Fashion- Characterisation

Street Casting

For the second part of the research tasks I decided to photograph my mum. I’ve always been inspired by the way she dresses and how she always keeps up to date with the current trends and styles. My mum is constantly experimenting with different fashion trends and hair styles which inspires me with my own fashion choices. Many people think that as you get older it means you can’t stay up to date with the trends or shop at popular and trendy clothing stores, I feel that my mum stands against this as she follows the latest trends but still dresses appropriately. To captures my mum’s love of fashion I decided to photograph her whilst we was out shopping, I made sure she had some shopping bags to emphasise her love for fashion as well as photographing her outside a clothes shop. Whilst looking at the blog ‘The Sartorialist’, I became inspired with how the photographer Scott Schuman captures people that inspire him of all different age groups and captures there personality through the images which is why I wanted to made sure I captured my mums love for fashion. 

Fashion/Constructed Image- Iconic Fashion Photograph

Iconic Photograph

Helmut Newton, Le smoking, 1975, 

‘Le Smoking’ by Helmut Newton is considered to be an iconic fashion image because of how Newton popularises the tuxedo suit designed by Yves Saint Laurent. This image was empowering for women as it gives them an option to wear clothing that is usually worn by powerful men. At the time this image was very controversial as stereotypically women were dressed in frilly dresses and not tuxedo suits. Together the designer Yves Saint Laurent and Helmut Newton have made a big impact on our lives by making trousers a popular clothing choice for women. 

Clothing
The style of the clothing is very androgynous as the model is wearing a three piece suit which was normally worn by men at that period of time. Yves Saint Laurent was the designer of the tuxedo suit and was seen by many as having empowered women by giving them the option to wear clothes that were normally worn by men. The designer first sent out a model in a tuxedo suit in 1966 he's aim was to free women from the trappings of feminine. This image was very controversial at the time because of the clothing the model was wearing as it dismisses the stereotypical view of a women. 

Setting and context

Photographing the model at night and in a small side street adds a very dramatic atmosphere to the image. The dramatic feels emphasises the power that is usually associated with people wearing suits as the model looks as if she is in a very dark and dangerous area. Even though the model is female she doesn’t look vulnerable in a dark street because of the styling and the clothing as it makes her look very powerful. 

Hair & Make-up

This image echoes the inspiration that the ‘Le Smoking tuxedo suit’ by Yves Saint Laurent had on women. By styling the model in a very androgynous way with slicked back hair and natural make up gives a more manly impression to the model, this type of styling was very controversial at the time as its not the stereotypical way a women looks. 

Lighting

The photograph is only lit by the street lamps as the image was taken at night. This has given the image a very dramatic feel as it creates harsh shadows which contrasts against the illuminated areas of the photo and makes it stand out. The lighting choice has made the model appear more powerful as she is out at night in a small street which could be dangerous for a women however as she is wearing a suit it makes her appear less vulnerable because of how they are usually associated with strong and powerful men.

The City- Pastiche

Final Pastiche
For my final pastiche I used my research on different locations that have cobbled streets to choose the location I was going to photograph. Originally I went to cambridge to photograph a street that was called Rose Cresent. I decided on this street as I felt it resembled the location in Brassai's image the most. However when I went there the camera wouldn't work properly and kept winding my film on without letting me take the photos. As time was an issue I used another location I researched that was also similar to Brassai's and was closer to the university so it was easier to get to if anything went wrong.

Contact sheets
When I was taking the photo's I first used an ISO 100 film and then used a 1SO 400 film. The photo's from the ISO 400 film came out far too dark, the IS0 100 images are the most similar to Brassai's picture.

I choose this negative to print from as it looked the most similar to Brassai's image. When I was printing the image I turned the negative so it was the opposite way round. I did this to make the light appear on the opposite side to how it was in real life so it would be on the side where there is street signs in Brassai's image.

For the first test strip I set the enlargers aperture to F8, I then set the filter to grade two. I exposed each section for five seconds.

I decided to expose the whole of the second test stop for twenty seconds, I choose this exposure from looking at the first test strip. I kept the filter grade and the aperture on the enlarger the same.

With the third test strip I added a second exposure to add some contrast. I kept the original 20 second exposure with the grade two filter the same and just added a five second exposure using a grade three filter. I wanted to make the blacks in the image more darker which is why I choose a grade three filter.

The last test strip looked very similar to Brassai's picture so I decided to make a final print of it. The grade three filter I added made the picture look more similar to Brassai's as it added contrast to the image.

The Environment- Review

The Environment 

For this environment project I became interested in how humans have intervened with the natural landscape. Robert Adam’s, ‘On signal hill overlooking Long Beach, California’ appealed to me for the pastiche as I liked the way he captured human’s intervention upon nature by capturing tree’s surrounded by an urban area. In my three images I wanted to represent the same issue as the pastiche symbolises. I also want to show how the landscape has been changed by humans which has caused a divide between the nature and man made subjects.

Edward Burtynsky

Robert Adam's

Thomas Misrach

First I decided to research in to the history of landscape photography to gain inspiration for my three final images. William Henry Fox Talbot inspired me to include tree’s in my final three photo’s because of how they symbolise power, stability and strength. By photographing tree’s in a landscape that has bend damged by humans will symbolise the strength of nature. As I was focusing on the relationship between nature and humans I researched into photographers who focus on that theme in there work. I came across Edward Burtynsky who captures the damaging effects humans have done to the natural landscape, his work inspired me as it captures the way the natural landscape has had to suffer. 


After I took digital test photo’s of natural areas that have been changed by humans, I became interested in how we have created a divide between natural and man made. I began to look in to photographers that capture man made paths cutting through a natural environment such as the photographer Thomas Misrach who looks at mans relationship with nature and doesn't just look at the damage but also what effect we have had on the natural landscape intentionally or accidentally. Thomas Struth is another photographer who inspired me with his images of paths or roads cutting through natural environments, his work captures the relationship humans have with the environment and uses pathways cutting through the landscape to symbolise the way human’s have cut through the land and damaged it. For the pastiche I researched further into Robert Adam’s to find out what made his images and how I could pastiche one of them. I first took some digital test shots of a location I thought would be ideal for the pastiche, as it was a hill that overlooks a town which is very similar to Adams pictures.

Thomas Struth

William Henry Fox Talbot

When I took my pastiche I made sure it was a very overcast day as the sky was very overcast in Adam’s picture. I also photographed two tree’s and included the foreground to make it as similar as I could to Robert Adam’s picture. My pastiche translates the same theme that is represented in ‘On signal hill overlooking Long Beach, California’ as it captures nature surrounded by an urban landscape. I photographed tree’s that were very bare to symbolise the damage humans have had on the landscape. The visual choices I made for my final three images include photographing pathways or roads that run through a natural environment to show the divide that has been created between nature and man made, and to symbolise the damaging effects humans have had on the environment. I photographed three different pathways to show different ways a landscape can be damaged, one of the images subtly show the way a landscape has been ruined whereas the other two clearly show pathways cutting through a beautiful and natural environment. When I took my images I made sure to stand on the path way to emphasise the fact that is us that it is us ruining the landscape, I also made sure I included tree's in the image to symbolise the strength of nature and how there is hope in keeping the natural environment as it is. The most challenging part’s of this unit was finding a location similar to the pastiche that had two large tree’s overlooking a urban town. 

My Pastiche

The City
My idea for the ‘The City’ project is to capture modernisation within the city. I came up with the idea from researching into the photographer Brassai for my pastiche. I decided to use Brassia for my pastiche because of how he captures the nocturnal side of the city and with how he uses light from street lamps, shop signs and windows to illuminate his pictures. Modernisation is going to be represented in my images through taking photo’s of large buildings using a low camera angle to emphasise the scale of them and how the city is always growing and modernising. I'm also going to capture windows of buildings as there repetitive pattern can symbolise the control and structure of the city. 

Robert Vizinni

Brassai

Bill Brandt 

For the pastiche section of this project I chose Brassai, I first began to research in to the photographer to get an insight into his idea of the city and why he choose to photograph at night. Next I decided to search for locations that look similar to the one in the pastiche, I looked for narrow street’s that have cobbled roads and lights on either side of the street as I felt they were the main focal points of the photograph. When I took the photograph I made sure that I included some of the path in the foreground, I also made sure the main light was in a similar area to where the hotel sign is in Brassai’s picture. 


To gain inspiration for the second part of the project , I began looking into night time photographers such as Bill Brandt and Robert Vizinni. Both Brandt and Vizinni inspired me with how they photograph large buildings and emphasise the scale of them which represents the growth of the city and how its always modernising because of the way the buildings are towering above the rest of the city. The way they photograph at night also inspired me as I felt it empathises the modernity of the city because of all the light illuminating from buildings windows, street lamps and shop signs. Another visual reference for my three images was photographer Ori Gersht, his formal pictures make the city appear very structured and controlled because of the symmetry of the buildings and the repetition of the windows, however if you look closely you notice how some of the buildings have actually been damaged. Michael Kenna was my main visual reference for this section of the project because of how he emphasises the buildings scale, by using low camera angles. I also like how he makes you see the city in a very different way to how you normally view it as he photographs parts of the city that are normally over looked by looking above the street level.

Michael Kenna

At the beginning of this project I researched into modernisation, on the BBC webiste I found a map showing urban growth from 1955 to 2015. From looking at the map it made me realise the major difference in urban growth between this period of time, I also found that North America and Europe were the most urban areas. This research made me want to look into modernisation especially around the area I live, as I have lived there my whole life and have personally seen the town change and grow. When I took my three images I made sure I captured modernisation by showing large buildings that tower over the rest of the town to represent the growth of the town. I also took close ups of the windows on buildings as the repetition of the windows symbolise how the town is being controlled, I used the light illuminating from the windows to symbolise the modernisation and the windows that were not lit up broke up the repetitive pattern which symbolises the way the control of the city is becoming much less. For my three images I decided to use a film speed of ISO 400 to give the images a very controlled feel to represent modernisation so there isn’t any harsh shadows to make the pictures look very even. When I took the pastiche I used an aperture of F8 to make sure everything was in focus, I then used a shutter speed of eight seconds as the location was dimly lit. The most challenging part of the project was when I had to print my three images, I decided to uses a film speed of ISO 400 for the first time and they came out a lot softer then I expected so I found them difficult to print because of how flat they looked. 

                                 

The Object & The Body- Review

The Object
My final concept for the first part of The Object & The Body project is too create a still-life that represents vegetarianism and animal cruelty. The still-life is going to symbolise how natural it has become for society to eat animals that were once living without thinking about what pain the animal might have gone through. I want my image to have a very natural feel with the way the props are set out so it looks so it looks as if someone is about to sit down for a meal to represent how normal and natural it has become for people to eat meat. By having an animal skull on the plate instead of the food will shock the viewers and  will represent how the meat on your plate was once an animal. 

Keith Arnett

Polly Morgan

My idea developed from researching into traditional still life painters as they often include animals in there work to celebrate them. Many traditional still-life paintings also include skulls. I became interested in the idea of making something that is usually seen as ‘ugly’ into something ‘attractive’ as I wanted to show how eating something that was once alive and should be seen as an ‘ugly’ thing to do has turned into a very natural and normal act. The photographers Emma Hamilton and Keith Arnett both look at making something that is ‘ugly’ into something that we see as beautiful. Arnett’s series called ‘From a Rubbish Tip’ is images of rubbish that look incredibly beautiful because of the way they are lit and because of the softness of them. Emma Hamilton’s still-life images inspired me to give my own work a very seductive feel, her work is inspired by Dutch paintings from the 17th and 18th century and is of very ornate looking flowers that are actually made out of meat and animal organs. 


I was also inspired by photographer Polly Morgan as she places dead animals in unexpected scenarios which makes you notice the animals in a different way. The idea of placing an object somewhere that makes you look at it different appealed to me, my idea of removing meat from a plate and replacing it with an animal skull makes you think of the food in a different way and you start to wonder what it went through to get there. 

Emma Hamilton

Laura Letinsky

In my still-life I wanted the skull to appear dry to show the audience the animals beauty. I also wanted there to be a wine glass with deep red liquid in it to symbolise the blood the animal would have shed to be killed for the meat. The vibrancy of the red drink against the whiteness and simplicity of the rest of image makes the issue about animal cruelty stand out. In some images I had the knife and fork on either side of the plate to make the set up look as if someone is about to sit down at a table to have a meal. After I showed my negatives to the tutors and my peers and got feedback I decided to add more of a shock feel to my image by using fake blood. I placed the blood on the plate and on the ends of the cutlery, to make it look as if it has poured out from the skull. To make the liquid in the wine glass more vibrant and blood like I poured some fake blood into it. 


I also changed the placing of the cutlery and moved them on to the plate, by positioning the knife pointed towards the skull symbolises the pain the animal would have gone through in a very subtle manner. My research into other still-life photographers such as Laura Letinsky inspired me to use a white background as I like the scientific feel it gives the images and how it simplifies the photo so all your attention is on the issue the photograph represents. The lighting effect I wanted was very soft and delicate, to get this effect I used a very large soft box as I didn’t want any harsh shadows. The most challenging part of this unit was the printing, I found colour correcting to be quite difficult especially with trying to get no colour tones in the white areas of the image. However as I’ve practiced colour correcting my prints with my still-life images when it comes to printing my other work for the final submission it will hopefully be less difficult. Trying to compose the image was also difficult as I had to make everything in the image line up correctly  as my image was very simplistic so if an object was slightly out of placed it would have ruined the photograph.

The Body

For ‘The Body’ project I decided to create a portrait that looks very natural and intimate. The main concept of the portrait is going to be the models eye’s, from looking in to other portrait photographers I noticed how the eyes can reveal a lot about how someone especially how they are feeling at the time. The quote ‘eyes are the window to your soul’ inspired me for my portrait as I like the idea that eyes can reveal that much about someone. My portrait is going to capture a female model in a very soft and delicate way using diffused lighting to create an intimate picture and so the subject appears very natural. 

First I researched different portrait painters, I noticed how traditional portraits always have the models looking directly at the viewer which creates an intimate feeling this inspired me for my own portrait. Whilst I was looking at work by contemporary painter, Fatima Ronquillo, I noticed that in many of her paintings she included a small prop which was a picture of an eye inside a frame. From further research I found out that the prop is known as ‘Lovers eyes’, I discovered that it is when a picture of a loved one’s eye is put into an object such as a piece of jewellery or a frame as a remembrance of them. I found this very interesting as it is only the eye they carry round which made me realise how important eyes are as a lot of emotion is revealed from them. I began to look into photographers who focus on eyes in there portraits such as Jeanloup Sieff and Henrick Adamsen, by having the model look directly into the camera creates an intimacy between the viewer and the subject. From looking in to the works of Paolo Roversi I became inspired by the softness of his lighting and how his images have a 'honest' feel because of how diffused and even the lighting is. Paolo Roversi’s portraits inspired me on my lighting choice, I decided to use large soft boxes to keep the light diffused and to make sure it is even so it is similar to Roversi’s images. 

Henrick Adamsen

Jeanloup Sieff

Paolo Roversi

Lovers eye's

The portrait I have taken for ‘The Body’ project captures the model in a natural way with how I photographed her without any make up on and in a natural pose. By using very soft lighting adds to the intimacy of the photo as it gives it a delicate feel. The soft lighting makes the portrait appear more natural as it shows the model in even lighting. When I was taking the photo I had the model look directly into the camera to create an intimate feeling as it feels as if she is revealing her feelings to the viewer. One aspect of the shoot production I would need to reflect on is making sure the lighting was more even as the lighting on the background is more brighter on one side then the other which takes away from the soft feel of the image. I would also manage my studies better by doing more lighting test shots to make sure I get the lighting exactly how I want it as I found getting the lighting right the most difficult part of this unit. 

The Body- Final Print

Day of shooting

On the day I took portraits for 'The Body' project I changed my lighting plan as there wasn't enough resources for everyone to use. My final lighting plan was too use a white background which is being lit by a broncolor with a large soft box on it. I used a large soft box to spread the light more equally on the background and so the lighting looks more soft as it will be diffused. I used two white polyboard's to reflect the soft box's light back on to the background and so it doesn't go on to the model. To light up the  model I put a broncolor with a soft box lantern on to a boom arm, directly above the camera so it was lighting up the model equally. I rolled up the curtains on the lantern attached to the boom arm to allow more light to shine on to the model.

I used Ilford black and white ISO 400 film for the photoshoot as I want the pictures to be low in contrast to give a softness to them. I decided to use a medium format camera, I choose the Mamiya RZ with a standard lens as I wanted a portrait styled photo and I didn't want the square format created by the Bronica. When I was taking the images I had to make sure the light hitting the background was two F stops smaller than the light hitting the model. This means that when I was shooting at F16 the aperture of the light on the background has to be F32 and the light shining on to the model had to be F16 and when I was shooting at F5.6 the light on the background had to F11 which means the light on the model should be F5.6. This is so the background isn't more brighter then the model so the model stands out. Once the model was in position I noticed that there was shadows on the models shoulders so I had to position her further away from the background and closer to the light on the boom arm so more light was shining on to the model. I also had to position the light on the boom arm closer to the model as there was shadows being cast under her neck. I had the model pose in different ways that looked very natural to emphasise the soft feel of the picture. In some of the pictures I had the model show some of her skin on her shoulder to make the image appear more natural and honest, I also had her look directly in the camera to create an intimate feel.

Contact sheets
The first roll of film I took the negatives came out too thin. So when I took the next roll of film I increased the light intensity to make the portraits more brighter.

First print

I choose to print this negative from the second contact sheet I made. I liked the way the model was looking directly into the camera. The pose the model is in also made this picture stand out as I liked how her body was pointed slightly away from the camera but she was tilting her head round to look at the camera.

First I set the enlargers aperture to F8, I then applied the Grade 2 filter and made a test strip exposing each section for 5 seconds.

From the first test strip I made I decided I wanted to expose the whole of the next test strip for thirty five seconds. I kept the aperture and filter the same.  

The last test strip had some markings on it so before I created the next one I had to clean the negative. I decided to decrease the exposure time by five seconds as I felt the last test strip was too dark. I also decided to add another exposure using a grade two filter for five seconds on only the background and the models hair to add some contrast. I did this by using my hand to cover the models face and slightly moving it to make sure there was no hard edges.

I wanted to add slightly more contrast to the image so I used a grade three filter instead of a grade 2 for thirty seconds. For the second exposure I also used the grade three filter but kept the time the same. 

I wanted to experiment with the next test strip to see how it would look if I added contrast to it. I kept the first exposure thirty second exposure the same, but I decided to add another exposure of five seconds using a grade four filter. I still done the third exposure on just the background using a grade three filter for five seconds.

The last test strip I made was far too dark so I decided not to use the second exposure using a grade four filter for five seconds but I kept the other two exposures the same. I decided to make a full print this time however once I printed it I found that there was a mark on the negative which was coming through on the print. I also didn't like the lines on the models neck from where she is looking round at the camera as it gives the photo a forced feel and doesn't give the image the natural feel I was after. As I was not pleased with the final print I decided to print another negative.

Second print
I decided on printing this negative as I felt the model's pose looked more natural and didn't look forced. She still is in a similar pose to the first image as she has her body facing away from the camera but is looking around to the camera. I also liked the way she was looking directly into the camera.

As the image was very similar to the first negative I tried using the same exposure times and settings. I exposed the whole of the test strip for thirty seconds using a grade three filter with the enlarger's aperture set at F8. I then exposed only the background and the models hair of five seconds using the same grade filter.

I was pleased with the test strip so I decided to make a final print using all of the same settings.

The last final print I made looked too dark so I decreased the first exposure by five seconds so it was a twenty five second exposure instead of thirty. I kept all of the filters and the second exposure the same.

I decided to make a final print as I felt the image was the right exposure. 

The last image I made has a mark on the model's face so I cleaned the negative and then made a second final print. I'm pleased with my final print as it has a softness to it which is what I wanted to capture. I also liked the models pose as I felt she looked natural. I decided to add contrast to the models hair to make the photo stand out.