My first brief was called object, I had to create an image in a studio environment on a Large format camera, then Printed in colour in the dark room.
I Straight away wanted to base my project on my dad, I always make work on him as its a nice way to keep him on my mind. I first looked into sites like ' things organised neatly ' possibly making a piece photographed from above of several items that meant something to him, I then realised after my lecture with tom that it didn't really have a lot of meaning to it.
After finding work from Indre Serpytyte which had so many meaning in it using just single items presenting in such a interesting way. So I decided to photograph 2 items, his hat, that he wore when we went on holidays & special occasions, I think he felt different in it & as if it was his identity but I know he loved it & it meant a lot to him. In the hat I tucked in his wedding flower which he wore the whole week until he passed.
In the final photograph I left a lot of dark black space at the top to represent both anger which he had so much off, I never really knew where it came from, but he always took it out on me probably because it felt safe. And also the times me & my dad didnt really get along full stop. The flower shows the time I did have with him & really enjoyed, ofcourse I wish it was longer, but Im glad Ive now got memorys to share & remember.
Jeffrey Milstein photographed the black box flight recorders from aeroplanes that had made collision with water and sea, speaking about a piece of steel that holds the key to understand the tragedy from what condition the item was in, changing emotions quickly.
' For families and survivors these small boxes carry powerful last words and sometimes the only link to understand what happened. '
' For families and survivors these small boxes carry powerful last words and sometimes the only link to understand what happened. '
I find it very interesting that people can understand a item, or cast a story from looking at maybe a few items owned by a person, be it wealth of poor, happy or sad, living life to the full or just taking the days at it go.
Its nice that we try and tell stories with items, another chap I looked at was ' John Cyr '
He photographed The developer tray's used by Nineteenth century photographers, Cyr wanted the community to remember the specific, tangible printing tools that have been a seminal part of the photographic experience for the past 100 years.
you then start looking at the names below the trays & Just think at the amount of prints that have gone through that tray & then been forwarded to the world. its mad!
RESEARCH/ BODY.
Jeffrey Milstein photographed the black box flight recorders from aeroplanes that had made collision with water and sea, speaking about a piece of steel that holds the key to understand the tragedy from what condition the item was in, changing emotions quickly.
' For families and survivors these small boxes carry powerful last words and sometimes the only link to understand what happened. '
' For families and survivors these small boxes carry powerful last words and sometimes the only link to understand what happened. '
Portraits are something I have always struggled with, I’ve unfortunately never taken a big enough interest in the area, not for the reason that I don't like it, but because I’ve never really understood how its done, so my overall knowledge of photographers and my research over the years on portrait photographers is very limited, so I really didn't know where to start and have really struggled.
I started to browse lifestyle blogs and began to take an interest in very natural looking portraits, lots of whites and nice simple colours and tones, using what looks like natural light from sources given. But I’ve always found the expressions quiet breath taking, really get a feeling of them looking at you in such a way.
The two images below are taken from a blog called ' Convoy ' (
http://convoy.tumblr.com/) its a collection of images taken from all over the web based on fashion, interior, travel, people, bikes, cars. It's quiet a stereotypical area at the moment in the blogging scene, but everything is always very nice to look at, makes you feel good & shows a almost dream like way of living, images that make you jealous and want to live in that habitat.
So after finding an interest into this type of work, I went on a search for photographers who use natural lighting and try to make a connection between you and the sitter.
First of all I came across a photographer called ' Dan Wilton ' (http://www.danwilton.co.uk/) He makes what I feel is very much a documentary style basing his work around portraits, but very widely spread across different types of styles, he makes really fun work, also look books for clothing companies, plus professional work for Vice.
I tried to find similar concepts of shooting with the idea of no setup, but still creating something special. This image is going against what I said previously about using natural light, but the connection with her eyes is still there & the very casual and chilled out feeling is there really pulling you into the image and making quiet a fun vibe.
I went on to find more work by photographers with a very chilled out mellow style, I managed to come across a photographer from whom I actually follow on instagram, called ' Bradley Spitzer, (http://www.bradleyspitzer.com/) I saw a link to his site & found some of his work which was really nice to look at, his choice of models are always very natural skinned, with minimal makeup going about there ways, I found this image within his collection & thought it fitted with my concept quiet well.
The setup is very simple, looks as if he has chosen to use a pop up white tent as a backdrop & left the corners in, for what choice I’m not sure, but the connection again between the sitter and and viewer is very deep and meaningful as if she's trying to tell you something. The tones in the photograph are far from Vibrant and slight hits of contrast & blacks in her eyes and hair, giving the sharp shaping to her facial features. Her skin looks so natural and incredibly smooth, but I’m guessing this is probably due to some postproduction.
In the end I found a chap called Ben Rayner - http://www.benrayner.com/ - Very much a commercial based photographer who photographs bands, solo artists, fashion and portraits but there was one that really caught my eye, of a girl photographed with her arm on her hip standing in front of a curtain with her hair covering most of her left eye, really letting you to be drawn in by the right eye completely staring you in the face with this beautiful colour green, and the way her eyebrow is slightly raised gives it quiet a seductive touch. The grain in the photograph made it feel natural as if it was a quick snap taken against the curtains in maybe a hotel room or friends house with a 35mm camera.
The light is very much directed onto the right of her face by light pouring in through a window and her shirt pattern contributing alikeness with the straight lines of the curtains & how the shadow falls on each section giving that faint gradient adds a nice depth to the photograph.
After overlooking the photo for quiet a while, I decided I wanted to make a similar image to this, my first initial plan was to keep my eyes out for a very natural looking person who doesn't use to much makeup as I wanted it to look natural and not set.
I scouted a girl on foundation and finally found the right time to ask, who really fitted In with what I wanted to do, her name is Jodie Porter, she’s a very naturally skinned girl and doesn’t wear makeup and worked very well with what I wanted to do.
She even sourced a light button up shirt that she had. I managed to get hold of some curtains and worked out my lighting setup which was as seen below.
When it came to the day, I came in early and setup, I knew she was shy & didn’t want her to feel like she was being stared out, so my setup was faced into the corner. I hung the curtain with clips, & directed the light into 2 poly boarders in an L Shape facing way from the curtains allowing it to splash back, not drowning it to much, with another poly board on the other side to allow for a little light to hit the left side of her face.
It took her a while to settle in, as she was very shy, so I had to wait for her to look at the camera at certain moments and then shoot it when I felt it was right.
I shot the image on iflord 400, but I do feel it was a little flat & hard to print, Riikka did tell me its not a good idea to shoot with 400 film in a studio environment. But I wanted the grain in the print so I decided to go ahead with it.
Here is the final print.
