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!