My aim for this project was to focus on the different ways in which people live, I chose to do this through looking at many different factors, including the food people eat, how people maintain their homes, what pets people have and how different people's homes look. I have enjoyed investigating all the factors which contribute to the way people live (e.g. disability, personality, their families...) and I believe I have built a cohesive body of work so far.
The photographers I researched in both my research log, and detailed research have heavily influenced many of my shoots, and helped me reach the overall ending of my project. Some of the photographers who have influenced my work are: Bogdan Gîrbovan, Mark Laita, Elliott Erwitt, James Russell Cant, August Sander, and Martin Parr.
Bogdan Gîrbovan influenced my shoot numbers one and three with his series known as 10/1, this series consists of images from different floors of the same apartments in Bucharest, Romania, this influenced me to photograph different people outside their houses in order to compare and contrast these individuals.
Mark Laita also influenced my shoot numbers one and three, with his series known as 'created equal' which links to the idea that we are all born equal, but it's our life experiences that change and shape us into the people that we are today, I explored this in my shoots three and one by photographing individuals who are related outside their respective homes, in order to explore the differences between their houses, despite them being raised in the same environments.
Elliott Erwitt influenced my shoot number seven with his images of dogs, I found his images humorous therefore they inspired me to explore this too, I created computer experiments mirroring the humour of Erwitt's images whereby I swapped the faces of the owner and their dog. Erwitt is also the influence behind my future exam shoots too.
James Russell Cant influenced my shoot number two, as his series called 'Haringey' contrasts and challenges societies perceptions by photographing the same youths in two different situations; one situation is where the individual is made to appear innocent, whilst the other makes them appear as though they're more sinister by portraying them to be on CCTV. CCTV is usually linked to crimes, as often police release CCTV footage in order to help capture suspects, therefore by contrasting the image of the child on CCTV with them being made to appear innocent, this contrasts societies perceptions and judgements of young people; therefore I chose to mirror this but with an elderly lady within my computer experiments.
August Sander influenced me in all of my shoots, as he influenced the way in which I photographed my portraiture images. Sander inspired me to photograph individuals in deadpan expressions, whilst also holding the tools they use for respective jobs. He mainly influenced me in my shoot numbers six, whereby the subject was gardening and holding the tools she was using to do this.
Martin Parr influenced my shoot numbers four, and five as these shoots explored commonly associated 'British' objects (e.g. fish and chips in shoot four, and the British beach in my shoot number five.) Parr's work explores how us Brits commonly live as a nation, therefore this image links to my project by exploring how we live daily. It could be argued that his images merely show Martin's own perspective of Britain, and of leisure. Parr's images explore everyday scenes, and allows us to see them in a new light, which we are not used to, therefore this inspired me when photographing my shoots four and five.
Within this project I feel I have progressed dramatically through focusing more on the framing of my images, ensuring no objects are going through subject's heads, ensuring the background of the images are clear or presentable... I also feel as though have grown to understand the different camera settings more, by being able to link aperture and ISO to light sensitivity and depth of field. A low aperture means more light is being let into the lens, whilst also creating a narrow depth of field, moreover, a higher ISO allows more light into the image and vice versa.
I also feel as though (through my computer experiments) I have learned new ways of presenting my work, by placing images next to one another, this is effective as it allows direct comparisons to occur from the viewer, as they can see the two images in question side by side, additionally it allows the viewer to deduce that the images must link in some way.
Initially, my work was slightly disjointed as I focused on many aspects of how people live (food, pets, houses...) however, I will now in my final shoots be focusing on one factor which is pets. I enjoyed photographing and interacting with the animals in my shoot seven, therefore I believe this will be fun to continue for the next few weeks. Moreover, by focusing my work on pets this will allow me to create a cohesive body of work which all links, meaning my final exam pieces will be effective as a group, not just as single shoots.
For my remaining three shoots I plan on following on my work from my shoot seven, whereby I focused on pets and their owners and how they live. Within these shoots I will focus not only on the owner and the dog, but where their food bowls are kept, or where their food itself is kept- therefore, this will allow more comparisons to occur when I place all of my images together in a final series. I will use three of the same subjects from my shoot number seven, in order to show progression.
From my shoot seven I learned that I need to be more dominant in telling the subject's what to do, as I didn't get all of the desired images I wanted in my shoot seven, therefore by directing the shoot more I will hopefully obtain more desirable images.
In addition, I will carry on using a tripod to reduce any shake/blur in my images due to the fact that animals are often restless and move a lot, therefore the tripod will give me the best chance of not obtaining any blur or shake in my photographs.
Elliott Erwitt is the main influence behind these shoots, his images of dogs influenced me greatly as they can often be slightly strange or abstract, subsequently they grabbed my attention and made me intrigued.
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