Personal investigation photos
Below are the first set of Images I took relating to my personal investigation for this section of the course.
I tried to focus more on framing than I had previously as Previously my images had felt to 'quick' and not thought through enough even though this is not the case in reality.
I tried to focus more on framing than I had previously as Previously my images had felt to 'quick' and not thought through enough even though this is not the case in reality.
Overall I think this more emphasised focus on framing definitely worked as I prefer these images to many that I had previously taken. It is definitely something I will incorporate into my future work much more.
Gallery visit- 04.07.23
Recently, we went on a gallery visit around London, we began our day by heading to The Saatchi gallery to see the exhibition "Civilisation; the way we live now" which documented humanity's ever-changing lifestyle around the world- photographed by 150 photographers.
The Saatchi gallery
I think it was interesting to see a such a wide variety of photos relating to one topic and how it can be interpreted in so many different ways.
Next we went on a small derive towards the V&A to go to their photography centre which was filled with a wide variety of photographic artefacts and images throughout history. Below are the images I took along the way.
V&A
I really liked this second exhibition as being able to see how different processes like film development and how cameras have developed through history was fascinating.
Summer photos
Below is a series of images taken throughout the summer holidays which were primarily aimed at aiding my personal investigation. I tried to include as many people as possible to help investigate this problem of ethics within street photography.
The majority of the photos above were taken when I went to St Ives in Cornwall over the summer holidays. I tried to consider my Personal Investigations when taking the images to try and develop my idea however in some cases I just photographed whatever I thought looked good in the moment.
Next I decided to make a small photo book to display my favourite images from this set however I wanted to ensure the ones I selected were related to my personal investigation.
Next I decided to make a small photo book to display my favourite images from this set however I wanted to ensure the ones I selected were related to my personal investigation.
The Photographers Gallery -Evelyn Hofer exhibition
Recently I went to see the Evelyn Hofer exhibition at the Photographers Gallery I personally found her images really interesting, The mix of colour and black and white in her images I think make her work diverse and interesting, no picture is the same as another. As well as this I found it extremely helpful when thinking about my personal investigation as street photography and street portraiture is the direction I am trying to take my personal investigation so I found the exhibition very inspiring and motivating.
The image to the right Is my personal favourite by Evelyn Hofer and has significantly inspired me to expand my practice and investigation to include more direct obvious portraiture and include other forms of photography not just candid, It is something quite outside of my comfort zone that I have not really explored or attempted before.
I think the main reason I like the Images are because the expressions are so natural and unchanged, they tell a story and allow the viewer to think deeper into the lives of the people in the image. |
Dérive-
Following our exhibition visit we decided to go on a short derive from oxford street to Victoria station, keeping in mind the Evelyn Hofer work we had just seen but was mainly focused on taking more images related to my broader personal investigation and using new techniques that I have not yet used.
I think from this point onwards it would be a good idea to take all my images in black and white. As well as preferring the overall look of it, it is in some ways more of a challenge. You have to consider how you take the image, the way you manipulate the light and you don't have the fallback of colour to rely on if the image doesn't come out quite like you expected. For example, when taking these sets of images there were certain images which i loved the idea of but didn't come out quite like I wanted when I put them in black and white but when they were in colour they were closer to what I was going for. I also think that from this point onwards I will focus my images around South London. I think that at the moment the images taken throughout have been of too broad an area and not personal to me so I want to narrow it down so it is more personal and so i can relate to it more and find myself more invested in it . I think documenting my local area and the areas where I grew up is a good idea to do this.
Diptychs & Triptychs
We created diptychs using a selection of 20 images taken over summer, we had to consider why we grouped each diptych or triptych together.
When creating mine I focused on the actual image itself, for example the top right diptych was focused on tall upright subjects whereas the diptych on the second row in the middle was focused around light. Overall I think it was a fun task that helped me view my pictures in a different way and gave me new ideas on how to present them.
When creating mine I focused on the actual image itself, for example the top right diptych was focused on tall upright subjects whereas the diptych on the second row in the middle was focused around light. Overall I think it was a fun task that helped me view my pictures in a different way and gave me new ideas on how to present them.
Below is a selection of my favourite diptychs and triptychs I made as well as some more I made at a later date using a wider range of photographs.
Favourite diptych & triptych
Above is my favourite diptych. The reason I think it works so well is due to the way the walls line up in the centre, it gives the impression that the person is standing next to a corner. There are also many small details that I like, for example the way the camera is positioned makes it look like it is filming the individual. The fact they are also both in black and white helps the illusion as it removes the contrasting colours that were present. In my opinion it can almost pass for one image not two separate photographs.
When putting this triptych together I tried to consider the framing. When I look at each of the images I think your main focus is towards the left of the image- The bar sign, The person standing and the crowd of people to the left of the statue. I also think each image has relatively bright and vibrant colours which help slightly merge them together.
Bruce Gilden and Trevor Wisecup (film experimentation)
In order to fully investigate ethics in street/ candid photography, researching and responding to photographers who sit at both ends of the spectrum is vital. Examples of Photographers who sit at what I perceive as the extremely unethical end of the spectrum are Bruce Gilden and Trevor Wisecup. They both go out onto the streets and take pictures of people with absolutely no consent with the flash. Despite a common argument being their images are ethical due to the intent behind them, even though these images don't necessarily have any malicious intent I think the way the images are taken counteracts this.
"I have no ethics" Bruce Gilden.
"I have no ethics" Bruce Gilden.
Both photographers use film so I decided to follow this method and use film in a Ricoh KR-10 Super. Overall this process was something I am extremely uncomfortable with, despite taking many candid photographs myself, being right up in someones face and taking such a directly confrontational image is something I have never done or considered doing. I didn't use any flash in my photographs as firstly I didn't have a film attachment for my camera but also I felt uncomfortable enough let alone include flash.
When taking my images I don't think I got as close up as I would have liked because it felt too uncomfortable and missed out on some good photo opportunities as In the moment I didn't feel confidant enough. Each photograph felt like a chore almost having to prepare myself to take the image which is something I never do, I always feel comfortable enough to just snap away, it was a strange feeling having to build up confidence to do such a simple thing as taking a photograph. The process of using film as a whole was almost brand new to me so was an interesting process but was also quite nerve-racking as I was not sure if the images were over or under exposed as well as getting the developer ratio correct, what if i came out with a blank roll?
Luckily they all came out quite well, none were necessarily over exposed or underexposed but unfortunately there was a light leak as I was using a roughly 40 year old camera that belonged to my grandad.
I then decided to create a book to display my more unethical images. Using InDesign. Initially, I tried to present the images in quite an irregular way to represent the ambiguity that surrounds this style of photography, how it is a personal decision to where you lie on the ethical spectrum as well as it being relatively unclear on how you can class an image as ethical or unethical. When binding the book together I first attempted to use a needle and thread to sew the pages to the spine however the paper was too thick so it was very difficult to get the needle through the pages. In the end it did not come out quite how I liked as a combination of the way the pages were printed and the way they needed to be laid out to sew meant the layout had too much blank paper which I did not like. Instead I tried a method that I had not done before. I glued the spines of the pages to the cover of the book to make a sort of lay flat book but there was some damage to the spine. This prompted me to make a second book containing the same images.
This second time I printed off each photo individually and stapled the spine to make it more neat and tidy. This method also meant that each image had its own A4 page so was much larger and easier to view which I preferred. I then decided to remove some of the blank paper which is what I was not keen on initially.
Hiroshi Sugimoto & Daido Moriyama.
Recently I visited the Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition at the Hayward Gallery and the Daido Moriyama exhibition at the Photographers Gallery. The Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition contained a wide range of his work from most of his major publications. My personal favorite's were the images from his book "Theaters" I found It fascinating the way he controlled the shutter speed so it matched the duration of the film but also how he ensured the whole images was not overexposed so that the whole image was white, from my own experiments with slow shutter speed photography a speed that is even just a few seconds too long completely bleaches the image. I also found how the images were displayed very interesting as the light varied from room to room to match the ambience of the section. This gave me many ideas on how to present my work in the future so similarly to Sugimoto i can create a sort of conjunct exhibition with similar 'aesthetics'.
I found the Daido Moriyama exhibition even more interesting. I felt that it more closely related to my personal investigation. I particularly liked his slow shutter speed and blurred images, it really made me consider the different processes that can effect and impact how ethical a street photograph can be, the subject of my personal investigation. It has made me want to experiment with a similar process and incorporate it into my personal investigation. I also liked the photobooks on display and made me want to make one in a similar style for my past 2 projects, it seems like an interesting way to do this which I can adapt to fit my work.
Daido Moriyama response
When taking the images for my response I wanted to do what I previously stated above and use a slower shutter speed to create some blur and obscure the main subjects face ideally. I also wanted to stay in the realm of my own personal Investigation and keep my images in black and white, also similar to Daido Moriyama who's work tends to be in black and white.
When taking the images for my response I wanted to do what I previously stated above and use a slower shutter speed to create some blur and obscure the main subjects face ideally. I also wanted to stay in the realm of my own personal Investigation and keep my images in black and white, also similar to Daido Moriyama who's work tends to be in black and white.
Overall I think my response was quite successful. They do remind me of Moriyama's work but also were a good step forward in terms of my personal investigation and a good point to move forward from. These methods can definitely be incorporated into my future work.
Joel Meyerowitz - Tate Modern
Recently I visited the Artist and Society section of the Tate Modern, specifically to see Joel Meyerowitzs' images. I found it really interesting as I saw a range of his images that I had not previously seen before and works like 'Aftermath' which gave a breathtaking look into the work that took place after the 9/11 attacks.
It really inspired me to take images from distance in a more "documentary style" like Joel Meyerowitz and from a distance, helping to create an ethical image.
Evelyn Hofer and Billy Dinh
Billy Dinh and Evelyn Hofer are two photographers that create in my opinion more ethical images compared to the photographers that I have previously researched, for example Trevor Wisecup and Bruce Gilden
What I noticed the most when looking at Images by Billy Dinh was that in many cases he used the physical environment and lighting in order to obscure the photographers face. Personally I think that these are two effective ways of reducing ethical ambiguity surrounding street photography. When creating my response I attempted to do a similar thing, using shadows and light to partially obscure or fully obscure the subjects face as well as using the physical surroundings like windows. It reminded me of some of Joel meyerowitzs' work.I also decided to experiment with photoshop to manipulate the image to achieve the same effect. I personally did not like the outcome of this however as it looked too artificial.
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Evelyn Hofers work is ethical in a much more obvious apparent way. She takes consensual portraits of people in I think a more documentary style so combines the ethical process with a positive intention creating an all round extremely ethical image.
In my opinion this is the most ethical form of image someone can make. Her images contain all the aspects that build up an ethical image making it a great place to draw inspiration when creating my range of ethical images. |
My response
Taking inspiration from all the photographers I have investigated throughout the course but most notably; Evelyn Hofer, Billy Dinh, Joel Meyerowitz and Fred Herzog, I created a set of ethical images to compare with my set of unethical images.
Some images that I took during this experiment I think can be classed as unethical meaning when creating my final piece and online exhibition I will class them as unethical and not group them with the other images from this set.
I loved the process of taking portraits in particular. Initially I was quite nervous to ask but after the first attempt it felt much easier and I got more and more confident. It was also nice talking to people about what I was doing. One person I photographed was a photographer himself so we had a conversation about my personal investigation, the equipment I was using and perusing photography as a career.
I loved the process of taking portraits in particular. Initially I was quite nervous to ask but after the first attempt it felt much easier and I got more and more confident. It was also nice talking to people about what I was doing. One person I photographed was a photographer himself so we had a conversation about my personal investigation, the equipment I was using and perusing photography as a career.
I decided to make various things to display my work throughout this project. I wanted a way to display my film photographs in a way that was not just strips of film so I made a contact sheet. This was another new process to me but wasn't quite as complicated as developing the film. However, I did keep on getting the images upside down and in the wrong order so it took a few attempts with test strips.
I then decided to make a final book to display a select combination of all my photographs. I thought carefully about ensuring they gradually go from my least ethical images to my most ethical images as well as considering how things like the size and amount of images on one page can effect how ethical the images become. The main goal with the book was to allow the reader to decide where they assign themselves on the ethical spectrum of street photography. I helped to do this by writing a quick sentence to sum up the photograph taking into account thingsI have discovered during this investigation. Mainly, were the images taken using film or digitally, were they candid or portraits similar to Evelyn Hofer as well as a quick summary of the process and anything else that was worth noting. I wanted to keep these sentences shorts and avoid any of my personal views creeping in as I think finding where you lay on the spectrum is something that is personal to each individual.
Something that surprised me during the process of producing this book was how long the actual design took. Selecting each individual photograph and positioning it how I wanted turned out to be quite tricky. I was also not sure on how to bind the book as the layout of the pages is different to a traditional A4 book. In the end I decided to use comb binding as this was the most efficient way to display the full a4 page without causing to the images or writing to be difficult to see or read.
Finally, I wanted to layer some audio over the flip through so it wasn't just a silent video. In the end I decided to use a snippet from the WNYC street shots: Bruce Gilden video where Gilden talks about the process of creating his images as well as how his perceives ethics. It was one of the videos I watched when researching for my essay and I think is a really helpful listen when thinking about this topic. The book can be viewed on my online exhibition.
Something that surprised me during the process of producing this book was how long the actual design took. Selecting each individual photograph and positioning it how I wanted turned out to be quite tricky. I was also not sure on how to bind the book as the layout of the pages is different to a traditional A4 book. In the end I decided to use comb binding as this was the most efficient way to display the full a4 page without causing to the images or writing to be difficult to see or read.
Finally, I wanted to layer some audio over the flip through so it wasn't just a silent video. In the end I decided to use a snippet from the WNYC street shots: Bruce Gilden video where Gilden talks about the process of creating his images as well as how his perceives ethics. It was one of the videos I watched when researching for my essay and I think is a really helpful listen when thinking about this topic. The book can be viewed on my online exhibition.