Photo essay - final…week 10
This week I finalised my photo essay story. I was allowed to submit 5-8 images and I had to make a decision about my selection.
Unit 2 Telling the “Home” story in words & pictures
Learning outcome 1 (LO1)
Understand photographic research
1.1 Identify a subject for a photographic project
The photographic project is to produce a photo essay and the subject is my “Home” including me and my eleven years old son. I concentrated on my home during the pandemic. Time frame of my photo essay is from January until March 2021.
1.2 Carry out research for a photographic project
I carried out research on other photographers earlier in my blog “Home Sweet Home, week 1” as well as below in this blog.
Learning outcome 2 (LO2)
Produce a photographic project
2.1 Identify photographic resources to complete a photographic project
For all images I used my camera Nikon Z6, a zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.4, a zoom lens 14-30mm, f/4S, a tripod, my memory card, Lightroom as an editing software and SnapBridge app. I took the images in my home and in my neighbourhood. Me, my son and our dog are part of the photo essay.
2.2 Produce photographic images to meet identified goals
The project was to produce a photo essay with theme “Home during the pandemic” using a documentary elements practised in during the course. Photo essay is a set or series of photographs that, when assembled in a particular order, tell a unique story or evoke emotions. The photo essay should convey a story to the viewer. My final images are shown in section 2.3 together with some practise images.
I have already researched photographers in my blog Home Sweet Home, week 1. This time I added two more documentary photographers:
Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was an American documentary photographer and photo journalist known for her Depression era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange’s powerful images would bring the conditions of the rural poor to the public’s attention. Her most famous portrait is Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936), where she captured an image of a mother and her children living in poverty that became one of the most defining images of the Great Depression and infinitely reproduced symbol of courage and endurance.
Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936) by Dorothea Lange
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer and photojournalist acknowledged for his photographic projects that highlight and gently satirise people and their cultures in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. He uses vivid colours. One of his most famous work is The Last Resort, Photographs of New Brighton (1986) that captured the holidaymakers of New Brighton and confirms his passion for observing society.
The Last Resort by Martin Parr (1986)
The research helped me to gather ideas about my story I want to tell. I went through my images from last weeks, selected some of them and took many fresh images. I realised that some images I really like from last weeks that they just don’t fit for the photo essay. The photos I decided to use must not only be compositionally and artistically strong, but they need to be informative and even educational.
2.3 Identify presentational forms for a photographic project
I decided to shoot in landscape format, it just felt more narrative style for my photo essay. The one thing I was really struggling with was to make a decision if images will be black&white or colour. I am a big fan of black and white photography but as I created a photo essay with my son in the pictures I decided to go for colours. His own world is very colourful, he is always smiling and is happy (even though he is portrayed here mostly in a pensive mood). The black and white photography creates more dramatical mood and my intention was to convey a different message and mood. I was inspired by Martin Parr and how he is using bright vivid colours.
The message of my photo essay is “to portray the new life routine and feelings we are dealing with and to prompt viewers to think if there are any personal things that might be turned into positive outcome from the lockdown.“
The Single shot
“It should have a bold composition, strong subject matter, should be eye catching, could be controversial and is used for advertising billboards, newspaper, book and magazine front cover, posters, promoting art exhibitions.”
For my documentary project reflecting theme “Home during the pandemic” I chose the following image 1 “Circle” as the Single shot. My aim was to portray the new socially distanced life at home and common inner feelings we are facing during the pandemic.
In this image I connected the documentary photography style with long exposure to cover the topics we were practising in the past weeks. The long exposure allowed to capture “me” at three different situations to enhanced my multitasking roles as a mother.
In my photo essay I paid attention to details and subjects in the images. Everything is there for a reason. I found the inspiration in Gregory Crewdson, an American photographer. I researched his work in my blog Home Sweet Home, week 1.
Photo essay
Theme “Home sweet home during the pandemic - S i l e n t E m o t i o n s”
“We all started a new unprecedented way of living, officially called lockdown in March 2020. Fear, uncertainty and many questions about the future became daily worries. None of us expected it to last another year. Lockdown turned our life upside down. No clear answers to children’s education, going back to work and travelling were given at that time. None of us didn’t know what to expect and how to deal with this new home based life and how long we will live under lockdown restrictions. After almost a year of living the same life every day I found myself and my son in a circle. My story is about the silent feelings we had to embrace. At the same time it is about trying to identify what/if we experienced anything positive like gaining new skills or new emotions. To start with I have to say that we have never spent so much time together as a family.”
Image 1 “Circle”
20s, f/4.0, ISO 100, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“I’m spinning. The life during lockdown brought a new perspective to our daily routine. Like many other families we are trying our best to continue as close to normality as possible. This time of year we would visit our parents who live abroad. It’s been over a year now since we spent time together. Instead we all became professionals in using technology like Zoom or Facetime, which became the only way to be close to our loved ones. The division of playtime and work time doesn’t ever look fair to my 11 year old son Oliver. The current home chores are not different than before, they just have different rhythm, they are more condensed without other social interactions. Sitting at the white table feels like a circle with an assigned seat around it but without a way to escape back to life out there….as we used to know it. How much did we lose and miss, and did we gain anything?”
Image 2 “See you again”
1/50s, f/6.3s, ISO 560, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“Regular grocery delivery becomes part of a new normality. With the self isolation period, it is the only way how we shop. Plenty of disinfection and antibacterial products are hidden in one of the colourful “see you again” bags. Normally recycled bags are not accepted back now and I stopped counting how many I have stored at home and ready to be returned when the lockdown is over.”
Image 3 “Cyber life”
1/5s, f/4.0, ISO 320, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“It’s no fun for Oliver to study alone. The same screen used for his school work effortlessly transforms from a source of boredom to a source of excitement later in the day as it is used for gaming and socialising. Seeing his brothers to study as well and being surrounded by his things make this period more manageable for Oliver. He definitely mastered his computer and presentation skills … and matured a lot.”
Image 4 “Endlessness”
1/640s, f/4.0, ISO 100, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“Not this bridge again! Our everyday walk in our neighbourhood seems the same after a month. We are in the third month of lockdown no2. I am often Oliver’s only companion during the walks. Oliver loves to play football, tennis and just run around with his friends. Despite getting to know our neighbourhood better, he thinks the walks are endless…”
Image 5 “Let it all out!”
1/80s, f/4.0, ISO 100, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“All set up for recording Oliver’s drumming for the school virtual concert. Under the normal circumstances he would be performing in front of his friends and parents at school theatre. The drumming beat and noise help Oliver to let his energy out and distract him from the screen time. Hopefully our neighbours enjoy the music too!”
Image 6 “Silent emotions”
1/50s, f/4.5, ISO 560, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“Bailey is painfully watching Oliver getting a haircut from me. Learning
at least one new skill became a necessity. I watched some tutorials online but decided not to become a hairdresser, my family is relieved and Bailey is happy that the dog groomers are open. “
Image 7 “Recharging time”
1/320s, f/9.0, ISO 900, zoom lens 24-70mm, f/2.8S
“My mind gets stronger and my stress level gets weaker when I exercise. This is my remedy. It is my time to stop worrying about the life we are all experiencing at the moment, my time to recharge my energy to stay positive and strong, and my time to get ready for the life after covid. It is “a fight…”
Image 8 “Leaving the Circle”
1/20s, f/4.0, ISO 100, zoom lens 14-30mm, f/4 S
“Today is the day! Oliver is saying goodbye to his grandparents as he is going back to school. We can finally leave “the circle”. The last place at the table is still taken by regular facetime call with my parents as we can’t travel internationally yet. I am sure Bailey will miss us during the day.”
2.4 Asses the photographic project
This project was not only about capturing the images but also about selecting the right ones and adding captions and wording.
My aim was to create a visual coherence in my photo essay so my pictures are perceived as a whole, not just individual images put together. I believe I accomplished it by including the theme, specific angle of shooting, using the same colour mood and tones throughout my essay.
I spent some time to think about what ideas and what message I want to pass on in my essay. The research was an invaluable part of the assignment. The idea of my message didn’t evolve right from the start. My ideas have changed throughout capturing different angles and subjects, and through the days. I also had to respect that not my entire family wanted to be part of my photo essay.
The next step was to go through my images from previous weeks and decide which one I want to use. That was not an easy process. I had to stay objective and made a selection without compromise.
I took many new images, I tried different angles and different lenses, I played with the aperture and composition a lot. Some other images I took:
The hardest part was to make a selection of images while constantly thinking about the message I want to convey. Later I had to decide the order of selected images - which will be the first one, the second and so on.
Composition techniques
For my first “single shot” I played with long exposure technique (“ghosting”). I picked this image as I believe it summarises the core of my story, it shows the main involved characters, the settings, the place, the mood, the emotions and “the circle” we are in. The images (images 2-7) create my story and I picked a portrait, a subject, a place to “tell” my story. I concentrated on the angle I was using during capturing images and on the composition. The image 7 convey a positive energetic message to the viewer. It is a self-portrait but focusing on my shadow rather than directly on me. The last image 8 takes the story back to the beginning - to the white circle table - but this time we are leaving the table (leaving “the circle”) as we are slowly returning to our daily routine. I used a slower shutter speed to catch a movement of my son as he is leaving to school. In most of my images I used wide aperture f/4 as I like the background to be slightly blurred.
Wording/captions
It was challenging to find the right words to caption my photos. When I take a picture I remember exactly how I felt, where I stood, which angle I used and why I took that picture. Working on this photo essay made me realise that I am not sure if others feel the same way when looking at my images. So I showed the photo essay to my family, first without captions, and later with added text. They all agreed the words helped them shape their views and thoughts to connect with the images.
I feel that I was holding back with capturing emotions and close ups in order not to expose my personal space. Martin Parr, the British documentary photographer said “Sometimes you feel uncomfortable taking a photograph, but that’s all part of the job” and that’s definitely an area for me to get used to it. As I already mentioned in my previous blogs I am quite protective of my family and personal life. I believe that documenting someone or something else would allow me to capture more details, shoot closer and be more objective. My challenge was also to find the right words and captions, which is an area for constant improvement.
Feedback from peers and tutor
Previously I presented my draft photo essay week 4&5 to my peers and tutor. The feedback is critical to me to understand how photography works and how I can improve my work. I was very pleased with the overall feedback. We were discussing image 2 and its importance in my photo essay. I believe that this image helps the viewers to get to know the surroundings better. The image 2 strengthens the feeling about the grocery shopping/family feeding rhythm during the lockdown. The plastic bags full of food also refer to the cook books on the table (image 1 - the single shot) and my long and constant cooking time.
Eliminated images
Based on the instruction to submit 5-8 images I had to eliminate some of them. The reasons and selection of those images are listed below.
As much as I like this shooting angle of this image I made a decision to take it out because there is already an image capturing my son in his room (image 3 “Cyber life”) in which I found the composition more interesting with wider story.
I eliminated this image as I found it least visually pleasing in comparison with the other images. Also it is not very clear what toy our dog is holding.
I have decided to take out this image from my final photo essay. I felt that it is not visually coherent with the other images.
Learning outcome 3 (LO3)
Understand photographic practise and health and safety procedures
3.1 Identify and use safe working practise in a photographic project
It is very easy to get excited about the place, object or people we take photographs of but it is critical to take safety precautions in all circumstances and locations. During my time taking photographs I had to consider the following summary of safety points, both outdoor and indoor:
Tripping - camera stands, tripods and props are easy to trip on
Ensure tight fittings of camera and lights on stands in case they fall; made sure camera is locked to tripod to prevent the fall and camera damage
Moving furniture/props/lights to ensure there is enough space to move around
Naked lights and flashes are very strong and can damage the eyes
Cables should be wired upwards and not trailing on the floor
Made sure I was aware of my immediate surroundings, especially when taking images around staircase or when taking self portrait in the gym
Made sure I was aware of my immediate surroundings when taking images outside on the bridge
Keep a safe Covid distance outside
Not to point camera directly at the sun when taking images outside
Sources: Course materials, Internet, book: The Art of Photography by Bruce Barnbaum, book: Art and Photography (Phaidon), Word Press Photo books
