Conclusion

Conclusion 

I have enjoyed the themes I have explored in this project as it is something I have never previously looked at. It is also interesting to look over the development of my project through to the final images and my ideas all link together. My favourite images in my photo essay are the two portraits of people at work, therefore if I had more time to continue this project I would take more portrait style images of people in a work place. This may be something I carry on with in my own time. 

Something I would improve on would be the street photography images as I also loved looking at this style of people in a work place. This is due to the difference between the portraits and street photography and the type of mood they portray. Furthermore, I am going to continue looking into street photography and linking this to people in the work place as it is interesting to look at different mundane jobs that most people would ignore if they were walking past. 

To conclude, my final photo essay links to the project brief as it portrays different peoples identity through what do as a job. It also has connotations of social issues in society through different peoples jobs as I have including images of both people with jobs in a shop, and then people on the streets. The fact that I have included a portrait of the people who are working in shops, but not of people who are working in streets may also impact this factor.

Final Images

Final Images 

My Images #5

My Images #5

I decided to take some more candid images of people in a work place and these images were taken at a market stall in the lanes in Brighton. I like looking at this candid side of photography in a work place as it can portray employees real feelings by their facial expressions and body language. 

These two images show an employee talking to two customers at his stall and they portray him engaging and in mid-conversation. As he was not aware I was taking these images, they convey a different side to people in a work place because he could generally enjoy his job, or he could also just be doing this to create a sale. Continuing from this, I want to take more portraits of people at their work place as this has worked a lot better than these candids. 

My Images #4

My Images #4

I have taken images of the owner of 'The Record Album' in Brighton to add to my collection of people at work. I decided to take both portrait style images and also candid shots of him whilst he was helping customers.

Here is my contact sheet:

 Here are my favourite images:

I am happy with these images I have taken as I love how interested the shop owner, George is in his collection of music in his store. These images link to my project as it portrays a relationship with someone and their work place, as well as representing him to the viewers in a particular way. The first  image that I have presented displays George looking out from the camera lens and this was because a customer was talking to him. The other images show him looking down and this could suggest that he is bored and tired. However, as I was talking to George for a while I found out that he absolutely loves his job and is very proud of the store he owns. This conveys that an even though an image looks a particular way, it is not necessarily the only meaning and message that it has. 

This is an interesting topic and I have decided that for my final piece I am going to display a few images of each shop keeper I go to, one being a portrait and a couple of them working. This is because it portrays two different sides to the individuals personality, as the portrait is more staged whereas the shots of them working are more candid. 

My Images #3

My Images #3

I have taken some images of an employee working in the 'Bluebird Tea Company' in Brighton and I wanted to take images in both a portrait style and a candid style.

Here is my contact sheet:

 Here are my favourite images: 

I decided to edit these images to black and white in as I like the effect the strong contrast gives. My favourite image is the first one I have displayed as the model is looking into the camera and her body language suggests she is proud of where she works as she appears confident. I also like the composition of this image due to the position of the model and the viewer can see the shop in the background. This gives some context of where the model is working. 

My Images #2

My Images #2 

Today I went into Brighton and took a few more images of people at work. This time, instead of going into shops I decided to take candid images of people who were working without them knowing I was taking it. I feel like this gives a sense of realism as it is how they really feel about their work. I went to the lanes to do this and took images of people at their market stools, as well as someone selling magazines. 

Here is my contact Sheet:

Here are some of my images:

My favourite image is the last one due to the body language of the subject. This image was taken on a cold day in the early evening, and this suggests that the man was tired and probably wanted to go home. I like that this image conveys a different side to working than the portrait style I have been researching. Next, I am going to take images of people working using a portrait style in order to get a comparison of the two different sides of this I want to look at for my final project images. 

Peter Meade - Photographer

Peter Meade - Photographer 

Peter tease is a freelance photographer who is best known as a polo photographer; however he also explores portraiture, street, travel and commercial photography. I have decided to look at him due to his work on people at work and his approach to this theme. 

Here are some examples of his work: 

I find these images interesting as they are not candid shots of someone in their work place, but they are portraits of people where they are working. I particularly like the second image due to the framing  of the model, as she looks natural and relaxed, even though she knows she is having her photograph taken. Furthermore, this links to how Meade uses portraiture techniques but still uses natural lighting and this element of the photography seems quiet candid. This is because he is likely to have turned up to take the models image unexpectedly. 

As I love this technique and find it inspiring I am going to take some photographs in this style of people in their work place. I want to be able to explore both a candid style and portrait style of photography of people in a work place and this gives me the opportunity to look into both sides. The only thing I don't like about this is the fact that in a portraiture set up the model may act differently or try and look happier for the camera. This is where I prefer the idea of candid images as they can portrays how the model really feels about their work. 

'Raw' Images

'Raw' Images 

Shooting with a raw setting on a DSLR allows you to process the image yourself to your liking, instead of letting the camera process it for you. When you upload a raw image to Photoshop, you are given more options to edit with and this lets you manipulate the image. 

This is my original image:

This is uploaded to Photoshop as a raw:

I decided to use the 'graduated filter' tool in order to play around with the tones across the image and demonstrate how you can change these. This took allows you to adjust settings of particular section of the image, furthermore I changed the contrast and saturation of the bottom left hand corner of this image. 

This is how the image would look:

To conclude, I am going to continue shooting in raw as is has given me more options to change different sections of image. I will use this for my final project images as in some shops where I will be photographing employees, the lighting with be natural and although this creates a sense of realism, it may not look great.

My Images

My Images 

I decided to go into Brighton and take some test shots in order to demonstrate how I am going to portray the people in my images, as well as getting an idea of how I want the images to look. First of all, I went into a florist and asked if I could take images of the owner as she was putting together a bunch of flowers. 

Here is my contact sheet:

Here are my favourite images:

I am happy with these images and I particularly like the lighting in the first image, as well as the colours as they match the composition. The shop owner is positioned to the left of the image and this balances out the busyness of the background. 

I then decided to do some street photography and I took this image of a man who is working on a drain in the road. I like how this image is more candid as they did not know I was photographing them and it makes it appear more natural. Furthermore, as I continue to take images for this project I want to focus on less talked about jobs like this so I am able to incorporate street photography into my work, as well as taking images of workers in shops. 

People at work - Presentation

People at work - Presentation 

As I have decided, to look on people at work I created a new elevator pitch to present to my class and tutor. In this I gave examples of artists images I have looked at and am inspired by, as well as an explanation of what I want to look at and why. 

People at work pitch from amygillespie12345

Sides:

Further Ideas - Street Photography / Candids

Street Photography - Candids 

Another idea I am interested in exploring within this topic is the idea of street photography and how the people photographed can represent the place they are in. A candid image can suggest a lot about the person that is being represented, as well as the place and I am interested in taking images that can represent a particular place.

A photographer I have been looking at is Joel Meyerowitz as he is well known for his famous street photography, particularly the images of 9/11. Here are some of his images that I find interesting. 

Meyerowitz states that "every street has its own identity" and this is something I am interested in looking into further as different elements of an image such as what is in the background and the person who is the focal point can represent the place, just as much as the person. 

This idea links to the project brief as it explores the social, political and cultural elements of different locations. I could go to different locations in Brighton and look at the social and cultural similarities and differences within the city. Furthermore, this theme also looks into the identity of different people who are being photographed. 

Further Ideas - People at Work

People at Work

As I am moving away from the idea of drag culture, I want to look at other types of people I can represent in a different way. I like the idea of looking at where different people work and photographing them in this environment. 

A photographer I have started to look at is Brian Doben, who is an American photographer known for a series titled At Work. This series consists of portraits of people at work to "show and appreciate what others have done and what they do and what they love to do".

I love these examples above by Doben due to the colours used and how each image has its own set of colours that match aesthetically. I also like how they portray people enjoying their work and appearing happy in their everyday environments. These images link to the project brief as they represent a person by giving hints of their personality traits and identity through their work, as well as relating to either cultural, social or political positions. 

Furthermore, to explore this idea further I would take images of employees or managers in local shops whilst they are working, for example someone arranging flowers in a florist, in order to convey how different people enjoy their jobs and what they are doing. 

Elevator Pitch

Elevator Pitch 

Drag culture idea final from amygillespie12345

This is an elevator pitch I created based around my idea of drag culture. This includes artist examples, a brief description and some test shots that I experimented with. This allowed me to look at how the images would be Edited together, as well as the style I would use. However, I am not 100% happy with this test shot as I don't like they layout that I have used. I also don't like how the image behind looks out of place therefor, I am going to look into a different way of approaching this project and theme, as well as looking at different themes I am interested in. 

Ideas for Drag Culture

Ideas for Drag Culture 

As I have many ideas on how to approach my chosen theme for my photographic essay, I decided to create a mind map in order to look at all of my ideas on paper. 

For my first experiment, I have decided I am going to take two images of a drag king and overlay these using Adobe Photoshop. I want one image to be of the model with no makeup on and natural facial expressions, and the second image to be with the model in their drag. The second image will be more posed to emphasise the culture and society as a whole. As this is just a test shot I will be using natural lighting and a plain background, however when if I decide to carry on with this idea I will be using a portrait studio set up. 

Inspirational Photographers - Blake Bergen

Blake Bergen

Now that I have chosen to focus on the drag culture in the city of Brighton, I have started to look into different photographers I find inspiring to my own work. Blake Bergen is a photographer who's main focus is capture the personality of his subjects, as well as commenting on some of his interests which include ; international and domestic politics, referring to gender and LGBTQ issues. 

Here are some examples of his work: 

I find these images inspirational due to the different technical lighting set ups that have been used as this is something I am interested in using. If I were to take my images in a studio set up I would want to experiment with both high key and low key lighting in order to create different effects. I find the second image interesting because of the use of the shallow depth of field and chosen background. In the background of this image you can see why looks like a corridor of a work place, and this links to the subjects costume worn. The contrast with this and their makeup creates connotations for the viewer that suggest that this drag queen has a day job in the military, however dressing as drag may be their hobby. 

Vernacular Photography

Vernacular Photography 

Here is a presentation my group and I did on vernacular photography:

Vernacular photography from amygillespie12345

Brighton Photo Biennial 16

Brighton Photo Biennial 16

The Brighton Photo Biennial brings international and UK based photographers to Brighton and Hove to show exhibitions for a month. This editions theme is 'Beyond the Bias- Reshaping Image' and this focuses on understandings and identity of personal image that is influences by fashion and style photography. The exhibitions draw attention to subjects such as sexuality, gender, representation of the body and politics of style. 

"Identity and self-representation are explored in relation to the wider context of mass-representation; where self-image and attitude are often co-opted. Including work from documentary photographers and photographic approaches that knowingly reference the language of fashion and style photography, BPB16 unpicks understandings of image and self-image in relation to society" 1

I visited two of the pop-up exhibitions on Jubilee Street titled Our City, How do we Look? and State of Control.

The description for the exhibition: 

"Four photography students from the University of Brighton (Chynna Guyat, Jennifer Jackson, Judith Ricketts and Sophia Wöhleke) have been photographing people and places across Brighton & Hove. Responding to Biennial themes, their work investigates the life and style of our city, exploring the politics of age, gender and representation, and the industry of fashion." 2

1.http://2016.bpb.org.uk/about/this-years-festival/

2. http://2016.bpb.org.uk/event/ourcityhowdowelook/