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.

Genius of photography episode 4

Episode 4 of "Genius of photography" is about paper movies. The episode begins with Martin Paar and John Gassage on the road. They are traveling around America to take photographs of thinks which they are passing during their car trip. This shows that photographer should be in move. As in episode is said "photography always wanted to be in move".

This episode presented photographers like Timothy O'Sullivan who was a master of profanity, Robert Frank who is an author of one of the most known paper movies "The Americans", William Klein who "isn't interested in the image in itself but he is interested in the way this image can be arranged, cropped put in different contexts". In his opinion "everything turns into some kind of show". In the programme we see also photographers like Arthur Weeges whose work is identify with crowd, John Meyerewitz. The episode shows the importance and meaning of the street photography and the role of black and white photographs.
It presents also the differences between American and British photographers who had sea instead of street like Tom ray Jons. He was "a wry observer guiding the camera making it see what he sees of the human condition and the human comedy".
The establishment of colour photography could be dated for the years 1970s. Photographers had an opinion that black and white photo is more professional however after some time they saw that with colour they are able to make their picture more detail.

"Colour photography had been around since the 1860s, but had flourished in the parts of photography's empire where commerce trumped art. Colour was found in advertising fashion and glossy magazines, the places where photography sinned. Worst of all colour was the natural language of the amateur snapshot."  

It was very interesting for me to watch this because I had never before thinking about photography as a paper movie. I had found also a lot of inspiration for my project. Martin Paar work as well as a street photography is showing people in their everyday situations. It was also really interesting to hear the opinion of photographers about black and white photographs.

In my opinion this episode presents how photography was changing in the time.

The quote from the Genius of photography:
"[Photographers] They see the things we miss or don't think about and then report back so that we have a chance to think again."

Studium and punctum in my project

The theme for my project is "Students in England". The main studium will be a young person who is presented in a environment like street, station, park, forest or shop. I would like to present the contrast between a person and her/his surrounding. My intention is to show this students in their new environment which they had to create for themselves in England. On pictures spectator will be able to see their positive or negative emotions towards their new "home".
The punctum will be a personal interpretation of my photograph. However it could be read by students expression on the face. The spectator will be able to ask himself questions like, why this person is in this place? what is the meaning of her/his body? why this is a close-up or wide shot? why this person is smiling is sad or pensive.

To sum up I would like to capture the reality by showing students in their most natural and friendly environment. In the places were they feel good. However I was not always able to manage that because for example this person is generally not feeling good here. That's why this pictures will reflect positive or negative attitude.  It will depends on person I will be photographing.

Presentations of Robert Frank and William Klein

This two photographer in my opinion created very interesting photographs. I have found in them a big influence on my project. Each of them was individualistic and was creating photos which were not approved by others photographs. They were controversial and that made them interesting.

Robert Frank was an author of one of the most important book of photographs in history, "The Americans". In each photo he was trying to present people with a symbol of America like for example flag. In his photos he wanted to show how Americans obey rules. He was travelling via whole America to took the best pictures, which could in best way reflect America in 1950s.

William Klein in the same way as Robert Frank was an author of photographic books. However, he was also well known from his fashion photography. He got his fame after publishing for Vogue magazine and his photo essays on various cities. He was taking photos not in a convectional way. He even said that "grain, blur, contrast, accidents, cockeyed framing, no problem". To took his pictures he was travelling all over the world. He was in New York, Rome, Moscow and Paris.
For me his works are surprising and at the same made me curious. Maybe his work is not influential for me, because I think that my photograph should be not blurt. But at the same that I would like also to capture people but opposite to him they will be in some way similar to me. Klein was taking pictures of strangers on the street.

In my project I will be taking photos of people from Poland so we will be sharing the same cultural and historical background. We all are students and in England we have to find our new home. In my project I would like also to ask a question is it possible to create here for us a new home? In my case coming to England and study was always a dream. I was able to manage that but I don't think if that is enough to feel here like in home.

Examples of photographs which made a great input on me.

Robert Frank "Chasing the light"

William Klein 

  

Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida"

I would like ones again describe the book of Roland Barthes but this time putting more focus on punctum and studium.
Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist. In his book "Camera Lucida Reflections on Photography" he described the two main factors in a photographic image the stadium and punctum. I think that this kind of division is really important because it helps in interpretation of photographic image. It also helps me while I am creating my own photographs. Because when I am taking photo I am thinking about this two aspect. I am looking in a pictures for studium which is the element that creates interest in a photographic image. I as a photographer think of the idea why am taking this pictures in that way and then the spectator see the photograph and have to interpretate to see the ideas and intentions behind it.

One of the important connections with studium is culture. Barthes in his book said that "it is culturally that I participate in the figures, the faces, the settings, the actions'. He also said that culture "is a contact arrived at between creators and consumers." In my opinion people from different cultures will create different interpretations. In my project everyone will be able to make their own interpretation because for example we our from different cultural backgrounds. I think that culture is not the only one aspect which affect people's interpretation but at the same time plays a crucial role in it.

The next factor in photographic image is the punctum. This aspect is more personal. It is an object or image that jumps out at the viewer within a photograph. Punctum is much powerful and can exist alongside studium, but disturb it, creating an 'element which rises from the scene and unitentially fills the whole image. As Barthes said "its mere presense changes my readings, that I am looking at a new photography, marked in my eyes with a higher value.' In my project I will have no influence on people's puntum. Because that is more personal and could be different for everyone.

The idea for my project

To show the identity, uniqueness and at the same time variety. But most important for me is to capture the reality.
In my project I would like to show the studium as a young people who are shown in their natural envirinment. In the place where they feel good and safe. My intention is to show them in the place which now is for them in some way a new home or remaind them home.
The punctum will be able to seen by their expression on the face and body language.The viewer will be able to answer the question like:
Why this person is in this place?
What is the meaning of her/his body language?
Why this is a close-up/wide shot?
Why is this person smiling/sad/pensive?

To sum up I would like to capture the reality by showing the polish students in England.

My first draft of the project. The statdium is a young girl. The punctum is that this girl is from Poland and she is studying architecture. That's why she is surrounded by a Royal Pavillion in Brighton. She is doing some drawings.

Preparation for my project

In my project I would like to show polish students in England. In my opinion the best way to achieve that is to make portraits. However, I would like also to make them in the form of a documentary photography. Therefore, I was searching for an inspiration for me.

In my project I would like to capture the reality, not to create one. My objects will be presented in most appropriate places for them. Thanks to that they would be able to feel relax and yourself. My photographs will presents students in comparison to reality which is surrounding them.

Therefore, I firstly thought about documentary photography as my inspiration. I think that this kind of photography presents the emotions which I would like to achieve. It capture people in time without to much posing and previous preparation of the background. The photographs are taken usually outside.

Example of documentary photography (photojournalist works) which inspires me:

- Philip Jones Griffiths was a Welsh photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam war:

Liverpool school outing: a group of school children and their teacher waiting to board a bus 1952.

However, after some time I started to look for different inspirations. I wanted to find a more modern photographer. As I previous wrote my project is inspired by Diane Arbus. After some reading I have found a photographer who liked her work, Alec Soth. He is an American photographer who has a cinematic feel in this photos. The most interesting works for me are his portraits.

Alec Soth is an American photographer born in 1969. "New York Times" art critic Hilarie M. Sheets wrote that he has made a "photographic career out of finding chemistry with strangers" and photographs "loners and dreamers". According to "The Guardian" art critic Hannah Booth his work tends to focus on the "off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America".
Examples:

Another examples:

- Ellen Nolan

Luella Bartley

Emma

Jennifer

- Jane Koh

My inspirations - Jacques Henri Lartigue

On my last visit to London I went to the photography gallery. In the gallery I saw the exhibition of Jacques Henri Lartigue which works I full of inspirations for me. He was a French photographer and painter, known for his photographs of automobile races, planes and Parisian fashion female models. So in his photos he used an objects and people from his surrounding. In my project I will photograph a polish community. I will try to capture them in their new environment which they created for them in England.

Here are some photographs made by J. H. Lartigue:

  

imagination experiment unusual

In this task we had to use our previous experience and things we learned during our lessons. The project is consisting of 3 task.

shoot around the subject
I was taking a pictures in the Fulton building where I was trying to capture this building from different perspective.

found alphabet

In this task I was trying to find an alphabet, but I found this really difficult. In the building there was a lot of circles, squares and I also found easily to find a letters like "v" or "u". 

The letter "u"

The letter "u"

The letter "v"

mini project - showing the object from the outside
The last part of this task was to go outside and take some photographs of the object outside. To take pictures of things we can see on the street, in the surrending of the Fulton building.