Mindmap - Everyday Objects

My above mind map explores the exam heading of 'everyday objects', I chose this theme out of the others as it would be interesting to explore everyday objects in surreal, or ambiguous situations. Irving Penn is one photographer I explored who photographed still life in a studio, he used vegetables and fruit to explore everyday objects in strange set outs. Another photographer I explored was Peter Keetman who explored everyday, structured objects and explored patterns within these, his images were interesting as they have the viewer questioning what it is they're looking at. Andre Kertesz explored everyday objects such as forks, and plates and explore their shadowing form, and how this shadowing of the object would change shape when projected onto different objects. 

This image is photographed by Irving Penn in a studio, and is of frozen fruit and vegetables placed into blocks on top of each other, almost as though they're bricks. Bricks are considered sturdy and strong, whereas vegetables and fruit are commonly thought to be weak and easy to break; therefore by combining the image of fruit/vegetables in a brick-form this challenges the viewers idea of the objects. The asparagus which is in the bottom left of the image is standing upright, this is interesting to the viewer as usually they cannot stand up vertically. This image is interesting as a whole as there's no real meaning behind the image, therefore the viewer can make up their own meaning, as to what they think the image may symbolise. Many of Penn's other images are too shot in a studio and are of fruit/vegetables placed in strange positions, I find his images interesting as they cause the viewer to look at everyday objects in a different way to which they're used to.

This photograph was taken in 1955 by Peter Keetman, many of Keetman's other images photograph patterns in industrial-like objects; however this is one of his softer images, as feathers are considered light and dainty objects, there's also a single drop of water placed on the end of the feather, questions then arise in the viewers head as to why this water droplet is there. The everyday object of a feather is shown to be holding up a water droplet, despite the feather itself not being completely solid, as it has gaps between each hair which sprout form the central line; therefore this image is slightly surreal and creates questions in the viewer surrounding the water droplet being held on the feather's surface. The feather takes up the whole of the frame of the image, whereas the droplet is central to the image showing that this is what needs to be focused on, as it's in the centre of the image. I don't like many of Keetman's other images, however I do find this image (above) interesting despite finding the rest of his images repetitive. 

This image is photographed by Andre Kertesz, and includes two individuals standing in a position which makes them appear as though they're trying to be a table. This image is significant as it shows how humans are trying to become everyday objects, the shape the two men are holding is ambiguous, and it is not clear this is a table, the research I conducted on the image was the only way I found out what shape they were trying to hold. no clothes=no decorations

Mindmap - Connected Images

This mind map explores the exam heading of 'connected images'; the theme of 'connected images' correlates to me that the series must consist of images which all link together. Within my mind map I explored two photographers called Partick Winfield, who creates grid style images of his work, and the photographer Gordon Parks who focused on black rights in America. I dislike Patrick Winfield's work as I believe the image as a whole appears untidy and disorganised, whereas I like my images to be organised. Gordon Parks' images are extremely emotive as they centre on inequality in America, surrounding race. Feminism, british culture and town life are all headings which I explored in the mind map which I could later use as inspiration for my shoots. If I chose to do the feminism theme then this would be influenced through photographers such as Hannah Wilke and Cindy Sherman, as they're feminist images are interesting- I would focus on how woman are treated different in society and how this is unequal to men. The heading 'town life' is another idea which I was thinking of exploring, this would involve me going into my local town centre of 'Waltham Abbey' and photographing life in my local town, whilst also traveling to various other close towns- I believe this idea may be slightly tedious and it would also involve a lot of travel, therefore I don't think I will follow up this idea. The last idea I came up with was 'British culture', I like the idea of this theme as it would allow me to explore a wide variety of different environments, and people within Britain. Fish and chips, tea, the queen, and Yorkshire puddings are all stereotypical 'British' items, I would explore these in my project as well as also investigating other aspects of British life, including the country side, and British city life; some of my images would also be interesting if made slightly surreal and humorous, for example editing an image of the Queen smoking. 

I then decided to create another mind-map as next lesson, after I had a few days to think about my project, I decided that I wanted to focus more on thought-provoking images, surrounding 'differences' between people in particular. My five shoot ideas that I currently have fit together to a certain extent, as my first three shoots will be focusing on work and differences in society surrounding economical issues. I decided to photograph a female in a stereotypical jobs (a carer), and a male in a stereotypical job (mechanic) in order to challenge gender stereotypes within the workplace; moreover, by contrasting this with another individual who doesn't work but would have a more expensive house than the two individuals who do work, this would challenge inequality in life- these first three shoots all link under the term 'economical inequality.' My shoot number four would be challenging societies ideas of elderly individuals, as in this shoot I would want to explore elderly people displaying typical teen behaviour, whilst contrasting this with the same elderly lady conducting usual everyday activities. My shoot four and five link as they challenge societies perceptions of people, despite my shoot four being on older individuals whereas my shoot five would be of people aged 10-18 they do link in some way. My shoot five would aim to again challenge gender stereotypes within our modern society, as by comparing girls doing typically 'boy' sports, and then doing typically 'girl' sports this will provoke thoughts in the viewer's mind; likewise if I also contrasted boys in this similar way. I realise that these initial shoots won't link as much as I would like, however by exploring these routes I would then hope to focus my ideas onto one main theme.