Category: Assignments

Assignment 5. Photography Is Simple.

Brief

The final assignment is an open brief. Take a series of 10 photographs of any subject exploring the theme ‘Photography is Simple’. Each photograph should be a unique view; in other words,
it should contain some new information, rather than repeat the information of the previous
image.

Research

In part 5, we are told that our response to an article about context will be submitted as part of assignment 5. My post on this can be found here.

In the course text, we are given Miho Kajioka as an example for our research [1]. When reading the article written in ‘Lens Culture’, I was taken by how she described nature. With something as devastating as an earthquake and tsunami being the thing which ‘reconnected’ her to photography.

She said “The roses I saw in Kamaishi bloomed simply because it was spring. That beautiful and
uncomplicated statement, made by roses in the midst of ruin, impressed me, and returned me to
photography.”

She refers to a japenese poem, Written by the Zen monk Dogen;

In the spring, cherry blossoms,
In the summer the cuckoo,
In autumn the moon, and in
Winter the snow, clear, cold.

I find some comfort in knowing that whatever is happening in our world, nature continues to grow around us. Whether that is plants, the weather or our animals.

In a world currently taken over by the Covid-19 pandemic, I have found peace in nature when even my own house sometimes feels unsafe. At the start of this pandemic, a family member told me that it is like living in a war zone. He is part of the armed forces, and described the similarities of waiting for a daily briefing in both situations. A daily death count. A daily infection rate. An ever evolving plan. All of this fed in to our homes through televisions and radios, invading our safe space.

Taking influence from the article from Miho Kajioka, and these feelings of my own peace in nature during this time, I decided my series of photographs should be based around this. Nature during a pandemic – life goes on.

I also looked back on an article which was mentioned earlier in part 5, about the deutsche börse prize [3]. The cover photo of this article showing a seemingly over exposed photograph, taken by Rinko Kawauchi. I was reminded of this image when looking at the work of Kajioka.

[4] Untitled – Rinko Kawauchi
[5] bk 0477, 2019 – Miho Kajioka

Further Research After Feedback

Miho Kajioka was born in 1973, in Japan. At aged 18, she moved to California where she studied Fine Art at the San Francisco Art Institute. Kajioka’s career progressed to journalism, where she was involved in news and documentary programs on the television. In all the articles I have read about Kajioka, she always says there was a turning point when she decided to go back home, to Japan. After covering the news of an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

In January 2021, an article was published in the British Journal of Photography with Kajioka [7]. She reflected on her career and even gave an insight in to what the pandemic has meant to her. Reading this article, I found myself relating to some of her answers around her photography.

“I still don’t know how to use cameras properly to take pictures. Many of my good images were born by accident and I love the fact that I don’t have full control over my works.” (Kajioka , 2021).

This quote helped me to see that it is not always a essential to have a vast technical ability to create photography, to create art. We all interpret things differently and as this course title hints, we find a way of expressing ourselves and our individualism. Kajioka found a love for photography while studying painting.

When speaking of the pandemic, she said

“Because of the Covid-19 situation I’ve enjoyed being alone again, finding beauty in my daily life” (Kajioka , 2021)

For me, the pandemic made me feel completely isolated. Although never alone, I’ve also never felt lonelier. This assignment let me take photos in a nearby wood where I took my daily exercise, so this was my way of finding the beauty in what became my everyday life through this terrible time.

Looking through Kajiokas work, I really enjoy having to look for the image within the frame. I actually thought it was a clever way to get you intrigued by the photographs. Although I haven’t used Kajioka’s style of working for my assignment submission, I wanted to use her freedom to photograph things which made her happy.

I had originally planned to present my work in the style of Kajioka, and therefore I have edited my submission photographs in this way too. When looking at the assignment brief, I wanted to stick to ‘photography is simple’. To me, simple is also unedited. For that reason I chose not to submit the edited images. Also, when taking the photographs for this, with Kajiokas style in mind, I found I was only taking photos where I could see a clear contrast would be seen, for example, tree lines against a clear sky. I didn’t want to limit my images so I decided to use influence from kajiokas love for photographing for the enjoyment of it. That is where I found that photography really can be simple.

Below are my submitted images, but edited, as a comparison.

After editing and uploading, I personally prefer these images. But, I have always preferred black and white photographs. It was only after reading my tutor feedback that I realised I should have included the fact that I had considered this and had chose not to go forward with it.

Below is a comparison.

  • [9] Miho Kajioka

With both my own and Kajiokas image here, I like that the eye focuses on the people within the frame rather than their surrounding. Sometimes the surrounding space is so busy or colourful that it takes away from what you were trying to capture. My image is more obviously edited. I used an app to adjust the brightness and shadows within my frame, whereas Kajioka uses the development process to get to this point. I like the silhouette within my frame but the way Kajioka has almost faded the trees in her image and made the people pop, feels as though they were added in after. The background has such a subtle tone in comparison. I feel the over exposure works well to create an interesting image.

Approach

I am lucky enough to live down the road from some woods. For my daily exercise, I have walked up the road to walk around the woods with my camera. For this assignment, I took photographs over 4 separate days. The weather changed dramatically over these days. There was a cold, dry day. Then there was snow. And then there was a bitter cold frost. I was really happy with the weather for these images. It gave me more opportunity to capture something new each day and see things differently. The ever changing weather allowed me to capture nature as I intended.

I took my camera, with only a 55-250mm lens. This allowed me to zoom enough for the animals within nature without disturbing them, and to photograph my surrounds too.

I have edited my chosen 10 slightly, just to show them as best as possible.

Contact Sheets

My Work

Where Covid-19 Does Not Seem To Exist

Photography is simple.

When thinking of photography, depending on your ability, photography might indeed seem simple. If you have all the equipment and have been practicing for a long time, yes, I’m sure photography comes easily to you (most of the time). When considering that most people now have a mobile phone capable of taking sharp photos/ videos, again, yes photography seems simple. Can it really be that standing in the right place at the right time is all it takes?

Personally I do not consider photography to be simple. Even while taking the photographs for this assignment, I considered what to use as my ‘theme’, what to take a photo of, where to stand, what settings to use, composition, lighting, subject, camera lens, zoom, focus and more.

I wanted to go back to the most simple form of photography I could find. Within the assignment breif, it says “you should just feel comfortable with your subject. It should say something about you and, in the end, you like it!” which is why I chose Nature as my subject. I wanted to take photos just for enjoyment.

Reflection

In assignment 3, the indecisive moment, my tutor commented on the “simplicity” of my images. He said I should keep these in mind when I got to assignment 5.

I did not want to complicate my photos with titles or lots of editing.  I considered changing them all to monochrome, to take away any distracting colour. However, the images with red berries lost interest for me. I wanted them to run as a coherent set so decided to leave them all in colour rather than split between the two styles.

I also considered adjusting the brightness within the frames, taking influence from my research in to Kajioka and Kawauchi. I wanted to achieve an over exposed kind of finish. However, this only worked with the photos with a strong line and obvious blank background, like the silhouette of the trees. I had tried to take more photos with this in mind, but was weary of the breif stating that all shots should show something new. I didn’t want my set to feel repetitive.

References

Assignment Four : Languages of Light

Brief

Revisit one of the exercises on daylight, artificial light or controlled light from Part Four (Ex 4.1, Ex 4.2 or Ex 4.3) and develop it into a formal assignment submission. The submission requirement for this assignment is a set of between six and ten high-quality photographic prints.
There are many ways to edit and the most valuable one is probably to show your work to friends, family and your OCA peers for feedback – you are guaranteed to discover something new in your work. Another tip is to pin the work up on the wall and live with it for a few days.
‘A Quick Guide to Editing Your Photo Series using Stickies’ on the IPO (Invisible Photographer Asia) website, but bear in mind that this is not a narrative assignment – you’re not required to produce a story.

My approach

Looking back at exercises 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3, I learnt a lot about light in each of them. I enjoyed looking in to light in more detail. Before this, I hadn’t really considered how important it is to ‘create’ the right light, rather than trying to find a photo with the right light. It was good to be able to experiment with lighting in different ways. I chose to move forward with exercise 4.2: Artificial light.

I found an interesting article about artificial light. [2]. In the article the author recommends two photographers whose work have good examples of capturing light. They are Nick Turpin and Todd Hido.

I went from here, to look at the work of these photographers for inspiration. In an interview with ‘Lens Culture’, Todd Hido spoke about his collection “Homes at Night”. [5].

When asked about what he does if he finds himself “burnt out”, he tells how he looks through his previous works, but that its more often that he’ll go out and find nothing to photograph. Adding thats its usually due to him “being in the wrong place—that, or it is a horribly sunny day. All blue skies. In that case, there is nothing worse.” This was so.ething I took forward with me when considering what to photograph. Everything I’ve submitted so far seems to be in natural light, which was part of my reasoning for moving forward qith artificial light, even though natural would have been easier.

[6]
[7]

There’s a certain familiarity about the photos within “Homes at Night”. The two examples I’ve used above, made me think how they reminded me of places we see often. Perhaps, as Hido said, it is the lack of people in the frame which allows you to view it as you want. Although, the first image also made me a little uncomfortable, perhaps just because of dark alleys and lonely walk ways. I think that’s due to the atmosphere he’s created with the lighting. There’s a very eerie feel to some of the images in the collection. They evoked a feeling of loneliness in me.

This series of photographs inspired me to take my own photos of homes. I wanted to capture artificial light through street light or lights on within a house. In Hidos series, I like that the light doesn’t give away any idea of whats going on within the home and allows you to imagine your own story behind it. I used a black border to show them as more of a set.

My work

One. F/1.8 – 1/250s – ISO 3200
Two. F/4.0 – 1/100s – ISO 3200
Three. F/4.0 – 1/5s – ISO 3200
Four. F/4.0 – 1/100s – ISO 3200
Five. F/5.0 – 1/5s – ISO 3200
Six. F/4.5 – 1/5s – ISO 3200

When Hido was asked why there are no humans within his series of photographs, he answered “Because of the very simple fact that if it is an empty shell, the viewer can place their own memories within it or create a narrative that would otherwise be blocked by the reality of what is actually inside.” – this is something I wanted to portray within my own photos. [5].

Reflection

For this assignment I would have liked to re look at exercise 4.2: Artificial light using a high street, as I really like the work of Sato Shintaro. The bright colours and graphic novel like feel in his ‘Night Light’ collection was something I found inspiring. I would like to go out and photograph artificial lights on the high street but, unfortunately, with a 6 month old baby, I can’t see me having the opportunity to do that with early bed time routine, an unpredictable morning wake up and later sunsets at the moment. For that reason I continued my research in to artificial light to find a different source of inspiration.

In my research I came across Todd Hido’s “Homes at Night” collection. I liked how these photographs captured the normality of a light in a house, but at the same time, made you question what was happening inside. I wanted to use that to create my own series, in which I captured homes from my home.

I feel my photos work as a set, as they have a feel of the neighbourhood they were taken in and have similar tones and lighting. However, if I were to do this again, with the freedom to just go out whenever I wanted, I would expand this to more of a ‘one square mile’ type of set. I think that would allow me to capture more variety in my work with a larger area of different photo opportunities.

In my work for exercise 4.2, I photographed things inside my house. I found part 4 quite a challenge to find the time to go outdoors to take photographs. For that reason, I used candles and lamps, indoors, to create the artificial light.

This assignment has been a challenge for me. Its one I thought I would enjoy when starting the exercises, particularly when looking at the work of Shintaro. However, with the restrictions of being a new mom, and also still being in lockdown, and the pressure of a looming deadline, I felt the need to rush to get something that works for this breif. Although I’m happy enough with the photographs I have, I’m disappointed with my work as a whole. I dont feel I’ve had the time (with or without the deadline) to do what I really wanted to for this assignment. The last month has been a struggle and I dont feel I’ve had enough free time to take photographs. That is, therefore, the main reason for my set being homes from my home, as I found I could get a little time here and there on an evening to capture what I could see from my house.

From this, I’ve learnt that I won’t always be entirely happy with my work, and perhaps I won’t always be able to submit the perfect set. But, I can use that to figure out new ways of working, and allow myself to critique work which I’m not entirely happy with. Sometimes, deadlines & obstacles will force a different result from what I’ve imagined / hoped I’d be submitting. There is still the option to re work the assignment if it really isn’t good enough, and that is OK. Its not really the way I like to work, but if I can work to make something better, I will.

Tutor Feedback

My response to my feedback for this assignment can be found here.

References

  1. Jim Hamel. Tips for Getting Proper Exposure for Night Photography. (2020). At: https://digital-photography-school.com/tips-for-getting-proper-exposure-for-night-photography/ (Accessed 24/08/20)
  2. Slaney Cullen. Artificial Light In Nighttime Photgraphy. (2019) At: https://www.nultylighting.co.uk/blog/artificial-light-night-time-photography/ (Acessed 25/08/20)
  3. Urbanist. Dark Arts: The Work of 10 Talented Night Photographers (2020). At: https://weburbanist.com/2008/07/30/10-unusually-talented-night-photographers-photography/ (Accessed 24/08/20)
  4. Amateur photographer (2016). ‘Quick Tips: Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)’. In: Amateur Photographer (06/11/2016). At: https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/camera_skills/quick-tips-intentional-camera-movement-icm-97147 (Accessed 25/08/20).
  5. Coralie Kraft. Todd Hido On “Homes At Night” and Illustrating Memories in Photography. (2020). At: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/todd-hido-todd-hido-on-homes-at-night-and-illustrating-memories-in-photography (Accessed 25/08/20).
  6. Todd Hido “#2275”. [Photograph] At: http://www.toddhido.com/homes.html (Accessed 25/08/20).
  7. Todd Hido “#2632”. [Photograph] At: http://www.toddhido.com/homes.html (Accessed 25/08/20).

Assignment Three: The (in)Decisive Moment

Brief

Create a set of between six and ten finished images on the theme of the decisive moment. You may choose to create imagery that supports the tradition of the ‘decisive moment’ or you may choose to question or invert the concept by presenting a series of ‘indecisive’ moments. Your aim isn’t to tell a story, but in order to work naturally as a series there should be a linking theme, whether it’s a location, event or particular period of time.

Approach

My initial ideas when I first started planning this assignment, was to photograph people at either an event, a busy shopping day in the village local to me, a day in the park, or even a walk around the town. At the point where I was ready to start, we were put in lockdown due to Covid-19, so that idea would have to change, as these things were no longer permitted. I was hoping to leave it a couple of weeks and be able to use the day of us coming back together as my ‘period of time’. However, we still don’t really know when that will be. Therefore, I decided my subject would be the daily exercise we have been permitted. Most days I have taken a walk up to a local country park. So, my assignment will be based on “A Woodland Walk”.

I started taking photos, as and when I found something which I could possibly use for the decisive moment. In the first few days of attempting this, I had my camera on single shoot mode. When shooting fast moving things like the squirrels, I realised this would probably be easier with a continuous shoot mode to capture that “gesture” which creates the moment. I used a 55-250mm lens to allow me to zoom as and when I needed when trying to capture the little animals I came across on these walks.

Within the woods, there were more people than usual when I started thinking about this assignment. I decided this would give me a good chance to capture their daily exercise whilst taking mine. There were so many families, dogs and the usual woodland animals (which were a little harder to capture with all the extra noise of people!), So I decided that should be my starting point. Whilst reviewing the photos, I found the shots of people to be very similar from person to person as they were all doing the same thing, just walking. That is why I decided my set should consist of the people taking their exercise – who probably wouldn’t usually be there, and the animals who would have been even if I’d done this before lockdown. 

I wanted my images to capture some normality amongst the strange times we are living through. Although this daily walk may not have been something any of us did beforehand, perhaps it will be something we continue now we have learnt not to take things for granted and have maybe had the time we didn’t have before to appreciate the beauty which surrounds us in nature.

Research

From my research, I found Henri Cartier-Bresson most interesting. Being able to just see the shot. I quoted Yves Bonnefoy describing HCB as “on the lookout” and “ready to react”. I took this on board when going out to take my assignment photos by having my camera strapped on my shoulder, with the right mode and shutter speed selected, lens cap off, ready to go. My research can be found here.

Whilst taking the photos for the decisive moment, and not quite having what I wanted yet, I started looking at the next part of the course. Part four is about light. When looking on YouTube for natural light photographers, I came across Bob Holmes. A British photographer, labelled as a travel photographer due to his work for magazines such as national geographic. However, he describes himself as taking all kinds of photos, for example portraits, whilst capturing images for travel and therefore describes himself as a documentary photographer.

8 Natural Lighting Tips From National Geographic Photographer Bob Holmes (2019)

In this YouTube video, Holmes gives information about shooting in natural light. The golden hour and the blue hour. This is information I will write about for part four, as it is more relevant to that. However, he also talks of the decisive moment within his photographs. Explaining how it is “more important when you have small figures” within a frame to make sure you capture the right gestures/ bigger gestures. He says “you have to make sure that peoples legs are apart or their arms are apart. Look for that little gesture”.
Holmes goes on to say how the decisive moment exists in everything, even portraiture, as it’s the tiny details which make a photo. I thought this relevant to my work, as I have tried to capture little animals with big enough gestures.

Contact Sheets

All in yellow were selected as final images.

Final Images

1. Horse Changing Direction
2. Squirrel Jumping
3. Man Walking
4. Squirrel Scratching
5. Pigeon Flying Off
6. Lady Walking Dog
7. Squirrel Spotting the Camera

Reflection

I hope my selection feels like a coherent set, as they were all taken within the woods and have a feeling of nature throughout. I wanted to use the theme of our permitted daily exercise to also create that feeling. I tried to ensure all photos had greenery within them. I had originally picked a couple of different photos for my final set, however, I thought there were too many of people and they all looked pretty similar. I then went to take more photos over a few more days to get a better final set.

From my research, I was really taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson’s approach. I loved that he could take one shot and that would be it. When I submitted my “one square mile” assignment, a comment from my tutor was that he liked that I hadn’t taken the same frame over and over, I just took it and moved on. Perhaps that’s something I’ve moved away from whilst moving through this course, by trying to find the ‘perfect’ photo. Also after submitting ‘one square mile’ my tutor recommended I go out more than once to take photos rather than expecting to find everything in one take. I definitely found with this assignment that shooting in the same place over and over gave me so many more opportunities. I am glad I took the time day by day to have another go. Overall that let me have more images to choose from and made each walk more worthwhile knowing something different could come along. I took a few of the different routes through the woods so I had more chance of seeing something different. (My ‘One square mile’ can be found here)

While trying to get the photos for this assignment, I’ve found that I’ve had to take more than one shot to get the ‘decisive moment’. I don’t think this is the right assignment to take the one shot. Snapping something and seeing that each frame is different gives a lot of choice when looking through possible photos to submit. However, to capture the decisive moment, I felt it necessary to take multiple shots to see how the person/animal moved over that short period of time. Allowing me to capture the movement and pick the best frame.

When first shooting for this assignment, I also learnt an important lesson. When you’ve taken a photo, look back at it on the camera to check your settings are correct. Maybe do a ‘test shot’ in new light. I found that I looked through the viewfinder to take what I thought looked like a great shot, only to find out when I had walked away that the shutter speed was too fast and there was not enough light let in. Therefore the photo wasn’t usable like I’d thought, without editing the brightness afterwards. This led to me using a slower shutter speed to ensure more light was able to be captured.

I think again with this assignment, I spend too long second guessing myself. I am a serious over thinker and that makes me procrastinate with starting the physical “go out and take photos” part of the exercises and assignments. Because I over think what’s being asked of me, I spend a long time thinking about what I can do, until I think “that’s it” and decide what I’m going to do. From this, I think I need to use those thoughts as part of my learning log. At the moment, I go round and round but I my in my own head. Perhaps putting some of the thoughts on paper would make my decision making easier and inspire something different. It would also show my thought process as to how I get to what I do. I think this assignment has helped me to perhaps change my approach and I feel more prepared when going out now.

For images 5. ‘Pigeon Flying Off’ and image 7. ‘Squirrel Spotting the Camera’, I slightly adjusted the brightness to allow them to work as part of the set. I didn’t feel they looked right as they were darker than the rest. Image 4. ‘Squirrel Scratching’ was taken in landscape. I wanted to use this as part of my final set, but felt it would work better if all of my images were either landscape or portrait. Therefore, I cropped this one. I used Snapseed on iPad to do this.

The good I have taken from this assignment, is going out prepared to take photos. I have often looked at something and thought it was a good photo opportunity, but missed it because I wasn’t prepared. I hadn’t considered that I needed to change my approach before. However, since starting this assignment, I’ve found myself getting to my destination and straight away getting my camera out ready. This was down to my research on HCB. As I said, he was described as always being ready, I think that’s really important now, looking back on the amount of times I have missed something. Even at the start of shooting for this, I thought I could get my camera when I saw something, but by then it’s often too late.

When starting part three, I really struggled to find the motivation to do it. I’ve always thought of shutter speed as being the hardest technique to learn. However, I’ve enjoyed learning this new skill. I feel quite confident in this mode now, although I wouldn’t say I know it well enough to get it right every time yet. However, it does give me more confidence to move in to manual mode for part four. I haven’t shot in manual really since buying my camera. I did have a play at first but couldn’t get the right results, hopefully this will change now I’ve worked through Auto, AV & TV. Shutter priority is now a mode I feel I could use fairly confidently in the future and will look forward to doing so. With some practice I could capture better photographs.

Tutor Feedback

My Response to my feedback for this assignment can be found here.

References

Project 2. Exercise 3.2 Trace

Brief

Start by doing your own research into some of the artists discussed above. Then, using slow shutter speeds, the multiple exposure function, or another technique inspired by the examples above, try to record the trace of movement within the frame. You can be as experimental as you like. Add a selection of shots together with relevant shooting data and a description of process (how you captured the shots) to your learning log.

Research

Please find my research linked here.

Approach

Whilst in St. Ives, I used the time I had by the coast to practice long exposure shots. I put my camera on a fence post for balance and went through each of the speed settings. You can see in my contact sheet that when using a long exposure, the whole screen went white, there was too much light. I lowered the shutter speed until I could get shots which could actually be seen. Until doing this exercise, I didn’t realise how much of a difference the natural light would make. I wanted to use a longer shutter speed to be able to catch the movement of the water more, but with the sun shining it just wasn’t a shot I could get. Some movement can still be seen but it’s not as soft as I would have liked.

Whilst at home in isolation, I took some photos from my kitchen window to capture car lights as they drove past. Due to the covid-19 outbreak, advice means there aren’t as many cars on the roads as usual, so I didn’t get many shots. I did not have my tripod so when reviewing the images I noticed how that effects the shot. The background, which should be sharp, has blurred. Due to the movement of the camera the shot has picked up all movement including mine, which ruins the background of the photos.

I have also used my time in the house to take photos of my fire. I thought capturing the movement of the flames would work quite well for this task. I think these shots came out quite well. I like the trail of the sparks.

My Work

2″ – f5.6 – ISO 320
This is the clearest of the shots I took. As I didn’t use a tripod, and had nothing to balance my camera on, the frame has my movement too, shown in the background.
1/160 – f13 -ISO 100
1/100 – f16 – ISO 100
1/20 – f29 – ISO 100
3″2 – f20 – ISO 800
2″5 – f2.5 -ISO 100

Refection

All attempts at this were totally new to me. I hadn’t really tried with a longer shutter speed before as I always seemed to get a frame that was either too dark or too bright. Overall, I’m happy with the photos above. I don’t think they show the best of long exposure, but it’s something I need to continue practising. So, for that reason, I am happy with the images I captured. They show some movement and that was the purpose of the exercise.

Whilst doing this, I have seen that the natural light really does play a part in how the photo will come out and that is something I need to continue to explore. I would like to continue practising this style of photography and become more confident in picking my settings. I still wouldn’t feel confident to select the right settings without going through a few speeds first. I found it much easier to use the screen during the day for this exercise rather than the viewfinder, as you can watch how the scene changes as you change the settings. When shooting the trail lights at night, it was a case of trial and error, as it was with the fire. Going forward I will continue to play with this setting, as the only way of getting better and understanding more, is to practise!

contact sheet from beach shots.
I found this photo on my camera from last year, I hadn’t forgotten I had taken these shots. I was practicing long exposure with car light trails here. The blurring in the foreground is due to me taking the photos through a window and at this time it was snowing. I did not take this photo as part of this task but thought I would include it as it seems to fit the brief and shows another of my attempts.

Assignment Two: Collecting

Brief

‘Fragments of a vessel which are to be glued together must match one another in the smallest details although they need not be like one another.’ (Walter Benjamin, [1936] 1999, p.79)

The Walter Benjamin quote above expresses the idea that a collection should reflect a single coherent idea, but you’ll also need technical rigour to match the photographs to each other ‘in the smallest details’. Start by choosing your focal length, aperture and viewpoint combination in advance.

Visually, similarities correspond so they’re easy to look at, but be careful of duplicates because repetition is boring. Differences are interesting because they contrast, but randomly changing your framing or allowing a confusion of detail into your backgrounds will distract from the viewing.

Create a series of between six and ten photographs on one of the following subjects:

• Things • Views • Heads

Research

As suggested, I looked in to the artists recommended for their collection works.

Ishiuchi Miyako

I read through an article interview with Miyako, to understand more about her after watching the recommended youtube video. Miyako was asked what it was like to be a female photographer in Japan. She explained how a lot of women would try and fail. Saying “They underestimated how hard it would be. In my case, I thought I would do Yokosuka Story and then quit. Like I was getting back at an enemy”.

She went on to talk about how she moved on from Japan and found more opportunities, saying “These days, I have many more opportunities to show outside, rather than in Japan. And I find that the respect people have for photography [in the West] is different. Photographers are artists. In Japan, a photographer is just a photographer. No one thinks of photographers as artists in Japan.” [1]

When speaking about ‘Yokosuka Story’ she describes how “All these small photographs are my life itself and the evidence of my life”.[2]

‘Hiroshima’ by Ishiuchi Miyako, is a collection of photographs of belongings from the remains after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima. There were two bombings which took place, and are thought to have killed 129,000- 226,000 people. Miyako travelled to Hiroshima to capture these images. Which can be seen in the suggested link from the brief. [3]

Bettina von Zwehl

Zwehl used methods such as exercise and sleep, to capture a collection of portraits which aren’t a typical “pretty” portrait. She seems to use methods to create a series which makes you look again, as they aren’t perhaps what you were expecting from a portrait collection.

In the course book ‘The photograph as contemporary art’ Charlotte Cotton describes how the subjects of this collection ‘are given instructions that disarm them and prompt less self-conscious gestures for the camera’. [4]

In her works, there are many collections [5]. I particularly like the ‘Rain’ [6] and ‘Dog portraits’ [7].

The photos have a similarity due to the framing and background of the shots. I see why this works for a collection and it’s something I need to keep in mind when taking my own photos. This is the case with both Ishiuchi Miyako and Bettina von Zwehl.

Edward Ruscha

Ruscha’s collection of ‘twentysix gasoline stations’ are black and white images taken on a journey he took between his home, to his parents’ home along route 66 [8]. All the photos are printed on a white page with a title. Giving that repetition throughout, as with Miyako.

From here I tried to find some other examples from artists not in the suggested list. I found a German photographer, Sebastian Erras. I really liked his collection titled ‘London Floors’. He takes photos whilst travelling for work. I think the collection works well as the framing is the same throughout and there is the consistent element of his shoes at the edge, where he is standing. [9]

I also came across the series ‘under dogs’ by Andrius Burba. A simple black background, with the same view in each photo – from underneath. A very clever collection, and as someone who loves dogs, I really enjoyed the collection. [10]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_contine=53&v=fTo4glrhJEU

Approach

When first looking at this project I was trying to think of the things I could use as a collection. In the course guide it says that ‘A collection should represent a single coherent idea’, and ‘similarities correspond so they’re easy to look at, but be careful of duplicates – repetition is boring’.

After thinking it over (and over), I re read the brief. Noting that the ‘set will be stronger if they relate to your interests in life & photography’.

From there, I wrote a list – included below, and highlighted the ones I’d find most interesting.

I started to think of the things I enjoy and things that make me smile. This brought me to our wedding planning. During the months before the wedding, we bought many teacups and saucers, as we had afternoon tea. The venue could not cater for a ‘pretty’ tea party, only plain white sets. So, during the build-up, we bought around 70 teacups, some of which were then split out between parents and ourselves. I thought this would be a good thing to use for a collection for me, as it seems very personal and brings back great memories, so I hope that will translate in my photographs.

I tried this in my living room, knowing the kind of photo I was aiming for. This scene didn’t work for me as I needed something with more space so I could create the blurred lights in the background.

I wanted to make the pictures a true series, as those in my research are. I wanted a set up which allowed me to swap the teacups in and out with no need to move the settings or framing.

This photo shows my set up.

I used my bed with a grey blanket to create a dark background. I placed a set of little fairy lights at the head of the bed and used the viewfinder to position these around the teacups. I used a ‘wedding keepsakes’ box to place the teacups on top of, and a tripod to keep my camera steady.

All of my photos for this series were taken with my Canon 1300d, with an 18-55mm kit lens. I set the aperture to the biggest available, f4.5. As asked at the beginning of part Two, I had the camera set to AV which allowed the camera to assume the other settings for me.

References

My Final Set

Reflection

When I started thinking about how to set up the frame for this assignment, I thought about the purpose of part two. Part two is all about aperture. All of the research up to this has been about depth of field and setting the correct aperture.

When I decided to do ‘things’, I thought the shallow depth of field would be the right decision. I like that it gives you a focus at the front of the picture without a distraction in the background. this is personal preference and I really like the ‘bokeh’ effect.

I think bokeh sits well with this series. Whilst researching, I came across different feelings towards it and different perceptions. I remembered reading things such as ‘pretty’ ‘love’ ‘romantic’. For those reasons thought it would work with my series as I chose to do teacups because that’s what they represent to me. Those are the feelings they bring back with the reminder of my wedding day.

I took a few frames before coming to this one, making sure the light didn’t sit behind the cup, and the blanket covered the backdrop.

If I were to change anything for this set, I would perhaps use more lights, and possibly a lens with a bigger aperture so I could create more bokeh. I’m happy with the placement of the cups within the frame, of course they’re all slightly different due to the different sizes, but I don’t think there’s an obvious ‘odd one out’ for example. The only other thing that I would re work would be the lights on the left – they do not leave the frame like they do on the right. I didn’t want to crop this out as it would throw the framing off and I don’t think it makes the photos terrible, just something I picked up on after.

Assignment One. Square Mile.

Brief

Make a series of six to twelve photographs in response to the concept of ‘the square mile’. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh and experimental look at your surroundings. You may wish to re-trace places you know very well, examining how they might have changed; or, particularly, if you’re in a new environment, you may wish to use photography to explore your new surroundings and meet some of the people around you. 

Research

For this assignment, I chose to look at the practitioners suggested in the assignment. After having a quick look in to all of them, two stood out to me.

Peter Mansell [1]

I found that the work here had a very ‘real’ feel to it, with a very personal touch to the photographs. They force you to think about the meaning behind them and imagine what that life must be like. They provoke a reaction in you to think about the way we live and how others manage their lives. Perhaps we are quite selfish with the things we take for granted and photos like those bring some realisation.

Jodi Taylor [2]

When looking at these images, I saw the reasons behind them. They have the same feel that I will try to create with my photographs for this assignment. They are photos with a story behind them, if you have the imagination to see past just the thing photographed. They bring a feeling of “I used to do that” or “I used to go somewhere similar” and that allows people to connect with the photo.

After reading that article about Jodi Taylor, I researched in to a name mentioned within the piece and found that work quite interesting too.

Martin Parr [3]

In the introduction, Thomas Weski, writes “Parr’s term for the overwhelming power of published images is “propaganda”. He counters this propaganda with his own chosen weapons: criticism, seduction and humour. As a result, his photographs are original and entertaining, accessible and understandable. But at the same time they show us in a penetrating way how we live, how we present ourselves to others, and what we value”.

I think that’s an interesting way of looking at how we live our daily lives. With how much we care about what others see and think, especially with all the focus on social media lately, our real lives aren’t always represented truthfully by our social media feeds. Capturing moments in time as they happen, un-posed and natural, have always been the kind of photos I think work best.

[4]

I think this image works well as it shows a mixed group of people, not necessarily knowing each other, all standing in one place. These people all have their own lives but have a reason to be standing at the same bus stop at this time. This photo is taken from an exhibition called Martin Parr: Return to Manchester. This shows a look at his work from Manchester over the last 40 years. It is interesting to see the change over the years, which is perhaps a great way of looking at he square mile assignment… but I wasn’t born 40 years ago to have been able to do this! Although a different version of this could be changes in seasons, or revisiting again at a later date.

I find the work of John Thomson interesting for the same reason as Martin Parr. He manages to capture a scene of everyday life in a way which tells its own story. He is described as a society photographer. According to an article in the Daily /mail, written by Tiffany Lo, “The Scottish photographer and writer was able to capture the individuality and humanity of the diverse people of Asia, whether royalty or street vendor” during a 10 year trip to Asia.

Lo, Tiffany, 11 April 2018, Inside a forgotten kingdom: Incredible unseen images of China, Cambodia and Thailand in the 19th century go on show for the first time.  [5]

My Approach

The concept of “Y Filltir Sgwar” or “The square mile” to me, is the place we call / have called home. The area in which we grew up. The place we lived. The area we’re from. A place we explored. The place we used to or still do know “like the back of our hand”.

The brief for the assignment is to rediscover that place. Re trace steps I used to take and see the places I once knew so well, with a fresh pair of eyes. As an adult, the thought of where I grew up brings back good memories. Time spent playing with my brother and cousins. A family house where the garden was our playground.

As we grew older the streets we lived on became that playground. Gutter ball, Tag, Water fights, etc. Which then developed in to long days walking aimlessly with friends. We walked where ever our feet would take us.

Although I haven’t moved far from that home, I haven’t explored it for quite some time. Life has moved on and things have change. I’m looking forward to a fresh look at a place I used to love, which has just become a place I live.  

Initially when I read the brief, I was thinking of ways to capture my home town. My other ideas were

  • The parts which have changed over the years
  • The actual town and market, and the people within
  • Local landmarks
  • Visitor attractions.

Although these appealed to me, I felt the square mile assignment should be more personal. Be about the places I knew. I didn’t want to just look at a town, I wanted to look at the bits which felt like “home”. I think when I first read the brief I was over thinking it. Trying to find the nicest places to photograph rather than the places I knew. So, when I decided today was the day to capture the photos for this, I listened to my instinct. I thought about where I used to go. I remembered a place where I always felt comfortable and a spot I used to go to be alone, or to be with friends. Based on that, I went for a walk.

Although this walk was somewhere I used to feel comfortable, I haven’t been there for about 5 years. While writing this I’ve realised this was the first time I’ve been out to take photos alone. Maybe that’s why I was a little anxious. Or perhaps that’s the thought of other peoples critique.

After going out to take the photos for the square mile project, I think I achieved the kind of thing I was hoping to capture. I went with the idea of going back to where I used to “hang around” every night, or weekends. I spent a lot of my teen years wondering around with friends, playing ball games and just sitting chatting.

Whilst doing my research for this project, I looked at Jodi Taylor. I liked the feeling of nostalgia in her work. The photos brought a feeling of “I used to know a place like that”. That was something I wanted to capture in my photographs. We all have a place outside of our actual home, which felt/ feels like home. I wanted to revisit that to find the little things I never used to take any notice of. I noticed how some of the things there have worn away over the years, and how new groups of people have used that place similarly to how I used to, except with more graffiti!

Before I started EYV, I used YouTube a lot to figure out what I was doing with my camera to get better photos. The “rule of thirds” kept cropping up, so that’s something I consciously think about when taking photos now. At the moment, I look for things which I think look interesting or would make a nice picture. This is something I want to work on going forward. I’d like to be taking photos with purpose and meaning.

As it was quite sunny today, I was also aware of positioning, although it was hard to get some of the photos I wanted and not get the glare from the sun, there are some photos which I feel don’t connect with the rest. I think the last few I took just seemed like they would be good photos, but they just feel a little boring. The first photos seem to sit together better.

When choosing the final photographs from the ones I took, I didn’t want to include portrait ones, as I hadn’t taken many. I didn’t want to mix between portrait an landscape as I didn’t think that worked as well to make them “sit together”.

I think the ones I have chosen sit together to show a walk from start to finish, with some different styles within. I often find I take a lot of the same kinds of photos. I like close up shots and photos with something in the foreground. I wanted to show a bit of the parts which have “worn away” over the years as they show an obvious change over the years which someone who doesn’t know the route can easily see.

If I were to do this project again, I would explore further. The place I went was somewhere I spent a lot of time, but it wasn’t the only place. This is something I could look in to, too. I like the idea of looking at the town again too. It could make for some interesting photos as there is an outdoor market every day. I also think there would be some good photo opportunities at night.

References