A collection of thoughts

So in 2011 I went to see the Photography Degree Show at Sheffield Hallam University and there are two images that have stuck with me ever since. First was this one by Tom Archer:

It's a photograph that really made an impact on me because of its familiarity and humour. Coming to think of it, I think it's been a factor in me choosing the theme of every day life and wanting to explore similar events and happenings. The title of his degree show was 'Nothing New' and this is what he wrote about it:

"These are the moments of human life that would not be deemed spectacular or extraordinary by any bystander, but to the photographer offer ambiguous, obscure or even sublime moments that once seen, are never forgotten.

These photographs are observations of everyday life, insignificant “non-moments” belonging to the individual alone: non-moments when the private self is unconsciously revealed, given over to the act of simply existing.

Nothing more

Nothing new."

This kind of sums up some of the ideas I've had about my project. Anyway I thought it would be good to share as it's had an impact on my work so far and no doubt will continue to do so. I took a look at some of his other work (which you can see here) however I actually found it all deeply uninspiring and bland.

The other piece that I remember from the exhibition was by Lucy Oldfield (I also looked for more of her work but she seems to have vanished without a trace).

Anyway I just remembered that she had used a dolls house in her work and that it gave a very domestic every day feel. I like that you can see the carpet and wall behind it that makes it very clear that it is a model and not real. It's good how you can see into a lot of rooms at once and there is a lot going on. 

This got me also thinking about an article I had read recently about photographer Michael Paul Smith working with model buildings and cars, who unwittingly created a 'dream like reconstruction' of the town he grew up in. They contrast with Lucy Oldfield's work with the dolls house as far from being presented as models, the scenes look super realistic. This feeling of nostalgia is something I've been wanting to explore in my work and also relates to George Shaw's paintings of his home area in Coventry. You can see the whole article and pictures HERE but here are a few of his photos.

Bearing both the work of Lucy Oldfield and Michael Paul Smith in mind, I decided to take some photos of dolls houses for my project. I think this works really well with the ideas of the every day, domestic and nostalgia as they take the form of houses and are childhood toys. They also sort of reflect the idea of dullness as I used to play with them when I was bored and had nothing to do.

I did a mix of shots, some very obviously a dolls house and some trying to be more realistic.

This isn't very well framed or composed or anything but I was just trying to get an idea of all the rooms and the structure. When my mum was 5 she got this dolls house at a school jumble sale for like 10p and then I had it when I was a kid and painted all over the nice vintage wallpapers and ripped it apart so its in a really terrible state.

I really like the composition of this one. I love the sense of depth and height. It looks quite grand in a wierd sort of way. I think the run down look of it is pretty cool.

I also think the composition of this works well - being able to see above and below the floors. The blue tones are nice. When we were little, me and my best friend used to think this room had refrigerating properties (don't ask).

I like the light spilling out onto the floor. Slightly boring image though.

I think this one works really well. It's quite realistic and the framing from the window looks interesting. 

I like this photo as it looks quite realistic and yet surreal. It depicts a very every day environment yet it's also quite uncanny.

The shadow on the wall reflecting the wire design looks good. I like the intensity of the colours.

This has a very old fashioned, vintage feel to it. I love the dulled colours and combination of blue and brown.

These are two different compositions on the same scene, to try out which works better. I think the second image is better as having the blue negative space at the top helps to balance the image. Also the portrait format just seems to work better for the collection of objects.

I enjoyed taking these photos. I want to continue using dolls houses in my work as I feel it works really well with my theme and where it is heading. Creating a sort of installation out of one of them (probably the wrecked one) could work really nicely. I'll have a think about how to achieve this.

Contrasts

So I was walking my dog around my area and just thinking about how weird some of the architectural and social juxtapositions are. These are all photographs taken of houses on the exact same road but with some big differences between them. Some of the most expensive houses in the city are combined with local authority housing. These are houses that reflect each other while at the same time contrasting hugely. I wanted to combine images together to illustrate this and the different every day lives of people living in very close proximity.

They're just iPod pictures so they're not great quality but at this stage it's more about the idea and the combination of images than the images themselves.

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I like how the two trees mirror each other in this set of photos. It adds a sense of flow, while the actual buildings are really different to each other. Having the images different sizes adds interest.

I put these two images together because I felt the triangular roofs echoed each other, whilst again the buildings themselves are completely different in style. 

 I took these two because they're both bungalows but completely different in style. They look pretty boring together though.

 These were two houses right next to each other that contrast. However although they are completely different eras and styles, their overall shape and silhouette sort of mirrors each other which I thought was interesting. I wonder if this is coincidence or if it was intended by the architect of the second house. Anyway it shows a kind of coherence through time. They're very grey photos together though.


I want to continue looking at this theme. Firstly by taking more and better photos - probably with a camera this time. I could work towards making a photobook or something. I could also work with drawing houses. As well as this I could follow the idea of contrast and similarity by drawing over the photographs on acetate or tracing paper or other translucent medium so that both aspects can be seen at the same time. I could also try drawing with sewing over the top.

Room photos

I've been thinking about profiling people and their every day lives. I wanted to look at objects or things that can tell a lot about a person, based on Peter Blake's painting 'Footsteps' where it seems that the contents of someone's pockets have been spread out on the floor and documented. I was thinking about the contents of other things that could be photographed to give a similar idea of a person. For example, wallets, bags, cars, wardrobes etc.

After looking at the work of Martin Parr, particularly his collaboration with David Meadows on 'June Street', and Richard Billingham's work photographing his family in their home, I was thinking about how people's home environments and the objects in them can really reflect the people themselves. People's bedrooms in particular can be very personal and give a strong impression of a person's character and reflect their every day life. This led me to the idea of photographing and documenting people's rooms to build up a profile of them. It was also inspired by this article I saw (click here) about childrens' bedrooms around the world, which shows a lot about their individual situations.

Here are some photographs that I took of mine and my brother's bedrooms respectively. The main rule was not to move or change anything so as to be completely truthful and authentic. I took pictures of the rooms as a whole and then details.

I discovered that I have a large collection of Ribena cups:

Then moving on to my brother's bedroom:

I based the saturated effect of these photos on those of Martin Parr. I was aiming for a richness of colour and tone which I think I pretty much achieved (although Blogger has messed up some of the light levels AGAIN). I think I've succeeded in documenting aspects of our personal lives. Next I would like to explore more people's bedrooms to build a collection and wider spread of images. I'm going to photograph my parents' bedroom next. I suppose having two people having a room would affect the personality of it. I also want to photograph people in their rooms to give an even more thorough representation and better profile of the people in question.

iPod photos

Photos from Sunday afternoon. I wanted to take some pictures with my iPod because many people now use this or their phones as a form of every day documenting. I'm talking snapchat, Instagram etc. So I felt using such a ubiquitous medium could really communicate the theme of every day life. What I want to do next is try and make it more interactive to mirror the ideas of social media in our every day lives. Perhaps getting friends to use their phones to take pictures of what every day life means to them and then sharing them.

What I really like from these is the moody sky. I think it has a lot of impact. I also like how bright the colours turned out. They give an impression of what my walk was like.

A trip to Brussels

AGAIN uploading to Blogger has made the light levels on this go mad. It's meant to look much darker and deeper. I guess this website just doesn't like pictures of people by windows. STOP DOING THIS PLEASE. But yeah in its original form, the contrast between dark and light works well. I was trying to emulate a the feel of works by Vermeer such as The Milkmaid and The Art of Painting, by using the light coming in through the window and a Chiarascuro effect.

I think the composition in this one works relatively well, with the detail in the bottom and then blank expanse of sky at the top to balance it. The use of black and white and the contrast gives it impact.

I think the saturated effect and the many reflections of light make this photo interesting. This is one of the many laundrettes in Brussels - there's one about every five metres. I also like how lines lead into the middle and really focus the eye to to centre of the image.

Again I think having the large expanse of negative space ie. sky works well in this photograph. This was influenced by a photograph I saw in Aperture a few months ago. I also like the film grain effect.

I think the contrast between vertical and horizontal lines is good in this. The strong orange also really helps to draw the eye.

I like the really dark tones in this. I was interested in it due to the contrast between the ornateness and curves of the gate, and the squareness of the building behind.

Slightly different angle this time. I like being able to see the sky at the top. The sepia is good as it makes it look very timeless and classic.

I don't think the composition in this works because it seems a bit too cluttered and doesn't focus the eye enough.

This isn't a very good photo but I like the houses.

I feel this picture works well because it looks very classic and vintage. I'm not sure about the composition though.

The strong orange really lifts this photo. I also think the square format works well.

I really like the colours in this, especially how the guy's jacket matches the door behind him.

I had the camera on my knee, trying to surreptitiously take a picture of those guys outside the Brasserie having an altercation. But I really like the line of bikes in the foreground.

There is really colourful graffiti everywhere in Brussels.

The bold red works well here. I was just trying to take a picture of the shop when this woman walked into the shot which was awesome. 

Joe looking moody and pensive in the Bois de la Cambre. I don't really think the contrast works well in this.

The mixture of reds, blue greys and mustard yellows here looks pretty good and adds a sense of order to the photograph.

The strong blue and yellow against neutrals looks good in this. I'm not sure about the film grain though - I think it looks a bit artificial.

Composition here works well. Also think the saturated colours are nice.

Wanted to capture the contrast between the neon in the window and the greyness of the rest of the image. Other than this though it's not a hugely interesting image I don't think.

The strong colours in this are good. I think the lack of focus actually adds to the image.

I really like how the eye is focused towards the figure in this image by lines converging towards her.

Bit slanty which I don't think is great but I think it captures the feel of the commute.

The strong bright colours are quite nice in this. I like how it takes you right into the heart of the action. It reminds me of this image by Tom Wood. It's a bit overexposed though.

This image was inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper. I feel I've sort of captured a similar atmosphere to that of many of his artworks. I like the contrast between areas of dark and light.

My favourite thing about this picture is that the man and the dog are both looking back in my direction. The colours are quite rich too which I think is good.

I like the really bold graphic lines of the building contrasting with the tree branches. Also the blue of the sky contrasting with the paleness.

The length of this image gives an impression of height. I also think the strong saturation works well to bring out the colours.

This image was again a bit Hopper inspired. The composition was also inspired by some images in the photo-book Road and Rail Links Between Sheffield and Manchester by Adam Murray and Theo Simpson which I saw at the Sheffield Millenium Galleries Printing Sheffield exhibition earlier in the month. I really think the wide expanse of sky taking up much of the image works well.

Tourists at Mini Europe. I just really like their expressions. Also I think the curve of the buildings in the foreground works well compositionally.

The Atomium is amazing! I just think the composition of this image works well, as well as the blue of the sky contrasting with the silver and white.

The contrast between the grey and the bright primary colours works quite well.

I think the composition of this is pretty good. I also like the saturation of the colours.

I like how abstract this photo looks as well as the strong contrast.

I think the soft focus of this gives the impression of movement. The slightly muted colours are pretty nice. Possibly bit of a boring image though - not really anything to focus on.

I love the flash of bright colours in this one, as well as the reflections and the grain.

The soft focus and saturation, as well as contrast between dark and light makes this image interesting for me.

I'm not sure about this one but I like the bright pink and bright blue.

This one has gone all sharp and horrible but I think the composition is okay. I think the colours could do with being a bit richer.

It was a shame that this car was in the way but these skulls are really cool.

I think the grey and dullness actually works really well here at creating a certain atmosphere.

Windowsill ornaments - I think the high saturation here is good as it brings the objects to more attention. This image strikes me as a bit Martin Parr-esque. I want to have a look at his work.

I think the bright, strong blue of the sky contrasts well with the creaminess of the building. I feel the composition really gives an impression of the fact that this was one hugely tall building in an area when everything else was built much lower.

I really like this image. I think the saturation makes it look really retro and atmospheric, which was the effect I was aiming for when I took it.

The tourist area. I like how the image really focuses on the woman in the middle but then there is also a lot to look at behind too.

These two guys were taking each other's picture in front of the horse. I feel like I captured their interaction well.

The Police stroking the horse. I don't really like the lady with the pink coat in the foreground as I feel it distracts the eye away from the rest of the image.

I think the graphic lines in this one work well. I also like the blue tones.


Anyway that's about it! That's kind of a lot of photos I know.