FMP Photographer ideas (David Maurice Smith)

My initial response to the work of David Maurice Smith is that the way it has been structured in a very objective manner as there is no evidence to suggest otherwise that his images was staged in a particular way, in addition because of my assumption of his work being objective it would be relevant to assume David Maurice Smith's would be categorised under as 'Documentary Photography' because of the way that he has shot the people in his photos as they do not relativity take any notice of the photographer. (no particular eye contact was made to show that the subjects was aware the photographer was shooting them) This intrigues me to question why this is?  
  

 Furthermore I personally feel the body of work has great impact on how the development of society is built upon; I personally feel that the photographer challenges modern society as we are considered in this day and age. From and educational view I think these images counters the idea that we all live in an era where a majority of the western world population lives an a stable manner where basic living standards are met and that there is only a small percentage of people live that below the poverty line. Focusing on one specific image where David Maurice Smith has shot a dead animal that has been left on the table along with an infant observing the image creates other qualities, where I can infuse these two aspects that he has included to build upon the assumption of a great issue that has been presented to the viewer. In my opinion I can elaborate on this and concluded that there is no emotion shown by the infant for the viewer to expresses the fact that the child is uncomfortable in any way by the presence of the dead animal. I suspect that this sort of events must occur often enough where the infant doesn't see it as a problem however from someone else’s point of view it could be accepted due to there up bringing and background. 

Furthermore this brings to my next controversial idea that David Maurice Smith's work can be either agreed or disagreed with. As an individual I have grown and have been part of a what is referred to as modern society based on where I'm from, I have to express feel that living in overwhelming conditions such as what David Maurice Smith has presented to the viewer creates the idea of other countries operate so differently of what I think is unacceptable. In comparison to some that was view David Maurice Smith's work that is from a different country there thoughts and opinions could potentially be the exact opposite; where perhaps in certain cultures and societies it would be accepted and be overlooked as images of what they would considered as 'normal'. 

David Maurice Smith's work has impacted my perception of society and as people observe and judge what is accepted and what isn't accepted; based on what we as individuals have been brought up to know of a specific lifestyle that we are accustom to.  

http://oculi.com.au/photographers/david-maurice-smith/living-in-the-shadows/

FMP Photographer ideas (David Hockney)

My initial response: In my opinion judging these images as a collective not as individual photos, i can clearly observe a distinctive theme/structure as to how the photographer has constructed these particular images. In addition to the fact that these images look as if they have been taken which was then printed and physically stuck together, which also gives the indication that when the images were taken it clearly was before technology further advanced. However i do personally think there is one aspect that remains inconsistent with all these images is that the contents of each image shows no relationship to each other which leads me to infer that there was no real narrative behind each image describing as a collective of images or looking at them as individual images.

FMP Photographer ideas (Ed Burtynsky 'Pentimento')

My initial response to the collective images relating to the work of Ed Burtynsky (Pentimento) is that the main content is based around the broken down pieces of what appears to be a ship of some sort, I assume a cargo ship perhaps due to the sheer size of the ship its self, I personally think that the ship was abandoned therefore no longer eligible for use which would explain why in one of the images it shows the scrap pieces of the ship; from that i can infer that the scraps from the ship of been broken down further for scrap metal of prosily melting for other purposes as a resource material.

Further more the fact that the photographer has chosen to present his images in black and white. From this particular aspect I have identified I can convey the fact that due to the time period at that moment the factor of colour images was not available hence why the photographer has included the use of dark borders in his work to increase the uses of black and whites to achieve a more contrasted appeal possibly.

Secondary research sources

journals 

• Written by & edited by industry experts . 
• Sufficient ideas, concepts & inspiration.
• The newest contemporary photography. 
• Short, concise articles with analysis & info that is need for my research. 

Books 

• written by experts- authoritative info'.
• Experts views & opinions. 
• Access to in-depth information.
• historical data 
• overviews 
• Some books are divided into specific chapters therefore easier to use. 
• Charlotte cotions- Books 

Test shoot 1 (experimentation with "field of view")

The use of lenses
experimentation with "field of view"

in this practical I will be shooting a series of portraits using 3 different focal lengths

Wide-18mm
Mid way focal length-35mm
Telephoto-55mm
I'll be using each focal length with an up right portrait format filling the frame top to bottom with subject.

I will shoot full frame, making the person fit &full frame.

My horizontal "landscape" shots will be composed the same way... (full frame top to bottom) The objective is to explore the relationship between the subject (person) & the effect of field of view behind the subject as this has an impact on the visual language inherent within the image.

Light- when we're shooting light is one of the things we focus in at this stage I've not made any final decisions light quality/ characteristics . today we're working with direct "point light with the possibility of diffuse clouds due to the cumulus clouds.

White Balance- will be shot either to "sunny" Direct sunlight or "cloudy"

Camera- I'll be using my CANON D1200 & ..... lens
I'll be shooting at the seafront at southend, I'll be shooting in RAW
Because of the weather & light conditions im going to be able to shoot at "100 ISO"

With it being bright sunny day at 100 ISO I'd expect to be able too shoot at F8 or F11 which is the optimum aperture or lens performance
Shutter speeds should be in the region of 1/125. This negates the need for a tripod.

I'll be pairing with Louis & we'll use each other as models. I'm hoping to get my images by 13:00hrs. On my return I'm hoping to produce a content sheet & six images minimum & Then write a reflection/ evaluation analysing the results.


Final outcome of images

What happened- We took pictures down the beach in conditions of direct sunlight.
How do i feel it went- my overall experince when conducting this test-shoot, was the lack of confidence i personally had; during the practical my lens became faultey inwhich made it very difficult for me to focus on on my subject, hence why my final images resulted in a clear observation of it being unfocused. Due to the faults i encountered when shooting, i was not pleased with the end results.
Evaluation- The positive factors that came out of this practical, was that we had the correct conditions to shoot in the correct manner that would be clear in demonstrating the objectives i had made when pre-planing this experiment.
The negative factors that came out of this practical, was that during the process of taking images my lens had ultimatley malfunctioned thus disabling me to focus in on my subjects.
This experiment was helpful in the sense that by planing and using the accumulated knowlage i have learnt i have been able to apply said knowledge in a practical situation which has prepared me for future practical work that will be improved to ensure all aspects of my pre-palnnning have been met. (I.E the objectives i had made when planing this experiment; "to explore the relationship between the subject (person) & the effect of field of view behind the subject as this has an impact on the visual language inherent within the image")

Analysis- In terms of the relationship made between the main subject and background, inconjunction with my statement i have made this aware due to the fact that when comparing images shot at Wide, Mid way focal length & Telephoto; shooting at a wide angle reveals more information with regards to the background as well as the main subject in front of the camera. This could possibly give an indication as to identifying the main subject (i.e who he/she is, age group etc.) Compared to an image shot using a telephoto as there would be a limited view of the background as all the attention made in the image would be focused by the main subject.

Conclusion- I have to ensure when planing a practicial experiment i double check that i have the sufficient equipment to conduct the expermiemnt and achieve what i had originally set out to accomplish. I have made this particular aspect my conclusion due to the faults i had made with this practical as mentioned previously.  (faults in lens) this was a huge issue as i was not able to focus my images correctly to achieve a 'high quality appearance' also because they were made unfocused distortion was clearly visual therefore there was very little detail in all images that was shoot.

Action Plan- In my next practical i will be shooting images more relevant to my current assignment (Final Major Project) so that i have a clearer idea of how i will present my images when producing my final high quality pictures. In addition any faults that i may come across in my next practical it will be of use so that no erorrs are made when my final prints are used for my "FMP".

FMP Photographer ideas (Sipho Gongxeka)

Sipho Gongxeka

The work of Sipho Gongxeka, really caught my attention due to the ambiguity of his images. My initial response to his work; personally feel somewhat miss lead in terms of how i perceive a narritive to these images (or whether his images was based on a narrative at all), due to the fact that these images doesn't show a signarture relationship that would classify them as one unit of work or preasented as individuals images holding to no connection between one another. The meaning or purpose for these images, I feel are very vague. It is difficult to have an educated guess as to what the meaning might be. I could only assume from observing the images as a collective; the photographer has clearly approached the images with the possible intention of constructing them with clear and obvious meaning because of the simplicity in his pictures. However visually speaking i would automatically assume that his type of work would be based around documentary photography perhaps, due to the main subject reflecting its background as there is no indication to the viewer to title the location of where Gongxeka shot his images, therefore i can infer that he's images could predominately be based around the idea of documentary photography purely because interns of technicalities of how he chose to shoot these images it doesnt appear to have in any qualities to represent as professional standard (in my opinion); this would all depend on what Sipho Gongxeka's concept was when producing these images.

FMP Photographer ideas (Anastasia Rodenko)

Anastasia Rodenko- Initial response

Location and Environment
visually speaking location set in eastern Europe (possibly Russia). the images appear to be shot in a work environment; offices (due to desks, filing cabinets, computer etc.) could be assumed as military government based in the public sector of security. In addition the images shot doesn't appear to be shot with the knowledge of photography, quality of the overall image, hasn't followed "rule of thirds". They look like images that would be used informally, possibly about how they look + its not about the work place. the images are sexualised. The structure of the images is clearly subjective/staged
it look like these are types of images that would be presented in social media.

colour/B+W/ Tonalities
in this instance because of the nature of the photography it's unlikely the colours used in the images have been considered. the consistancy of the uniforms colour (blue) does help us establish the fact that this might be a public service have such as there police.
it also helps to confirm a rough idea of the time the images were taken- modern as apposed to be 1970s.

Light
The images are seminally lit by available light.
being an office space its lit by Florissant striped. which generally have a colour cast. either green or magenta. this isn't that apparent, reinforcing the fact the images were shot on either a camera phone or compact camera using- white  balance.

Equipment
probably camera phones or digitial compacts. apparent because of the quality+ the feet are much longer in the image. we are also see much of the surroundings environment the girls are sitting in.