At the start of the unit we were taken to Manchester Museum to see the Heritage Futures exhibition. This was important to us to kick start our inspiration for our brief. We will eventually be creating a body of work focusing on the areas the exhibition looks at which is: Profusion, Diversity, Transformation and Uncertainty.
When I visited the museum I saw a lot of different collections of objects, I was shocked at how many things they had. They all spoke out to me in different ways. What inspired me were the modern objects because it made me realise how us as a generation we consume things and keep things as memories. This idea is what kick started my interests to savouring something in time.
The clay tablets mentioned how it was based upon heritages from the past for the future, they were 4,000-2,500 years ago from Mesopotamia. There were broken pieces of pottery reused by Ancient Egyptians to write notes. Each one is called an ‘ostracon’. There were DVDs and mobile phones, they mentioned how they were used to store images and information, and to send messages, late twentieth and early twenty -first centuries.
The exhibition were talking about how it has explored different ways that people have tried to reserve aspects of nature and culture, to pass on to the future. “We can’t be certain what the future will be like, but we can at least try to ensure that the decisions we take today help provide people with the things they might need and want in the future. Ultimately it is up to us.”
Erik Johansson inspiration – merging and Photoshop:
Erik Johansson takes individual pictures and merges them together like a montage when editing his photos. He initially envisions what he wants his final photo to look like and draws it to plan it out. He then goes out and takes the pictures of the set places/ objects he needs to then merge the photos together to create the look he wants. From a video I watched he stated that it is about creating his imagination, and how it is easier to create this style of work rather than take the actual pictures. I really like the way these photos came out, it makes me interested in making this type of work the direction I want to go in within this unit.
For inspiration when coming to edit my photos I have selected second hand images that I probably couldn’t have shot myself. These images will help me when I come to creating my own version.
We then planned what sort of images we would take on paper in a mind-map.
Then went out and shot our own images that we would need when we edit the photos, these are the results.
Before creating the images I needed to practice on Photoshop editing and merging layers together. Firstly, I watched a video online with the resources given to me. On the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJWj1njT0MI&list=PLIY_9HKT4mYC0jHqcR9sRbcrbUf2LQm8m&index=4
It went through step by step how to create photos with two different photos, making it into an interesting looking edit. I found it hard however, I feel I achieved a good result that is close to the videos pictures.
These were my results. They weren’t perfect, however I learnt a lot about how to mask and work with layers in Photoshop, it is all about the process and getting better.
This Photoshop work made me realise what direction I want to go in, so I decided to focus more on what my own personal interests are which is portraits/ people and fashion photography. The Photoshop and working on a person made me realise I wanted to transition, so I didn’t follow through with editing in a similar way to Erik Johansson.
Artist research for unit 8 brief and 1 month task:
Skinhead subculture:
Skinheads in Chelsea, March 1982, by Derek Ridgers.
Documenting Style and Subcultures
An exploration of how societies are shaped by their subcultures, with a curation of images from the Magnum archive by Ekow Eshun
Magnum Photographers:
Martin Parr “It’s often easy to think of style tribes as particularly characteristic of youth culture but every social group has its codes of fashion and taste although they’re sometimes less clearly signaled.
How Carhartt WIP became a subcultural phenomenon
Photography Gemma Booth, taken from The Carhartt WIP Archives, courtesy of Gemma Booth
Taken from The Carhartt WIP Archives, courtesy of M.Kassovitz / Canal+
Advertising 1998 Taken from The Carhartt WIP Archives, courtesy of Carhartt WIP
1 week task:
List of what I would pass on to future generations: Think about what is important to you and your family, think about traditions, objects, cultural heritage, food, stories, sayings, etc.
- Setting my cutlery straight together on the plate. I will take pictures of the traditional way my family have told me to act after finishing my meal.
- Keeping my shoes downstairs when I come into the house.
- Sunday dinners, my mum makes a nice roast dinner every Sunday.
- Family ornaments around our house that I would pass down to my future generation, these objects have been passed down since my mother’s grandmother so I will carry on the cultural heritage/ tradition.
This was the booklet I made for this task
Evaluation:
Action Plan for 1 Month Task:
The research I intend to do for this task will be based upon the artists I have previously looked at focusing on people and fashion photography, and looking deeper into a sociological side to back up my reasoning/ meaning behind it. I intend to shoot my friends wearing their own style of clothing. The clothes will be related to where they are going or what they felt like wearing that day, I want them to stand in a line facing the camera. I will stand quite far away and shoot their full body in a long/ large shot as well as close up group shots. I intend to take a lot of pictures for this brief and present them in different sizes as well as on contact sheets. For my final pictures I want to produce five final images. The images are going to be shot on location and studio with digital and film cameras. The equipment and resources I will need to complete this brief are clothes, models, studio lights, trigger etc. and a computer. My ideas have stemmed from my own personal interests towards fashion photography and sociology, I wanted to merge the two together. The key elements that will contribute to the success of this assignment will be my research behind my pictures and the way I capture the fashion within the way I use my cameras, I feel the locations I shoot will compliment the meaning too.
One book I borrowed from my college library, to help me develop my ideas, was called ‘The Teds’ by Chris Steele-Perkins and Richard Smith, which consisted of multiple pictures from the subculture the Teddy boys in 1955. I loved the photography by Chris Steele-Perkins because they are aimed at what direction I want to go in. These images scream character and story, they capture exactly what was going on at the time but focusing on fashion for that era. The people within the photos show how their fashion and appearance was important to them and they show how they articulated themselves. Their parties and social time is helping them show who they are and what they do. I love how even though some are posed and some are natural, this really sets the tone of the picture.
Wiki – “The Teddy Boy is a uniquely British phenomenon and pre-dates the introduction of American Rock’n’Roll music into Britain in late 1955 by Bill Haley & his Comets by at least five years or so. A ‘Best Dressed Edwardians’ Competition in a Dance Hall in Tottenham, North London in 1954.”
1 month task: Location, Studio and Film:
Contact sheet:
When taking pictures of my friends I knew I wanted to chose the location to be a homely and comforting scene. We came together and ate a takeaway meal, which is something we do as a group when we hang out. I then wanted to capture what my friend’s decided to wear when they are relaxed and are coming to their friends house. I set the camera to manual and I initially did not use flash on my camera as it was in the day time and the camera was picking up the natural light that was coming through the blinds. I liked this effect because it contrasts well with the later at night shots I shot. However, when editing the final eating shot I did realise I wanted the image to pop and show that warm to accompany the homely and comforting theme from the location I chose.
Later on in the night I again shot with/ without flash to see what I am visually working with, this made me see what worked better/ what I liked. Nicole’s reflective top shone effectively at the camera, which helped when editing the picture because I wanted to achieve a popping and bold look. We also played around with the lights off and on, this created the colder and warmer tone within the two time frames. On the eating photo I had an f stop of 3.5 and an ISO of 400 and an aperture of 1/60. On the standing photo I had the same f stop and aperture but an ISO of 800. The final bed image was the same details as the standing photo. I found these settings were handy because they captures a clear quality when taking the photo for the length I was at, it provided a nice subtle blur around the edges of the pictures, having a main focus in the centre.
Visually, I wanted the location and surroundings to be shown to set the vibe and theme. My ideas were to show what we are like when we come together as a youthful group, where we relax and setting that homely and realistic vibe. I did not want a clean and clear location, I wanted to express our area and how we live in our bedrooms. We are teenagers coming together and this is how we dress and socialise. The shots were staged but also candid, which is a nice contrast. The eating shot was not a typical staged photo, however I wanted an un-posed angle shot as if the camera is not there and the models are relaxed in their body language.
I do like these shots and I feel I showed a progression from the beginning to the end, which is something I wanted to show in the way I bettered the photographs as the style changed. I feel they achieved the theme and idea I wanted to portray, which was a sensitive and personal look to represent our group and what we do when we come together. This shoot made me quick start my ideas to what I eventually will develop my work into, which is a cultural and sensitive representation of our subcultures within 2019, and a fashion theme will run through as a way to show we articulate ourselves within the location/ event, which will be Studio in college, location at my friend’s house and darkroom by shooting film outside/ in college.
I want to preserve our youth and one way this can happen is by taking the photos to savour the good times we spend together. We can look back and see how we were as people, what we wore and what we did, how we lived.
Edited final pictures:
Edited final 3 photos:
For the studio shoot the same ideas were in mind, even though it was a studio shoot and I feel this may have been harder to communicate that realistic and natural theme, I tried to still make it a playful and youthful photo shoot. Visually, I wanted it to be the middle of posed and un-posed again to have that candid and realistic look as if you were looking at that moment in time. By including the balloons was a way of me trying to show the theme, I wanted to show this was my friends/group in college and this is what they chose to wear in college, this is how we interact, it is a young and fun theme. When editing these photos I wanted to make sure the saturation and colouring was increased to make the colours pop to highlight the fun of the shoot. I wanted the exposure to be increased and contrast too so it made the photos more bold, I also slightly increased the sharpness to make the photos clearer and more finished. I added a vignette for an intense professional look. I thought if we were in the studio I still want that mature photographer style of photo when photos are shot in the studio but also include the running theme with the clothes, props and body language.
In the studio I used the two lights and triggers, a stool and the balloons. I found it hard to capture all three of them in a group shoot with where the light was in position. I had to work around it and that is why at the start of the shoot I had to work at capturing them all in shot and making sure the backdrop was too. I didn’t use a tripod because I wanted it to be quite expressive moving with the models, especially when it came to moving distances because I used a long camera lens to capture their full length bodies, but I also transitioned to taking close up shots for contrast. For my final three shots I used an f stop of 5.6, an ISO of 100 and an aperture of 1/125. Working with these options made the quality of the photos the way I wanted, I wanted all of the models focused on. I chose a black and white effect on the second picture because I wanted to experiment with filters, even though this is the one shot between the three that their facial expressions are happy and the rest are a serious tone, I felt it worked well with the composition to have that contrast in the colouring.
I am happy the way the shots came out but I feel I could have improved it by using a tripod for certain shots because even though their was a positive for the shoot I feel it could have benefited me more. However, I feel I have shown a progression from the start to the end with how my independence with the camera improved. This has made me realise if I want to use the studio for developing my work going forward I know what will work best to achieve successful first hand shots. I also feel like I have come to a conclusion that I will keep experimenting with different locations to see what direction I will develop my work in, it has made me have more of an insight to what I can be working with.
Darkroom shoot:
Test strips and printing in the darkroom:
Final 3 images:
This shoot I feel was the most successful because I loved how they came out, the picture’s era is unrecognisable, it as if you can not pin point what year these photos were taken in and that is why I love to shoot in film, especially black and white. I wanted to show a very relaxed and casual shoot, but posed/ un-posed. My favourite shot is Reece with the cigarette in his mouth. Originally, I was going to shoot in colour, which probably would have been a very complimenting result with the beige undertones and light shades, however I still really like how these have came out. I didn’t want them to be too dark with the negative, when I was in the darkroom I worked well with the judgement of how many seconds the film strip should be under the light.
Technically, I opened the film, wrapped it round a reel and then placed it into the tank in a blacked out room. Then I poured three liquids in the tank. The process began with pouring the development solution in the tank and keeping it in there for 6 1/2 minutes and agitating it every 30 seconds, then tipping it out and putting the stop solution in the tank for every 30 seconds and agitating, then after tipping that out I placed the fix solution in the tank between 5 and 10 minutes, and carrying on agitating every 30 seconds. Finally I then tipped that out and left the tank in water to be cleaned out for 5-10 minutes. Once it was ready I took the film out and left it to hang in the drying cupboard. Once I got into the dark room I selected a film carrier and a film shot on the film strip of Charlotte, which is the first test trip on the pictures above. I placed it into the enlarger and adjusted it to focus and zoom in the correct size for the piece of paper I will be using. I used a strip of paper to use as a test strip, set the timer to 4 seconds and covered a section of the paper with card and moved along the strip with the card each section having 4 seconds stopping and starting the timer each time exposing the paper to the light. I then placed it into the development solution for 2 minutes moving the tin up and down moving the paper around the solution. After that I placed the paper into the stop solution for 30 seconds, moving it around and then the fix for 5 minutes also agitating that. Finally, I added it to the bath for 5 minutes. I then looked at the test strip print and counted how many seconds was the best print in colouring, for this test strip it was 14 seconds so I repeated this but with a full piece of paper but setting the paper to be exposed for the light for 14 seconds on the timer and then going through the solutions the same times.
I repeated these actions for all of the film shots I chose above, on the second test strip it came out to be 22 seconds, the third test strip was the singular one of Reece blurred and I was disappointed it didn’t come out any clearer. I changed to the fourth image which was the three models, this came out to be 20 seconds, but originally I did 16 seconds and I was not happy with how exposed the positive was, so I did it up to 20 seconds and I could see more of Joe’s skin who was on the far left, which I was happy with. The final print was Reece smoking a cigarette and this timing was 17 seconds, I do love how it turned out but I should have played around with seeing whether I liked a darker result because it was quite faint where the leaves were. I could have done the same with the one of Charlotte and her cigarette but I feel as it was quite an exposed location to the light in general this is why it initially was a bright shot.
I know when developing my work this direction is something I will defiantly consider, using film. Being in the darkroom made me realise how much I enjoyed having real life images printed out that I took, I felt it tied in well with my theme. It adds a dated feel to the shots, which is something heritages is linked with in having that collection of a timed memories. I wanted to show how as a group we come together but using film can build the beauty of that.
Peer Review: Manchester Museum Project:
Which part of the museum visit influenced you?
During the museum it had interesting collections of butterflies, iPhones and clothes. It influenced me to focus on how we preserve things, so I wanted to show how we can preserve youth because the future is important, I enjoy shooting people on camera so as we are younger we should preserve youth by taking memories of our lives.
Which relevant artists have you looked at and how have they influenced your work?
I have looked at artists such as Erik Johansson, who initially helped me have an interest in nature and people montage/ editing together, but then I developed my interest to wanting to focus on portraits/ fashion and preserving youth with my interests, instead of nature. I looked at Derek Ridgers, Magnum photographers: Martin Parr, Chris Steele-Perkins, Bruno Barber, Bruce Davidson, Richard Billingham, The Carhartt WIP Arhchives- Gemma Booth, M.kassovitz, Ernie Paniccioli. These artists all contributed to influencing the fashion and portrait photography who did focus on a younger generation. Their techniques of natural and street photography sparked my interest in wanting to go for a rawness within my photos.
What were your initial idea(s)?
Looking at nature/ people were my first ideas but then the main initial ideas were to focus on that preservation of youth, which then I would focus on our culture, what we wear, how we act/ live. I want to capture us at this age in this time period.
How did your idea(s) develop when trying different methods during the ‘One Month Task’?
My ideas developed because the methods made me realise I did not 100% like working in the studio as it was an unnatural, stages and unrealistic environment. The location/ film made me enjoy how it created a relaxed and natural vibe on camera. I wanted that candid and raw look, instead of a plain background as that made my photos struggle to fully communicate that effective surrounding capturing us as who we are and what we are like.
What is your idea now and what is your plan to create the work?
My idea has not completely changed apart from scratching the preservation of nature related to the Erik Johansson work. My focus on portraits/ fashion photography on subcultures preserving the youth remained. My plan is to create a book like series of final photos that will be taken over a certain amount of days, street like/ location fashion themed. I will take a lot of photos to see what the best shots are to demonstrate as my final pictures.
The Peer Feedback:
Do you know what exactly what each photo will consist of and how many photos in the book there will be? Plan out how many photos you will finally present and include/ plan what will be in the photos/ how they will be played out.
My response:
I will take five final photos that I will include on my blog but also create a physical book that will have the pictures in. Acting like a story/ visual demonstration of the preservation of youth, preserving it in a book, kept forever. The model’s outfits will be random, as it is a natural shoot with how they want to dress to capture the realness and rawness.
More feedback:
How are you going to shoot your ideas? What are you going to use as your location?
My response:
I will keep it very expressive and experimental, it will happen whilst I am out socializing, wherever I am I will shoot the subject. The main locations are town, houses, pubs and where young people normally spend time.
The discussion:
I discussed how I wanted to capturing subcultures in a realistic way, by choosing street photography as a way to do this. Photographers that took pictures of the Teddy boys / Mods and Rockers helped me to set the tone to what my pictures will be like. They understood my vision and mentioned how they liked my film and location digital shots because it shows that realness due to the messy room showing this is normal and what everyone has in their homes. They said even though I know the model’s I took my test pictures of, there is an effect with them looking at the camera even though they are posing it works being in such a relaxed environment. They also said that my film shots were like my explanation of memories in glass containers, with how the negative printed out with how bright they are. They mentioned how there was attitude communicating through the photos and they really liked that. They talked about how when taking photos of my vision, ideas that came to their mind was that what I would be interested in now, like fashion at a young age and raves/ places we go/ what we do may change as I get older. We discussed about how times change and it is important to look back at these times so we can preserve them now.
Proposal:
For my final idea I want to make sure that I am taking into consideration the main focus, which is preserving youth and making sure the ideas behind the Manchester Museum are still present through my work. The artists such as Chris Steele-Perkins with his 1955 subculture photography of the Teddy Boys, The Carhartt WIP Archives and the Magnum photos are going to be the main inspiration for my photos that I will be taking. These artists have helped me shape my idea of capturing that real and raw theme, I want to be able to communicate a personal representation of preserving the youth by having an expressive and experimental photo shoot in locations where me and my friends go to socialise. I will be going out on the next few weeks and be taking photos with a digital camera in pubs, houses, outside local locations, taxis and the streets of town to really set the theme for my photos. My models will be my friends and there will be long body shots, portraits and group photos. The models will have any clothes they want on to capture their style and uniqueness in their subculture. The models will be posed and natural at the same time, I hope to take a lot of photos to see what I am working with and then I can decide which ones I love the most. I will select five final images and post them onto my blog but create a physical book to accompany this to create a story like theme for my photos, and maybe include quotes underneath to get an idea of what the models are like as themselves. I want to use a film camera as well as digital to have a balance of the two because I love how my film photos came out, it really captures that dated/ time pausing theme.
First Photo shoot:
Contact sheets:
Film shots:
On the technical side for my final photo-shoot, I did not need much preparation and lighting. I used a digital camera that used flash, these were the basics. However, I did take into consideration what kind of photos I wanted to create and I made sure the lighting was not too dark. I wanted the flash on the camera to create that professional and bold style but also communicate a raw and natural shoot. I tried shooting some shots without flash and I really liked how both decisions turned out. In the digital shoot on the 9th/ 11th photo, there was a lot of natural light within the building so I didn’t use the flash. The contrast against the models and the white background is what I liked about these photos because the colours are bold. On the last photo I tried with flash and did not like the way it came out due to the flash reflecting off the lift, so I tried again without flash and received a clearer look. Visually, I really liked the better outcome because it shows a happy and inviting side to my friends and how the vibe was at the time. In the shoots I also wanted the models to pose in different ways and certain sections/ proportions in the shot to make sure I was capturing the rule of three. In the 10th shot I got my friends to line up in a three staring at the camera, this to me made me experiment with capturing that visual grid in my mind to stick to the rule. It made me realise by positioning within the shoot it gives off a better shot. In the film shoot I made sure I did the same, by using flash and no flash. The shot in the nail salon was without flash because it s quite bright already and the outcome was successful. However, in the shop it was quite dark and by using flash I could see the difference, it brought out her body more by creating a shadow behind the isles, which I liked.
Within all the photos, I enjoyed how I kept it very experimental and expressive the most. I wanted to make sure film and digital were both used to communicate the colours and black and white. Black and white speaks out in it’s own way, the shots I took look dated but they are took in 2019. I wanted to make sure my friend Nicole was shot because she has a unique and modern sense of fashion, and it fits my theme and ideas of capturing our youth and how we articulate ourselves. I like how all the shots demonstrate a relaxed and real look, I wanted the shots to be candid and posed at the same time to show their real emotions. Within the green wall photo-shoot this was me trying to, again, experiment with colour and contrast. This shade of green is bright and I wanted it to match some clothing to demonstrate a fun and cool look to accompany my theme. I also captures negative space within most backgrounds to help bring that contrast of the model against it through. Something I also liked the result of was the first pictures in the class with the messy table, I wanted to make sure it was a raw shot of how their college life is really like, how they were feeling by their natural body language and facial expressions. By taking the photo from a slight birds eye view from a high angle, this was my way of capturing different angles to see what could work.
Museum Label:
Preserving Preadolescence
The main inspiration from the Manchester Heritage Future Museum came from the collections of clothes, iPhones and glassed butterflies. This made me want to focus on how we preserve things, as if we keep them for memories so they never truly die. I wanted to preserve youth. To me the future is important, and we should remember the past as it has helped us to get where we are today. The museum captures memories like time in a glass container. My aim was to focus on this concept by capturing adolescence through film and digital camera, because this itself preserves them by savouring that snapshot in time. The theme of subcultures within 2019 is also what I wanted to focus on. Through capturing a relaxed and raw location rather than in a studio, helped me to truly capture the realness of youth. This is who we are, why we are and how we socialise.
Five final images:
Final Evaluation:
To conclude this topic, I feel I have communicated my message across the best I could. Preserving Preadolescence generated from my own interest of portrait photography, which came through at the start after I decided Erik Johansson was not a direction I wanted to do down. Having a personal interest in street fashion photography and focusing on people made me look at different artists such as Richard Billingham, Martin Parr and Bruno Barbey. These artists truly inspired me to have a real and natural style to my photos. Richard, especially, captured intense, interesting and raw shots of his family and accompanying this he shot on a style of camera that captured these shots in a dark effect with brown undertones, which made me want to focus on the lighting and colouring within my own photos. I wanted to take a dated route due to the topic, because to me heritages is a dated concept, it signifies time and contacting it. The museum presented different objects which then inspired me to focus on capturing moments in time to preserve them. Looking at the teddy boys/ mods and rockers was my first way of seeing how photographers preserved their youth and their fashion through the way they took the photos and asked them to be in shot. Their clothing and vibe spoke out to me a lot, which helped me know what sort of style I am going to go for. Throughout my photo-shoots for this topic I learnt a lot, it made me become more educated to how you can communicate a style and look by the way you chose your lighting, your main subject that you shoot, colouring and positioning is key. My final five images are my way of preserving the youth of today and how our lives are really like. I liked how they turned out because they demonstrate my developed skills and ideas that have progressed from the start of the topic. I feel I have captured that snapshot in time in preserving the youth of today.
Zena Hampson Photography 