Landscape - Andreas Gursky

An artist's worked I have looked at is Andreas Gursky who is from Germany. His work appears quite large scale and nothing is close up, it always looks to be the 'bigger picture' in his images, most of the photos are vast, they are on a grand scale. His images are very colourful and most of his work, images are busy. There is always a lot going on and always plenty to look at in the image. His panoramic images can be very big up to 6 feet but never losing the detail and seeing such mass and detail on such a scale is incredible to see and is eye catching, very hard to miss. All his images are taken either from a distance on the ground or a higher up vantage point looking down on the subject matter.

All images taken by Andreas Gursky and found on the link below;

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/03/large-scale-urban-photography-by.html
One of his photographs 'Rhein //' (below) sold in 2011 for £2.7m making it the most expensive photograph ever sold in the world.

Image taken by Andreas Gursky and found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Gursky

Landscape - Lewis Baltz

These images taken by Baltz are quite recognisable in style as they are clean, crisp and clear. Also all of these are black and white which were a create choice of his focusing more on what was in the image than the colour of the object(s) that were in the images. His work consisted of finding the beauty in destruction and humans taking over the natural landscape including parking spaces, office building, where he also focused on the architecture and lastly landscapes were human presence was apparent. His images appear straight forward, you know what you're looking at, nothing has an alternative meaning, what you see is what you get. The first image I chose is just an example but he has many more symmetrical photographs similar to this. 

Images taken by Lewis Baltz and found on the link below;

http://robertmars.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/10-fine-examples-photography-of-lewis.html

Landscape - Edward Burtynsky

The first photographer I am researching is Edward Burtynsky. After looking at his images for only 5 minutes I really liked his images because of the colour, the symmetry in some and how some are almost abstract because of the colours and the content in them. The images I have chosen are visually pleasing and are the types of photographs I'd like to take. His images are vivid, clear and stand out. He seems to pick out images that no-one else would see and has a good eye for this. The bottom images reminds me of a tree with the thicker part of the water, the stream, reminding me of the trunk and the littler parts of water the branches.

http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/site_contents/Photographs/introPhotographs.html

Narrative - Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is an american photographer who photographed her life with her friends which included drug taking, nights out and her close group of friends simply enjoying their life at that time. Her work is very personal and it can take great courage to show the world her life and her work. She goes around the world showing her images in a presentation and video. The images in the video were taken during 1979 and 1986, these are her images she is most famous for and some of her most famous work is included in the video entitled 'The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'. Unfortunately I can't find the video for it.

Here is a site that shows some of her work and where this image is from.
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=7532

Narrative Series

Narrative - Evaluation

I completed the assignment by choosing to shoot people who have tattoos with meaning in the studio using a canon 5D. I used a bright harsh light on the background although sometimes used a honeycomb cover over it to soften the background from a white to more of a grey. I then used a soft-box on my subjects to create a light over all their face and area. Once I did do some shots with only one light on the subject, creating harsh light on her face and no light on the backdrop. One problem I had was trying to think of something I could do for this project. In the end I decided to go with my 1st thought and photograph people with tattoos and try to have more faith in my ideas. Another problem I had was my memory stick not working on the night I was creating my power point, I tried all I could think of to solve the problem and use what I had even if it wasn't great however all my images and edits were on this particular memory stick as I hadn't got around to putting them on to my desktop at home and uni. After, what seemed like absolutely ages, I was able to solver the problem and fix it both being able to use my memory sticks and also the content on them. I could improve my work by allowing myself more time. This can be achieved by working on an idea/project everyday even if it's only a small amount as it's all progress. I could also take the images on location as it might portray the story better. I was hoping to do recordings of people saying why they have their tattoos but due to timing and trying to fit around my subjects schedule as well as mine proved tricky. This would have improved presentation. New skills I learned are based mainly on the studio as I have been able to set-up a studio on my own now because of this project. Also to create a digital slideshow/video. I have responded well to feedback from peers as I have asked them questions about my work, how I should go about it and what would be the best way. I consider my work to be somewhat successful as I have presented images that the brief requires and also done the research. However due to the fact I didn't manage to do the recordings and I left some of the work late I could have done better. Overall whether bad or good I do think I have met the requirements. The reasoning is to demonstrate that not everyone with tattoos have got them because of trends or they simply like them, it's more than that, but because it has meaning to the individual. No particular factor has influenced me during this project, whilst taking my images but I have found photographers that I like. The assignment challenged me because I hadn't done narrative before and I struggled at first to think of an idea. On reflection I would do my work a bit earlier and try to come up with an idea faster and if I do have an idea to just go with it and believe it.  

Narrative Series shoots

For my shoot in the studio I decided to use the canon 5D as I had used it before during a previous project which was Portraiture, therefore because of this I had a little experience. By choosing to use the studio for this project I learnt how to use the studio better as I was by myself I had to do the set-up and because of this more of it stuck in my memory allowing me to know how to set-up pretty much all of the lighting and camera by my end shoot. For my first shoot I was unsure how to do all this setting up and I was with two of my peers who also weren't too sure but we couldn't ask for help as the technicians had left by the time I had the studio booked. So together we were able to make it work and with what we couldn't we used what we had and I'm quite pleased with how the photos turned out. The second time in the studio one of the technicians reminded me how to set-up the studio with what lighting I wanted and helped me do the set-up. It was because of this second studio time that I was able to set-up my third and final shoot on my own. I have a better knowledge of the studio and lighting and I'm looking to expanding on this in the future. 

Narrative - Don McCullin

An artist I have looked at is Don McCullin. He has done various work including narrative imagery. In this particular image (below titled Mother and Son) taken in Bradford, England 1978, the woman came up to him (Don) in the street and asked him straight away if he was working for the press because she could see his camera with him to which he replied that he was. She said to him "Right, get in this house". She showed him the state that her house was in and in this image you can see her stood in her kitchen with her son. She told him about the 'long tails' that were there also and when he asked her what she meant she replied with 'rats'. I think this image is powerful and tells the story of poverty very well through this single image.

Images taken by Don McCullin and found on the link below;

http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/nmem/exhibitions/donmccullin/exhibition_stories.asp

Narrative - Robert Frank

One of the artists I have looked at is Robert Frank. He is most known for his work that he did in the mid to late 1950's. In the year of 1958 he published a book titled 'The Americans', it is this book were his most notable work is. His work before these images were in European places and were noticeably more luxurious and fancy. Whereas in his newer style his images were now both transparent and lean.

A quote by Robert I quite like "When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice"

And also what Elliott Erwitt says about Robert "Quality doesn't mean deep blacks and whatever tonal range. That's not quality, that's a kind of quality. The pictures of Robert Frank might strike someone as sloppy - the tone range isn't right and things like that - but they're far superior to the pictures of Ansel Adams with regard to quality, because the quality of Ansel Adams, if I may say so, is essentially the quality of a postcard. But the quality of Robert Frank is a quality that has something to do with what he's doing, what his mind is. It's not balancing out the sky to the sand and so forth. It's got to do with intention."

Images taken by Robert Frank and found on this site below;

http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Robert-Frank.html

Quotes taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frank

Narrative - Martin Parr

One of the photographers I have looked at and also watched a documentary on is Martin Parr. His unusual images and unique eye catches something that not everyone might see or even agree with for an image. It is because of this that not all the photographers at Magnum agreed with the decision to allow him to join them at the agency. He is known for taken some images of a certain area in England during the summer and receiving some criticism from some people who thought he was exploiting the people of the working class and showing them to be living in these slum like places as some of the images showed rubbish lying on the floor with people sat right next to it and appearing not to be bothered by it. Another reason he is known throughout the photography world is because during him taking photos of people enjoying the sun he took images that not many had took before. Instead of having people posing and smiling at the camera, he took images of people in ordinary life, just as they are, no posing simply capturing the moment, sometimes with out some of the people looking at the camera or even realising he is there. Below are some of these images he took of people during the summer holidays.

All photos taken by Martin Parr and found on this site http://www.photoforager.com/archives/martin-parr

Narrative - Magnum Agency

There are different agencies throughout photography and one of them is Magnum. They combine all types of photography and one of those is narrative. They have amazing photographers at magnum, each well known and with their own distinct style. Magnum tries to incorporate a huge variety of photographers so people can enjoy a wide range of images taken all over the world. There is something for everyone. I have put the link below so you can have a look. 

http://www.magnumphotos.com/

Narrative - Harry Hook Documentary

I recently watched a documentary on BBC 4 about a film maker and photographer Harry Hook, who in the mid 80's, around 1984, photographed five Kenyan women. Around 30 years later he went back to try and find these women and photograph them as they are now. On his journey he also took photos of the life that is evolving there in the towns and cities that are growing and the tribes that are slowly shrinking and diminishing. He photographed a certain tribe, the Merans(not sure on the spelling), performing a sacred ritual that only happens every ten years. It is to do with the men of the tribe moving on in the next chapter of their lives, were they are no longer warriors and they can now marry and for this they sacrifice a cow each and do a dance that starts of slowly then intensifies as it progresses. It only happens every ten years because it is when each generation moves on, all the men together. A few of the men/initiates are overcome with emotion, stress and the psychological pressures and have violent seizures because of this ritual. The tribe call this Induka(not sure on the spelling). The Samburu (tribes name) call this ritual Lamuget (again not sure of spelling ), it is translated to 'the death of many cattle in one place'. Whilst most African tribe roots are being lost they do this ritual very traditionally with total conviction, it hasn't changed. Although some of the way people live have, the younger generation live both the traditional life and also for example one of the men works at Indi Airforce. He combines both these types of lives and living. After this very traditional ceremony some of the men use the internet effortlessly and update their Facebook pages with the traditional attire that they are wearing, linking both modern and the older ways of life. It shows just how far the 21st Century has come and this is what Harry Hook is keen on photographing, the changes to society in these African tribes, cultures, towns and cities.

Whilst on this journey he managed to find 4 out of five of the women as one died of aids, her name is Elisa Lekisere. He gave them a copy each of their photograph taken in the mid 1980's. One of the women didn't even recognise herself in the image until her family and friends told her that it was her. All of them looked happy to see their photos and were happy to allow Harry to take another one of them. He also asked them how they were now, about their children and how many they had and what was the happiest point in their lives. All of these women said that the point they are at now is the happiest they have been. These images he has took each have a story of their own to tell, whether it is a simple portrait of an individual with an animal,a group, showing their way of life, or an image of people with the artwork to their business, each is a powerful image in its own right and all go together to produce a great body of work.

Man on a mission: Harry Hook with his Samburu friend Kiberiti during his quest to find the five Samburu women he first photographed almost 30 years ago

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2577311/Baboon-hunts-cow-urine-hair-dye-spear-fights-Lives-nomadic-tribesmen-documented-incredible-photos.html#ixzz2vkqfKBPf

I was unable to show all the images I would have liked as I was struggling to find the images I was after and especially of the five woman who he was looking  for. I couldn't find all of the ones he took 30 years earlier of them or even the newer ones he took of them, so apologies but they are in the documentary and I've posted a link below.
Here is a link below to the BBC 4 documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p5VwmoGGg4
Images used found here on these sites
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/photography-blog/2014/mar/07/photographing-africa-harry-hook-kenya-bbc4-documentary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p01t9w1y
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2577311/Baboon-hunts-cow-urine-hair-dye-spear-fights-Lives-nomadic-tribesmen-documented-incredible-photos.html

Here is his photography site with his work on.

http://www.harryhook.co.uk/

Narrative - Single Image Group Critique

For our single image we (my class) presented them in a group critique and discussed each image individually with the particular photographer to which the image belonged, why it was taken, where, what does it portray? etc. We went through this planned exercise to receive some feedback from our peers, as we were all doing the same course, we were therefore all in the same boat and could help each other out in a positive and also critical way. I have already shown my final single image on my blog, which was of the man looking out at sea, but I'll put it on again as it also ties in with this post.

single image narrative

This is our work displayed so people could go around each one and write down what they think about the image, what they are trying to portray, why it was taken that way? etc. 

 We went through these images first, were we hadn't been told about other people's photos, then we talked about them after to see if our guesses were right and that what the person had took had been captured and the message/story came through in their image. People had chose to print them in different ways, though we all had the guideline from our brief that they had to be printed either A3 or 12 by 16. Which is very similar however A3 is wider and 12 by 16 is narrower and longer. I chose to print out on A3 and just print it from a photocopier printer where as some others decided to print professionally by sending it to a professional printing lab or perhaps a local printing place. I had hoped to print professionally but ran in to a few problems and then ran out of time to.

One of my images for this was took in the studio like I had originally planned but the actual photo I ended up taking wasn't. As I was doing the shoot, the camera I was using died so I had to resort to my iphone and the idea I had I was struggling to make work in the studio so with little time left and an idea that wasn't quite working a fellow student who was helping me thought of the theme 'Gluttony' so with what we had we used to create an image of gluttony.

As the time came to display our work in the group crit I was struggling again, this time to get the sizing right, and this is why I resorted back to the single image I had already taken a couple of weeks agao of the man looking out to see. I didn't decided to use this before because I wasn't sure it was a good enough or strong enough image however after receiving some of the feedback I'm pleased I used the image and don't know why I didn't just use it in the first place as it would have saved me panic because I had taken it in plenty of time. It has taught me to have a bit more faith and belief in my work and if I was right and an image isn't as good at least I had the confidence to show my work in front of my class as we are all here to learn and gain experience as well as new knowledge. We are all in this together and to help each other. 

Narrative - Jeff Wall

I have chosen a well known photo from Jeff Wall's work. Here, in this image he has tried to recreate, in his own way, a painting from 1832. The famous artist, who created the painting is Katsushika Hokusai. On reading a bit about the image Wall taken in 1993, which he named 'A Sudden Gust of Wind' he took 100 photographs and it took him over a year to produce. About this he said "to achieve a seamless montage that gives the illusion of capturing a real moment in time."

Image below taken by Jeff Wall. Painting by Katsushika Hokusai.

 Katsushika Hokusai Yejiri Station, Province of Suruga, ca. 1832

First and second image and information found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wall

Narrative Photography - Research

When first receiving the brief with narrative photography I was completely stuck on what to do. I was over thinking it too much and to start a general search I typed in to Google 'narrative photography' and these are some of the images that came up. I realised after seeing all of the images, I was definitely over thinking the topic and narrative could include any type of subject matter as long as there is a story to be told through it.
This image is part of a series of images that tell a certain story to the viewer. I have gone through all the images relating to the story and couldn't work it out, so I decided to read all of the text at the bottom telling a little about these images and it says they are about the double/ alter ego and playing with light and dark within the images.

I found this image on the site below. Taken by French photographer Richard Vantielcke.
http://www.ludimaginary.net/conceptual-photography-2.html
Another image I found was this taken in a series. The work combined the photographer, Ben Partridge, taking images of MA students. The site is http://benpartridge.wordpress.com/tag/yves-klein/

Another image I found which caught my interest was this, taken of a street in the North East of England by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen who has done over forty years of documentary work in the North East. The information for this is found here http://www.unesco.org.uk/2011_uk_memory_of_the_world_register.