Visual Culture: Chinatown

One of my current projects at university is a visual exploration of culture within Birmingham's Chinese quarter, which I will achieve by creating a photo essay focusing upon different aspects of the culture including; food, people, signage and wealth. My main aim is to create imagery with strong narratives, that evoke emotion within the audience and that depict life in a true and honest way. Below are a few images I have taken so far:

End of Year Exhibition: Twenty14

I have created a photo book to accompany my displayed images at the exhibition in order to showcase my full body of work for this project. I created the photo book using Lightroom and Blurb, chronologically ordering my images as the activities occurred to visually tell the story.

Geoff, my father, has worked night shifts since I can remember and his 11pm ‘mornings’ were a daily occurrence in my childhood years. This, combined with an interest in the world after dark and a passion for photojournalism formed the basis of my project.

In this series, entitled, ‘The Last Shift, I have created a photo essay using the theme of ‘A Day in the Life’ documenting my father after his return home from his last night shift after being made redundant. I also attempted to explore Geoff’s on-going health issues, as I am interested in portraying widely experienced circumstances in society and their impact on the individual. My intentions for this project was to yield effective images that develop an understanding of unemployment, health and the related issues that are featured in my project.

In February 2014, after travelling home to Chesterfield, I made my way to my father’s house and began shooting in the early hours of the morning, which is evident by the use of light and shadows within many of my images. The photo essay was shot using a Canon DSLR and available light to further emphasize my aim of capturing the reality of Geoff’s life in the most truthful and objective way possible.

All images have been printed in monochrome to strip the colour from the scenes and allow focus to fall on the subject matter. Black and white is also consistent with the genre of photojournalism and aesthetically it works well with the high contrast of the images.

Please give me as much feedback as possible, both positive and constructive.. thanks!

Post-production

I have made initial black and white edits from my initial colour edited images using the Gradient Tool in Photoshop. I am yet to crop or make any major adjustments as I am in the beginning stages of post-production and would like to receive feedback before creating my final edits.

Below are a selection of images from my shoot that I have converted to black and white (note that they do not have an order to them yet as I plan to present the photographs in a photo essay format, which will not be evident until final edits are made and images are presented together).

Initial Edits

After my shoot, I reviewed my images and made basic edits using Photoshop and Camera Raw. This included; adjusting exposure, clarity and contrast as well as utilising the dodge and burn tools. I have yet to crop my images, or convert to black and white which is how I plan to display my images. After Easter, I will be developing the negatives that I shot on film and print them in the darkroom. I will also be scanning them onto the computer and editing them using Photoshop.

Below are a selection of images from my shoot that I have made initial edits to (note that they do not have an order to them yet as I plan to present the photographs in a photo essay format, which will not be evident until final edits are made and images are presented together).

Chosen FMP Idea

Based on my areas of interest, documentary photography and photojournalism, I have chosen my final idea for my Final Major Project. The project is a combination of People at Work and A Day in the Life, exploring a range of different aspects of my chosen subject; my father.

Aims: I have explored the idea of creating a photo essay using the theme of ‘A Day in the Life’ and after generating different ideas, scouting for subjects and undertaking in-depth background research I have decided to shoot ‘A day in the Life’ of my father, Geoff. My initial ideas involved photographing an individual with issues that affect their lives greatly and I am interested in exploring different aspects of society. Therefore, I chose my father as my subject due to his on-going health problems, recent redundancy and old age.

I initially planned to undertake two shoots; one at Geoff’s house documenting his day-to-day activities and another whilst he is working during one of his last shifts – he delivers newspapers in batches to petrol stations, newsagents and other locations that will then sell the newspapers to consumers. I wanted to depict the widely experienced circumstances (redundancy, health issues and old age) to an audience, evoking emotion and creating poignant images. However, due to not being granted access to the warehouse, loading bay and drop-off points I had to undertake just one shoot at his home. To overcome this, I decided to shoot Geoff on arrival home after his last ever shift up until he went to sleep a few hours later. This posed problems in itself as it didn't leave me with much time to shoot, however I feel that I captured the best images I could with the time restrictions I faced.

I have been eager to explore this idea for a while as I have always enjoyed seeing other photographer’s photo essays and the stories they portray. I am also interested in exploring economic aspects of society, as I am aware of the state that the UK is in regarding unemployment rates and the aftermath of the global financial crisis. My intentions for this project is to yield effective images that develop understanding of unemployment, health and the related issues that will be featured in my project.

Other aims I wish to achieve through completion of this project include;

• Creating a sense of narrative through my images to convey to an audience
• Constructing a story via setting the scene, introducing my subject, capturing the action and activity as well as portraying the end result of the project
• Creating images that tell my subject's story successfully without the aid of text or captions
• Digitally manipulating the images from an unemotional perspective - to gain images that tell the story rather than technically perfect images that do not
• Convey my subject's story and emotions that I experienced
• Raise awareness of the understanding of current employment issues within our society

FMP Project Proposal

I am a freelance Street/Social Documentary/Photojournalism photographer who aims to create thought provoking and meaningful photographs that inform the public of problems and events that are historically and culturally important, technically effective with a strong point of view. I am passionate about photographs that are built up from within rather than superficial images and raising awareness of social injustices. I am dedicated to creating visual imagery that is eternally bound to reality and though visual communication I will extend my ideas to incite political and social change. Since I began capturing images during my A Level in Photography in 2009, my practice has evolved in many ways and I have found that through my progression as an artist I have come to understand what notions are significant to me and where I would like to take my practice in the future.

My Final Major Project will allow me to combine all of my new and existing skills and experiences to build upon and implement my concepts via a more personal and experimental approach. I will consider all skills gained from completion of assignments throughout the whole course, including communication skills, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation, research and influences as well as installation of artwork for an exhibition. This will enable me to complete my final major project to a high standard and push my practice further in consideration of creativity and work produced thus far.

The concepts, characteristics and styles of photography that my portfolio mainly deals with include; structure and scale, street photography, people, analogue photography, reflections, black and white imagery, incidental moments, portraits, texture, night photography, culture, event photography and experimental photography. Although this results in a broad range of images, I feel that this is due to studying on a HND in Photography for the past two years. If I wasn’t in Higher Education I feel that my images would reflect my personality much more than they currently do due to working to assignment briefs and time limitations when regarding personal projects. I would use my images as a creative outlet, to share my perspective on factors such as culture, society and economy as well as expressing my opinions and beliefs.

Below are a selection of images that I took throughout the early stages of my photography, most of which I took during my A Level in photography. Although I continually experimented shooting both on location and in the studio, it is evident from these that my style of photography had not yet developed and I had not explored any particular specialism. 

 

 

 

I was initially interested in Landscape and Still Life photography so this is evident in a large amount of my early work, however after I completed my A Levels I became interested in street and documentary photography.

Below shows my more recent work; photography that I have produced whilst studying on the HND and personal images I have taken. I believe my photography has progressed significantly throughout the last couple of years as I have come to understand the techniques, processes, skills and knowledge required to capture effective photographs.

  

 

I have utilised a variety of different lenses in my recent work, including 18-55mm, 50mm, 35mm and 70-200mm. I have also experimented with different techniques and processes both in camera and in the darkroom, some of these include; shooting in low lighting conditions, gum bichromate, split grade printing, solarisation, dodge and burn, colour printing, long exposure photography, cyanotypes, depth of field, studio/on location photography and many more.

Due to the advancements in digital photography and the Internet, the practice and market for photojournalists has evolved significantly. This has meant that more photojournalism photographers have been displaying their work in photo books, art galleries and photo streams, such as Flickr and other online social media outlets.

I feel that my portfolio, as it currently stands, would best be viewed online via sites such as Tumblr, Facebook, Flickr and my personal blog. This is due to the wide range of photographs that are included in my portfolio as well as the lack of narrative and themes within the portfolio as a whole. However my photographs that tell a story and work as a series, such as my images taken to depict life in Istanbul, would be suitable to be displayed on gallery walls or in a photo book. Exhibiting my personal photography projects is something that I wish to achieve in the future, as well as creating multiple photo essays, which would then be made into photo books.

Studying Photography at Higher Education has helped greatly to mould me into the artist I wish to become. It has provided me with the opportunity to hone my skills, creative intentions, technical abilities and knowledge across all platforms within the medium of photography. The knowledge and skills I have gained has impacted the ways in which I can communicate and present my ideas to a broader audience.

My final aim for my career is to g into the photographic industry, working as a full-time professional Photojournalism photographer. My own personal experiences of life within our society has strongly encourages me to document human beings and their stories through candid techniques rather than creating an artifical photograph to make money. For this reason, there are many different photographic porjects that I wish to undertake in the future and some of these explore issues including; poverty, wealth, women's and animal rights, mental health issues, discrimination, refugees and migrants, gender identity, equality and imprisonment. 

After leaving Solihull College, I will be going into the second year of a BA in Photography at Wolverhampton University. Studying further at this institution will give me a broad and valuable understanding of photography as an art form, industry standard and professionalism. All of which I have acquired a general understanding of via completion of a HND in Photography.

I am hoping that my bachelor's degree in Photography will improve my employability prospects and after graduating from University, I aim to exhibit and print my work in national publications, sell my photographs and after establishing myself I would like to carry out photography workshops in my local area, Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands region. As I am hoping to work on a freelance basis I would need to be in contact with professionals who are in a position to publish my photographs, such as editors working at various news publications. Gaining my own press ID card by becoming a member of a photojournalist association would grant me access to many difference events and will prove to be a great source of information.

Alongside selling my photographs to publications, I am interested in publishing my own work online - via my professional website - as well as holding exhibitions to display my personal work. Social networking will aid me in promoting my work and myself as a photographer as well as interacting with potential clients, other photographers and past clients. Keeping viewers up to date on my projects and daily activities will help me to gain a following on both a professional and personal level. Whilst exhibiting my work will be a great way to sell my photographs, establish and raise my profile as well as gaining valuable experience.

Critical Study Ideas

As I am hoping to go into the area of documentary photography and photojournalism, I would like to base my Critical Study on these specialisms. After in-depth research into photojournalism, I have decided to discuss the decline of the photo essay in photography and this effect on photojournalists.

Artist research:
W. Eugene Smith - undertook a photojournalism project called 'Country Doctor'. This project established Smith as a master of the unique young art form of the photo essay and solidified his stature as one of the most dedicated and influential photojournalists of the 20th Century.

 

 

Grace Robertson - A Day in the Life project called 'Mother's Day Off' depicts a group of woman from South London enjoying a day-trip to the coast. It was one of a series of articles in which 'Picture Post' looked at the ways in which working-class people spent their free time during the summer months. On a rare day off the women are enjoying a drink at a local bar before departing for Margate. This has clearly sparked off the curiosity of the children playing outside.

Martin Parr - 'No Worries' project for FotoFreo, Parr photographed three major port cities in Western Australia; Fremantle, Broome and Port Hedland. Each town was a unique setting for a photographer famed for his photographs of British seaside culture and his style of photography, using intimate shots, saturated colours and flash photography, helped to create an invaluable collection of images.

Points to consider:

·      The history of photo essays and the arise of photojournalism

·      Current technology and it’s effects on photo essays; people are desensitized to poignant images, people may not value this type of photography, anyone can upload their own images to the internet

·      How many photo magazines are in circulation nowadays compared to in the past

·      Fashion magazines such as Marie Claire and Elle use photo essays to sell clothing and accessories – this is a different way that photo essays are used and is less meaningful

·      Why has there been a decline, what has contributed to this?

·      Do people care less about current issues in society?