Connecting Essay 3

The above image is from my shoot number one, the subjects of the images are my mum, and aunty. Within this shoot I wanted to show the contrast between the way people live, and their difference in houses; this is extremely interesting and significant in this shoot as the two subjects are siblings, therefore they started life in the same place, and were raised the same way, however they both now lead very different lives- I wanted to explore this within my shoot. I photographed the two images both landscape in order for them to be edited next to one another, so they could be directly compared by the viewer. For this shoot I was heavily influenced by the photographer Mark Laita (as shown below), as his images of juxtapositions in America encouraged me to explore differences in the UK involving the way people live their lives. The fact that the subject in the left image has her hand placed on the door handle of her house suggests she has more of a personal connection to her house, or more ownership of it; in contrast to the other subject (right image) who is standing with her hands down her side- this may imply that due to the subject in the right image not working she may not feel as much of a personal connection to the house, as she has not funded it.  Additionally, the clothing differences between the two females was on purpose as I wanted to demonstrate the differences between classes, I also believe a juxtaposition occurs, as it's a common belief that if an individual doesn't work they must not be well off, however through these two images it challenges people's judgements as the subject in the left image (who works) owns a less expensive house in comparison to the subject (in the right image) who doesn't work.

The above photograph is by the photographer Mark Laita from his series known as 'created equal', which shows complete differences of people in America (as seen above.) The above image explores the differences between a perceived pimp and polygamist. The three women surround the men in a similar fashion, however their clothing is very different, with the women in the right image wearing revealing clothing whereas the women in the left image are covered up, this explores a difference in their lifestyles and their perceptions of what they each may find 'acceptable'. Furthermore, the male in the right image is wearing sunglasses, which may be seen to act as a shield of identity, in contrast with the man on the left who has nothing covering his eyes, meaning the viewer can identify him clearly- this may link to the subject not wanting to be identified. Another striking difference between the two pictures in the image is that one of the women in the left image appears to be pregnant, whereas none of the ladies in the right image are, this may suggests that the polygamist group are more family orientated than the other group of individuals- this difference therefore touches on the different ideals of the groups.

Overall, I believe the two images link together as Mark Laita was the initial inspiration for my structure of my shoot by exploring how different people live/lead their lives. Moreover, the way the images are set out (placed next to one another) is the same, this allows the viewer to see a direct contrast between the two photographs. The differences between my images and Mark's are that my photograph is from the UK, whereas his photographs are taken in America, subsequently these are different cultures and will be different as a result. Furthermore, my photographs are taken of the subjects outside their respective houses, whereas Mark's photographs are taken in a studio which prevents any further knowledge being gained from the individual's or their houses, but in my image more information can be gathered surrounding the subjects. My images are also in colour, whereas Mark's are in black and white- Mark may have converted his images in to black and white in order to challenge people to only focus on the underlying meaning of the images, and not to be distracted by any other detailing, however in my images I chose to leave them in colour in order to allow more information to be gathered about how the subject's may live.