Task with a Baby

One of our tasks, involved us being given a baby. A toy one of course. This left me with the sight of this baby's face following me over the weekend. It scared me into thinking this could work as an advert, like the images that are placed on cigarette boxes to stop people smoking. I did this with the baby for a durex advert, and set up the composition to make it look like a professional advert.

St.Ives

Just a few of my favourite shots from our photography trip to Cornwall last year. These images were taken at St.Ives. Love the bright, vivid colour in these images. You get the sense from these pictures that it's the natural beauty of Cornwall that makes them really stand out. A great trip with some rewarding shots.

Snow Day

A post that comes from the flash snow we had a while ago. Felt they were effective photos so decided to put them up. Like the way the white adds a contrast to all the photos and brings out the colour. No real links to any photographers but tried a documentary Robert Frank approach to these photos, ('The Americans') tried to sit in the background and document what I saw.

Dallaporta

After looking at artists during research for my proposed course this year, I came across a photographer called Raphael Dallaporta. His work is very much based around physical objects being made the focus point. Here, I have posted my response to his project called 'Landmines'. This project looked at how effective lighting can give an object such as a landmine an attractive look. I have tried to replicate this in my own way using a slow shutter speed, an ipod torch and a few everyday objects from around the house which I thought to have little value. These images have not been digitally edited.

"Please leave, this is private property!"

Out and about with the skaters, it was a perfect opportunity to get some shots. It was a new experience and was interesting to see what they got up to on a normal day out.

Dad's Day

Street



As part of a summer project, aiming to observe my Dad on a day at work as a sales representative for Adam Carpets, I set out with my camera and an open eye. It is fair to say that Swanage was full of character, both historically and culturally rich with memories of earlier days and evidence of routines that have hardly changed.






Roof







Pub






Castle

Ferry

Canine

Wind

Dad's day continued. It seemed owning a dog in Swanage was great for socialising.

White

Walk

Dog, Woman

Street Corner

Artist Inspiration

Figure 4

Figure 3

Figure 2

Figure 1

An extract

An Introduction to Photography

‘When I was a kid I prayed for a bike. Then I realised God doesn’t work that way so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness’
Banksy

Throughout my life, my Dad has always been interested in photography. I have memories of going with him to the shop to pick up our developed photos, not knowing what they would come out like. I suppose that’s where I feel my interest in photography has stemmed from. Having the opportunity to now take Photography as an A level, it has allowed me to begin to develop the ability to distinguish a good photo, by looking at context, composition, technical aspects etc. I have found that this has become easier with both help from my teacher to nudge me in the right direction, but also having repeated experience at observing and analysing photos for tasks and final outcomes throughout last year’s course.

I have also found that there are a few photographers we have looked at over the course so far that have had an influence on my photography. *Martin Parr for one, probably one of the most renowned photographers of all time, has been in my ‘researched artist catalogue’ from starting art properly in year 9. His colourful and vibrant pictures (*Figure 1) are aesthetically seductive, as well as being carefully composed to show a much more in depth study of the British community. The documentary aspects of his photos have also appealed to me, which I tried to simulate during a visit to London after researching ideas and work. The way Parr has managed to create a documentary of photos, confuse me sometimes to wonder whether they have been organised, or he has simply sat in the corner and used his lens for his eyes, capturing what he sees as a first person view to his ideas(*Figure 2). This is the impression I get from Parr, composed or not his photos are as if the viewer is seeing what he sees, and this is what I fee makes documentary photography so interesting.

An artist who has had an influence on me personally is *Banksy. The quote I used above is what attracted me to his line of thought and attitude to art. Although his work may not be digitally based, his recent presence in the media has introduced me to his comical but also powerful work that sends a clear and bold message to those who his work is aimed at. When deciding on a task, I normally reflect on my life and current experiences and try to present that in my work. This idea has been reflected from seeing the way Banksy communicates his opinion on largely political issues, showing he has no fear or hesitation to express his views. (*Figure 3) I suppose my choice of Banksy as an artist shows how I want to develop myself as an artist to become more open with my work as at the moment much of my photography is kept to myself. However what I still need to develop is the ability to look beyond what is presented as art, which could potentially be a lot more organised than first thought.
After recent discussion as a group about Banksy, it was questioned whether Banksy was an individual or even a group of artists set up by an advertising company to earn money. Whether this is right or not, the point is that I didn’t even think of that as an option, which I feel shows my naivety as a developing photographer but highlights an area for me to develop. Maybe this could be approached by reading more, not even books, Portfolio magazine is a great example because I feel that it would help give me a broader view of different artists work and by reading the text will help for me to independently apply this to my work and not asking the teacher; a quality that I feel my work so far has lacked.

The type of photography I would argue I most enjoy is documentary photography as I enjoy the excitement of bringing a memory card home of about 600 photos and going through them to find the subtleties and quirky un-thought parts of a photo. This is why I feel that I would like to start being more interpersonal with my photography and start documenting people’s lives or something similar as it gives other people and also yourself an insight into what goes on, on an average day in that person’s life. I have already started making plans for a project with the Dorset Police, but that will all depend on if I can get permission and how it would work. But that is all part of photography, sometimes the organising and planning is harder than actually taking the photos.

Interaction with people in my pictures has been one of the hardest tasks for me to complete as most people become very self conscious when placed in front of a camera lens. The photographer also has to be confident in what they are doing to put the person being photographed at ease; this was what I felt has restricted me in my photography last year as some of the most interesting photos to look at are ones that show human expression and personality. In future, I hope to develop a better confidence to go out and be hands on with my photography; developing a better skill base to become a more independent photographer. This is reflected in my choice of Banksy as an artist. Whatever ‘Banksy’ is, the ability to go out and express yourself whatever you feel is an attractive modern form of art to me (*Figure 4), or even using this mental attitude to go out and photograph people and improve my confidence I feel would benefit my portfolio.

The Brief..

A new year, a new start. Time for a challenge. The idea:

1. To create and use a blog to present my photography work throughout the year
2. To use my blog as an outlet, to make it a hobby not a task
3. To be able to choose photos with my opinion, without influence or comparison of others
4. To prove myself in the last year of school, and perhaps give my teacher a run for his money..