Proposal:

For my last project, I want to photograph people in general. I want to capture fashion, communication and habits that we all have. For my fashion, my main inspiration is David Bailey's older work. I love the simplicity of his work, especially how he captures the era that he's shooting in, so perfectly. For communications, I took my inspiration not from a photographer, but from social media itself. Social media has become a massive part on how this generation communicates and in everyday life therefore, I want to go out and photograph, face to face interactions. And again, inspiration for photographing habits come purely from observing everything around me. Although they are three very different subjects I think they will all look well together within my final images. As my work will include a various range of styles, I think my target audience will be very universal. As my inspiration for fashion will be David Bailey's older work, I will shoot my fashion in the studio on black and white film. This is because I don't only want to capture the simplicity, I also want to do everything to capture the era also. For the communications and habit side, I want to focus more on location as I want it to be as natural as possible. I want to use the 135mm lens for my location so the focus is on the subject and also to create depth of field. For my final images, I want to have at least 2 from each subject, tying them all together by framing them in the same type of frames. I look forward to seeing how my final major project turns out. 

Primary Research

Edited:

As I've never used a 135mm lens before this, I used this Research task as a chance to experiment with the lens. I wanted to use this lens as I really wanted to capture the depth of field. 'In The Frow' uses a similar lens to this one for her beauty and fashion section of her blog and I really enjoy the effect which is one of the reasons I like this image. Another is the lighting. It's enough to make the colours pop but not too much to over expose the background. I also like the pose as it gives the impression she's walking and she's turned as I've snapped the image. 

Again, this image was light by natural lighting on a cloudy day. I took this image at the side of the road facing the old building as I wanted I wanted a more darker look to the images. Although I like the lighting, I'm not to keen on the pose, or even the depth of field in this particular image. It reminds me of the images you see in magazines or newspapers which isn't the look I'm going for. 

This image was actually the shot after the previous one however, I made my model laugh whilst I was taking the image therefore, it has a completely different feel to it. Also, authentic laughs personally always have this aura about them that I absolutely love, especially when turned black and white. 

Research & Moodboards:

Fashion Photography:

Alex James - 
Alex James is a fashion photographer who is based at a location studio in east London, which he opened in 2009. He has worked in most UK based magazines and shot for numerous high street fashion houses. However, he still enjoys working with smaller labels and discovering new talent.

I really like the composition of this image as the model looks really high fashion however, the location looks like an industrial warehouse which emphasises  her even more. I also like the fact that the background is blurred. It keeps all the focus on the model. Furthermore, the darkened corners of the image makes the model stand out more. I like the detail of the light beams from the windows on the roof as it keeps the background light and airy. Overall, I really enjoy the simplistic aesthetic of this image.



David Bailey -
David Bailey is a highly recognised Fashion photographer and is widely known for his part in creating 'swinging London' in the 1960's. He then went on to work with Vogue, producing numerous covers for them. He also shot 800 pages of Vogue Editorial for Vogue in one year alone. Although David Bailey does still work today, I decided to use him as my historical Photographer as he really changed the way everyone saw Fashion photography and will always be remembered for his work.

 I enjoy David Bailey's older work more because it fascinates me how his images were so simplistic yet so captivating. Sometimes when shooting in studio the images produced can seem boring but David Bailey's work captures your attention and keeps it. This image in particular is a perfect representation of this. The model fills the full frame and everything about her pose, position of her draws you to her face. Everything is upwards, including her clothes.

Portrait Photography:

Steve McCurry - 
Steve McCurry is an American Editorial Photographer best known for his 1984 image of 'Afghan girl' which appeared in the National Geographic Magazine. McCurry continued to cover armed conflicts including the Iran- Iraq War, Lebanon Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War including many more.

I chose this image to represent Steve McCurry's work instead of the 'Afghan girl' because I love the colours and the beauty of this woman. Her eyes really draw your attention in which is emphasised by the direct eye contact. Like a lot of his work, the model is the main focus which is something I really like and want to experiment with in my own work, as well as using on location. I also enjoy the way the woman looks put together then being able to see the exposed bricks of the background.


Andrea Hubner -
Andrea Hubnew is a German Fine Art Portrait Photographer. Andrea became interested in Photography at a young age and started with sport photography. She then discovered her passion of portraiture and nudity. Although photography is her passion, it isn't her profession.

I really enjoy this image as I really like the earthy tones throughout. I also really like how the model is posed. It's almost giving off the effect that she's in the middle of no where breathing the fresh air but also making eye contact to draw the viewer. I personally think this image is a mixture of both lighting, natural and artificial. I also like the fact that the model appears to have minimal make up on. It creates a very relaxed and natural image that I really enjoy.

Landscape Photography:

Charlie Waite -
Charlie Waite was born in 1949. He was very involved with British Theatre and Television for the first 10 year of his professional career. He then became fascinated with the way landscapes can portray a feeling using light and shade. His work is displayed all around the world in private and corporate  collections.

I chose this image as I really like the whole dynamic. Throughout the whole image there is leading lines whilst being relatively symmetrical which it very satisfying to the eye. I also like how he captured the light beams caused with the natural light. It gives the image contrast and emphasises the small detail of the bricks. I personally don't think I would have enjoyed this image in colour as the black and white makes it look timeless. Black and white I like a lot, especially when achieving the timeless look which is why I'm going to try use as much black and white as possible within my own work.




Joe Cornish - 
Joe Cornish was born in Exeter in 1958. He studied art at Reading University and worked as an assistant for four years in London and Washington D.C, after graduating. In 1986 to 1995

This image is personally very satisfying to me as everything is very clean cut and ties together. Nothing really stands out from nothing else and I really like that. I also like how the bridge draws your eyes straight into the centre of the image.
From there taking you all around the image. 

Abstract:

Aaron Siskind -

Aaron Siskind was an American abstract photographer who was widely considered to be closely involved with the abstract expressionist movement. Siskind was first introduced to photography when he received a camera as a wedding present and started taking pictures of his honeymoon. He quickly fell in love with the creative potential it could offer. He then went on to work for New York Photo League. He then went onto to teach until he died in 1991.

Although I enjoy abstract photography, I much prefer abstract images when they're monochrome or minamilistic. I chose this image as an example because I like how the black and is emphersised by the contrast. Also, personally when look at it straight away, I thought it was paint that had been peeling however, when looking at it longer, you question it. Is it burnt wood? Is it burnt paper on a wooden floor? It gives you an impression at first glance however, you don't actually know what it is. 

Harry Callahan -

Although Harry Callahan didn't focus on mainly abstract, the images he produced in this genre are amazing. Callahan was enrolled in Michigan State University studying engineering however, he dropped out to work for Chrysler and joined the photography club in which he taught himself photography. He then went on to teach at The Institute of Design. After moving to Rhode island in 1961, he established a photography program at the Rhode Island School of Design and worked there until his retirement in 1977.

Again, I only really enjoys abstract photography when it's monochrome or minamilistic which this image certainly is. I really like the crisp white against the black and slight tint red on the berries. It's direct and straight to the point. There's nothing to distract you on the main focus and it's something I really enjoy. This is one of the reasons why I want to use the 135mm lens as it cancels out the background, focusing on just the main subject. 

Moodboards:

Fashion

Portrait

Landscape

Abstract

Final Evaluation

Fashion Research:
I have grown to enjoy researching other photographers and their work. It gives me  opportunities to discover very talented individuals. I also enjoy finding out about the techniques they use and what kind of photography they specialise in.

Street Fashion:
As I am a person who enjoys fashion in my personal life, I already had ideas in what I my street fashion to look like. I really enjoyed going out and paying close detail to what people were wearing day to day and talking to people. It also give us a good chance to work with fabric and see how it photographs well.

High Key - Low Key:
I wasn't familiar with high and low key lighting until this task. Although I'd seen it before I never knew the name or knew what both were intended to be used for. This is when idea's of what I wanted to achieve in my final images and what type of lighting I wanted to use.

Studio Attachments: 
With the high and low key lighting, I didn't know too much about studio therefore, this was a chance for myself to become familiar with the different attachments and what sort of lighting they created. This enable me to start building a plan of what I'd need to achieve the ideas that I already had.

Fashion Magazine Research:
Again, as I am a person who is interested in fashion, I had a rough idea of what type of vibe I wanted for my final images and what magazine my images were a part of. Nonetheless, I enjoyed researching fashion magazines and discovering different magazines I hadn't heard of before. Also, it gave my a chance to look at magazines I wouldn't typically look at.

Planning:
Planning is always a struggle for me as I like to think of stuff and just do it. I don't like writing them down however, I didn't find that planning for this shoot as draining as the others. I think this is because I really enjoyed these units and it was the first time I was able to bring stuff I already knew into my work.

Studio shoot:
The Studio shoot was definitely my favourite part of this full project. It was nice to get a feel of the studio and work in a more professional environment. It also gave me a chance to be in charge and give me a feel of what it's going to be like as a real photographer.

Accessories:
Shooting accessories was really fun. Not having a limited time in the smaller cover gave me an opportunity to experiment with different angles  and got us a lot more familiar with using the studio lights.

Exposure research:
This was probably the most draining task for me personally. However, when in the studio you need to know what you're doing, including the settings you need to be on. Therefore, it was necessary.

 Hats the Way:
Hats the way was very fun shooting. We didn't have such a strict time limit and therefore had a much more relaxed feel to the full day.

Umbrella:
Again, the umbrella shoot gave us an opportunity to work in a more professional environment and the  more the better. I really enjoy using the studio as the finish to the images look much more clean and professional than on location in my opinion however, I think I may use location a lot more in the future and experiment with lighting that can be used on location.

Magazine design: 
The design element I really enjoyed. I had a lot of different images to choose from and a lot of different layouts and colours that could be incorporated into my work. I loved experimenting with photoshop and becoming more familiar with it.

Throughout this project I've learnt a lot. From different lightings and attachments. To how to use studio lights and work in a professional environment. I also liked how I was able to apply my knowledge of fashion into this project so I wasn't so lost from task to task. It has heightened my determination to become a fashion photographer.

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