A place in time

Introduction
For this project i will be creating a range of images based on my trip to Paris, capturing all the elements of the French tradition. Two days before i came back to the UK, the tragic terror attack happened within Paris which shook the world. Due to this i then changed the concept of the project and captured it in the sense that i was there when it happened. Using the images as different stages of when the even happened. In the form of the calm before the storm.

Here are examples of people who had influenced me with my ideas for the final outcome:


Influential Artists

Henri Cartier Bresson

Henri Bresson who is Famous for his compositions based around Paris and other places expressing certain elements that would show the life style of that place within that time. He has worked with many artists such as Salvador Dali and many more. As he is famous for his work i feel that he heavily influences me with the way he produces his work through the usage of old, vintage film which gives a black and white filter towards his images. I enjoy the usage of black and white because it gives a old texture towards the image. For example:

This image that was taken in the heart of Paris illustrates two different movements within the image. The first one is the couple within the background holding each other within that moment where as the man with the umbrella jumping shows that he has no time for romance and that he is in a rush. An amazing photo that was taken at the right moment.  I wish to use this technique so that i can get the image at the right moment knowing what i want and how i want it just using one click rather than a range of clicks. A technique Henry used within all of his images. This required forward thinking and planning making sure that the camera was set ready for that perfect image.


Martin Parr

A well known British photographer who is well known for his extravagant work based on the British public. He is well known for using artificial lighting within his work. This technique creates a fake type of lighting making the images seem very bright and colourful. He specialises within street art and brings to life the essence of the British public.

What i like about his work is that he sticks to a specific theme within his work to carry out the theme trough out. An amazing technique which highlights the fact that he knows what he is doing with is work and how he likes to capture his subject to portray some form of meaning behind the image.

Here an example of his work using bright light to capture the subject within there element:

This example illustrates a lot of his work as he uses flash within his images even though it is daytime. This gives an over exposure towards his images. 

This image is meant to portray the typical life of a Brit on holiday. creating a bright exposure almost makes the image seem so basic yet interesting as there is a lot going on within the background. 

A technique that i would pick up on from Martin Parr would be to analyse the background before taking the image making sure i have the perfect image.   


Alfred Eisenstaedt 

A well known photojournalist/ photographer who has famous works within in many of the media imagery. One of his main images which he had captured was a famous shot of the end of WW2 with the couple celebrating by embracing each other. 

His work also involved working a lot with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and so on.    

As you can see this is a portrait image of the couple embracing each other in the middle of New York at the time WW2 had ended. The composition of this picture is well planned out as it focuses on the couple as well as the surrounding, enabling us as the audience to understand what is going on within the background.

The usage of black and white shows that this is a vintage photo taken awhile ago. A good use of black and white as it gives a form of emotion behind the image. 

This image is a very influential image which has helped me plan out how i want to structure my images by using the background as well as the subject all in one image.

Contact Sheet

Images

A landscape shot of the Eiffel tower, this was taken from a 18-55mm lens. I took this image using a tripod as i had to set the shutter speed for 5". By doing this i was able to capture all the light within the shot without over exposing the image.

Another landscape shot of a sunset in Paris just before my flight was due. This was taken on Program mode as it enabled me to mess around more with the setting of the exposer. The reason for this was so that i could get the right colour for the sunset using a 18-55mm lens.

A portrait shot of when i went to Disney Land, This shot was taken using the influence of composition. Trying align the road along side the castle. The usage of the Banner at the top is meant to influence where the image has been taken as long as the castle.

This image was taken with a 18-55mm lens and i used the HDR setting to enhance the building and the sky around it.

Not to sure about this image as it is very blurry and that it's under exposed. However the meaning behind this enhances the calm before the storm. Going back to UK before the tragic event takes place.

This was taken with a shutter speed of 1", i found that it was a difficult shot to take as i was moving and my hands were shaking. If i had a tripod and the flight was more steady i believe i could have got a better image.

This image was to show a form of movement through the usage of a ride. I shot this image with a lower exposure which gave a darker feel towards the image. I then selected the shutter speed to 1". By slowing the shutter speed down this enables more light to go into the sensor of the camera. By lowering the exposure i am able to meet it in the middle to get the best of both worlds without over exposing the image. I was able to balance the camera onto a side rail to replicate a tripod, hence why i was able to get such a study shot.

A landscape image of the Disney land castle using a standard 18-55mm. By using a standard lens i am able to capture the object/subject without cropping the essential elements of the image out. I believe that this was one of my weaker images as i tried to capture the darkness of the image however i over exposed the image making it seem like i took the image more towards the evening rather than at night. To improve this image i would plan more ahead to make sure i correct this mistake and to ensure that i get the image at the right moment.

This image of niece was taken with an 18-55mm lens, the reason for this was because of how close i was to her. Being able to use a shorter lens helped me capture my niece naturally looking outside the window as we made our way into central Paris. This is similar to Martin Parr's technique as the use of flash was used but not to much to give that Martin Parr feel. The use of natural light makes the lighting balance out which i am happy with as it's not over exposed and looks natural.

A moment after the previous image was taken i was able to capture this shot. I really like this shot as it shows a father and daughter relationship. The father being the mature adult, he is left with taking care of the train tickets and money where as my niece is looking directly at me pulling a funny face. This symbolises that she has no stress and can do what ever she wants. showing opposites just like the way Martin Parr illustrates the typical British lifestyle.

For this image i was going for more of a Henry Bresson feel. What i mean by this is the way in which he captures the environment around him.
This image is of the Notre Dame building in Paris and i tried to capture the path as well as the building. This is a basic image and i feel that if i had made the image portrait and zoomed in a little more, i would be able to focus more on the building itself.

This image was highly influenced by Martin Parr, the reason for this is due to the fact it's a natural shot. Capturing the life style of Paris and how people make a living. As the subject has a pigeon on his head it shows that he stands out from the crowd. I took this image without looking through the view finder only due to the fact that the pigeon may have flown off so i tried to be as quick as possible to capture the image. To make this image more effective i should have used the 55-300mm lens and to focus on the man more to get more of an effect.

This image here is of my sisters family, a use for symbolism as it shows that the family is united walking down the path. The usage of having more people within the horizon shows a different meaning to the image. Creating maybe a sense of relief. A strong image as this relates to the who Paris situation.





This portrait image of a man fishing in the river shows the natural life style of people in Paris and what they do to pass time. I really like this image because of the way it captures the man in his own world.

This image was taken using a telephoto lens as i was far away from the subject. If i was closer to the subject i feel that i would have gained a better effect within the image.

i used 55-300mm lens and i reduced the aperture down to F5, i tried to blur out the background however if i was closer i would have been more successful with this concept.

The pad lock bridge is an iconic location for romance, however i found that this image is a great use of imagery as it shows hope and togetherness during the tough times within Paris.

I used a macro lens to blur out some parts of the padlocks to focus on the middle of the image. A use of alignment much like Alfred Eisenstaedt's technique that i was able to use.






The most effective image that i had captured was the
 French flag in the middle of Paris. The usage of black and white as well as having colour highlights the flat within a dark time.
Knowing what has happened shows a form of symbolism and makes this image really emotional. This was heavily influenced by all three artists as bright colours are used by Martin Parr and both layout and the usage of black and white is used by the other two artists. This is one of my strongest pieces and feel that it has a powerful meaning behind it.  

The final picture that i will be looking over is the picture of the couple kissing. This has a huge use of symbolism as its much like the New York photo produced by Alfred Eisenstaedt'. The reason why the image is landscape is manly due to the fact of trying to get a mid shot of the couple with the Eiffel tower in the back.

I found that this photo was over exposed and a slight camera shake due to it being dark. For me to have corrected this i should have used a tripod and a flash defuser to have corrected the image.  

The usage of a collage makes the images seem as though they have a form of sequence creating a scene between each image. This has been done to show the before and after of the Paris incident.

Creating the collages

To create the collages i used an online editing software called : www.Befunky.com  
This is a free software that enables anyone to edit images similar towards what Photoshop can do however, this website gives you the choice of creating collages with different images. Simple and yet affective when it comes to quick editing.

Proposal for the next project

For the next photography project I will be using all the techniques used within both projects (Identity/A Place in time), to produce an overall final product. This product will be based on both themes and merged into one manly using the theme of identity as the topic. For example for the previous project I based my assignment on my niece and nephew.

This time I would like to base it on myself portraying what I identify as the things I enjoy and what I like doing. Using the environment/ background, which is based on assignment two. I should be able to capture each element within its surroundings producing something new and unique.

I will be recording each idea onto the excising blog to create an online portfolio of my recorded work. Highlighting the positive and negative elements within all my projects, illustrating the journey in which I had taken to create each final product.

Evaluation for project two

Project two-A place in time

For this project I was going to base it on the fact that I was going to Paris as a holiday and capturing Landscapes of Paris and it’s life style. However 2 days before I arrived back into the UK, the tragic event took place of the Paris bombing. This changed the whole concept for the whole idea and I thought that I could use the images that were taken and form it in such a way that it shows a happy family in Paris to a sad and dull family who manage to unite through dark times.

To help me with this process I have used numerous photographers to become influenced by. The influence would then guide me on the path of how I would like to take my images using the techniques, which they have used, and being able to illustrate how I was able to do it.

The first artists is called Henri Cartier Bresson, a famous French photographer who specialises in capturing the subject within its environment just by taking one click rather than numerous clicks. This technique can only be done by being organised and being able to think ahead. A technique, which I tried to use as I feel that it, helped me gain more of an idea of what I wanted to capture.

The second artist that I looked at was Martin Parr, a British photographer who is famous for his abstract images that portray the British culture by using a bright artificial flash within majority of his images. He sticks with this theme, which means he also thinks ahead and sticks to a specific theme to portray some form of meaning.

The final artist that looked at was Alfred Eisenstadt, a famous American photographer/ photojournalist who has captured many famous works such as the couple kissing once the war was over. The reason why I used him as an influence was due to the fact that he captures his images using such a use of composition and lays out his images really well using the technique of black and white, thus the reason for using his techniques to create the perfect image within the development process.

My strengths within this project were that I thought about each step and how I was able to capture exactly what I needed to build such emotion. An example of this is the way in which the French flag is in color and the background is all black and white. I was able to get this technique from all artists, as that is what they did to capture each perfect image.

My weaknesses within this project were that I wish I captured more of the element of France rather than just Disneyland. This is something for me to learn from as I got to caught up within the moment.

Overall I feel that this is a strong project as it has a range of meanings behind them, which can be seen in different lights by the audience. I feel that there is room for improvement and that I can learn from this for the overall project next year.