Task 7 Evaluation

Photography and Photographic Evaluation

Visual LanguageI followed a theme of discovery throughout my photographs. I found discovery and fashion photography hard to link together, but with the use of the location, Nunnington Hall, I did some research before going and found a lot about the history of the building and the people who had lived there. I then linked this with my photographs in a subtle, but effective way. The fashion is still the main feature in the photographs I did this with the use of the camera and post production to make her in more focus, this makes her stand out more, also she is in front making her the center of attention while, in the background of each photograph are framed photographs and paintings of members of the family hanging and framed around the model. The association with the model and the historic photographs gives a subtle juxtaposition but the colours used compliment a connection. For example looking at the photograph to the right the model looks a lot more modern but when looking at the ladies in the pictures behind the model you see the poses are awfully similar with a hand resting somewhere on the body and having a blank expression on their faces. The link between the model in the 21st century and the women in the framed photographs in the 17th century shows the unusual connection, such as the discovery and history within the house. Looking at the same photograph, I use the sense of colour to connect the model to the old photographs. The photographs in the frames all have a slightly distorted grey/brown wash to them, with this in mind I produced a slightly warm brown wash over the top and this makes the white look slightly distorted and dirty. The corners of the photograph have been slightly darkened but this was due to the shadow in the room created by a large window, but instead of taking them out I kept them in to create a faded feel. This also focuses in on the model more because it feels like the room is fading in around her. Irving Penn’s fashion photography uses shadows in the corners to captivate the model and make them center of attention. Although he placed the model in the center of the photograph I thought I would place mine to one side. This is harder to focus the model to the middle and to be the main attention, but I feel like I have successfully done this with the use of shadows and complimenting colours. The fashion I used to feature on the model is casual and compared to Irving Penn’s work, a little less classy. It is more slumped and less fitted. The warm colours compliment an autumn theme suggesting this would be an autumn feature in a fashion magazine.My final sets of images are all quite similar so they can be brought together in a series. The location compliments this with the frames in the images and the old

fashioned woodwork and décor. A complete set of photographs that looked like they were in a series together was what I set out to achieve but if I was to do this again I would change the clothes of the model because fashion photography is about different ways to wear fashion.

AudienceThe audience for my work would be the quirky type and who is interested in bringing back the vintage fashion. My work would be placed in high-end fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle.

Although these magazines promote expensive and modern clothes, they are starting to bring back expensive vintage fashion, therefore I can see Vogue doing a special edition to do with vintage fashion and my photographs would fit and compliment with this. Vogue has produced special editions before for British fashion and Russia in Vogue. The two photographers I looked at in task three, David Bailey and Deborah Turbeville both had their photographs placed in Vogue and my photography has been inspired by these images, so therefore the same audience they had for their photography should be the same for me. This would be right if they were all produced in the same year but Bailey’s photograph was published in Vogue in 1961 and Turbeville had her work published in 1975 and mine 2014. This causes a social conflict because the fashion has changed and people’s interests have changed. Now a day, this sort of fashion would be less popular and would appeal to a smaller audience. But in 1960 to the 1970’s this fashion would be what everyone was wearing and what all the women wanted to wear therefore it would have been more popular. Even though the vintage fashion is starting to come back it would still not have a large an audience like before. I would think my target audience would be a female aged between 24-32 in an upper middle class social status.

Historical and Cultural ContextThe theme of my work through the brief was discovery, and the location I took my photographs in has a high amount of historical and cultural context to discover. Before I went to Nunnington Hall I researched the history of the house on the internet and found some interesting facts about the past residents of Nunnington Hall.

The house has been lived in since the early 13th century but the main story I found out about the house was the paranormal activity. It has been said the sound of footsteps and children’s screams have been heard. The stories behind these activities have come from when Lord Nunnington’s wife died he was left to raise their only son on his own. He remarried and when she fell pregnant she treated her own son well but Lord Nunnington’s son poorly. She knew the Lord was ill and she wanted her own son to inherit the Hall. When the Lord of Nunnington passed the lady became very cruel to her stepson and locked him in an attic room. Her own son would sneak upstairs to the attic every day to visit his older brother. But one day he went up into the attic and found it completely empty… Some say he may have escaped and run away, while others think the lady may have murdered him and had hidden his body, but he was never found again. Although the lady was happy to be rid of the older brother the young boy was very upset, he wandered around the house every day looking for his step-brother and calling his name out of the windows. When one day as the little boy wandered around the house, he leaned too far out of a window and fell to his death. The Lady would sit for hours, staring out the window, mumbling to herself, slowly loosing sanity. She wandered the halls of Nunnington, calling out her son's name at night. Soon after she died the house was sold to new owners and they experienced a high level of paranormal activity. They heard the rustle of the lady's dress going up and down the stairs but when investigated, they found nothing there. Doors would open and close on their own and they would often hear the sounds of weeping. A

young French lady came to stay at and was given the bed in the Paneled Room. The young woman had hardly slept at all because she was terrified and said that every night something black and shapeless came through the wall, passed slowly over her bed and went out through the window. Then, she said, she heard the terrified scream of a young boy. Some guests have reported seeing ghostly black figures in the Paneled bedroom.

With all these stories I was very interested in the house and its historical background and wanted to incorporate the history into my pictures. This is why I have used the existing photographs in the house of the residents and relatives to frame my own photographs and model. It brings the life the history of the

people who have been in the house and the ghostly present that still lives there. Each photograph I have taken has included a photograph or a painting of someone who has lived in the house. The historical background in the house has been transferred in the photograph and once you know about the paranormal activity in the house it makes the photographs look more eerie. The juxtaposition of the photographs and paintings in the same photograph as the model that is being framed by these historical presents show the different time contrasts and although the history is pushed back it still makes it appearances, for instance the ghostly presents. This is how I wanted to portray the discovery theme in my photographs. I feel my photographs show the fashion on the model well, but also shows the history of the location in the background which contrasts and makes it more effective connecting to the theme as well as the style of photography.

Intention and Fitness for PurposeMy intentions for this product were to produce a series of photographs that linked with the theme, discovery, and that were able to be placed in a special vintage edition of Vogue. When I got to the location I looked around the rooms and chose the rooms with good lighting and features. The lighting is what I had to compromise with as too much sunlight in certain rooms could corrode photographs and objects which they had on display in the room. Therefore I had to change the ISO level and the shutter speed to let in more light. I had to do this for the photographs in the blue room and in my opinion they are some of my favorite photographs I took all day and this was because I changed the ISO level and the way the lighting in the room reflected onto the models face highlighted features in a great way. I was inspired by the photograph titled Pigalle photographed by Deborah Turbeville before I went. I wanted to make my photographs to look and feel like this picture and studied hard on where the best place would be to capture this moment. The comparisons from my photography and Turbeville’s photography show how effective the use of a large window in the corner and how it leads in some effective light and shadows in a photograph. This has been incorporated into my own photography, I used an off camera window with natural light coming though to highlight certain features on the model. As you can see the right side of the models face is light from the natural light coming from the window, but the shadows create a great sense of depth in the picture and it highlights features in a creative but

natural way. Although I feel this is really effective, but if I was to do it again I would make more light open to the one side to make it slightly brighter. This was one of the rooms where I could only have a certain amount of light because of the objects in the room. I wanted all my images to link together like the ‘Swinging London’ set of photographs produced by David Bailey. His work had a theme to it and they were all laid out in a certain way. I studied the set of photographs and took this on towards my own set and in each image it has at least one painting or photograph framed in the background linking them all together.

Inspiration

My inspiration came from multiple occurrences, two big ones from studying the history of the location, this helped me decide how to incorporate the theme with the style of photography. It also gives the photographs some history within the modern model which is portrayed in the front. The second thing that inspired me to shoot the style which I have portrayed my photographs are through the photography artist I studied before going to the location. Each artist brought something different. Turbeville and her mysterious dark images with a slit of light lighting up the pictures. Bailey and his complete Swinging Sixties set of images. Each artist gave me inspiration from their existing fashion photography. Looking at fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle inspired me to create the fashion style photography. They showed me how this type of photography can be used towards other people inspiration, if that me fashion, art or work like this. The layout and purpose of fashion photography has grown with time and with a contrast of time and history a large theme portrayed in my photography this has been influenced by the history of fashion in magazines and the way women were portrayed and are beginning to be again now due to the type of magazine, for instance, in high end women magazines the women is seen as a dominant character and is shown to be classy and knows what she wants, although less classy magazine are usually aimed towards men and women are taken advantage of through their body. This was also the case in the 1920. A cause of history repeating itself.

Final Images

I feel that my final images have been successful. They all compliment each other and look professional, especially when put into a magazine format. In my feedback two people said, “the magazine covers look really affective and professional.” I choose the photographs that had the quality and qualities of a fashion magazine photo shoot. Because it was a fashion shoot I took into consideration the clothes and the angle I needed to be positioned to achieve both the location and the fashion that would complement each other. The images in the white room are all well lit and in good quality, I had a lot of photographs from this room to choose from. In postproduction I

used these photographs from this room to get the monochrome effect as they have the best lighting. I also tried out other effects such as trying to make the image warmer or putting a slight colour through a black and white image. I used a sepia tone when experimenting and found that it made the photograph look older and more mysterious, the model looked washed out too, so I decided to go back to the colour photograph as it looks like it would be featured in a fashion magazine. My final images are different to the real fashion world out there now-a-days, but I believe my work would still be popular and would feature in Vogue as many more people are becoming interested in it and this style is starting to come back into the fashion world. The final set of images may be slightly similar but I wanted there to be a connection in the series of photographs so they can be linked together as a set.

Technical CompetenceI used Photoshop to edit my photographs but before I took my photographs I practiced different Photoshop skills and experimented with new ones too. This gave me the chance to learn more about Photoshop and what techniques are good for certain things. I learnt where to use the dodge and burn tool and how that can make a photograph more effective. From learning and taking these skills I learnt before postproduction I was able to apply the correct edit to make my photograph have a certain feeling about it. I also gained more technical skills from the use of my camera. When we arrived at the location the lighting was very poor and dark therefore I learnt how to let in more light and how to change the shutter speed. By choosing the right shutter speed it clears up the camera shake and creates more contrast from light and shadow. As you can see from the two images you can see the difference it has made from changing the settings to create a better quality image.

Creative AbilityFirst of all I found linking the theme, discovery, to fashion photography quite hard, but after research I found a style of fashion photography that looked captivating. The style I found was very classic 1960’s and old looking. And once I researched the location I made a connection about the history in the house and the old style photograph would fit with each other. I planned for in each photograph I took for there to be an old photograph or painting in the background to link to the history and discovery of the building. Gaining more technical competence with my camera let me to take more control in my photographs and I was able to achieve a certain effect without the use of postproduction. A great creative inspiration from this topic has been the photographer’s work I looked at and studied. From looking at other photographer’s work it gave me an image with what I wanted my images to look like and how they should be presented. It also gave me an insight on where these photographs would be viewed. My creativity when looking at my final set of

images may seem down and this is what I could improve on next time by changing the clothes the models are wearing and the location.

Time ManagementI managed my time well by completing everything and getting it in on time and uploaded onto my blog. I stuck to a time schedule on the day of the photo shoot; I planned how long it would take to get the model ready, time to set up the location and shooting time. This was successful and I met the deadline. Luckily my images did not need a lot of post production time therefore I was ahead of schedule during the post production process, but believe my images were as good as they needed to be and if I used anymore time I would end up distorting the images. If I was to do it again I would space my time out better with the people who I was photographing with because I felt like I was rushed while taking my photographs and this is the main reason why I did not change the clothes on the models.

FeedbackReading back on my feedback I found that people thought my strongest image was the forth and sixth image and each feedback sheet highlighted that the colours complement the photograph. This was one strong thing that came across all my photographs. The areas in which came up that I needed to improve on where improving one image of the lightness of the models face, using the burn tool would help solve this. All together though I have taken on board my feed back and found it very use full.

My Personal Feedback Without the use of research beforehand these photographs would not have been half as thought out and as successful as they are now. Leads of inspiration has helped me achieve quality and lead me to improve and advance though the project. Also without practicing and learning new skills on Photoshop the post production I did would not have been so skilled. Overall I feel my work has come on a long way from when I started the project and without the research and practicing I could not have achieve half as much as I have.