Brief :

This assignment is designed to give your tutor a feel for your work and won’t count
towards your final grade if you decide to have your work assessed. However, the assessors
may wish to see it so that they can gauge your progress across the course.
Create at least two sets of photographs telling different versions of the same story. The
aim of the assignment is to help you explore the convincing nature of documentary,
even though what the viewer thinks they see may not in fact be true. Try to make both
sets equally convincing so that it’s impossible to tell which version of the images is ‘true’.
It might be interesting to consider the project as evidence for a court case. What
conflicting stories can you make your images convincingly tell? Would it stand up in
court?
Choose a theme and aim for 5–7 images for each set, depending on your idea. Discuss
this with your tutor.
Here are a few ideas:
• You could interpret this brief by showing the same scenario from two different
angles. Does this alter how we read the situation?
• You may wish to create an alter ego by using snapshots of yourself or a friend. This
could involve photographing them in two very different and potentially conflicting
personas.
• You could make a parody of a dating website profile picture. Create different versions
of the same person looking completely different in each one. Which one represents
them best and how can we know?
Or you may prefer to use your own take on the theme. However you choose to interpret
the brief, ensure the images are candid and ‘taken from real life’. Be experimental and
take some risks. Perhaps you could make a list of ideas and choose the most challenging
or absurd option to stretch yourself.
Send your sets of images to your tutor by the method you’ve agreed. Include an
introduction of 300 words outlining what you set out to do and how you went about it.
Also send to your tutor the relevant pages of your learning log or your blog url.
It’s good to get in the habit of printing your work so try to send prints to your tutor where
possible. This is not obligatory but will help when it comes to assessment. Developing
your prints in order to achieve the best results is a long process so it’s best to start now.

Initial Response To The Brief

Having studied the first unit and now understand the differences between witness photography, reportage, documentary photography and Art photography and realising that an image is not necessarily the truth but depends on the context and also how the viewer sees and interprets the image. The idea of introducing different subjects, composition and several other factors to create two different versions of the same story is exciting in a conceptual way but also creatively in the form of art photography. Two sides of the story or different vesions, selective editing can create different versions of the truth. This takes place around us all the time but I have never considered it until now. Social media photography is a perfect example of this concept, where by the power of selection, only the best photos are taken and then chosen to be displayed, giving a very false impression of the reality of the life of an individual.

Planning

Time management is always the challenge. I knew I would have to go out two or three times to take enough shots for this assignment. Street photography like this also has an element of chance and uncertainty since we are dealing with a live dynamic situation. Each time I visit an area to shoot could result in very different results, and possibly nothing at all. Unfortunately the issue of homelessness is never far from us so shooting opportunities will certainly be available.

Research/Inspiration

After an initial discussion with my tutor about my interest in social documentary and I mentioned I was inspired by the work of Anthony Luvera after hearing him speak at the Photography Symposioum at Birmingham City University last year in October. Anthony worked worked with the homeless and has helped highlight their plight and has even changed laws around safeguarding of the vulnerable through photography. Julian Germain was suggested by my tutor as an approach to this assignment, I was also lucky enough to hear him speak about his project in the Brazilian Favelas. The work was called “No Olho da Rua – In the eye of the street – He gave disposable film cameras to mostly the children of the favelas and asked them to take the photographs, this is a great example of “two sides of the story” since the subject becomes the author and the images are by nature totally different.

Idea

I had ideas about taking photographs of a town where the derelict areas are photographed and the second set where photos of the same town but only the nice parts are taken. Also an idea of photographing a road that is being repaired, one set just the road in a bad state of repair but leave the diggers and other related objects out of the photo, then a second set with all the construction activity, by omitting vital elements in one set it would tell a totally different story. Social media is a great one to use as an example too. There was also an idea to photograph less stereotypical things on my recent skiing holiday to Norway, for example, our very messy bedroom, the very wet gloves all competing for space on the dryer in our cabin and others, the car stuck in the snow etc.

Conclusion

I enjoyed preparing for this assignment and I am interested in social documentary and in particular the people who are vulnerable, on the margins of society who are in need of help and support. Choosing the homeless is in line with the photographers I am drawn to like Julian Germain, Anthony Luvera and also Lee Jeffries.