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developing my practice
My Project idea
About my project
What is it within your photography that you are really interested in?
The one thing within photography that interest me is when I question myself about my photos, as in why do I take the these photos, what is it that I like about them, what makes me what to focus on a certain theme. This intrigues me the most because I don't really think about it before taking photos, I just take them but when I look back and and get questions like these it kinda all makes sense to me and what it is in my photography that interest me is trying to get a message out there about the stuff we don't usually see in photography or think about when people mention photography, the places I photograph aren't the nice fancy places where people would generally go to take photos, there discarded places that are lower class and have all these broken buildings and council flats. I guess the one thing is that interests me is trying yo make a statement about these places and showing the reality, not just photographing the same old fancy places.
What is it in my project that I want to know?
one thing at the end of my project I'd like to find out about is; why are places like these so frowned upon, who made this theory of shaming places where there are social housing, food markets, broken shops, ect. I'd like to know this because it just makes no sense to me, this is reality and these places are peoples homes and safe place just like any other people and there homes, no matter how luxurious someones home is or how expensive it is, so why is it so frowned upon. There are also a few technical things I'd like to know and find out while taking part in the project, such as how to photograph at night and how do I capture lighting in the best format possible, I want to learn these things because I want to capture and produce photos at a quality standard where I can be proud of every photo I take and feel achieved at the work I've produced.
What is it that you want to document?
I want to document the traditionally "lower class places", the places with food/clothes markets, social housing, rubbish everywhere, ect. The places where if you were suggest to go their to someone their first instinct would be "why would you want go there", this is because I want to show that these our peoples homes and favourite, I want to give them a perspective of "why not go there" If people can have a good time in these areas and create memories then why can't you just because of an opinion or perspective that other people have given you. I'd also like to focus on capturing lighting, one of the things I want to do in this project is capture photos of flats at nights, I want quality photos and lighting will play a big part in that because that is wha will create the main focus in my photographs.
What do you want the share with the viewer?
I want to share the reality of what peoples lives are, I want to show this because this isn't what people think of when they think about photography, I want to show that these places are as important as any other place, that you can create beautiful photos in these places, that you don't have to go where other people traditionally go to capture a nice photo, you can have your own ideas and you don't have to follow everyone else.
What do you want the viewer to experience?
I want the viewer to experience a change of an opinion, I want them to actually look at these places with interest and actually think about these photos and the locations they are taken and to think about the message behind the photograph. Hopefully I can manage to capture the meaning of these photos and spread a message. I also want them to experience being impressed with my photography, obviously I know that everyone is going to like them, however when you do get compliments and when people are intrigued by the art you have made it is good motivation to keep trying harder and it makes you feel like all the hard work you have put in is worth it. An example of this is when I showed my photo book to my friends last year, they all found it interesting and they all had questions about, it made a few of them wish they took photography even tough they have never had a interest of studying it.
What kind of emotion do you want the viewer to have?
To be honest I don't really expect and emotion as a reaction, maybe for them to just be interested and question why I took these photos and why I chose this theme. I'd rather they just ask me questions about it, I feel like that would be more effective.
Have I documented in a great deal of photographers?
To be honest I haven't really researched photographers who photograph the type of photos I would like to capture, however Mr Nicholls has gave me a list which he believes I would be interested, the photographers and projects go by the name of ; Martin Par, Gorbals in Glasgow and the book- Concretopia. There will definitely be evidence of the research on my website in the next upcoming weeks, I've had a brief look and they are definitely things I'd be interested in researching and writing about. I feel like when it comes to finding artists I struggle where to look so I felt like the teachers could help me with that because they have a broader knowledge and how what matches my type of photography.
The one thing within photography that interest me is when I question myself about my photos, as in why do I take the these photos, what is it that I like about them, what makes me what to focus on a certain theme. This intrigues me the most because I don't really think about it before taking photos, I just take them but when I look back and and get questions like these it kinda all makes sense to me and what it is in my photography that interest me is trying to get a message out there about the stuff we don't usually see in photography or think about when people mention photography, the places I photograph aren't the nice fancy places where people would generally go to take photos, there discarded places that are lower class and have all these broken buildings and council flats. I guess the one thing is that interests me is trying yo make a statement about these places and showing the reality, not just photographing the same old fancy places.
What is it in my project that I want to know?
one thing at the end of my project I'd like to find out about is; why are places like these so frowned upon, who made this theory of shaming places where there are social housing, food markets, broken shops, ect. I'd like to know this because it just makes no sense to me, this is reality and these places are peoples homes and safe place just like any other people and there homes, no matter how luxurious someones home is or how expensive it is, so why is it so frowned upon. There are also a few technical things I'd like to know and find out while taking part in the project, such as how to photograph at night and how do I capture lighting in the best format possible, I want to learn these things because I want to capture and produce photos at a quality standard where I can be proud of every photo I take and feel achieved at the work I've produced.
What is it that you want to document?
I want to document the traditionally "lower class places", the places with food/clothes markets, social housing, rubbish everywhere, ect. The places where if you were suggest to go their to someone their first instinct would be "why would you want go there", this is because I want to show that these our peoples homes and favourite, I want to give them a perspective of "why not go there" If people can have a good time in these areas and create memories then why can't you just because of an opinion or perspective that other people have given you. I'd also like to focus on capturing lighting, one of the things I want to do in this project is capture photos of flats at nights, I want quality photos and lighting will play a big part in that because that is wha will create the main focus in my photographs.
What do you want the share with the viewer?
I want to share the reality of what peoples lives are, I want to show this because this isn't what people think of when they think about photography, I want to show that these places are as important as any other place, that you can create beautiful photos in these places, that you don't have to go where other people traditionally go to capture a nice photo, you can have your own ideas and you don't have to follow everyone else.
What do you want the viewer to experience?
I want the viewer to experience a change of an opinion, I want them to actually look at these places with interest and actually think about these photos and the locations they are taken and to think about the message behind the photograph. Hopefully I can manage to capture the meaning of these photos and spread a message. I also want them to experience being impressed with my photography, obviously I know that everyone is going to like them, however when you do get compliments and when people are intrigued by the art you have made it is good motivation to keep trying harder and it makes you feel like all the hard work you have put in is worth it. An example of this is when I showed my photo book to my friends last year, they all found it interesting and they all had questions about, it made a few of them wish they took photography even tough they have never had a interest of studying it.
What kind of emotion do you want the viewer to have?
To be honest I don't really expect and emotion as a reaction, maybe for them to just be interested and question why I took these photos and why I chose this theme. I'd rather they just ask me questions about it, I feel like that would be more effective.
Have I documented in a great deal of photographers?
To be honest I haven't really researched photographers who photograph the type of photos I would like to capture, however Mr Nicholls has gave me a list which he believes I would be interested, the photographers and projects go by the name of ; Martin Par, Gorbals in Glasgow and the book- Concretopia. There will definitely be evidence of the research on my website in the next upcoming weeks, I've had a brief look and they are definitely things I'd be interested in researching and writing about. I feel like when it comes to finding artists I struggle where to look so I felt like the teachers could help me with that because they have a broader knowledge and how what matches my type of photography.
Photoshoots
Vanbrugh Park Estate is a lesser known social housing estate in Westcombe Park, the estate was built in 1963 post war due to all the coming in London, the estate was also built by the same people who built the Barbican. I Chose to photograph this estate because it has always stood out to me, my friend lives near this east and therefore recently I have been frequently walking past it, it has always stood out to me because of how different it looks to the rest of the buildings in Westcombe Park., all the buildings in Westcombe park look very new fancy and taken well care of, however this estate has buildings with stains and graffiti all over it and just has a general different look to the other buildings and that's why I wasn't surprised when I found out it was built by the same people as the Barbican. I like this particular block of flats within the estate because wow how enclosed it looks, I feel like the middle frame in it with the walk ways in particular interest me because it connects the slats together and this is very rare too see.
One of my first ideas when I started this project was to photograph Lewisham, this is because it is close to home and a perfect example of an urban place. The first photoshoot is a social housing estate, I feel like I like the concept of the photographs however I believe I can go there again and improve and get a more successful shoot, if I were to again I would make sure I'd go earlier in the day because the contrast of the sky had a massive effect in the photos. For the second photoshoot I decided to try and focus on the environment of lewisham and not just one building in particular, I prefer this because it just means I can wonder around freely and naturally take photos of stands out to me, instead of trying to capture the best photos of on place. I will definitely photograph in Lewisham again because I feel like it is the perfect place for what I am trying to photograph.
This photoshoot is not in the most generic place for where I would like to photograph, it is quite a fancy area with no social housing, however I was out and when I came across it I felt like I should photograph, I quite like the design on the building, especially the red lining and outskirts of it. This was quite a rushed photoshoot however I like one or two photos from this shoot, for example the one with the bins and building in the background, In my head everything just fits perfectly in the photo, the tone of the photos quite grey and I feel like all the colours in the photo link well, like the red graffiti matches with the buildings and although it isn't that visible it's just subtle. I wouldn't photograph this area again because it does not really match the theme of my project however I'm glad I experimented and done this because there are a few good outcomes.
This weekend I visited Peckham to take photos, to be honest I didn't really get any good outcomes and I feel like I got nothing I particularly like. I think where I went in Peckham everything was just the same, graffiti and shops and nothing was different therefore I struggled with capturing abstract photos. I wanted to capture portraits in Peckham however everywhere was busy and to be honest I wasn't really getting the best looks when taking photos, I think in the future when going main streets I need to go at evening or times where it is less busy because then personally I feel a lot more comfortable asking people to take photos of them. I probably wouldn't go here again because it just didn't feel like. good experience, however my mum was telling meadow 4th places which are less busy where I can still get good photos so maybe in the future I'll go there.
The brutalist architecture buildings in London are buildings produced after the war around the 1950s, the buildings are simply made of cast concrete and brick. These buildings were all originally made for social housing, they were predicted be up for hundreds of years because of what they are made of (concrete), the buildings became famous mainly through film and documentary and the ironic thing now is that if you want to buy an apartment there nowadays you would paying around a million pounds. A lot of the brutalist buildings have been knocked down or are going to be knocked down, this is due to the state they are in, they are in need of repair, however there are a few in danger due to the right wing politicians, thesis all to do with the links it has to history as they were built post war. One of the main things about this architecture that interests me in the way it looks, although a lot of people hate how it looks because of the concrete, I think it looks great and the way they're just in middle of places that look nothing like it, for example the Barbican.
I took these photos in Lewisham, I was on the bus and saw these flats and it seemed like a good place to photograph, I don't know what caught my about these flats in particular, but it was just something about the look of them and the aesthetic of them, I think this was mainly due to the colours and maybe even the structure of the flats and how they are just traditionally. Personally I would say that this photoshoot turned out well, I think the fact that It wasn't planned out made it better and it felt like I could take the photos a lot more freely instead of having a day or two before a photoshoot trying to figure out what shots I need, which angles would be best and what should I focus on, for my next project that is something I definitely want to start doing more, because near enough all of my phootshoots were planned this year.
Experiment
This was just an experiment I did in class, I've done this in previously and I like the whole idea of not knowing what you're getting and the chance of risk. It suits the theme as the photos are quite colourful and I feel like the whole vibe of the streets is to do with colour, it was an experiment to give me a idea of what I could do for my final piece. I actually really like a few of the photos, for example the photo in the middle, I really like this because the hole in the gate makes it seems like something has crashed into the flat, also the way it is behind bars makes it seem locked off. To be honest it hasn't really given me any aspiration into what my final piece is going to be howeve it was a good experiment to do
Research
Arnaud Montagard
Arnaud Montagard is a French photographer, he currently lives in Brooklyn and likes to photograph New York. Montagard tends to focus on the atmosphere around him, he has no intention of going out to pacific places and photographing them, he goes on walks and photographs naturally the environment around him, he focuses on composition and details. I think straight away when looking at the photos that the photographer focuses on composition, it seems to me like each angle the photo is taken from is perfect, I particularly like the way he captures light and shadows, for example in third photo above the photo is taken under a bridge and the way he captured the right amount amount of bridge to create two concepts of the photo (light and dark). Montagard also likes the idea of isolated figures, I think it's an interesting idea and maybe something I could start doing because they are everywhere around you, form bottles on the floor to gum on the table, I also think its a good idea because it is something that you can easily get into the habit of doing and it proves you can make a great photo of anything. I like Montagard’s because it is similar to my work, I would say the theme and purpose of the photos are the same. The main obvious difference between mine and the artist's work is that the photographs are taken in different countries. I find it very interesting and weird to see what the normal is to certain people, it also inspires me and making more desperate to photograph in different countries I would just want a few hours in a different country I'm just photograph the streets and the environment of it just to compare it to London.
Julia Germain
Julian Germain is a photographer from London born in 1962, he is interested in the documentation of versatile/diverse groups. In a project called 'For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness' Germain photographs his daily life and his home, for example photos around the house, out with his dog and photographs of his wife. I really like this project because of how personal it is, I think when a project is relatable it makes it much more enjoyable. I also really like the aesthetic of this project, it is obviously quite an old aesthetic and its nice to see all the old fashion wallpaper, old cars and just the design of the house, its very different to if someone my age would do a project like this. This is also similar to what I am trying to capture in my new project about my Nan and this is definitely a good example of what type of photographs I should capture and what I should include.
Hannah Lenz
This project is called 'Else" by Hannah Lenz, the project is Else who is one of Hannah Lenz's patients as she is a carer. This is a very different but nice project as it is about a 97 year old woman and I find it interesting because most people do not live till this age and therefore have no idea what a day in the life of a 97 year old is like and it is very rare to see. The project is a very close to home and personal which I am trying to aim for, this has given me a good idea of what I should try and capture, however I feel like this project seems quite sad as in the biography it talks about how alone she is and in the project here are quite a lot of photos of her in hospital and for my project I don't want to make that the theme, I want it to be a nice photoshoot where my nan seems happy and talks about all her memories in the ferrier estate.
My Final Idea
Ferrier Estate
Ferrier Estate is an Estate that was built in Kidbrooke in 1972 and knocked down in 2012. The estate was knocked down due to many reasons such as the crime rate, how the place was rotting down and the fact that Berkely got a deal of 1bn to knock it down and rebuild it into Kidbrooke Village. I'm interested in this estate because of how popular it was and how Thomas Tallis was so close to it, I wish I was able to see it because I think it would have been the perfect place for me to photograph especially for this project. Another reason why I chose to base my final piece on this estate is because I feel like its close to me as my Dad grew up their with his parents and his two older brothers, I didn't get the chance to spend any time here due to how young I was, the only memory I have of it is my Dad always pointing it out when I was younger when we used to drive past it but to be honest I was too young too remember how it looked. I feel like it's such a shame that I missed out on it, hopefully I can get a sense of what it was like in my final piece. I want to find out what it was like living on estate like this, It's a very popular estate and I always here people around me talking about it due to how close it is to Thomas Tallis, the estate seems to have quite a popular status and whenever I research about it on the internet it doesn't seem like there's much positivity around it, therefore by interviewing my Grandmother I can get someone with a first hand view to speak on it.
For my final piece I would like to create a project about my Nan, in this project I am going to document her talking about the Ferrier estate, I'm going to plan a list of questions to ask her then film the whole thing on my phone. I just it to be a nice video of her speaking freely on the sofa about the estate, I don't it it to be in some kind of professional interview format. The aim for this project is just to get a brief idea of what the Ferrier estate was like, because when you read about it you mostly hear about the crime, so therefore I want to hear someone who's lived there to share their experience and present their view of the estate. After the interview I am also going to capture some photographs around the house of my Nan and just the scenery of the flat, the photos are going to be inspired by Julian Germain and I'm going to try and capture similar things to what he did of his wife.
These photos are at my grandmothers house, I went around the housing before interviewing my grandmother and photographed whatever captured my eyes, these photos are quite different to my normal as they are quite up close and have more detail and I never really photograph indoors but in this circumstance I actually quite enjoyed it. When I was younger I used to live so feel like I have a close connection to this house, however its changed so much, when I used to stay here the house had more of an old "Grandparents" aesthetic, however since I've grown up its become a lot more modern and the whole house has changed. Its actually quite sad too see, now both my grandparents have operate rooms and they are living a completely different lifestyle, I think the one thing that happened during the photoshoot that made me think quite deep is when nurses came to deliver their tablets, to me it really shows how times have changed however is till remember staying here half the week like it was yesterday.
The interview of my grandmother went better then expected, my Grandmother isn't really someone to keep talking for hours on end and to talk about her pat unlike other grandmothers, however the interview still went well. At first I tried asking questions and videoing it however she kept giving one word answers, I didn't want to tell her to speak more so I just asked het to talk freely about it and I won't ask questions, I wouldn't say it was the most in detail interview however that's just how my Grandmother is and I would prefer it to be real like that.
The interview of my grandmother went better then expected, my Grandmother isn't really someone to keep talking for hours on end and to talk about her pat unlike other grandmothers, however the interview still went well. At first I tried asking questions and videoing it however she kept giving one word answers, I didn't want to tell her to speak more so I just asked het to talk freely about it and I won't ask questions, I wouldn't say it was the most in detail interview however that's just how my Grandmother is and I would prefer it to be real like that.
The Final PieceNan (v2) from Jon Nicholls on Vimeo. This is my final piece. In this documentary my Grandmother talks about her life in the Ferrier estate, She freely talks about parts of her life during the period she lived there, she talks about what the estate was like, the community, and how she found it. My final piece was based on the Ferrier estate and on how my grandmother used to live there, to reconnect with the estate as I didn't have the chance to you when I was younger I decided to document my grandmother and her opinions and how life was on the estate. personally I would say that this final piece went just how I planned and I'm proud of it, I feel like in the interview my grandmother was just herself, it's obviously not going to be like a set acting document, however the way it turned out is the way I wanted, I just wanted my grandmother just freely speak about it, I mean I did try and ask her more questions about it however the responses weren't great so therefore I just let her freely speak and that way seemed a lot better to get her experience of the Ferrier estate. I'm also happy with the final piece and how it was finally presented, before this on everybody edited any videos or had any knowledge on Photoshop software's, so therefore it was quite difficult to get the grasps of it at first but in the end I got the hang of it.
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