RESEARCH LOG

Research Log 

 This landscape is of a woman smoking a cigarette with a massive laughing grin. The coloured photo gives me the impression that a joke has just been told at a house full of friends by the fact that the woman is smoking indoors and laughing. The photo is in a dull room with a harsh bright lighting on the woman which is therefore why she is standing out against the background.       




In this coloured landscape, there is a woman looking into a mirror and someone photographing her reflection. Her dark eye makeup could suggest that she is going out somewhere or by it looking smudged could suggest that she has just come back from a night out.

In this landscape picture, it shows an image of a American lady with a 10 dollar bill in her mouth. This could be prehaps because she is trying to pay for  cab? However, she has a very concerned look on her face and looks troubled by something she is looking at. Behind in the background are some traffic cones which could suggest road works and a yellow school bus. She is the main focus of the image in the foreground and the background is slightly out of focus. 

This picture is a black and white landscape which shows a man holding a camera strapped around his neck with a subdued look upon his face. With what looks like an American location due to signs and buildings in the background this could imply that he is possibly a tourist and tired and fed up of walking around all day. He could also be an American who just came to the city to take pictures and is fed up of how many tourists there are due to the amount of people in the background.

This photo is from Irving Penn's Corner series. He got models to stand in a small cut out corner setting which he designed himself. By the black outfit she is wearing it really stands out compared to the white background. The photo clearly has a very high brightness and exposure due to the very pale face and hands the model has and the darkness of her outfit. This photo could imply that there are things lurking in dark corners by the idea of her outfit being zone 0 (pure black) on the Ansel Adams zone system. 

This picture is by Walker Evans and is of a gentleman and a woman sitting on what could be public transport. The woman has a sly look and the gentleman looks confused a slightly worried. The photo is a landscape in black and white which has a low exposure and brightness. 

                  

This is another photo again taken by Walker Evans, this time of two gentleman. One is wearing all white and could resemble that of a baker or butcher but the overalls and hat. The other looks more like an engineer with his rolled up sleeves and dark outfit. The two look like they could be friends by the way he has his arm flung over the other. The picture itself is a portrait with a high contrast which you can see by the background being a zone 0 and the overall being 8/9 on the Ansel Adams zone system. 

PHOTOGRAPHER RESEARCH

Photographer Research -

   
Jeff Mermelstein 

I picked Mermelstein as I liked his use of landscape photography and how he focused in on characters within a setting. The way he captured everyday people within an environment whilst looking at the location they are within. His photos are mostly colour and represent everyday New Yorkers. The 2nd image, when first looking shows a woman outside the subway however when you look into it closer you can see the use of her mirrored sunglasses has focused your eye onto the reflection within. By the photographing blurring out her hair and other features it has made the glasses stand out more clearly. The lighting used for all images must've been natural as they are all outside, although the photos vary between soft and harsh lighting. This artist influenced my work as it made me realise that I could look at people within a setting and within a location. Therefore I started to work on the idea of capturing one person with a clear background setting/location. Overall I really liked his use of natural lighting and everyday settings to capture his work. 

Irving penn 

  I chose Irving Penn as again I liked the way he used portrait photos to capture a person with a setting. The majority of photos are in black and white, this could be due to the development of photos in that era and they show characters going about doing activities within the Images. When first looking at the first image I can see a woman sitting on what looks like some cushions. This could be a temple of some kind in an Asian culture as they are known to have drinks and eat on cushions down by the floor. The bottom photo shows 2 women who look like they are having lunch. By the way they are dressed I would assume that they are working women, one which is smoking a cigarette and they both look stern and serious. The artist influenced me by the use of black and white making all the photos having a high contrast, so I decided to experiment with some of my own images by converting them into black and white. This meant I was able to experiment and further develop the images I had taken. 

Nan Goldin 

 I picked Nan Goldin photography because I was inspired by her themes of LGBT and the gay subculture. The reason I like her photos is because they show characteristics that some people have taken a long time to get use to like 'drag'. She has shown these in a harsh and dull lighting depending on the location of the photograph. When looking at her photos you see very stern expressions and not much enthusiasm. It captures the models feelings within the image and how they can't always do things like the another person could. I was influenced by her as I have taken photos of my own friend in drag and showing them in a similar light. I therefore decided to try and influence my own photography based on her styles. 

Walker Evans 

I chose Walker Evans as I liked his theme of landscape black and white images. The way he captured pairs in particular, some of couples and others of workers. I really liked his high contrast in photos and the way he had a clear broad idea that he mostly wanted wide angle shots.I personally like the idea in the 3rd image of the  couple joking around with each other and the photo being off guard where they aren't paying attention, I found his work inspirational and I recreated some photos of shops fronts like the 4th image and then edited them in photoshop into black and white. 

Yasujiro Ozu 

My final choice was Yasujiro Ozu. the reason for this was I liked the way he focused on family life within his culture and it the idea of pairs and groups within a location. I found his work to show the emotions clearly and the setting you could clearly see was all very much the same idea of a home environment. The 4th photo I think shows how simple life can be with what looks like 2 family members, however it could also show a daughter helping a mother getting ready for bed and helping her tie up her nightgown. I tried to recreate some photos of my stepsister in her own environment of school and activities, although I didn't get her with a group of people I did however see her in her own lifestyle and culture.

SHOOT 5 WORK RECORD

Preparatory Shoot 5 - 

Plans for shoot - 

My plans for this shoot are to capture one of my friends, dressed up  as if she is getting ready to go on a night out. To show a more glamorous shoot.  

 

Research - 

Nancy "Nan" Goldin is an American photographer. Goldin took her camera around with her wherever she went, photographing parties at her house, outings at the lake, drag shows, friends using drugs, dancing, having sex, and the aftermath of their debauched nights together. Goldin's biggest contribution in the art world is her tenacious dedication to capturing and displaying the intimacies of her life, no matter how raw. Her photographs are a kind of diary on display. Not only did Goldin give a voice to people who were marginalised- LGBTQIA folks, drag queens, women in abusive relationships, drug addicts- she celebrated their agency, personalities, and place in our world.





Contact sheet - 

Best images -

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for this shoot was to take my friend Tori and have her wearing makeup to show a glamorous look. I dressed her in a pink silk dressing robe which I thought really stood out against the dark location and I also incorporated the smoke and flames from the bonfire into some of my imagery. I personally love the effect of how the smoke was captured again the black sky and it almost gave the photo a smokey filtered look. My personal favourite images are those of which have captured the fames within the images. However, I do think that some of ivy images could be improved as they were out of focus or the smoke had caused the image to blur. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

In this shoot I again set my camera up using the manual mode. However this time I used the flash setting to make sure that as well as the fire my camera focused on my model too. I personally preferred the outcome of this affect, although in one of my images it casted a shadow which I wasn't happy with. I then edited my photos in photoshop adjusting contrasts, burning and dodging to create light and dark tones and turning some photos into black and white. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My artist research helped through my shoot as I incorporated the idea of my friend smoking 'cigarettes' which can be seen as disgusting and vile. I liked Goldin's theme of how she captured situations at parties like drug abuse and the drag community so I therefore decided to show the glamorous side but with a woman smoking. By also wearing nothing underneath the silk robe it can be seen as a type of sexualisation and focusing on the intimacies of life like Goldin had done. 

(analysis of images underneath image) 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

I feel overall my shoot was successful as I covered another area of photography within settings and locations and by researching and incorporating the ideas of another photographer it meant I was able to experiment with what themes I do and don't prefer. 

Progression- For my next shoot, I will focus on shop fronts and settings rather than just people this time, I may focus my work on black and white imagery and see how having people off guard within a photo can affect it. 

SHOOT 4 WORK RECORD

Preparatory Shoot 4 - 

Plans for shoot - 

This time I want to take the same model as last time and show her in her normal attire, I want her to be walking through a forest and getting some good shots without a tripod. 

 

Research - 

For this shoot I continued to look at Yasujiro Uzo's work and tried to incorporate his styles and make it my own. I continued to edit some photos into black and white to see a comparison and explore a variety of techniques. 



Contact sheet - 





Best images -

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for this shoot was to again take my step sister but this time have her out of the school atmosphere and into her casual clothes and showing the comparison. I decided to have the setting of a forest as I thought I could create a nice composition. Therefore, it would show the model walking through a forest where I am able to really experiment with the exposures.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

In this shoot I set my camera up using the manual mode. I then started to capture my step sister walking through the woods which meant that my images varied from wide shots to close up to cantered angle shots. By this environment being engulfed with trees it meant that it was very dull lighting and there were some patches of light which I tried to use to my advantage. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My artist research helped through my shoot as by continuing to follow the same artist I was able to try and experiment with other ways he too shot his images. By this time looking at a forest I was working in and trying to focus more on lighting of images as Uzo had done. I feel that I was able to continue to look at portrait photography within a location. 

(analysis of images underneath image) 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

I feel overall my shoot was successful as it was a different style from shoot 3 but still keeping the same artist in mind and making it my own. I do however feel that some images were much stronger than others and developed really nicely with edits.

Progression -

In my next shoot I intend to look at a different artist to research and continue to develop my portfolio this time by looking at a different range of techniques and style of images.