Other photographers / visual artists you’ve looked at who are relevant or have impacted upon the development of your projects – explain how they influenced your approach.
I discovered Joel Meyerowitz’s street photography images from New York City. I was fascinated how he was able to capture the life of such a diverse place. I found a couple of things he said which I found interesting- “Fifth Avenue is my boulevard,” he says. “No street in the world, and I’ve travelled a lot, has for me the kind of sexy, improvisatory collisions between elegance and lowness. You can see bike messengers and models, billionaires and hustlers, and it’s all out there every day.” In some ways London is very similar because everyone is brought together in one place. This got me thinking about areas in London that I could explore.
Meyerowitz said, “There isn’t a lot of time to think about things. You have to hone your instinct. You learn to hone that skill and timing so you’re in the right place at the right time.” Meyerowitz made me think about photography and that it's all about perspective, when you view the world in a different way you start to see colour and movement work in prosperity. I think Joel Meyerowitz is the
most influential photographer to me on this project because he made me think about the way I see things. I began to think about photography the way I thought about life drawing- 90% looking and 10% drawing. I became very critical when taking photographs: I'd go to take a photo, look through the viewfinder
and realise that it probably won't be a good image.
I particularly liked Elliott Ewritt in this project. Majority of the time Elliot Erwitt becomes invisible to his subjects which is something I found Bruce Davidson cannot always do. He has produced some really beautiful images by putting himself in a certain perspective. Another thing in common with Bruce Davidson is that Elliott Erwitt’s images can look like films stills. He is able to capture an image and make it last forever; he is able to swallow movement and condense it into one frame. I also really liked his use of viewpoint. It is quite intrusive, however he can capture the most beautiful moments; therefore, he is really conscious of time. Thisbecame something that was really important to me because the presence of a camera can change everything. I wanted to explore this and I wasn't always conscious of it, I suppose it wasn't very important for my project.
I discovered Bruce Davidson’s work from watching the ‘Everybody Street’ documentary. I was drawn to his work because he is so daring; he has been mugged a few times for taking photographs of people.
I loved the use of composition in his photographs; there was always something interesting happening. I sometimes felt as if I was gazing at a film still when viewing his work. I began to invest more in the idea that an interesting image requires patience and perspective. I began realise this through using my analogue camera that I take better images. It’s because with analogue I look through the viewfinder and sometimes think ‘no’ and put my camera down. And other times I see things and think ‘yes!’ and I know I have a good picture.
Everybody Street Documentary
I discovered a few things about this documentary which I found quite interesting. One photographer stated that you create your own luck when making photographs. I agree with this because I think it’s all about perspective and timing. Joel
Meyerowitz talked about his experience being on a fashion photography set. I think he was observing Robert Frank. He got so inspired by the way Frank was working- his interaction with the model, the way he moved around etc. He then left the building, onto the streets of New York City and started seeing the world differently. He saw colour, movement and emotion. What I learnt from this documentary is that observing is key. It’s a simple idea- the more you look the more you learn, but sometimes you can really surprise yourself which is good for your creative process.
I thought Shelton's images were very captivating. The works investigated the political periods in British post war history. Between 1976 and 1981, the movement Rock Against Racism (RAR) confronted racist ideology in the streets, parks and town halls of Britain. Under the slogan ‘Love Music, Hate Racism’, it showcased reggae and punk bands on the same stage, attracting large multicultural audiences. These images were very important to my project. This is when I planned on going to the 'Don't Bomb Syria' protest later that week. The images really inspired me. I was captivated by the strong contrast and heavy emotion in the photographs and I wanted to achieve something similar with the protest.
These images were a lot subtler than the photographs taken by Syd Shelton. The pictures were quite blurry and had square compositions. I think this created an enigmatic atmosphere- it felt quite dark and exposed. I thought these sets of images were also important to my current project because it would be great to show a group of final images that share a certain atmosphere. At this point I wasn't quite sure which direction I was going into however, I think I was more inspired by Syd Shelton because his images are more confrontational.
This exhibition was very exciting and influential. It depicted fashion photographs and WW2 images. It was quite historical and overwhelming at some points. Lee Miller has an incredible way of documentation and it had inspired me to be more open to photographing people.
I was quite shy at first when photographing people, but after leaving the Lee Miller exhibition I somehow felt a little more confident. I was fascinated by the ruins show photographed. I think I felt that there was a bigger picture to documentary/ street photography, something larger than being confident at photographing the public.
Production
Reflect on the way you approached your subject photographically – how were the choices you made in terms of composition etc. appropriate to the subject matter and/or the theme of your project.
Evaluation
Discuss your intentions with the projects and evaluate how successfully these have been resolved. Briefly identify the strengths and weaknesses of each finished project and what you might do to improve them given more time.
This is my final set of images I am choosing to present. I feel like I have balanced the set quite well. I swapped the top row images around a few times. The image on the left of that row felt a bit too heavy on the right side and the image in the middle felt a bit empty when it was not in the middle.
I wanted the second row to introduce more chaos. This is when the ‘Stop Bombing Syria’ series begins. I had a crisper image of the girl on the left, but I felt this image had more emotion and I quite like the blurriness because I think it adds to the fury and passion. I put the man pointing his camera towards the viewer in the middle because it felt very central and the images work around it.
In the row I wanted the child to be in the middle because again, it feels quite central. Also i sense a vertical stillness when looking at just the middle column. I think the other columns also share an atmosphere. I feel that the right column feels quite ambiguous because there is something we don’t know about the figures in the composition. However, the left column feels more confrontational. We know why these people are there and what they are doing. Overall I feel that I have taken some really good photographs and I feel very proud of this project. I have never invested myself into street photography, but I think I will investigate this more in the future. I love being in these atmospheres because it changes the way I see things. I can apply this to any type of photographer that I encounter. My intentions at the start of the project where not very clear, I guess my ideas grow organically. I found this project quite challenging because at the beginning I had 3 rolls of film that did not develop and this hindered my development. I also cannot view the photos instantly and developing/ printing takes a long time. I felt this project was too short for me, however, I was still able to take good quality images so in the end I think I tackled this problem well. My research through this project is much better than the last one. I was able to develop ideas and gain a better understanding of street photography. To improve this project I would have spent more time in the darkroom, perfecting the prints being conscious of contrast and cropping.
