TERRY O'NEILL: READING OF A PHOTOGRAPH

     Another task we had to do today in class was take one of our chosen inspirational photo's and then go on to analyse and read it like we had previously learnt. The photograph I decided to choose was Terry O'Neill's snap of named "Faye Dunaway".


                                     

• The denotation of the photograph was a woman simply lounging by the pool on what looks like a crisp, sunny morning. Scattered around the floor are newspapers, there is breakfast on the table and an Oscar winners statue aswell.
• The connotations are that this lady is Faye Dunaway, winner of an Oscar the previous night for her starring role in the film "Network" and she is staying in the Beverly Hills Hotel. The newspapers on the ground are today's papers which are all filled with Oscar's headlines. Although she has received many other awards - it was this one that shocked many and changed her career completely.
• In terms of the Studium - O'Neill and Dunaway were dating at the time when the photograph was taken and they stayed together in a suite at the hotel. He claimed that he wanted to capture the shock and "dazed confusion" on Dunaway's face. The photograph is set up like a regular poolside breakfast scene, yet Dunaway's silk clothing and high heels relate to the fact that she could have possibly stayed up overnight and show her changing into a worldwide star. Also, if you look closely, the teapot is actually central to the shot whereas you would expect the Oscar to be however, it ties in with the theme of her life changing and the transition into a big star. 
• What stands out in relation to me is that Dunaway looks so completely relaxed and at ease, yet for someone who has most likely stayed up all night celebrating she still looks completely red carpet glamourous.

                          

READING A PHOTOGRAPH

      This week in class, whilst discussing the previous reading's we devised a plan to help each of us when reading photos - it's basically a checklist of items to look our for and take into consideration in order to ensure a better understanding when reading a photograph. What we came up with was:

• Aesthetics - what is included in the photo, any little details
• Composition - how the picture is set out, what is in focus, what is central to the photo
• Photographer - what is occurring in the life of the photographer, what is their previous work like, recurring themes?
• Cultural State - what is going on in the world or specific place at the time when the photo was taken
• Medium - the camera used, the film used

We also knew that when looking at a photograph we had to take into consideration 4 key things:

• Denotation - the literal meaning / description
• Connotation - the second / deeper meaning
• Studium - cultural / historical context
• Punctum - what stands out in relation to you

     We then put all of these key factors and the checklist into consideration against Diane Arbus' "A Family On Their Lawn One Sunday In Westchester NY 1969". The denotation of the photograph showed a young family enjoying their summer, relaxing and sunbathing with the children playing in the background. When we looked at a deeper meaning we saw that the man actually looks extremely unhappy and frustrated with his head in his hands which could reflect on his unhappy marriage. There is a possible alcoholic beverage on the table between them and this table also reflects the distance between the man and the woman which again emphasises this space between the couple. The huge amount of open space around them has connotations of wealth and the fact that they are facing completely away from their child shows a sort of neglect towards him. When we looked further into Diane Arbus for the Studium aspect of the photograph we discovered that in 1969 at the time when the photo was taken Diane has gotten divorced from her childhood sweetheart whom she had two children with. The setting is also relevant as she is from New York herself, and the fact that the photograph is in black and white also reflects on lots of her other work. The punctum of the image is that the child looks closer to the mother in the picture therefore I feel as though Diane felt that she was closer to her children, whilst also proving that the surrounding wealth cannot buy he any happiness.

READINGS.

     This week we had two different readings to do. One reading was just for us as individuals but the other we had to get into groups outside of class time and discuss it, in order to come to conclusions and a better understanding of what the reading was trying to convey.

     The first reading was the chapter "Loading..." in "Photography" by John Ingledew. I found out a lot more about the basics of photography from this chapter and a little more about how cameras work. Some facts I picked up on were:

• Photography mixes different elements - chemistry, physics, optics, computers, electronics, commerce and creativity
• Photographs can be powerful things - melting taboos, swaying opinions and cause explosive impacts
• Photography gets straight to the heart of an issue and instantly grabs an event or personality
• There was the invention of a cheap $1 camera by Kodak called the Kodak Brownie - which was specifically for children and helped revolutionise photography
• Colour film uses the three basic colours of red, green and blue and then it can recreate any shade of colour
• Pixel is short for "picture element" and each one is a solid block of colour 
• Once an image is digitalised you can change any of the pixels - altering the brightness, colour and contrast
• There are many similarities between the eye and the camera, eyes seen in stereo vision wheres photos only show 2 dimensions.

    The next reading was the one we had to discuss in our smaller presentation groups. This was Chapter 2 of Graham Clarke's "The Photograph" entitled "How Do We Read a Photograph". For our discussion we were given a series of questions to help us understand; what the author is trying to say, whether we agree with the given argument, what it represents and any questions that had arisen. The information we gathered was that you definitely cannot just be passive when looking at a photo and although some people don't, you need to look further and read into it. We also established that there are certain photo's such a the generic "selfie" that seem completely common with no meaning at all, when we should be looking deeper at the picture and see areas of confidence or insecurity. We also felt that because of the increase of huge photographic outlets such as Instagram, photos are taking so frequently that sometimes a meaning is lost particularly is the photo is filtered and then becomes distorted and changed. Some questions that we came up with were are all elements of a photograph placed there distinctively by the photographer to create a particular impact and message or are they just simple background features? Also, how does one's position in society alter the way they view a photo and influence this? And finally, how does the introduction and influence of new technology change the way that pictures are viewed and read?

INSPIRATION - TERRY O'NEILL.

    Particular photographs that inspire me are those by Terry O'Neill. I find the way that O'Neill captures the off-screen glamour of huge industry icons so interesting. My favourite is of Faye Dunaway - O'Neill's girlfriend at the time lounging next to the pool, the morning after winning her Oscar for the film "Network". The image was taken in both black and white, showing Dunaway surrounded by newspapers with her Oscar placed on the table next to her breakfast tray. Overall, I just love that way that the photograph is not all about the significance of the Oscar and that there are so many other little details included in the photo.

      Other pieces of O'Neill's work include Audrey Hepburn backstage during the filming of "Two For The Road", Joan Collins, British actors Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and finally one of the most famous taken by O'Neill, Bridgit Bardot with a cigarette hanging from her mouth.

MY PHOTOGRAPHY STORY.

     Photography to me has always been about capturing things that particularly interest you in order to store the memories collected throughout a person's life.

     I first realised that I had an interest in photography once on a school trip to Paris. The trip lasted a small five days, where we simply visited every tourist attraction possible. Upon returning home and plugging my camera into the computer, I realised I had taken over 300 photos of anything and everything that caught my eye around Paris.

     My passion for photography continued to grow over the next few years after I inherited an old Olympus Camera from my Grandad that he found on Clapham Common, my next camera was a £4 polaroid that I picked up from the charity shop where I worked and finally, my most recent addition a Canon 600D Digital SLR camera.

     In general, I have very little knowledge of how to actually use the Canon camera, and once I found that photography was part of the Media Practice course at Sussex, I hoped that it would help me learn a lot more about how to get the most out of my new camera!

     I also have Tumblr, therefore I am constantly re-blogging photos all day. Although most of the photos are not my own material, you find a huge amount of different styles of photography which is why I think that the website is such a good outlet for photographers, alongside Instagram - however I feel Instagram tries to distort the images too much and that they lose a touch of their quality and individuality.

    The photography that interests me most is the photos that reflect glamour and style whilst also incorporating a sort of grungy, urban vibe. I particularly like photos that show an insight into people's lives.

NIKON D7000 CAMERA.

       The camera we have to use this term is the Nikon D7000 Digital SLR. This is the camera that we use for all classwork throughout the term, whilst also hiring them outside of class time to work on our own personal projects.

       Like all camera's, the D7000 has many various modes of capturing images. The three we looked at this week were:

• A Mode - Aperture Priority
• S Mode - Shutter Priority
• M Mode - Manual Exposure

In class we are going to constantly be in the Manual Mode class, therefore we can simply adjust both Aperture and Shutter Speed as we wish to give the desired effect.

       Exposure is also something we learn't about this week, it is the act of exposing the image sensor to light. We focussed mainly on the effect it makes on an image when the camera is over and under exposed. If underexposed, the closer the objects are to the camera the more darkness they are exposed to and overall some detailing is lost and the entire shadowing of the picture is a lot darker. On the other hand, when an image is overexposed the detailing of objects closest to the camera are very detailed but there is too much light in the shot and certain details are blinded and lost by the huge amount of light in the photo. Ideally, we want a photo to be of optimal exposure, which is a perfect blend of not too much light in the photo and not too much darkness. The detailing is clearly visible and this is definitely the exposure to aim for!

      Another factor of the camera we discussed in the first lesson is how to control the shutter speed. The shutter speed is the measurement of time that the shutter is left open for; the faster the shutter speed, the clearer the photograph whereas the slower the speed - the larger blur is caused by subject motion. In order to increase the shutter speed by a step you have to reduce 1/2 the amount of time that the shutter is open. Likewise, to decrease the shutter speed by 1 step you have to increase by 1/2 the amount the time that the shutter is open. The lower the number on the shutter, the more light there is coming in and it's the same for the higher the number.

      The Aperture of the camera controls the brightness of the image. The decreased depth of feel and therefore the lower the "f" number then there is a shorter amount of space in focus, and it works the other way round if there is an increased depth of field.

      Finally, the last thing we were introduced to was the ISO - a measure of the camera's sensibility to light. Having a higher ISO with a fast shutter speed pulls and image completely into focus. Also, raising the ISO sensitivity optimally exposes both the portrait subject and background during low light photography without the use of a flash.

A HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

So, today is the first class that I have in photography. In today's workshop we learn't a brief overview of the history of photography in the structure of a short timeline and it went a little something like this:

1021 AD

• the pinhole camera came to life
• it was created by Alhazen
• he did not see the camera as an object but just as something to put in a book

1816

• Johann Heinrich Schulze
• he was known for the discovery that silver chloride and silver nitrate darken the presence of light and for those he found the effects to capture temporary photographic images
• a 1724 experiment determined that a mixture of silver and chalk reflects less light that untarnished silver
• Schulze's discovery did not help preserve the image and the silver salts continued to darken unless protected from light

1822

• photoetching discovered
• the first piece of seminal photographic activity was made by Nicephore Niepce
• he originally worked with silver chloride and copper plates coated with gelatine

1825

• The Niepce brothers began their work
• they created one of the earliest known pieces of seminal photographic activity made using the heliograph process
• as part of their experiment it was printed from a metal plate covered with a ground that was etched following exposure to sunlight
• the first image shows a 17th century Flemish engraving of a man leading a horse

1839

• Photography was made public
• the Daguerrotype was created where an image is formed on a highly polished silver surface, normally a sheffield plate

1832

• Hercules Florence
• he experimented in Brazil with the idea of photography
• is known as that isolate inventor of photography in Brazil
• he referred to it as "photographie"

1832-1840

• William Fox Talbot
• he used a silver process image to create the calotype process
• calotype made photography available to the masses

1851

• Wet Collidion Process was introduced
• it was invented by Frederic Scott Archer
• it was scientific related and enhance exposure time

1860's

• Celluloid was created 
• Made by John Carbutt
• this discovery influenced the creation of a thin celluloid film

1884

• The kodak camera was created
• George Eastman is the founder of the Eastman Kodak Co.
• he developed paperbacked film - film with a roller to hold it
• the kodak cost $25
• it was more mobile than other cameras

1963

• the Polaroid camera was created
• the film developed a minute or two after exposure
• created instant film

1960's-1980's

• A rise of the communication and media industry between these times
• The theory behind cameras also boomed
• the introduction of the Sony Mavica eliminated the need for film and saved it to a floppy disk

1991

• First digital camera invented; the Kodak DCS100
• First commercially available cameras