Vivian Maier - colour film, August 1975
One of the most astounding facts about Vivian Maier is that she was not a professional photographer - she was a caregiver, and so all the thousands of photographs and negatives that she took during her life, found after her death, were taken at leisure for her. Thus, all the images present a totally personal outlook on the world that surrounded Maier. In the present, Vivian Maier is critically acclaimed as a key figure in the renaissance of interest in the art of Street Photography.
"The story of this nanny who has now wowed the world with her photography, and who incidentally recorded some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of Urban America in the second half of the twentieth century is seemingly beyond belief." [http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/]
I felt really inspired by this image of Vivian Maier's, especially as I went on my photography walks around Archway. What I enjoy most about this photograph is the way in which the subject's foot it blurred from the motion of her movements, captured by Maier with great timing. I was influenced by this image to photograph shoes and legs, while simultaneously breaking the rule of keeping the camera still, as can be seen from my first contact sheet.
As previously mentioned, Maier's work depicts a completely personal outlook on the world she lived in. I believe this can be said also through what she photographed, particularly the clothing and general atmosphere of 1960s - 90s America. The strong colours and garments, all synonymous with the respective time periods, create and capture life in a way that feels so candid yet so composed. This style of street photography seemingly begins to overlap with fashion photography, and is an interesting approach of which I could translate into my own project. I plan to photograph people in a casual, almost biographical way, except in a studio environment, merging together the oxymoronic feeling of candidly posed photographs.
ViViaN MaiEr iN aCtiOn
Vivian Maier often photographed herself in and amongst her street photography projects. In doing so, it gives us an exact reflection of what she used and how she took her images. This is a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera, and Maier would have held it around hip level to take her photographs. With that in mind, this somewhat older point and click styled method would have been very difficult to produce the types of photographs Maier did, but also heightens the type of fast paced street photography that she undertook.
Ed Ruscha - Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1966
What interested me most about my brief research into Ed Ruscha's work, specifically this piece, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, was the extensively long fold out publication format, almost like a panoramic photograph printed across several pages. Although Ruscha most likely spent hours precisely connecting all the images, the continuous strip of photographs over multiple pages do not quite align with one another. I think there is a humble modesty in these simple human mishaps, and it reminds me of the beauty in hand crafted books and publications. If I were creating a magazine for bulk, I would naturally get a production company to assist. However, for this task I want to create my own booklet by hand, a tangible outcome, inspired by Ruscha's dedication to publication, and his unique format of book.
DeVeLOpmeNt of CovEr
In the production of my short magazine of the styled do/undo/redo photoshoot, I had to adapt the initial design of my front cover to correspond with the design and editing of the content. As the double page spreads began to evolve and follow a particularly digital, futuristic style, I decided to update the front cover, moving away from the feminine damsel vibes, towards a more cybernated, modern appearance.
Lending to my experimentation with media and techniques, I used various methods on photoshop, such as inversion and colour balancing, to develop the aesthetic I desired. I modified my choice of colours to more muted, darker tones, all colour picked from images following certain colour motifs inside the magazine. This brings a consistency and coherence from front to back cover.
I feel that the cover is well balanced, the typeface coincides with the style of editing I have done, and the general appearance of the piece not only sets up and introduces the reader to the style of content within the publication, but also stands out as an aspect of work in itself.
CoNTacT ShEEts
ConTaCt shEEt 1
On the photography walks, we had to break a conventional rule of photography each time. The first rule I decided to break was that in photography, you shouldn't move when taking a photograph - there should be no camera shake, keep still and everything should be in focus. The way in which I went about breaking this rule, first, was by lowering the shutter speed to around 1/4. Because this opens the aperture for longer, letting more light in, I had to close the aperture to around f32.
I found it quite difficult photographing still posed people or settings, with only myself moving the camera, creating motion, so I changed the direction of my shoot and began capturing moving subjects - vehicles, and mainly people walking, drawing the focus onto the close they were wearing. I wanted the photography walks, although purely for experimental purposes, to still lend back to the subject area of fashion communication. The result of this is various different shots, those of shoes and trousers being the most successful, capturing the essence of movement in hand with the shaking camera and slow shutter speed.
If I were to do this walk again, I would try photographing the movement of the entire body, not just the lower half. I would capture entire outfits, although not in detail as it is lost in the motion blur - something I actually find interesting in terms of fashion photography, further breaking conventional ideas that the clothes must be the clear focus of the image.
CoNtaCT sHeeT 2
For the second photography walk, I didn't have to roam very far. I simply stood outside of the college building, and asked people coming in and out if I could take their photograph. I found it so funny how people reacted when I began to crouch down to photograph their typically "ugliest" angle. Even more interestingly, people still tried to adjust themselves to look better, more glamorous, as I tried to capture them off guard. I really like the way that the unnecessary use of flash creates highlights and shadows on the close ups of the subjects' faces. Notably, the sky becomes a deeper shade of blue because of the flash, something I wasn't really expecting. What I have taken from this second photography walk is the way in which flash, and other elements of basic photography such as exposure, can influence the colours in an image. Colour is something I am really interested in exploring during this week, as the clothes I wear are often very colourful, and I think it would be interesting translating that colour from clothes into the images themselves.
William Eggelston
Undoubtedly, William Eggleston is not only considered a pioneer in colour photography, but also in pushing photography as a fine art form, beyond everyday documentary purposes. Alternatively, when his photographic work first began to surface around the 1960s, Eggleston was criticised for capturing the mundane aspects of life - something, that in the present, amazes people, as to how beautiful such simple images can be.
What stands out for me most about Eggleston's photographs is the intensity of colours. Most famously, his piece "The Red Ceiling" [1973] is so renowned because of the sheer domination of red. Eggleston himself had said "I knew that red was the most difficult colour to work with. A little red is usually enough, but to work with an entire red surface was a challenge. I don’t know of any totally red pictures, except in advertising. The photograph is still powerful. It shocks you every time."
Memphis (Rosa Sleeping), date unknown.
I have chosen to look closely at this image above, because similarly, the dominate yellow tones in hand with the muted natural sunlight really catches my attention. The subject figure lying on the bed is so unaware, so uncontrived, yet the small details like the bedsheets and the shoe holder being yellow, and the tight composition of the image with the woman fitting perfectly across the frame is neat and deliberate. I like the consistency of colours in each of Eggleston's photographs - he seems to pick a tone and coordinate it throughout the entire image. I am interested in doing this in my styling photographs this week, and could continue the colour motifs into the layout and presentation of my publication also. I think it will be difficult to make colour interesting, considering social media and easy phone photography makes colour images so habitual, rather than special. Nevertheless, perhaps if I add additional colour, or play around with the original colour in the images I take, I can create a new twist on my influence from Eggleston's colour photography.
Untitled, c.1975 (Marcia Hare in Memphis Tennessee), 1975
"Photography didn't use colour seriously until Eggleston came along. [...] Eggleston saw a use for heightened colour; in fact, his colours can be shrill to the point of near hysteria." - [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/genius-in-colour-why-william-eggleston-is-the-world-s-greatest-photographer-8577202.html]
I have experimented with different fonts.
I have experimented with different fonts.
I have experimented with different fonts.
I have experimented with different fonts.
ExPeriMeNTiNg wiTH mEDia - gifs
Although my main aim is to create a physical publication, I have experimented with other media outcomes, because (whether fortunate or unfortunate) the twenty first century is firmly grounded on digital technology, social media platforms and video/photographic presentation of art and design.
When taking the images for my short photographic magazine, I also captured short snippets of film footage on my phone, to play around with on Adobe Premier Pro in post production. This gif features my styling from the androgynous x gendered look. The typically oversized, rather masculine suit on the petite female form, for me, depicts a kind of school boy style. Ultimately, the explicit dangling of the bra - which draws the attention of viewers by being the main movement in the short animated gif - contradicts the dominant "masculine" vibes from the outfit, lending to the juxtaposition of gendered and androgynous fashion.