Research for still life
For still life, I looked into 3 photographers, each of which had their own unique style.
Evelyn Bencicova
Evelyn Bencicova is a still life artist who creates pictures with an eerie, dream-like vibe. On her website, her work is described as having an “individual aesthetic”
http://evelynbencicova.com/about
Her work is very conceptual based. She is described as having the “conceptual meet the visual”
The lighting used is usually very soft, giving the images their dreamlike vibe.
Irving Penn
Irving Penn is another still life artist who’s work is now shown in exhibitions all around the world. He created still life images that used focused on texture of an object. He preferred taking images in a studio as this trimmed away “anything that was not essential to his compositions”
https://www.irvingpenn.org/biography
Bas Meeuws
Bas Meeuws is a dutch still life photographer who’s images try to recreate the look and feel of traditional 17th century dutch still life. To do this, he mainly photographed flowers as this was the way of traditional dutch still life. His work has “undergone a clear development” since the rise of digital camera’s. His composition used to be “frontal and strongly symmetrical” but over the decades he has experimented with light, depth and composition.
As you can see from the photo’s, his photo’s were always taken in a studio so he could achieve the right feel of the photo’s.
Research for final project
| Which of the words given in the brief document have you selected, and why? |
I have selected the term “divide” and I have decided to base my final project on politics as this is a subject which divides many members of the Public. I chose this topic as I think in present times its a very big and controversial issue and something that needs to be addressed. Many photographers focus on topics which are important at the time, and this is something I’d like to do for my final project.
What do you want to point your camera at?
I want to photograph students and members of the public holding signs (portrait photography)- and on the signs have them say who they voted for in the most recent elections and why. I think this will be an interesting subject as it will show how students think, and how they have an effect on the way our country operates.
Why are you interested in this subject?
I think these days politics is a very controversial topic with people having very drastic opinions, and this will be something that is very interesting to photograph. I also think many adults have a notion that young people don’t care about politics and don’t vote, and hopefully my final project will help change this idea.
What do you hope an audience will take from your images?
I hope my audience will take that young people are actually very opinionated when it comes to politics, and we help shape the country by deciding who we want in charge. I also want the audience to see the different viewpoints we have when it comes to our ideal candidate, and how these viewpoints can affect the vote.
What areas of research are you considering to help deepen your understanding of the subject you have chosen?
I am considering going to various political party society meetings that happen at the university to talk to the students and find out who they voted for and why. This will help me understand peoples viewpoints better and observe how strongly these students feel about politics and why it matters to them. To do this I am thinking of conducting interviews. I will also use the internet to conduct some research into what students are doing to make their voices heard.
What practitioner(s) or visual resources would you consider to have influenced you? This not have to be photographic.
Seeing all the articles written in newspapers and online about politics has influenced me, as well as seeing it on TV and seeing posters around advertising peoples campaigns. This has shown me just how relevant politics is in today’s society, which inspired me to photograph it.
What support or equipment might you need to achieve your goals?
To achieve my goals I will need to the support of the university in terms of allowing me to go to various society meetings to talk to the students, and the support of the students and members of the public as they will need to be willing to partake in the project. In terms of equipment, I will need a camera and a tripod as well as the correct lighting to achieve my goals.
Research into politics and political photography:
I researched into political protest photography as these photo’s achieve the effect I am hoping to achieve. One photographer called Phillip Curnow photographs various political protests up and down the country.
I also researched into what the votes had looked like in the last general election in Lincoln.
This is useful information as it allows me to observe how big the political divide is in this town and how different ideas are when it comes to politics.
I contacted various political societies in Lincoln to ask if I could attend an event and photograph some of the members. These were the responses I received:
Studying other photographers
As part of my research, I looked into some other photographers to see how they carried out their planning and work. One photographer that I looked at was Diane Arbus as she was very well known for her portrait photography which is what I am planning to do for my final project. In one of her books (Diana Arbus, Diane Arbus, 1972) she describes the camera as being “kind of a license” that allows people to let their guard down. She writes that her inspiration comes from seeing people walk down the street- she see’s people’s flaws and thinks that “it’s extrodianry that we should be given these peculiarities. And, not content with that we were given we create a whole other set.” (Arbus, 1972)
“It always seems to me that photography tends to deal with facts whereas film tends to deal with fiction” Arbus writes. “The best example I know is when you go to the movies and you see two people in bed, you’re willing to put aside the fact that you perectly well know that there was a direcyot and a camereman and assorted lighting people all in the same room and the two people in bed weren’t really alone. But when you look at a photograph, you can never put that aside” (Arbus, 1972) This paragraph is really interesting to me as it describes how she interprets photographs. I think every photographer has their own reason why they love photography, and I love hearing them as every reason tends to be different.
Diana’s portrait photo’s use harsh lighting, probably to accentuate the “flaws” that people have that she finds interesting. It appears that she has set up lighting, not used natural lighting, as the light appears too harsh to be natural. The photo’s are always very in focus. This again, may have being a technique used to accentuate people’s features, and their “flaws.” Diana has set up her framing so only the focus is on the person being photographed. Even when they are photographed in their environment, they are usually centred so the focus is on them. The portraits are all in black and white which gives the images a dramatic feel. This is something I might consider for my final project as black and white colouring seems to give the photo’s a more eye catching look- making the audience actually want to pay attention to them and I think as my subject is an important and controversial one, this technique could work for my final project.
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry is another portrait photographer who strongly believes that “photographs are not so much about art as about creating a record, or telling a story, or holding on to a memory about the way things used to be” (Anthony Bannon, 2005) Bannon writes “his gift as an artist is his ability to make the complex seem easy through photography. His pictures get to the heart of the matter” He photographed people in Asia, and the Gulf war, and his images “reveal what it was like to have being there, in that moment, with that person, witness to the drama and to the poetry of colours and forms- gifts of seeing well that occur everyday” (Bannon, 2005)
“The portrait is read with similar purpose and intensity, we search it for clues through which we might know the experience and conditions of the person shwon and perhaps draw from it conclusions about ourselves” Bannon writes. “What is it that finally compels the photographers’s attnetion and compels the viewer to notice and remember? It’s a mystery, It’s magic. It’s an enigma…and yet, I often feel, it’s so obvious”
The portraits all use quite harsh lighting and this helps McCurry correctly display the changing face of Asia, as it makes it easier for the audience to see the effects of what is happening in the country on the persons face. The images are all very in focus, this seems to be common within portrait photography and this is something I should consider when it comes to shooting my final project. The people in the portrait are usually framed centrally so the audiences attention is on them. This is something else that seems to be found a lot in portrait photography, and framing is something I should defiently consider when it comes to creating my final images. The colours used in the image are very strong, which draw the audiences attention to the image. The fact that the background is usually black means the subject usually appears very striking thanks to this colour scheme.
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham was another portraiture photographer who was around from 1883 to 1976. Here is an example of some portrait photographs she took:
Her images were always shot in black and white and this makes the photo’s appear more abstract and more dramatic. The people used in the shot are usually framed centrally, and this gives them a sense of importance and draws the viewers eyes to the subject. In some shots the subject is out of focus- as seen here:
This has an interesting effect on the audience as it makes the image seem slightly less staged- as if Cunningham simply picked up a camera and decided to take a picture there and then. This allows more of the subjects personality to come through. This fits with a quote once said by her in which she states “As a document or record of personality I feel that photography isn’t surpassed by any other graphic” (Imogen Cunningham, Richard Lorenz, 1997)
In his book on Imogen Cunningham, Richard Lorenz states that often what we see in photography is a lie. “The deception can be achieved by multiple methods. The environmental context of the photograph modulates it’s connotative power”
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