He loved his wife. Without ever trying or intending to, he showed me that the most important things in life cost nothing at all. He was my antidote to modern living.'
Julian Germain http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/16-For-every-minute-you-are-angry-you-lose-sixty-seconds-of-happiness.html
What struck me about his book was initially the cover; a flowery fabric cover which looked like a photograph album. I thought it was interesting that the book should include a mix of portraits taken by Germain and include original photos that Charles Snelling had taken and that it worked well as a concept.
http://www.juliangermain.com/projects/foreveryminute.php
Julian Germain includes some of his images from his book on his website.The four images I particularly liked were of Snelling sat on the beach eating icecream, sat outside his greenhouse, walking through the trees and a head and shoulders portrait against the wallpaper. I thought Germain's use of colour was carefully considered - and I was able to look at his photos with an appreciation of this having worked through colour exercises for assignment 3. I thought his photos blended well with Snelling's because the colours were harmonious.
The difference I noticed between Germain and Billingham's two books in terms of styles of photography was that Germain's were clear and clutter free. I thought his photographs were planned rather than spontaneous. I still felt I was looking into someone's life. I questioned whether I preferred one over the other and if I did, whether it was for any particular reason.
Muller, Wolfgang.2003: Karat - Sky Over St Petersburg. Nazraeli Press. Tucson USA
http://www.wmueller-photography.de/flash.html
I thought Muller's photos told a story. His environmental portraits really gave me an understanding of the area in which the children live. His portraits showed life as it was for the children, with cramped, overcrowded living conditions, and children sniffing substances e.g karat or smoking cigarettes. I particularly liked his rooftop portraits of the children because it captured a sense of the dangers faced by them which was part of their normal life. This is similar in style to some of the work I had seen exhibited at the Format festival in Derby this year.
King, Stephen.2009: Lewis’s Fifth Floor – A Department Story. Liverpool University Press. Liverpool UK
http://www.stephenkingphotography.co.uk/portfolio/?c=35
I enjoyed this collection of photographs taken by Stephen King of the derelict 5th floor of a department store in Liverpool. I thought the photograph of the collection of display dummies with two real people was good, and the abandoned children's toys along with the various fixtures and fittings gave an idea of what used to be sold on this floor. In my opinion, the lighting seemed to be in keeping with the style of the photographs.
In all, as a collection of photo stories, I thought they were all very different from one another and I am glad I have had the opportunity to look at them. It has given me an insight into photo narratives longer that just one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment