Wk 6: Artist Study // Martin Parr & Rineke Dijkstra

Martin Parr / Flash 
Parr's style of photography is somewhat more unromantic than say Bresson's take on photojournalism. Parr is a documentary photographer who photographs everyday scenes seen in his home country of England and during his travels abroad. His use of Flash makes colours brighter and almost garish. His subjects are directly lit up even with their back to the sun making the images otherworldly - with light not naturally being in two places at once. His flash seems to particularly bring out the reds in his images.


Flash: In these images Parr's flash has definitely brought out the reds in both shots using a flash. The flash has brought out the details of the people and the environment which would otherwise be lost.

Composition: Triangle (between their heads and the coke drink), Rule of Thirds and Rule of Odds.

Composition: Rule of Odds (3 clearly defined blow up toys + two main people as subjects = 5), Triangle (of the tips of the blow up toys) & rule of thirds.

Rineke Dijkstra / Flash 
Dutch Photographer Rineke Dijkstra looks for subjects that are in a transitional phase whether puberty, mothers and babies after birth or bull fighters just after a fight. By eliminating the contextual elements which would age the images, distract or label the destination the viewer is able to fully view the person in the image. She uses a Large Format Camera a slow and methodical process where the subject and Dijkstra have to work together to capture the moment. Adding to this detailed practise she uses a flash directly at the image, the flash is separated from the camera and stands higher than the level of the camera which seems to give more focus to the face of the subjects.

Her subject seems to generally be in the middle of the frame and if it is off centre it is only ever so slightly.

Wk 5: Artist Study // Jeff Wall & Erwin Wurm

Focus: Directed, Reflected and Diffused Light 

Jeff Wall / Direct Light
Jeff Wall starts taking images by not photographing. He sees an image and then recreates it. Giving him control over the outcome.  His street photographs focus on 'micro-gestures'. These examples of Jeff Wall's work contain clear examples of direct light.

Milk ,1984
Light Elements: The light in this image is very high, making the shadow behind the subject rather shallow.
Composition Elements: Rule of Thirds, Pattern, Fast Shutter - Color of the window matching some of the colour in the bricks and the light on the subjects pants.






Mimic, 1982
Light: The light (sun) in this image is lower than that of Milk making the shadows behind the subjects long behind them adding to the leading lines mirrored in the line of the building parallel.
Compositional Elements: Rule of Odds, Color Contrasting (Blue Sky/Windows & Orange Shirt), Leading Lines, repeating colour (red shorts, red car and red sign in the background).

Erwin Wurm / Diffused Light
Wurm's work is hard to get a clear idea of. He is a sculptor and Photographer so his work is jumbled together (on the internet at least). His one minute sculptures are all about putting the body in ridiculous-looking relationships with everyday objects. The people are generally volunteers who are invited to take part and then hold the position for a minute - these situations are then photographed (where the photography comes in). Although Wurn does photography outside of these exhibitions too with photos playing with similar absurd themes.

Light: Diffused - the scene is well lit and soft although there is still some shadow it isn't sharp.






















Light: Diffused  - I think the light in this image is diffused due to the softness of the light. Again there is some shadow but it isn't very contrasty.

Wk 3: Artist Study // Robert Doisneau & Olive Cotton

Artist Study Focus: Line and Pattern

Robert Doisneau
A photojournalist at heart, the patterns that Robert Doisneau created are mainly from man made objects but that are happened upon rather than organised by the photographer. Doisneau's clever use of vantage point in the below images show he managed to get himself in the right position to include as much of the pattern as possible and also included diagonal lines across the image that draws your eye up and down the pattern.

Olive Cotton:
Cotton's famous image of the teacups differ from Doisneau's pattern making in that she has set up this pattern purposefully in a studio. By having control over the light, she was able to angle the light from behind the cups to create deep shadows that mirrored the cups and doubled the pattern.

Wk 1: Artist Study // Richard Avedon

Richard started young working as a photographer for Harpers Bazaar in the world of fashion. He quickly gained a reputation for freezing movement in his images. Movement from models jumping, walking and clothes blowing in the street turned into studio sessions using wind machines and choreographed moment which he captured using fast shutter.

Examples of Richard Avedon and his fast shutter:

Avedon's work traversed fashion and portraiture with relative ease, although is style of portrait is largely different from his fashion imagery. His images capture a brief moment of humanity in the eyes and expression of the subject whereas his fashion images capture a much more theatrical and bigger moment.

Examples of Portraiture:

Wk 8: Self Directed // Fast Shutter

I hadn't really played much with a fast shutter - at least not intentionally. So last night I attempted to stop a lei in mid air. This was far more difficult than I thought it would be! Getting the timing of the shutter and throw working together only worked a couple of times. Plus it was hard to get it in focus without something to stand in.

Composition: I choose the green wall so you would be able to see the lei - and probably should have moved the table so that the area was clear but I liked the result of the falling of the Lei in the domestic setting.

These were my results:

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
ISO: 3200

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
ISO: 3200

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
ISO: 3200

Wk 5: Self Directed // Queenie's Concert

I friend of mine who I've looked after since she was 3 years old was performing in a band as part of The Rock Shop's Band quest. I figured this would be a good opportunity to try shooting in a dark environment seeing as I'll probably photograph theatre shows at some point.

I used a really high ISO and the lowest shutter speed I could get away with. All the images have been edited in Camera Raw - increasing the Luminance, as well as Amount & Radius.

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 6400

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 4000

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 4000

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 4000

Thoughts: Some of these images turned out pretty good and luckily they have retained the colour from the stage lighting. In terms of composition, I was really just looking at capturing some moments when Queenie was in full swing and singing her heart out for the sake of her family who weren't able to be there.

Wk 6: Self Directed // Speedlight

These images were taken with a speed light. I have to admit I got a little lost on this day in terms of what to photograph so I just took some images of the interior and exterior of my house. I experimented with bouncing the speedlight  on the ceiling, to the side wall and also pointing directly at the subject.















BEFORE
Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.0
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 400

AFTER
Composition: I didn't put much thought into these images, I was more focused on experimenting with flash. This image could really have done with a different vantage point or by not cutting off the end of the bench.
Use of Flash: The flash works well in this room and doesn't look too artificial. It was pointed at the ceiling.

BEFORE
Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.0
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 400

AFTER
Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 5.0
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 400
Composition: With this image I think it could have been more interesting if I'd included the top of the curtain rail and some of the floor.
Use of Flash: The flash has done an amazing job at lighting the room - It was pointed at the ceiling. Although the shorter shutter speed has over exposed the detail of the exterior.

BEFORE
Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 400

AFTER
Composition: I like the above image the most from this selection. The leading lines which head towards to the dark room in the background.
Use of Flash:  I also love the reflection created on the floor once the flash was included.

Shot Details:
Aperture: f / 4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 200
Use of Flash: In this image the flash is pointed to the side and directly at the subject of the leaves. You can clearly see the brightness of the flash on the right side. It's very obviously a flash but I actually quite like the way it looks like a point and shoot camera. It reminds me of an image you might take when experimenting at the age of 12. Maybe I never moved on...