Representation References

Books:

1. De L’Ecotais,E. And Sayag, A (1998) Man Ray: Photography and its Double. London: Laurence King Publishing
2. Lange,D., Coles, R. and Heyman, T. (1996) Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a lifetime. New York,NY: Aperture
3. Leibovitz, A (2008). Annie Leibovitz At Work. London: Johnathan Cape. 180-189.
4. Leiter, S and Kozloff, M (2008) Saul Leiter. London: Thames & Hudson
5. Londei, J (2007).Shutting Up Shop: The Decline of the Traditional Small Shop. London: Dewi Lewis Ltd. 20-25
6. Mann,S (1993) Sally Mann: Immediate Family. London: Phaidon Press
7. Michalski, S (2003).New Objectivity Midsize. Germany: Taschen GmbH. Page 180.
8. Sander, A. (1990) Andtlitz der Zeit:sechzig Aufnahmen deutscher Menschen des 20.Jahrundrets. Munich: Schirmer/Mosel Verlag GmbH
9. Sontag, S (2001).Women. London: Random House. 22-23.
10. Tillmans, W (2002).Schirmer’s Visuelle Bibliothek. London: Distrubuted Art Publishers. 6-7.

Journals:

1. Coffey,M. (2013). Humans of New York’ storms bestseller list. BestSellers. 260 (1), 10-11
2. Conley,K. (2003). Model Life. The New Yorker. 78 (3), 68-69.
3. Delaney, J. (2012). Hoboken Passing. British Journal of Photography. 159 (1), 18-19.
4. Londe, J. (2008). Shutting Up Shop. Shutting Up Shop: The Decline of the Traditional Small Shop. 15 (3), 65-66
5. Mann,S. (2001). Photographer: Sally Mann. Time. 158 (1), 76-77.
6. Mortram,J. (2013) Ones To Watch. British Journal of Photography.160 (2), 50-51
7. Papo, R. (2012). Desperately Perfect. The Women’s review of books. 29 (1), 16-17.
8. Pimenoff,V. (2012). The Dark Collection. British Journal of Photography. 159 (2), 22-23.
9. Sheikh,F. (2007). Photographs. TriQuarterly. 131 (1), 128-129
10. Wright, T. (2012). Night Photography. British Journal of Photography. 159 (3), 50-51.

Exhibitions:

1. McClure,R. and McCabe,E. (2014) Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2014. United Kingdom: National Portrait Gallery Publications
2. Muir, (2014)The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. Exhibited London: The National Portrait Gallery. (viewed: 14th February 2015).
3. Trompeteler,H. (2014) Snowdon, A Life in View. Exhibited London: The National Portrait Gallery. (viewed: 14th February 2015).

Websites:

1.  http://www.rachelpapo.com/about.html
2. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/04/skateistan-jessica-fulford-dobson/
3. https://www.saatchigallery.com/current/skate_girls_of_kabul.php
4. John Londei Photography. 2013.Shops. [ONLINE] Available at :http://www.johnlondei.co.uk/index.php?filename=index. [Accessed 01 March 15].
5. National Portrait Gallery. 2014.The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.npg.org.uk/photoprize1/site14/index.php. [Accessed 15 February 15].
6. Orlan. 2013.Bibliography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.orlan.eu/biography/ (Last Accessed 23 January 15).
7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Eugène Pelletan. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1991.1198. [Accessed 24 January 15].

Choosing My Images

During this project, I’ve had the opportunity to interpret portraiture in my own way. Over the course of this unit, I have been experimenting and trying out various ideas. After looking into many photographers, and done a number of photo shoots, my main idea was to look at people and their work places. Originally, I was going to look at people and a hobby of theirs which represents them the most. However after brainstorming ideas and thinking about different environments could be used in portraiture, I decided to go for the work environment.

As time went on during this unit I was able to print a few work prints from the photo shoots then decided which image I felt would best fit in as my final image. Below are the three main images which I printed bigger.

As I gathered all of my contact sheets and work prints, I decided to choose the image which I felt best represented the title and worked out best compared to the others. My final image is the work print displayed on the left. I chose this image out of everything else because I shot it differently compared to the rest. I thought more about this photo shoot and the way I wanted the employee to stand.  When you look at the photo up close, you can see the depth of field where I had the employee to be the main focus, making the work place blurred and not stand out as much.

Overall, I thought it was tough to choose one final image out of all the photo shoots that I had shot previously. However, If I had to do portraits again, I would look at different photographers who focus on their personal lives such as Sally Mann or combine old photographs against newer ones and merge them together such as photographers Bobby Neel Adams or Ulric Collette.

John Delaney : Hoboken Passing

”One thing that really emerges from the images is the dense texture and detail in the backgrounds, which are just captivating as the characters ”. This quote stood out to me the most whilst reading through some of John Delaney’s work.

When looking through a photographers work, I tend look at the images first before reading the text. However, as I was going through the British Journal of Photography, I noticed the quote above.  John Delany is a photography who I recently came across whilst reading the British Journal of Photography. Hoboken Passing is the series of photographs which I have been looking at and came across the image below. The Hoboken Passing is about Delaney exploring the survivors from of a neighbourhood transition. Identity and uniqueness is what John Delaney described this as.

Looking at the image below has opened my eyes since reading the quote the John Delaney said. When looking at portraiture, I tend to have my main focus on the person in the picture rather than the background. Nonetheless, I still look at the background to help me identify more about the person who is being photographed.

The image below is simply yet interesting. The use of colour that have been shown represent the image well as it is set in an American diner. I feel that when Delaney took the image at the time, the person wasn’t prepared for their photo to be taken . However, I personally find the unexpected image can turn out better than what you’ve planned to do.

A number of images that John Delaney has taken has helped me to develop my own work and think about what I could change and do next time If I had to do another photo shoot.

Hoboken Passing: The Hoboken Originals

Reference: Delaney, J. (2012). Hoboken Passing. British Journal of Photography. 159 (1), 18-19.

August Sander

August Sander is one of many artists who I have come across towards the end of the project. He is known for being a German portrait and documentary photographer alongside landscape,architecture and street photography. As well as that, he also released his own book, Face of Our Time in 1929. Sander started getting into photography by assisting another photographer who was working for a mining company at the time. With the help of his Uncle, he was eventually able to start gathering equipment and set up his own darkroom. Unfortunately during World War II (1942) he had to move to a rural area away from Cologne, saving most of his negatives he had shot before. However, his darkroom was destroyed in 1944 due to bomb raid.

He had many ideas with the work he was doing, then eventually got the idea to document people around him a series of portraits. As I researched into Sander’s work, one of his images caught my attention the most which was ‘ Pastrycook’, shot in 1928 which was also a part of Sander’s series, ‘ Man of the Twentieth Century’.

The reason for admiring the image is the simplicity of it overall. The image took place in a workplace which is what I have been looking for the project. The lighting of the image caught my attention the most in the photograph. The person who is being photographed stood out to August Sander because of the similar shapes. With the Chef’s round head, it is mirrored into the pot that he is stirring as well as his stomach being so round.

Pastry Cook, Cologne, 1928

Looking at the chef, the direct attention went to his figure. Wearing a white coat against a dark kitchen background caught my eye the most as it is not lit very much, besides from the streak of light beaming on the floorboards. As I came across a number of photographs that he had took, I noticed a common theme which was the way each person in an image was positioned which was standing up. I feel that he wanted to capture people’s full figure and the surrounding of them which presented where they were.

With some of my own images, I have decided to mix it up and experiment different ways I could present that person outside of their work place. I felt it was important to capture the title of a workplace in the image, whether its in front of the shop or wear an item of clothing which shows that they currently work there but are not allowed to be photographed directly outside of the shop.

However, the image of the Chef has given me more ideas for the future and think about what the meaning of the image is about, for example, the shapes that are seen but you wouldn’t notice straight away.

Reference: August Sander. 2012. Biography. Available at: http://augustsander.com/. [Accessed 04 May 15].

Humans Of New York

Humans Of New York has been well known in the last 4-5 years worldwide. It all started off when Brandon Stanton created a blog and Facebook page in 2010, where he started posting a couple of images each day of people he would stop in the streets of New York and photograph them. He then would talk to them about their life, later writing a paragraph about what they said.

I’ve come across many photographers over the years, but coming across ‘Humans Of New York’ on Facebook has opened my eyes when it comes to talking about a stranger’s background. Looking at well known photographers work through books and the internet is interesting. However, with a lot of images we assume what the meaning behind it is about, whereas Brandon Stanton has personally asked strangers on the streets of New York to tell him a couple of lines about their life and what they’ve been through in the past.

A few years after starting the page on Facebook, Stanton now has his own book.

Unique, different and fascinating would be the words to describe his work. Brandon explores different parts of New York to capture certain people who stand out to him. There has even been one or two people who he photographed before and met again!

I personally admire the work that he has done over the years and the way he has presented it. He looks at portraiture in his own way, capturing people up close and from a distance. However, I also felt that looking through a number of his images could help me towards my project as I will also be taking photos of strangers on the streets outside of the shops where they work.

Refrence: Coffey,M. (2013). Humans of New York’ storms bestseller list.BestSellers. 260 (1), 10-11

Exploring Portraiture

Portraiture can be interpreted in many ways in photography. Like the majority of people, it is seen as a simple photo of a person. However, throughout this project, I decided to go beyond that and explore different ways it could be presented as. Many photographers from Man Ray, Sally Mann and John Delaney have inspired me to brainstorm and look into trying new things, looking into the meanings behind a photo.

Ty Wright is one of many photographers who I have recently come across during this project. The work that is produced is different to what I normally look at, so I personally found him interesting. As I looked into his work, I came across one image which caught my eye the most. For some time he has photographed women in brothels which is part of their living and work environment.

” Wright has shot all the images with available light and, with much of the brothel lit with red bulbs,many of the images have a distinctive pink colour cast ”.

From the series, ‘Jade’.

The image above is one of many from his series of Jade.  Wright thinks about the lighting that is used in brothels. As you can tell from the image, they set a particular mood which works well all together. The image overall shows how some women live in this world and what they have to do to get by. Although this is not a close up shot of Jade, but the image is very powerful and it gives people an idea of what is behind closed doors.

Overall, I felt that looking through Ty’s work was inspiration, eye catching and very effective. As I read through some of his work, he talks about the use of lighting for his shots, wanting to capture the natural side of it all which I think worked out better rather than trying to re create a scene in a studio.

Reference: Wright, T. (2012). Night Photography. British Journal of Photography. 159 (3), 50-51.

Rachel Papo

Rachel Papo is an American photographer who was known for being an Air Force photographer at the age of eighteen. Currently living in New York, she works on her own personal projects.

In 2008, she published her first book ‘Serial No. 3817131’ by Powerhouse Books. As well as work being published in a book, she has also had a number of exhibitions including: Contemporary Art in New York, New York City, Serial No. 3817131 – Solo Exhibition, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, California and The Griffin Museum of Photography: Emerging Artist Gallery, Winchester, MA

David Levine, Brooklyn, New York, 2007 — for Maariv, Israel

The image above is one of many which I admire from Papo’s personal work. As I looked through a variety of work based around this series, I felt that this particular images related to the theme I am currently looking at for my own project. This portrait is about capturing a stranger whilst he does his painting. Holding the paintbrushes in the photograph suggests that the man is either in the middle of doing his work or using is as just a prop to show that he is an artist.

The use of lighting in the image caught my eye because it feel natural and captures the true personality of the person being photograph.  I feel that an image like this relates to my project because I have previously been looking at people and their careers as well as an item of which represents them. This image seems to link in which people and their career. Although I don’t know the background of the person who was photographed, it seems to me that being an artist is a part of their job.

References: http://www.rachelpapo.com/about.html

Papo, R. (2012). Desperately Perfect. The Women’s review of books. 29 (1), 16-17.

Jessica Fulford Dobson

Jessica Fulford Dobson is a successful portrait photographer across the world. She has won many awards as well as coming 2nd place in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize in 2014 for her work on ‘Skate Girl’, a series of images where she was located Kabul. Skateistan was created by an Australian skater, Oliver Percovich in 2007. This project brings younger people together through skateboarding in Afganistan.

The idea for this series of work was to capture Afgan girls skating in their local area, back in  2012.  Being able to focus he work around Skate girls gave Jessica access to schools in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.  With Dobson being on her own for this project, she was accepted by the young girls to photograph them. However, being on her own also allowed her to use natural lighting and travel to a number of locations. Although the particular skate park had darker lighting than outside, Jessica personally admired that because she was able to capture the girls natural personalities.

Jessica Fulford Dobson – Skate Girls Of Kabul (2012)

As searched through the series of images based around Skategirl, I felt that all the images stood out to me. The reason for this being is the simplicity of the portraits. The portraits capture the natural beauty of young girls and their hobby which they enjoy to be apart of. The natural lighting works well and looking at the variety of images that Dobson took, the young girls seem pleased to be apart of Skateistan. However, I personally felt that these images could help towards my project because Jessica shot these images in the girl’s living environment, so it relates to the similar theme that I have been looking at throughout this project.

Refrences:

https://www.saatchigallery.com/current/skate_girls_of_kabul.php

Photographer Jessica Fulford-Dobson Captures the Joy of Young Afghan Skateboarders

McClure,R. and McCabe,E. (2014) Taylor Wessing Portait Prize 2014. United Kingdom: National Portrait Gallery Publications

Portraiture Process

A couple of months ago, I have been looking at the way books have been printed and process. During a lesson we had to watch a video on how to make a book with Steidl. This documentary observes Gerhard Steidl,a German entrepreneur who founded this company in 1972, and the famous people he has worked with such as Jeff Wall, Robert Frank and Ed Ruscha. This video explores the roles of printing and publishing overall.

Experimentation

Over the last few months, this project has given me a variety of ideas towards my final image. As I’ve researched many artists and searched through a mixture of journals and books, I came to a conclusion of what my main focus would be.

Looking at people and an object of theirs which represents them was one of a few ideas that came to mind. However, as I did my research on a number of artists, I decided to focus my work around people and their careers. By succeeding this, I would have to photograph strangers outside of their work place.

This idea can be used in different ways. For example, I could have strangers in their uniforms and pose in a studio. However, I personally felt it would look better for people to be in their own work environments as well being in their own uniform. This way, I find it more interesting to look at.

John Londei was the main artist that I have been looking at when it comes to photographing people and their careers. Although he is one of the only photographers that I have come across that have looked at this type of photography, I recently come across more artists such as, Mihaela Noroc who has traveled the world, looking at natural feminine beauty and women identities

Over the past couple of weeks, I have done a number of photo shoots of people in the work places. Although one shoots was not a success, the rest were. Below is an example of what I have been doing.

Other places that I have visited include two cafes, a pet shop and a vintage clothes shop.

Over the final few weeks, I hope to do a couple of shoots based around this idea and build it up. I will also be looking for another artist or two who have looked at people and the environement that they live/ work in.