Final photo

Choosing between these two images became one of the hardest tasks of this project. I wanted a deep and emotive final photo, both of which these offer due to the the use facial close up and the direction of gaze. I feel that the top image contains the most emotion and depth to its expression and as a viewer you can really connect with how Mark is feeling, however, i really like the querkiness and authenticity of the bottom image due to the magnifying glass. I feel this image shows character and the eye for detail that jewellers must have and thats what attracts me to it.. Decisions, decisions, decisions..........

Black and white? Or De-saturate? That is the question

I began editing my photos, using the inspiration i got from the William's feature documentary work. I felt my work would also suit a black and white style as it would incorporate the darkness of the workshop and the emotion I am trying to portray through my subject. However, i have never been a fan of making photos black and white as i feel it can often flatten the image and take away the desired effect. Although i love to look at and appreciate black and white photography, i am never as keen when i have edited them myself.
From a lot of previous editing experience i came familiar and liked the outcome of de-saturating images, therefore, i experimented with turning my image black and white and also de-saturating the same image to compare the outcome.
In my opinion i prefer the de-saturated image so much more. By incorporating a few other tweaks in the colour adjustment I feel the image captures the rusty and dirtiness of the workshop. I also feel it adds a slightly old fashioned, unglamorous feel to the image, which in turn supports the portrayal and representation of jewellers that I wish to portray within my project.
I have shown one example of the comparison below;





Potrait, Attempt 2- Success!!

The third and what i hoped final visit to the jewellery workshop was a great success. Whilst there I managed to focus and home in on a few of the personal artifacts of Mark's that lay around the work station that I feel have a more emotive and eye catching effect to some of the previous shots of the similar artifacts. I also succeeded in capturing some great emotive and connective shots of Mark looking down the barrel of the camera that I feel will capture the attention of the audience and create a connection through the emotion within Mark's face and eyes.

Below are a few of the shots I captured;

This is a collection of some of the portraits I captured. In comparison to the initial portraits I captured, these ones create so much more of a physical connection between Mark and the viewer, and I feel by incorporating Klein's style of close up portraits to ensure the only foucs is on the subject, the shots have depth and the viewer can read the emotion within Mark's eyes and facial expressions.

Portrait, attempt 2.

After the workshop, I decided I had to re-visit the jewellery workshop in London to capturing a more emotive and powerful portrait of Mark. On the train on the way up there I was jotting down any ideas/ poses I could think of that would capture this decisive shot that I was looking for. Below are a few of the ideas I noted down;

• Slumped shots, face leaning against hand- Creating a sense of run down, tiredness of work etc.
• Crazy shots- Hands in hair, strange facial poses- Capturing the quirky personality.
• Wearing the old fashioned magnifying glasses. Authenticity / professionalism
• Facial close up, looking down the barrel of the gun with just one eye as if he was closely examine a fine piece jewellery.
• Similar to above but looking through a small magnifying glass.

These were the basis of my ideas that i would wish to experiment with and capture, whilst hoping more would come to mind when the camera was in hand.

Photos reviewed

In the last workshop we all took turns in presenting our photos and ideas to the class. I was rather chuffed and pleased that i had done the most work to my blog and also in the amount of photographs and shoots I had been on in comparison to the rest of the class. The feedback I received was positive and a lot of the class enjoyed and was intrigued by my ideas.
However, I was split between my final idea for the project. I was torn between the path of; focusing on the 'jewellery' as the subject in contrast to the state of the workshop or focusing on 'Mark' the head of the workshop, and incorporating his personal identity and character within the frames that also capture the state of the workshop.
On consoling with my tutor, we decided that the best path for the project to be effective and emotive was to follow the idea of incorporating Marks personal identity within the workshop.
The images below are a few photos that I had already captured that suited the theme, however, both me and Paul felt i would need an emotive and capturing portrait of Mark himself , looking down the barrel of the camera, in order to have an emotive and connecting image to end the project.

All above are a few examples of shots capturing personal artefacts of Mark's around his workshop. What i like about all of the images is, much like William's work that inspired me, the personal artefact that carries the meaing and personality of Mark isnt obviously and delibrately framed. I feel the fact his working tools and mess surrounding the objects cover and get in the way of them resembles the idea of the sacrifice and hard work and hours the work has over Mark, and like in this photo can sometimes get in the way of his personal life.

Above are a few examples of the shots i captured of Mark. My favourite out of the three is the bottom one, as i feel it shows Mark collaborating with his staff, however, the lightness isn't good enough to be used in my final project. I felt all of these photos were not good enough portraits that truly portrayed Mark and his personality and as none of them capture his face looking at the camera, it leaves a distance between Mark and the viewer and this isn't what I want for my final project.
A Re-shoot for more connective and emotive portraits had to be organised!

Further research into 'addiction'.

I continued to search for photographers that had captured images suiting the theme of addiction. I was under the impression i wouldn't find anyone as good as Clarence Williams, however, it was worth a try.
I came across a fashion/art photographer; David Lachapelle, who's work completely contrasted with the work of Williams but still contained this idea of addiction and the theme of 'cost of living'.
Many of Lachapelle's work involved the use of celebrities, with the focus of portraying the materialistic and consumerist values within popular culture. Unlike Williams all of his works are heavily staged and include a lot of colour, that is then increased in contrast and saturation in post production.
Below are two of his works that incorporated the idea of 'addiction'.

Many of Lachapelles work are controversial and extremely explicit which is what i feel adds to the effectiveness and iconic nature of the photos. In the bottom photo i like the combination of the bad boy image and detail that captures the smoke, however, other than that it doesn't capture the emotion or effectiveness that i am looking for. The top photo of the naked female is much more effectively taken. The pose of her eyes and no doubt enhanced post production creates the effect that they are completely white which automatically suggest she is extremely drug fueled. The enhanced used of contrast in this image also adds power, however, unlike Williams in a more attractive and almost seductive way.
Finding these images has helped show me the importance of the use of use of black and white in capturing the effect i desire and also more importantly shown me how direct portraits ,that only focus on the one individual are not remotely as effective, and are something i will look to avoid within my project.

I came across a William Klein photo that effectively clarifies my point of the importance for this style of feature photography to be busy and contain numerous subjects that surround the main part of the image.

The image is a great image, there is no doubting that, and yes it does capture a longing, depressed mood with the heavy smoke, black head piece and dark shadows, however, I feel because it is just a straight on close up of the individual it does not carry the same emotional density as Williams's work.

The effect and theme of the image is similar to the work of Williams, which causes me to share the emotion and pain of a mourning of death (that is suggested through the females black head piece) for the female. 

Cost of living/ Addiction photography research.

I began to search for inspiration through photographers who had focused on a similar theme of addiction to myself. I felt by doing this i would highlight the positive elements that i should include when thinking about my pictures and also anything that i felt i didn't like or didn't think worked towards my desired effect. I came across a journalism/ feature photographer; 'Clarence Williams' who worked for The Los Angeles Times at the time. I came across his work through finding the 'Pulitzer Prize'. The Pulitzer Pride is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. In 1998 Clarence Williams was awarded with the prize in 'Feature photography' and below is a select few of the photos taken from his documentary on the plight of young children with parents addicted to alcohol and drugs.



This was the first photo i came across in the documentary and the emotion in the photo really struck me. I like Williams's use of depth of field in how you are initially drawn to the female shooting heroin, (which acts as a shock mechanism) and then once you look into the background the emotion and shocks builds. His clever use of the rule of thirds splits the image down the center and shows the immediate consequence of the mum's actions on the left to her daughter's on the right. The photo made me long and care for the young child and really interacts me with the documentaries focus.



I would say this is one of my favourite images taken from the documentary. Unlike the image above it doesn't carry the same emotion, however, it creates a similar shock effect. I feel this comes from the casualness of the male knocking back his beer, with no care in the world that the young boy is looking upon him as an inspirational role. This image struck me as a male myself as it creates a sense of pathos for the boy and makes the male audience question their relationship with their fatherly figure and how bad it would be if they was in this young boys position.

This image is no where near as obvious or as detailed as the above two as on first look it appears to have no really significant/ obvious shocking acts, however, Wiliams's use of a birds eye angle gives the audience the right to sit and examine the picture and pick away the subtle details that make this shot. Like many of the images the messiness and poor living conditions is emphasised in this image, however, what i feel is most effective is the fact that the two females are in the process of injection and sniffing drugs, ( notice the white powder on the plate, and also the arm tie in the hand of the female on the left) with such a casualness. If you only focused on the bottom part of this image and covered the top, the mannerism and pose of the two females creates a very social, casual, almost 'mothers meeting' sense which although there are drugs present is by no means threatening or shocking. However, as you scroll up and see the young child asleep next to them, the whole reaction of the viewer changes. I felt slightly disgusted and disturbed that such a wrong and immoral act could take place in such a casual way an arms length away from a delicate young child.



Again, not an image with obvious emphasis but the use of the rule of thirds is clever and allows the viewer to pick apart the contents of the image. It breaks the norm of a traditional father and daughter figure, as the father seems to have no care in the world that his daughter is clearly confused and depressed. The other interesting part of this image is the door. Many photographers use a doorway as a symbolism of a welcoming entry or a destined place awaiting, however, in this image the door is shut and the light is block due to the black out planks of what looks like wood. I feel Williams included the door for exactly this reason, of highlighting that this young girls life is suffocated around the consequence of her fathers addiction and their is no welcoming place for her to escape.

All of the photos within this documentary are black and white and I feel the emotiveness of the images wouldn't be any where near as effect if they were in colour. Black and white adds emphasis to the gloominess and dirtiness of all of the environments as it highlights the shadows, dirtiness and grubbiness of the walls, floor and belongings with its contrast to the light. In the two photos of the young brown haired girl, her white dress symbolises innocence and delicacy and by contrasting this with the dark, grubbiness of what surrounds her provokes a harsher, more shocking reaction than if colour was used.

Brighton Visit

In week 5 we went on a trip to Brighton, with the aim being to develop and enhance our portrait skills and also our confidence skills of approaching strangers to ask to take photos. All of these skills are to be come essential in the final project so i felt i had to go for it and really push my interaction boundaries, by not being scared to approach anyone that would make a good portrait.
We started off by taking portraits of each other within our group. Here are a few of the practise portrait shots;

Here is a use of the rule of thirds. I like this technique as the figure still holds a key position even though she is not centered, whilst it also allows for the image to capture and incorporate the nature that surrounds her.

This is another shot of the rule of thirds. I like how this is un posed and the subject is also looking at her camera, however, the wind blowing her hair ruins the picture slightly as you can not see the concentration on the subjects face.

This shot combines the rule of thirds and also depth of field techniques. This is my favourite image of the day. It is one of my most successful ranges in depth of field and i also enjoy how because of the position in which the photo is taken the angle of the builds lead you into and towards the main subject. Also with the grey sky and wandering pose of the subject, their is quite a raw emotion in the image of longing that i like.

We then had to go off and take a series of photos of a stranger in a working, socially interactive environment. After numerous rejections, gutting feeling that the amazing book shop was too dark and  the incompetence of the street cleaners, i managed to find a 'friend' in one of the traditional sea front 'Rock shops'.

I feel the framing and composition of this image make it appealing. The idea of looking through a doorway into a new space is something that i like and i feel the contrast from plain and white on the outside to joyful and bursting with colours through the doorway adds to this idea of a exciting opening through the doorway.

This photo was one of the best photos in incorporating the style and layout of the shop. It captures the variety of colours and patterns within the sweets that summarises the shop as a whole. I also like the compositional lines and how the horizontal lines lead the viewer across and into the distance of the image, similarly to the doorway idea of heading towards something new and exciting in this colourful shop.

One of the criterias was to get a detailed shot of the subject doing something. Although i like the angle of this shot, i feel it is boring and doesn't truly represent the excitement and joyful colours that summarise this shop. I will know for next time to ensure i make more of an effort to encourage the subject to do something that i would like and know would make a good photo. Ie; slowing pouring a portion of sweets onto the counter.

The final criteria was to get a portrait of the subject. I don't particularly like the appearance of this photo, however, when i looked into it deeper i liked the contrast that our within the shot. The first contrast is between the regimented order of the sweets to the cigarettes. The fact that cigarettes are in a sea front sweet shop represents the common culture of our society and could also emphasise the sign of the times, that even within a happy and exciting shops their our negative and depressive objects.
The second contrast is of the subject himself. His appearance is untidy and poorly groomed, unshaven, grey hairs and unflattering and rather large t shirt, and i feel this signifies our theme of 'cost of living'. It shows this through the contrast between his worn down, unemotive persona to the joyful, bright colours of the sweets. To me the deeper meaning of this image is the suggestion that it is a hard and tough life (shown through the subject) living off this bright, joyful but old fashioned, traditional sweet shop.

Preliminary shots

I was unable to reach my destination for my project this week as it is in London, however, i wanted to ensure i developed my photography skills and had something to work with and manipulate in the class, therefore, i focused on my previous ideas of smoking, a form of addiction. It still Incorporated some of the close ups of hands etc that i wish to include in my project, therefore, i felt it would be good practise to experiment with indoor or outdoor light etc. Below are a few of the shots;


This was my first attempt at trying to capture the smoke as it releases out of the mouth, or lingers around the smoker. Unfortunately i would say this was the only one that i managed to get, that i was pleased with the outcome, however, i know feel i am capable and know the technique of how to capture and enhance the smoke as much as possible and will re-try this similar idea on my next little outing tomorrow.



This image was harder to manipulate than the one below, I tried to use a similar manipulation process on this photo, but i feel the quality of finish is not as good.. I wanted to enhance the darkness surrounding the individual, whilst also drawing attention to the smoke, as in this image it is the vital part of the theme. However, in wasn't possible to do that, as by increasing the contrast to create the greater darkness, it took away the grey clarity of the smoke. I was pleased with the greater shadows that were created above his head and in the background of the shot, however, to get the clarity of the smoke to be effective enough i had to increase the brightness around contrast a bit to much which you can consequently see in the glow of his neck. I feel if this glow wasn't so powerful the image would be very effective, as it incorporates the deep shadows around and on the face of the individual and also the smoke spiralling.

This is one of my favourite shots, even though on this night i wasn't even planning or thinking about taking photos. It is only with my own digital camera, rather than one of the D70, however, once i saw this i had to take a photo of it. I have cropped the image slightly as the original image was from further away and included a few random objects that i didn't like but didn't have the time to think about when taking this instant reaction shot. I feel this incorporates all my ideas of smoking/ addiction, in all honesty the poor guy looks a mess and i feel this truly highlights this idea that 'the cost of today's living' has forced him into this hole, (so to speak).

I then went on to experiment the effect of manipulating the image and to see whether this low, addictive, forced life would have more power/effect on the audience if it was in black and white etc. In the above image i lowered the saturation dramatically and slightly increased the contrast and brightness. In my opinion i much prefer this image and feel it holds more emotive power than the coloured original image. I feel the warm, bright colours on the original image don't create a sad/ emotive enough response in comparison to this one. It seems almost happy, whereas the darkness that surrounds the individual in this image, and the facial wrinkles and shadows that appear due to the manipulation, highlight a more emotive, struggling image which suites my theme more effectively.

Unfortunately i missed the opportunity to rent out a D70, therefore all of the following photos are taken on a Samsung digital camera, and unfortunately you can clearly tell that. Although many of the photos have nice angles, good compositions etc due to the flash of the digital camera many of the photos have too much exposure and unfortunately take the detail away from the cigarettes and smoke.

I felt the angles, poses and ideas i have captured are promising, however, the lack of quality due to the flash took away the effect of the photos. My favourite photos are; the first photo of the thick smoke coming out of the mouth of the individual. I feel this captures a sense of despair due to the thick smoke and the lazy way of blowing it out. My other favourite image is the higher angled shot looking into the top of the cigarette bin. It has the most detail and clarity of all the images and i feel the stained black dirt and ash, combined with the old crinkled and squashed cigarettes portrays the attitudes of the smokers that would have smoke these cigarettes. This attitude effectively portrays this idea of 'cost of living' and this is the reason why i like this image.

Stanmer Park Visit

Last week we headed to the Stanmer Park to experiment with taking photos of natural imagery, in and around the local church.  Below is some of my work;

This was my first attempt of experimenting with the depth of field. My aim was to focus and give prominence to the foreground, whilst having the church in the background slightly out of focus. Unfortunately it didn't really work but further down the use of this technique was much more successful.

I really like this shot, although whilst i was taking the shot i was unsure of it. I like how the tree creates a frame that draws the viewers eye towards the clock. I also like the range of shadows across the tree which also helps to draw your eye towards the centre of the photo.

The idea of depth of field worked nicer in this shot than in the one above. I enjoy the clarity of the image and how the extreme close up captures the detail of the spiders web. The rough, old bricks combined with the cobwebs creates a sense of old and unmaintanenced.

This is another more successful outcome of the use of the depth of field technique. It may be slightly to close, however, i kind of like the extreme contrast between the detail of the tombstone, compared to the blurriness of the church.

I like the angle of this photo, and with the use of the writing it leads the viewers eyes across and into the distance. I feel the slight desaturation combined with the increased contrast worked well in this image as it put a greater emphasis on the range of greys in the tombstone.

Although this is a very random photo taken just around the corner from the church, i like how my use of editing creates a kind of postcard feel to this image. Again i reduced the saturation, increased the contrast to enhance the power of the suns reflective rays, which would create a happy mood and  increased the emphasis of the colour red to give a dominance to the post box. I then added a subtle 'omni' lighting effect placed near the small palm tree where the suns rays are most prominent in order to add to their prominence and make the piece look like a light, enjoyable, natural small town , peaceful cafe.

Again focusing on the idea of the rule of thirds in this shot, i also like the composition of this piece in the fact where all the lines of the wall, fence and wooden logs, lead the viewers eyes into the centre of the piece towards the sun light. The only editing i did with this image was to increase the emphasis of the colour green in the 'colour balance' adjustment. By doing this it gave the natural greenery surrounding the logs a greater life and fresh appearance that combines well with the sunlight breaking in through the background.

Technically one of the best shots i took of the day, the only photo that i felt needed no editing what so ever. The aperture and focus was spot on which provided a clear blue sky and a crispness to the leaves. My favourite part about this image is how i used the positions of the trees to frame the tower of the church and draw the attention of the viewer directly towards it bursting through the clear blue sky.

Developing my ideas- A jeweller...

I began to focus my ideas down on to this idea of a 'jeweller' and how their hard work contrasts and is undermined by the extravagance of the final product. I began to examine how i could portray all of these themes within 6-8 photos, and began to think of what would make a good photo and what there would be to actually take a photo of.
Ideas;

• Close up of hands working on a delicate item.
• Close up of gold dust, metal scrapings on wooden bench.
• Long shot capturing the whole workshop.
• Any tools or equipment that are different/fascinating.
• The jeweller himself working.
• A final product. delicately cupped in the hands of the jeweller.
• A low angle, along the floor shot capturing the busy feet at work, the rough and dirty floor.





When looking through the limited pictures on the Internet, i found that the ones i found the most fascinating and engaging were the ones in black and white. This has led me to experiment with the use of black and white, or even a lower saturation in the editing of the photos i take.

Developing my Ideas:

As i have said in my previous post, i have expanded my original idea of ageing through portraits to pictures that suggest ageing etc ie; hands, eyes, wrinkles. However, i wanted to take the idea further and find an idea that would capture all of these things and have more power and interest to it. Therefore, i began to think of who i knew that had grubby, dirty, wrinkly hands because of their working condition/environment. I felt if i could find this, it would help me find a new path for my project.

• Builders- Worn, dirty, rugged hands. Also many builders enjoy and do smoke which would enhance the whole appeal of a close up of the hand.
• Artists- Paint stained, lead smudged hands and overalls that contrast dramatically with the elegance and beauty of their work. Holding a paint brush etc.
• Jewellers- This was my favourite out of all the ideas. When we think of jewellery, we think of elegance, style, sophistication, clean cut, sparkling etc, however, i want to portray the hard work and 'cost' of providing this sophisticated living. I have a very close family connection to a small jewellery workshop in London and i feel this could be a great place for me to capture my ideas.

Below are a few pictures i have found on the Internet that relate to the above ideas;

Also it is not the best photo, i am attracted and do like this idea as it incorporates both the paint covered hands idea with the contrast of ageing of my first idea. The indelicacy and naive way the hand on the left is holding the brush automatically suggest that is a young child, which thinks to my idea of an 'suggestive' image rather than a portrait that puts it on a plate for the viewer.

Just a simple but effective photo due to the pose and grey scale colour scheme. I feel being in grey scale it places emphasis on the wrinkles and the dirtiness/grubbiness of this (what i presume) is a males hand.

This is one of the favourite shots i found as it is exactly what i was imagining in my head whilst thinking of this idea. I also like the quite powerful use of natural light coming from the side as it creates a contrast and emphasis between the paleness of his hands and the brightness of the paint. The light also adds a dramatic, eye catching sense to the image.



This photo captures all my ideas of a jeweller. The ruggedness of the worn, wooden bench, the copper and rough, dirty look of the jeweller's hands. However, in contrast to all of the this the delicacy and attention to detail that is suggested through the position of the hands also attracts me and works well with my idea of this physical, hard working 'cost'.