Photoshoot 1 Straight Images

I took this image because I liked how the lights stand out against the darker colours. Also, I like how we are not just looking at the hotel as there are trees included in the shot which adds effect to the image. I was interested in taking this image because the hotel is situated on a corner rather than straight on a road, the fact that it is on a corner gives the image a lot of depth of field because we can see deep down the left side of the hotel. I think this represents the topic of London well because when we walk around there are several different hotels that all look different.

I took this image because I liked how the tunnel appears as dull and dark but the graffiti around the outside brings it to life more. This graffiti tunnel is located in the nicer areas of London which confuses us because we don't relate these sort of scenes in posher and upper class places. I was interested in taking this image because it straight away took my attention because of the bright colours. Also, I like how this can be perceived as a deserted area because of the greenery hanging down and the lack of cleanliness. I think it represents London well because it shows the areas that people might not think of straight away.

I took this image because I wanted to capture Big Ben but in a different way to the stereotypical pictures of it alongside the Houses of Parliament. I was interested in taking this image because I wanted to incorporate other buildings and the road as well as Big Ben. Although there is a lot going on in this image the main focus of Big Ben is still visible and clear. I think this represents London well because it shows a main landmark and what is happening around it on a normal day. 

I took this image because I wanted to capture the importance that this building showed and how it stands out against everything else. Although this building is not famous at all and is just a hotel I was interested in how it is made to look important and stands out against all the traffic which is passing by. The fact that this is a hotel shows us that hotels in London are made to stand out and have some importance because everyone looks different and is different.

I took this image because I wanted to capture the importance of the Big Ben. I think it helps in this instance that some of the Houses of Parliament is existent in this image because it makes Big Ben stand out more as it dominates over the building. I think the colour of the sky adds effect to the image, the fact that is is dull makes the buildings stand out. I think this represents London well because it is a famous landmark and it stands out as it is well known.

Photoshoot 1 Work Diary

Evaluation
I went around London and took images of several different places and things that displayed London well. Some of these images proved to work as I liked others weren't as good as others.

  

I chose to take this image of telephone boxes because they have an element of importance to London and have a significant meaning. The fact that they were on a dull street made me want to take a photo because they stand out against the dull colours. When you are walking down this street they catch your attention immediately because of their bright colour.

 

I chose to take this image of a man busking because this also has an element of importance to London because when you walk around London there are people busking and making money from their talents everywhere. The fact that there is a bus going past in the background adds a great effect to this image because it makes the man stand out a bit more. This image also relates to Henri-Cartier Bresson because this photo uses the decisive moment as I had to take the image at the right time to be able to capture the bus at the time.

 

This image didn't work as well as I would've liked it too, I wanted to capture the floor drawings but the angle that I have taken it at hasn't worked out well. To improve this image I could've taken it at a different angle so that the image would've turned out better and the cones and bags wouldn't be present in the photo. I wanted to take this image because it shows street art which shows importance in London because there are a lot of people who do street art.

Progression

To progress these images further I took some images and put them into Photoshop to edit them.

   

To edit this image I cropped out the unwanted parts to focus in more on the graffiti, also I increased the brightness and the saturation which made the graffiti colours brighter and stand out more. The edited version of this image is better because it attracts our attention slightly more than the original image does because it is brighter and more colourful. To improve this image further I could make it duller because this would give a different meaning to the image and make it seem more eerie.

      

To edit this image I increased the yellow tint of the image which made the more natural light stand out more, I also increased the effect of the shadows slightly along with increasing the intensity of the blacks. Also, I reduced the effect of the highlight and increased the intensity of the while colour. Finally, I decreased the clarity of the image. By editing the image in this way the blur of the bus stands out more and so does the man. I think the edited photo grasps our attention more than the original image because there are more colours and it is brighter. I could edit this in several different ways such as making it black and white.

   

To edit this image I made the sky and the road darker to create a night time effect. Also, I brightened the buildings and the traffic to make them stand out. I also sharpened everything and cropped out the left side to avoid the building work. I think the edited version is better as everything stands out a bit more and looks better if it was night. In the original image the sky is dull and grey so I wanted to change it to make the mood better, although the edited version is dark it still displays a lot of colour and lights. To progress this image further I could've tried to make it look brighter and like day time rather than night time.

   

To edit this image I increased the exposure of the whole the image which makes the blue in the sky stand out more and the building in the left hand corner seems less dark. I also increased the sharpness of the image to make the branches stand out more. I think the edited version of this image appears better because it is brighter and more colourful. By making this image more colourful and brightening the mood it makes the famous icon stand out more. I could've edited it differently by making it duller and maybe look a bit eerie by darkening the sky and trees.

Lauren Greenfield Documentary

Lauren Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield was born in 1966 in the USA. As well as being a photographer she was also a film director. Her photography shows many aspects of pressured of life and the struggle to be a girl. The fact that she has experience in the film industry shows us that she has see the struggles of the girls on tv that have to be perfect. I think her work in film has influenced her photography. As well as publishing images of girls and their struggles she also has pictures of other people and their pressures.

Photography

This photo shows girls lining up to be measured. In this image Greenfield is documenting what it is like to be a girl and having to be a particular size. The fact that she has photographed girls that aren't that skinny and pretty shows us that she is trying to document real girls and not edited versions of girls that we are used to seeing. It links to a vision where we have to look a certain way to be perfect.

As well as photographing girls and their pressures she also photographs boys as we can see in the photo. This can also link to the pressures of life because we are used to seeing boys and men with muscles and chiseled figures. The fact that she has taken pictures of boys that we wouldn't normally see on the front of magazines or on the tv shows that along with the girls she wants to show what real boys look like. 

This links to the pressures of life again because it is showing young girls changing their appearances so they can look good. Instead of showing unedited people in this image she has shown what typical girls have to go through to look how society perceives them as attractive and pretty. These girls look young so she can also be showing us that the society influences these girls at a young age.

Progression

I can use Greenfield's ideas in my work because I can show pressures of life, for example the use of make-up. 

Photoshoot 1 Contact Sheet

Documentary Image Bank

I chose this image because it documents the journey of the man on the bike. As well as showing documentary it also has aspects of movement in it because the man on the bike is shown as a motion blur. I think this image makes us think a lot because we want to know how it was captured as the picture would've had to be taken at the right moment. As well as documenting the path of the cyclist it also shows the path that the photographer would be taking as we can see the steps. I can use elements of this in my work by including movement in my documentary photos and also including some of the other primary elements.

I chose this image because it documents a story. We can see that this man must be part of the war and he is wearing a uniform and holding a gun. We begin to feel sorry for the man because his face is filled with fear. The fact that his shoulders are hunched over could show that he is trying to protect himself by trying to make himself small. This image caught my attention because it makes us want to know more about him and more about the war. I can use ideas from this photo in my work by using portraiture to document someones life.

I chose this image because it documents the lives of these girls. We can link this image to popularity and the pressures of being a girl. These girls are all thin and pretty which makes us instantly think that they are probably the popular girls. It represents the pressures to be pretty and skinny because it is showing 4 popular girls who look like they are enjoying the camera whereas other girls may not relate to this. I can use elements of this in my work because I can take pictures of different people and document their lives compared to other people.

I chose this image because it documents the pressures of being a certain size and having certain features. This image also relates to what it is like being a girl because they are being measured which puts pressure on them to be a certain size. This image represents the life of a model because they have to be a certain size to be a model. I like this image because it draws my attention as we want to know what's going on in the image, we want to know why they are doing this. I can use ideas from this picture by incorporating meanings into my images.

I chose this image because it documents the life that this girl lives. This image shows us a young girl with a cigarette, her posture looks like she should be older like the way she is dressed and the way she is holding the cigarette. It documents the lives that some children are forced to live. It can also represent the pressures of a girl because she is trying to act older than her years. I can use elements of this image in my work because I can document different types of children and the lives that they have to live.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Context
Born on August 22nd in Chanteloup, Seine-et-Marne. Educated at the Lycée Condorcet, Paris in 1908. He travelled around the world and visited countries that were less wealthy then other main countries. He visited countries like Mexico. This corresponds with his work because he takes picture of urban streets and of people who are less wealthy than other people. He also captures the difference between the poor and richer people. He was also greatly influenced by surrealist artists which can be seen in his work because he also photographs peoples shadows. In more than 40 years as a photographer, Cartier-Bresson wandered continually around the world. But there was nothing compulsive about his travels, and he explicitly expressed a desire to move slowly, to “live on proper terms” in each country, to take his time, so that he became totally immersed in the environment. This can be displayed in his work because he can really grasp the aspect of the feelings of the different people. 

The Decisive Moment

He pioneered the genre of street photography, and conceived of photography as capturing a decisive moment. "To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organisation of forms which give that event its proper expression." The decisive moment is the time when you decide to take the picture to create what you wanted.

Photography

This image relates to the decisive moment because to capture this image he would've had to get the bike at the right time to capture the bike going past. It also relates to the context of Cartier-Bresson because he wanted to capture real life take pictures without having big set-up, this is shown in this image because this isn't taken in a studio or set up he has captured this at a decisive moment. The fact that he has taken this in a real street also shows us that he wanted to document real lives and the real world.

This image also shows the decisive moment because he would have to get the timing right to capture the woman giving the fish to the man. This also relates to the fact that he wanted to capture real life because he's showing what happens in this street. It tells a story of the woman and how she earns a living by selling these fish, she looks poor so this is the only way she can make money. This image captures this woman's life and makes us read more into the life she is living and I think this is what Cartier-Bresson was trying to portray.

This image can also be linked to the decisive moment because he would've had to time it right to capture the movements of the people. It can also link to the fact that he wanted to capture real life because he has captured the lives of poor people and in this picture he is showing richer and wealthier people. We can tell that they are richer people because they have a boat and the way they are dressed, for example the man is wearing a top hat. We can see that Cartier-Bresson is trying to express the lives of the rich people.

Progression

In my work I will use ideas from his images such as expressing different people's lives, the richer and the poorer people. Also I can use his idea of the decisive moment by taking an image at the right time to express the meaning throughout the picture.

Peter Menzel and John Travis

Peter Menzel

Context
Peter J. Menzel (born February 7, 1948) is an American freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of scientific and technological subjects. He travelled the world and went to different corners of the world, to richer and poorer countries to photograph families. Menzel captured the different possessions that each family had and showed the different between the richer and poorer countries. As well as showing the different possession they had in relation to rich people and poorer people he also displayed the different cultures in different countries by what they looked like and what they own. 

Photography

This picture was taken in Somalia. We can tell that this is a poor country because the house the family is living in is not a stable or luxury house, it looks like it is going to fall down. Although the family seems poor they have a lot of traditional and religious things, this makes us think that this may be a very traditional and religious country. I think Menzel would've wanted to photograph this family because although they are in a poor country and look like a poor family it is visible to us that they care a lot about their religion.

This photograph was taken in the USA. We can tell that this is a more wealthier country because not only is their house stable and big the houses surrounding it are too. By looking at the possessions they have in their house they seem like a wealthy family who are more focused by the luxuries in life as they have a piano and a tv for example. I think Menzel would've wanted to photograph this family because he wanted to capture how many Americans live as the majority live like this.

This photograph was taken in Japan. We can tell that this is the poorer part of the country by the lack of possessions they have. When we think of Japan we associate them with technology but this gives us a different interpretation as we realise that different parts of Japan may be wealthier than others. I think that Menzel would've wanted to photograph this family because he wanted to show that what we originally think about Japan is wrong.

Progression
I can use Menzel's ideas in my work because I can photograph different types of people such as poorer and wealthier people. 

John Travis
There wasn't much to say about this photographer so I cannot relate any context to his work. However, I was attracted to his work so I would like to use his ideas in my work.

Photography

These are some of John Travis's work, I like how he takes photo's of the person and their possessions and edits both the pictures together. This is a good way to represent them and their possessions because by having two separate pictures we can link the object with the person easier. 

Documentary Definition

Documentary Photography

Documentary photography follows a single topic or story in-depth over time, as opposed to photojournalism’s real-time coverage of breaking news and events. By deepening our understanding and emotional connection to stories of injustice, documentary photography can capture and sustain public attention, and mobilize people around pressing social and human rights issues. 

This image represents documentary photography because it represents several different meanings. It tells us a story by showing the boy trapped behind the barbed wire. This can represents war and starvation because the barbed wire represents war and the fact that he is so skinny shows he is starving. I think this image represents documentary well because it allows us to read into the picture.