Overall conclusion

The brief and the course have come to an end...

I think that this unit has certainly been one of the busiest, especially with the portfolio to print. It was a brief that at first I struggled to get into, and like usual I put it off for a while before shooting. However when I did finally shoot for the first time and I got the projector out and experimented I really began to enjoy it. I've really liked working with my idea, and experimenting with new things, and it's possibly something I'd like to pursue long term after college.
I'm quite pleased with my outcomes from the brief, and I think that my portfolio looks good. The images I have produced are simple ones, yet they still work well and I think convey my idea effectively. If I had given myself more time I would have liked to experiment with more extreme scenarios and situations to put people in, something that would really get a shock reaction. I have enjoyed the brief though.

Finals

So these are all of my final images; Three A3 sheets, each with 3 images on, and three single A3 images. If I were to exhibit these images I would present them as groups of 3, so the prints in my portfolio are an example of what I would do, just to show people how it looks. For each of them I wanted to include 2 closeups on the outsides and then 1 full body image in the middle. I feel that doing it this way helped balance the print out, and it gave a full view of the situation and how the people were reacting.



The image above I feel works really well, and from it you get a real sense that he is feeling uneasy, and in particular the far right picture just adds to that feeling of despair in an almost over the top way...yet it seems to work.


I think that with this image the middle picture really makes it complete. If you look at the two outside pictures you get a sense that she is looking around uncomfortably and then with the middle image, the full body shot, it almost puts the others in context, and we see how awkward she looks.




This image works really well, and here I think with these three pictures there is a real sense of unease about the situation, and that she is genuinely uncomfortable with where she is. These moments in time, these frames really show the atmosphere of the situation.








Of course these three images above are my 3 A3 prints to go alongside the other 3 images.

I feel that as a series of six in total they work really well, and with one large print next to every smaller set they really compliment each other, and the larger ones really emphasize the unease of the situation. The colours in each set are different, however I feel they still flow well, and that slight change in backdrop and composition from picture to picture makes them work better.

Emma edit

Again these are my edit of 8 before the final edit...


I only had 8 images to choose from here, so the job was made a lot easier.

The final edit is below and I particularly like the bottom image. It is perhaps one of the best from the series, and you can really sense her discomfort and insecurity at being stood there.

Fish edit

I narrowed it down to these 10 images firstly...



Again like the others I went for a mix for of close crop and full body shots, and only images were she looked uncomfortable. I really like how her arms are placed on some of these because it's as if she doesn't know where to place them, and she looks particularly awkward.

When editing down to the final 3 images I wanted a variation of poses and crop sizes so as to emphasize how much she was moving around and how agitated she was. I think that these three work really well.

Although on the image below she is looking at the camera I think it still works. She looks confused and worried as to what is going on..but of course she won't know.





I wanted to include an image of her facing backwards, just to emphasize her looking round nervously.



I've chosen the image below because in particular I like her gaze and the expression on her face. You can just make out that she is biting her lip, giving the sense that she is somewhat nervous.

Daly edit

So I have edited down from the initial images using bridge, and simply looking which ones worked best.



It was quite difficult to edit down to the images above on the contact sheet, as there were a lot of similar pictures, and some only had subtle differences between them. In the end I opted for images were he looked most uncomfortable, or most out of place. I even went for some images were he was turned around and looking behind, because I feel they add a heightened sense of anxiety, and really show him to be conscious of what was around him.
When editing, I had to print off mini images of these, and lay them next to each other in different combination's to see which worked the best.

In the end these are the three finals I have edited to, and the three that work best together...

I just feel that they represent best the way he was reacting; he moved about quite a lot, and when he didn't he seemed to stand straight up rigid and not relaxed at all.



I really wanted to include the image below due to his body language, as I think it says a lot about how he is feeling.

Reflections

So where am I now?

I have my idea set in stone and I have my images, which are of a good standard. I need to edit down at this stage and figure out which images I want to use as finals.
I really like the idea of presenting them as three's, so I think a good idea would be to print up 3 of each model on an A3 sheet, and then pick one out of each of those three's and print them up as big images, giving me a total of 6 prints.
I need to edit down well and choose images that best show discomfort and anxiety in my models. I think that I want to include a mix of closed crop and body shot images, so as to have a bit of diversity and dimension to the pieces.
I am pleased with what I've got, and I feel that my idea has worked quite well, getting genuine emotions and reactions from all of my models.

Shoot 4 (Emma)

These are the images from my fourth shoot...



Again I am pleased with the results I got here, and I feel that my model worked particularly well. It works really well not letting them know what I am doing, and only instructing them to stand there, as in this case she seemed to be very self conscious, and aware of everyone around her. There are a lot of good images here, and like with the other shoots I am going to have to spend some time editing down, and seeing which image or images works best.

With this model she seemed to move a lot around the frame...more so than any of my others, and I think that it works quite well. It's a good example of how body language can show how someone is feeling, and you can tell that when she is looking around and moving about she is very aware that people may be watching her.



I really like the image below, and feel it works one of the best from the shoot. She has such an awkward stance, and she is glancing to the side where a woman is walking just behind her. She looks very aware that she is stood looking out of place in a busy area, with a camera pointing at her from far away.



I think that this is the last shoot I am going to do as I feel I have enough images to play around with now. Also time is running out for the brief and I still need to edit down and print the finals for my portfolio.

Shoot 3 (Fish)

These are the images from my third shoot, and are possibly the best so far.



Again with the same set up as before, only a different model and location I began, and I got some good results. There are certainly some interesting expressions and body languages from her, and I need to edit down to the ones that show the most discomfort.

As with all the shoots up until now I have been drawing them out for about 30 minutes up to an hour, and I find that I get some good images early on. However the best images come from when pedestrians walk by and stare at the model, as they seem to get really self conscious, and suddenly aware that they are stood still in the middle of a busy area. So with that In mind, I tried to get most of the shots as people walked by, and it seemed to work well.



Of course some of the images are bad, and in others she is smiling at the camera, but I am planning to edit down and select the best few, then edit down again to a final choice.



I particularly like the body language in the image above; she looks as if she is uncertain of how to position her arms, something that I have noticed a lot with the shoots so far.

Shoot 2 (Nathan)

Here are the images from my images from the second shoot, this time with a different model and a different location.



Again I went for exactly the same approach as the last shoot...setting up before he got there, shooting from far away, having a shallow depth of field and changing halfway through the shoot from a close crop to a more full body shot. This time however I shot the images a little later at night and in a different location, which didn't work to my advantage as the low lighting conditions made it harder to get a sharp image, and subsequently all the images seem to have a soft focus to them.
This is slightly annoying as I spent a lot a of time and effort organising the shoot, and all to no avail.



As you can see on the image below, in it not quite sharp enough, and I also feel that the model does not quite look right. He didn't seem to be overly phased by the situation, and I can only see a slight bit of discomfort in the way he positioned his body.
I'm not going to be using these images as finals.

Tutorial

I thought it would be a good idea to take my images so far to Sarah to see what she thought. We discussed that there was promise in them, and that they worked quite well when there was a few of them together.
When looking at them, they seemed to fit quite nicely in a group of three, with all the images showing the varying states of discomfort.

It is also important that I select my models well, and choose people that might respond more anxiously towards what I am doing.

Shoot (Daly)

So these are the images I shot the other day...
For the shoot, I shot on the nikon D3 using the 70-300m lens.



As you can see I shot a lot of images, and I am very pleased with the outcomes. For the shoot I had to set up the camera and a test model in town so as to get everything correct for when my real model came. Upon arrival I simply told him to stand on a spot for as long as I instructed, and all the while I was a fair distance away shooting at random intervals, waiting and watching for a good moment and expression. I did have a bit of technical difficulty as he moved at certain points of the shoot, and so as a result some of the images are slightly out of focus.

The shoot went well and I achieved some interesting looks from my model. You can certainly see in some of the images his discomfort and apprehension towards what was going on. Whilst on the shoot he seemed a little paranoid and unknowing of what I was doing, which helped a lot.



I shot all of the images in portrait which I think works well, and for the first half I chose a quite tight crop in on him, focusing on the head and shoulder area, allowing me to get closer in and capture the facial expressions. For the second half of the shoot I decided to move back slightly and get more of the body in shot, so as to draw attention to some of the body language, and in particular the hands...which he seems to be clenching at points and very uncomfortable with.

It's all about capturing the right moment, and I had to observe him all the time to get the look I wanted. The image below is something like what I want, as you can see he looks quite uncomfortable and on edge.



At this point I think I'm onto a winning idea, and I really need to shoot more with other models. I also need to edit down from these images and find the best ones, to see what works better than others. All in all I'm very pleased with the outcome.

Further ideas

So after much deliberation and playing around with ideas, I've decided that I want images that produce a situation where people are uncomfortable and anxious.
The idea that we discussed in the group crits the other day sounds really good, and is certainly what I'm going to explore, hoping that it is effective.
If I have my model stood somewhere in a busy area, maybe town centre or on the side of a busy road they are going to feel uncomfortable. Also if I make them stand there for an extended period of time without telling them what I'm doing it will make them all the worse.
I now have a cable release and if I get a zoom lens, perhaps the 70-300m I will be able to stand far away and take photos without them even noticing.

This idea is really good for two reasons:
a) it will hopefully work to great effect in making my models feel uncomfortable and anxious.
b) it will address the issue I had with having my images looking interesting, as shooting from far give me a shallow depth of field which should look quite good, and help to make the model seem all the more isolated.

Rosemary Laing

I managed to come across photographer Rosemary Laing and her series 'a dozen useless actions for grieving blondes'. The photographs are some of the best work I have seen for a long time and really show examples of raw emotion in extreme ways.



The series itself shows women in various states of sorrow and grieving, which Laing has captured to great effect. Just looking at them makes me feel uncomfortable and I can almost feel the woman's pain and frustration at something which is unkown to me.



The composition of these images is great, and the framing is really tight so that you are almost trapped within the photograph. I like that we are able to see the whole head and the tops of the shoulders, as I feel that the body language here is a strong signifier of how the woman is feeling. The background is very unusual, but at the same time it compliments what is going on in the photograph as it helps to give it a rush and only heightens the drama within the frame.



In particular I really like the image above as for me it conveys the most emotion and is shot as the precise time.
Thinking about it, Laing probably shot lots of images and had to edit down to these few; the ones that conveyed the most intense emotion. When I am editing, I will have to do the same, and choose to show only the images that convey the strongest sense of discomfort and angst in my model.



The busy background and use of showing the body language here works very well, and is something I certainly need to play around with when I am shooting.

Paul Ekman

In the group crit the other day, it was suggested that I look at the work by psychologist Paul Ekman, and his micro expressions. Although not a photographer, his work is very interesting and could be useful to what I am doing.
All of these stills are frames from films, and show split second micro expressions of extreme emotions.



These six images above look great; the facial expressions are really strong and intense, which makes for good effect. For Ekman though, this was not realy his intention, and instead he used micro expressions in psychology tests to see if suicide patients were lying about being well. He found that at the point of the lie, there was an intense expression on the face, something that the patient could never hide. That is what I find so interesting; the truth of the expression, something that the person can't hide, and something where if you look hard enough and for long enough, you will eventually see it.


'Surprise'

Technicaly I like these images, the crop and framing is really good, as he is able to get really close in (perhaps almost too close) and really concentrate on the facial expression and emotion being shown. I think that shooting portrait, rather than landscape works particualrly well, and is something that I want to experiment with on my next shoot.


'Happiness'

In Ekmans images, these self portraits, he is showing us varying types of emotion and how they look. For my next shoots though I want to focus in particlar on feelings of discomfort and awkwardness, and like Ekman shoot to capture the precise moment of the intense emotion.


'Fear'


'Disgust'

Group crits

The group crits were the other day, and to be honest I felt annoyed that I only had one new shoot to show, and even worse that it wasn't very good.
However after laying my prints down on the table and discussing them I got some useful feedback. I was told that my location wasn't very good, and in fact the bricks were quite distracting and irrelevant. It became clear in the discussion that my ultimate goal was to capture a look of discomfort with my models, something which could be seen in my portraits, but was not strong enough. I feel that now I have finally settled on something I want to achieve, and my idea is solid I can start working on how I am going explore it, and how I will proceed technically.
The one main suggestion was that I really focus on making my models wait, make them stand there unknowing of what is going on, and really make them feel uncomfortable. An idea was suggested to make them stand alone on a street corner, while I photograph with a zoom lens from far away. This ultimately would make them feel like a bit of a twat, and I could get some interesting reactions.
All in all, the crit was good.

Wall shoot

So after my presentation the other day I decided to go out and shoot again. This time I avoided the use of projections and instead took inspiration from the work of Richard Avedon, simply waiting for the precise moment in which to shoot.
I positioned my model in front of the camera (I chose to go for the hasselblad and square format here as an experiment) and instructed him only to just stand there for about 15 minutes. By leaving him in the dark about what I was doing, I hoped to create a feeling of unease and tension within the subject. When I felt that the moment was right, and that the look was right I took a photograph.



Above is the contact sheet of the 12 images from the shoot.
For the technical sides to the shoot I wanted to shoot square just to play around with how that looked, and this time I wanted to get more of my subject in the shot and look at his body language, so I positioned myself further away and incorporated most of him into the frame. The use of black and white again was an experiment, done simply because a lot of my research artists have worked this way, and have done so to good effect. The location was a weak decision, and I chose it only because I did not want to work in the studio and with a blank background.



As for the shoot itself, I have mixed feelings about what I got from it. The images themselves I feel are quite weak, and just look like average portraits with no real agenda behind them. I can take from the photographs that square format probably isn't the way forward for my idea, and that I much prefer getting in closer and concentrating more so on the face because body language just doesn't give enough away.



On the other hand, the idea behind the shoot seemed to work to some effect. By not letting the subject know what I was doing and by keeping quiet, only pressing the shutter at what appeared to be random intervals he seemed to get quite anxious and unnerved. You can see evidence of this as in some frames he is looking around, biting his lip and appearing unsure of the situation. The problem was that I did not have a cable release, and so every time I wanted to take a frame I had to go back to the camera and press the shutter, which as a result made him look back at me, and almost ruin the atmosphere which had been created.

And so there are certainly some things I can take from this shoot, and I can see that it is not all together difficult to make your model feel uncomfortable, which is the look I want to achieve. I need to experiment more with this idea, and look at other ways and other locations in which to actually shoot it.

Thoughts and ideas

I've realised that I want to experiment with simple techniques to get the reactions I want from my models. Avedon has been of great inspiration to me, and I really want to experiment with the idea of putting my models into uncomfortable situations, seeing how they react and capturing the photograph at the precise moment.
I would like to experiment with making my models feel uncomfortable and uncertain and seeing how that looks.
For the next step I'm going to do simple portraits, and make the shoot last for a long time, possibly up to an hour, taking only a few photographs and at precise moments of interesting expression.

Richard Avedon

After my presentation and the talk about extending my shoots and making the subject wait, I thought it would be quite relevant and useful to look at the portraits by Richard Avedon. I find his portraits fascinating, especially when you know how he has gone about executing them.





Avedon is a world famous photographer who when photographing his models often puts them in uncomfortable situations or asks them awkward questions. By doing this he was able to evoke specific reactions from people, which they would not normally show, and especially not in front of the camera. This made for very interesting portraits where the expressions from his subjects are far more questionable.
His images are technically good, however it is not this style I am looking for in my photographs but the way in which he captures unique reactions from his subjects, reactions that might only last a split second, but in doing so reveal so much.




In particular the two images of Marylin Munroe and George Bush really capture these reactions. I think that these images are fantastic and really show an unknown side to the two famous characters; Munroe looks distant and worried instead of her usual smiling self, and Bush looks doubtful, unlike his usual confident self.
This is something that I'd really like to strive for with my images, where I could capture a really significant and distinct moment of my subject. It is all about this relationship between the artist and the sitter, and how the artist is able to manipulate the shoot and the model to show something that he wants. I find this really fascinating.

Presentation

So I finally got round to doing my presentation, a week later than planned, and it was a lot easier to do in front of only 4 or 5 people. I just talked about my work to date, and discussed my ideas and influences, and in the end got some interesting feedback.

As my idea is revolving around projections and seeing how people react to what I show them, I was given the idea to possibly show more explicit things. One suggestion was that I show a relaxing film to my subject for an extended period of time, and then for a split second show the explicit scene and capture their reaction. However I feel that I no longer want to work with projections, and instead I am interested in looking into the idea of doing a shoot over an extended period of time and making it more like an experiment to see how my subject reacts.

Andy Warhol

I think that at this stage it is a good idea to look back at the films by Andy Warhol, as they have been very influential to the work I have done to date.  What I find so interesting about his work is the way he gains an honest reaction/look out of his subjects, through simply observing them over a period of time.

The two stills below are taken from the his film 'sleep' in which a man is filmed sleeping for over 5 hours.  Here, Warhol has been able to document someone who is giving a completely honest reaction, because they are asleep and unaware of the camera.

The image below is a still taken from his film 'Eat', where a man is filmed eating for a period of 45 minutes.  It is interesting that these films are shot over extended periods of time, because in doing so Warhol is able to make his subject become used to the camera, which as a result allows for more honest reactions.

The stills below are taken from the film 'Blow Job', which lasts for 35 minutes, and shows a man receiving oral sex.  I feel that out of all Warhol's films, this one works the best, simply due to the situation his subject is in.  The man is filmed at a very intimate time, and the way he reacts is genuine.

It is this genuine reaction from people that I am most interested in, the fact that they cannot escape the camera, and eventually show their true selves.  I think that with the work of Warhol, the fact that he has placed his subjects in live situations works well to get this what he wants, and works much better than my idea of projecting images in front of people.  I like the ambiguity to some of his films also, and especially in 'Blow Job', without the given context that it is a man receiving oral sex, there could be a number of things that are making the man react how he does.