Art Photography Course Documentary

Week four saw us examining the documentary impulse within art photography. The photographers we examined were Stephen Shore (again)William Eggleston, Stephen Gill, Hans van der Meer, Paul Seawright, Alec Soth,  Mitch Epstein and Helen Levitt.

William Eggleston

Not sure where to begin on Eggleston, again such an iconic photographer who can really be credited with bringing colour photography to the forefront of documentary photography. His use of colour and the everyday as his subject was very controversial.

one of many interviews with him can be read here

http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2008/11/william_eggleston?currentPage=1

A fair few of his images have also be used for album covers, I found this blog entry about it

http://blakeandrews.blogspot.com/2009/07/william-egglestons-album-cover-guide.html

Tricycle, Memphis, 1969-71

Untitled (plate 7 from the series 'Fourteen Pictures'), 1980

Untitled (plate 11 from the series 'Troubled Waters'), 1980

When I was first introduced to Eggleston's work about three years ago I did wonder what on earth? I really couldn't see what all the fuss was about and what made his images such a great influence. Now I have researched and read more I realise what a turning point the use of colour was. With some of his images I still wonder ok why? Like the red ceiling one, but the subtle use of tonailty in the green scene above I can appreciate, ok it's just a livingroom but it captures a style, a fashion and the colours work well together. He captures the everyday, sometimes I think shots are bland but maybe I am still learning about him, or maybe some of them are and no-one likes to point it out?

Stephen Gill

Born in Bristol but now living in London Stephen Gill started his own publishing company to ensure he had total control over how his photographs are seen.

An interview with him can be read here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/7813330/Photographer-Stephen-Gill-the-devil-in-the-detail.html

He has concentrated on taking images in and around Hackney. His latest series Outside In has a very novel approach, he literally scooped up rubbish he found in Brighton and dropped inside the chamber of his camera, the randomness of where the items then fell, created the resulting images.

An article on Lensculture explains

http://www.lensculture.com/gill_outsidein.html



I really like this idea and the effects, maybe you could kind of adapt it by putting your 'findings' in a glass and shooting randomly to gain a similar surprise result, because I don't fancy putting water and rubbish inside my camera.......but a good way to document the litter problems we face.

More information and images can be found here http://www.stephengill.co.uk/portfolio/news on his website.

Whilst finding myself oddly drawn to his images I don't think it is an approach I would use. His photographs are blurry, out of kilter, yet seem to sum up the places he captures despite this.

Hans van der Meer

Van der Meer is a Dutch photographer who has combined sports photography and documentary together with a different take on the subject. (A new name to me) Instead of focusing on the premier leagues he has turned his attention to amateur and lower league teams and the basic stadiums in which they play. He does not zoom in on the play or players, but concentrates more in showing the environment as a whole.

The whole series European Fields can be found on his website http://www.hansvandermeer.nl/

Warley, England

Perafita, Portugal

Celerina, Switzlerland



I love his use of depth of field, the wide field of view and the small appearance of the people making the backdrops appear more impressive.



Paul Seawright

Paul Seawright, born in Belfast, is another photographer who is new to me, but then I haven't really looked that much into documentary photographers as yet. He has produced many bodies of work and documents things both home and abroad. He photographs people, landscapes and architecture. His portfolios can be found on his website. http://www.paulseawright.com/

One of his most recent bodies of work was a commission from the Imperial War Museum to cover events in the Afghan war.

His images have been described as exploring 'malevalent landscapes.' Not sure we have any of those locally, but I suppose some alley ways or the edges of local woods could be viewed in this way. Not sure I'd want to photograph that at the moment though, but it is an interesting concept, local areas we find a bit creepy or scary for no real reason.

Alec Soth

Alec Soth (pronounced Both) is an American photographer, and yet again somebody new to me. I don't think I have come across his work either. An interview with him can be found here

http://toomuchchocolate.org/?p=1067

He has some interesting comments about how he used to produce his work for himself, but now when thinking about selling himself and having to consider an audience you lost the 'purity of intention'. They also discuss how work can be read differently from its intention, how his book Sleeping by the Mississippi is viewed in Europe as a social commentary but is wasn't meant to be. Soth is also brutally honest about accepting editorial work that he shouldn't have and describes one job as a 'nightmare.' Too tight a deadline, with equipment he was unfamiliar with. working with traumatised chimps (ones that had been released from scientific research) who he couldn't get close to. A good lesson to us all to know our limitations and not get attracted by money.

He doesn't seem to have a set style, maybe as I haven't looked at enough of his work, but I found a lot of his comments insightful.

Mitch Epstein

Mitch Epstein was a student of Garry Winogrand, who introduced him to the colour work of William Eggleston. One of his bodies of work concentrated on what he knew, and was very personal to him, Family Business documented the demise of his fathers businesses, retail furniture and low-rent real estate.

American Power was an exploration of American energy production sites.

Epstein has produced many bodies of work from around the globe his work can be seen on his website
http://mitchepstein.net/index.html

Lichtenberg, Berlin 2008

BP Carson Refinery, California 2007

Newton Street Row Houses 2000
from Family Business

The juxtaposition of the elephants against the built up area I found really amusing. He seems to use conventional jules of diagonals, repeat patterns, frames within frames and contrast really well.

 

Helen Levitt

Helen Levitt born in 1913 took many photographs on the street of New York during the 1930's and 40's but in the 60's started to use colour. In 1959 she received a Guggenheim grant to explore her family territory but a burglar broke in and stole all of her colour transparencies. :o(

New York, circa 1940, © Helen Levitt.

New York, circa 1940, © Helen Levitt.

New York, circa 1959-60, © Helen Levitt.

New York, circa 1971-early 1990s, © Helen Levitt.

New York, circa 1971-early 1990s, © Helen Levitt.

One of the things you cannot help but notice in her images is the humour. Not a name I knew before which I hope to address as the images I have found so far are an intriguing history of street/documentary photography.

Research

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographer.php?photographerid=ph020&row=0
http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2008/11/william_eggleston?currentPage=1
http://blakeandrews.blogspot.com/2009/07/william-egglestons-album-cover-guide.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/7813330/Photographer-Stephen-Gill-the-devil-in-the-detail.html
http://www.lensculture.com/gill_outsidein.html
http://www.stephengill.co.uk/portfolio/news
http://www.hansvandermeer.nl/
http://www.paulseawright.com/
http://toomuchchocolate.org/?p=1067
http://mitchepstein.net/index.html
http://www.lensculture.com/levitt.html


Homework Week Four

Our assignment was to create one image that you consider questions the world as an art image from a documentary perspective. Out of all the photographers work examined I still felt that Stephen Shore's resonated more with me therefore looked to include street furniture and the cables cutting across the sky, as with Shore I also hope to capture some of the local residents.

Taken in my local neighbourhood on a grey summer day, I used to exposures show the grey skies but lighten the foreground.
I combined looking for images to complete this homework with gathering images for my assignment one.

I wondered if the road sign would make for an interesting final shot, again trying a low viewpoint I sat in the pavement waiting for other elements to come into play, the woman on her mobile phone was quite an interesting element but I didn't think the image was balanced. Likewise the green van provided contrasting colours but there was not enough movement within the image.

The church hall grabbed my attention as it is a place where the community gathers, another image I felt would show traces of people, it also fitted my criteria of containing signs, the pre-school school helped show the generations, I took a series of shots with different people passing by to edit them once home.

The sign for East Wickham Farm also caught my eye due to the grafitti, a sign of people on a sign, it also gave me the opportunity to shoot from a slightly different perspective as the fence is about 6 foot tall and the sign a few feet taller, meaning I had to shoot upwards.

This was supposed to be a shot of a small pet cemetery but due to fences,plants and other objects getting in my way I couldn't get a better shot, but then did it show traces of people? I guess it showed the affection they have for their pets, but it didn't work so that aspect didn't have to be thought about.

Woodland Farm Trust, this helps illustrate the contrast to be found within the locality, the traffic cones add to the countryside/urban aspect but I felt this image again had no movement or any other interest to it.



 This was an accident, hit the button while moving my camera......

Trying to show the unique side of Welling in someways is difficult as in so many ways it isn't! It is a typical London suburb, however it does have the odd unique element, the inner city farm being one of them. Shooting a few different aspects of the farm and its signs I hoped that I would be happy with one of them to include in my final set.

Walking back to where I parked my car I spotted the Welcome to Welling sign and thought this might make a good introductory shot, the weather was again unpredictable, with the cloud cover coming and going and playing havoc with the light. On reviewing them at home I determined to go back and try again.

My car was parked in one of the local pubs which, a Bexley London Borough sign is right outside so tried to capture a shot which had the Bexley sign, the pub sign but also incorporated people/vehicles. Again possible for location that would need reshooting.

Exploration Shots

I have probably done about 20 different shoots over not as many days, sometimes going out twice in one day due to the weather and lighting, examining ideas in conjunction with the short Art Photography course I did and looking at other photographers work. So far the major influences I have picked up on are Stephen Shore with telegraph poles etc, Paul Graham with his 'Shimmer' set (almost stalking a man carrying a pot plant like Graham staked the man carry a case of coke) also his Troubled Land set, looking for signs and juxtaposition/contrasts. Sometimes the elements I was hoping to include didn't come along at the same time so it was interesting to examine the constructed images of the Essop twins, Halaal Art and Fast Food,  then Nick Wapplington's Bethnal Green Road 2004. His book Double Dactyl contains images which are "manipulated and don't always seem to have a flow" or connection as one reviewer commented "perhaps mimics a complex life of jumping from one random thought on to another" and the introduction by Andrea Tarsia states

The photographs collected n Double Dactyl demonstrate that Waplington’s dualities continue. Some of these images convey a sense of barren desolation, a bleakness made up of washed out colours, forlorn exteriors and empty landscape mostly taken from the middle distance…..And yet, other images in Double Dactyl show an intense engagement in the lives of people and in personal, social and geographical communities.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Nick Waplington was a huge influence on my portfolio, but more that I found certain echos after I had shot various scenes and looking at his work gave me a little more confidence in what I was producing and putting together as a final portfolio.

A small sample of the many exploratory images can be found on my flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12544345@N08/sets/72157627105643304/


Stockdale, D. (2009) Nick Waplington double dactly review. [online] The Photobook available from: http://thephotobook.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/nick-waplington-double-dactyl/ [Accessed 9 July 2011]



Examining Stephen Shore and his influences on my images, in Learning Log

Below is a cross section of the images taken, each panel is a different day. The month started out with good weather which gradually deteriorated. Looking at these images you can see that I was working constantly with the same focal length, although I did vary the viewpoint, occasionally getting down very low. I was using my 18-55mm lens at 18mm because I wanted a wide field of view. I also kept it at 18mm to force myself to think about how I was framing each subject. I was thinking along the lines of "if this was prime I wouldn't be able to zoom. I would have to walk towards or away from the subject"

One of the advantages of using the wide end of a zoom lens is that can emphasize the foreground and provide more drama than a lens with a longer focal length. The images below were taken at 18mm and 55mm from the same spot. This show that you can "fit more in the frame" with a wider angle. Wide-angle also has the advantage of  emphasizing perspective, it doesn't actually alter it but gives this impression. Possibly perspective isn't the right word to use tho.....I found this webpage which explains it well.

Common photography myths

55mm

18mm

A few days in and the weather deteriorated and we had brief glimpses of the sun, I dashed out when I could
but the majority of my shoots were done in the rain or on dull days.

Brief time line of thought processes....

First exploration was looking at the extraordinary amount or recycling bins we have, quite unique to our area, and could I make it looking interesting. Getting up very early at about 6am, before the bin men came, I thought I'd also experiment with lens flare. I took a series of shots but was having difficulty controlling the exposure due to the angle of the sun. I altered direction but wasn't happy with the overall scene in that direction.


Still thinking along the lines of the recycling bin theme I took some more the next day, my neighbour has an old jaguar car which is waiting to be restored, so randomly snapped that too, as well as the bins in her garden to get a different view. The gentleman in the maisonette has just moved in and doing a lot of renovation. I started to think about the idea of metamorphosis, gardens to drives, old car to new, houses refurbished....

Along the lines of metamorphosis I thought of the memorial on the heath and that led me to the local cemetery

The weather turned but I still went along to the community hospice fun day, but it was a washout :o( Took some but it got very dark and threw it down and I didn't have an umbrella.

Walking round the local street and noting places and events of interest, thinking what makes a neighbourhood and things unique I went to the local stables. Also wondering how I could tie in research on photographers into my work. Not coming across many other situations that I could use within the metamorphosis theme I re-evaluated my ideas. On reviewing the images  taken so far I noted the signs in the cemetery, the noticeboard in the park, the manure sign at the stables. Paul Graham's Troubled Lands was signs and juxtaposition, from then on I started looking out for signs, but also kept my mind open in case I spotted anything else which would work. Stephen Shore cut his frames with street furniture, whilst sheltering under a bus shelter I did the same....

I returned to the cemetery, looking for different signs or symbols, different angles on the sign I had already seen...also took some more scenic shots, working on a different project but also wondering if what I was taking would help....

What else makes the neighbourhood? Green spaces and buildings and the people, could I incorporate contrast and juxtaposition in single frames or by placing images together, I kept reviewing shots already taken and placing them in different folders to see if they 'gelled'. The local ruins date back to the abolition of the monastries, there are signs advising what the rooms used to be, there are advisory warnings to keep off the walls. Also snapped the walk way that leads to the council blocks that featured in A Clockwork Orange and more recently Misfits, took some which showed them in the distance, a contrast to the green space. Local sign for the community hospice supporting carers week....and it rained.....lots.......a heavy thunder storm....I stood under the arches in the ruins for a long time, trying to capture the rain falling, but I wasn't having much success and kept getting rain spots on my lens.

When the sun came out I played with capturing the cars going through the puddles making a big splash, freezing the water...on the journey home snapped school signs and builders signs....school sign started another chain of thought re the generations which live in the area making up the community and the feel of the area.

People have pets....traces of people, clear up after your dog signs.....one where someone obviously hadn't....neighbourhood watch community notice board......non league football team.....missing cat sign....small shopping parade....half closed down....



I gave up staring out of the window waiting for the sun to shine and went out even if it was grey. Taking more shots with Stephen Shore in mind I still was looking for visual link of signs....hadn't been out long when it started to spit and then my son rang, he had forgotten his key and I had to go home to let him in. Times to go out were restricted to working hours and home life.....

Keeping my eyes open for signs I noticed roadworks on the way to work one day, made a note and later on in the day popped out, I had totally given up on the idea of getting up earky or waiting for dusk to give the 'golden hour' or for the light to create texture and detail as per Edward Weston......it turned into a case of its not raining quick.....before the clouds come back.........

Took images of the local church hall, very central to community events, had signs and contrast of buildings and trees.....over the road back to the stables........fence/field combination........field buildings in the background contrast..............another city city farm. Her parents owning the farm Kate bush recorded here..........Welcome to Welling sign...........

 

Thinking local shops, people who use them...down to the high street....still incorporating signs and street furniture and contrasts of green space versus urban.....back to rain but this time I took an umbrella.....

Looking for contrasts and unique, thought of the local inner city farm...spotted the signs for the Green Chain Walk, snapped at that but wasn't impressed, the pathway didn't have an interesting bend, or view at the bottom of it....walking back to my car I notice a lollipop lady but I was a bit too late to catch her in action, by this stage the children had crossed the road and were waiting at the bus stop, took a series of shots as I liked the colour contrast and the way East Wickham Open Space is in the background, the clouds and the light providing a contrast too.

 

On a day trip out  took shots of the railway station, thinking a possible linking theme could be transport, I had cars, bikes and buses....nah.....dismissed that before even looking at them.........

Reshooting some shots.....taking others of buses...not sure if anything else would spark an idea.......



Daft Mistakes :o)

Out and about a few more times, some planned some spur of the moment. Spur of the moment have been a mix of good and oh whoops ;o) I got home from work and it was raining, 'oh good' thinks me...chance to work through an idea of capturing people with umbrellas, school kids have such a great variety of animal faces etc etc. The weather just has not improved so I will just have to make the best of what opportunities present themselves to me.Grabbed camera and my own brolly, parked up and......had forgotten to put the memory card in!! Just goes to show planning and workflow should always be checked! I knew I had to put the card in and picked up my camera to do so, realised I had the wrong lens on it, changed that, got interrupted by something else and promptly forgot the card! Back home and back down to the High Street within 5 minutes but had missed the main school run rush. Managed to take some other points of view and possibly a shot for inclusion in my set so not all bad! I bet I'll do it again at some point though lol.

More exploration shots, what was it like shooting in the rain under an umbrella...signs and people, just off Welling High Street.

I quite liked the bright colours advertising the up and coming Danson Festival, a bright splash on a dull day. A sign which helped show the facilities available to people in the neighbourhood.

Still looking at splashes of bright colour on a grey day I loved the bright rainbow of this shop signage, also the reflection of the bus head lights reflecting in the wet.

Another shot of bus shelters, I quite liked the dark silhouette of the man, and the bright colour of the paramedic vehicle passing by, more images to think about and possibly revisit if the weather improves!