unknown magazine

Magazine Review - my bit

Magazine - my story

Belmont Row Works

Well pleased with this image, the wonders of rubber bands . 

45 second exposure, f4.5, 200 ISO, WB Tungsten. Light painted to beams and walls, top of the tower lit by the street lights.

 

The factory was first used to make bicycle parts in 1898. It supplied manufactures, who at this time, heavily marketing their bikes to women to afford them unseen social freedom, oh yes, and sold a lot more bikes.   

The industry collapsed in 1914, with the outbreak of war on an already failing market, due to the advent of the motor car. The company was sold off to Goodyear, who sold the site to the Co-Op in 1915.

 Illustrations I did, copied from a Co-Op

magazine advert from 1919.

type read

Made by the co-operative for the co-operative, by trade unionist for trade unionist, and sold by co-operative societies.

Top guys, those trade unionists, well it all went swimmingly well till 1926. Then Belmont Row staff had a squabble with head office who then sacked the lot and swapped production over to pianos, never could trust those commey buggers.

Another of my illustrations that I copied from the magazine. Stark isn't it, 1919 expected to see some more vitriolic images with it being the end of the first world war. Below is one I did of the front cover, put in a bit more detail though.

  

Time moves on, and now we are up to 1939 and piano production. Found some amazing photographs of the tradesmen working in the cellar of the factory. They are have brilliant detail in them, still look good here after having gone through the rinse in my camera.

Not sure when this image was taken, but looks as if its got some age looking at the cars, I'd guess late 70's early 80's.

This is the image I didn't pay £20 for.

The fire of January 2007

Abandoned

not by all

Heroin in a burner ready for cooking!

Count the needles, scary just walking around this place now. 

It's worth it though, get to see some awesome graffiti.

   and then we had fun just messing about.......

For a while, the factory looked as if it was going to be demolished, but now it has been incorporated into the Big City Plan. The proposal is to convert it into studio offices and build a 180 bed hotel the grounds at the back of the site, so its outlook is looking bright.  

War and Piece

War and Piece 

War

It's tuff being a rat in the city.

I saw quite a lot of symbolic images I could have used, but this is the house of horror for the poor old rat, so in sympathy to all those who have died, I chose this picture. 

Piece

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Pride

Civic and paternal pride looking at the face of a new generation

Prejudice

Andy and Rob begging for beer money, vodka as a first choice actually. "Business is bad", says Andy, pictured left, "hasn't been the same since all those f 'ing Poles came over!

ITAP 9 Image and Text

ITAP 9 Image and Text

Text can be a valuable tool for an image. It can contextualise the image making it more than the some of its parts. It’s strange, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but add a couple of well chosen words can have a dramatic effect on power, resonance, or engagement you have with the picture, occasionally it actually change the way you see the image, such is the power of words.

I find it fascinating how giving an image a title of a small component of the image makes the viewer engage with it to find the point of reference. It’s a valuable tool, but the image still needs to be engaging to illicit the response in the first place.

  Man With A Bottle, by John Free

                        http://www.johnfreephotography.com/viewsocialdoc.php?img=social12_jpg.jpg

For me this is quite a haunting image, the title is basically asking you to look at the man, he has little detail, but why carry a bottle, the bottle makes it most likely he’s a hobo. This then invites you to ask where has he come from, where is he going. It invokes a sense of isolation, a bleak past and an unknown future.

It’s a clever process, if the image was called hobo it would degrade the person and there by the story within the picture, having to work it out yourself seems to make you more empathetic to his situation.

          Dear Mum, by John Free

           http://www.johnfreephotography.com/viewsocialdoc.php?img=social11_jpg.jpg

Similarly with this image if it was called bag lady you might not give it a second glance, but the title takes your eye directly to the top left of the letter, yep there it is, Dear Mum, for me, that’s when I started to engage with the image and ponder all the questions it asks, not least why is she wearing CSI gloves!

These titles are so good that they take your eye directly to a tiny aspect of the picture which contextualises the whole scene, impressive, but I think a title can do more than that, it can actually change the way your brain interoperates it and thereby what you actually see.

I found this out by chance, I was playing with names for an image of mine, once I had called by one, bam that was all I could see, even after I hadn’t  seen it for ages, might just be a characteristic of my demented brain, so judge for your self. 

Hopefully you would have seen a flat surface with the reference of cars and obviously steps with this image. Maybe it’s a cheep trick or maybe something I can expand upon………..

ITAP 8 Production For Visual Communicators

ITAP 8 Production For Visual Communicators 

Task 2 Workflow

Having come from a 3D design agency I thought it would be interesting to complete a workflow from that viewpoint. I find a step sequence clearer and easier to understand than a flow diagram. It might be a bit more restrictive, but the advantage of having a proscribed process for the ideal  route to market, I feel is worth the loss of flexibility. 

Task 5 Who is your favourite expert and why

From studying Michael Kenna’s work, I have learnt a lot about identifying the subject of an image. His minimalist style and the stillness that is generated from his images are designed to illicit a response of wanting to step into it.

Looking at is photographs you notice that the horizon is very clean, uncluttered, with the camera angle generally below it. Also that he works with only 3 or 4 elements within the images. This adds to the effect of serenity the images generate. Kenna produces a harmony within his pictures and he views them as an invitation to the viewer to imagine they are in “that place”. Kenna has an innate ability to make the ordinary extraordinary.

It is evident that he adopts as much attention to post production techniques as he does to the images themselves. Adjusting contrast, brightness, increasing shadows, and highlights, all to enhance the mood he aims to achieve. Working in black and white further simplifies an image and brings more clarity to the subject and develops the mood.

I have completed pastiches of his work is and found it demanding, as it is difficult to find a location that fits all the requirements to emulate his simplicity. This lead to lot of travelling, I found misty weather is extremely helpful, as it defuse the back drop and makes more subjects available.

In an interview on YouTube Kenna says “I use a meditative approach to get to the subject matter” (stepping into the NOW). Also “your part of a collaboration with nature, you need to develop a symbiotic relationship. The photographer and subject matter make the image together”. I like his outlook, style, and meditative approach, probably because it goes against convention.  

ITAP 7 Production & Outcomes’ influences & reactions

ITAP 7 Production & Outcomes’ influences & reactions

Principle 1 Interpretation

The fairytale Beauty and the Beast is an old fable that has a surprising long history, its first incarnation is believed to have been The Golden Ass from the second century, yep that will make it quite old then. The tale has changed dramatically over years but the central premise appears to be overcoming difficulties and or expectations of a relationship, so that the couple can live harmoniously together as man and wife, which is quite an adult theme. 

The imagery I have found are from 1875 and 1935 and interestingly from a male and female illustrator, which adds a further dynamic to the interpretation. Anne Anderson’s image is quite intimate with the black background emphasises the scene it’s self. The beast, which utterly bestial, with grey scales, talons, razor sharp teeth, and huge pointed ears and nose, sits before the beauty fawning naked accept for a stout collar, which could be a metaphor that he can be tamed or a reference to a dog of war.

Beauty is depicted as young, elegant, and vulnerable, she sits flushed, pensive, and looks ready to escape the sly looking beast in a moment should the need arise. The scene alludes to grandeur through one ornate chair and a large bowl of fruit, thereby implying that material wealth is of less consequence in the tail.

I have found conflicting dates for the image but it is most likely to be 1935, after the First World War and during the depression. This could be the motivation for the ugliness of the beast, reflecting the worst of mans nature. The scene has a sexual tension that is provoked by beauty wearing a night gown, the dark, and the leering look from the beast. To me, it is a reflection of the true nature of the story of the preciousness of feminine virtue that has to overcome the true nature of man before the union of marriage.

Walter Cranes Illustration was published in 1875 and is loaded references from the Victorian period through the extensive furniture, tea service, and costumes that the beauty and the beast wear. It is spectacularly detailed even including ebony and ivory incrusted footstool that beauty is using. Anatomically the beast a human stature and countenance that is very relaxed, almost pompous looking, while he has cloven hooves sporting the most luxurious boots, and the head of a boar. Beauty seems well at ease, leaning forward towards the beast, and appears to be enjoying the civility of her surroundings and company. Her illustration is of a classical Greek styled beauty, which looks more womanly in all her finery than Anderson’s beauty.  

Crane’s work is bright and colourful and seems to reflect a scene of utter normality for the very affluent, which represents an imperialistic tone from the time, but devoid of emotion, save pomposity. Anderson’s illustration is almost the reverse, dark with minimal detail and loaded with emotion. This could be a reflection of trauma of the First World War, the austerity of the 1930’s, and the serious nature of marrying well, as shown from a woman’s perspective.

Jeez, and I thought it was a kids story. 

ITAP 6 Narrative and Structure

ITAP 6 Narrative and Structure

Principles

Developing Character

Developing Narrative

Developing Stories

Narrative Techniques in Context

Three Act Structure   

Developing Narrative

This was a fascinating lecture, which I found dynamic, enthusiastic, interesting and informative, but now I have come to write up I am at a loss as to what direction to take or how I can adopt it into my working practice as a photographer, which is frustrating as I am aware of the importance of conveying a narrative to make a picture more than the some of its parts. This narrative is one of frustration as I see relevance of the parts, but find it difficult to articulate the concepts as they are presented in these principles. There’s a lot to be said about writing things up while it is fresh in the memory, so I will adjust my working practice.

To me, it seems pointless to rehash two elements of the presentation and convey them here to demonstrate some level of understanding as it is the way I integrate the principles into my practice that is off account. 

All images have a narrative, the more it resonates with the audience, the more affective it will be. Currently we are exposed to more images than ever before, so the need for a strong and emotive narrative is more compelling than ever to achieve an image of value, relevance, or purpose.    

Within street or journalistic photography, there’s much to be said for the intuitive nature of seeing an image that you want to capture then developing the story post production with cropping, adjusting contrast levels, shadows, colours, and contextualising it by title, But some of the strongest narratives can be revealed only when you get the image on a large screen and see an unexpected, a chances happening, a random detail that elevates the picture by virtue of chance or actuality.     

That’s so nice when it happens, but as we can not rely on chance so there’s only one alternative left and that’s to work through our ideas plan them out, content, framing, light and background. If the unexpected happens and enhances your image, embrace it, learn from it and plan better as to what you would ideally like to capture.

Now, if I had the understanding as to how to link some banging music to the blog I could at least demonstrate the only bit of the lecture that I remember, that sound is 50% of any moving images narrative! 

ITAP 5 Principles of Visual Communication

ITAP 5 Principles of Visual Communication

Principle 1 legibility

The white Mazda 2 advert was featured in this ITAP lecture, as part of the tone of voice principle, however it could have easily been incorporated under this principle as an example of poor work.

The most obvious defect being the strap line, which suffers poor legibility due to the light green font on a grey back ground which is further degraded by the glare from the cars headlights.   Unless you are familiar with Mazda’s Zoom Zoom theme, you might think you are looking at a Zoom ZC model, due to the cropping to the right hand side of the image. 

The image seems to lack balance and has a discordant feel to it, with unsympathetic angles and doggy Photoshoping of the green light and of the cars windows, all distract from the principle feature, the car its self. This raises the issue of context, why is the car in a car park? As a back drop, it detracts from the car in stead of enhancing it, and affords poor contrast opportunities. Looking at the poorly legible strap line again “fit and sporty. seeks same, for fun days out, maybe more.” Could this be a reference to dogging and the doggy Photoshopping of the windows is to represent misted up windows of two lonely hearts being united! The best way to describe this image is confused an ill-conceived.  

By contrast the image of the Mazda 2 from the Mazda website has a much clearer higherarky, with the car being the star of the show. This is emphasized by the back drop being cloned from colours of the car itself. Due to the subtle yet perfect lighting that generates enough contrast to make the car standout and eliminates a distraction of a background thus enhances the car further.  

The lighting and camera angle are both well considered and work in tandem. The lighting emphasize the cars contours of the bodywork and at the same time graduates to leave a much darker area around the perimeter of the car that offers a contrast to the background.

The zoom zoom has been separated from the model information and has a more distinctive wallpaper treatment while having a more subtle presence, which is linked to the brand not the model. The main text is simple and well contrasted letting the image of the car tell the larger part of the story.   

Principle 3 Researching the Practice

Mazda, being a major car manufacturer, would have keen eye on what the competition is producing on their websites. Looking at the other car manufactures sites and lots of car imagery, there appears to be similar lighting effects that have been used on highend car images, but outside of grey / black no one has set the background colour from the colour of the cars featured. This gives them a point of difference and a fresh appearance to there imagery.     

ITAP Lecture 4 Conectivity

ITAP Lecture 4 Connectivity

Principle 1 – Notions of Originality

When I first heard this principle I didn’t like it and thought it couldn’t possibly be true, were nun of my photographs original. I think during the lecture the moon landings were mentioned, but I wasn’t really listening, I was to busy thinking of photographs that had to be original.

I found myself getting confused with the meanings of uniqueness, originality, and authenticity and not sure if I believe the statement “nothing is original”

Dictionary Definitions

Unique         Being the only existing one of its type or, more generally, unusual or special in some way

Originality    The quality of being special and interesting and not the same as anything or anyone else

Authenticity   The quality of being real or true

By the nature of photographs and paintings each can be unique, by virtue of the moment in time that is captured, settings or brushes / paints used, but outside of this context they may not be original. If you are sticking a flag into a new country or a new planet the event will be historical but the recording of the image is not original.

There’s 500 odd years between Columbus landing on the Americas and Armstrong landing on the moon, but both are pictured planting a flag.

I dislike negative absolutes, but have come to realise that the events that could disprove the statement of originality might just be beyond my own capabilities. The flag on the moon might not have been original but the picture of the earth from Apollo 8 by William Anders in 1968, was and massively change our perspective of planet earth. Earthrise was a product of technological advancement, technologies are expanding exponentially and must lead to truly original images.

As I don’t see myself at the frontier of these advancements, I best start looking for inspiration from what has gone before. It’s an interesting dynamic by looking for my future in the past it changes my perception of it.