Personal Investigation
For the personal investigation where I am going to be experimenting with my work and choosing exercises that will help develop my work and then rounding it off with a final exercise which will be continuously have the addition of more work, I have decided to choose to begin with exercise #7: the public stage to begin with due to wanting to improve certain parts of my work as well as exercise #11: dream city as it will be part of my work that I don’t t believe that I experimented with well and hoping that I am to discover new parts of my work that I will be able to feature.
Exercise #7: The public stage
With the choice of exercise 7 it allows for me to try and attempt to go and combat taking images of people in groups as well as trying to not get nervous whilst taking images whilst in public situations as it results in there being numerous places that I wanted to take images at but it feels awkward taking images of a singular subject whilst in a public situation as from one perspective I want to try to take those photos in public spaces
Joel Meyerowitz
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Joel Meyerowitz's work is quite good in my opinion as the work done is taking singular moments which occur and then documenting it so that more people are able to witness those moments that the photographer think are quite important in a way. But at the same time the images show different locations with each image making scenarios look interesting as the images result with a distinct feature such as the smoke with the couple walking through it as without the smoke the image would look completely different which makes it incredibly different. and from his work I can see features of which I want to cooperate into pieces of my own work such as the images containing the man breathing fire where there are five people in the background who all seem to display different emotions which is something in which I believe that I have a difficulty with showing in my images |
Attempt #1 on exercise #7: The public stage
For this attempt on exercise I went to my local goals which is usually quite busy on the weekend and I was able to bring some of my friends to 'models' in a way as I would play the game with the for roughly 20 minutes then stop to take photographs so that I can take images of what was occurring in the foreground as well as the background as with the images I was able to not only capture the game that I was involved in but also the game of what was going on in other pitches which resulted in images that I really liked taking although the actual action shots were difficult to take as with the images it ended with me getting hit by the ball as I was too focused on taking the images but apart from that I enjoyed attempting this exercise although attempting these action shots were quite difficult due to there being numerous people in one place which would result in the . To expand on this project I would like to improve on imaging numerous subjects (3+) within the same image as it means that I would be able to do work which relate more to Exercise #11: Dream City as it allow for me to try to attempt on something which I find difficult but at the same time I want to try to push myself to try new things.
My favourite photo of the collection
For this image, it stuck out to me due to what was occurring within the actual photo as there is my friend trying to dodge the football but also fearing for what could occur if the ball was to actually strike him which I would label as a way of human drama being put on display but with the simple background it allows for me to aim to find a new method of taking images as with it being so simple it leaves only the foreground to focus on.
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Daniel Belet
Some work that I think relates to my first attempt on the public stage is Daniel Belet’s work which is really interesting as he has gone around the world and photographed street football teams which I believe is similar to the work that I attempted when I was at goals where I photographed people that I know on the pitch immersed playing football with each other but with these images I am intrigued about whether these images are taken before or after a game as well as the images are all taken in different environments as with the images you are able to foretell what is going to happen to the players and their kits if they have not already played. The placement of the people in the team is something that I am quite curious about is why the placement is like this as in traditional team images all of the players are in predetermined places whilst in this image they all seem spur of the moment which is intriguing to me but also the images are mixed with being taken in film but also some of the images are in colour and I believe that they are taken on digital camera. |
Within the image there is a way of seeing how everyone comes from different places but also it shows how everyone has a common sense of community as in the image you are able to see that they all seem to enjoy being in close proximity of each other as well as the factor that they are a street football team meaning that they have a connection outside of the sport. Then with the graffiti in the background of the image it allows for a sense of freedom within the image as well as showing what I'm guessing a community funded area
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Melissa O'Shaughnessy
The choice of photographing a flea market is something that I find interesting as I believe that there is always an interesting selection of people that occur there as the variety of people who appear at the flea market makes it so the subjects of the images are constantly different and I believe that is crucial for making a good series of images when it concerns photographs on the public stage. The images that I have chosen of Melissa O'Shaughnessy are some that also has a peculiar set of features of the images from the person sitting on the paintings to the people having their heads distorted by having items in-front of them which is also useful as it provides a sense of hidden identity which increases the personal value to the images in my opinion especially since the work seems to have numerous characteristics displayed meaning that the images result in each of the images displaying different stories. |
This interview above talks about how Melissa has been photographing in an area for years and how in the beginning she was quite nervous and by current day its basically an instinct as a photographer which results in the work being more natural the more that she is taking images which I find really important as a photographer develops as its a sense of confidence.
Attempt #2
The four best images
For my work I decided at the end after wondering for a while to take images over my fence due to the street there always a really nice view starting from 7 am and then every 20 minutes I went outside and took an image which resulted with a gradual change in the background which I believe works for the public stage, I was just unfortunate to not capture any people wondering to work at that time but also it could be viewed as fortunate as many people would like for the public stage to be empty as it allows for the natural beauty of what was already there to be viewed at a higher rate
plan to make some work from the project
Idea 1:
for the first idea I will begin with a virtual project by organising the images onto the website and presenting the with similar images which results in the translation between images
Idea 2:
I could make cubes of the images with them being diptychs or triptychs of the photographs depending on which images that I believe are suitable for this work. This means that at the end of creation there may be only two boxes whilst at the same time there could be 4 or more. This would be more of a 3D piece of the project which I think will be more appealing for me as well as the viewers.
for the first idea I will begin with a virtual project by organising the images onto the website and presenting the with similar images which results in the translation between images
Idea 2:
I could make cubes of the images with them being diptychs or triptychs of the photographs depending on which images that I believe are suitable for this work. This means that at the end of creation there may be only two boxes whilst at the same time there could be 4 or more. This would be more of a 3D piece of the project which I think will be more appealing for me as well as the viewers.
First plan |
Prototype |
Final three steps
As seen in the final image I decided to add layers to the images as it results in a nice sort of compact view of some of the work that I have made which is something which I believe is crucial for my work as the places that I took those photos were incredibly compact and constantly busy
I have used A4 cartridge paper to print off black and white photos which have resulted in the works appearance seeming slightly old, the method of overlapping the images and making the images seem conjoint at certain points which I believe makes the images look better as it makes the connection of the images much more clear in my opinion. The images are made into layers using wooden blocks which made authentic layers of the work which I find is much better for the work especially since the work without the wooden blocks appear quite flat. When comparing the prototype of the work to the final piece you are able to see that with the wooden blocks making the layers of the images more blatant which is a feature of the work which I am keen to experiment more with as by making the work 3D in a way makes it so the subjects in the images stand out more as it removes covers up unnecessary parts of the image which I believe makes the piece much better than prior due to the images being laid in a 3D way makes it so that the work has a better appearance when being shown.
Prototype
Completed piece
To create this I used Adobe Express to create a slideshow and then went through music suggestions and then went through music that I thought would relate to the music which I think works I really enjoyed although it took a while to create due to the uploading to the website was difficult and then I switched it over to YouTube and then uploaded, although when checking on mobile it does not appear which I believe is a large issue for the work. From making this I have learnt how to use adobe express which was a difficult due to how to make the slideshow was simple but making an audio file that works was highly difficult but once understood it is made was easy to upload
improved images
The images that were made were a method of refining my prior work as well as refining the skills that it took for me to complete some of the work as with creating the work. The images were difficult to create as there are numerous moments where the images had blur which was annoying but by refining the work I have been able to change how I was making the images either by changing the shutter speed or the ISO which I found really fun due to the change in the brightness in the images as seen in the images rapidly changes with small adjustments as well as having to adjust to the constantly depleting sunlight which created a random range of brightness for the images which I think works well, the main issue that I still need to develop on is improving my photographing of emotions and since everyone was in deep concentration there was only one emotion that I could capture
Final piece
For the final piece I decided that the images to be taken should be more suited to taking images around my local community as although the place is normally barren it is also quite nice to view the area in a different light as with this exercise (the public stage) I believe that the use of my local area for the final images are best suited as each photograph resembles a stage in my opinion that on some days are much better suited to create images but at the same time it is only for a brief moment of time that is resembled on each stage
What Is A Photograph?
What is a stimulus complex?
Memories, emotions, associations which are provoked by something that is seen and subconsciously causes a response
Theoretician's 8 reasons why people take photographs
Noted from one to eight on the sheet
Why do you like to take photographs?
The reason that I like to take photographs is I enjoy seeing the reaction that it causes after which has a large range as the work that I create are each made for different people as the work that I create has the issue of having something that I really dislike but the emotions that I feel are contrasted by those who view my work which I believe make it easier to view
Why would I like to make photographs in the future?
the reasoning for creating images in the future is that the work that I make is not limited in the opinions that can be made on it but the work that I make will hopefully be for a company which may narrow the images that I make but at the same time it allows me to pursue it fully without many restrictions on the resources available.
Memories, emotions, associations which are provoked by something that is seen and subconsciously causes a response
Theoretician's 8 reasons why people take photographs
Noted from one to eight on the sheet
Why do you like to take photographs?
The reason that I like to take photographs is I enjoy seeing the reaction that it causes after which has a large range as the work that I create are each made for different people as the work that I create has the issue of having something that I really dislike but the emotions that I feel are contrasted by those who view my work which I believe make it easier to view
Why would I like to make photographs in the future?
the reasoning for creating images in the future is that the work that I make is not limited in the opinions that can be made on it but the work that I make will hopefully be for a company which may narrow the images that I make but at the same time it allows me to pursue it fully without many restrictions on the resources available.
Exercise #11: Dream city
The thing that intrigues me is that with exercise 11 it allows for me to pick up distinct features which enables for me to find out which parts of the city that I choose will have features which are either really eye catching or something that can be described with numerous things.
Peter Fraser
Peter Fraser's work is something which intrigues me due to using a few selection of items to strongly portray something, with the anomaly of this being the central image, which is a fascinating feature of his work since the work constantly features a natural element to the work which is an interesting choice in my opinion as its not always the easiest thing to portray but for me I find it quite interesting. The work
Attempt 1
Before the attempt:
For the attempt the plan is to go either into Greenwich or to North Greenwich near the O2 since there are usually events occurring there which I think will present a "dream city" since both places will are quite popular due to the availability of food and events as well as there is also easy access to numerous places so if needing to change places I am easily able to go to somewhere else, possibly Blackheath.
After the attempt: For the attempt we decided to go "car hunting" meaning that we would go searching around for nice cars in our opinions which I really like due to how the body frame of the vehicles are sleek as well as being aero dynamic which I really like as well as how it would impact a city. Then later on I took photographs on my friend on his bike which resulted in the consideration oh how the area we were in was quite blocky in a way which not many of us had positive opinions on but the blocky city contrasted the aerodynamic methods of transport that people use on a regular basis
For the attempt the plan is to go either into Greenwich or to North Greenwich near the O2 since there are usually events occurring there which I think will present a "dream city" since both places will are quite popular due to the availability of food and events as well as there is also easy access to numerous places so if needing to change places I am easily able to go to somewhere else, possibly Blackheath.
After the attempt: For the attempt we decided to go "car hunting" meaning that we would go searching around for nice cars in our opinions which I really like due to how the body frame of the vehicles are sleek as well as being aero dynamic which I really like as well as how it would impact a city. Then later on I took photographs on my friend on his bike which resulted in the consideration oh how the area we were in was quite blocky in a way which not many of us had positive opinions on but the blocky city contrasted the aerodynamic methods of transport that people use on a regular basis
The 20 photos for the book
The work was determined to be suitable although I believe that the work should be improved by adding things such as going and blurring the background of the images blur as the images have large differences in contrast and in some images it allows for the subject in certain images appear much clearer which will drag the focus of the images. This may also cause questions to be brung up as without this context the reasoning of the blur would be unclear.
The Result
This Work was difficult to make as the sizing the pieces was difficult as well as the process of elimination that resulted in these 20 photos being used which I believe will be the best choice of images which enables for the images to result in the images being highly relevant for what the book is about. The main issue with the book in my opinion is that the images were not able to fully turn due to having to thread the book together using string which I would change by leaving an edge of white paper so there would be an edge to put the string through but also enough so that there would be no restraint from the book when turning the pages which results in there being a better a piece of work. Another difference i would make is increasing the amount of images that I would include in the book as some of the images would be better if they had images that linked to it before/after as when making the book there were certain images that were ignored due to wanting it to remain Dream City whilst I could of done a merge of the images which would result in there being an odd type of book that I believe would work quite well. But apart from those improvements the only improvement I would make is trimming the pages so that everything had a more formally appearance which would result in a selection
Exercise #4: shoot first think later
The exercise, shoot first think later enables for images that capture a single moment of time and then you are able to later review them and then you are able to analyse the images which I believe is really nice as it allows for making many images and then reviewing it so that the images can be quite quickly made which is amusing in that manner but some of the results are nice to review as there will be a couple of moments that are captured resulting in well made images that are slightly unintended.
Garry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand's work is quite smart as he says that he just wants to "see what the world looks like in photographs" which is similar to how I feel when taking photographs so he takes photographs of singular moments where he is able to capture the moments where he is fascinated about how it would look like especially through a photograph which enables for work that I personally really enjoy as it allows for there to captured moments of something that Garry Winogrand finds fascinating which may not affect other people which I believe is an amazing way to view photography as it means that these images are originally meant to entertain his thoughts about how certain scenes would appear as a photograph as it allows for him to capture a singular thought permanently instead of having a temporary memory of it. The idea of this I really enjoy as its creating a permanent memory that the photographer is able to continuously review which allows for amazing photographs to be taken
Attempt 1
This Work was something that I found quite interesting as it allowed for me to look intro things that I see on a regular basis and view and regular to my area and then show it to others so that I am able to get their opinions on it which I view as highly valuable as it means that I am able to compare my regular environment to others which is really interesting when comparing the areas as it results in seeing what others also view as valuable
Attempt two - final attempt
Whilst working over the week I thought the best way to end the time at the business as well as the project would be to end it with snapshots of the dogs when I thought that they were doing something that is different to their usual actions which I believe makes it so that the images were quite interesting to me at the minimum. The images range over four days so that I could chose some of the best images with 102 images being reduced to 36
Mirrors and Windows
Something that I find interesting as a mirror or window is viewed in a complete different from how you would view an actual window or mirror but takes some properties of the items into how to determine whether the image is a mirror or window. The ways that the images are determined to suit either of the two as the images may replicate which suites theme of mirrors but also reveal something that was there from before which connects to windows, and with that occurring I am finding it fascinating that an image may link to both mirrors as well as windows and with that I am keen to discover how to determine that.
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John Szarkowski
John Szarkowski, the creator of mirrors and windows, made numerous interesting images that can be sorted into numerous categories but is based upon the theory of mirrors and windows which creates a spectrum of where the images can be sorted along which intrigues me as the images are difficult to sort into a spectrum but at the same times certain images are so clear that they suit a certain place on the spectrum which allows for a possible system to be created but the work of John Szarkowski is quite difficult to sort as the images are so clear to show certain things but are also not displaying the features that make it clear of where the images belong which I am intrigued on learning on how to make that easier to decide as the images are created are quite intriguing as there are numerous features that I would really like to discover
This selection of images represents a scale of what the images that I was provided resembled more, mirrors or windows, which is hard to determine as there are many factors that contribute to whether the images suit the theme of mirrors or it suiting windows more and with discussions I found that the images that I was provided to determine more shifted towards the theme of mirrors due to the images being more placed into types of images depending if they are objective or if they are subjective which I am fascinated by as it results in a separation of images that I am finding interesting as the contrast between the themes as well as the middle ground between the options is something that I believe will be interesting to explore as with my selection of how the images may be entirely different from what John Szarkowski determined them to be but i believe that it may also be up to interpretation on what the images should be determined as it may contrast what I have created.
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My images of the spectrum of mirrors or windows
Within this the images are placed along a line where the two poles being mirrors and windows and the images are placed along that line and are placed to whether the images are most suited which allows for me to provide a reason and that may be interpreted in a different manner to how I have placed the images and the part of that really interests me as it means that the image's placement is different to what I originally thought.
Robert Parkinson
For this project of Robert Parkinson I would place it as far as I could to windows for the majority of his work but there are a few images that aren’t t as suited to windows due to the images being not relative resulting in something that I find really fascinating as it allows for some really interesting things that I am able to speculate about which allows for numerous opinion but those pieces in my opinion belong more towards mirrors as the way that they don't show exactly what is there allows for speculations which are really nice in my opinion. The central image is my favourite due to the matter of fact that the images are not full connected to the idea of windows but this one is solely connected to idea of windows since all the ideas around windows in photography suit this work. The work of Robert Parkinson during this project is mainly about how during lockdown he was constructed to his home and used that to advantage by trying to create any work that’s available
Windows and Mirrors attempt
For this series of images I took into thought whether the images will be deemed as mirrors or windows which I find interesting due to there being a spectrum that you are able to place these images in to determine where they belong so I took a range of images to ensure that there is a range of images of which I don’t believe I can deem exactly what will be considered windows and what will be seen as mirrors but I want to hear opinions from people about my work on it. There are many images that work well due to the images being at night I have look at Brassai afterwards which I believe will be a great artist that I can use as motivation to create better work but also some of my work has been deemed similar by the matter of the work is quite similar to Brassai I want to try to use his work and make a response to it in my own manner.
Alejandra Carles Tolra Workshop
Within the workshop we were discussing the themes about her work "where we belong" which were the themes of belonging as well as the candid and performance which was something that was really interesting to learn about due to having Alejandra Carles Tolra with us as we were able to discuss with her about her work allows for us to gain a deeper understanding of how her work occurred as well as how she met the Janeites which was something that I was unaware of but it made for numerous ideas form about how communities impact my work. When reviewing the workshop on a later date it is easy to remember the things that were discussed which allows for you to perceive about what the workshop intends to inform you about and the information sticks with you and how the work is created when reviewing is intriguing as the way that the work is created is something that I do not usually think about.
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Alejandra Carles Tolra
Alejandra Carles Tolra is from Barcalona, Spain and went to the USA to study photography and then came to the UK and has been here for roughly six years and met janeitees in Bath which I found really nice to think about as it shows the intresting communities in the UK which allowed for this work
The work above was inspired by the tasks that we were provided with beginning with assigning words that we believed related to the pictures which was intriguing to think about as words such as Candid as well as Performance connected to the same word which allowed for interesting evaluations to be made which I photographed to record the workshop. Afterwards we were tasked with creating an image that related to an word that we decided which resulted in the choice of escapism which as a group we used to create four of the images. The third task was to take a series of nine images that were related to prompts that we were provided which made numerous interesting images which we used in task four which was to use the nine images that we used to create a story which is the final image in the series of images above this text.
Overall the whole project was about a sense of belonging as well as the communities that you are in which was something that many people don’t think about and after thinking about I found it remarkable that many people don’t realise how much people belong to where they are which is really nice to think about. From this project I found many techniques such as the thoughts about whether my work is Candid or an performance as the two of them can relate to an image but also they contrast, as for it to be both in my opinion is to capture an image which is Candid whilst there is a performance occurring which is really nice to think about as for it to be Candid it is natural and to find a natural point in a performance is something that many over look but i believe it makes for really interesting images and to I really want to use this in future projects as to capture an opportunity of something natural whilst a performance is occurring is something that I believe would work really well whilst making images as it will make work that I have not seen in work apart from Alejandra Carlos Tolra's.
Overall the whole project was about a sense of belonging as well as the communities that you are in which was something that many people don’t think about and after thinking about I found it remarkable that many people don’t realise how much people belong to where they are which is really nice to think about. From this project I found many techniques such as the thoughts about whether my work is Candid or an performance as the two of them can relate to an image but also they contrast, as for it to be both in my opinion is to capture an image which is Candid whilst there is a performance occurring which is really nice to think about as for it to be Candid it is natural and to find a natural point in a performance is something that many over look but i believe it makes for really interesting images and to I really want to use this in future projects as to capture an opportunity of something natural whilst a performance is occurring is something that I believe would work really well whilst making images as it will make work that I have not seen in work apart from Alejandra Carlos Tolra's.
Work based upon Alejandra Carles Tolra's work
Overall this image is a glimpse into my social life as well as the communities that I am in but it is quite simple as the images only occurred due to events that I had set up with the first half being from when I had friends round to watch F1 and then the second half is when I set up a volleyball event as it was during Mocks and many people were needing to take their mind off the things that were occurring and it resulted in a lot longer sessions as well as the people enjoying being outside more than they usually do but also the images were quite intriguing as the images were something that I was originally doubting as the amount of images I were taking were a little off in my opinion so I was doubting my work effort