In our seminar, today, the class got together, in small groups, and spoke about our own personal projects together. One by one, we presented our ideas to the group. The others, who were not speaking would ask each other questions on our projects such as when and where they were taking place, what our inspirations were, any risks or negatives that came with our shoots and if we were going to be using any techniques along the way.

This exercise was very refreshing for me as it let me see the potential work of my classmates, whilst giving them helpful tips to improve, etc, but also for my own benefit as I got the different opinions from the individuals in my group, helping me improve and rethink (if I had to) my set ideas.

Today our class went on a day trip, visiting Grande Parade at Brighton University. We were given a brief, called ‘Art school’ which fit with the setting of the location, being mostly an art department. In groups, we went off around the department to look for inspiration for a potential photoshoot.

My group and I decided to go with the theme of ‘Red’. This was due to it being a vibrant and unique colour, with lots of contrasting colours surrounding it in the building. I focussed on red lighting accompanied by my focus of visual elements such as shapes and composition. I also captured the lighting in different viewpoints, creating a variety of images to look at. I thought the focus on red graffiti against a blue background was interesting to look at, along with the heart-shaped lock, which I have played around with lighting in order to get a shadow surrounding it. I practiced my use of leading lines, composition and also aperture setting on my camera.

This exercise was successful in my opinion as it gave me time to practice and play around with settings on my camera in preparation for my upcoming project over Christmas.

‘Everlasting Moments’ is a film based in Sweden, in the early 1900s. It chronicles the life of an immigrant, Maria Lawson, from Finland. She wins herself a camera in a lottery with which she uses to document her life. Her husband is an alcoholic who is abusive to their children, therefore Maria uses her camera to support her children, also tolerating this behavior. She uses photographs to empower and motivate herself through several decades of bringing up her children and seeing the world through a lens.

Her growing interest in photography is seen as ‘stupid’ and is criticised, to begin with, and is frowned upon and not seen as a suitable job for a lady to be spending her time doing. Her husband even goes through extreme lengths of taking the camera away from her, however, she finds her way back to photographing and finds a new meaning to life, which before seemed impossible.

I enjoyed this film as it gave a sense of empowerment through photography. It shows that through photography we are able to see things in a different light and become more appreciative of what we have.

Hakon Vestli

These images by Vestli caught my eye due to the artist’s concentration and focus on visual elements such as shapes and leading lines. Being in black and white, it gives a sense of mystery and makes the shadows and highlights within the image more apparent and stands out towards the audience.

Matt Stuart

Here are three images by Photographer, Matt Stuart on the streets of a busy London. The compositions are very interesting, which I admire. There is a range of composition, and different viewpoints, which I will include into my own project.

Roberto De Mitri

These four images by Roberto De Mitri seriously caught my eye whilst researching a variety of artists in the inspiration of my own project. These photographs are taken from the project ‘City of ghosts’ by De Mitri. The inspiration for these images is, of course, the idea of ghosts roaming the city, all in all, creating a very dark and sinister compilation of images.

De Mitri has used a range of techniques and editing such as black and white imagery and long exposure to get across the illusion of lost souls in a neglected, vast area of space.

The set of four images have inspired my own work in terms of my use of contrast in light, and for me to experiment with my own camera, testing exposure and aperture.

Tara Todras-Whitehill 

These three images by Whitehill caught my eye due to her extreme use and focus on shadows. It is clear to see she has planned ahead of her shoots, picking the right times of day/night, that will create great lighting for the images. the shadows in the pictures create a sense of mystery and dark type mood to accompany the project.

Chien-Chi Chang

Here are two images taken by photographer, Chien-Chi Chang. Both images show a woman, assuming to be a mother figure, with her child, going about daily activities, such as driving and shopping. These make them candid shots, which seems to be the point of Chang’s whole project. The subjects are not looking at the camera, meaning the shots have not been planned and appear more natural. I like the second image as it defines the typical conventions of a ‘good’ picture. The image appears slightly blurry, which, I think, fits with the theme of the image, which has connotations of a busy environment, a mother getting on with her shop who looks to be in a rush.

This has inspired me in terms of my own project, where I will be photographing my own family, in a candid and natural environment. I like the different viewpoints and plays on colour in Chang’s project. I will take this into consideration when it comes to taking my own images.

‘Shooting the single picture, On being a photographer’, by Bill Jay and David Hurn makes some interesting points about being a photographer and what tends to make a successful image.

Jay and Hurn compare painters to photographers. A painter can ‘compose the main elements and then add the significant details in precisely in the right places’, whereas in photography you cannot do that. They suggest that in photography you are more or less hoping that the image turns out to be good.

they go on to make valid points about ‘good’ and not so good images and what makes them this way. ‘If an image looks good you’ll want to look at it more than a poorly structured one.’ This highlights just how important structured images are. Rather than just getting a camera and snapping an image or two, to get the best image it is better to focus on the different visual elements such as lighting, composure, etc. They also point out that good design is essential.

After reading this piece of writing by Maria Short, it has given me some useful knowledge that I will be able to take with me when it comes to creating my own set of images. Short’s writing focuses on the use of signs and symbols that come with photography and the different meanings that may come with them.

Short mentions a variety of theorists and their findings. One theory I picked out was De Saussure. He defines a sign comprising of ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’. Signifier meaning the form which the sign takes and signified meaning the concept it presents.

Another theory presented by Short in this text is by Pierce who used a triadic model. These three points being ‘The representamen’, ‘An interpretant’,  and ‘an object’.