Examples of photographs for my project

This are the photographs which were taken on Brighton streets and in Royal Pavilion.

This is a Joanna. She came to Brighton to study only one term. On December she is leaving England and is going back to Poland. That's why she was not able to create for herself the proper home here in UK. She is missing her family and friends. It was for her difficult to make here new friends. She was struggling with language. She found that her English is not sufficient. She wanted quickly come back to Poland. She is an example of person who didn't  feel good in England. 

This is Barbara. She is studying architecture on the University of West England. She is a young girl who come to England on her own. She left Poland and now have to live on her own. It is not always simple and easy. But it was her dream to come here. 

This is Paulina. She is 23 and is older than Barbara. She got used to live on her own. The England is not so difficult and scary for her. She found here a place for her. In Brighton is a Polish Centre were she can meet with others Poles. 

Working on my project

This are some examples of my photographs which I took for my project. This pictures are showing the students from London and one student from Brighton.

Justyna is studying with me media practice in the University of Sussex. She found in England her home, because together with her mum she came here 9 years ago. Therefore she is Polish but living here is for her natural. She didn't have problems like Joanna, Barbara or Paulina. She is staying off campus. 

This time we have an examples of two Polish girls studying in London on the University of Westminster. They are living together so they can support each other. They were going together to the same high school in Poland. They knew each other very well. But living in the capital of England is very difficult for them. They have financial problems. Therefore, they have to work at the same time. It is really hard for them. So England is not for them a paradise as they thought it would be. 

Working on my project

This are examples of my final projects photos. It is a juxtaposition of three pictures presenting Polish students in the position while they are looking at something. In my opinion they are interesting because they are showing them as an addition to the environment. They are not a main point. It represent very well their relation to United Kingdom.

Working on my project

This are an examples of my final photographs. This is the juxtaposition of three photographs when the Polish students are sitting. Each of them is in different surrendering. We can find here a girl in a Catholic Church, Royal Pavilion in Brighton and in Brighton Station. Each of them is looking in different direction like they would like to find something for them. They are in a place which is safe for them. First feel good while she is praying, the next when she is sketching the buildings. The last one girl is always ready come back to Poland. She feels here like a tourist than inhabitant. 

Composition in photography

Composition is a key aspect for photography. In my project I was always trying to use composition in a proper way. However, it was for me difficult and I was also not able to define this. Therefore I started to read a lot of articles about this. First I started with the article titled: "5 elements of composition in photography". It was really interesting and in clear way explaining the basic idea of composition. Composition is build from elements like  patterns, symmetry, texture, depth of field and lines.

In the next article written by Romanas Naryskin I found the answer to questions like what is composition not only in photography but general. Because composition applied not only to visual art but also to music, dance, literature.

The final article was talking about 10 top photography composition rules. The rules like rule of thirds, balancing elements, leading lines, symmetry and patterns, viewpoint, background, depth, framing, cropping, experimentation.

http://digital-photography-school.com/5-elements-of-composition-in-photography
http://photographylife.com/what-is-composition-in-photography
http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

My photographs - working with Nikon D7000

During the term I was trying to make as many picture as possible. I was taking pictures mostly in Brighton but also on the campus. My main focus were buildings. In Brighton I was trying to take some photographs on the beach and streets. They were not relative to my project but I think that it was a good way for me to practice with exposure and shutter speed.

This picture presents the Brighton see. The weather was not good for taking pictures but I really wanted to capture the sea looking like this. It was storm and was beginning to rain. The picture itself maybe is not a good quality but it presents see from different perspective. It is not only quiet and peaceful as is always presented. 

This photograph presents my experimentation with flash, shutter speed and aperture. I like this picture because of this bad quality. The blurry light light makes this picture interesting for me. 

This time the see in Brighton is peaceful. The sun is shining and the man is lying on the deck chair. What we need more in our life?

The last photograph is showing my accommodation and exactly East Slope reception. 

Presentation of Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was an American photographer who was specialising in a black and white photography. Her objects were mostly dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers. She was creating an interesting pictures of people in New York. 

Diana Arbus said that "A photographer is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know"

It is very interesting point of view because it reflects her attitude towards her pictures. It explain why she was taking pictures in that way and not different. She was presenting people who have different background, therefore she wanted to show some emotions but at the same time she wanted to hide some of them. Because it is always more interesting for the viewer to discover something than to see everything without any researching on this photo. Her work definitely force people to think about the world she presents.   

One of her photograph which punctum is applying strongly to me is "A young man with curlers at home on West  20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966". The photograph presents a portrait of transvestite who is wearing make up and rollers. The transvestite is caught in the moment getting ready. The studium is more interesting the explain. It presents a person in between stage of male and female. The picture was taken in 1960's time when sexuality and social norms where questioned. It is in some way an reaction to general social situation in United States of America.   

A young man with curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C.1966

John Berger "About Looking - uses of photography"

In this book I was able to read about the photography from basic side. John Berger explained in his work the uses of photography. He is showing that the camera can really capture the reality and keep this. People memories are able to live for much longer than only in our mind. Even if we forget some facts from our past with the use of photographs we will be more able to recall them. The next aspect he stir up was public photographs. He points out that this kind of photography is showing some facts and events to stranger people. The role of this photography is to show something to people who will be not able to see this in different way.
It was really interesting article which helped me to look at the photography from different side. Definitely that will be have an influence on my future work in photography.

John Berger "Ways of seeing"

Before discover of photography people were thinking that they can see everything. However it had change. People found out that they are not able to see everything. Therefore now photigraphy give them more opportunities.

"The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled"
"The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe."
"Yet this seeing which comes before words and can never be quite covered by them."
"An image is a sight which has been recrested or reproduced."

The change of the reproduction of art like paintings make them more available to other people. But at the same time is lost some kind of privacy which the viewer had in a museum or in art gallery. But on the other side now everyone can see and discover the art.

But we can't foreget that: "Reproduction isolates a detail of a painting from the whole."

Presentation of August Sander

August Sander is a German portrait and documentary photographer. He was born in 1876 and died in 1964. So his photographs came from the early 20th century. They are interesting and they draw my attention. In my project I would like to use this kind of way of looking. One of the pictures which punctum is appealing to me is a photo showing a boy and a girl "Middle class children". They are in some way similar but at the same time different. This picture was an inspiration for the Diane Arbus who created a similar picture but only there we can see two girls. The girls are also a twins like this boy and girl but when the viewer look for the first time at the picture he is not able to see the difference. But after some time it looks like there is a lot of them. 

Agust Sander, Middle Class Children, 1925.

Interesting facts about my project

In the online magazine "Metro" I have found the interesting informations about students in England. The published research presents that number of polish students in United Kingdom is rising. This shows that my project play an integral part not only with me as but also with whole polish society. I am student in England. The Higher Education Statistics Agency said"The number of Polish students studying in British institutions rose by 56% to 6,770 between 2006 and 2007."This meant that there were more students from Poland than from Spain or Italy in Britain.


Source: http://metro.co.uk/2008/03/20/numbers-of-polish-students-soar-47114/

Presentation of Martin Parr

Martin Parr is one of the most interesting photographers. He is a British photographer who is trying to capture the reality. He has focused his work on the street photography. He was photographing people on the beach and at Ascot.

He started his career with black and white photographs his works are for example "Bad weather" and "A fair day". Since 1989 he started to photograph in colour: "Last resort".

According to Martin Parr people should experiment with photography. He said "find the extraordinary in the ordinary”.  That's why I was trying to explore the photography and mass up with the Nikon D7000.

Martin Parr said “Don’t get everyone to smile; otherwise you’ll end up with the same old family propaganda.”

This quote was still in my head when I was working on my project. I didn't wanted to take some normal pictures which will be presenting only the students. I wanted to find something more.

For me this photographer is huge influence for my project. One of his opinions is all the time in my head “Don’t get everyone to smile; otherwise you’ll end up with the same old family propaganda.” In some way I can agree with him, but also sometimes as a viewer I would like to see the smile on the picture. However, this is not so common. In my project I will try that my object would not smile, but if this person will feel the need to smile I will led her to do this. I would like to show them who they are. Or on the other side if they will be sad or feeling bad in from of the camera that is also good. I want to see their feeling positive or negative.

Different lighting and flash techniques

Flash photography is not only used in low - light condition. It is used as an art form in its own right. It was for me a great new experience. At the same time it was difficult to choose the proper exposure to make the photograph looks in the most natural way. I didn't wanted my photos to look like there was too much light.
Firstly I was trying with flash in the class.

Then I went outside to try flash in the day light and then when is dark. 

It was very interesting experience. In my opinion flash helped me to took photos in the day light and for me it was much easier to choose the best exposure. 

I went to Brighton to try flash in the day light. I started take some photos in the bus.

I used sits opposite me. It was really good to see how light was going also from camera and not only from sun. The light was directly where I was looking.

Then I started to take photos in the park. I think that they look sunny and nice. They present autumn with beautiful green, yellow and blue. 

Here are more examples:

After the park I went to the streets of Brighton. 

In my opinion taking pictures with flash make photos more interesting for the viewer. For me this task was interesting and gave me completely different look on photography.  I am not sure but maybe I will try to use in my project a bit of flash. 

The last two photographs are taken on campus in the dark.