British Culture Mind Map

When I originally created this mind map I was focused on using symbolism of Britain and the areas around Britain to produce a body of work but my idea changed and I decided to stick with landscape photography. My idea changed because I realised the amount of photographs that I could establish to link to British culture, the nature parts of Britain can be documented but also the city parts of London. The majority of ideas I have produced in my mind map are present in my work because I have documented the majority of the landmarks within London which is associated with British identity as these are the main features that draw people into the city. By using landscape photography I have captured a significant group of images from each of the locations above, I travelled to London to capture the landscapes and I also focused on my local town to capture images, these were my original ideas but I have progressed it further. My project did turn out successful but some idea on the mind map have been changed or progressed. 

Robert Frank

Robert Frank

Context
Robert Frank (born November 9, 1924) is a Swiss-American photographer and documentary filmmaker. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled The Americans. The Americans looked at the sad times through America, it captured the feelings through America during the 1960s when black people and women were treated extremely unfairly. Not only did he document the black people and women but he also documented the lives of people with different religions that were also treated unfairly within this period. He didn't immediately want to photograph these feelings through America but when he was confronted by these feelings he wanted to document them in the way that he has. I will look mainly at this shoot by Robert Frank because it expresses deeper meanings which I can used within my shoots as he documents the lives of these people during this time. 

In this image we can see a woman in an elevator, she is surrounded by dark, shadow figures. Her expression looks sad, depressed and it seems as though she isn't actually there. She looks small and innocent compared to these figures, this shows that she is less important than them during this time however she is extremely important within this image because she is the main focus. Robert Frank has made someone who wasn't important during the 1960s become important within his photography. The dark shadow figures appear to be men which proves to us that they had more importance over the women. Her expression is the first thing that automatically draws us into the image as we feel sorry for her, the image tugs at our emotions as we couldn't image what it would feel like living in this time. 

In this image we can see white people and black people on a bus, the white people are sitting at the front and the black people are sitting at the front. The social hierarchy of this time seems to be that the older people have more importance over the younger people but the younger white people have importance over the older black people as this is the order they are sitting in the bus. We can see that within this image the white people serve as more important just by the way they are dressed, the black people are in poorer clothes whereas the white people are dressed smarter. Robert Frank focuses more on the expressions of the people in his photography, we are drawn into the black mans expression as he looks sad and in pain similar to the white children they seem scared. Their expressions show us how the black people are treated and the innocence of the younger generation during this time as they didn't know what was going on.

In this image we can see what looks like a mirror with the words 'sick of goodbyes' written across it. The words have been written in a liquid causing it to drip down the mirror which can link to tears showing sadness of the time and the tears that people have cried. Also, we can see someone holding a toy figure in the reflection of the mirror, this could be a representation of the person holding the figure or could represent the whole nation. In many of Frank's images he focuses on the expressions of the people in his images however, in this image it doesn't show a person but it shows the feelings that the people with these expressions are feeling. The words written on the mirror show us that people are sick of loosing their friends and family during this time as many people died. 

In this image we can see a girl holding a kitten, and it also looks like she has a sleeping bag over he shoulder. The fact that she has a sleeping bag makes us think that she may be homeless, which adds to the explanation of he expression. Throughout this shoot Frank focuses on the hurt and sadness through this time which is evident in this image as this girl has been forced to live on the streets. Behind the girl we can see traffic and cars which show us that she is in a main street somewhere but from her expression she looks lost and looks as if she is off daydreaming about something else. The fact that she is holding a cat shows us that this may be the only thing she can look to and the only thing she finds comfort in as she is holding it so close to her. 

This image is very different compared to the other images I have analysed as it doesn't show the sadness in America, it shows more symbolism which is what I want to incorporate into my work. In this image we can see a long stretch of road with tall palm trees, in front of this road we can see a car turning into it. The image contains a lot of symbolism as we associate these tall trees with Hollywood and we also associate the car with this as well. The long stretch of road in the centre of the image represents the road to Hollywood which everyone associates with the entertainment industry. I wanted to contribute this image with the other images because it shows as well as photographing the bad/sad parts of a place there are also happy parts that can also be photographed. 

Influence and Summary

Robert Frank documents the changes within the American society and shows the racial tensions between the white and black people in 1960s America. I chose to look at this photographer at the beginning of my work because I thought that I would document the personal lives of British people but my idea changed and I began to document the British culture through landscapes. In a way my work has related to Robert Frank because we both are documenting the culture and changes within a country but his work is more focused on documentary. my technical ideas and conceptual ideas do not relate to Robert Frank at all because I used landscape settings to take my image and I have documented British Culture rather than the changes within the British society.

Central London Westminster; Shoot 3 Work Diary

Central London Westminster; Shoot 3 Work Diary

Shoot Ideas

My ideas for documenting this shoot comes from the idea of wanting to investigate British Culture. Documenting central London will help investigate this topic because we associate Britain with central London and famous landmarks. In Westminster there are several famous landmarks that I can document, within London there are various symbols that I can document as they show objects related with London. I want to make London look inviting and beautiful because there are some aspects that are not as pretty, I will still document these places because the show how not everything is always inviting. 

Research


I have decided to incorporate Martin Parr's work with my shoot because his documentation of different places links to the idea that I am trying to show. 

In this image we can see a man and a woman wearing sailors hats taking a selfie in front of a bridge. This image is called Selfie Stick which indicates to us that the selfie stick is the main focus in the image. Parr's comedic values are visible in this image as it is almost like he is mocking the people taking a "selfie". The fact that older people are using modern technology is ironic because stereotypically we would not assume they would buy it. The message that Martin Parr is trying to portray is that they prefer to take pictures with the bridge rather than admire what is in front of them. 

This image links to my shoot because when in London there are people who take pictures with the famous landmarks and do not enjoy the view. Some of Martin Parr's other work has influenced me in this shoot, I like his work because it has a comedic effect alongside a documentation effect. The majority of Martin Parr's work contains saturated images which I am not entirely sure if I am going to use in this shoot because the feel that I want to create isn't associated with bright, saturated colours. 

Image Bank

As well as carrying out research of photographers I also carried out some visual research. The following images I have found relate to the way I want to photograph within my shoot. 

 

These images are the types of images that I would like to capture within my shoot. 

AO1: You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued. 

Contact Sheet

These are all the images that I have taken within this shoot. The images highlighted in red show that they need improvement, some of them are over exposed and not in focus, next time I will try to capture all my images correctly.

Best Images

I took this image because it is similar to one that I took in my Waltham Abbey shoot. The difference between this image and the other one is that this is more brighter and the trees look more inviting. This is located in front of the London Eye so it is a more inviting location compared to the graveyard from the last shoot. This represents the other parts of London because usually we wouldn't associate London with being this peaceful and beautiful. This image is extremely aesthetically pleasing where the colour changes from darker to lighter. I am grateful I captured these trees when I did because when the leaves fall off it will not be this beautiful. 

Although, we normally associate seagulls with the beach we still tend to see them around London because there is always people with food. I took this image because it links to Martin Parr and his images of the beach, he took similar close-up images of seagulls but at a different location. I like the background of this image because it shows the other side of the Thames and the water in the Thames. It was not easy to capture this image because the seagull could've flown away but I am glad that I was able to capture it at this point. 

This is an image I took of Big Ben, it is similar to the image I took of the Church in Waltham Abbey as it is from a lower angle. Although this isn't a aesthetically pleasing picture of Big Ben because of the construction that is going on around it, it still represents the idea of London to us, there is always some kind of building work present around and in London so this image serves as some importance. It also represents that not everything is always beautiful it does go through stages of being ugly. This is similar to William Eggleston's work because he photographs the ugly, Eggleston photographs elements that aren't exactly appealing to the eye but the details he picks up are significant. This is similar to this image because the scaffolding can be considered as ugly but the details that I have picked up relate to the building work that is present around London.

I took this image because it has great representation of London within it. This shows the underground symbol which is extremely famous around London and it is an iconic symbol because everyone recognises it. Also, the fact this is Westminster Station shows symbolism of London because Westminster is famous in the UK. I like how there is trees in the image but also elements of the sky because it gives a positive in the image. This image is aesthetically pleasing because the rule of thirds is present, the sky, the trees and the station sign. 

 

In this image there is also a lot of symbolism because it shows a sign that we see in different places around London. I chose to take this image at this angle so that we could see the London Eye in the background because this serves as some symbolism as it is a famous landmark. This also shows the beauty of London because of the effect that the sky gives it, the brightness of the sky makes the image appear brighter. When editing this image I think cropping it will make it a better image because we will then be able to focus on the main elements of the image. 

Images that require improvement

This image I have taken requires improvement because it is shot too bright which does add an effect and can be worked with but personally I don't like it. If I had worked with the camera settings I would've been able to capture this image better but because the bird kept moving it was extremely hard. I eventually captured a good image with this bird, it is present above in my best images.

Unlike the image before which was over exposed this image is under exposed. It was extremely hard to capture this image well because of the sky light and the colour of the lamp post. To achieve a better image I have researched how to photograph in camera raw which may help me in my forth coming shoots. I will experiment in photographing in camera raw to try and improve my under exposed images.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My main idea with this shoot was to capture the different aspects of London life, this links to my illustrated proposal where I talk about British Culture. I believe that I have displayed British Culture well in this shoot because I have shown different symbols of this throughout this shoot. By documenting Central London it shows the main aspects of British Culture because this is extremely famous in Britain. Within my shoot Martin Parr has influenced me because of his documentation of British people, the images that he takes of seagulls at the beach also influence my image of the seagull in my best images. I will experiment with both colour and black and white when editing these images in photoshop. 

Within this shoot I have captured all the images that I have expected to take. In my next shoot I am going to go back to Waltham Abbey and shoot again. Regarding the techniques I will use I want to photograph in camera raw to improve my under exposed images.

With regards to my best images...

The images I have taken are different but they show the different scenes we see around this one place in London. All of my images are aesthetically pleasing to an extent because it shows the beauty of the London and the symbols we think of. Like my shoot before this majority of my images were central, I think I have improved from this because my images all have different structures. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I took these images on a Nikon D3300 in aperture priority mode. My camera settings for this shoot were shutter speed at 1/500s, f/11 and ISO at 320. I haven't really been focusing on my camera settings within my shoots which I need to start focusing on because it will produce me with better images. The f stop can work for landscape images but I need to use a higher one to capture a landscape image with a wide depth of field. In my next shoot I need to focus more on the camera settings and this will provide me with better images. At this stage I am not really sure of the actual route I want to take which is why my camera settings vary so much.

Next I took my images into photoshop to improve them. Screenshots of the processes are visible below. 

 

To edit this image I took it into the camera raw filter setting in Photoshop. The screenshot of the filter process is visible above in which you can see the settings I used to create a brighter and more saturated image. I chose to saturate the image in this way because it links more to the photographer I am looking at, Martin Parr. I also cropped this image slightly to focus more on the bird rather than anything else. 

To edit this image I cropped the image first to have more focus on the central part of the image. Then using the camera raw filter, screenshot above is visible, I lightened the top areas of the trees by increasing the whites in the image, I also darkened the bottom areas of the trees to create more of a shadow. I also saturated and increased the vibration of the image to link it back to Martin Parr. 

To edit this image I also cropped it to allow there to be more focus on the sign rather than what is around the sign. Then like all the other images I took the image into the camera raw filter, screenshot visible above, I made the image seem lighter than it originally was and increased the saturation and vibrance of the image to link it to Martin Parr.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The research I carried out on Martin Parr enabled me to be able to document people around Britain in different ways and be able to include symbolism within my work to show symbols of the area. I chose to research Martin Parr for this shoot because I am documenting the happier and famous parts of London so his use of saturation will help within this shoot. I have experimented with saturating and making my images more vibrant above in Photoshop which links to Martin Parr's work. 

   

The image that I have taken is similar to that of Martin Par's because it contains a seagull. The way I have edited my image relates to Martin Parr's because I have increased the saturation and vibrance of the image similar to the way that Martin Parr does. The seagull's are symbols of Britain in both of these and the brightness of the image gives a positive effect even though British people hate seagulls. Also, both of these images have the location of blurred in the background which adds importance to the seagulls because they are part of the main focus. 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

I have chosen those four pictures as my final outcome from this shoot because they all have elements of symbolism within them. The first image displays to us the nature elements of Britain and the parts of it we don't think of when Central London comes to our minds. The second picture represents the animals we associate with Britain. The third picture shows symbols of London with the skyline, the black cab and bus. Finally, the last picture displays symbolism with the underground symbol. I have chosen to edit all these images in similar ways by increasing the saturation because I was going for a more positive effect because it is a happy place. I linked all of these images with Martin Parr because he uses extreme saturation in his images. These images I have taken are very different compared to the images I presented in my last shoot of Waltham Abbey because I presented those image in black and white. When the images are stripped of their editing I believe all my current shoots link because they all express British Culture which is the main idea behind all of my shoots. 

Small Town Aspects Waltham Abbey; Shoot 2 Work Diary

Small Town Aspects Waltham Abbey; Shoot 2 Work Diary

Shoot Ideas

My ideas for this shoot come from the want to explore British Culture, by already exploring the seaside landscapes I wanted to explore the small towns that are present throughout Britain. The aspects of the small towns that I want to capture is the types of sights you are likely to see in mainly every small town. I want to make these sights look as beautiful and inviting as the seaside shoot has because as British people we forget the beauties of the smaller towns. This shoot will link to my illustrated proposal because it will show the British Culture in the smaller places in Britain.

Research

The photographers I have been researching link to the images that I was preparing to take. The first photographer that I have researched is Paolo Pellegrin. 

Paolo Pellegrin is part of Magnum Photos similar to photographers that I have already researched, Martin Parr and Henri Cartier-Bresson. He is a photo-journalist and documents photography in a different way than the standard photographer, he likes unfinished photography. His photographs create a conversation and dialogue because of the way that they are taken.

One image of Pellegrin's that inspired me was this image. 

I think this image of a building is inspiring because it is photographed in an abstract way which when we quickly look at it a building is not what originally comes to mind. Linking to his unfinished photography, this image creates a conversation because we are likely to discuss what it is. The building is shaped like an arrow pointing up and it comes across as a 2D image because of the way that it is taken.

I can use Pellegrin's ideas within this shoot because I want to create images that cause conversation and dialogue like his do. Also, before my shoot I already knew of a building that I wanted to photograph so this researched helped work out how I would structure my image.

Another photographer that I researched was J.H.Lartigue. Lartigue's photography is related to happiness, he said that he has never taken an image that hasn't made him happy to do so. Unlike many other documentary photographers he documents happy images in black and white where as we would normally associate this with sadness. 

This research will influence the images that I will take.

Image Bank

These images that I have picked relate to my visual research, they are not images I have taken from photographers but they influence the way that I want to express my ideas through this shoot. 

Similar to the research I have carried out about photographers these images will help me with my shoot as they show the ideas that I want to express.

AO1: You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued. 

Contact Sheet

The images within the contact sheet that are highlighted in red are images that need improvement. These images  may have been out of focus or need to be taken with a tripod to improve them. Next time I will make sure that all the images turn out the way I want them to. 

Best Images

 

Firstly, I have experimented with different techniques to show my progression from these techniques. I have used a gif and a sequencing technique within my shoot because I enjoy creating these techniques. I want to use these different techniques within my forthcoming shoots but I want them to link to my illustrated proposal. These techniques do not entirely relate to my shoot but by practicing with these techniques in future shoots I will be able to produce these techniques with relation to my proposal. 

In this image we can see a church, I took this image from a low angle because it shows the church to have more importance as it towers over the camera. This image shows the importance of religion because the church is dominant in the picture. The lack of clouds in the sky gives the sky no depth which again makes the church stand out. There is no other element in the picture apart from the church which is what I wanted to achieve. Paolo Pellegrin took his images of buildings like this, he inspired me to take the image in this way. Also, this church is famous in Waltham Abbey so by photographing it in this way it shows the church to be of great importance. This image shows that although we do not appreciate the smaller towns within Britain they still have great importance within them. 

In this image we can see a person walking through the middle of bushes onto a field, I took this image in this way because I wanted to show the beauty of this place. The surroundings that she is in makes her seem small which can link to the fact that although this town is small it is still of great importance. This image has a great depth of field because we can see far out and all the trees in the background are in focus. Throughout this shoot we can see a lot of elements of nature which is the main aspect of this town as it is filled with nature and trees. We can see from this image that this is an old town because of the lack of a path and the eroding wall. Although this town is old I think I have displayed the beauty of it well.

In this image we can see a pathway enclosed by trees, this image looks peaceful and you can imagine there would be no sound when walking through this pathway. I think there is an element of this image that looks eerie and dark because of the trees, this pathway is through a graveyard which adds to the eeriness and darkness. There is great depth of field within this image because we can see the bright light at the end of the pathway. This image resembles death in a way because you walk through darkness which could relate to an illness but then there is a light at the end of the tunnel which could link to heaven. I feel that I have expressed great meaning through this image.

Images that require improvement

The following images I have selected from my shoot that I believe need improvement.

The reason I think this image needs improvement because it is not entirely in focus as it doesn't have a great depth of field that I wanted. If there was a subject in the image it would've been better but as there is not a main focus of this image it doesn't look pleasing. I was trying to capture the street but the camera settings didn't achieve the image that I wanted. To improve this image I would change the camera settings to make sure that the death of field was captured correctly. 

The reason I think this image needs improvement is because it isn't as close up as I would've liked it to be, the main focus of the image was supposed to be the girl on the bridge but because I didn't zoom in far enough the focus is lost. I think the background of the image is good but without being close up it doesn't serve as much importance as it could've. 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My main idea throughout my shoots links to my illustrated proposal where I stated that I wanted to document British Culture. This shoot was taken in the small town I live in, I think it links to British Culture because it shows the different places around Britain and shows the importance of the bigger places and the smaller place. By documenting a smaller town it shows the importance of it rather than it being seen with no importance which smaller towns normally do. I was inspired by Paolo Pellegrin to take abstract photos of the Waltham Abbey Church and I was inspired by J.H.Lartigue to document the happy parts of the town rather than the derelict/depressing parts. Both these photographers used black and white images so when I am editing my images I will experiment with black and white effects. 

I believe that I have documented Waltham Abbey well and I have produced all the images I expected to produce. However, in my upcoming shoots I feel I need to experiment with different photo structures, in the majority of my shoots I have put the main focus of my image in the centre, to experiment more I could place the main focus in different areas e.g. the left or right side. 

With reference to my best images...

The Church is very central in the image, I could've taken this differently for example from a different angle. Also, the girl walking between the trees is very central as well, if I had taken this from a different angle I could have achieved what was beyond the wall to make the image more intriguing. Also, the image with the trees over the pathway is also very central, I could've taken this from a different angle so that the graveyard by the side of the pathway is visible. This shoot has shown me that i need to experiment with placement within the images which I will do more of in my next shoot.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a Nikon D3300 to take these images. With regards to the settings I used a high shutter speed at 1/4000, I f stop of 4.5 and ISO at 800. I need to focus more on my camera setting because ideally I do not want to use a high ISO because of the noise that could be created within the image. The f stop I used was accurate but when taking landscape images I need to adjust this setting and make it higher so a wide depth of field is created. I didn't use a tripod for my shoots because I wanted to carry the Cartier-Bresson handheld technique throughout my images however I understand that some of my images could've turned out better if I had used a tripod. 

Next I took some of my images and edited them in photoshop, screenshots of the editing process are below.

  

To begin with, I took the image into the camera raw filter and changed it to black and white, the screenshot of the settings can be seen above. After making it black and white I used the burn tool to create a shadow effect on the side of the building as you can see from the image above the right side of the image is darker. I also used the dodge tool to make the sky completely white. I made this image black and white as the colours were not bold and didn't make it stand out but black and white makes the Church seem bolder and more important.

 

Similar to the picture before I took this image into the camera raw filter and made the image black and white, the screenshot of these settings can be seen above. After making the image black and white I used the burn tool to make the trees darker, this gave it more of an eerie feeling as it is located next to grave yard which adds to the eeriness and darkness. Also, I used the burn tool to darken the outside areas of the trees because they were too bright compared to the tree area and it didn't look right. I think the edited image turned out well because it gives the image more depth of meaning as it appears darker and bolder.

 

Similar to both of the other images that I have taken this image into the camera raw filter too and made it black and white, screenshots of the settings are available above. After making the image black and white I used the burn tool to darken the bushes in the foreground and the bushes in the background to make them stand out more. I also took the burn tool and darkened the other parts of the image slightly but not as much as the bushes. I think this image looks better in black and white because it easily identifies the more important parts of the image. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The research I carried out on Paolo Pellegrin enabled me to understand the different ways I can photograph a building which becomes obvious in my shoot as I have photographed a building similar to the way he has. I would like to continue Pellegrin's work further in my forthcoming shoots because although I used his ideas in this shoot there wasn't many buildings in the location that I could experiment with. The research I carried out on J.H.Lartigue enabled me to capture the happiest elements of the town but still have them exist in black and white images. I chose to research two photographers that worked in black and white because I knew that I wanted to present these images in black and white. I have used elements of Lartigue in my work because my images show the happier aspects of the town. Both of these photographers are evident in my work more so Lartigue but I will carry Pellegrin into my future shoots. 

  

The image I took is similar to the image that Pellegrin took, although they are not exactly the same I believe that I have carried out this photographer well. The burning and dodging I used in my image gives the same outcome as Pellegrin's image as his building has a shadow present similar to my image. I haven't centred the building in my photo because I wanted to experiment with different placements within my work. I think my image gives the Church more importance as it takes up the majority of the space. Pellegrin's influence is evident in my work and I will progress further with this in more forthcoming shoots.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

I have chosen these images as my final outcome because they all represent elements of Waltham Abbey, they show the importance of the town. The final pictures I have chosen take you on a journey through the town. We start at the main street famous in Waltham Abbey, this then follows onto a pathway surrounded by a graveyard, then we are met with the Church which is the main aspect of the Abbey, finally we are met with the nature elements of the town. These image symbolise what it is like to live in Waltham Abbey and the landscapes you are surrounded with. This shoot is not my best but I think I have produced some meaningful images within the shoot that I can establish further within my work. I have chosen to produce the images from this shoot in black and white which is very different to my last shoot where I used extremely saturated images to mirror Martin Parr's work. I may not produce a body of work in black and white but I have experimented with it here to see how it turns out, these images all work with black and white but I may not carry this editing process on.