UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 3

This is a link to my Evaluation of my photographic techniques.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_4lfFO92DuxWDc4cXRxQWU0dUU/view?usp=sharing

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- Audience Feedback

In order to record audience feedback I have created a Google form which asks whoever fills it out questions relating to and regarding the images that I have taken

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16kkN4Cezg3jFhMHtc9eakys2qxKQ--yGOVKdFm8fbzg/viewform

These are images of people viewing my photographs and giving me feedback:

These are the results of my audience feedback:

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- My Images (Before and After)

I took my pictures within a park on an overcast day so therefore it made the objects within the image to appear quite darker and greyer than what they actually were. Therefore when editing my pictures I was constantly taking this into account which is why for all my images I increased the colour saturation and in some cases the vibrance/exposure in order to make the images appear more colourful and brighter. Also as increasing the colour saturation was a method that I used in order to try to imitate the works of Steve McCurry and the artistic style that he injects into his documentary photography. As well as this I was using a camera that automatically adjusted aperture and shutter speed so therefore due to the fact that all areas of the park that I took pictures in would've had a similar level of lighting, the aperture and shutter speeds for the images would've all been relatively similar. Below is a PowerPoint of my images after being edited

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- What message/emotion am I trying to convey?

My photoshoot will be about documenting Nature and the processes the take place.

I would be capturing life within these places no matter how big or small in order to show the processes of life within such unexpected places. This photoshoot would also show the significance of life no matter how big or small, by documenting different kinds of plants and small insects with the colours that they show it would make so the viewer sees these things as far more significant and beautiful than what they would have thought before. I also want to show that essentially beauty can be found anywhere. I also want to show that objects as simple as plants can be art subjects because of how their colours stand out. By using a location that is actually free and open rather than by going somewhere such as a garden or a zoo to capture these images it will allow me to capture life in its raw element allowing for the pictures to be a lot more realistic. It shows life at its core rather than something that is staged or forced. I also think that these images will focus on the finer details of life in its smallest, which in a way is reflective of people because rather than look at something/someone as a whole it can sometimes be useful to think about different features in greater detail to get more of a sense of the situation or who a person is. Sometimes looking at something as a whole may not be the way forward and looking at something deeper may be more useful.

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- Conversation with Tutor about my ideas

The following is the email that I sent with my initial ideas:

The following screenshot is the email that I have received in return from my tutor discussing my ideas:

As a result of this discussion and looking back over my ideas I have decided that I will be going about the nature documentary idea where I will be going about documenting the importance of nature and the life cycles that take place over a given period of time.

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- Steve McCurry Mood Board

The photographer whose style I will be attempting to imitate is that of Steve McCurry who is able to document the things he does almost in a way that is similar to the methods of fine art photographers. He is able to take events that are devastating and depressing and make them colourful and artistic. By using colour it allows for certain features of the image to stand out. We are able to infer the messages behind the image by looking at the features of the image that are clearly supposed to stand out to us.

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- Risk Assessment of my idea

Risk assessment for doing a photoshoot within a park

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- My Ideas and Pros and Cons Of Ideas List

My Ideas and their Pros and Cons

Nature Photoshoot
This idea would involve me going to a public park or forest and taking images of different plants, birds and insects in order to capture the undisturbed essence of nature. I would be capturing life within these places no matter how big or small in order to show the processes of life within such unexpected places. This photoshoot would also show the significance of life no matter how big or small.

Location: My local Park

Pros

• Local to where I live
• Natural pictures rather than staged add realism
• A Sunny day could make for some beautiful/artistic photographs
• Lack of people can make it easy for photos to be taken as they will not be getting in my way
• The location is readily available for me to use so therefore it can be done more short notice rather than needed to get planning and shooting permission

Cons

• Bad weather might ruin my chance to take photos
• On a populated day people might feel uncomfortable with me taking pictures
• Might be hard to get a good one shot oppertunity with insects or dogs or birds if they are constantly moving about
• Equipment will not be readily available to me
• Might disturb wildlife/animals/plants

The Mundanity of Student life

My idea here is to document the mundanity of student life whether it be at the very beginning of ones school career in year 7 all the way up to the stressful and exhausting life of a year 11, 12 and 13 student. As we are now in exam season this is something that might be interesting to capture in order to explore how students are really feeling about their exams and the effect that it has on them.

Location: School (JCoSS)

Pros

• Equipment such as tripods, DSLR camera and photoshop is readily available for me which can be supplied from the Media department. 
• Scene will be set up essentially as this is a busy time of year when everyone is working/revising.
• There will be an abundance of people who can be in my images to help me to prove my point
• There  will be a number of different locations throughout the school with their own lighting and colours which will help me to get a variety of different pictures.
• Images will be realistic as during exam time this is a feeling that is commonly shared among the student body.

Cons

• Some people might not be comfortable with me taking pictures of them whilst they are working/studying
• Teachers may find what I am doing as distracting to them and to others.
• I will need to get permission to take pictures within certain locations within the school such as classrooms during lessons or to take pictures of students during their study sessions.
• I will need to make sure that the pictures I am taking will be relevant to the point I am trying to make rather than just taking random pictures of the school.
• I have to remember to use the images for the purposes of this photoshoot rather than anything else as parents might not be happy with their children's face being used anywhere else

Consumerism and Buyer Behaviour

This would involve me going to a place heavily surrounded by consumerism such as a shopping centre or busy high street in order to document buyer behaviour and get across different ideas about consumerism and the effect that it has had on smaller businesses whether it be comparing big chain/brand stores to small family owned businesses or comparing one relatively new and modern shopping centre such as Stratford Westfield to something that is relatively older such as the Stratford Centre.

Location: Barkingside High Street, Stratford Westfield, Stratford Centre

Pros

• There are shopping centres and high streets that are easily accessible to me
• There are different stores and buildings local to me that would help me to prove this point
• By following the actions of shoppers it will help to give me an idea of buyer behaviour
• By looking at contrasting areas it can help to prove to me the effects of consumerism

Cons

• Permission will be needed to shoot as these are public areas with people who may or may not be okay with me shooting them/their businesses
• There could be a risk of having equipment stolen 
• I need to make sure that the images are being used for the stated purpose and nothing else
• Might be difficult on a day that is too busy or even not busy enough as this might not help me to prove my point
• Equipment will not be readily available to me
• Might not be okay to use a brand in my own personal photographs

UNIT 57 Photography- Assignment 2- Research of Photographers styles.

Research of Documentary photographers

Marcus Bleasdale

Marcus Bleasdale is a documentary photographer who has spent the past 15 years using his images as part of his campaigning against human rights abuses around the world. He has photographed some of the most brutal wars that have occurred in Africa in recent years. He has been documenting these events for Humans rights watch and National geographic, which shows that his work has the ability to reach huge audiences.

Bleasdale uses his photography in order to put the messages behind them right in front of the intended viewer of the image. What Bleasdale especially tries to do is to capture the smaller details such as the fact that it might be a young boy within the image who can barely reach the pedals of a bike that he has possibly stolen or to capture the facial expressions of locals who have just lost someone in a recent conflict that has occurred as part of a civil war they are fighting in.

Examples of His work

This image shows a child soldier, no more than 10 years old during a conflict involving fighting between tribes for natural resources, more specifically gold deposits. With this image being edited to be in black and white it makes it seem as if this was an event that occurred decades ago however it is something that was incredibly recent. Also by having this image being void of colours, we are not drawn away from the subject which is supposed to be the boy. if we were to have green trees or a yellow/brown ground it might take away from what we are supposed to be looking at.

For me with this image I find that the angle that the image was taken at is relatively important. It is taken from waist level upwards, making it seem as if the viewer is within the image with these people, almost watching this even take place. The focus of the image was supposed to be on the complete despair of the locals within the image and we can clearly see the impact of whatever event has taken place has had on the surrounding people. There is a large depth of field being used within this image due to the fact that we are supposed to see how everyone is effected rather than just the people at the front.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is an iconic contemporary documentary photographer who has been around for more than 30 years photographing global events. One of the biggest events that he was a part of was the Russian invasion of Afghanistan where had to get smuggled into the country just as the Soviet Union were closing the borders to Western Journalists. On top of this McCurry has travelled the world documenting different cultures in different countries. His work includes conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture. His most famous image is probably the ‘Afghan Girl’.

One thing that Steve McCurry used to use before production of it ended was Kodachrome which is a film developed by kodak that allowed photographers to capture rich and saturated colour. Since McCurry's photographs are very colour heavy, this was something that he used to enhance his images. From ver early on also, McCurry began using digital photography as an essential tool for his photographs as he would be able to edit them using programs like photoshop to increase colour saturation or simply to enhance the images.

Examples of his work

Afghan girl is probably his most iconic image, which appeared on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985. One thing that stands out to me within this image is just how colourful it actually is. With the Afghan girl being covered in red we have no other choice but to be drawn to her. Specifically her face within this image stands out compared to everything else, her green eyes in particular which seem to have been made to be the dominating feature of this image. The staging of thus image is also significant in the fact that there is nothing in the background so therefore she is the only thing that we are supposed to be looking at. The focal point is the girl so therefore a smaller depth of field would be used as we do not need the background to be in focus. Therefore a larger aperture is being used here.

This image from the day of the 9/11 attack shows how empty and desolate one of the buildings during the day of the attacks was. The image shown here looks as if it was taken when the sun was setting and therefore the beams of sunlight can be seen coming through the window from the left side of the image which highlights the scene within the image. It is possible that an orange tint was used to represent the flames that could have been seen on that day. Since the walls and the columns within the building are white, the orange light clearly helps to highlight the building as well as the debris that is within the image. I think that the sunsetting is a representation that there is about to be a new day and that this day is being put behind them.

Tim Hetherington

Tim Hetherington is another documentary photographer who worked and lived in Africa exploring the consequences of conflict. He began documenting conflict itself in order to better understand the causes of the violence that was taking place. He took up photography and began using visual media as a tool to explore and communicate different ideas and topics that fascinated him. One major thing that Hetherington documented was American troops in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008.

Hetherington really tried to capture the emotion of the subjects he worked with whether that was with victims of national conflict such as civil war or with the soldiers he had the pleasure of working with during the Afghanistan war. He does try to do so in order so that the viewer can sympathise with the person who is in the image as well as the even that is taking place.

Examples of his work

Within this image of a soldier there is a slightly darker exposure meaning that a faster shutter speed would have been used. The effect that this has on the image is telling us how the subject might be feeling. By the scenery being darker, it might show that the person in the image is not feeling very 'light' and happy because of the situation that he is in. The staging of this image, with it being in the soldiers quarters is significant here by showing us the soldier in his downtime. Whereas this soldier could have been shown in combat, he is in fact shown during his downtime which lets the viewer know what soldiers are like during their downtime. As people who do not experience war we do not think about soldiers when they do not have to fight and simply think of them in combat. This image allows us to see the other side of combat.

This image comes from a project that Hetherington produced called Liberia Graffiti which documented graffiti drawn in Liberia which had be left after the Civil War had ended. The description of the project says that the graffiti and the photography represents “the scars left by the trauma inflicted on a nation”. Rather than showing us any physical scars on people who were affected by this conflict we get these pieces of graffiti, which serve as a reminder of the events that have taken place. This image in particular is empty apart from the wall with the AK47 rifle drawn on the war. The fact that there is nothing apart form a symbol of war shows that the lives of the people affected by this conflict had nothing in their lives but war. This image is representative of the people from Liberia and shows that war is all they knew. The lighting whether it be natural or artificial comes in from the left side to highlight this wall with the AK47 drawn on to show that this is to be the focal point of the image. I think this image has a higher exposure than the original setting in order for this wall to be highlighted.