When studying photography you need to become quickly aware that in most cases photography is produced as bodies of work as opposed to single images. Therefore when you're researching you should aim to identify the body of work rather than the single image. If your research is being conducted properly you'll probably be doing this anyway.
The books that we advise you to use in your research often do the opposite, they will present you with a single image which will then be analysed. It's down to you to identify the wider body of work and consider the work as a collective.
At the very least acknowledge the fact that your research is primarily examining one image from the wider body of work - use additional images from 'The body of work' and identify the name of the body of work/project or the time/place it was photographed in, as well as the period of time the images were taken during/over.
Is an exceptionally famous David Bailey image, but when was it shot and where? Is it a part of Bailey's box of Pin-ups or was it the result of a commissioned shoot or is it personal work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7S0zyYVgZM The actual story is very interesting and says a lot about the context of the time. Only through research, reading and watching videos are you going to start to get an idea of how this image came about. The same research then gives you an insight into different aspects of the way in which Bailey worked.
The image is a part of a bigger body of work, but the image on its own is interesting too.
You’ll need “10x8 MG RC Glossy photographic paper”.This is light sensitive e.g. only usable in a
darkroom under red safe-light conditions. Do not open in any other light.
“MG” is an abbreviation for Multi-grade and may be
described as multi or variable contrast on other paper brands. “RC” is resin
coated and differentiates the paper from the more traditional slightly more
difficult to use Fibre Based paper. The brands you’ll probably find on-line are Ilford and Kentmere. You’re advised to buy at least one box for the course or
share a box between 2 or 3 of you.
At the main college in Southend smaller packs of paper
are sold in 5’s 10’s and 25’s. See the technician.
Film;
You’ll need to identify during the course that you’ve
used and processed a number of films looking at the process options and how it
differs and affects the negatives and the final outcomes.
You’ll need to buy Ilford HP5+, Ilford FP4+ and Ilford XP2 for
general use on the course showing the process aspects and differences in
processing and results, but you’re also advised to try Kodak Tri-X
How do I make my work analytical rather than descriptive?
Don't take everything at face value, cast doubt on your initial assumptions, look at different ways of seeing and approaching a problem in order to resolve it. Is it right for this situation - what if I tried something else?
This approach is reliant on accepting that photography is a series of problems, many of which need to be analysed in order to resolve. Therefore one of the helpful things you can do it identify these problems is to list them...
Light
Composition
Background
Props
Adherence to the brief
Equipment suitability
Equipment usage and calibration
One of the main things on the UAL courses that prevents students from attaining higher grades is the lack of analysis.
Analysis is required at regular points within your work.
If you produce your written responses to your work within the framework of a Gibbs Reflective Practice model, you are prompted to analyse at stage (4)...
(1). What happened (2). Feelings (3). Evaluation (4). Analysis (5). Conclusion (6). Action plan
*****
Example (using Gibbs).
Our students were working on Unit 12 - Engaging with an audience in Art & Design (Photography).
In essence they have to produce work that meets the needs of the client and the market. As part of this unit we had a professional photographer come in to the college and set a task whereby they had to shoot for a client with specific audience - Musto. The photographer liaised with the client who he was shooting for at the time and was able to obtain some of their products for the shoot (Coats). The students were given the name of the client beforehand in order that they could do some research into the brand and who the target audience is. With the knowledge of the brand and its audience profile, the students were briefed and shown a video...
and were set loose to shoot the coats.
On return, they had to then re-size the images and wetransfer the images to the Photographer before a specific time. Having done the practical stuff, they then have to reflect on the days activities and we strongly advise that they do so using the Gibbs method. So, this stage of their work if done well should look like something like this...
GIBBS reflection
What Happened - (Normally this bit is kept short, concise and to the point). We were set the
task of shooting a series of images for a mock Musto location shoot at Leigh on
Sea in Essex. Our initial submission of low
res images needed to be 10-14 in number and required to be uploaded to the
client within 48 hours of shooting. We were given Musto coats and assigned to random
groups to shoot in, 1 coat per group of 5-6 students. Feelings - (Again, keep this bit to the point and fairly brief, unless you're really struggling, as you can use this as a way of alerting your lecturers to your situation).
Initially I was
a little concerned at the thought of a pro-photographer peering over my
shoulder looking at everything I was doing, potentially picking fault with my
process. In the end it didn't turn out like this and we were able to get on
with our work. Over the course of the 3 hours, I became more confident as I
went along although I do feel that there were issues, but these will be
discussed in my analysis. Evaluation - (Again short and concise allowing for the detail to be discussed in the analysis section)
Overall the
whole process and day was good, being set the brief with these requirements and
knowing that Musto might even consider using some of our shots on their website
was exciting. The weather for the most part was good, but it was cold and some
of us had totally inadequate clothing. Other bad stuff was that it would have
been better if there were more coats and we’d been able to work in our own
preferred groups. Analysis - This is where the detail comes in, this is where you demonstrate your learning and understanding of what you've done and show that you question your approach, analysing it in order to produce improvements. (You could use the list above as I am).
Lighting
The light on
the day was good in some respects in that it was consistent, it might have
rained as it did the day before and that would have been really difficult to
shoot in. Having said that we didn’t arrive at the location until 10.00-10.30
ish. The sun at this point even though it’s pretty much mid-winter was
relatively low in the sky over the River Thames, but no-where near ‘The golden
hour’. As a consequence a lot of the better shots were to be had looking
directly into the sun with the boats on the river behind the model, leaving us
with a difficult lighting scenario. Considering this later on and thinking it
through, if we’d have set out before sunrise or just before sunset, the light
would have been in a far better place for shooting and much lower in the sky
and much less intense. The sun lower at these times of day, would have been
diffused due to the moisture and pollution in the atmosphere.
Other solutions
I could have tried would have been to use a external flash gun, but to be
honest I’m not that brilliant at using them and would need to spend some time
practicing before doing that for real. Another approach might have to be far
more selective about where I shot the images, only choosing to do so in shaded
areas. Looking again at the video, it’s obvious that the videographer had it
easy because the light that he/she’s used is overcast and flat.
We did have the
use of lastolite reflectors, but they’re difficult to use with the models
because the light is reflected back into their faces making them squint, so
that isn’t a particularly good solution either.
I think given
the chance to do it again at the same time of day with the same lighting
issues, the best approach for me given that my fill-in flash skills are lacking
would be to use the flat, diffuse light in the shadows of the boats and
buildings. It does seem that in these situations it is most definitely a good
idea to look around the location with a little compact camera and work out
where the best back-drops are, so that you can pin-point them and focus your
efforts on prime locations rather than walk around as we did, not knowing where
the best places would be.
Composition
Looking at my
own images, again given the time we had they’ve come out okay and similarly with
the light situation, as second follow up shoot would almost certainly mean I
would end up with far better results. In part this would be down to things like
I now know what backgrounds I’d want and I now know what lenses I’d take in
order to throw the backgrounds out of focus in some of the shots, making them
more Musto-esque as in the video.
Most of my shots
were done at F16 in bright light, looking back and reflecting I think I would
go for much faster shutter speeds and wider apertures. I’d also play around
with individual ideas more. Because we were in groups I didn’t feel like I
could shoot loads of ideas in one location because there was always 4-5 others
waiting to shoot as well.
Adherence to
the brief
One of the key
aspects that we need to look at and discuss in our main unit brief is the
audience and the little research that I’ve been able to do would suggest a
certain type of audience based on my socio-economic observations with regards
Musto’s target audience. Musto looks to be a high-end brand, with very few retail
outlets in high streets. Looking around our locale, there are only 2
shops in Essex and they sell the shooting and hunting clothes, the nearest
boating clothes retailer is in Rochester in Kent. It was
this type of customer that we were shooting for.
Looking at the
video and my research the audience I’ve concluded are primarily fairly well off
and middle class with an age group profile of 21 and above. Therefore there
needs to be a certain approach in making the images, whilst still maintaining
the Musto look as we see in the video. Looking again at my images and our
location there are too many instances where the backdrop looks too industrial
as opposed to vintage, classic and old school. The video has a kind of charm to
it where it seems to be looking back at older more elegant times. With some of
my shots, it’s far too urban and modern.
Conclusion- (Again I'd go for a fairly short conclusion as it doesn't help a great deal with assessment criteria).
The main
conclusions that I’m able to draw from the Musto activity are –
(1). Pre-planning
and having some sense of where you’re going to go is important as a lot of time
was wasted photographing in 5-7 different places and looking back at the images
and again at the video, I think I could have shot most of the images in just
two key places.
(2). Back –up plan.
Have a plan but then have a secondary plan, If I’d had more experience I may
have recognised the lighting issues that came about and intended to shoot in
the harsh light, but then might have gone to plan 2 and shot in diffuse light?
(3). Have a
good model. We all had to share the modelling, but it is obvious that in our
class some people are better models than others, so if I’d been able to control
this aspect of the process I think I’d have got better shots.
Action Plan - (This is another section that calls for more detail and content primarily because it helps to meet a number of assessment criteria). Going forwards,
I can now see that I could use this as the basis for a follow-up shoot. I wont
be able to use Musto products, but I could either source another brand or even
use my own coats or friends coats and do a shoot in the style of the Musto
shoot alongside our main Shoe brief. What can I take
from this in the short term and use for my shoe shoot? At the moment I’ve not
shot anything for my shoe shoot, but I know I’m going to be shooting Adidas
Sambas trainers to do an Adidas advert, I still need to make decisions about
where my images are going to appear. On-line I’m aware that they use a number
of different approaches, much the same as Musto. Some of the shots are studio
pack-shots, simple white backgrounds which don’t particularly work to address
an audience. The ‘Banner’ images on-line and in the brochures are the type we’re
supposed be looking at as they’re the adverts that reflect the audience and
their aspirations.
So far
depending on the products, there’s an obvious element of ‘Urban and young’ with
the use of colour. So in the short term I need to conduct more specific secondary
research into the way the product is advertised currently. There is a specific
advert for Samba football boots and the audience for that is very specific,
using particular image conventions and approaches. So the plan…
Over the next two days conduct
secondary research.
Make sense of the research, analyse
it (Gibbs) and form a coherent plan. Allocate at least a day to write up
the Gibbs Reflection of the research.
Aim to then review the situation,
but have a plan to do a test shoot within the next 4 days.
Look to start contacting and
finding models for the shoot now, I’m looking for any boys/men 18-15. Lots
of people play football, I could look at using the students in the sports
dept?
Check the weather and the lighting
in the research images.
The advantage of writing up the majority of your work within the Gibbs reflective format is that in doing so, you do so in a structured way. It also negates the necessity to write up separate 'Reflections' as the whole process is reflective. Working with this approach on a regular basis after you've done some work, tested something, tried something out and or completed your research will enable you to evidence so much of the assessment criteria. It really is the way forward.
1.1Critically compare a range of critical perspectives that influence the
analysis of art and design
Taking a critical
perspective involves adopting a viewpoint that asks questions about the
rationale and legitimacy of something. The idea behind critical thinking is to
remove normal biases from a point of view to determine whether a conclusion is
the most valid one. To do this, a subject must be thoroughly analysed.
All of
your photography must be under-pinned by research. The more you research and
the more you question and explore other people’s approaches to their
photography, the more informed your photography will become. At the start of all
your projects you must explore the photography of others who work in similar or
associated fields, or use an approach that you wish to explore. As an absolute
minimum you must find two bodies of work or photographers that work in the same
area of photography that you are about to undertake. Identify a series of
images or a single image that you wish to analyse and deconstruct. This will
form the basis of your research.
So, in
order to compare a range of critical perspectives you must initially present a
minimum of three or four viewpoints. We therefore advocate that you do the
following…
(1).
Present your own initial viewpoint without any analysis.
(2).
Present the viewpoint of others via primary research – conduct a survey,
consider using Survey Monkey
(3) &
(4). Present the opinion and viewpoints of 2 people that have a more in-depth
knowledge of the subject – Reviewers, critics, academics etc.
You’ll
have now collated 3 or 4 critical perspectives relating to your research; all
that now remains is that you make sense of the information, forming a
potentially more informed critical perspective of your research.
The final
analysis where you make sense of all the opinions should be produced in the
form of the Gibbs reflection of your research process. It’s at this point you
might want to use the 13
point analysis prompt?
I'm a massive advocate of the use of the Gibbs Reflective Practice as a method of generating responses to the practical lessons that students participate in.
Students often wonder after a lesson 'What should I now do in response to that lesson and how should I do it'?
Increasingly I'm seeing that the Gibbs method should become an integral part of what students do in response to their lessons. They need to say what they've done, how they've done it, what they've used, why they've used it, how it connects to professional practice and identify what it is they have learned. Through the use of Gibbs, almost all of the required written responses could be generated an in most instances these would meet the assessment criteria.
The example I've identified here uses a lesson I deliver for Fashion students. The students are given a choice of 20 historic and contemporary portraits to choose two from, to act as the stimulus for their own fashion photography images. The image that this particular lesson is based around is Vincent Van Goghs self portrait against a blue background.
The rationale for this approach is that, this image has stood the test of time, the pose and the use of light is by virtue of this being one of the most famous paintings ever, a very fine example for you as the student to draw influence from. Secondly, one of the criteria this work has to meet is one based around having to demonstrate knowledge and use of light in their practice. I therefore put a case that if you study the work and the lighting of the great painters as professionals do, your work will benefit from that study. The next bit is the tricky bit as I have to somehow bring that notion up to-date by cross-referencing an example that uses a similar light source. In this instance I use Corinne Day's 'Under-Exposure' from Vogue 1993..
The following text and images therefore demonstrates how a student might use the Gibbs prompts to generate a response to the lesson.
What Happened?
One of the images that we were given the option
to work with was Vincent Van Goghs self portrait set against a blue background.
In this lesson the image was displayed on a tele and as a class we discussed
the characteristics of the light. We had to look at the angle of the light,
guess what the light source was and describe its characteristics.
We were then presented
with a contemporary photograph by a photographer called Corinne Day. The image
comes from a set of images from a series called ‘Under exposed’ featuring Kate
Moss, they appeared in Vogue in 1993 and caused uproar at the time. The reason we
were looking at this image and comparing with Van Gogh was that the light
sources are probably the same.
Having looked at both
images we then tried to replicate
the type of light used in both the images using studio flash heads. The lights
were set up, our cameras were set in accordance to the lighting and the situation
we were confronted with and we all took a number of pictures of each other
exploring this type of light.
Feelings
At the moment with five
lesson already gone and the deadline still some months away I feel okay about
the current situation. The camera is complicated with so many settings and I
feel that it would be a challenge to shoot either at home or in the studio
still. This lesson though felt useful as did the lesson last week, I now think
I understand what ‘Point light’ and ‘Diffuse light’ are. I think now when I
look at pictures I can start to recognise the light and talk about the
characteristics of the two types.
I was confused a little
with the PDP (Gibbs Reflective Practice) but since the last lesson and the guidance
to use it to generate the written responses to the lesson as I am here, I think
I’ve now completely got it.. So for the moment with so many weeks ahead I feel
that if I keep on top of the work I’m going to be okay.
Evaluation
At the moment the good
stuff out-ways the bad stuff, the lessons are all coming together nicely and I
feel like I’m learning at a rate that I can keep up with. This lesson in particular
was really useful and has made me realise a few things about the light in my
flat where I am going to do my location shoot. I also think now if I look at
photographs and paintings I’m going to be able to analyse the light at least in
terms of where its coming from and whether it is point or diffuse light.
Bad stuff, is primarily
down to me being lazy. The work from the last three weeks wasn’t written up
like this and I’ve still yet to use my camera outside of college and I really
do need to try it out at my flat. I’ve not been printing off the images from
the lesson and these images here are the first to have gone in my book, so I
need to catch up.
Analysis
Initially we looked at
the Van Gogh image. The observations that were made and discussed were as
follows. Apparently It was common around
this period and continues to be so, that the light that painters use/d was ‘North
Light’. This is the light that faces the north side of a building/studio. The
reason is that ‘North Light’ is reflected off the blue of the sky or cloud and
therefore is no-where near as variable as direct sunlight seen in the south.
Light coming from the south varies massively in colour and quality. We saw this
in the lesson last week when we were taking pictures in the atrium. The light
changed from one minute to the next. Point light when the sun was out had harsh
shadows and diffuse light when the clouds covered the sun had soft shadows.
North light is far more consistent – generally, flat, even, diffuse and soft;
wrapping around the subject and sought after by painters such as Van Gogh.
It was also noted that
the image was predominantly blue, the skin especially and again this is one of
the properties of North light, the colour is a cold blue as opposed to the
variable light from the south. We all recognised that south light when it rises
in the morning is warm and golden as it is in the evening.
Looking at the Van Gogh
image we all suspect that his studio must have had a large window facing the
north and the lecturer drew up a lighting diagram for the Van Gogh image…
(A) Represents a window through which the light is passing. As the light passes through the window it scatters more and produces a soft, diffuse, wrap-around light. (B) Is the viewpoint from which the subject (C) is viewed. Because of the separation between the subject (C) and the wall (E) the shadow (D) falls diagonally for the most part out of view and is only rendered on the subjects face. The subject in the image is sat at 3/4's to the light in order that the majority of the face is lit and the shadow falls onto only a small proportion of the face nearest the wall giving us some sense of the contours and shape of the face.
Corinne Day ‘Under-exposed’
shoot lighting The image of Kate Moss
shot by Day looks to have used exactly the same kind of light albeit from the opposite
side. The other difference is whereas Van Gogh is depicted separated from the
wall leaving no shadow on the wall Kate Moss is leaning on the wall almost
casting a shadow on the wall. It’s the quality of this shadow that enables us
to hazard a good guess as to the light source along with a little research.
From a little bit of research it’s easy to find out that this was shot in a
flat using daylight…
"The setting - the West
London flat she shared with the photographer and model Mario Sorrenti".
"Been photographed in
daylight by her closest friend, the model-turned-photographer Corinne Day".
(A) Again North Light coming through a large window, again scattering and diffusing as it does so.
(B) Indicates the general direction of that diffuse light towards the model (Kate Moss).
(C) Would be the position of the camera - the body position of Kate Moss is straight on and the lack of distortion would indicate a lens of 50mm or more?
(D) Indicates the field of view, the composition is quite tight with furniture in the bottom left hand corner and Moss's arm breaking the edge of the frame.
(E) Is the model position against the wall and the shadow cast by her body is indicated by the hatched area (F).
If we analyse the use
of the light further in the image we have to consider what Day was trying to do
in these images. Reading the Robin Muir article it’s apparent that there’s a
fusion of a ‘Documentary’ approach in these images and sense of reality. The
images are done in a way that looks very basic, we’re led to believe that this
is a flat and that the light is what it is, so it is in fact wholly
appropriate. Furthermore Day uses the light in a way that is flattering. The
light is soft and diffuse, but coming from such an angle that there is some ‘Modelling’,
we can see the shape of Moss’s face and figure, the clothes (Top) has obvious
contours in it, so the lighting has been used cleverly. Creating the Corinne
Day lighting in the studio
We then had to recreate
the North Light effect seen in both the Van Gogh painting and the Corrine Day
photograph in the studio. One of the lesson earlier on in the term Dave spoke
about the fact that the further the light travelled the more even and
manageable it becomes. We found a blank white wall for our Model (Dave) and
placed the lights pointing away from him, bouncing off of the opposite wall and
corner. The heads were positioned quite high so that the impression was that
the light was coming from a slightly higher position.
(A). Two Bowens Esprite
flash heads turned up full power and pointed into the same area on the opposite
wall of the studio to the model. Initially a point light source, but once
bounced off the wall (B) becomes a larger diffuse light source, with properties
like that of light coming through a window.
(C). The resulting
lights direction aimed at the model.
(D). The camera set
with a focal length of 55mm or longer pointed directly at the subject.
(E). The model
positioned against the wall.
(F). The shadow.
(G). This is a 8’x4’
white poly board. This was positioned next to the subject just out of shot to
reflect light back into the subject ‘Filling in’ the shadow. When the board was
really close the shadow was virtually invisible and the further it was away the
more obvious the shadow was.
In this image (Above) the
reflector is placed a good distance from the subject and therefore doesn’t
affect the shadow. We deemed this okay, but wanted to look at the effect of
bringing the 8x4 board a lot closer…
The ‘Fill’ from the reflector
in this image almost completely negates the shadow and could be deemed as too
flat. But a compromise between the two may give us the desired effect? Camera Settings The camera settings for
the studio were as follows… 1.Manual Mode 2.ISO 100 (Lots of lighting
means that a low iso is easily used and that retains quality. The faster the
iso the lesser the quality of the images. 3.File settings – Raw +
Fine JPEG or if you haven’t got access to Raw software use Fine JPEG 4.Lens set to 55mm or
longer, too close will mean the image will start to distort. 5.Shutter Speed – 1/125 –
again this is easily achievable in the studio due to the control we have over
the light. 6.Aperture – This is the
variable aspect with regards the light in the studio. We had to use 2 lights to
get the light reading at 100 iso up to F11. The lenses work best at around
F8/F11 so this was perfect in this scenario.
Conclusion
What else could I have
done? The only other thing I could do is ask my class mates to be more involved
and shoot more of them? Maybe we should come in with it in mind that we’re
going to be photographed and offer ourselves as models rather than keep
photographing our teacher? Other than that I think this write up has gone
really well and I’ve written a ton of stuff that meets most of the criteria
that we’re meant to meet.
My only concern at this
stage is that if we approach our work in this way it becomes the PDP which we
have to hand in during November and yet we carry on till January? I’ve talked to Dave and
he has said that if we produce the work like this he’ll photocopy the pages
that are done in this way and have them as the PDP.
Action Plan
This has gone really
well, but I readily acknowledge that the work that I’m supposed to be producing
independently isn’t coming together and I need to start getting things together
as time will catch up on me. We have been clearly told that we should try our
ideas out in the most basic way in order that we have images to put in our book
and respond to with more independence. This will also enable Dave to look at
the work and give us feedback and guidance and maybe adapt the lesson to accommodate
our own specific ideas with direct examples.
So, this week I’m going
to…
1.Ask my mate Jo to model
for me for my first test shoot on location (My flat).
2.Plan the shoot for
Saturday with Jo and ask a 2nd person to be a back-up model, maybe
one of the group as they can act as an assistant as Dave has suggested. That
way, if I can’t figure something out, between us using our notes we might be
able to come up with a solution?
3.Between now and
Saturday I’m going to try and take pictures and set my camera up using my notes
to get some confidence.
4.I’ll make notes of my
camera settings and record them in the event that it goes wrong.
5.Whatever images come
out, I’m going to get them printed and make sure they are in my book so that
Dave can have a look and offer advice if need be.
If you have an interest in fashion you'll know that every now and then certain themes are re-hashed with a modern twist - and the theme is frequently based around a period... 1960's, 1970's etc. Obviously the older you are the more you cringe when you see the efforts made by the stylist and the photographer to reference aspects of the period they're working with.
We have a number of assignments where we get the students to explore this approach to making fashion images and one of the points of reference we use is the 1990's and we use Corinne Day as the key point of reference, arguing that 1990's fashion photography was largely driven by the work of Day (Diary and Under-Exposed).
The students are challenged with producing their own fashion shoots styling it and shooting it in a way that makes it look Corinne Day - esque. As a part of the process we look at the fact that day uses available light and in particular we look at the work from 'Under-exposed' (Vogue 1993). The full set is featured here
Having said that, some of the lighting in these images is amazingly crisp and even. Given the way light is affected by Inverse Square Law, I would add some scepticism about the fact that this is daylight alone.
That aside, the demonstration that I do in the studio looks to replicate the 'Daylight affect' as seen in the most famous and well known of all the images here - using studio lighting.
Examining the image, we can see that the impression is that, if it is daylight and this does seem to be potentially reinforced by the fact that there's no catch-light reflected in her eyes, the light is coming from a large diffuse source on the left as we look at the image. If it's in a flat this would be a large window either north facing or on a day when the sunlight is diffused by cloud? Having said that the image isn't at all cold in its colour temperature and Day may have filtered the light?
Looking at this now more closely the diagram below will probably be more even than the light in the image. If you look at the image the light falls off below her waist, which possibly is a result of the window light not being floor to ceiling and there being a wall section below the window?
Within the work the students have to identify the appropriateness of their materials. The Corinne Day images were shot for inclusion in Vogue and done in a way that reflects her own personal work 'Diary', so they were shot we're led to believe using low tech methods 35mm SLR. For such a shoot 100 iso film would probably have been used, so working with that basic premise, we shot this using DSLR's during the early stage with the ISO set at 100 iso, raw files, at F11 - 1/125. White balance on flash mode. The ensuing images look a little cold - but some work in Photoshop could soon resolve that issue. That set up would be appropriate for magazine editorial work such as the 'Under exposure' images.
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