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/

Street Photography Task

Street Photography Task

Today I went into Brighton with my DSLR camera to take some street photography images in order to get used to using the camera on manual mode. 

This is my contact sheet:

Here are some of the images I took:

I enjoy street photography as when you look through your images you notice small elements that the everyday eye would miss. For example, different facial expressions and body language. I wanted to take images of a diverse range of people and I believe that I succeeded in doing this. These images link to the brief as for the photographic essay as they create and portray an identity for each person photographed. Parts of someones identity can be suggested by their clothing, or even their facial expressions and how they are acting in public. Taking candid images of these people off-guard connotes these things about them without them realising, therefore making them more relaxed and real.