COVERT AND OBSCURED
Brainstorm
Dryden Goodwin
'Linear' Series
Linear is a series of sketched portraits of individuals with different jobs along the Jubilee line in the underground. Goodwin drew 60 pencil portraits of staff at work and has created 60 films recording the drawings being made while he talks to them about their life, job and what they see at work.. Together they capture a detailed and diverse depiction of this large community of workers. The drawings are displayed on poster spots across the underground network. The films can be viewed online, offering those interested the opportunity to unlock the creation of each portrait and to learn more about the people that work alongside them as they travel.
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Goodwin combines sped up videos of sketched portraits with a background audio. In this audio he discusses life and work experiences with the models of his pieces; a diverse group of London Underground workers from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds. His freehand sketching style is free and scratchy yet accurate.
The portraits were drawn in a variety of locations such as train operator’s cabs, signalling towers, management offices, station control rooms, ticket offices and gates. Goodwin achieved these multi-layered, multi-media portraits by filming a sketch while recording conversations and stories from the model. In his work Goodwin attempts to extend the limits of what portraiture can do and to what level it can affect the viewer. To explore this, he often combines various media, such as drawing, sound, photography and video. His multi-layered portraits offer a heightened sense of individuals or collective communities, and of how we interact with one another. Linear evokes both a physical and emotional mapping of the Jubilee line. |
Bruce Davidson
'Subway' Series
In the 1980s the Subway in New York was poorly managed, poorly lit and considered dangerous. Photographer Bruce Davidson decided to head underground to embark on what he called ‘a voyage of discovery’. 'Subway' is considered one of the finest photography projects ever completed and features a wide range of people from different walks of life, from blind men and nuns to criminals and gang members.
This image shows what looks like a man being mugged at gun point on a New York subway, it is an attention grabbing action shot. The image is brightly coloured
Davidson has taken this image as the models are in action, the composition is simple and frames the two focus characters. He has captured a great amount of movement in this image, the man in white is almost ducking out of the frame towards us, putting the viewer in the photographers position almost as if they were part of the composition. The photographer aimed to capture the hidden beauty of the New York subway. ‘I wanted to transform the subway from its dark, degrading, and impersonal reality into images that open up our experience again to the colour, sensuality, and vitality of the individual souls that ride it each day.’ This image has a deeper meaning that contradicts the immediate first impression that the viewer gets of the scene. The man at gunpoint was a thief attempting to steal Davidson's camera, and the man with the gun is an undercover policeman, hired for the photographer's protection. Bruce Davidson uses this as a comment on how there is always a story behind what you see and encounter on the subway. That rather than being seen as an ugly place of crime and danger, it can be seen as a rich tapestry of various cultures and different people from a range of backgrounds with different stories to tell. He uses bright colours and a range of different photographic techniques to highlight this theme throughout the series. |
Sophie Calle
'Suite Venitienne' Series
After returning to Paris, Sophie Calle felt as if she no longer knew her hometown, when aiming to rekindle memories and a sense of belonging she became interested in the private lives and journeys of individuals through Paris. In order to rediscover the city she chose to follow strangers at random, tracking their day to day travels. She then became interested in one individual, and became so obsessed that she followed him to Venice where she followed and recorded his day to day life, aiming to discover more about him as a person.
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Calle's format is documentary: black and white, un-posed shots combined with diary-like reports and descriptive texts. The result is not necessarily refined or composed. They are shots usually of the back of the model, usually walking alone or among crowds.
Sophie Calle took these images using a hand held SLR camera, using fast film to catch movement without blurring. The model is usually in the centre of the image, caught in movement from behind. She has included columns or walls in the composition to convey the idea that she is covert and unseen, hiding from the model like a sniper. This covert voyeurism is a relationship which the viewer also takes part in, in a sense becoming an accomplice. This surveillance of individuals began as a means of Calle re-finding her place in her hometown, but developed into a method of discovering more about a stranger without face to face contact. She wanted to find out more about the models relationship with his surroundings in order to learn her surroundings and sense of place and belonging. |
Hotel Series
Sophie Calle continued her theme by taking photos of the contents of peoples hotel rooms when working as a maid. Capturing images of peoples belongings, she expressed how much you can learn about someone simply by seeing what they take on holiday. I liked the idea that you can create a portrait of someone without them being in the picture, and how through little hints from objects you can learn more about them.
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Sophie Calle Response
For this set of images I re-created Sophie Calles Suite Venitienne series by following a stranger I came across outside an antique auction room. I decided to follow him because of his bright yellow raincoat, which ended up making keeping track of him a lot easier. I aimed to find out as much as I could about him in the brief time I had to follow before I lost him. Using his actions alongside what he wore and carried with him as clues, I gradually learnt more about him.
- From his bicycle I knew that he either enjoyed cycling or did not own a car.
- From his visits to auction rooms and stalls in camden passage I learnt that he collects antiques. I learnt what sort of antiques he collects from the items he was interested in and what stalls he visited.
- From his familiarity with stall owners I learnt that he regularly visits these places, which implies that he lives nearby.
- He must be reasonably affluent as he was not put off by the high prices of some antiques.
- He must be a patient man as he waited over half an hour to find out about a picture frame.
- From his interactions with strangers i learnt that he is polite and well mannered.
- To feel comfortable wearing a bright yellow, full length raincoat he must be quite eccentric.
- From his bicycle I knew that he either enjoyed cycling or did not own a car.
- From his visits to auction rooms and stalls in camden passage I learnt that he collects antiques. I learnt what sort of antiques he collects from the items he was interested in and what stalls he visited.
- From his familiarity with stall owners I learnt that he regularly visits these places, which implies that he lives nearby.
- He must be reasonably affluent as he was not put off by the high prices of some antiques.
- He must be a patient man as he waited over half an hour to find out about a picture frame.
- From his interactions with strangers i learnt that he is polite and well mannered.
- To feel comfortable wearing a bright yellow, full length raincoat he must be quite eccentric.
Photographer's Gallery Exhibition
Geraldo de BarrosThe piece is a collage on glass its border is raised on one side giving the composition perspective as if the image is coming towards you. the image is of a small crowd of people outside an old fashioned front door. The view of the interior of the house has been physically cut out.
The photographer has collaged a black border and a sepia photo onto a small pane of glass. He has manipulated the image by cutting out the view through the door. |
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Taylor JonesIn Taylor Jones' 'Dear Photograph' series he blends old family photos of strangers with modern photos by holding up the image against their modern day setting. For many of these images, the stranger re-visited the places they grew up in, whilst guiding Taylor Jones, giving this series a deeper meaning, with different stories for each strangers image. below is a caption written by one of these strangers.
Dear Photograph, My brother and I were raised by our grandparents (you could say they saved our lives). My brother, grandpa and grandma all died within a six year period. So it was an emotional road trip for me to visit the house we grew up in and to find the owner keeps the yard immaculate just like my grandpa did. JD |
Taylor Jones Response - Trafalgar SquareI responded to Taylor Jones' 'Dear Photograph' series with a photo of Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery, which I blended with an image from the internet. I like the way that they have different lighting conditions, the contrast between night and day shows how lighting conditions can change the way you look at a scene. I would like to develop this idea further.
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During the walk through London on the Photographer's Gallery Trip i focused on the idea of how the appearance of strangers gives you an insight to their private lives. Inspired by my previous Sophie Calle response, I focused on people wearing bright coloured or eye catching clothing, which is hard to find in London during winter as many people dress in reserved, black, grey or dark toned clothes. I liked the way that these individuals stuck out in the crowd among the greys of buildings and dark tones of the crowds. Similarly to before, I tried to follow these people for as long as possible, tracking their day to day movements in order to learn more about them. However as I had to stick with the rest of the class on the walk this became difficult with some individuals, which is shown where I have only one shot of some people.
I would like to continue this idea and will aim to capture as much as possible about an individual in one shot, using items they carry, clothes they wear and the places they visit as clues. |
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I edited the first three images in this slideshow on photoshop by turning up the vibrancy and slightly increasing the contrast. I then altered the colour balance, usually by turning up the yellow and green in the highlights, increasing the yellow in the mid-tones and the blue and magenta in the shadows. This brought the viewers attention to the target by highlighting the brightness of the subject matter and the darkness and grey tones of the crowds.
Physically Manipulated Portraits
Carsten WitteA number of decidedly unsettling portraits from Hamburg-based photographer Carsten Witte from his series Intuition. He covers his models in makeup and uses clever lighting conditions to create the effect that the skin and flesh has been removed, exposing the bare bone in some areas of the model's face. Below I have recreated this effect by drawing over two studio portraits using biro.
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Digitally Manipulated Portraits
Gordon Magnin
Gordon Magnin creates strange manipulated portraits by rotating geometrical sections of their face, usually using celebrities and well known individuals in mass media as his subject matter.
I created similar pieces from studio portrait shots, using photoshop to rotate sections of the face. I liked the way that the faces were distorted and almost unrecognisable at first glance. |
Silhouettes
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For the silhouette task I used a spotlight pointed at a fabric sheet, with my model holding a frame inbetween. I took photos from the other side of the fabric sheet, capturing the clean cast shadows.
I developed this idea by having the model push their face through the fabric sheet and frame, giving the image a surreal and unsettling feel. |
First strand: Photo Collage
Serge Mendzhiyskogo
Russian artist Serge Medzhiyskogo produces confusing urban scenes by rearranging photographic strips. The collaged process is a subtle manipulation of a straight forward image. His photos are mainly of busy cityscapes sliced and then combined in a very unorthodox fashion creating a new look for the city he depicts. Serge Mendzhiyskogo does not have a website so I will leave you here with a selection from his magnificent work.
Above, you’ll see a piece documenting the city of Moscow. I like the similarity to an average tourist poster, and I like how Mendzhiyskogo’s collage questions how pieces of the landscape fit together – even if we, the viewers, are aware of the look and feel of the original image. |
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First Set
Second Set
I developed my idea by capturing scenes where disastrous events occured, I wanted to see whether people could recognise the scene after it had been obscured and distorted by photo collage.
This is a shop in highgate which was the scene of a bombing.
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These are the homes of mass murderer .........., the first is in cricklewood and the second is in muswell hill.
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Second Strand: Light and Shadows
For this strand I am looking at how light and shadow can change the way that you look at things. I was inspired by both the use of colour in Bruce Davidson's 'Subway Series', the use of lighting in film sets (for example the film noir film 'The Third Man') and the silhouette task I performed earlier this unit.
To express this theme I have taken images of alleyways in the daytime and in the night time, looking at the effect that lighting has on the scene. I could develop this idea by capturing alleyways or spooky looking areas where people have died or crimes have happened, giving the two contrasting scenes a deeper meaning and unsettling feel.
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Editing and Enhancing Images
I edited my set of images on photoshop to emphasise my theme and the message I am trying to put across. In the night time shots this was done by decreasing the brightness and altering the colour balance, increasing the blue and magenta in the dark tones and turning up the yellow and cyan in the highlights. This made the night time shots look more threatening and spooky, exaggerating the shadows and giving them a purple tint.
I used a similar process for the day time shots; increasing the brightness, turning up the vibrancy, slightly saturating the image and increasing the yellow and cyan in the highlights and mid-tones. These changes helped to make the day time scenes appear more friendly and inviting. |
I developed my strand by photographing local areas where tragedies had happened. The set above and below of the walkways/alleys are the scenes of numerous stabbings and assaults and the church scene to the left is where a child was hit by a car on her way to school. I liked the way that these 'crime scenes' looked so innocent and friendly when in daylight, yet so threatening when shown at night time. This set, I think, really helps to prove how something so simple as the lighting conditions can alter the way the viewer feels about a scene or image.
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Third Strand: Collecting and Recording
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For this strand I will look at how collected objects can give us clues to a persons personality and character. This idea was inspired by Sophie Calle's Hotel Series aswell as similar themes from Dryden Goodwin's Linear series and Bruce Davidson's Subway series which I looked into earlier this unit. I was also inspired by the feature of attributes or symbols in old master paintings, which symbolise different aspects of the person's life and often success.
I took photos of my family kitchen drawer, my dad's 'essentials' drawer and the laid out contents of my mum's bag. I chose to capture these different sets of objects as I thought they expressed the character of my dad, mum and family as much as possible in one photo. I like the way that each object acts as a clue, step by step letting you know more about their owner. I thought that the way items were laid out in the third image made the photo more visually interesting and made it easier for the viewer to use the items as clues. I would like to continue this compositional idea in my next set of images. |
Celebrity Essentials - www.Hypebeast.com
'Essentials' is a page on the clothing and media website; Hypebeast, they are a series of images containing what different celebrities consider to be their essentials, I found this page while browsing the website.The selected items are laid out neatly in a square formation, similarly to how I set out objects in my initial photos for collecting and recording. The photos have different backgrounds that are chosen by the celebrity which, alongside their essentials, helps to express their personality, likes and dislikes, hobbies and profession in one photo. When looking at these images I found myself visualising what the person looks like and how they act without seeing them or actually knowing who they were, I liked the idea that you can capture everything about someone without them being in the photo.
A.S.A.P IllzIllz plans to launch his own collection of jewelry, a sample chain of which is included in this photo. Documenting his own successes is important to Illz, a trait reflected in the inclusion of a recent XXL magazine spread featuring himself and his fellow A$AP Mob members. As for other items included in his Essentials, there are the A$AP Mob Margiela shoes, and other high fashion items including a Louis Vuitton “Monogramouflage” duffle bag, Dior Homme jeans and a Fendi wallet. A Stussy Varsity jacket also makes an appearance, although Illz stated the item is not simply there because of his recent relationship with the brand. And while the iPhone could arguably be an essential for anyone living in today’s day and age, it serves a particularly important role in the life of an A$AP member, whose fame and success is a result of the power of social media and the internet. Take a look at the rest of A$AP Illz’s Essentials, shown to the left.
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I developed my idea by setting out my dad's, mum's and my own essentials, all chosen by ourselves, in a similar fashion to the Hypebeast essentials. I asked the model of the 'portraits' to choose a background that expressed them, which helped to give clues of their personality to the audience aswell as making the composition more interesting. For my dad's image, shown below to the left, I used a background of sanded wood, the floorboards in the image were laid down, sanded and finished by my dad himself. This helps to express the creative and practical side of my dads personality as well as hinting at his profession. Although this set of images is very similar to those on the Hypebeast 'Essentials' page I thought that they gave a better idea of the model's personality and character because they aren't celebrities and the images won't be released to mass media, meaning the models have nothing to prove. As a result of this, the objects chosen are less to do with success and what they are famous for, in many of the Hypebeast scenes the model aims to make a statement, for example Meek Mill's essentials (shown bottom right in the photo gallery above) consist of only four items, none of which give us a real idea of what he's like as a person.
After looking closely at the set of three images below I noticed how you can spot the links between my family members through the items they chose, I would like to develop my theme further by creating a series of 'portraits' for a particular group or area. It would be interesting to see the similarities, differences and links between people in the group through the objects they consider essential.
After looking closely at the set of three images below I noticed how you can spot the links between my family members through the items they chose, I would like to develop my theme further by creating a series of 'portraits' for a particular group or area. It would be interesting to see the similarities, differences and links between people in the group through the objects they consider essential.
Sotheby Road Series
As a final development of this strand I decided to create an 'essentials portrait' for each person living on my street. This series will not only express my earlier theme and message of how a person can be described through their belongings, but will show how there is a wide range of people with different passions and pasts, with different stories to tell in the smallest of areas, such as a quiet street like mine. It will also show clues to links between the people on my street, I want the viewer to be able to figure out what relationships the models have with each other, making the series more interactive.