05: Our world
Reportage and documentary photography can describe the world around us by telling a story or capturing a moment about the people and events in a community. Nadav Kander documented the reactions of an audience to the painting Salvator Mundi in his video The Last da Vinci. The photojournalists Saiyna Bashir and Sarah Blesener both use photography to observe and portray community groups of different cultures. In Heads of the Valleys Clementine Schneidermann photographs youth communities and the world around them in South Wales. Investigate relevant sources and produce your own response to Our world.
Initial thoughts
- A wide variety of options
- landscapes
- people
- portrait
- blur
- the world
- outside
- inside
- lighting
The connection I have between me and this world is quite deep. Many things in this world is quite dear to me, such as my family, friends and my possession. However, due to the fact I am also religious, worldly possession does not affect me that much. I love the natural world around me, I love to see the vibrant colours of the world, whilst also the darker side, for example northern lights, stars, moon. The aesthetic side to earth is one thing which is what made me want to choose our world as it allows me to explore this nature.
1st Attempt to 'Our World'
For my first attempt, I decided to take as much photos as possible, initially combining the 2 sides of the project, the landscape element and the people as in my opinion, the 'World' is not only the mother nature creation but us humans and our creation we have placed on Earth contributes to the world. I tried to experiment with different camera lenses as for this project I knew that different lenses and different camera settings were going to be important so for my first response I tried to use different settings and a new camera lens that I was not use to.
From this collection, this image is my most favourite as it incorporates different elements that make a good photograph. For example, for this photograph, I was experimenting with focus, as you can see the background is out of focus and the person is in focus which emphasises him the most plus, the sunlight which is shone upon his is more highlighted on him as he is closer to the camera and is in focus which is the opposite for the building which is also far and out of focus. I particularly like the shadow the sun created, it created a silhouette and compliments how the black strip from the building represents the shadow whilst the left side of the building represents his skin colour and the sunlight.
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Week 2:
These were my second response to the project of "Our World". I initially focused on people and the focus of the photograph. For example, I tried to experiment putting the person in focus and the background out of focus, and did the opposite to have the person out of focus and background in focus. Also I experimented with another new camera lens to see how the outcome of my images would differ. Initially I was trying to experiment with new settings as I believe for this project that different settings, lenses, focus etc. It can really help to emphasise the beauty of the photograph.
From this collection, this image was the one which I believe is the best one. As I mentioned, for my second attempt, I focused on only taking photos of one individual. One side of 'my world' is that I love natural scenery and mother nature, but I also love the people around me and the significance they hold in my day to day life is important. For this shoot, I tried to take simplistic photographs as I don't like when there is too much as it stresses me out. I used flash which pops out the photograph more, as we was inside a building. One thing which I like is the composition of this photograph, I staged it where he would slouch on the wall and that he would speak which would give this photograph a little natural element to it so it didn't feel fake.
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Detailed Analysis of a single image
Sarah Blesener - from How the Young Return, 2016-22
In the picture we can see a caucasian women holding a fake handgun around a grass terrain around trees surrounding her whilst wearing a camo trouser and earth tone shirt matching the background. Whilst looking at the image, the main focus and what attracts the viewer immediately is the women in the centre of the image and later the trees right behind her on her left is the second focus as its more populated. The story of the image and what it is representing is female power. I believe the photographer took the image slightly crouching and taking it looking up to emphasise the power of the women as taking pictures from below facing up, represent the image focus more larger and powerful. Furthermore, the image is about a women who worked in the army which is illustrated through her holding a gun and wearing camo trousers, representing her life in the army. The photographer purposefully chose to keep the female in focus to emphasise her the most and the background is slightly out of focus, so the viewers focus doesn't come out of too much focus. The lighting in this image is different as the trees cover up most of the sunlight on the women which silhouettes the tree. The picture makes me feel as if the women is powerful and strong as the composition of the image and how the women is the main focus presents her in a mighty way.
Photographer Research 1: Kavi Pujara
For my first photographer research for "The World", I've been inspired by the work of the artists, Kavi Pujara. Kavi's work includes more people and incorporates more colour. Kavi Pujara's work is clearly staged and the people who are being photographed are told where and how to act. The photographs were taken in Leicester of Kavi's community in a portrait. I also like how they incorporate natural colour and lighting to portray the community is warm and gentle and using different scenarios and settings to show the variety of people and feelings in the area.
Previously mentioned, I like simplistic stuff, in my eyes something that is simple contains a lot. It's not visible to the eyes but it can be seen through your mind. With Kavi Pujara's work, she photographed her community and showed her people, the side of the south Asian community which most people don't see. When I see her photographs, I like to see the different people, different age, different gender, representing the diverseness which I encounter throughout my day to day life when I see new faces, same faces, my friends who are a wide mix, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity. One that stands out to me the most is how her photographs aren't candid, they are staged in a way which satisfies her.
Out of Kavi Pujara's work, my favourite image through her work is the one on the left. Most of her work is of people, and her community but this one is different. Chairs are often associated with people sitting on them. But in this image we can see no sign of humans, apart from the chairs which are arranged in a circle possibly representing a group of people. The emptiness of the image and how there is no one in the seat could show how Pujara's friends have left her, died or she feels empty even when they are around. That's why I chose Kavi Pujara as this one image spoke to me a lot, in that it was simplistic and had a sense of mystery as we can't confirm if that image has a story to it or not, but it makes me think, and when I think I create a story in my head. Apart from the meaning of the image, it is also beautiful in that light only hits 3 of the chairs and the other 3 are dark.
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Photographer response 1: Kavi Pujara
My 2nd Response:
What I learned from taking these photos, was it illustrated my school community and really presented what life in school is like and the diverse people as there was caucasian people, African, asian etc. Furthermore, with Kavi Pujaras work, her photographs were composed and told how the people who were photographed how to pose and act. So I included that element once a while, but with some of the images they were candid, just so I could see what would look best, and in the end the more candid photographs were my most preferable ones as candid photographs speak more to me.
In this collection, this was my favourite image, for this image unconsciously, I used the skills from my first ever attempt to this project as a whole 'Our World' in that I used a lens which I wasn't comfortable with and I played around with the focus of the image which created a more emphasis on the person who is one of my friends and is part of my own community and my world. I particularly like how it is candid as I didn't tell him to do anything specific and whilst taking the photo I said a joke which made him laugh, hence why he is smiling in the photo. Another which is significant from this photograph, is the lighting. The bright white light which came from the outside had shone upon one side of his face creating a split in the image which makes it more interesting.
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Photographer Research 2: Tom Westbury
For my second response, I decided to study the work of Tom Westbury, who's work is filled with isolation and nearly never has no one in the pictures and old buildings, house, landscapes etc. His work is usually a dark and grey tone and is carefully composited and is arranged properly. From his collection of 'Our World' these 3 images stood out to me the most. The first is the setting and the message which it conveys, it is taken on an average UK street on a gloomy day with no sunlight and fog surrounding the house, presenting the UK as empty. The second one is the contrast of an area in the UK, the close up is the graffitied, broken down area, but afar is new buildings, possibly sky scrapers. The last one is an image of a small hut, which is just randomly placed on the street, the sky and the surrounding present it as isolated.
To me, this one stood out to me the most. It is an image in that the more you look at it, the more is revealed. At first glance, the thing that stood out to me was the blue wall with graffities. To me that represents the UK's side that most people are grown up to not see, especially people from abroad, what they imagine the UK as, is the buildings behind the graffitied walls. However in reality, those walls, the collapsed buildings, the dead tree, is a significant part of the UK.
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Photographer Response 2: Tom Westbury
This was my response to the photographer West Bury. The thing which was unique with his work and that inspired me was the dark and grey tone which he incorporated in his work and the level of detail involved in how he composised his photographs. He would usually use a grey clear sky in all of his pics so I chose to go outside on a Greyish day so it would be similar to his work allowing my photographs to have a similar feeling to his. The thing which I wasn't focused on during taking these photographs were the meaning i'm displaying. Most of these images have no meaning and were taken for no reason and wasn't carefully thought about which is something I should focus on for the future.
From my response, this is what I feel like actually responded to Tom Westbury, in that it included his attributes, in the dark theme, isolation and the contrast. In my image, similar to my favourite image of his, is that there is a division, between the close up of the image, and the far. Up close, we see modern school building, but afar we see cranes building new infrastructure, which shows the fast development of this world, in that what we call modern now, will become the past. I also like the grey tone to the image, which is seen repeatedly throughout Westbury's photograph which I really enjoy as it can stand out although it should be the oppisite.
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Photographer Research 3: Colby Deal
For my third photographer research, I've looked into the work of Colby Deal. My favourite photograph was the one on the left. The thing that stood out to me the most was the focus and the lighting of the image. It fascinated me how due to the person's face being in focus it created an illusion of the light in the background having a blur effect and the light shining upon her face in a unique way.
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Photographer Response 3: Colby Deal
Colby Deals photograph are turned into black and white photographs which had interested me and they also love to take photo of the community and the beauty of the people. One thing I struggled was possibly the background, in most of Deal's photography, they include lots of environment. In my photograph the background looks quite plain which is a point of improvement for me.
I tried to replicated one of Colby Deal's photograph, but it didn't go to plan but I learnt from my mistake. I realised to have a similar outcome to Deal's photograph I would need a proffesional camera as my images were taken on my phone, as this would help in the focus of the image as my phone didn't have the option to focus solely on the person's face, also to have a shining light, I would need an artificial light, as the sun is unreliable, however I like the black and white of the image, in the image there is a modern building with a high quality photo but in black and white which contrasts one another which is quite interesting as this is unusual to see.
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Islamic community:
During Ramadan, most Muslims increase in worship to God, and during this month, me and my friends and a bunch of other Muslims, Went to the mosque where me and my friends prayed. In the image the two boys and some people in the background are seen wearing a piece of clothe which is called a thobe. It is an Arabian clothe that most associate with Muslims. For me, one of my most important part of my world is my religion and the people of my religion, and us Muslim's united, we are an Ummah which sorts of translates to a population. In our Ummah, there is no race, we are all equal which is represented when two of my friends, one Somali and the other Arab stand next to each other showing how we are together and united.
Random Photoshoots:
During my half term, I made sure I went out a lot, and whilst going out, I went out with my family particularly. As they are the closest people to me on this Earth, since I was born they were with me. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to see this 'World'.
Component 2 Making Day Plan
Choose best picture from my holiday at turkey, make the picture have a meaning (caption or text underneath/nearby) the caption should have meaninign to what i felt, but i translate it to turkish and this is significant as the examiners most liekly arent turkish so they have to understand the meaning. (Diary form) A short paragraph about the picture/turkey so like the experience from turkey things that i found interseting and different. That i experienced personally that is different from life to london. 1st impression, so it could even be things to ive touched, ate etc.
In this collection, there is tons of photographs, varying from my school, school friends, my cousin, photographs I took during my holiday in Turkey, Photographs I took in Romania etc. This is not only My world but others. It shows a collection of places I've been to, the people I've met, seen, spoken to.
From all of my photographs I have taken, this was by far one of my favourites. The calmness that this image brings to me although it can't speak to me, I can't hear it, I can't physically feel it yet I can see it. When I look at it, the green trees, the mountains, the enormous never-ending ocean, still with little ripples, brings a sense of calmness to me. The photograph itself, isn't candid as I told my cousin to sit down and to look afar as if he is enjoying the view of the nature, however the person viewing this photograph would not be able to tell, as he cannot see the persons face.
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