A Jewish giant at home with his parents, NY, 1970
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On the left is a photograph called A Jewish giant at home with his parents by Diane Arbus. I find it a very weird and intruding image, a snapshot into someones home and life. I like the vignetting caused by the over exposure from the bright flash. The round lines of the vignetting also reinforce the feeling of the wide angle lens. The fact the both the floor, walls and ceiling is in frame suggests it could be a 28mm lens. The shadow of the tall man emphasises his presence and stature. I think Diane Arbus must have known this family well in order to be inside their home and feel comfortable enough to take an intimate photo of them possibly even arguing. Unless I knew the family well I would not feel comfortable myself taking this photo. Some people think it is only right to seek permission of your subjects before taking their photo. I however disagree, I feel you should always judge the situation and decide whether or not it is appropriate to ask for permission. Particularly in street photography I do not usually ask permission, if people do not want their photo taken they will make it obvious by either walking away, hiding their face or by getting aggressive. This is why I prefer using small, silent 35mm cameras as they are a lot less intrusive.
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On the right is a photograph called Nan and Brian in bed by Nan Goldin. This is Goldin's signature image for her book version of The Ballad which showcases the first decade of her work from the mid-1970's to the '80s. Taken in New York's Lower East Side squalor this image depicts the romantic grittiness of the inhabitants in this area. I like the angle and tones in this image, I love the warmth of the golden sunlight in the dingy bedroom, the shadow on the wall and the way the sunlight catches the mans left side, reflecting off his face and arm. I also like the smoke floating in the shadows, I feel this brings the photo into reality and shows this is a scene in someones actual life. The expression on Goldin's face suggests a mixture of emotions possibly resentment, affection, vulnerability and even dependency. In reality Nan and Brian's abusive relationship ended 3 months later in a rage of violence.
There is no information to who took this photo, whether it was a self timer, shutter release or even another person. I know if I was taking this image myself I definitely would feel very uncomfortable unless they were two close friends that I knew well, but at the same time I would never be friends with someone who is abusive like Brian. |
Nan and Brian in bed, NYC, 1983
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My trip to the Tate Modern:
YUTAKA TAKANASHI BOILER HOUSE LEVEL 4 EAST On the 19th August I went to the Tate Modern to view the Yutaka Takanashi exhibition. Takanashi was a photographer for the photo magazine Provoke along with Takuma Nakahira and Daido Moriyama. 'Provoke' subjected a more evocative and impressionistic photography style which was very different from conventional photojournalism at the time. The beliefs of 'Provoke' was that the photographer can capture what cannot be expressed in words which led to the experimental style made famous by Moriyama, Nakahira and Takanashi. |
My trip to the The Photographers' Gallery:
Terence Donovan: Speed of Light Barbara Lloyd & John Lyon Galleries Following my visit to the Tate Modern I travelled to the Photographers Gallery in Soho, to view Terence Donovan's first major retrospective since his death. Donovan's photos graphically capture the energy, dynamics and artistry of the 1960's. He references artists such as Bridget Riley and designers Barbara Hulanicki of Biba Fame. In Donovan's work there are clear parallels with David Bailey's images. His photographs of iconic celebrities of the the 1960's and 70's seem to in many ways compete directly with those of David Bailey, elevating them to a higher level of art than simple paparazzi. |
One of my favourite images was this colour photograph of Jimi Hendrix. This photo comes across as a very informal portrait, composed almost like a painting with its rich colour palette of typically 1960's textiles, which illustrates Hendrix flamboyant stage presence. I love that the background and surroundings are shadowed, putting all the focus on Hendrix and his amazing clothes. The fact that he is not in the centre of the frame straight away makes the image appear to be informal as it is not like your traditional portrait shoot where the model is directly in the centre of the frame. The photograph does not look staged due to his position and pose resting on the arm of the chair. If this was a composed image then Hendrix would likely have been sitting up straight in the centre of the frame, but maybe the photographer felt the positioning and pose of Hendrix showed him more naturally.
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Sam Kemp is a photographer based in Deptford, South East London. From 2010 to 2013 Kemp documented the demolition of the notorious Ferrier Estate. To portray the brutalist architecture in the most dramatic way Kemp chose to photograph the Estate at night, using only the lighting from the workers floodlights. I really love Kemp's work, his dramatic images give a very strong sense of surrealism provided by the vibrant colours and lighting. Sam Kemp is the first artist who's work has really stood out to me, I enjoyed his work so much that I purchased his photo book the Ferrier Estate from him. His photo book comes with a piece of fibreglass from the windows in one of the stairwells of the depressing blocks, which I think is a nice touch as it is preserves part of the history of the estate which is otherwise lost. I am shocked that such amazing colours could be created by just floodlights and sunsets. I definitely would like to experiment further creating images with vibrant surreal colours like those of Kemp's, when I was taking my double exposure images seen above I was trying to capture similar images with vibrant surreal colours. |
I went there in particular to see my friend Billy Edmonds photo exhibit. Billy had one photograph on the wall and a photobook on a plinth below. His image was far more striking than the rest in the gallery, this was mainly because his photograph was backlit. To make the light shine through the image he had built a light box and printed the image on translucent film paper. This greatly enhanced the image as when he turned the light off it appeared only as a dull, boring picture, but with the light switched back on there was a sense of warmth that brightened up the image and created a nice glow that almost imitated a camera flash. I felt this photograph was of a similar style to Sam Kemp's Ferrier Estate images, both are of 1960's concrete architecture and both have very dynamic lighting. Obviously Billy's image is an action shot and Kemp's are not, but I feel that both their images would not look out of place side by side.
Below are a selection of images from the exhibtion. I liked the Film Noir images by Anna Voceikina. They are are all neatly framed and look great in as a series of six. The photographs look very striking especially with the dark figure emerging from the depths of the shadows. The way the images are composed and the fact he is wearing a Trilby hat naturally makes the images appear to be from the period of film noir. The photos reminded me of the black and white reflection images by Lisette Model in which her most famous photo captures the shadow of a figure wearing a Trilby and suit. At the exhibtion there were also some photo prints hanging on string, these images had been soaked in water to disturb the ink and make it slide across the print. |
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