Shoot 5 - Fay No.2

'What do I want to capture most in my photographs? Human emotion and the essence of human being. I am less interested in forcing my subjects into a visually interesting form or putting them against an unusual background.’ - Philippe Halsman

To develop my assignment further I have decided to photograph my friend Fay again as I feel the last shoot was successful resulting in some good images as Fay seemed immediately at ease and comfortable with the process, she was confident, comfortable and enjoyed the process and this came across in the images which communicated so perfectly the focus of the image taken – Personality and Fay’s confidence, self assurance, outgoing side, joy, care freeness, happiness – all key features of her personality, came through in the final outcome. Fay is uncomplicated and very natural and open; this also came across in the photographs. When I capture Fay and when she laughs the photographs become completely unconstructed. I barely needed to work on the last series of photographs I took of her.

I intend to go to Dunham Park to photograph Fay, Dunham Park is a lovely setting with plenty of opportunity to photograph. The open space and trees create such a lovely scene the potential to get a good photograph is endless.

Photographs

David Bailey Photography

David Bailey is a British photographer born in 1938. In the late 50’s he became a photographic assistant at the John French studio, and in May 1960, he was a photographer for John Cole's Studio Five before being contracted as a fashion photographer for British Vogue magazine later that year. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, he captured and helped create the 'Swinging London' of the 1960s: a culture of high fashion and celebrity chic. The three photographers socialised with actors, musicians and royalty, and found themselves elevated to celebrity status. Together, they were the first real celebrity photographers. Wikipedia

I very much like the photography taken by David Bailey and feel it to be very influential. The model is posing, and the photograph is heavily constructed. The model appears to be very confident in front of the camera just my friend Fay is. In particular I like the composition of the photograph, the model fills the frame from head to waist yet as a view I personally am drawn to her face.

August Sander

August Sander was a German portrait and documentary photographer. Sander's first book Face of our Time was published in 1929. Sander has been described as "the most important German portrait photographer of the early twentieth century. During military service, August Sander was an assistant in a photographic studio in Trier; he then spent the following two years working in various studios elsewhere. By 1904 he had opened his own studio in Linz, Austria, where he met with success. He moved to a suburb of Cologne in 1909 and soon began to photograph the rural farmers nearby. Around three years later Sander abandoned his urban studio in favour of photographing in the field, finding subjects along the roads he travelled by bicycle. Man of the Twentieth Century" was Sander's monumental, lifelong photographic project to document the people of his native Westerwald, near Cologne, stating that we know that people are formed by the light and air, by their inherited traits, and their actions. We can tell from appearance the work someone does or does not do; we can read in his face whether he is happy or troubled," Sander photographed subjects from all walks of life and created a typological catalogue of more than six hundred photographs of the German people. Although the Nazis banned the portraits in the 1930s because the subjects did not adhere to the ideal Aryan type, Sander continued to make photographs. After 1934 his work turned increasingly to nature and architectural studies. - Wikipedia

August Sander’s work I find both influential and inspirational. Without being over constructed, over manipulated or in general just over the top he manages to photograph the natural human face as a portrait. His photographic collection is very effective and powerful and really makes you look and question the photograph. Whilst looking through August Sander’s work I noticed that a lot of his portraits although the subject is posed they show truth and realistically he is documenting the area and people surrounding him. I especially like the above photograph as it shows masculinity in its own right, I want to take all of my inspirations and interpret them using similar techniques when photographing Joe.  

Gina Chong and Chris Chong Photography

I very much like the photographic work of Gina and Chris Chong. I chose to feature there work in my blog as I find it influential. There collection or work photographing couples is what I intend to do for my shoot with Fay and Joe. As Fay and Joe are confident out going friends of mine my intentions were to get them to pose for the camera – not over pose as I don’t want that effect for my photographs. The photographs above I feel capture the beauty, trust and happiness from the couple – you can’t help but smile when you see them. I especially like the framing of the photographs – the subjects are always in the middle and the location out of focus, this works well as it makes the subjects being the couple the main focus. Once again these inspiring photographs aren’t over made up or heaving manipulated which was well in particular for this shoot as it doesn’t contradict the natural happiness and essence of the photographs. I intend and look forward to photographing using similar styles and techniques to Gina and Chris Chong.

Shoot 4 - Fay and Joe

‘When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, when you laugh and cry with their laughter and tears, you will know you are on the right track. - Arthur Fellig

To develop my assignment further and to get an insight into how to develop my photography work into a final series of photographs I have decided to do another photography shoot based on portraiture capturing my friend Fay Venetia Williams and her boyfriend Joe Mullarky. I have photographed Fay before and was thoroughly happy with my outcomes as Fay seemed immediately at ease and comfortable with the process, she was confident, comfortable and enjoyed the process and this came across in the images which communicated so perfectly the focus of the image taken – Personality and Fay’s confidence, self assurance, outgoing side, joy, care freeness, happiness – all key features of her personality, came through in the final outcome. Joe her boyfriend and close friend of mine is a very confident out going, self assured Rugby player. Together I just know that I will get some fabulous shots of them, showing not only there friendship but relationship. They have been together for over five years and I feel confident that this will become apparent in my photographs as they adore each other. I also intend on photographing them by them selves – just to expand the variety of shots taken.

Once again I have decided as this is just a minor project to act as a starting point for my development towards my final series of photographs. Therefore I am going back to my favourite location being Latchford Locks to photograph as I’ve successfully shot there in the past. The setting provides many features which make a perfect back drop for a constructed photo shoot. To make my photo shoot stand out and differ to previous shoots I have done there, I intend to go on a dull/cloudy day where these is no sun and use my reflector. This sounds silly when you first read it, however I want to photograph and experiment with the lighting, find out what works – by doing this I will get different photographs altogether with a different backdrop. I have found the lighting at Latchford Locks is key to the photographs you intend to take. If this is successful and works better then photographs with bright natural sunlight I may consider doing this again but at a different location.

'Tom & Laura Say I Do' Final Photographs