FINAL PROJECT PITCH.

50 WORD OUTLINE: I want to create a contrast of "old youth" - being a young person in an old city, emphasising the beauty and history of the city and culture whilst highlighting this viewpoint from a young person's identity (eyes) using vibrant colours and lights seen within the popular culture of today.

The theme is have chosen for my photography project is “Old Youth”. when I was ten I moved from London to Edinburgh with my family. Being a teenager growing up in an extremely old city gave me the inspiration for the theme of my project. Edinburgh is full of associations with the past and the majority of buildings are historical - for example Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. Both Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns are listed as world heritage sites of specific cultural significance, which leads me on to my project. 

The brief was to produce photographs that investigate ideas of representation and identity in relation to my cultural position in society. Personally, I see my cultural position as a Scottish teenager -and through this idea I want to contrast the aspects of being young and the popular culture that affects most youths, including me and that I am particularly interested in; music, art, drinking, fashion and also something that is completely relevant to being a scottish teenager - Scotland’s independece with the historical city and the older aspects of Scottish culture.  Originially being a Londoner in Edinburgh it was all about adapting to  the sense of “Scottish Pride” - there is an overwhelming amount of love for scotland within the people of edinburgh and within my photo’s I want to emphasise the beauty of the city and it’s ancient history, whislt also mixing this and emphasising the viewpoint from a young person’s eyes creating the juxtaposition of the old and new being able to co-operate and live together in harmony.

In terms of the photographs I plan on taking, through my research I have developed a brief outline of my ideas;

Potter Row: potter row is deep in the heart of the city, surrounded by the old university buildings and it sits just next to edinburgh’s old town. It holds one of edinburgh’s only legal graffiti walls which is covered and changes practically daily with new artwork appearing. My idea for an image wants to contrast the passion young people have for art, with the old style and brick work of the city. I plan on taking an image of people walking along against the wall, with the older buildings in the background, I want to adjust the motion in the picture by slowing the shutter speed down. 

Parliament: Edinburgh’s parliament is at the centre of global news recently with the debate on Scottish Indepence. The building itself was built by Enric Miralles who actually died during the building process, it’s construction (which took 5 years when it was only mean’t to take two) and architecture came under a lot of controversy from the media. It cost 414 million pounds and aimed to achieve a poetic union between the scottish landscape, the people , the culture and the city of edinburgh - resulting in leaf shaped motifs on the roof around the building. Linking this to my theme, i want to take an image that incorporates this completely ultra-modern building against it’s backdrop of the old town in Edinburgh - it is also extremely relevant to my personal culture as for the first time 16-18 year olds are able to vote concerning independence - a huge priority to Alex Salmond therefore giving them a huge amount of power to change the future of Scotland.

St Andrews Square: St Andrews Square was one of the first constructions of Edinburgh’s new town in 1772 - not very new anymore! It stands at the top of George Street and over the years has become one of the most desirable and fashionable commercial areas. Recently, artist Bruce Monro installed his “Field of Light” exhibition around the statue - it creates the perfect mix of olden day Scotland with the “Melville Monument” in memory of Henry Dundas the “Uncrowned King of Scotland” being surrounded by this urban landscape of lights in various pathways and shapes.

Tartan: A huge piece of Scottish heritage is Tartan. Originally each family (clan) was associated with a different colour of tartan in the 19th century. There are around 5000 different types of tartan and it wasn’t until the 1970’s through the introduction of punk music that it became a fashion icon. Since then, every year designers bring out punk-inspired tartan clothes and young people everywhere are seen with tartan scarves, trousers and shirts. The ancient tartans - a huge element of scotland was brought up to date in the fashion industry, linking to my idea of popular culture and something that I am extremely interested in - owning three tartan scarves myself. The image I wish to create is of a young person, wearing a symbolic scarf on the old, cobbled streets of edinburgh to emphasise how this tradition and culture has passed on through the generations.

Bars: another huge aspect of today’s youth is partying - a large portion of university life is spent socialising and going out to drink with friends. With this idea of drinking and partying being a part of today’s youths popular culture edinburgh is full of bars and clubs in old locations. One bar “the standing order” is located on the land of a Grade A, listed building which used to be an old bank on edinburgh’s george street. This links to the idea of old youth as before it used be a place of sorting out finances on one of the wealthiest streets - the pub still includes an old vault inside whereas it is now a place where all the young people go for the cheapest drinks before a night out. My idea for an image is youths standing outside smoking against the stone walls or a group of youths inside all dressed up against the backdrop of old bookcases or the vault.

Music: Music is another necessity to my culture, and also the popular culture of most young people today. An important factor of edinburgh’s nightlife is the bars and clubs that are situated in what used to be the vaults of edinburgh’s underground city. Music venue “The Caves”, which when first evacuated found terracotta floor titles, a fireplace and a well within the building, and the majority of the vaults are used during the month of August during the Festival Fringe to showcase upcoming artists and performers in up to 60 shows a day. My idea for a photograph is for a shot inside of the venue, emphasising the arches and confined spaces of “the caves” during a night of music and young people dancing the night away.

For my inspiration - I don’t have a particular photographer in mind, however I am definitely influenced my urban street art photographers as I feel as though they are able to capture the youthful atmosphere and emphasise being young through the colours and effects on the images. On the other hand I am also inspired by older fashion photographers such as Terry O’Neill and David Bailey as I feel as though they are able to successfully add a hint of glamour to their photos and set up their objects perfectly for example this rolling stones photo I think links in with my theme, you have a new up and coming band who end up becoming one of the most famous bands in the world - against what looks like an old background.

In terms of test shooting for my project, I am travelling to Edinburgh next week in order to take some shots and create my overall vision of youth culture in an ancient environment.

I have posted the link below to take you to my "Prezi" powerpoint that I made alongside this pitch - it includes images and more information about my final project.

http://prezi.com/dfamvuf_nlux/present/?auth_key=8s514rx&follow=vtilmzi4m5jq&kw=present-dfamvuf_nlux&rc=ref-57843353

AUGUST SANDER PRESENTATION.

    This week's group presentation was on August Sanders (1876-1964). He was born in Germany and received his first camera in 1892. He then went on to build a dark room and tour Germany as a commercial photographer, before being employed as an assistant in Austria where he and his partner bought a studio in order to explore his own themes, but then sold it.

    His most famous work is his "People of the 20th Century" exhibition which captured and classified his fellow Germans. His intention was to document all German people and to represent them as types of people instead of individuals and once completed his archive had collected up to 40,000 entries.  He classified people by their profession, social class and family relationship, and then divided them into classes such as farmer, skilled tradesman, women, classes and profession, artists, cities and last people (homeless). Sanders took a typological approach and most of his subjects wore work clothes and held the tools of their trade. 

    The exhibit was split into sections and one was dedicated to farmers and old farming men, women and couples in their homes of against a natural backdrop which showed their fundamental role in society. All of the males had female counterparts and families who were also included. 

    Sander is seen as one of the most important German post-war photographers and his style favoured large format cameras with lengthy exposure times in order to focus on detail. His work is described as assisting a self portrait but he made his exhibition specifically for the strict documentation of his view of man. Questions arose over where his work is documentary or portraiture and a conclusion was never come to - it can be seen as documentary as it documents what is happening during specific time periods however the photos are very controlled and precise therefore, reflecting a portrait as it is from Sanders specific point of views and he composes the subjects into certain positions.

   Similar artists to Sanders are Cindy Sherman and Diane Arbus. Both Sanders and Arbus' work reflect the haunt of war - being two world wars for Sanders and the Vietnam war for Arbus. All of the work by these three show class, identity and respective societies ideologies. They highlight the unseen truths of their cultures and the everyday documentary style portraiture and it can be argued that each are trying to document society through their constructive nature of images.

     Below we can see the similarities between work - with August Sander's image on the left and Diane Arbus' on the right.

COMPOSITION.

    As part of today's class, our tutor asked us to explore composition if we had no prior knowledge of the term. Before starting my degree, I had no previous experience of photography (as previously mentioned!) aside from just mucking about with a camera therefore I had little understanding of how to actually composition a shot. She gave us links to various websites in order for us to learn more about what composition is, what it means and the basic rules/guidelines of how to actually set up a photograph:

    "Composition" can be used within various different forms of art; such as music, dance, literature and visual and it has two very different, yet still somewhat related meanings. Firstly, it describes the placement of objects in art and secondly it is a key aspect of good art. Composition is of extreme importance and it enhances detailing and requires good balance - it helps to emphasise the idea or story you are trying to convey.

    In photography, the way an image is shot is crucial. Therefore, composition in a photograph is when certain elements of a photo are arranged in order to fit the goal of your work. One link give to me describes 10 rules of composition:

  
1. SIMPLIFY THE SCENE: remember that the camera picks out everything, even if the naked eye doesn't therefore you have to chose your subject, select a focal length that makes it the centre of the frame - and make sure that other objects are part of the background.
2. FILL THE FRAME: leaving too much empty space makes your subject look small than it actually is and leave viewers confused as to what the focus point is, filling the frame gets closer to the subject and makes it easier to control what is in the background whilst also giving a more interesting take on things.
3. ASPECT RATIO: make sure to keep changing your camera between horizontal and vertical shots and you can always crop an image to 16:9 for a widescreen effect particularly if your subject doesn't fit the frame.
4. AVOID THE MIDDLE: it's tempting to shoot right in the centre of the frame however, it only produces basic, boring photos. In order to prevent this, you can use the "Rule of Thirds" idea where you split the image into thirds horizontally and vertically and put your subject into one of these imaginary lines with the other two bring free space.
5. LEADING LINES: there is a way of controlling a persons eye movements when looking at a picture. Converging lines give a 3D depth to an image that lead you to the main subject. Lines can be found everywhere, for example on walls, fences, roads, buildings etc.
6. USE DIAGONALS: diagonal lines introduce a drama, uncertain feeling to an image, wider angles tend to produce more diagonal lines as you are more likely to tilt the camera. To introduce diagonals into your work the "Dutch Tilt" technique where you tilt the camera just as you take the shot helps to create this effect.
7. SPACE TO MOVE: despite being static, photographs convey a strong sense of movement and you should always leave a little more space ahead of a subject than behind it as a viewers always looks to where the subject is going towards not where it came from.
8. BACKGROUNDS: don't just concentrate on a subject, take note of what is in the background, you cannot exclude it completely, but you can control it. Using a wide liens aperture and a longer focal length throws the background out of focus to create a good effect.
9. CREATIVE WITH COLOURS: bright primary colours are what attract the eye and including a splash of colour across a monochromatic background helps create colour contrasts. The key is to be selective of how you isolate and frame subjects to exclude unwanted colours.
10. BREAKING THE RULES: once you get a better understanding of the rules, its best to start breaking them in order to create interesting images!

I found these rules extremely helpful and cannot wait to put them into practice!

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?