TASK ONE - SELFIE VS SELF PORTRAIT
to me as a photographer there is a big difference between a selfie and a self portrait. a selfie is typically casual and not too much thought goes into details such as technique and planning like a self portrait would do. the. main way people take selfies is by using a handheld cellular device which typically has a small and compact lens to take the image which reduces the quality compared to a lens on a professional camera. I think that social media has massively changed the way people take photographs and how people use images, for people use their selfies on social media which is a very fast moving and trendy place for images therefore users want a really quick and easy way to upload their photo from their device. whereas historically self portraits were very formal and also costly, usually involving the subjects to be posed and dressed up accordingly dating back to the 1900s when self portraits were only accessible got the higher and middle class and having a self portrait connoted high authority and ranking in society.
my self portrait
MY SELFIE
ARTIST RESEARCH FOR SELF PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
for my research I looked into some of Vivian Maier's work. Maier was a woman who made a living working as a nanny. She walked the streets of New York with a camera in her hand , predating modern projects such as the humans of New York by decades (she truly was ahead of her time). By combining street photography with self portraiture , Viviane used to catch her reflections in mirrors and shop windows.during her lifetime her work went unnoticed and unpublished , while today her work enjoys a lot of attention and is being exhibited worldwide.
after researching Vivian Maier I felt extremely inspired specifically how she incorporates her location into her images and the feeling of identity that goes hand in hand with this. I think her work stuck out to me and touched me personally as I have only just moved to London and can't wait to have this sense of identity with my new home.
TASK TWO- STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Initial ideas for classic street Photography
when I think of street Photography I imagine black and white grainy film images in my head, I always think of early 1980s New York for some reason and I think in a lot of the more classic street photography artwork that the images are quite simple but aesthetically pleasing to they , a lot of subtle techniques are used such as rule of thirds and large depth of field. in my opinion A lot of the classic street Photographers use the city as a backdrop and focus on an interesting subject or unusual aspect of their frame to create a juxtaposition , making their image more interesting
artist research for classic street Photography
I have looked into William Klein for my classic street Photography research. Klien is an American born French photographer and film maker , most commonly known for his ironic approach to media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in context of fashion and photojournalism photography. Klein was asked by vogue to produce a photobook of New York , he recorded the city's vibrancy and grittiness , producing an uncompromising portrait that the magazine rejected.Klein later went onto take his images and publish them under the title ' life is good and good for you in New York".
initial ideas for contemporary street photography
I think contemporary street photography is a bit harder to create, you need to really be tuned into your creative senses to create a bold and effective image. I associate the word contemporary with colour , modernism and overall playfulness
artist research for contemporary street photography
I chose to look into a photographer named Beat Streuli for my artist research. beat streuli is a Swiss born visual artist whose work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums . he is well known for his street portraiture in which he documents the daily life on the streets of big cities . his initial work followed the lead of Russian constructivism , gradually the outer world started to enter streuli's works. in 1994 he started to shoot in the big city of New York.
the approach
I think in the modern world Beat Streuli's approach of contemporary Photography is much more achievable just by walking out the door with a camera due the modern public being so used to privacy invasion and people taking photos randomly compared to Kleins work where a lot of the public are puzzled as to why their photo is being taken. I think the big difference between the two artists work is how the subject reacts to having their photo taken which really shows the evolution of street Photography. I also think that Kleins work is different to Streuli's work in the sense its more thoughtful , Klein used film so he. had to make sure everything was correct technically like lighting and shutter speed as. well as physically developing images.
my classic street photo
my contemporary photo
TASK THREE ARCHITECTURE
classic architecture research
I looked into the work of Bernice Abbot for inspiration on classic architecture pictures, Abbot did some work experience in Paris for a few years and arrived back to New York in 1929, on her arrival abbot was shocked. by the rapid transformation of the built landscape and claimed that 'old New York was disappearing ' . on the eve of the Great Depression Abbot began a series of documentary photographs picturing the vast structural elements of the big city.
my classic architecture picture
Contemporary architecture research
whilst looking among many contemporary architecture photographers Leana Cagnotto really stood out tome in particular due to. her incising images. Leana was born in Italy, she specialised in architecture and interior design. she has a visually pleasing minimalist Approach to her photographs the lack of everyday life and nature in her images creates an almost ' too perfect' look and really reminds me of the movie the Truman show where everything is a set.
my contemporary architecture image
TASK FOUR - BUILT ENVIRONMENT
I looked into photographer Pauline miller for inspiration on how to capture human movement in the city, I really liked how she used slow shutter speed to dramatise the amount of people in the city and create the busy feeling of being in the big city
my built environment Photographs
my built environment image with no people
I think focusing on human behaviour when taking photos really changes the image and the undertones of it. I preferred taking pictures with people in them because I got to experiment more with techniques as well as producing different images
TASK 6- ENVIRONMENT
TASK 7- NATURE
TASK 9- DIARY