Photobooks : J. Colberg

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Jenny Stork

My tutor suggested further reading around editing and sequencing of images, this is an area I need practice and to develop an effective techniqe

Some notes I took from the book so far :

The book’s concept is very important

Elements of the story can be introduced at first without being related – the viewer trusts the author that the story will be revealed later on in the book and they can make sense of the photos – eventually things will start to relate to what has been seen before

Use double sided tape so can attach and remove images either from a wall or a dummy book

Dont put too many different layouts and image sizes for different spreads

Start edit and sequence and simple layout with a basic dummy – and then when happy refine other bits.

Simple decisions and ideas lead to a complex and truly immersive book – Mariela Sancan (Moises) – the book is unfolded to discover portraits of an old man in his 70’s – her dad died from suicide and this searching experience in the book reflects her pain.

Design :

How a page works
How to pace information
How text can support an image and vice versa

Design is not what the photographer wants but what the work in question demands

Most photographers are not trained designers- approaching a professional designer early on in the process is a good idea – find graphic and physical manifestation of your photographic ideas

Tien Van Der Heijden – Dutch Designer

2 books on either side of the design spectrum : Walker Evans – American Photographs and Interrogations, Donald Weber

A designer that knows how to read the language of photography can have input on the editing too

Design helps telling the story in a physical form that adds to the intention of the story

Limited budget will force you to enhance the essentials and the basic elements – often making the work stronger as a result

The Dutch Photobook – Aperture 2012

The photobook, A History – Martin Parr

Kuipers 10 golden rules pdf

Physical aspects : the colour cast across a book especially if its a budget print

Choice of paper, type of printing and type of binding will all affect the outcome

Perfect Binding – a common cost effective binding, restricts opening – avoid detail close to the middle – there is no perfect binding option and with age a physical object will deteriorate no matter what the quality of binding used

Richard Benson describes the difference between a photobook and an exhibition :

“How naive are we to think that we can see it all at first glance when hung on a wall or on a computer monitor. The book solves this problem, we can look long and hard without distraction and return to it again and again. Photographs can become like old friends, and like the best of them they can reveal themselves endlessly as we come to know them better”

In my own work

I need to start to print out my work and get the editing and sequencing part of my work better – put images on the walls and live with them

Need to find a partner that can critically evaluate my work and I can work with going forward

Become familiar with a number of photo books to inform your own work – try to understand whether they work, how they work – how their different elements come together and how design helps to support the work

Bibliography

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/how_to_make_a_photobook/

http://harveybenge.blogspot.com/2012/03/photobook-some-thoughts-on-editing-and.html

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2012/04/review_the_dutch_photobook_by_frits_gierstberg_and_rik_suermondt_eds/

A1 Research : Two Sides Of The Story : Lorca diCorcia

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Jenny Stork

Feedback from my tutor about assignment 1 suggested further reading into the work of diCorcia- his method was to set up a camera a distance from where he is located and use a remote control to operate it, so people are photographed without their knowledge in a completely natural state

The main points I noted from watching the youtube video were :

The method of making work was to :

Set up the lighting rig and the scene ( the dramatic elements)
Use a polariod with actors and construct the scene in advance and test the result
Let the subject walk into the frame – these can be either known or unknown people

I classify people into different archetypes, most of the time they are not like that but I manipulate them to be like that.

To photograph people in the street effectively you have to sensitise yourself to the subtle clues

A photo captures a moment of truth and diCorcia operates to disrupt this completely

Often he didn’t know his subjects because of his methodology

The interior of a person is very different to the exterior, “life is a performance”

Because of the physical distance from which the images are taken, this gives the viewer alot of authority to interpret and experience the images in the way they want to.

The eye level cinematic approach to making his work is what draws the viewer in and makes them more real and engaging

The idea you can manipulate people and the world in this way is an interesting and compelling motivation for me.

For my own work: this was a very quick diagnostic assignment, diCorcia took over 3000 images to make a series of 17 – so lots more work and photos needed to be able to create something I am happy with

Setting up with a tripod, perhaps at a cinema style level which is square and a level aspect would give more impact – use a remote for taking the shots

Think about lighting, this has a huge impact on the feel of the image

Bibliography

Lorca diCorcia, P. (2014). The Hepworth Wakefield: Photographs 1975 – 2012 .
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So_FK4qnz5Q [Accessed 21
March. 2020].

A1: Two Sides Of The Story, Image Capture Technique

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Jenny Stork

Street photography has become more difficult over the years in the UK with an increasing amount of suspicion around the intent when a photographer is seen on the streets with a large, obtrusive camera. The duty of care over children and the use of their images on the internet has also become an issue, however, a public space is a space where it is legal to take photographs in the UK, for now anyway.

My approach to making this work was to simply stand at a distance from my subject and photograph the buildings next to them so the camera was not facing them directly. After a while my subject became used to me and thought I was not photographing them. I would move my camera occasionally towards them and take the shots quickly as people entered the frame, then move it back towards some buildings again. This took about twenty minutes and some patience. I wanted to capture the same scene but different reactions from people walking by, hence what appears to be a similar photo, but is in fact not because of the interactions that are going on within the frame between those on the margins of society and those who are not.

Ideally I would have liked to introduce myself to the subjects and asked their permission, but in this instance I felt the purpose of my shots were totally in my interest and not theirs. Reflecting on the situation, the activity could have been mutually beneficial where I could pay them cash perhaps? There is still no guarantee that this approach would have been received well.

I am interested in social change for the better for all people and have a particular empathy for the homeless, I admire artists such as Anthony Luvera and Lee Jeffries who spent time with the people and treated them with dignity and respect and built up mutual trust before they embarked on a collaborative photography project. The projects also generated income for better support for them and also changed the way councils are obligated to support the homeless in the UK. This, ideally is how I would want to approach an activity such as this, but since it was just for an assignment at this time I chose the anonymous route this time.

Feedback from my tutor on this assignment was to link this blog to my assignment in its bibliography so there is a better understanding by the reader about how I made the work.

Setting up with a tripod, perhaps at a cinema style level which is square and a level aspect would give more impact – use a remote for taking the shots

Think about lighting, this has a huge impact on the feel of the image

Understand fully the different street photography techniques and with practice and experience develop a style and approach that reflects my values and interests, currently I prefer the collaborative way in that the process has a positive impact on everyone involved, however, the practicalities of this approach at present inhibit me.

Additional feedback is to research the work of :

Street Photography Alternatives: Placing the camera (on a tripod) and allowing people to
walk into the frame (might help less conspicuous when making the ’objective’ images/
Passer by
• David Campany. 2020. ‘Anonymous And Incognito: Walker Evans’ – David Campany.[online] Available at: https://davidcampany.com/anonymous-and-incognito-walker-
evans [Accessed 23 March 2020].

• Lorca diCorcia, P. (2014). The Hepworth Wakefield: Photographs 1975 – 2012 .
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So_FK4qnz5Q [Accessed 21
March. 2020].

Bibliography

HOMER, N., 2020. Anthony Luvera – Interview: ‘Photography Is A Way Of Telling Stories About The World’. [online] Studio International – Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Available at: <https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/anthony-luvera-interview-photography-for-whom-telling-stories-about-the-world> [Accessed 29 March 2020].

Unit 1: The Photograph As Document: Photographers

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Jenny Stork

This blog lists all photographers mentioned in Unit 1 and a brief description of their work or why they are important to this unit. Unit 1 is about photography and the truth.

Judith Williamson’s ‘Advertising’ articles in Source
photographic review provide an excellent example of a critical approach.

Joachim Schmid is an example of an artist who adopts a thoughtful approach to
photography. He is a German artist who had been buying photographs in large
quantities from flea markets for years (he has over 100,000). When Flickr was invented he
moved from collecting on the street to collecting online.

Jeff Wall have become renowned for their painstaking attention to detail when creating the narrative of the individual image. (A better word in this context is mis-en-
scène, a term used in film for the set and construction of the scene.) As on a film set, every prop, dress and character is there for a reason: all contribute to the overall narrative of
the image.

Rexford Tugwell and Roy Stryker set up the Farm Security Administration – agency to look out for the farmers who had suffered from the great depression 1935 to 44 – photographers who worked for the FSA were Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange (Migrant Mother (1936)

Lewis Hine used photography as a vehicle for social reform – raise awareness and promote change (1874 to 1940) eg. the law on child labour

Gideon Mendel “Dzhangal” the origin of the term “the Jungle” which is a name used for the migrant camp in Calais. His work is of alternative portraits such as a group of toothbrushes or a child’s school text book

In her 1995 essay “Inside/Out” Abigail Solomon-Godeau (2017) argues against a binary insider/outsider approach to documentary photography – look at the subject from a distance but offer some sort of “truth” – Robert Frank (The Americans) and Ed Ruscha’s work are good examples of this.

Roger Fenton, one of the earliest war photographers photographed battle scenes with dead bodies and took portraits of soldiers in quieter moments

David Campany Essay – “Safety in Numbness” 2003 – sets out concerns of aftermath photography and if it conveys the complexity of political events

Joel Meyerowitz, official photographer for 9/11 – Campany considers his work too safe and beautiful therefore not fitting for depicting the horrific actions of terrorism.

2002 Paul Seawright commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to make a series of images of the war in Afghanistan – he adopted an aftermath approach – deviod of action

Paul Seawright also made “Sectarian Murders” in 1988

Edgar Martins, A Room at 14 Baldwin Farms South (2009) showing an empty house in US after the financial crash – reportage photography

Henri Cartier Bresson’s The Decisive Moment fits in nicely with Reportage photography – its about all the components coming together within one frame to speak of something beyond the frame

Dana Lixenberg – Imperial Courts (1993 to 2005) photographed the residents of Imperial Courts in Los Angeles – an African American estate – she photographed families for 22 years – she was determined to tell the story of these people’s lives from a different angle to the one dimensional reportage happening at the time. The area had been wrecked by racist riots and she was asked to document the reconstruction of the area.

1967 John Szarkowski curated the show New Documents at Moma – aim to show new kind of documentary photography in America and he selected Lee Friedlander, Dianne Arbus and Garry Winogrand to make his point – photography can also be considered as art and not purely as a document

Tate Modern first photography exhibition in 2003 – Cruel and Tender. Examining photography’s relationship with realism. August Sander, Lewis Baltz, Philip Lorca DiCorcia and William Egglestone demonstrate diverse nature of photography and it’s relationship with the truth.

Sarah Pickering “Public Order” (2002 – 5) work about a deserted artificial town for police to use for riot training – this documentary style challenges what is real

Alessandra Sanguinetti is a Magnum photographer – her series “The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning Of Their Dreams(2016) ” she documents the lives of two young girls growing up, their relationship as sisters and their lifestyle in South America – she interprets their imaginative play and dreams into visual depictions of fantasy. This documentary style challenges what is real

The Cottingley Fairies taken by Elsie Wright (1917) and Frances Griffiths who claimed they played with and took photos of fairies in their garden. It became a subject of debate for decades and it wasnt until the 1970’s that the hoax was confirmed.

Oscar Gustav Rejlander (1813 -75) became known as the father of art photography and the master of photomontage. His work “Two Ways Of Life” (1857) was made using over 30 separate negatives and depicts the life of a sinner and the life of a saint in one highly elaborate tableau.

Peter Kennard and Cat Phillips (2002 -19) Photo Op series and their photomontage work (digital manipulation)

Wendy McMurdo – “Young Musicians” (1998 -2013) photographed young musicians and later digitally removed the instruments so the viewer is forced to observe the psychological state of the child.

Preparation Work : Ex 4: Analysing And Reflecting

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Jenny Stork

This quick exercise is designed to introduce the idea of analysing and reflecting
on the work of others, and to give you some material for your first learning log
entry or blogpost.
Here’s a selection of creative practitioners that you will encounter during this
course unit:
● Elina Brotherus
● Gideon Mendel
● Hannah Starkey
● Nigel Shafran.

Choose one of these names and find a piece of work they’ve produced.
Remember to reference the works you have chosen using Harvard
Referencing, so it’s clear what you are looking at, who made it, and when.
Pick one of the pieces and briefly describe it. Consider its qualities by
trying to describe it. What are the different elements within the work and
how do these elements work together? What do you think the work is
trying to communicate? Imagine you’re describing the work to somebody
over the telephone. Try to do this in no more than 50 words.
For image based work, what you’re doing here is analysing the formal
visual language of an image. This is known as visual research or,
sometimes visual analysis. Writing can be a useful tool in visual analysis,
but you can also annotate images with notes.
Using the same piece, briefly write about how you relate to this work. Do
you like it or hate it, find it intriguing, influential or outdated, and if so,
why? Does the work connect to wider ideas or other creative practitioners?
In other words, what’s your opinion on this work. Don’t worry about
‘getting it wrong’ or ‘missing the point’. Perhaps your reflection raises more
questions than answers. Again, try to do this in no more than 50 words.
Use the text you’ve generated to create your first blog post or learning log
entry. You may also want to be self-reflective by considering your
experience of doing the exercise. Did you find it an easy or difficult task?
Did it raise any interesting issues or areas you want to develop further?
Write a sentence or two picking up on any of these points in your learning
log.

I have chosen Gideon Mendel and his work Freedom or Death

The images were taken during an intense period of war in South Africa from 1985 and 1989 at the start of Gideon Mendel’s photography career. The images depict a struggle for freedom by the indigenous people and the life of the white minority, this can still be visible by the subjects in these distorted images. The images appear abstract because the water damage has created distortions on the image, this adds to the aesthetic quality of the work. Mendel chose to include the negative borders in the images which connects it’s origins and ties in with the narrative about the damaged physical negatives over time.

I like this work because I am drawn the the material affectation of physical prints, this is just a variation on that theme. I like the abstract patterns created by chance to when the negatives were damaged, colourful quality where the damage occurred is attractive to me. I am drawn to this work on a deeper level, growing up in Rhodesia during a similar civil war and also witnessing this struggle first hand in the 1980’s whilst on holiday in South Africa, this work resonates with me on an emotional level. I was first drawn to the physical affectation of the printed image at my first student visit to the Blast festival in West Bromwich in 2019. Nilupa Yasmin takes images and cuts them into strips and weaves them together to create an abstract version as the final outcome. Nilupa Yasmin’s work “Where Can I Find This” was work taken at the Sandwell markets and then cut and woven together.

Nilupa Yasmin’s final outcome of work is physically affected through the process of weaving

Woven images are grouped together to form larger more abstract images which I really like

I was also drawn to the work of Sam Ivin, called “Lingering Ghosts” where he scratched out the faces of asylum seekers on printed images, as if to erase their identity, similar to what asylum seekers feel when in limbo, awaiting approval for residency. This work also represents a social struggle by a group of people and I am also drawn to social issues, which connects Gideon Mendel’s work to this I have previously enjoyed.

These scratched out prints produced by Sam Ivin for his work “Lingering Ghosts” are very moving and thought provoking

Sam Ivin’s Lingering Ghosts Work is also socially engaged and symbolises a struggle

Below are some images from Gideon Mendel’s Work “Freedom or Death” that I particularly liked. The captions are what accompanies the images on his website

Protestors outside the Congressof South African Trade Unions (COSATU) House, after a May Day rally in which COSATU demanded the day become a paid holiday and called for a nationwide ‘stay away’ protest by workers. One and a half million workers across the country, along with thousands of school pupils and students observed the call. —Johannesburg, May 1986

Members of the RAU rugby team have a moment of prayer and bonding after winning a gameat the RAU Stadium. —Johannesburg, July 1989

Protestors outside COSATU House. The first of May 1986, marked the 100th anniversary of International Labour Day, also known as May Day. —Johannesburg, May 1986

Students from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) celebrate at the end of their annual RAG parade during their first week of university. —Johannesburg, March 1989

Activists during a mass political funeral for youths slain in the so-called ‘grenade incident’ which took place in Duduza Township. Eight activists were killed when an undercover agent gave them booby-trapped hand grenades. —East Rand, Gauteng, July 1985

Their distortion speaking a deeper truth beyond the original documentary format.

Bibliography

Gideonmendel.com. (2020). Damage – Gideon Mendel. [online] Available at: http://gideonmendel.com/freedom-or-death/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

Blast!. (2020). Nilupa Yasmin — Blast!. [online] Available at: https://www.blastphotofestival.com/artists/nilupayasmin [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

SAM IVIN. (2020). Lingering Ghosts — SAM IVIN. [online] Available at: http://www.samivin.com/lingeringghosts [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

Preparation Work: Ex3: Identifying Resources

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Jenny Stork

I have checked through the list of resources for this course and I have recently created an area for my studies at home, it has a wall I can use for images I want to live with and consider when making work, I have some temporary flip chart paper that sticks to the wall which I have found extremely useful.

Photoshop is something I need to get to grips with and so I am considering an evening class for this which starts in April.

I don’t currently have lots of space for a portraiture, ideally it would be great to have this space so I have a permanent backdrop set up for this purpose, I will have to think about how I can do this.

I need to sort out my printer as I find this really valuable when sequencing and deciding which photos go together as a seriex. The printer needs to be in this room ideally, it is currently in another room.

My work area for my studies, I have organised my books and equipment so I can find everything easily. I like the whiteboard plastic sheets I can write my work schedule on so I stay focused on completing work to the timescales I have set myself.

Preparation Work : Ex 2: Managing My Time

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Jenny Stork

Balancing a job, a family and study needs careful planning to make sure the work gets done. With this in mind I created a list of all exercises, research, assignment work and reflective work for each unit so I can keep track of what needs to be done and tick it off as it is completed. I have put my list of work for my first unit above my desk at home to keep me focused on what needs to be done

Assessment deadline date for submission is 30th September for November and this is what I am aiming for. I have 5 units to complete so I have given myself a deadline for submitting the assignments and also when I should aim to get feedback, I have planned that each assignment it sent to my tutor at the end of the month, so A1 is with my tutor at end of Feb, A2 is at end of March – so A5 will be end of June. I have assumed that it will take two weeks to get feedback ( middle of the following month ) then I have another 2 weeks to rework based on tutor feedback, so the reworked A5 will be complete at the end of July 2020. I have a summer holiday for 2.5 weeks so I have about 6 weeks to prepare for my assessment submission at the end of September.

During a typical week I plan to work on shooting photos every day for practice of composition skills ( on my way to work in the mornings during the week ) Weekday evenings will be used for coursework (exercises and research and reading) and Sunday mornings and Mondays will be used for assignment work ( I don’t work on Mondays)

The photos below are extracts from the back of my notebook where I have planned my studies, I will tick off work once completed so I know I am on track and where I am in my studies to stay in control of time management.