22/04/2016
Final project evaluation
This semesters street project was an interesting learning curve for photographing different people in different locations. Although I have photographed in Sheffield on the streets, Bristol was completely different. I felt as though a lot of people shy away from the camera, especially if you were working in twos or threes and this didn’t help my cause to photograph people. All in all, I think that my portraits are by far my strongest images and the people in the portraits arte very interesting also, this module helped me to gain the confidence to walk up to people and ask if I could actually photograph them, other than photographing the side of them. In the final edit, there are also a few images that shows people riding bikes and also shows a lot of communication. On the first day in Bristol, I noticed that bikes were very popular in Bristol and therefore I set out to photograph some in order to create a correct narrative.
I believe that this project went well and that I captured Bristol quite well in a lot of my images. However, I do believe that I could have improved on a lot of things. For example, in my ‘strongest’ images (my portraits) I could’ve made them much stronger by maybe bringing a lighting kit, using a reflector and/ or a tripod. I could also have used a prime lens more, forcing me to use my feet to zoom in and to zoom out. I think that if I used my 50mm fixed lens more, I would’ve captured some great, close up shots to get more of a feel of what it is to be like as a pedestrian in Bristol.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this module and will look to improve my street photography even more in the future. I do think that this module helped me to gain confidence in the streets more, and also to understand when and where to use a certain type of lens or approach. Again, my portraits are my strongest aspect, and although there are a few strong images in there, the rest could’ve been improved.
I believe that this project went well and that I captured Bristol quite well in a lot of my images. However, I do believe that I could have improved on a lot of things. For example, in my ‘strongest’ images (my portraits) I could’ve made them much stronger by maybe bringing a lighting kit, using a reflector and/ or a tripod. I could also have used a prime lens more, forcing me to use my feet to zoom in and to zoom out. I think that if I used my 50mm fixed lens more, I would’ve captured some great, close up shots to get more of a feel of what it is to be like as a pedestrian in Bristol.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this module and will look to improve my street photography even more in the future. I do think that this module helped me to gain confidence in the streets more, and also to understand when and where to use a certain type of lens or approach. Again, my portraits are my strongest aspect, and although there are a few strong images in there, the rest could’ve been improved.
18/04/2016
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Final Contact sheetsHere are 2 of 3 final contact sheets from my shoots around Bristol. As we can see, a lot of the photographs were taken on both short focal length lenses and also long focal length lenses. I think that this variety has both its positives and negatives. For example, with a telephoto lens, you can catch people unaware of what is happening and them being natural, however, there is no attachment to the person, as you are so far away. I used an 18-55mm lens too and this was much more versatile, and you could get a lot closer to the subject as is shown with a couple of the portraits in the contact sheets. These shoots all worked well with each other I think and creates a good narrative of Bristol.
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14/04/2016
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John Bulmer - The NorthI recently purchased a book in Newcastle titled 'The North' by john Bulmer; it struck my eye, as I am from the North and all my family have been for the past 3/4 generations. I bought this book not knowing of the photographer nor the book; however, after looking through the book, I felt as though it captured my parents and grandparents era so amazingly well. The North has always been known to be incredibly industrial, and is also known to be 'screwed over' when Margaret Thatcher was PM. Although The North (mainly shot in Manchester and South Yorkshire) documents the daily struggles and also documents how lower-class people were there, in almost every image I could find, the people in it were happy, and this makes me happy. Being from Sheffield, it is common to see people, and it was actually voted the 'happiest city in England' in 2014. This project, after only capturing my eye for the title has, within 2 weeks is slowly becoming one of my favourite books, it captures what it was entitled to do so perfectly, and highlights both the good and bad side of a lower class scenario. I also particularly like the bottom right image, as it relates to the miner strikes, and also clarifies how hard working and industrial The North is.
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11/04/2016
John Brian King"I was born and raised in Los Angeles, near the airport, in a neighborhood called Westchester; it was blank and empty, a physical landscape of concrete and an aural landscape of jetliner noise. Aeronautics was omnipresent in my childhood: I lived on a street called Flight, I went to Orville Wright Junior High School, and my father worked as an engineer on the B-52 bomber and the Space Shuttle. My visits to the airport were limited to dropping off and picking up my parents’ friends and relatives – we lived close, after all, and they could park at our house for free." Is how King introduces his story on LAX airport. It seems as though he wanted to document this place because it has a huge place in his childhood and this has developed into an obsession later on in life. I really like the idea that something from his childhood has influenced a project of his and feel as though this could help develop my own project from 'back home' as it is also changing drastically, just like the airport King photographed. I like how it tells the narrative of daily life at an airport, as well as helping us realise what King had to grow up with.
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7/04/2016
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Kathy Shorr - SHOTPhotographer and activist, Kathy Shorr has created a powerful, timely, and important project about the results of gun violence. Her series, 'shot' forces us to meet the gaze and witness the wounds of victims who have survived this trauma. Traveling all across the country, Kathy has documented over one hundred survivors, standing in the location where they were shot. The opening of the story goes as followed;
The increasing ubiquity of gun violence has, unfortunately, become the norm across the world but particularly in the United States, where we have begun to hear horror after horror on an almost daily basis. So much so that it has now started to produce a numbing effect, a helplessness that allows us to hear the news and say, “here we go again” and put it out of our mind. Gun violence is now something we expect to happen. I think that this project is extremely powerful as it highlights that gun crime in America is at a ridiculous amount and is also affecting a lot of innocent people, this is shown throughout her shots, as a lot of them are vulnerable women. |
3/04/2016
Harvey Stein"As individuals in New York City, when we become part of the crowd, we lose our individuality if only for a few minutes and become part of the fabric and mosaic of the city. We are the city, we belong and are beholden to the city, our identity is expressed through and of the city. We can say that we are New York.” Is a quote from Harvey Stein on his photographs of New York City.
Captured between 1974 and 2014, Stein describes his work as “my response to the rough, raw, charged and even magical energy of New York City street life. I am attracted to the nuances of behavior and body language in public places, characteristic of the ‘walker in the city.’” He uses grain, blur, low-angle flash, skewed perspectives, tight cropping, and wide-angle views, to bring us into the experience. His work is very similar to that of a lot of New York street photographers and again emphasises the fact that this is one of the greatest cities in the world to photograph in. |
2/04/2016
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Bristol ShootMy final shoot in Bristol consisted of many images that I liked. I shot using a 50mm lens, an 18-55mm lens and also a 70-200mm lens and the results are interesting yet really different. The top image is a portrait of a 'rasta' who was sat on a wall smoking, to which I promptly asked if I could photograph him. I only took 1 frame of this man, as I really liked this portrait that I produced; it captures so much character in my opinion. His hat tells us of his origin, his dreadlocks tells us of his life choices and the grey beard and crooked teeth make us wonder why he is like this, amongst everything, the man is happy and this is what I really like about this photograph, it tells us that maybe he isn't the richest man in the world, but he could be the happiest, similar to that of Bob Marley. The other 2 images were shot using either an 18-55mm or a 70-200mm lens, although I really like the sense that you cannot get seen with a telephoto lens, I feel as though the lens with the shortest focal length works better for street photography as you can get closer to the subject and capture the moment as such, this is seen in the bottom right image as you can imagine the rant that the old lady is talking about to her carers... "I'm sure that I beat that John at the bingo last week, he was cheating!".
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31/03/2016
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Josef KoudelkaJosef Koudelka is a photographer who was born in Czechoslovakia and is famous for his work with Romanian gypsies and various other protests and wars. In August 1968. He witnessed and recorded the military forces of theWarsaw Pact as they invaded Prague and crushed the Czech reforms. Koudelka's negatives were smuggled out of Prague into the hands of the Magnum agency, and published anonymously in The Sunday Times Magazine under the initials P. P. (Prague Photographer) for fear of reprisal to him and his family.
His pictures of the events became dramatic international symbols. In 1969 the "anonymous Czech photographer" was awarded theOverseas Press Club's Robert Capa Gold Medal for photographs requiring exceptional courage. His work is made up of emotional, close-up stories of people and events and he shoots them in black and white and captures the defining moment of that event. I really like Koudelka's work and think he is an incredible street photographer. Although it is in a different era, I still believe that his photographs helped shape the modern world of photography. |
26/03/2016
David HurnDavid Hurn is a self taught photographer, born in Surrey. His work consists of historical events and protests; although there are some photographs in his portfolio that are what I'd class as a normal street photograph.
The bottom two images shows a protest, which is usually on every documentary photographers list of things they have photographed. However, I think Hurn has done this protest much better than the majority of others I have seen. He focuses much more on the raw personality shown in the protests and also borderline police brutality. In the top image, is shows a picture of a sailor taking a picture of what looks like a model, but is more likely his wife. I find Hurn's work very interesting, especially his protest photos. I also like his other work, like the top image where he has gone out and photographed what he liked the look of, this one being on a beach of a woman and of a sailor. |
22/03/2016
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Richard Bram: Common ground Richard Bram has been a photographer since the early 1980s when he lived in Louisville, Kentucky and worked in public relations and portraiture. In later years he moved to London, England, and then New York City where he shoots almost every day on the streets with his beloved Leica rangefinders. He is a member of the In-Public street photography collective and regularly teaches street photography workshops around the world. Although all his work shown in this exhibition is in color, Richard is widely-known for his black and white street photography.
This project is more of a typical street project in my opinion, it seems as though Bram explores the streets and photographs what he finds of interest, without any specific task in mind. He seems to focus a lot on colour and interesting looking people in the streets, this is seen throughout this particular project. I like the fact that he uses quite a discreet camera and goes around the streets and finds his interest because it is something I am trying to do for my street project. I will try and focus on colour as well as interesting people to optimise my work like Richard Brams. |
19/03/2016
Risk assessmentWe had to complete a risk assessment form for the street module, as we are exposed to a lot of different hazards. I have been shooting in Bristol and will continue to shoot in bristol over the next month. I have chosen the risks that I think that I will be the most exposed to; as it is a city, the risks are pretty self explanatory and also don't carry much of a severity. All of the risks endanger both myself and whoever I am with, especially the assault, as people don't like their photos being taken, they are much more prone to attacking, or verbally assaulting anybody taking their photograph. I think the risk assessment is important as it proves that you have carried out all precautions in your trip and also prepares for the future where the dangers get much higher.
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18/03/2016
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Contact sheetsThese are a couple of my contact sheets from my first two shoots in Bristol. I personally think that these shoots went reasonably well, although I wouldnt put many of the photos taken here into my final edit, they are a huge step forward for my next couple of shoots. I noticed that in these particular shoots, I wasn't getting very close to my subject, except the odd few where I had asked for a portrait or I had just walked over and took the photograph. I also noticed that I got distracted form my task; especially with seagulls flying over the main square in Bristol. I will be going back shortly with more of an urge to get closer to my subject and also talk to a lot more people, asking for portraits and poses. |
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14/03/2016
Bristol shootI shot again in Bristol and my results were somewhat similar to the shoot before. Although mainly candid, I again asked for a portrait of this man stood at a stall. He had a ginger beard and a big hat (probably holding back dreadlocks) on, very similar to the previous guy that I photographed in Bristol a couple of weeks back. This time, I wanted to get closer to my subjects and by doing this, I got shouted at by the woman below. She was a street performer and she had a very quirky dress sense and guitar, therefore I wanted to photograph her. She told me not to and I captured this moment where she was almost telling me to shoo.
I found this shoot constructive and I really like the portrait of the man to the right; I feel as though he is interesting and makes for a goo subject to capture. I will look to Bristol in future for even more portraits, mixed with candid shots. While in Bristol waiting for subjects, I noticed that they have a flurry of seagulls wherever I am, and they were subject to my photography just as much as people there. |
10/03/2016
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Robert Doisneau street photographyRobert Doisneau is a French photographer who photographers mainly in Paris. All of his photographs represent him as a person; his personality and his nationality. Most of his work is of him taking pictures of real life events and real people performing them. As a French photographer living in Paris, he captures some very exciting and breathtaking moments. With the city as a canvas he wandered through it taking pictures of the beautiful city backdrop and the everyday people that live there. It is no question that Doisneau is one of the most recognised photographers to arise out of France. He mainly shoots in black & white, and I feel as though this helps his photographs. We tend to focus much more on the people in the photograph if the photograph is in black and white, as there is no colour to divert our attention. For example; in the top image, if the buildings were green, or the woman in the background has a pink top on, our attention would be diverted away from the couple kissing. The picture in question has a very similar way about it as that of Alfred Eisenstaedt's photograph of the sailor kissing a girl in New York.
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8/03/2016
Zack Arias street photographyZack Arias is a photographer who focuses solely on interesting subject in the street. His work is very similar to what I wish to produce, only that he doesn't ask for permission to photograph his subject. Although Arias' work is quite similar to a lot of other photographers work, I still really enjoy what he produces. Particularly liking his work with overweight people in society, I think Arias has a similar yet different taste to a lot of photographers. The key to photography, as Henri Cartier-Bresson says is capturing the decisive moment and I think that this particular photographer does this really well. I will be looking at more of Arias' work throughout my street project as I believe that I can produce similar work to him and also take how he has photograph and adapt it to my certain style. I like how in a lot of his subjects, you can not actually see that they are making eye contact with the photographer, distancing yourself from the subject somewhat.
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5/03/2016
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Eric Kim street photographyEric Kim's style is something different to a lot of photographers, and this is why I like his work. His black and white work is very interesting, especially the work he does close up to people. My street project is going to consist of a mixture of candid street shots and also posed street shots, where I ask people for portraits, pictures of their hands, their shoes and so on. Kim's approach is different to what I am planning on, however his candid stuff is really similar to the kind of shots I wish to capture. He used a really high in contrast edit to really push his photos out of the frame and make them better than the standard shot. I particularly like the silhouette of the man walking across the zebra crossing, in a beetle-like photograph. Although the man looks photoshopped to look like a silhouette, I really like the mysterious feel that this gives him. As with a lot of my photography, I enjoy getting a reaction out of my subject, and it seems that way with Kim too. In his photograph of the elderly woman, he has evidently got himself noticed and she obviously doesn't like this. Another thing that I have noticed about his work is that he likes to shoot into the sun. Although I tend not to shoot into the sun because of the damages it can cause to a picture, Kim has inspired to me to possibly try it more often, as his pictures into the sun are beautiful.
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2/03/2016
Oliver Duong street photographyOliver Dung's street photography is a form of art in my opinion; I admire his work greatly. His photographs are very high in contrast and usually black & white. He captures portraits and scenes in very obscure angles and photographs them beautifully. I particularly like the bottom right image out of these three because of the way he has shot it. Picturing him laying on the floor and waiting for this bike to ride past is quite a comical thing to picture; however, he has captured something so boring and ordinary; a person riding a bike, and made it so artistic and creative and for this, I admire his work. His portrait of the man at the top of these 3 images captured my eye instantly as I was looking through his work, it is so un-perfect that it is perfect (in my opinion) the framing is wonky, the head is chopped off, there are distractions in the background and so on. But the way he has shot this image is so extraordinary it is really symbolic of his work, and I aim to look at his work a lot to inspire my creative edge on the streets.
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29/02/2016
HDR PortraitsThese HDR portraits captured by a photographer that I couldn't locate are great examples of the portraits I wish to do. I really like the facial expressions on every photo in this series. However, although the HDR look good, I'd rather not use HDR and just use a normal camera. It would be interesting to know how this photographer approached his subjects, because there are evidently done on the streets and don't really look staged. I am excited to get going with my portrait idea and hopefully I will get similar results to these HDR images.
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26/02/2016
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Bruce Gilden portraitsBruce Gilden's stunning portraiture has always been one of my favourite series of images. He always targets interesting looking people and I think this helps with making a good portrait. In every portrait Bruce Gilden has shot, the eyes of the person are always really sharp and powerful and the face is harshly, but well lit. For my street project, I have decided to massively challenge myself into getting people to pull a face for me. I will attempt to light the images like Gilden, however people may be put off a lot by a flash gun in one hand and a camera in the other. I will approach people, talk to them for a while and maybe offer them an incentive like a biscuit in return for them to look in the camera and pull a face. Although this could work out to be extremely difficult, because nobody wants to do it; it could also work out as a really interesting project, maybe I could do a portrait before and a portrait of the silly face and analyse in which one they look happier or something. I will be heading to Bristol for this project, because the last time I went, there were so many interesting people who I could photograph and it will be very interesting.
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24/02/2016
Camera shoot in BristolAlthough my street project probably isn't going to be based in Bristol, I decided to go for a shoot there. I am planning on shooting in London and with my idea still not concrete just yet, I went to Bristol for inspiration. Amongst all of the people I photographed during the day, one guy stood out and it was this street performer. He had an interesting tattoo,long hair in a hat, a beard and a really worn down face... but he was happy. I think that I captured the perfect moment and caught this man's personality perfectly; I really like this photograph. I was shooting on my 70-200mm Canon lens, as I was planning on capturing portraits, however, I spent most of the day shooting on my phone and eating. I feel as though I had a few successful shots from the day; I particularly like the panning shot of the guy on the bike, as it shows pretty nice moment. The 'big issue' seller is smiling as he tries to sell a copy to a lady, and once again this shows raw emotion, as the one above it does. Inspiration wise, I really like the idea of shooting street performers.
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23/02/2016
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Phone shoot in BristolWe were set the task to go out and photograph the streets using our iPhones; similar to that of 'instagram famous' photographer, Daniel Arnold. I thought that using an iPhone would be absolutely impossible to use and get good results with... and I never thought that I could capture anything close to what my camera could produce. Surprisingly, I found it a lot harder to shoot on my phone than I did on my camera, i almost felt as though I was being much more invasive, as a phone is not something you tend to take photographs of random people in. I think that the quality of pictures gained from using my phone were a lot better than I expected. Although I had no control over settings, I could focus on the things that I wanted to. I tried to create different moods with my lighting. In the top image, the sun was slowly setting and evidently it was winter, therefore the sun was really low and the shadows were really intense, helping me create this silhouette of the people in the frame, along with a golden glow from the sun. On the bottom two images, I wanted the sun to carry the bubbles and therefore I focused on the bubbles and it created quite a nice feel to the images.
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18/02/2016
Elliott Erwitt - DogsUpon purchasing a book in Paris called 'Personal Best' by magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt, on the way back I decided to look at the many projects that he has shot. I came across this particular project which I find really interesting; he photographs dogs from their level, almost as if it is life from a dogs perspective. He tends to focus on dogs next to human legs, this signifies to me that dogs are lower than humans and are controlled by them. This point is particularly exaggerated in the bottom, right image as the dog is on a lead. This narrative is a very good narrative of dogs being 'a mans best friend'. Erwitt gives a different perspective on a dogs life in this narrative, as you tend to look at the photographs and sympathise for the dogs; in the bottom left image, the dog is so small that a human could literally stand on it. Although a lot of this series of photographs makes dogs look weaker than humans and 'lower', the top image partners them with humans and symbolises the 'best friend' stereotype we always think about.
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15/02/2016
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Markus Hartel - New York City at NightAs with many photographers, Markus Hartel has photographed a series in the streets of New York, particularly during the winter months. The majority of his images seem under exposed in places and then over exposed in other places. I really like the use of street lights and car lights in Hartel's photographs; particularly in the top image. Hatred captures a snowy New York perfectly, as the light from the street lamps almost freeze (no pun intended) the snow and makes it much more important in the scene. I also like how Hartel has people in his frames, however they dont really have any relevance as individuals, but as a whole, they represent New York; although it is snowing and it is night time, people are still trying to get home or even go out to meet people etc. Hartel tends to silhouette a lot of his subjects, as the light is coming from behind them and I really like that fact, as you distant yourselves from the subject and now you ask many questions such as 'who are they?' and 'where are they going?'.
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13/02/2016
Paranoid Britain - Steve ForrestSteve Forrest, based in London wandered to work one day and decided to count the security cameras on his way to work (over a 2.7 mile walk), his result was a staggering 106 CCTV cameras; some for traffic control, some may be even dummies but the truth is, everything we do is being monitored by cameras. This project from Forrest is extremely interesting and his series of images are quite shocking really. Some of the people in the images don't really notice the cameras, and just get on with life as if it was a normal day. however, the government have set out to place CCTV cameras to cover the majority of every city. I think this is a message telling us that the 'higher powers' as such are actually the paranoid ones. The bottom left image interests me, because it shows a perfect circle, and then it is ruined by a camera, hinting that cameras are running every day life for people. Forrest's images are very powerful, but in a subtle way. Because the photographer has dropped back from the image, we see both the camera and a person being watched by the camera. The girl in the top image is incredibly important, because she looks innocent. She is wearing a pink dress and is alone, and then the harshness of the camera and the fact that it is there breaks up the photo and creates almost the sense of somebody is watching this innocent woman from somewhere.
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5/02/2016
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Martin MunkasciMartin Munkasci is a Hungarian born photographer, who based his work in Germany and New York. He first claimed fame when he came upon a fatal brawl, which he photographed. Those photos affected the outcome of the trial of the accused killer, and gave Munkácsi considerable notoriety. That notoriety helped him get a job in Berlin in 1928, for the Berliner Illustrite Zeitung, where his first published photo was a motorcycle splashing its way through a puddle. He also worked for the fashion magazine Die Dame. His photography was unbelievably 'modern' for his time and this shows, especially in the top image and his image of a motorbike splashing through water. The bottom right image is said to have inspired Henri Cartier-Bresson. The photograph, taken in Liberia led Cartier bresson to say the following; "For me this photograph was the spark that ignited my enthusiasm. I suddenly realized that, by capturing the moment, photography was able to achieve eternity. It is the only photograph to have influenced me. This picture has such intensity, such joie de vivre, such a sense of wonder that it continues to fascinate me to this day."
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