UNIT 2: EXAM
I have chosen the theme 'diary' for my extended enquiry as I am fascinated with the idea of taking photo's related to every day life. It can be a mixture of photo journalism and creativity, exploring some of the more recent genres such as photo blogging, especially in terms of charting adolescent narratives. I was particulary inspired to by this theme as one of my favourite photographers Petra Collins, canadian portrature photographer who documents the lives of teenage girls. She explores all aspects of daily life, giving us a truthful insight into the lives of other people. I'm curious to experiment and capture different peoples lives and document them using photographs or film.
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Pinterest Board 1
This is my initial pinterest board that I have created. I feel like the work on this board is not really similar to the ideas I have about diaries. For example, a lot of the work on this board is related to the artists own diary's and lives however I am more interested in creating a body of work related to other people diaries and lives. Therefore I am going to create another pinterest board based on a photographer I greatly admire. Somebody who's work provides the viewer with an insight into the lives of other through photo journalism.
Pinterest board #2 (photography related to another aspect of diary)
Petra Collins
Born and brought up in Canada, Petra Collins is a portraiture and fashion photographer exploring themes of adolescence and gender in her work. She mainly uses film format in her photographs but has recently began to experiment with making short films. Her website is broken down into different body's of work including a series called 'teenage bedroom' where she photographs Tavi Gevinson, an american writer and actress in her bedroom environment. Petra Collins explores Tavi's room like a diary, photographing different elements of her room like her walls full of postcards that illustrate a diary of events in her life. A diary is like her room and Collins is documenting that.
INITIAL IDEAS -Instead of simple photographing somebody's diary or documenting somebody's life I like the idea of photographing just one person for a day. -I could choose a group of people and photograph them in different places -I could follow around one person for a day, documenting their life for a day |
Photoshoot #1 Response to 'teenage bedroom'
My first photoshoot inspired by Petra Collin's work on Tavi Gevinson is full of fluorescent colour and modern themes. I have chosen to photograph someone in their natural environment (their bedroom) and asked them to act as they would normal, for me to then capture this. The person has chosen to take selfies which is one way of documenting a diary of events in their life. I began to really think of the sub theme a) same old same old... As I wanted to capture this girl in a way that felt normal to her. She is using her phone in most of these images which is an every day thing. She told me that this was part of her routine most mornings: waking up and looking at her phone, snapchatting people, or uploading a selfie on to instagram. Although this could be seen as a natural thing for a teenager to do, the process behind taking these selfies is something people don't normally see therefore I am documenting what happens behind the camera and showing an audience a diary of events.
Another Petra Collins collection of photographs relating to theme: DIARY
In this set of images taken for an article in vulture magazine names 'life in pictures' the photographer Petra Collins has 'followed' the musician around for two days in New York. The musician St Vincent is being captured in different settings, ranging from her manhattan apartment to the streets of New York. The photographer is giving us an insight into the life of another person through carefully composed photographs.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS? The photographer is doing something very simple, going back to basics and I believe there is something quite special about this. The musician is not posing in a particular way for the photographer, instead she going about her daily life for the photographer to also experience. USING THIS IDEA IN MY OWN WORK - I could photograph someone, following them on their daily routine - I could photograph someone in their most confortable environment such as their bedroom |
Photoshoot #2 Response to Petra Collins series on ST Vincent
Inspired by Petra Collin's collection of images of the musician St Vincent I decided to take photos of a photographer, photographing someone around London. I simply followed her around London, capturing different moments of her day.
Are these images boring?
- I could experiment by adding another dimension to the images
- Experiment more with colour
- Use film
-Include text (could use a app called phonto)
- Experiment more with colour
- Use film
-Include text (could use a app called phonto)
Experiment #3- Adding text from diary onto an image
In these experiments I have used an app called phonto to apply text onto a photograph. I did this to experiment explore other ways of portraying a diary in a photograph. The text over the images is my own writing, very simple. I wanted these images to depict a diary of someone such as this recurring figure. I thought that by layering the text over the images themselves the viewer would be informed more of this persons 'diary' literally. I deliberately chose to photograph her in a busy environment so she is not standing alone in all the images, this is because I want the figure to interact with other people like she naturally does when taking photos of other people.
By photographing a person in her day to day life I am illustrating the events that could have happened in her diary however instead of reading about her day I am revealing snapshots to the viewer. Although I have documented some of the day I have not photographed everything as that would be boring instead I have depicted certain points in the day to document her life.
The actual images themselves are simple, but carefully composed. I wanted the figure to stand out in each image despite the writing mostly overalpping the figure.
By photographing a person in her day to day life I am illustrating the events that could have happened in her diary however instead of reading about her day I am revealing snapshots to the viewer. Although I have documented some of the day I have not photographed everything as that would be boring instead I have depicted certain points in the day to document her life.
The actual images themselves are simple, but carefully composed. I wanted the figure to stand out in each image despite the writing mostly overalpping the figure.
Sophie Calle
The idea of the following someone around for the day, documenting their day and following them in their footsteps is something an artist called Sophie Calle explores in her early work. The project was called Suite Venetienne where she would follow people around and document them. This is a very simple but clever idea.
Suite Venetienne- pinterest board
Here I have created a pinterest board including most of the images from her series 'Suite Venetienne'. The images are mostly black and white with symmetrical compositions with the rule of thirds in mind.
‘For months I followed strangers in the street. For the pleasure of following them, not because they particularly interested me'
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This is a selection of images from the series illustrating the photographer following someone. The photographer did not know the person who she was following meaning there was risk taking involved in the process of these photographs which adds yet another dimension to these simple compositions. The photographer has decided not to get too close to the figure and shoots them at a distance sometimes with windows or doors in front which help show the distance between the photographer and that person.
Next Steps-follow somebody around for the day photographing them behind things
-create a film of following around someone, hiding behind different objects |
Photoshoot #4 using film camera - following people on their diary of events
I experimented with using a film camera to experiment with the idea of following someone, or some people on a journey somewhere and capturing them in a street scene. Instead of simply following around one person around I decided to follow two people around and wanted to capture the communication between the two people along the way by photographing the figures in the same images. In the last set of photos I took I photographed in daylight, in quite bright light but this this time I wanted to take photographs at nighttime, especially as I was in an area where there were many fluorescent lights everywhere which gave the photos a more dreamy effect. I liked the idea of street lights lighting up the faces and figures showing a real connection between the environment the people are in and the two figures themselves. By photographing in brick lane, there were many opportunities for capturing other people as well however I decided to just focus on the two people I started with at the beginning to create more of a narrative to these images. Using film instead of using a digital camera feels like a different experience altogether especially as I was photographing at nighttime I was unsure if the images would come out too dark however I like the fact these images are quite dark as it includes an element of mystery to the photos so that you really have to search for the figures which I like. I prefer taking photos when the figures are less obvious because it gives the viewer something to search for which I think is exciting and interesting.
Photoshoot #5 - someone going on a journey
Instead of following someone round for the day I have decided to photograph someones journey from the same angle each time. I have decided to photograph the two figures in the same angle on multiple occasions to document their journey on a landscape.
I wanted to experiment with different camera angles. I decided to stand further away from the figure embarking on a journey to see how this would look. By photographing from landscape the viewer has to search for the figure. Although we notice the figure walking somewhere we begin to question what the figure has seen on their journey yet? We wonder where they are going which adds mystery to the image. The varied colours are adding texture and a vast depth of field making it feel like the viewer is literally in the landscape themselves.
PLAN
-find a way of showing someones journey
- use string to follow the person on their journey
- simplistic
-find a way of showing someones journey
- use string to follow the person on their journey
- simplistic
Photoshoot #6- photographing someone on a journey from a different angle
I wanted to focus more on my subject matter in these series of images however I felt like the images as stills were quite boring and the light was facing the wrong way. Despite the aesthetics of the images not being successful I liked the narrative behind them. The narrative is quite simple but the idea of someone going on a journey across some rocks is something I would like to look at in more depth. I feel like I could make some more work inspired by this idea instead of taking photos like I did before of people along their journey. In these images I got someone to drag along a piece of string as a symbol fo their journey and them travelling somewhere. I wanted the person to leave behind a trail of string to represent their journey.
Editing clips for stop motion
For stop motion, the images have to be on screen for no longer than one second for an effective video.
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I wanted to increase the contrast in these videos to enhance the depth of the rocks adding to the depth of field.
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I wasn't really pleased with the first lot of images I took of the girl on the rocks however I then took a bunch more images and realised there was potential to make them into a stop motion. I thought this was be good idea especially as this way I was able to capture the girl on a journey, experiencing a diary of events. Although she may not be experiencing a typical diary of events like going out for the day but instead she is overcoming obstacles on her journey across some rocks which, as an idea is quite interesting. I decided that simply following people round for the day was simply not enough as I want to get as many ideas as I can out of this theme. Therefore this time, which the stop motion I am looking at another side of diary, the more simpler side. Something I want to continue experimenting with.
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diary 1 from Clara Bach on Vimeo. |
Diary 2 from Clara Bach on Vimeo. |
Here I have used many still images to create two very short clips of somebody on a journey, across rocks. Seeing as the theme of this project is diary I have been thinking and focussing a lot on someone experiencing a diary of events and I thought it would be interesting to capture someone on a journey in a more obscure way, like there are objects in the way of them getting on with their daily lives. For example in these clips the figure is struggling to get across some rocks however the string she is trailing behind is representing her journey. I am really thinking about the basics of a journey, creating films that are so very simple but make the viewer question about why this girl is walking over the wood and rocks?
RECURRING THEME
I have been developing this idea of a figure moving from one side of the image to the next. I think this represents a short diary of events and allows the viewer to interpret what the figure is doing for themselves. The figure is going a very short journey across some rocks which makes these films and the concept as a whole abstract.
RECURRING THEME
I have been developing this idea of a figure moving from one side of the image to the next. I think this represents a short diary of events and allows the viewer to interpret what the figure is doing for themselves. The figure is going a very short journey across some rocks which makes these films and the concept as a whole abstract.
Photoshoot #7: Capturing the same person going on a journey (digital slr)
During a trip away I managed to document someones journey simply through a group of images, however I put more focus into documenting strangers on my journey rather than photographing one single person the whole time. Despite this, I cam out with a few successful images. I used a digital camera in sets of images and I used a setting on it to make the images seem more faded out. I wanted this so that the figure could blend into the background more, as if the figure is part of the landscape. I focussed a quite a lot on texture and line, I wanted the figure to slot into a textured landscape without seeming like she is not posing so I didn't ask her to. This is a vital decision to make if your model should pose or not because it can distort the feelings in a photograph. I was particularly pleased with some images I took of the figure walking around some derilict builidings which stood out for me as the figure is going on a journey and am simply capturing her visiting buildings she may or may not have seen before, the viewer does not know.
Most successful 1
Although this photo looks quite 'nice' I want more images to look more interesting than that rather than me simply documenting someone working down the street. The image is quite boring and the composition isn't quite right with the figure swaying towards the right. However, the shadow on the ground is quite pretty, adding to the texture of the photograph however I do not want to take more photos like this because I want there to be more a narrative to them rather than just photographing someone on a journey down a road. Although you can see some buildings in background it is shot in a not very interesting area which adds to this image being so mundane. |
I like the composition of the figure in this photography. The geometric shape of the building with its rough texture against a figure who seems to be intrigued by the building, holding a mobile phone is interesting. The photograph does not only illustrate a moment in time from this persons journey/diary of events but it shows a contrast between new and old. The contrast between the old and derelict building and the youthfulness of the figure and her mobile phone. I am also pleased with the colour of overall building. The colour of the sky is warm against the even warmer buildings with the figure blending into the blue colours. When this image is displayed on its own it still represents diary because we can understand visually that she has been on a journey through the way she is standing, looking intrigued at something she hasn't seen before.
Least successful |
Photoshoot idea#7: Capturing the same person going on a journey (iphone)
I wanted to develope the first set of images by using a filter on my phone called C1 on the VSCO cam app. I wanted to experiment with colour as the first set the images are quite faded out which I liked but I wanted to see how changing the colours to being more vibrant would change the photo.
Colour
After taking most of these images on my phone I decided to edit them using an app called VSCO cam which alters the colours by choosing a filter to put over the image. I chose a filter which made the images seem more saturated which I liked, especially as I included a lot of blue which looks better more saturated. The contrast between the cool blues and warmer yellows helps the figure to stand out, creating a nice outline. |
Texture
In many of these photos I have used mountains as a background: a place the figure is visiting on her diary of events. By using this as a backdrop the figure is focussing on her surroundings, making it more obvious to the viewer that this person is visiting a place in her diary of events.
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MOVEMENT
In this set of images I have experimented with the idea of movement
In this set of images I have experimented with the idea of movement
Experiment film- inspired by the images I have taken on someone going on a journey
malta 2 from Clara Bach on Vimeo.
I wanted to create a film as an extension to the images I had taken. The film documents someone experiencing a diary of events however I wanted to improve this concept by taking more photos, and using the same process to make a film out of those too.
Photoshoot #7 idea: capturing people around me on my own journey
DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS
Instead of documenting one person experiencing a diary of events I have chosen to document my diary of events. However, the photos I am taking are not of me, instead they are of the people I see in a day, the people that stand out to me. I wanted to develop this idea because I found just taking photographs of the same person for the whole day is really boring, as there were so many other people I wanted to photograph around that person.
Instead of documenting one person experiencing a diary of events I have chosen to document my diary of events. However, the photos I am taking are not of me, instead they are of the people I see in a day, the people that stand out to me. I wanted to develop this idea because I found just taking photographs of the same person for the whole day is really boring, as there were so many other people I wanted to photograph around that person.
These are my favourite set of images so far and have used a different idea this time in terms of relating to the theme of diary. Instead of choosing the people I photograph on their journey somewhere I have decided to go on the journey my self to capture the people surrounding me. I wanted the photographs of people around me to be people who stood out to me for different reasons. I wanted to document the connection the figures had with the environment. I was especially drawn to photographing more than one person,
Final Piece 2
NEXT STEPS
I wanted to create an extension of the images I took as I felt like although they are good images I feel like the whole idea of me going on journey, capturing my diary of events through taking images of the people I see is anise concept and something I wanted to push further. Therefore by taking this idea to the next level by making a film I am creating something else from the same stimulus as before.
I wanted to create an extension of the images I took as I felt like although they are good images I feel like the whole idea of me going on journey, capturing my diary of events through taking images of the people I see is anise concept and something I wanted to push further. Therefore by taking this idea to the next level by making a film I am creating something else from the same stimulus as before.
Final Piece 3
Final Piece from Clara Bach on Vimeo.
Seeing as I have developed many film makings kills over the course of this coursework I wanted to create another film based off the idea of someone else's diary of events however instead of simply taking a photograph of them moving I wanted to build more of a narrative to the film which is something I created myself for the person to act out for me.
Spider diagrams
Final Piece 4
Final Piece 3: milk from Clara Bach on Vimeo.
EXHIBITION: Performing for the camera at Tate modern
Themes of the exhibitions
The exhibition is about the relationship between photography and performance which is something I haven't looked at in great depth yet. However, I do still believe performing for the camera is much broader than just somebody photographing a performance. In fact, you could argue any photograph with a figure in it is performing to the camera in some way or another. The exhibition was split up into seven series of work: documenting performance, staging/collboration, photographic actions, performing icons, public relations, self portrait and performing real life. Inspiration for my work Seeing as so far in this project I have looked at stop animation, digital photography, film photography I am curious to experiment perhaps with some performance photography. Since I have always used other people in my work I could maybe even use myself in the work as much of the exhibition featured the artist themselves in their work such as Amalia Ulman who's work is quite interesting. |
Jimmy De Sana
When visiting the 'performing for the camera' exhibition at Tate Modern I became particuarly drawn to one of Jimmy De Sana's images. Not only did I like the simplicity of the image but also the complex emotions behind it.
The figure in the image obviously looks quite distressed, fustrated even. They look slightly lost and as if they had been in that position for a while. The pink strip across the image livens up the atmosphere of it and puts attention on the figure who has wrapped themselves in a white t-shirt.
How does this image link to my project? Although there is no direct link to my project and this photograph, seeing as I have been looking closely at peoples diary sof events, whether thats somebody going on a journey across some rocks, or someone visiting a certain place I have been looking at humans in environments and how they feel in those environments. However, I have no looked that closely at how humans are inside their home, cooped up inside. I have not yet focussed on peoples diarys of events at home (although I touched on this subject when look at teenage bedrooms). I want to experiment by doing something similar to this as a way to document someones diary of events at home when they are not venturing out into the world. More deeply, this could represent isolation or symbolise anxiety as the figure is wrapped in something, trapped. |
Photoshoot #8 Jimmy De Sana response
How do these images link to diary?
In these sets of images I wanted to convey similar emotions to Jimmy De Sana's work. I like the way the position of the figure is awkward, crouching into different positions. Seeing as most of the images I has taken before were quite uplifting, I wanted to create some more darker images, representing for negative feelings about diary. These images are still linked to somebody's diary of events however instead of me capturing somebodys diary of events when they are outside, meeting people, and seeing new things, I am showing someones diary of events at home, wrapped up inside.
As well as these images representing somebody's diary of events they are also showing movement from the figure wrapped up in sheets. In one image the figure is in one position and the next he is in another position. This is quite interesting as I am also documenting the figure going on a journey from one place to another in a more closed environment in contrast to the other images where I have documented someone walking around one destination to the next in a bigger space. These images are just another version of those.
NEXT STEPS
- Could develop these images by wrapping somebody in light instead of wrapping them in a white sheet and photograph them moving in the light. (possible safety hazard wrapping them in light so could get the model to hold the lights whilst they move around in the images)
As well as these images representing somebody's diary of events they are also showing movement from the figure wrapped up in sheets. In one image the figure is in one position and the next he is in another position. This is quite interesting as I am also documenting the figure going on a journey from one place to another in a more closed environment in contrast to the other images where I have documented someone walking around one destination to the next in a bigger space. These images are just another version of those.
NEXT STEPS
- Could develop these images by wrapping somebody in light instead of wrapping them in a white sheet and photograph them moving in the light. (possible safety hazard wrapping them in light so could get the model to hold the lights whilst they move around in the images)
I decided to take the idea of movement a step further and instead of using somebody wrapped in white I used someone to hold some lights as they moved a across a room.You could say this is a development from the stop motion film I did as in both pieces the figure is walking from left to right over an obstacle, in this case the obstacle is the chair however the figure is not actually seen in these photographs,which leaves behind a trail of light which I think is quite beautiful. We begin to question about that persons journey and diary of events when moving however it is the light that we see moving,not the figure.
Most successful collection of images to be made into Final Piece #5
Final Piece 2 - to be viewed on computer
Evaluation
I chose the theme diary for this project as I felt it would give me the opportunity to include more of a narrative behind ,my work. Also before, I usually responded to more open ended themes which allowed me to do basically whatever I wanted but this time I wanted more restriction.I wanted to be able to create a series of work that responded to a more specific theme which was diarys,
After mind mapping some initial ideas I started off this project looking at artists Petra Collin's who's work explores the idea of diarys as she gets very close to her subject, capturing her friends in their home environments, focussing on diary of events in their life. I explored this concept by taking photographs of friend in her bedroom however I was more drawn to another side of Petra Collin's work where she would follow around someone for a day, capturing their diary of events, whether that being someone simply visiting the shops or someone talking to somebody in the street, these photographs were very personal so I responded to them by taking my own set. The photographs I took had good ideas behind them, so some of them more strong however I felt like the photographs were not very emotive and lacked in much feeling. I therefore, wanted to add another dimension to these set of photographs to develope this idea by adding a layer of text over them, text that could have come from the diary of the girl I was photographing all day. These images were for sure more interesting but the text just illustrated what was going on in the image which defeated the point of getting your own ideas from an image.
I therefore looked at another artists called Sophie Calle, who's work, like Petra Collins explores the idea of tracking somebodys diary of events by capturing people from behind doors or windows etc. She usually just photographs one person however I wanted to experiment this time with following around two people. Using film camera to take these images was another experience also as you did not know what the end result would be of these photographs you were taking, especially as I chose to photograph my subject at night where the lights would be very low. However I chose to photograph at Brick Lane because of the attractive neon lights which could have added another dimension to my work. The series of photographs came out well, they were a real experiment however. The photographs were quite dark with only a few bits of light so you really had to search for the figure which I thought was an interesting idea.
After I had taken these film images I wanted to experiment with a slightly different idea. I knew I had been looking at movement, a person travelling from one place to another so I wanted to explore this in some more photographs where it was obvious to the viewer that the figure was travelling somewhere so I got her to hold some string so she would leave a trail of it behind her. These photographs as whole were not successful as I couldn't photograph the trail of string behind her properly, however, I used the stills in a another way by created a stop motion of them. I really enjoyed doing this stop motions as although they were very simple, they explored the idea of diary in a more abstract way by focussing on someones journey across some rocks.
With the idea in mind of some more video, or animation type thing I wanted to take some more photographs of someone in a different setting going on a journey. I was able to capture someone on their journey in another country for a week so I wanted to take lots of images that I could work with. I took two large sets of images which I quite liked the look of however I thought it was quite boring simply photographing one single person all the time whilst she goes on a journey, experiencing a diary of events in her life, So here, I thought I would make a short film of the same person going on a journey up some rocks. I wanted to make the film quite delicate and beautiful which I did however I wouldn't call it anymore than just an experiment because for an actual film I would want to make include more content and variety, Despite this, the film looked good aesthetically as the colours of her dress on the sand coloured rocks contrasted with eachother.
After I had made this film I changed around my idea slightly. I thought that instead of just taking a photograph of one person for a duration, I could take photographs of the people surrounding me, capturing my diary of events throughout the day, of the various people I saw. Therefore I took a variety of photographs and even used three as final piece of a cleaner I saw on a balcony. Although you would think I did not carry out much refining of these photographs, I changed my ideas so much before I took these images which made this set of images developed and related. The triplet of photographs documented not only me capturing the people I see in a day but also gives us an insight into her day. The window cleaner is in a different position in each photograph, exploring her movement and her diary of events. The figure is quite subtle in this triplet of images and she is only in the left corner of them which forces the viewer to look at the image in more depth to find the figure.
After a lot of experimentation I thought it was time to go straight in with the final pieces, I decided to extend the idea of photographing people I saw in a day by making a film about it. However I chose a different setting to do this in instead. The photographs I took of people when I was on holiday were of people in very calm environments getting on with their day to day lives so I wanted to create a film in a more busy setting, arguably a place where more was going on so I thought the perfect place to film this would be in London.
There I spent some of the day zooming in on my camera and capturing different people doing different things, whether that being someone on the train scrolling down their phone or someone reading a newspaper, I wanted to document a variety of people in a very busy setting however instead of simple filming everyone at the same time, I wanted to make the film more personal by just focussing on one or two people at a time, making the film seem more intense. Therefore, instead of adding my own music on top of the film which is something I would usually do, I just increased the volume of the sounds of people talking, people walking and of different things happening. I was keen to document peoples diarys of events through my own eye, as I was capturing the people I saw in a day. I also wanted the film to be quite dramatic so I showed a contrast between the underground and overground by using black and white for the outside shots and colour for the the shots in instagram.
For the second film I chose to do, I wanted to create something that was less like me documenting events happening, instead I wanted to create a film with more of a narrative behind it so I decided to plan it before hand. I wanted the film to explore a different side of diary so I created a plot for a girl to go to the shops and boy some milk and walk back leaving a trail of milk behind, showing her journey. In some ways this is a more developed version of the work I had been doing as the photographs and stop motion of the figure trailing around string is quite similar. I wanted the film to look aesthetically different as well to explore more varied colour and texture. I really enjoyed making the film as I have turned a very ordinary and everyday outing into something more beautiful through the trail of milk behind the girl at the end which I was really pleased with. The composition in this film was very important as I wanted to have some sort of continuity within the film so I decided to focus on the figure moving, capturing the figure walking and moving from A to B.
After I had created this film I wanted to develop this project even further so I went to an exhibition called performing to the camera which inspired me to create another final piece. I was intrigues by an artist called Jimmy De Sanna who's work I thought could represent a more darker side of diary as they are quite intense and emotive and this is something I wanted to use in my work to create another final piece. Therefore I decided to take some more photographs which didn't work too well as I felt they were just too similar to Jimmy De Sanna's work so I decided to create some light painting pieces by wrapping around the figure lights, like Jimmy De Sanna wraps around white sheets and have photographed the movement of these lights from one place to another represent the figures diary of events from one side to the other however in these photographs you do not notice the figure as much because the light is what stands out more, almost like the light is representing the figure on their diary of events.
I decided to edit and then print out these images however they did not look as good when they were printed out so instead I wanted them to be displayed on a slide show starting from the first image.
After mind mapping some initial ideas I started off this project looking at artists Petra Collin's who's work explores the idea of diarys as she gets very close to her subject, capturing her friends in their home environments, focussing on diary of events in their life. I explored this concept by taking photographs of friend in her bedroom however I was more drawn to another side of Petra Collin's work where she would follow around someone for a day, capturing their diary of events, whether that being someone simply visiting the shops or someone talking to somebody in the street, these photographs were very personal so I responded to them by taking my own set. The photographs I took had good ideas behind them, so some of them more strong however I felt like the photographs were not very emotive and lacked in much feeling. I therefore, wanted to add another dimension to these set of photographs to develope this idea by adding a layer of text over them, text that could have come from the diary of the girl I was photographing all day. These images were for sure more interesting but the text just illustrated what was going on in the image which defeated the point of getting your own ideas from an image.
I therefore looked at another artists called Sophie Calle, who's work, like Petra Collins explores the idea of tracking somebodys diary of events by capturing people from behind doors or windows etc. She usually just photographs one person however I wanted to experiment this time with following around two people. Using film camera to take these images was another experience also as you did not know what the end result would be of these photographs you were taking, especially as I chose to photograph my subject at night where the lights would be very low. However I chose to photograph at Brick Lane because of the attractive neon lights which could have added another dimension to my work. The series of photographs came out well, they were a real experiment however. The photographs were quite dark with only a few bits of light so you really had to search for the figure which I thought was an interesting idea.
After I had taken these film images I wanted to experiment with a slightly different idea. I knew I had been looking at movement, a person travelling from one place to another so I wanted to explore this in some more photographs where it was obvious to the viewer that the figure was travelling somewhere so I got her to hold some string so she would leave a trail of it behind her. These photographs as whole were not successful as I couldn't photograph the trail of string behind her properly, however, I used the stills in a another way by created a stop motion of them. I really enjoyed doing this stop motions as although they were very simple, they explored the idea of diary in a more abstract way by focussing on someones journey across some rocks.
With the idea in mind of some more video, or animation type thing I wanted to take some more photographs of someone in a different setting going on a journey. I was able to capture someone on their journey in another country for a week so I wanted to take lots of images that I could work with. I took two large sets of images which I quite liked the look of however I thought it was quite boring simply photographing one single person all the time whilst she goes on a journey, experiencing a diary of events in her life, So here, I thought I would make a short film of the same person going on a journey up some rocks. I wanted to make the film quite delicate and beautiful which I did however I wouldn't call it anymore than just an experiment because for an actual film I would want to make include more content and variety, Despite this, the film looked good aesthetically as the colours of her dress on the sand coloured rocks contrasted with eachother.
After I had made this film I changed around my idea slightly. I thought that instead of just taking a photograph of one person for a duration, I could take photographs of the people surrounding me, capturing my diary of events throughout the day, of the various people I saw. Therefore I took a variety of photographs and even used three as final piece of a cleaner I saw on a balcony. Although you would think I did not carry out much refining of these photographs, I changed my ideas so much before I took these images which made this set of images developed and related. The triplet of photographs documented not only me capturing the people I see in a day but also gives us an insight into her day. The window cleaner is in a different position in each photograph, exploring her movement and her diary of events. The figure is quite subtle in this triplet of images and she is only in the left corner of them which forces the viewer to look at the image in more depth to find the figure.
After a lot of experimentation I thought it was time to go straight in with the final pieces, I decided to extend the idea of photographing people I saw in a day by making a film about it. However I chose a different setting to do this in instead. The photographs I took of people when I was on holiday were of people in very calm environments getting on with their day to day lives so I wanted to create a film in a more busy setting, arguably a place where more was going on so I thought the perfect place to film this would be in London.
There I spent some of the day zooming in on my camera and capturing different people doing different things, whether that being someone on the train scrolling down their phone or someone reading a newspaper, I wanted to document a variety of people in a very busy setting however instead of simple filming everyone at the same time, I wanted to make the film more personal by just focussing on one or two people at a time, making the film seem more intense. Therefore, instead of adding my own music on top of the film which is something I would usually do, I just increased the volume of the sounds of people talking, people walking and of different things happening. I was keen to document peoples diarys of events through my own eye, as I was capturing the people I saw in a day. I also wanted the film to be quite dramatic so I showed a contrast between the underground and overground by using black and white for the outside shots and colour for the the shots in instagram.
For the second film I chose to do, I wanted to create something that was less like me documenting events happening, instead I wanted to create a film with more of a narrative behind it so I decided to plan it before hand. I wanted the film to explore a different side of diary so I created a plot for a girl to go to the shops and boy some milk and walk back leaving a trail of milk behind, showing her journey. In some ways this is a more developed version of the work I had been doing as the photographs and stop motion of the figure trailing around string is quite similar. I wanted the film to look aesthetically different as well to explore more varied colour and texture. I really enjoyed making the film as I have turned a very ordinary and everyday outing into something more beautiful through the trail of milk behind the girl at the end which I was really pleased with. The composition in this film was very important as I wanted to have some sort of continuity within the film so I decided to focus on the figure moving, capturing the figure walking and moving from A to B.
After I had created this film I wanted to develop this project even further so I went to an exhibition called performing to the camera which inspired me to create another final piece. I was intrigues by an artist called Jimmy De Sanna who's work I thought could represent a more darker side of diary as they are quite intense and emotive and this is something I wanted to use in my work to create another final piece. Therefore I decided to take some more photographs which didn't work too well as I felt they were just too similar to Jimmy De Sanna's work so I decided to create some light painting pieces by wrapping around the figure lights, like Jimmy De Sanna wraps around white sheets and have photographed the movement of these lights from one place to another represent the figures diary of events from one side to the other however in these photographs you do not notice the figure as much because the light is what stands out more, almost like the light is representing the figure on their diary of events.
I decided to edit and then print out these images however they did not look as good when they were printed out so instead I wanted them to be displayed on a slide show starting from the first image.