Childhood memories...

These images are supposed to represent memories that had a big effect on me as a child. I was thinking it would be best to have these images follow a documentary style at first like Jim Goldberg's series "raised by wolves", with a child to play the character of me. I also liked the personal touches in his work, where he would as the people to write the thoughts, or feelings to aid the image. Some other people that influenced me were Cindy Sherman and Lorna Simpson. Lorna's work takes a more conceptual approach than Sherman's. Her work is very structured in terms of the way she creates text and the way she creates her images. Everything is stripped down when she takes her photos. A large majority of then are studio based, she keeps her backdrops plain, her models are turned away from the camera and very little of their face is shown that strips away their identity (like Waterbearer). By having the background plain it draws attention to the mystery of the character displayed which draws you in. The text gives more structure and understanding to the photo, but still leaves some mystery, so it still leaves a space for you to add your own interpretation of the image.  I then looked into Cindy Sherman and how she creates a character using herself as the model. I liked how her images seemed slightly satirical, like an over exaggeration of how we view people.

I experimented with making the image feel more personal like how Jim Goldberg allows people to write over his photos. The text seems very scrawly, because I wanted it to seem like it was written by a child.

Street shots continued..

I like these diptych ideas because they are about the ways in which you read into an image or situation. When we look at thing we always look for clues that will help us out, lead us in the right direction and give us an overall sense of what is going on. Both of the images in these diptychs work well on their own, but paired in the way that they are, it  is the signs and the righting that is the focus of them. In the top diptych the image is very empty in terms of visual information to help you understand the image. I took the pictures in this because I liked how the scene was marked by the text. The graffiti claims ownership over the area, and the words change how you view the picture. With the bottom diptych, the street sign is centred in the image so it is the main focus, maybe bringing that into focus more by having the background out of focus more would help bring our attention more to the sign. But by having the background in focus we still search for we this is, but the trees and the pillars seem to block alot of this information and seal us out. the photo next to it is more clear and brings us closer to a clue, a way out, it's more focused, and gives us a better idea of where we are supposed to go. 

Street shots continued..

I like the amount of detail that is brought out of the image by changing the contrast and leaving the middle portion of the photo in focus it gives you a clear idea of direction, as you follow the brick wall to the end of the photo. The brick wall leads you on a journey to the end of the photo, which is interesting, because by changing the perspective and composition in a certain way, you are manipulating the viewers eye to think in that way, and follow your story instead of the viewer searching for how they think they should perceive the image. At the end of the 'journey' the viewer see an out of focus shot of a row of houses leading out of shot. From there on they can come up with their own idea of where this image is leading them because the background is out of focus, out of reach, you do not know if the image is leading us to think that this image is about being lost and trying to find a way home, about a journey to some place familiar etc.

Street Shots 2

Argh, blogger is so annoying! I tried to undo some typing on my last post and it deleted the whole thing!!

I took these shots at the bottom of Slade Rd. The weather was quite dull and dreary, so I didn't think the images would stand out well if they were in colour. Taking influence from the Wille Doherty exhibition we went to when we went to Wolverhampton, I did the shots in Black and White because the contrast in them made the images stand out alot more and drew you in.

 I think this was the best image that I took. The monochrome look really helps to set the scene. The block in the middle is the first thing that draws you in. the leaves scattered around it, the pillars that keep the scene contained. It all fells empty, but there is alot of info in there to create your own narrative.

 I could have composed this one better. I don't think there is alot going on here and maybe the mid-tones could be changed, if I was to retake this image.

 Another one of my favourites. I love the contrast and  how the different objects work against each other quite well. I don't thing I had an idea in mind when I took this, I was just looking around and waiting for something to catch my interest. I guess they work together quite well because they both have a similar function. At the bus stop you are sitting and waiting and the same can be said for the bench.

Street shots

Looking through my blog I thought I put this up my Street shots, sorry if i'm putting this up a tad late. I find landscape photography really hard to do, because i'm more comfortable create scenes from my own ideas, with landscape everything is already laid out for you to work with and it's hard to pick a specific spot to hone on to.

I took this while we were walking around Wolverhampton  and I thought the street looked quite warm and inviting even though the day was cold and quite dull. I went to Gimp to try and recreate how I thought the street should look. I altered the saturation and tried to make the corners look like there were light leaks at the corners. I'm not too sure it looks right. I think I may invest in a lomo camera, because I want to test some ideas on an actual Holga camera to see if they would work well. Can we develop coloured film at college?

This was my first attempt that didn't turn out too well.
Should I have Saturated the above picture with more colour like I did with this one?

Ideas...

Is it ok that I don't take many alot of photos for the time being? I want to come up with ideas and sketches and gather materials to make my ideas even better. I'll do test shots, though.

Leah Johnson

http://leahjohnston.com/index.html

Her blog

I really like her ideas behind her photographs. The thoughts behind them are really introspective and her images provide enough narrative to make you think and understand her world.

Valley of Regret

"You came to me this evening
In the shadow of a kiss
I thought that I had lost you
To the early morning mist
You took a humble helping
While I took all I could get
You took my heart and hid it
In the valley of regret

I trembled in your branches
Like a newly opened leaf
I was a shipwrecked sailor
That was waiting for relief
Who sacrificed his body
To the ocean in your debt
And took his final breathe inside
The valley of regret

Eclipsed by lust, we reveled in
The irony of youth
I took to magic mirrors
That did not reflect the truth
You took to making altars
To a secret statuette
Who ever would have thought
we’d find the valley of regret?

You damaged me with rainbows.
I ravaged you with rain.
I thought the only way to love
Was through a path of pain
We sang our sappy love songs
As our summer sun was set
Then burnt our angry torches
In the valley of regret

I’m fighting on the battle lines
I’m giving it my best
I probably will die here
But at least I took the test
I’m raging for the glory
And I’m running for the sweat
I’m taking all my chances
In the valley of regret."

"I brace myself for another
repeat.
The inhale/exhale of all things.
I ask myself
If I can handle
The ebb and flow
Which will sustain
And eventually damn me.

Does it matter if I don’t have a choice?

I feed the meter.
I read the scriptures.
I heed the words of my elders
Who tell me
To stitch sturdy knots in the fabric of my potential
Who tell me
To fear the great and inevitable
Consequence.

My skull is seething
I feel my bones begging
For a revolution that may never come
When I may cast off the shackles of polite existence
And go back
To eating berries."

Cycles of Sadness

                                            

                                         Step 1:Reach till it hurts

                                                         Step 2: Break