Category: Part C: Who’s Who?

FINAL IMAGES – VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

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Light and Shadow

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I chose these images as my final 4 as they are by far the most effective images. The urban feel from the abandoned bus station and the black and white effect gives the images an interesting and mysterious feel to them, and the desaturation also makes the contrast between the light and shadows stand out. I also think these images have visual impact when you look at them for the above reasons.

 

Everyday Geometry

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The reason I chose the above images for this assignment was because they are the most accurate of the images I have produced; it’s incredibly difficult to get these kind of images 100% perfect, but I feel that these are as close as it gets. I also really like the impact these images have from the bright coloured backgrounds which compliment the colours of the subjects themselves, thanks to using the colour wheel for reference. Biscuits are also a less obvious subject choice than fruit, and I feel that the variety in compositions compliment each other well.

 

Who’s Who

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These images are my final 4 because the concept of “what makes us unique” got me really intrigued and I feel like my results were so successful because of this genuine interest in the concept. I also feel like the extreme close-ups provide a unique perspective to the assignment that other people may not have produced, as it is easy to look at this brief and take a standard, stereotypical “portrait” image of the person’s face and shoulders, and I wanted to produce something more bold and with a deeper meaning. I also think the black and white effect combined with the close-up composition make the images feel very intimate and beautiful to look at.

 

Printing these images was a difficult task to understand at first, but after I got the hang of it I really enjoyed seeing my images printed in a physical copy in front of me. I chose Permajet Matte paper in 285gsm and Royal Gloss in 310gsm to create a professional feeling thickness and quality to the paper, to avoid them being flimsy or low quality. I chose Matte paper for the Light and Shadow images as I felt like avoiding the glare from glossy papers would show up more of the details and shadows in the images more successfully. I then chose the Royal Gloss paper for Everyday Geometry so that the shiny, glossy effect would further make the bright colours stand out and really make them pop, and the same paper type for Who’s Who to give the black and white images an even more luxurious feel and make the intimate details on the subject’s face really stand out. I ensured that each set of 4 images was placed in the exact same place on each page to successfully communicate they are part of a set, and used a slightly different composition for each set to keep them separate from each other. I used a white border around the edges to frame them and make further use of the space on the page.

What Makes Us Unique – VISUAL DEVELOPMENT – Who’s Who

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After a recent group tutorial, I expressed my concerns to my tutor Rick about the Who’s Who assignment; I have anxiety and am very shy and nervous around new people, therefore I have really been struggling to approach strangers and ask to take their picture for this assignment. I have made numerous attempts and trips with the intention to take these kind of images, such as around the university campus and in Manchester city centre, but each time I have unfortunately been unable to produce any images. Therefore, Rick very kindly said that if I absolutely couldn’t approach strangers, then I was able to photograph friends and family if it made me feel more at ease. Although my images were successful from the scheduled workshop where we approached people on campus in a group, I was told that using this images for my final pieces would appear lazy and would give the wrong impression that I hadn’t undertaken any work on this assignment in my own time, therefore I was determined to get some more visual development images produced.

With this in mind, I reverted back to my previously made Pinterest boards to find inspiration for a shoot for this assignment, this time using familiar faces as the subject. The idea that stood out to me the most was a series of square images which are very close-up to the person’s face; effective images of the person’s unique facial features such as eyes, nose, hair, lips and unique markings on the skin such as moles, scars and veins. I instantly knew that this idea would make a perfect set for my final four images as each image would tie in with the next, and I find the concept so fascinating of how each person on this planet has their own unique, individual features that are nothing like anybody else’s; they are a combination of two individual’s features, and even though many people have siblings or twins, still no two people are exactly alike.

Below are some examples of the work that inspired me and the kind of thing that I aspired to produce:

 

I thought that it would be interesting to photograph more than one person to not only choose the most successful results, but also to explore in more depth the individuality between two very different kinds of people, varying in both age and gender.

My first subject was my mum, an “older” female who would give a unique perspective for her demographic. I chose to heavily photograph her eyes as she has a very rare condition called “Heterochromia” where the iris in her eyes are two different colours: one green, and one blue, although this does not affect her vision. This added further depth to my project as I was producing results that were showcasing a very unique trait. I also photographed her hair as it is a less common hairstyle, and people often say that they can recognise her from far away or remember her simply due to her unique hairstyle. I also tried to photograph some of the unique markings on the side of her face, such as a blue mark that also isn’t often seen.

Here are the original images:

 

The next day, I chose to photograph my boyfriend who would provide a completely different perspective from a young, male point of view. We have been dating for a long time and therefore I also felt more comfortable taking intimate photos of his face, and I feel that the romantic connection also provides me with a deeper insight into what makes him unique, as I often admire his individual features when looking at him. I chose to photograph his eyes as they are often known as “the windows to the soul” and everyone has unique eyes, his being a beautiful shade of brown. I also photographed his hands as each person has their own individual fingerprints and prints on their hands, and people often say that you can tell a lot about a person from their hands. Other features I photographed were unique markings such as moles, scars and veins in the arms. I also focused on his beard and hair as these are both ways that people choose to express themselves and show who they are through their appearance.

These were the results:

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Then, I edited the images of my boyfriend as I felt like these were more successful. I chose to make them black and white so that they would clearly appear to make a set of images that all belong together, and cropped them into squares to focus more closely on the individual features being photographed, and remove any distracting backgrounds. I think that I will choose my final images from these photographs.

Manchester Shoot – VISUAL DEVELOPMENT – Everyday Geometry & Who’s Who

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This trip was originally planned with the intention to take more images for the Who’s Who assignment, outside of our scheduled workshops. Myself and 3 other students from the course decided to make a day trip into Manchester city centre, with the idea that asking strangers for a photograph would be easier in a larger and busier environment as nobody would know who we were, and we thought that this would make the process less daunting or embarrassing. However, despite my best efforts I was unfortunately still too anxious to approach people, as everyone was in a rush and too busy with their own lives and I found it too daunting to stop people and be an inconvenience to their day; I was also worried about how people would react to having their photo taken by a complete stranger. My fellow students also felt the same way.

However, we still made the most of this trip and found many different examples of geometry and shapes for the Everyday Geometry assignment. This trip around the city really opened my eyes to the amount of shapes and geometrical patterns that surround us every day, many of them which we don’t even notice. Benches, buildings and installations on walls were all items that we found to have geometrical shapes and these images all greatly inspired me for this assignment. Although I won’t use these images as my final pieces as they aren’t all flat lay or my own unique compositions, they have still influenced my thoughts and the direction I will take with this assignment.

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Portrait Practice – VISUAL DEVELOPMENT – Who’s Who

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On the same day as the Light and Shadow shoot at Teggs Nose, I also asked my friend if she would mind if I practiced taking her portrait to allow myself to get out of my comfort zone by photographing a person, while still photographing someone familiar, which made me more comfortable. The results from this shoot are only small, but I feel this was still an important step to making me more comfortable with the idea of photographing people, as this is something I have never done before. I tried to get the beautiful countryside landscape in the background, while creating a shallow depth of field to ensure the main focus of the image is still on the subject. I think the second picture is more successful because it shows more engagement between the photographer and the subject.

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Brandon Woelfel – RESEARCH – Who’s Who

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Brandon Woelfel is a modern day freelance photographer who gained sudden fame through social media, currently holding over 1.5 million followers on Instagram and over 400 thousand followers on Twitter. He is based in New York, and in 2016 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Art at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

His beautifully unique style is described as “vibrant” and “luminescent” and is rich in pink and light blue hues, with a prominent use of bokeh and shallow depth of field. He also uses props such as umbrellas, fairy lights and colourful smoke bombs to create aesthetically pleasing images; he often chooses pretty and effective backgrounds for his portraiture, such as illuminated streets and cityscapes, to flower bushes and neon signs. This inspires me to think creatively about the backgrounds of my portraits and consider using similar locations for my shoots, rather than using plain and simple backgrounds.

But it’s not just his incredible use of lighting and colour that make his images successful – there’s also a unique intimacy to his portraiture, where everything feels authentic and the bond between photographer and subject can clearly be seen. Brandon is described as “such an expert at putting his subjects at ease that he becomes close friends with many of them and repeatedly uses these new friends in new shoots.” This interests me as art can connect people that may otherwise never have met or spoken to each other.

Other than creating breathtaking images, Woelfel’s work also has a deeper purpose:

“Photography and art have a huge impact on the world,” Brandon says. “Communicating across various cultures, we’re able to break through language barriers and share our experiences through images. I think it’s important to note that if you truly love what you do, then achievements will follow. Working every day to realize that you can always improve will keep you ahead of the game.”

– Brandon Woelfel

 

Below are some of Brandon’s portraits that inspire me:

Pinterest Boards – RESEARCH

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To help inspire me and generate some more ideas for my assignments, I took to Pinterest to look at other people’s photos that may positively influence my work. I have saved a wide variety of examples for each assignment to look at whenever I need motivation and ideas. Pinterest is a very creative platform, therefore I chose this website to create my mood boards because it is most effective at helping me generate creative thoughts, with the added bonus that there are useful articles attached to some of the images with handy photography tips, such as successful poses for portrait photography.

 

Light and Shadow

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I find the images of buildings and fences on this board very interesting and they are similar to the work I produced in my previous photoshoot for the Light and Shadow assignment in Hanley in the abandoned bus station. Moving forward, I also find the images with reflections very intriguing and this was one of my initial thoughts for this project. I may take this direction next and see how successful the outcome is. Reflections can be found in many places such as bodies of water, windows and reflective surfaces such as the pair of glasses above. I also like the idea of the shadows on the wall which interact with the physical subjects in the images above, such as the woman watching the scary movie on the sofa.

 

Everyday Geometry

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I found a lot of inspiration for this assignment as I was particularly struggling to find ideas for what to photograph, due to the 2cm height limit for the images and the flat lay style. From this research, I have decided to separately photograph slices of fruit, some pencils and some biscuits that will all be below 2cm and will be placed on coloured card to create an aesthetically pleasing background, especially when the colour of the subjects contrast against them. The items themselves will be shaped geometrically, but I will also arrange them in other shapes to further carry the theme through the images. Fruit is particularly interesting because there are natural shapes hidden within them, such as inside kiwis, lemons and limes. I was also inspired to look for more geometric shapes around me within daily life, such as buildings and in the objects we use around the house daily.

 

Who’s Who?

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This mood board is a mixture of aesthetically pleasing images and ones that hold a deeper meaning, such as the old gentleman looking into the mirror with the reflection of his younger self. I like the idea of having a deep meaning behind my images, as I would like to use photography to communicate ideas and get people thinking. However I also like the idea of not having to include any deeper meaning, and simply produce images because they look nice. I think adding a deeper meaning to my images may be more difficult for this assignment as I am required to photograph people I don’t know, and therefore I don’t know their stories. I am initially very nervous and shy about approaching people, so I will experiment with taking simple, pretty images and see how much my confidence grows. Very effective images can still be made, simply by using an effective background or location.

Portraits on Campus Workshop – VISUAL DEVELOPMENT – Who’s Who

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Last week we undertook a workshop with our tutor Rick; this involved us taking portraits of other students around the university campus. I found this task really challenging as I’m a very shy person, therefore I found it very daunting to approach complete strangers and ask to take their picture. My fellow students and I faced quite a few set backs as a number of people we stopped didn’t want their picture taken; however a handful of kind people were happy to stop for a photo opportunity.

When taking and composing our images, we had to ensure a strong focus on choosing an effective, suitable background: a brick wall, a door painted a beautiful blue colour, and a simple white wall were some of the backgrounds I used for my images. These backgrounds and walls had interesting textures which are visible in the images, without overpowering the subject. We also had to take into consideration the shutter speed, aperture and ISO for each location, to ensure an appropriate and effective exposure. I found this task very helpful for practicing changing the settings on my camera and learning how to read the exposure meter.

This is a slideshow of contact sheets from the workshop:

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Next, I narrowed down these images by choosing the best ones and opened them up in Camera Raw, to adjust settings such as the white balance, lens corrections and exposure, and making sure none of the whites or blacks were clipping. Once these settings were correct, I opened some of the images in Photoshop to make any necessary adjustments, such as cropping and straightening any vertical lines. I also used the spot healing tool to blur out some imperfections and distracting marks on the walls in the background.

Here are the final edited images:

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Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton – RESEARCH – Who’s Who

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“Humans of New York began as a photography project in 2010.  The initial goal was to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers on the street, and create an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants.”

– Brandon Stanton

Stanton’s project, Humans of New York, involves photographing strangers and everyday people on the streets of New York. After a while, he began to interview his subjects in addition to photographing them, including quotes and short stories from their lives alongside their photographs, which he publishes on his blog and in two bestselling books, Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories. The blog now has over twenty million followers on social media; due to its success, it has also expanded to tell the stories of people from over twenty different countries, giving the audience a daily insight into the lives of strangers and people on the streets. I think this concept is really interesting as every single person on this earth has their own unique story, and it’s intriguing to see how our own lives differ or are similar to people from completely different backgrounds and countries, that we would otherwise know nothing about. I also feel that adding these captions and stories adds another dimension to the portrait photographs, as you are not only seeing the person’s outward appearance, but also learning something about their lives and personalities, too.

Below are some examples of Stanton’s work from this series:

Assignment 1: Initial Thoughts

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This assignment excites me because I am free to be as creative as possible; the subject matter is completely open, meaning the possibilities are endless and I can interpret each subject in any way I like. However, this can also be daunting because it can be hard to decide where to start, or which ideas to take forwards. Furthermore, I think this assignment will help further develop my photographic eye by encouraging me to explore how light affects and changes the things around me, and how this can communicate different things to the viewer.

Part A: Light and Shadow

This subject excites me the most because it is so broad and I feel like it allows the most freedom and creativity. I would like my images for this subject to have depth and evoke feelings and emotions from the viewer. Shadows are effective in creating a certain mood or atmosphere, possibly with a sinister feel; whereas bright, white lighting is associated with more positive, happy feelings. I plan to experiment with different variations of lighting to see what kind of emotions these evoke, and how lighting affects the shadows. I can also use light and shadow to create visually pleasing images, as not all photography must have a particular idea or concept behind it; spontaneous shots can be just as effective!

Part B: Everyday Geometry

The first thing that comes to mind about this subject is food photography. The assignment states that the objects used to create the geometric compositions must be relatively flat and no higher than 2cm; food can be sliced and cut into thin pieces to meet this criteria. Many foods are also already shaped geometrically: donuts, sweets, biscuits, lemons, limes, oranges and berries, to name a few. Many of these items are colourful and therefore I can create some strange and interesting compositions by contrasting them against the background. However, I won’t limit myself to only using foods and will experiment with other everyday objects too. Geometric patterns are often aesthetically pleasing for the viewer, but I may also be able to create some evocative images by experimenting with the light and shadow.

Part C: Who’s Who?

This is another subject that interests and excites me because I am a very open minded person, and I can already imagine lots of different ideas to create evocative images by challenging the way we perceive people, simply by judging their outward appearance. I am required to take pictures of people that I don’t know, which is something very far out of my comfort zone, however I plan to embrace this and I think it will be interesting to learn about new people who maybe I wouldn’t usually speak to. Furthermore, I think it would be really interesting to challenge stereotypes in this part of the assignment; I could juxtapose a photograph showing the image we create of people from the way they dress or look, alongside an image portraying the “real” person and their true personality, which may be the complete opposite of the initial assumption of the person. Another idea would be to take a natural photo of people in the street, and ask them for an interesting or unusual fact about themselves that nobody else would know. This may also create a juxtaposition and get the viewer thinking about how the image we create about someone based on their appearance isn’t necessarily who they truly are.

Next, I plan to create some Pinterest boards to find some examples similar to the ideas I already have, and also find some inspiration for other ideas I could pursue. I will also research into some artists and photographers who inspire my work and work in similar ways themselves, and begin my visual development by undertaking practice shoots to experiment with my ideas.

PHOT40106 / VISUAL COMMUNICATION, JADE WARD, SUPPORTING WORK: Introduction

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This assignment is split into three parts:

  • Part A: Light and Shadow
  • Part B: Everyday Geometry
  • Part C: Who’s Who?

I must create four images for each part of the assignment. I must use composition, colour, tone, light and shadow effectively within my images, to show an understanding and awareness of these elements and create observed and controlled images.

This blog will include all of my supporting work: including Visual Development and Research. I will use the ‘Categories’ feature to categorise each post according to the three parts of the assignment listed above; I will also use the ‘Tags’ feature to state what kind of post I am creating (visual development or research). These will be accessible via the Footer at the bottom of the page and will help organise the blog and make it easier to read and mark.