17/05/2017
Evaluation
At the start of this project, I had so many ideas that I wanted to do but nothing came through for me. When I met Beata of Cheltenham Polish TARA, she was so engaging and so happy for me to do a project with her and her community. Originally, I wanted to document only one person but this slowly developed to me wanting to document an entire community of Polish people. I set myself the task of meeting 10 different families throughout the few months I had for this project. Unfortunately, I only managed to meet with 6 different families/ individuals, although this worked much better for the book, I set myself a goal and did not reach it. My goal was to photograph family portraits on their sofa at their home and then to make it a collaborative book, I wanted to have them take their own photographs for the book, and show me how they live their lives and how they wanted to be perceived.
It was important to me that the subject was comfortable with me in the first place so that we could move on with the project, it was also important that they all had a say at what I could and couldn’t photograph, and also that every word in the book came from the subject themselves. I feel as though I have represented them how they wanted to be represented and also got an in depth look into their lives. Interestingly, I learnt more from them after I had put the camera away than I did while photographing them. Especially from Leszek, who had a 15-minute conversation with me about mental health, Brexit and Polish people after I had put the camera away. Part of me wishes I had a microphone with me at the time, but that would’ve been invading a private conversation. I learnt a lot about Polish culture through visiting exhibitions and the work of a couple of my subjects and I am very grateful for this.
If I could’ve changed anything about the project, I would have started shooting it much earlier on, although the access was difficult to get. I would have also included older people in my book, but the only couple I knew of were really difficult to get in contact with, and one had dementia. Despite only a couple of regrets, I think that the book flows really well and it is very intimate. I like the layout and I like the fact that it includes two photographs of theirs and two of mine, not including the portrait. I think that by keeping the portraits similar in lighting and poses really helps the flow of the book also because you see a similar photograph but hear a completely different story and this is somewhat beautiful. It was fantastic to work with so many different people and learn each story as I went along, I am glad I chose to work with the Polish community as I found they were very down to earth and hard working.
It was important to me that the subject was comfortable with me in the first place so that we could move on with the project, it was also important that they all had a say at what I could and couldn’t photograph, and also that every word in the book came from the subject themselves. I feel as though I have represented them how they wanted to be represented and also got an in depth look into their lives. Interestingly, I learnt more from them after I had put the camera away than I did while photographing them. Especially from Leszek, who had a 15-minute conversation with me about mental health, Brexit and Polish people after I had put the camera away. Part of me wishes I had a microphone with me at the time, but that would’ve been invading a private conversation. I learnt a lot about Polish culture through visiting exhibitions and the work of a couple of my subjects and I am very grateful for this.
If I could’ve changed anything about the project, I would have started shooting it much earlier on, although the access was difficult to get. I would have also included older people in my book, but the only couple I knew of were really difficult to get in contact with, and one had dementia. Despite only a couple of regrets, I think that the book flows really well and it is very intimate. I like the layout and I like the fact that it includes two photographs of theirs and two of mine, not including the portrait. I think that by keeping the portraits similar in lighting and poses really helps the flow of the book also because you see a similar photograph but hear a completely different story and this is somewhat beautiful. It was fantastic to work with so many different people and learn each story as I went along, I am glad I chose to work with the Polish community as I found they were very down to earth and hard working.
15/05/2017
Ending the bookAfter different attempts and choices in making the end of the book look professional but also making sure I thanked everyone subtly, I think that I have ended it reasonably well. I chose to put an image in the book that a photographer for Cheltenham Polish TARA took. It is an image of me in a meeting with TARA during my first time meeting them all, and I thought it would be important to put this in there to show the development of everything. I put my copyright in and also put a 'special thank' message to Beata and everybody involved with the project. Beata was the woman who helped me throughout this project and initiated it in the first place. On the back of the book, I decided to put TARA's logo because it indicates perfectly what the book is about. It is about solidarity between Polish people and the British community. It also indicates who helped me with the project and I wanted to thank them.
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12/05/2017
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Finished layout?After deciding on the layout, I set out to create my book and now that the layout and the text is all in, I think that I really like it. I like how it follows the narrative of each and every person/ family. I think that the book flows well, especially adding an extra page before each different story to give the name of the family. At first, it was a little clustered and there was too much to process at any one time, but I have sorted this by adding a few extra pages to space things out a little more. The collaborative part of this is definitely the strongest part of this book. Although I like the consistency of the family portraits and how similar the lighting is, I think that their own photos really adds to the story because there are certain things that I can't photogrpah myself, especially more intimate moments between families. I really like the design and layout of the book so far and it can only get better.
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08/05/2017
Page layoutI had a very clear outline at how I wanted to lay my book out from the very start. I purposely shot every single photograph in landscape so that they would lay out like this. I wanted a family portrait, and then a lot of text of that they had sent to me, on the following page I wanted my own images that I took of them on that day and then on the following page, I wanted photographs that they had taken themselves to make this project collaborative. I think that this works really well as it follows a certain story and gives a nice insight to their lives. I will be working on each page like this and hopefully forming a great narrative of how different people live and what they have been through. I will also start developing my books back cover and ending credits. As far as book layout goes, I think that I have this one spot on.
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05/05/2017
Avoiding misrepresentationTrying to avoid misrepresentation during a project is quite difficult, especially working on a subject that people have very mixed opinions on. I chose this project by Maciej Dakowicz, (who is interestingly Polish too) who photographs drunken people on the streets of Cardiff and although the project is actually really interesting and funny, I find that it misrepresents Cardiff massively. Cardiff is a beautiful city and as the capital of Wales, has some very good history and people. However, the photographer has decided to only photograph the bad parts of Cardiff and the bad people. During my project with the Polish families, it was important to photograph them as natural as possible and not stage anything apart from the photograph of them on their sofas. I considered how my photos would look in a book and how it would represent the families. I also selected the photographs that I thought represented the family in a natural state, and only used text that the families had sent me themselves. I think that to protect the families during the creation of this book is important because they allowed me in their home to photograph them and also sent me their entire life stories, if I was then to go and misrepresent them, it would be very morally wrong of me.
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03/05/2017
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Front cover designI have spent some time designing a front cover for my book on the Polish community. I wantd it to represent the togetherness and strength of Polish people in this community. Originally, I opted to put a family portrait on the front cover of the book to give an indication of what is inside the book but after considering different options, I decided to go for a Polish flag mixed with a British flag, as the Polish people are living in Britain it is a true representation of their lives. I decided to choose the name 'Rodzina' for my project, which means family in Polish. I think that this is a good site because although the images picture different families, the entire community of Polish people are one big family, as are British people. I think that the bottom left image will be my front cover for this project. It has the Polish word and the English word which I think is important for the project because it shows both sides of the story. Although there are individuals in the project, they are still part of the Polish family.
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01/05/2017
Evaluation
Originally faced with a huge task of documenting a ‘sustainable community’, I thought that my work would be cut out for me, as I didn’t have any ideas and had never really been influenced by this kind of living. However, I wanted to learn and I wanted to produce a beautiful documentary. Originally, I wanted to document the traveling community because I had good links with them and thought as though this would be the type of photography most suited to me. However, I couldn’t get access to this and had to have a plan B, which was documenting people who lives sustainably in the community.
Vision21 is a charity that tries to make Gloucestershire as sustainable as possible. I contacted the charity and then they gradually put me into contact with three people who are associated with it. Peter, a man who lives alone and has a tiny, sustainable house was very welcoming and informative. I learnt a lot about how you cannot photograph the things beyond the walls of the house and it would be hard to photograph how ‘sustainable’ his house actually was. I found it difficult at first because he would question things that I didn’t have the answers to. However, as I spent more time with him, the more we learnt about each other and the more he realised what I wanted to document and I think by the end, we had a mutual agreement of how to photograph sustainability. Mike and Vicky were a lovely couple who had a magnificent house and it was a pleasure to be a part of their story. I was stunned by the size of their house and how sustainable it was, so sustainable that they were actually giving energy back to the grid. They were very welcoming and allowed me to photograph anything and everything, they even got in a bee suit for me which was entertaining, yet insightful.
Overall, I think that this project worked out brilliant and the photographs work really well as a documentary. It would be great to have learnt even more about their way of life, but there was only so much time in a day. I am happy with the project and the only thing I would have changed about it would’ve been how long it took to find the project because I was so worked up in photographing the travelling community. It is a learning curve for next time, as I should have had a plan B from day 1. I am delighted with how well I worked in the dark room and thought that I learnt very quickly about the process of it all. I particularly liked the use of fibre-based paper. Indeed, nothing is perfect and there were slight problems during this module but I worked around them and came out better than I went in.
Vision21 is a charity that tries to make Gloucestershire as sustainable as possible. I contacted the charity and then they gradually put me into contact with three people who are associated with it. Peter, a man who lives alone and has a tiny, sustainable house was very welcoming and informative. I learnt a lot about how you cannot photograph the things beyond the walls of the house and it would be hard to photograph how ‘sustainable’ his house actually was. I found it difficult at first because he would question things that I didn’t have the answers to. However, as I spent more time with him, the more we learnt about each other and the more he realised what I wanted to document and I think by the end, we had a mutual agreement of how to photograph sustainability. Mike and Vicky were a lovely couple who had a magnificent house and it was a pleasure to be a part of their story. I was stunned by the size of their house and how sustainable it was, so sustainable that they were actually giving energy back to the grid. They were very welcoming and allowed me to photograph anything and everything, they even got in a bee suit for me which was entertaining, yet insightful.
Overall, I think that this project worked out brilliant and the photographs work really well as a documentary. It would be great to have learnt even more about their way of life, but there was only so much time in a day. I am happy with the project and the only thing I would have changed about it would’ve been how long it took to find the project because I was so worked up in photographing the travelling community. It is a learning curve for next time, as I should have had a plan B from day 1. I am delighted with how well I worked in the dark room and thought that I learnt very quickly about the process of it all. I particularly liked the use of fibre-based paper. Indeed, nothing is perfect and there were slight problems during this module but I worked around them and came out better than I went in.
30/04/2017
Final prints?After printing a shed load of images because I couldn't decide on final prints, I think I have finally got a documentary of just 8 images together, here are three of them and here is why I chose them; Top image - I took this image as I was in Peter's kitchen because I realised that I didn't have an image that showed his bread making skills. I also loved the lighting in this situation, there was the slightest bit of sunlight coming through one of the windows that I set up in front of and I found that it was perfect lighting for what I wanted and I think that the image proves this. The bottom left image is of the inside of Mike and Vicky's greenhouse, it looked cluttered and there was very harsh sun light coming through it, so I wanted to take a photograph of it for the contrast of it all and also the fact that inside is so many different living things. They both grow their own tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables and I thought that this greenhouse would be an excellent showing of this. For the bottom right image, I took many portraits in different locations of Peter, but nothing seemed as 'relaxed' and happy as this one. He was leaning on the door frame while talking to me and I really liked the stance, so I asked him to stay where he was so I could snap a portrait.
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30/04/2017
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Understanding your subjectsI was lucky enough to be invited to an exhibition set up in a community centre where one of my subjects work. I think that it is really important to visit exhibitions in your local area to gain an understanding of how to set up your own exhibitions as well as indulge in other people's work. I think that it is more important to visit exhibitions that could help you form your own project. I came to this exhibition that links English people and Polish people and it was beautiful. There was an archive of images from different people and photographers, some of the war, some landscapes and quite a lot of portraits. What I found interesting is that the project was in both English and Polish and everywhere was poppies. I find that the Polish community are very proud to come from Poland and it is nice to see exhibitions put in place for them to show this. I have also been asked to produce an exhibition in certain places for the Polish community once I have finished my project and this could be a great opportunity for both me and the community. I think that it will be great to spread the word that there are actually so many Polish people in Britain and they help our society function so well. I would also like to consider the similarities and differences between British people and Polish people because I think we are very similar.
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30/04/2017
Contact sheetsCreating contact sheets in the dark room is just as important as making prints themselves, and just as difficult. I have made contact sheets of all of my images before print them because this way, I can see how differently they look when they are actually printed on paper. I found it interesting how a lot of the images that looked good when I scanned them, didn't really make the cut in the dark room. I think that you start to appreciate light much more while shooting in black and white film and certainly while looking through your contact sheets. Because my shoots had such harsh sun light, in some cases the sun light was good and in other cases, they were bad. For example, I had sun light directly on a jar as I set up an image of Peter's bread. It looked beautiful on the contact sheet and therefore I printed it. While looking at so many images, it becomes hard to put together only 8 images but it definitely helps to create a good project because you look for an overview shot, a portrait and then some context. Whereas with another story, you might just throw images in that you maybe wouldn't before. All in all, it was worthwhile printing all of my contact sheets off because I now have a clear idea of what I want printing and what I don't want printing.
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29/04/2017
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Communities shoot 4After cycling 2 miles to Peter's house, I then had to cycle a further 2 miles to get to Mike's house straight away. What's more sustainable than a photographer on a bike? I went to Mike and Vicky's house with the same kind of intentions I went with Peter's house. I got my portraits the last time I went and therefore wanted a few 'add on' shots to help the story grow a little more. I really like the top shot of Mike looking into the bee hive to see how a certain injured bee was keeping. I think that by shooting from behind him, you get a real sense of him and not just an overview of the scenario. Mike built the bottom right picture by himself and spent a while talking to me about it. Apparently the design of this sculpture (powered by solar) helps the water in it move as freely as it possibly can and this adds a really nice natural feeling to the garden and helps the wildlife there. Again, I thought that this shoot went really well, despite not photographing Vicky as much as I wish I did. It was great to meet such a lovely couple with such an extraordinary house. I learnt a lot about sustainability and even got asked if I wanted to work on a project with them to help spread the word on it.
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29/04/2017
Communities shoot 3I went for a second shoot with Peter to gain some shots that I didn't previously have. I wanted to add more to the story by photographing different angles and different things to what I did before. I set up a little showcase of Peter's own bread making stuff alongside the actual bread itself. I think that the top image is absolutely beautiful because of the natural sun light cast upon the knife and bread, I think that the focus on the bread with the flour and the pot blurred out in the background give a real sense of what kind of stuff he does in his spare time. I also tried to get as many different angles and varied shots as possible to be a little different to everybody else. I decided to climb back up on his wall and ask him to 'get on with his life and forget I was here' and it's just what he did. At first, I was just shooting every day things and it was quite boring but then I started shooting through things and it made the shoot a lot more interesting. The bottom right image was shot through his greenhouse from above and I love the bouncing light and the selections in glass. Overall, a really good shoot.
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27/04/2017
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Polish shoot 5Shoot number 5, Bartosz. Bartosz or 'Bart' is one of the hardest working, self driven people I have met to date. He works a lot in his community centre, works for Polish TARA and also has a full time job that he works at night. I was lucky enough to go to one of Bart's cafes where he pushes people to work creatively in a nice environment and it was really nice to go there with him. It was interesting because when we got there, they were starting a meeting and Bartosz actually had to take part in the meeting, which I didn't mind because I could photograph him and show him in his 'element'. Bartosz has children but unfortunately no longer lives with them, as he rents a house with one of his friends. I think that he is a great subject to include in this book and it once again proves that everybody I have spoken to so far in the Polish community are incredibly self motivated and hard working and it makes me question what we are doing wrong as a community because there is still so much hatred towards Polish people from a minority of English.
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26/04/2017
Polish shoot 4 This is Leszek and his family. This was one of the more interesting shoots I have done so far due to the deep conversation I managed to have with Leszek and his wife separately. Leszek was very passionate about everything we spoke about and therefore i decided to video interview him too. It was a shame that his wife didn't also join in with the interview. However, I managed to have a talk to her about what she does and her plans for the future. She is very passionate about English cider and is currently hoping to write a book in Polish about English cider to help Polish people back home understand this culture. I find it interesting as a barman that somebody is so passionate about a certain type of drink and it is also similar that people not from England seem to have more of a desire to show people the English culture than we actually do ourselves. I had only one problem during this shoot and that was getting the little boy to sit and pose for a photograph, because he was completely reluctant. Luckily, I brought a trigger release chord and passed it to his best friend who was round at the time and asked her to press the button. This causes a little bit of fun between the two and kept him there long enough to photograph him in his natural state.
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23/04/2017
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Community shoot 2Shoot number 2 with Vicky and Mike, who were actually friends with Peter, went really well also. The couples house was a hell of a lot bigger than Peter's and therefore I could photograph more and use the space to my advantage. Basically, Mike and Vicky did everything Peter did but on a larger scale. They also had water heaters, which is basically where if they are producing a lot of energy from their solar panels, the energy will then divert to heat their water so that they don't have to use gas or electricity. During the summer months, they are almost completely reliable on solar energy, and even give back to the grid. During the time that I was there, it was really sunny and they were only using a tenth of the energy they were producing. In terms of people, they were the loveliest couple ever, they even let me try some of the natural yoghurt that they made themselves. Their house was beautiful and I learnt a lot about how there were many things that I couldn't actually photograph that helped with them being sustainable. For example, they had special insulation so that they barely needed heaters and their windows are all triple glazed, which again keeps the heat in and stops the cold from entering. They also kept bees and made their own bread, which I was unfortunately not able to try! Maybe next time?
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20/04/2017
Polish shoot 3This is Beata, the woman who made this Polish project possible for me. We met during a networking event at the University and she wanted me to do the project for her because I was 'sensitive' and 'the right guy for the job'. Despite her being a little self conscious while I was photographing her, she was a great and fun subject. As you can tell, there is a big similarity in the photographs by the fact that every single person is sat on the sofa in their living room. I wanted to do this because I thought that it created the sense that England was now their home and it is also very similar to how I'd photograph English people at home. After shooting the portraits on the sofa, I wanted to photograph her doing 'every day' things and then she told me she'd just been doing some gardening before I turned up, so I asked her to carry on. I want to photograph them during moments they feel comfortable in order to get the sense of them and not how I want them to look. I think it will be interesting to put all these images together and form a book and compare them to how we live different and how similar we are also.
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17/04/2017
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Communities shoot 1After contacting Vision21, I got put in contact with a man called Peter whos is a trustee of the charity and lives the most sustainable life at his home in Cheltenham. The things he does to stay sustainable was extortionate. Bee Keeping, Organic Veg & fruit growing - highly productive small garden, Wildlife friendly garden, wormery & composting includes the only urban community composting site in Gloucestershire, Compost tea - brewing and using, allotment, rainwater collecting to minimise tap water use in garden, Artisan bread making rye sourdough ie slow baking, Solar panels - renewable energy, Energy efficiency - well insulated house thus home is low carbon and with a sense of design, minimise waste ,Trustee of two local sustainability charities, Warmer web-site to empower home owners to make their homes more energy efficient. A huge list to be getting on with and hopefully I captured the essence of this through my photographs. I managed to climb on his wall to get an overview shot of his garden and got some pretty nice portraits of him too. It was interesting to learn about the different things people do to remain sustainable Despite bees flying into the back of my head throughout the shoot, I hope that I caught the essence of what he was all about, it was a pleasure to meet him.
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15/04/2017
Developing disaster!!Amongst the excitement of shooting for the first time for this project, I quickly got back to the dark room to attempt at developing my own film, despite only doing it twice before. The first roll was fine and perfect, however, while developing the 2nd roll, I wrapped it wrong, causing it to stick together during the developing process. This caused an almost chewing gum like effect, making the negatives useless. Although the image in the top could've been one of the best for the project, I posted it on Facebook and got some support from a few artists who have offered to take it in and draw with it. I also got another offer for somebody to use it in their own project. Another film didn't develop at all, maybe there was a light leak in the camera or I just didn't load it right. This begs the question of wether or not shooting with film is actually sustainable, the answer is probably no. It is a real shame that I didn't get to see these images covered by white stuff, but you can only look at the positives at a photographer so I will be developing other portraits from these negatives because I will be shooting with 35mm next time, I think it will be easier to do.
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12/04/2017
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Plan for community shoot
Moving on from my Polish project, I have a couple of shoots planned for my community project very soon. I am wanting to document people who live sustainably in order to bring attention to what a serious issue it actually is. I contacted a charity called Vision21 in Cheltenham that work to help make Gloucestershire a more sustainable place. I will be meeting with a couple and a man and hopefully documenting their lifestyle in both still life's and portraits. All of them keep bees and I think that this could make a very interesting environmental portrait. I will also like to photograph every little detail they do in order to make their home sustainable. I know of solar panels, water tanks and various other things to photograph but you can never plan for the day itself. I would like to shoot many environmental portraits of the person in the place that I am actually documenting. I think that these environmental portraits show the perfect kind of portraits that I wish to document, especially the top image of a man in his shed. I am assuming that at least one of the houses I am going to are cluttered in some way and it would be great to take a portrait in something like that, may it be a greenhouse or something else.
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09/04/2017
Migrant shoot 2vI met with two lovely twins in Cheltenham for a different take on the Polish community as apposed to the other shoot I did. Anna and Joanna Surowiec are Polish twins that enjoy the art of Krav Maga, which is a military self-defense system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces. They enjoy keeping active and self defence. It was interesting to photograph these as apposed to the other shoot I did because it was so different. With the family, I had to focus a lot on keeping the dogs aware of where I was and also keeping the child's mind occupied. However, with two adults, it was much easier to direct what I wanted from the photograph. Although we had a bit of fun during the shoot with the fighting and the pointing of guns, I think that the images were really good. Once again, I used only natural lighting for this shoot because I think it gives a nicer light on people's faces and is also much nicer looking that artificial light. I will shortly be asking these subjects to send me some photographs that they have taken by themselves, maybe while at Krav Maga or just throughout their every day lives.
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06/04/2017
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Book layout ideaMaking a book for my migrant project has given me a lot to think about while shooting specific photographs. I have come to the conclusion that I want a landscape book because the majority of my photographs are shot in landscape. On the first page of every family I would like a family portrait. i would then like to have some text on the right hand side explaining their story. Where they came from, why they came here, if they feel left out, what does Brexit mean and so on. I think it is going to be important to have both my images and the subjects images in the book because it makes it collaborative and it also makes my subjects feel as though they are giving something to help their community. I have yet to think of a title for my project on the Polish community but I am wanting something on the lines of 'different but the same' but only one word. I have yet to come across an English word that means this however, it could be interesting to scan other languages to see if there s is anything similar to this. If not, I will have to call it something to highlight how much the Polish community actually does for the UK.
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02/04/2017
Fibre base printing We were lucky enough to be shown how to print with fibre-based paper and it is interesting at how differently we have to print on different paper. I think that the quality difference is increase compared to any other paper I have worked with but it is also much harder, as you have to perfect the split grade process. “Split-Grade Printing” is the name given to a technique of exposing variable contrast black and white paper using two exposures instead of a single one. One exposure is made through a soft filter (usually grade 0) and the other through a hard one (usually grade 5). I found it really interesting at how you could for one, get incredibly high contrasty images and also how easily it was to manipulate either the blacks or the whites. Although we only have to print two images on fibre based paper for this module, I will be sure to keep using this as probably my first choice dark room paper. I also found it really interesting at how the paper naturally curled after developing it and therefore needed to be clamped by a huge iron and then held under something flat, as the top images show, this is what happens after printing on fibre based paper. I look forward to carrying on in the dark room and experimenting even further with things like this.
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30/03/2017
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Video interviewI figured that instead of asking the family to write out their answers to my bombardment of questions, I'd video interview them instead to capture exactly what they say as soon as I ask it. This will also give me a better chance of knowing the family more because I can rewatch the video until I get a sense of the family. What I have found the most interesting about Polish people since starting this project is how scary Brexit is to them, not many questions triggered a big answer until I asked what they thought it meant for them. I believe that they have a right to be agitated by the whole thing because they have been left in the dark about it just like everybody else. I will edit this video as though I m handing it in because I think it gives a better sense of the work that I am trying to produce for this project. I will try and video interview every family I get to meet because I think it would slowly build a better narrative than photographs alone would.
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26/03/2017
Polish families shoot 1I had my first shoot with a Polish family and thought that it went really well. Anna, Daniel and Max Domzalska-Paczkowska were very welcoming to me and helped a lot with shooting. I used their huge window to allow lots of natural light in and set up on a tripod not too far away from them. I asked Max (the son) to run to the camera, click the shutter release that was on a 10 second timer and then race it back to his parents, which he seemed to enjoy a lot. Next up was trying to get the dogs to sit still, this proved to be very difficult as one of them was a little hyper. I kept asking Max to click the shutter release button, which I later set to a 2 second timer, this helped me get a natural photo of him laughing in amusement at the beeping of the camera. I think this made beautiful portraits of him and his mother. I will now ask them to take some photographs by themselves for me to make a collaborative book and this should make it much more interesting as they would hopefully photograph scenarios that I couldn't.
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22/03/2017
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Christopher HuthwaiteChristopher Huthwaite is a photographer that is mainly famous for his work in Zimbabwe. However, during my research on allotments and alternative living, I found out that he had also photographed multiple people who own and grow their own food. I decided to take Huthwaite's portraits as inspiration to how I would like to shoot portraits of my subjects in the environment they surround themselves with. In particular, I think that shooting the bee keeper in his costume, surrounded by bees would be an exceptional portrait, especially if I shoot it with flash on an overcast day. I am wanting to photograph a few portraits alongside a few 'every day' life shots of my subject. Preparing food, composting, looking after bees and just generally living a sustainable life. I have a planned day to shoot my first shoot, however I am yet to get contact back from one of my other potential subjects which is a shame.
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19/03/2017
A change of mindAfter struggling with access into the gypsy community, I did a lot of research on different photographers and how to photograph environmental portraits of people living differently to us and also living a sustainable lifestyle. I then contacted a man called Dave who works for vision21 which is a charity that is trying to make Gloucestershire sustainable. I managed to get in contact with a couple of people who are living as sustainable as they can and I am currently questioning wether to focus on one of them or compare them. Peter is a bee keeper and also grows his own food, makes his own compost and various other things that he helps the planet with. I will be meeting with him soon and focusing on how his lifestyle is sustainable I will also hopefully be meeting with a couple of other people who are in and around the charity and putting a documentary together about people living at home sustainably.
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15/03/2017
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Final dark room printsPrinting in the dark room was an extremly good learning curve for me. As somebody who had only ever used an enlarger to print photograms and learn about Man Ray, this was a completely blank canvas for me where I had to learn everything. We firstly learnt about everything we needed to do in order to set up the enlarger. Having to do multiple test strips in order to get the perfect exposure was very interesting because you expose differently for every single image and also do a few tests, some on the dark parts and some on the light parts. After managing to get a good exposure for the most important part of the image, I then learnt about dodging and burning an image. This was interesting because I had a very over exposed sky and a slightly over exposed horse and therefore I had to do three separate exposures to get a final print (left). This was definitely a step towards being able to print exceptionally on different papers and I only look forward to what is yet to come in my film developing.
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11/03/2017
Migrant planThe main plan for my project with the Polish community is to have quite a nice collaborative with them. One of my main objectives of this is to make sure that I leave them with the basic knowledge of being able to take a photograph and understand exposure. I will show them how to set up a studio in a home and also show them ISO, shutter speed and aperture and explain how they all have a link with each other. After setting up with their help and how they would like to set it up, I will then pass them a shutter release chord and ask them to take the photograph whenever they feel comfortable, be it me leave the room or not. I will the hopefully spend half an hour or so with the family and capture a few candid photos of their lives and show how similar they are to British people. I will then proceed to ask them questions about Poland, being Polish, Britain and so on. This will hopefully accompany their image in the book. A lot of the Polish people I have spoken to have been worried about the exposure they will be getting from this project because somebody else tried to work on a project with them and didn't represent them correctly. I have had to ensure them that everybody will have a model release form and nothing will be published without the permission of everybody included in the photographs.
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07/03/2017
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Lee JeffriesLee Jeffries; possibly the greatest portrait photographer ever? Maybe i'm being a little bias as he is my favourite portrait photographer ever. His work is just remarkable and I can only strive to be as good as him. Jeffries tends to use either a Canon 5D or a Nikon D810 which are both full frame cameras and tends to also shoot between f/4 and 4/5 with an ISO of 100. I am extremely interested to know how Jeffries lights his subjects as the light in these images really brings out the best in them. He is definitely somebody who has inspired me to shoot more portraits for this project, as the constant eye contact in his photographs are what really make the series a huge success. The subjects stare into the lens and straight into your eyes, forcing you to have a connection to them and in some ways, making you pity them and in some ways making you want to help. Either way, Jeffries portraits are some of the most emotional, eye grabbing images I have ever seen and with my portraits, I must start using the lighting that I have available to me to me much better, as I think this sharpens the image somewhat and makes it more three dimensional. I also find that the tight spacing in his portraits is extraordinary. Because I tend to shoot my portraits with a telephoto lens, I don't think you get the intimacy as you would with a 24mm lens close up for example. When I go back to Lowedges I will be shooting with a 24-70mm lens and I will try to use eternal lighting much better and will also shoot closer to the subject, limiting the amount of blank space in the image. I will also try and make sure my aperture is around the f/5 mark and my ISO is as small as it can be, thus creating the same kind of effect Jeffries creates and also has both eyes sharp, instead of shooting on a wide aperture where just one eye would be sharp for example.
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04/03/2017
Dark room printingPrinting my own negatives was both really fun to do and also very useful for this module and further modules. I chose to shoot in medium format for this project because I prefer the quality and the versatility of it. After shooting my roll of film, I took it to the dark room to begin the procedure on Ilford multigrade paper. One of the first things we had to do was set up the enlarger, inserting the correct lens and negative holder was crucial so that there was no light spillage. Then, inserting the negative, we also had to focus it so that it wouldn't print blurry. After this, we would do a test strip to find out what the correct exposure for our contact sheet would be. With intervals of 5 seconds, we blocked the light after every step so that we could see the difference in exposure. I decided that the correct exposure for this would be around 28 seconds, not quite 25 and not quite 30. After laying my negatives in line on the piece of paper, I exposed them for 28 seconds and then this brought us to the developing stage of it. In the developer for exactly 2 minutes, agitating gently until the end. Using 'stop' to stop the process of the developer. We had to do this for 30 seconds, and then using the 'fix' to fix the development in place. We can look at the print in light after about 30 seconds in the fix and decide if we like it or not. After this we would then wash for about 20 minutes in two separate washing baths and then our print was done! On to split-grade and fibre based paper!
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01/03/2017
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Developing filmAlthough I have always liked shooting in film, I have surprisingly never really developed my own film. So when I leant how to, it was learning a completely new skill for me. For this module, we have to shoot in black & white film. I am choosing (hopefully) to shoot in medium format as opposed to 35mm because I prefer the quality you can get out of medium format compared. I shot a roll of film on a Mamiya 645 and headed to University to learn how I could develop this in different ways. Firstly, I had to go into a pitch black room and load my negative on to a spiral that would then be put in a light-proof box and sealed. Then came the interesting part with chemicals and how they developed the negative differently. I used D-76 for my developer and because I shot HP5, I had to develop it for 11 minutes, agitating it as I go. After this step, I had to pour in some 'stop' to stop the process of the developer. This I did for 30 seconds. After the stop, I used 'fix' to fix the development in place, this was done for 10 minutes, again agitating it as I go. After this process, I had to wash it for approximately 20 minutes in running water and then my film was developped. It was a very interesting and worthwhile experience and it is a key skill to have because now I can develop my own film instead of paying somebody else to do it for me. I look forward to more film and developing my own film. I am also looking forward to how I can print the image and learning how to dodge and burn on an enlarger. I really like high contrasting, punchy images and if there is a way to make the blacks blacker and the whites whiter then I will learn how to do it. It is all a matter of patience.
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26/02/2017
Meeting with TARAMoving on from the networking event at the University, I scheduled a meeting with Cheltenham Polish TARA to discuss this project. We talked about politics with various people from different parties and we also talked about the NHS. Interestingly, I found that the main cause for concern in England for the Polish community is Brexit and what it actually means. A lot of the people at the meeting thought that they were treated as un-equal by English people and just want an equal chance, especially those who have lived here for a long time. At the meeting, there were representatives from the Liberal democrats and Labour party, which was interesting to see both of their sides to the argument about migrants and their access to things. The Liberal Democrats had a much stronger argument than that of Labour, but Labour promised to help write a strong letter to the Gloucestershire Echo about an equal chance for the Polish. We discussed my proposal for my project and what it could mean for them which was interesting to see their reactions to. A couple of them were concerned because of a previous project gone wrong but I am sure I managed to help them understand that this is in their best interests as well as mine.
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23/02/2017
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TravelersThere are around 300,000 Gypsy Roma and Irish Travellers in the UK – Roma Gypsies are originally from northern India, whereas Travellers are of Irish origin – and both groups are nomadic. Since 2002, Travellers have been recognised as an ethnic group and are protected under the Race Relations Act. Unfortunately, gypsy travellers have always had bad stereotypes surrounding them due to the nature of how they live. People seem to despise the fact that they don't pay tax and keep all of their money quite secretive and in cash. I became interested in the gypsy community while photographing at Stow horse fair for the past two years and seeing first hand how open they are to strangers and how welcoming they were to me. At first I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect but when I got there and gained more confidence in talking to people, I had them queuing up to be photographed and also even inviting me into their caravans so I could photograph them. I took a lot of portraits while photographing in Stow but they were all on a DSLR. I took a few images on a medium forma camera, shooting on black & white film. Because I need to shoot n black and white for this module, I think that I will need to improve how I take portraits on film. With DSLR, I could look at how the light was affecting the subject, whereas if I am using a film camera, I pretty much have to get it right every time. I would preferably like to take portraits while using flash and create similar to portraits from Lee Jeffries. I think that I need to practice using flash with a film camera to create dramatic lighting that brings out the best parts of the subjects face.
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20/02/2017
Cheltenham Polish TARAZumbaSince meeting Beata at a networking event, I became really interested in the Polish community in Cheltenham and how their rights a privileges differ from ours. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of talk about deportation of EU citizens to their mothering country depending on their situation here in the UK. Since speaking to a few Polish people about their migration and the possibility of 'brexit', they are genuinely really worried about the fact that they be moved from what they now call 'home'. Cheltenham Polish TARA are an association that works with many Polish people in Cheltenham and helps to integrate them into a British community. They hold events for people of all ages including things like zumba and martial arts. I am very much looking forward to working with this association as I believe that the Polish community are mis-representated. From my point of view, we are dependant on immigration in this country for it to be able to run properly. Polish are now the biggest migrant group in the UK with over 800,000 people here. We are as dependent on them as we are on British citizens and not many people understand that. One of the aims of the project is to raise awareness at how much we rely on Polish people to help the UK run properly. Another aim to the project is to see them for who they are, and not for who we think they are.
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16/02/2017
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England Polish communityWhat does it mean to be Polish in England? As of 2015, the number of UK residents born in Poland was estimated at 831,000, making them the largest foreign-born group in the country, and there is a wider population of British Poles, including the descendants of over 200,000 immigrants who settled in the UK after World War II. Since that time, there have been a huge increase in Polish shops opening and they are slowly integrating really well into the 'English' way of life. As an English born student currently living in Cheltenham, I have noticed the increase in the Polish community and for some reason, people don't seem to mind them as much as the seem to mind Indian people migrating and migrants of a Muslim descent. In my project with the Polish community I would be interested in finding out if they feel as though they are accepted in Britain, as well as possibly asking people born in England wether or not they accept the Polish and also if they think that the majority of brits accept the Polish. I will hopefully enter Polish shops and note if the atmosphere is hostile or friendly towards me. I think I will mostly be meeting people through the Polish society I am working with, however, I would like to meet people through myself by going through Gloucestershire and looking out for Polish people to talk to. I need a huge range of data to make this project worthwhile and interesting. I will be shooting this project on black and white film which could be interesting because of the colourful origin of Polish flags and shops.
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13/02/2017
Networking eventWe were kindly invited to attend a networking event in our University that was made up of about 10 different associations that wanted to do a project on themselves. We met people from all over Gloucestershire with very different opportunities for us students. This would benefit the both of us so it was an excellent opportunity to sell yourself above the rest of the class. As I am very interested in both migrants and as portraits are my strongest point in photography, I really wanted to work with an association that worked with migrants. Although I was slightly interested in communities that would mainly only shoot landscapes, I really wanted to work with migrants. I was lucky enough to be contacted by Cheltenham Polish TARA about a documentary they proposed. The company integrate the Polish community with the English community and I found this really interested as I am completely for immigration to the UK. Due to a law that only gave refugees 2 years in England and also the possibility of deporting certain migrants, the Polish people I first spoke to were actually quite worried about it all, so I would like to research more about this law and what it actually means. As for the project, my main goal is to gain a lot of portraits on medium format and have a short story about the person in the image. I want to meet as many Polish people I can and also meet their families and document the integration into our society.
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10/02/2017
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University ArchiveWe were lucky enough to be able to look through the University archive at all of the photographs and assignments that past University students made. It was interesting to see all of these images as well as discussing the meaning and importance of an archive. An archive, according to google is "a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people." We keep archives so that we can preserve the memory of people who are no longer with us and also to show the development of humans alongside their work over time. It was very interesting to see how quickly things have lost their value, even in the 20 years I have been alive I have seen numerous important developments for the world that left other things completely useless. For example, the development of the 'smart phone' completely revolutionised how we use a mobile phone. Social media is absolutely thriving at the moment and because of this, we can instantly connect with people from all over the country. We looked at how we adapt our technology such as memory sticks and CDs. Is an archive actually sustainable though? In 5 years time are we actually going to be able to see things that were uploaded on to a CD or a memory stick? Maybe, maybe not. We also looked at the importance of printed work compared to online work. Online work couldve only been accessed in the last 10-15 years, whereas printed work has been around since the beginning of cameras. It begs the question wether or not we should be printing all of the work we do or we should be keeping everything on the internet or on a certain device, despite the ever changing technological world.
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07/02/2017
World leadersDuring this project I will think a great deal about how world leaders and important people can have an effect on the environment. Recently made the president of the United States, Donald Trump is potentially one of the biggest threats to out environment yet. Planning to build wars, potentially starting wars and claiming global warming is a 'hoax', he could damage this world even more than it already is. However, there is a solace within the world with Scandinavian countires seemingly leading a new era in climate change. More than half of Sweden's energy supply comes from renewable energy. On the topic of influential people, Ludovico Einaudi, a famous Italian pianist played a song in the middle of the polar ice caps, and white this happened, ice bergs were melting and falling in to the water around him. His powerful and enhancing music could be the key to help raise awareness of global warming. His music, his reactions alongside polar ice caps melting made for an incredibly powerful story. Maybe this is what we need more than world leaders. We need people who can connect with other people through music and art and therefore spreading the word that we are in a stupendous amount of danger.
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04/02/2017
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Climate changeIs it actually possible to keep anything 'sustainable' in todays community or are we, as a human race doomed. Since the invention of the wheel, the world has been going down hill. Due to the use of fossil fuels and various other substances that we burn, we make gases that damage the air around us and this has effects on other things. With the gasses in our air, we pollute cities massively to the point that people have to wear masks. We are also melting polar ice caps to the point where we are causing mass flooding, to the extent of various different countries becoming submerged in water. Polar bears are without homes and the artic, as well as other places are warming up drastically. Although we are on a huge downfall, we can possibly change all of this and send it in reverse but we need to act fast. Can we make fossils fuels sustainable or are we going to have to develop our technology so that we can use solar, water and different types of energy to produce power the same was fossil fuels do. Look at the company 'Tesla' who seem to have perfected the electric car. Why can other companies not do this? Is it sustainable?
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02/02/2017
What is a sustainable community?The term “sustainable communities” has various definitions, but in essence refers to communities planned, built, or modified to promote sustainable living. Sustainable communities tend to focus on environmental and economic sustainability, urban infrastructure, social equity, and municipal government. To be a sustainable community one must maintain life at a reasonable rate of growth that helps the earth in the long run. What will happen if we continue using resources like we do? What will happen to the future of 'us'? We are using fossil fuels to the point that they will be extinct for future generations, this isn't sustainable. What if one day, due to over-population, we use all of our water and eat all of our processed food? Electricity is a main point to consider in this project because our lives now depend on it. Without electricity, we have no hospital care, no internet, no warmth but to use electricity, we have to burn things. This isn't sustainable. Another thing to consider is the link between global warming and migration. While global warming takes place, and islands start to become overwhelmed by water, all the people on those islands need to move places but where do they go?
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