research

this short film is amazing The Shooting Gallery channel4 the photographers are inspirational.
i particularly like The neglected by David Gillanders although it's harrowing..it's documentary photography at its best (in my humble opinion).. and calls into question the passive role played by the image maker..
i.e. how can he stand around watching these children harm themselves? what kind of impact did it have on him personally? the opposing view is that without the photographer being present we would never have known..  so the children are brought to the attention of a wider audience..but has that stimulated a change? there are all dead now but what impact has this documentary had for children of the next generation?
questions questions


oh i also read this too about photo books i'm thinking of a book (or even two) for both projects the ones i've seen so far are great.

more research

so i found these images by a photographer called 

pari dukovic

"While photographing I envisioned breaking the rules, deliberately creating an overly contrasty and grainy reality to parallel my experience.  The contrast was a perfect marriage with my subject matter. I was able to translate the energy and spontaneity. I wanted to let everything go and just concentrate on the raw energy." 
Pari Dukovic born 1984,  his work has apperead in New York Magazine, GQ and The New York Times Magazine.
In March 2011, he was named as one of the PDN 30 Emerging Photographers To Watch. 


He was talking about New York of course and this series is called Venues of Immortality.. i really don't know what this title means but i can completely relate to how the grainy black and white emphasises the 'energy' and feel of within these shots...

Weirdly Pari Dukovic also loves to dance Tango!

he also did a series on Burlesque dancers and again the movement is enhanced by the high contrast

because i've had Tango and dance on my mind this week i've been in touch with a couple of friends, 

one who teaches Zumba 

(a "high-energy-Latin-inspired-dance-fitness-programme" created by Alberto Perez in 1990's)

and another who dances jive and swing. 

I'm going with my camera to watch both women during their classes and am hoping the venue and environment will be suitable and the subjects accommodating. 

I'm hoping to capture movement, energy and atmosphere and fingers crossed grainy black and white will suit.  

research 1

OK i really like the grainy black & white in this video - Tango - 
some of the shots look like the high key images I've taken in the past 12months...

the grain* or noise* on these photographs is caused by a high ISO setting of 800 and fstop around 4 or 5, the effect is gritty grey/black pixels scattered across the image. i have read that camera manufacturers are getting better at eliminating "noise" even at very high ISO settings. of course there are post processing techniques which can create this look..i like it, i think it gives some images a real texture. 

My Olympus E620 has a preset Art Filter which allows me to shoot in this format.

*grain is usually a term used if the image was shot on film as relates to the size of grains in film emulsion.

*noise is produced by the camera and is something to do with the analogue signal

There is some discussion that grainy black and white make images look 'older'. 

Earlier this year I saw an exhibition by August Sander at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh

some of the images certainly did look 'old' but they were dated by the subjects' clothing, hairstyles and/or the accessories around them. These photographs were taken in Germany in the late 1920's very early 30's.

However some of the other portraits he took could easily be seen as current and 'now'. This image has has vintage feel but wouldn't look out of place in Vogue 2011 (except perhaps the smoking cigarette wouldn't be allowed!)

I read a review about Welsh photographer 

Rhodri Jones  

(born in 1963 now based in Italy)

and his work recent work in China. The suggestion was that the grainy black and white was an additional statement by the photographer about the 'increasing industrialisation of China' .

This first image is dated as a recent shot only because of the sports cap with it's familiar symbol. The second gives no clues that it was taken in the 21st century.

 In his biography Rhodri Jones states that he wants to 'present images directly'.. 'without commercial or political manipulation' I'm guessing that could have been quite difficult in China and he doesn't make any explanation about his choice to use grain and high key.

Personally I think it's simply about a creative process and grainy black and white/high key (very black and very white) images have resonance for the photographer and the question that grain/noise ages an image is simply about perception. Do we automatically see an image with grain as being poor quality and therefor taken by equipment which is elderly?

It is quite common to read that photographers who shoot or produce their images in mono do so because it removes any potential distraction caused by colour. 

If i said that in my first shot on this post (an SP) I was wearing blue jeans and the t-shirt is cream with Roylance 1899 written in red, then would you agree the image would certainly have a very different 'feel'.

Lynn Roylance 

is my friend in Santa Fe, he shoots mostly in black and white (with a really beautiful Leica M8) and his creativity and confidence have been inspirational. His advice has been that if something catches your eye that's your shot. He also talks a lot about "seeing" which is born from his Buddhist principles. I'm not quite sure i understand completely what he means by this but i am trying to simply "see" and in doing so i am drawn to shapes and lines and do feel that this becomes more clear when I show my photographs in black and white.

here's some from this week:

iso 400 f5.6 processed with Silver fx

iso 400 f5.6 processed with Silver fx 

Taken on a landscape setting in colour, iso 200 f.4 processed with Silver fx (silhouette preset)

I think my personal struggle with my images is working out what I want "to say"...i've not quite worked that out yet. I'm just taking photos every day at the moment without a clear direct or purpose. 

Making my images have some kind of commentary - now that's my challenge!

cath - housemate/work colleague/friend

portraits of Cath..i wouldn't say she was a willing subject but she's quite happy with some of these shots..everyone seemed to be bothered by eyebrows/spots/t-shirts/hair... when i asked for photos this week..

Cath doesn't mind you knowing she turned 50 this year...

 iso500, f4.4, natural light/olympus e620 art filter

lotti just out of shot

 iso 200 f5.2 natural light/silver fx

iso800, f5, olympus e620 art filter

 iso 200, f5, 8" exposure, natural light

iso200, f20, ipad light, silver fx

saturday

what a nice day...so i spent the day on a photography workshop with Salford University as part of the manchester weekender with pro photographer len grant. The idea was to produce an exhibition in a day entitled Quay People. Participants had to approach people around Salford Quays, take their photos then use them in a exhibition that afternoon.

more can be seen here


i managed to take a couple of landscape shots, in full sun with a black and white preset on my camera.

this one was taken as i arrived at the Quays...i should have framed it better to start with but i liked the light..it was well sunny

and i just liked this as it's had no messing....