Seaside Landscapes Clacton; Shoot 1 Work Diary

Seaside Landscapes Clacton; Shoot 1 Work Diary

Shoot Ideas

My ideas for this shoot come from wanting to explore the British Culture and the typical views we would see from around the Britain. There are many different elements of the seaside that you can capture but the views that I would like to capture show the seaside in an admiring way. The weather may not always stay on my side but I want to capture the beautiful nature of the seaside and make it look inviting even if the weather is not as nice as I hope. I already have several different ideas for images, I intend to take pictures on the beach as well as the pier so we can see the difference in the activities in each area. This shoot will capture British Culture because it will show why British people love the beach as I want to capture the beauty of it. 

Research

The research I have carried out that has influenced my idea of capturing the seaside was mainly looking at other photographers images that link to this subject. I have been researching Martin Parr and his way of capturing the seaside. 

This image links to the way I want to capture the beach, it shows a girl walking along the beach in the background and in the foreground shows UK flags and a toy digger. This image shows to me that although there are toys this girl can be playing with because she is at the beach she is more focused on that rather than these toys. It portrays that the beach is a place where people sway away from their toys and electronic devises. The saturation within Martin Parr's work gives the images a positive outcome as it appears brighter and more aesthetically pleasing. This image mirrors the rule of thirds because it shows the foreground to have the digger and the flag, the middle ground has the girl walking and the background has the houses, sky etc. As well as documenting the love of the beach this also shows the scale of people that attend the beach because of all the people in the background. I think Parr purposely blurred the background out because it adds dominance to the foreground. 

I want to portray my images in a way that Martin Parr does but he was lucky enough to have good weather and photograph images in a way that makes the images look nice with blue skies and bright colours. By saturating my images it may make them like Martin Parr's but I could also manipulate them in different ways. 

Image Bank
The following images were carried out for my visual research, some of these images aren't part of the photos that link to my photographers but they link to the ideas that I want to spread.

These images I have chosen all express the types of images I want to take when progressing onto my first shoot. My main idea is to take images that have symbols of the place in them and symbols of the beach. I want to take images that are similar to all of these images because it will help me spread my ideas. 

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

The images in my contact sheets that are selected red are the images that didn't turn out as well as I would've hoped. Some were slightly out of focus and some had no structure which made them irrelevant within my shoot. Next time I need to ensure that my images relate to my illustrated proposal and that they are in focus.

Best Images

Before beginning this shoot I have carried out various technique researches, one of the techniques I researched was creating a GIF. During the research I extremely enjoyed the creation process of a GIF, I chose to carry this research on into my shoot work. In my shoot I chose to photograph at Clacton Beach, this shoot links to what I want to portray because it documents life at the seaside. This GIF represents the beach/sea side well because we can see the sand and the sea. There is a great depth of field within this GIF because we can see the sea moving in the background. I chose to produce a GIF like this because it shows the element of fun that we associate with the beach. There were various ways I could documents my shoots and I chose to use one technique being a GIF because I enjoyed creating them. I don't think I will include this GIF in my final portfolio because it shows comedic value which could link to Martin Parr but the is not the atmosphere I am aiming for.

This is one of my best images because it represents the elements of the seaside and why we like to go there. Blue skies, sea and the rocks, these are the symbols within this image that represent the beach well. I chose to have the girl looking out onto the sea because it shows how mesmerised we are with the beach, people who don't  get to visit the beach often love looking at the views. This image represents the rule of thirds because there are three sections to the picture, the top section being the sky, the middle section being the sea and the bottom section being the rocks. I like this image a lot because it is aesthetically pleasing with the bright blue sky. Some of my images within this shoot seem as though they have been edited already but this is not the case, this image is purely taken off of the camera which shows that the camera settings I used worked effectively with the weather and surroundings.

We associate older people with the seaside in general because when they retire this is typically where they go to live. I chose to take an image of this two old people walking along the side of the beach because it represents love and relationship, it also represents the love and relationship these people have with the beach too. This photo almost doesn't look like it was taken in this country because of the exotic looking plants in the left of the image. I like this image too because it is also aesthetically pleasing because of the sky, having blue sky within the picture tends to make everything brighter and better. This image links to Parr's work because he documents people within the seaside landscape which is what I have done her, he also produces a comedic effect within his images of British peoples tan which I can emphasise in this image as these older people are extremely tanned showing how long they are out in the sun. 

There are various cuisines that we associate with the beach, doughnuts are associated with the beach and the pier. I chose to take an photo of these doughnuts because I wanted to link my shoot with Martin Parr, one of the images that he takes is of a typical sea side cuisine so I wanted to mirror one of his images with mine. When taking this image into photoshop I am going to test out different techniques to manipulate the image, on the lines of Martin Parr I want to experiment with saturating the picture. I can also  experiment with making the picture black and white and compare them both. This image can also link with Parr's work because he focuses on the cuisine at the beach which I have done here. 

I took this image on the pier at Clacton, I wanted to take images on the pier because this is another symbolic aspect that we associate with the seaside. This image doesn't express the bright blue skies as the other images do because of the change in weather however, I still think this relates to the idea I was going for. Although, the weather is not as nice as we would normally expect there are still people around progressing the idea of the love for the beach. The main aspect that stands out to me in this image is the red and white slide in the centre of the picture, I think this stands out because it is another symbol that we associate with the beach. To manipulate this image I can experiment with making it black and white and saturating it to link the image to the photographers I have researched. This image doesn't relate to documentary photography because it is of a landscape but I want to carry this idea on within my further shoots as it establishes British Culture well and I can create more photos in different locations that compare to this image.

Images That Require Improvement

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

The reason I think this image needs improvement because it has been taken without a tripod which is obvious as the image looks slightly slanted. Although there are various different symbols in this image, there isn't much focus on a specific image. It can be considered as a landscape image as it shows the sand and the sea line. There is a great depth of field in this image because we can slightly see the wind turbines in the background of the image. To improve this image I think I should get closer to the sea rather than having the unwanted space in the foreground of the image. 

The reason I think this image needs improvement because it has been taken with the flash on, although the photo looks very sharp and it stands out, the effect of the flash doesn't appeal to me. There is a great depth of field in this image which stands out because we can see far out to the end of the rocks. I think the layout of the image is significant I think it would look much better if there wasn't a flash. Taking the image again I would produce an image without a flash. 

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

My idea for recording these images in this specific way comes from my illustrated proposal where I stated that I would be documenting British Culture. By travelling to Clacton beach and taking these images it enabled me to be able to capture the different aspects of the seaside, we associate the beach with being beautiful which is the reason why we go there, I think that I have documented this idea well in my shoot. I was inspired by Martin Parr to photograph at the beach, his photographs showing stereotypical British people at the beach influenced me to produce this shoot. As well as looking at Martin Parr's images which is the main focus of my work I have also used landscape images within this shoot because it shows wide depth of field shots of the location. Landscape photography is something I would like to carry on because there are different views around Britain which can be compared and linked to British identity.

The images I have produced are what I expected, however, I need to pay attention to the settings of the camera, because of the weather change I had to play with the settings often as the lighting changed. 

With reference to my Best Images...

Comparing the image that I took on the pier of the red and white slide and the images I took at the beginning of the shoot e.g the GIF, the weather noticeably changed which became a problem with changing the camera settings. Some of the images I took look over exposed or even under exposed as I had to adapt the camera settings with the environment. This shoot has given me experience with weather changes so the next shoot that I take I will pay more attention to the camera settings. My best images all express the same atmosphere of having fun on the beach, the last image on the pier has a different atmosphere but it still expresses the same feeling of British identity.

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 camera settings I had to use a higher aperture when photographing the landscape images because within these images I wanted to capture a wide depth of field, a higher aperture such as f18 would give me this effect. The majority of my shots were taken with a shutter speed of 1/125 as this seemed like the best value to get the images that I wanted which was proved in my best images. I didn't use a tripod when taking these images which is evident in some of the images I have produced however, I think that the majority of my images have turned out well and I was able to capture good shots without a tripod. Next time I should consider using a tripod for some of the shots that I take.

Next I took some of my images into Photoshop and edited them, screenshots of the process are visible below. 

   

I linked the editing process of this image with Martin Parr, as we can see within his shoots he increases the saturation within his images. I used the camera raw filter in Photoshop to edit this image because it gives more visible settings and is easier to see the changes made. In the camera raw filter I increased the exposure, the vibrance and the saturation. Comparing the original image to the edited image we can see the difference between the colour of the doughnuts, by increasing the saturation it has brightened the image totally. 

  

When editing this image I used the camera raw filter setting to change the image to black and white. I changed various settings like the saturation, vibrance and the clarity to achieve the image in the screenshot image above. When I had achieved the black and white image I used the burn tool and made the clouds seem darker and more deeper. By using the burning tool it adds to the darkness of the image. I edited this image on the style of Lee Friedlander because he produces his images in black and white. Although I was trying to follow Martin Parr with this shoot I liked this image and wanted to progress it further. I want to document some of my images within the work diary in black and white but I don't think I will use this editing process for my final portfolio.

  

When editing this images I cropped the image first to eliminate the space around the people as they are the main focus. After cropping I toot he image into the camera raw filter and increased the saturation and the vibrance of this image, I decreased the black colours within the image making the image look brighter. Like the first image I have edited above this one is also similar to the Martin Parr images. By increasing the saturation in this image the tan on the people looks orange, this adds to the stereotype of British people who go on holiday to get a tan, so by editing this image it makes the denotations more obvious. 

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 was helpful because it helped me establish an idea that I wanted to continue when photographing people at the beach. My photographs were taken on the basis of Martin Parr although some turned out different to how I expected them to. When looking through my images and seeing ones that didn't fit well with the idea that I was going for I then researched Lee Friedlander because I have seen his work before and my work was similar to his. Editing my images made them more relatable to the artists that I have researched because I edited them in the way that the other photographers have presented their work. Martin Parr's work gave me the idea to photograph at the beach and Friedlander's work gave me the idea to photograph the beach landscapes. 

 

These images do not appear similar but I have used the effects that Martin Parr has used. In photoshop I saturated the image to make it appear bright which we can see because of the bright blue sky and the depth of green shown in the bushes. I also have shown a similar comedic effect like Parr has in his photography, by increasing the saturation of the image the tan on the older people turns orange, this is similar to how Parr makes the tans look. The orange tans show us how obsessed British people are with tanning. I think I have used Martin Parr's work well within my shoot because I have used the techniques he did and I have documented the beach well. 

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

I chose these images as my final images because they all tell a story of the beach. The first image shows the walking along the beach front, the second image shows the type of food we eat at the beach, the third image shows the views on the actual beach and the last image shows all the people at the beach. I have chosen to edit these images in the style of Martin Parr because his work was what influenced me. These are the final images I have produced and I believe they are the best ones from my shoot as they represent British culture well. Although I have edited these on the same style as Martin Parr I don't think I will use this style of editing in my future work because it will not work well with the different locations I am planning on shooting in. The saturation of the images give the same effect that Martin Parr used, the comedic effect that British people only care about their tans and the food they are eating. My intentions on this shoot was to capture the main aspects of the beach which I have established here because I have shown the stereotypical activities that go on at the beach. 

Henri Cartier-Bresson Research

Henri Cartier-Bresson Research

Context
Something about Cartier-Bresson that has interested me in his work is the decisive moment in which he says that your eyes should see the structure of the picture before you take the image. It shows that a photographer should know when the photo should be taken, it summarises to be correct moment for to take the photo. Also, Cartier-Bresson sways away from using a tripod, this interests me because when looking at his images although you can tell that he hasn't used a tripod he captures better moments than a photographer who might use a tripod. By using his camera handheld he can capture the person exactly how he sees it rather than having to set up a tripod then capture it from that angle. When no using a tripod he can capture the candid image rather than Cartier-Bresson is a French photographer so the majority of his images are taken in France which we can tell in some of the images he uses because there are features of the country in his photos. 

In this image we can see a boy walking with a proud look on his face carrying two glass bottles of wine, there are a few girls walking behind him. The fact that he has a proud look on his face could represent to us that he is showing off to the girls around him, this is shown further by the girls expression as she looks in awe. By carrying this wine it gives the boy more status and girls attention which is why he has this proud grin on his face. Personally, the boys expression stands out to me because this creates the story of him showing off to the girls around him and helps us establish that he has this expression due to the female attention. Cartier-Bresson uses the 'decisive moment' in his work, this is visible in this image as he would've had to time it right to capture the boys expression as well as the girls. In this image it becomes obvious that Cartier-Bresson uses his camera handheld because if you look closely at the wall it is not entirely straight, this is something I could continue with in my work. I think taking his images handheld enabled Cartier-Bresson to capture moments as they happened, I could use elements of this in my work because it takes time to set up a tripod where as handheld photography can capture what you see. 

In this image the denotations show us small children playing in amongst rubble, there is a huge hole in the wall which we can see the through. Cartier-Bresson has cropped the bottom out of the image so that the children's faces become more obvious. The rubble instantly makes us think about what type of lives they live because it is uncommon to see children playing in these conditions. It initially makes us think that these children are from poorer families, or they may live in a country where there is a war going on because of the conditions they are in. Personally, the faces of the children stand out because by looking at their expressions, the way they are dressed and the dirt around their faces makes us immediately feel sorry for them and worry about the conditions of their homes. This image shows a frame because we can see the bombed hole in the wall make the background stand out as we are drawn to looking through the frame towards what the older boys are doing. This also shows the 'decisive moment' because he would've had to time the image right to capture all the boys looking at him and the one jumping through the wall. 

In this image we can see what looks like a man jumping through a puddle with an umbrella, behind him there is a couple whose umbrella is blown inside out, also in the background we can see the Eiffel Tower. The famous landmark in the background helps us locate where the image has been taken, Paris is the city of love and this is represented in the background of the image. Love is expressed within the couple and their relationship but it is also expressed by the man jumping as it could show that he loves dancing as his position mirrors a dance. Another connotation that can be expressed within this image is that a relationship isn't always the happiest, this is represented because of their umbrella as it is inside out. The man who is on his own, his umbrella is fine which contradicts that of the two in a relationship. The man jumping stands out to me because he is centred in this image which immediately attracts our attention. In this image the background is more exposed than the foreground which oddly shouldn't work in this instance but it does, the silhouettes stand out as they are bold. In this image Cartier-Bresson has also used the decisive moment because he would've had to times the photo correctly to achieve the freeze frame image of the man jumping. 

 

In this image we can see children walking down the steps dressed in white, also they are being accompanied by nuns who are dressed in black. The girls are dressed as angels and one of the girls at the front is carrying a cross. There is a lot of symbolism within this image, the cross represents that they are Christian, the colour white which they are all wearing we associate with religion. Some of the children are holding their hands together which represents to us that they may be praying as they are walking. The decisive moment is present in this image because Cartier-Bresson would've had to time it right to capture the children in the way that he has. Although, we are looking at children they seem like adults from the way they present themselves and how dedicated to religion they seem. We know that Cartier-Bresson used his camera handheld but it doesn't seem as obvious in this image because it seems straight. 

In this image we can see a group of people dancing, the men are dressed in black suits and the women are dressed in white dresses. There is a lot of symbolism within this image, the fact that all the couples are dressed the same could show that they are equally do not shoe their true selves and have to live up to the stereotype of a richer person. We associate these people with being rich because we wouldn't stereotypically see poorer people in these outfits. Also the colours that the people are dressed in show symbolism, the colour black shows power which is stereotypically related to men, this is a sexist view because it shows the men to have more power than the women. White symbolises innocence which is shown in the women because they are wearing white dresses, this shows them to be weak, this adds to the sexist views because it shows men to have more power and importance than women. This image displays Cartier-Bresson's 'decisive moment' as he would've had to time the moment right to capture them dancing in this way. This image could've failed but because he captured the girls dressed swaying it gives the image more of an effect. 

Influence and Summary

The main aspect of Cartier-Bresson that has influenced my work is the decisive moment because he documents his work in a way that only works if he is able to take the image at the right time. His work doesn't relate to British Culture at all but his technique is the main thing I wanted to focus on. At first I did think about documenting my images in black and white similar to the way he does but I don't think this would've been the best way to document my images. His images are also wholly related to documentary whereas I have decided to focus on landscape photography. In the beginning of my shoots I wanted to follow Cartier-Bresson's ideas but I realised that I wanted to do more documentation on landscapes and British culture in colour rather than following his idea of black and white. I wanted to use his decisive moment in the my work but to do this I would've had to focus more on people which is not evident in my work.

Martin Parr Research

Research for Martin Parr

Martin Parr Context
Parr is a documentary photographer although he documents his images in a different way than we are used to. In his documentary images he uses humour, criticism and seduction to express his views across in an image. His images show us the way we live in an understandable way, we can also grasp from his photos what we value and how we present ourselves. This is shown in the images that I have chosen because he is showing the stereotypical life of English people at the beach and this has been expressed using humour. In 1994 he became a full member of Magnum Photographic Corporation. He is a very controversial photographer because at first glance, his photographs seem exaggerated. The motifs he chooses are strange, the colours are garish and the perspectives are unusual. The way he expresses photos shows people in a way we wouldn't normally look at them, he documents the bad habits of people as well as the good habits. 

In this image we can see two seagulls eating some chips, there is also a UK flag behind the seagulls and the sky is very blue. The picture is extremely saturated and had been cropped to show the seagulls as being the main feature of the picture. Although we cannot see the seaside we immediately assume that this is the location because of the symbols in this image e.g, the seagulls and chips. The saturated colour of this image immediately draws me in as it adds to the positive effect of the image, the main focus of of this image is the seagulls fighting over a bag of chips. We associate these main aspects with British seaside as chips is the stereotypical cuisine and seagulls are the stereotypical wildlife. Although it is not entirely in focus the UK flag stands out to me because the moral of this image is to show the stereotypical life of English beaches and I immediately am drawn to something that symbolises the UK. These images of beaches are taken in New Brighton, near Liverpool.

In this image we can see a man eating beans and chips. The picture is extremely saturated to increase the vibrance of the colours and to add to the positive effect, also this image has been cropped to focus in on the food and the mans hand. The image focuses in on this part because it shows symbolism of the beach. Although we cannot see the seaside but because of the saturated colours and the traditional food we can tell that this is located at the seaside. Martin Parr seems as though he is photographing the working class because this is the stereotypical meal for the working class when they are on holiday. The way that he has focused in on the mans ring almost seems as though he is making fun of him as we wouldn't associate this man with having the riches by the food he is eating. Athough the food isn't in focus I am immediately drawn to it because these images are supposed to represent the stereotypical life of the seaside towns and the only symbol that represents a seaside theme is the food he is eating. 

In this image we can see a woman lying down on a towel with someone lying next to her, she has a big red hat on her head and there are people walking by her. This image isn't as saturated as Parr's normal photography is but the hat is extremely vibrant. The hat over her face shows us that she is protecting her face from the sun which can also link to her hiding her identity as we can't see her face. In this image the red hat can represent the sun because it is the main focus, we associate the beach with the sun which is represented by the hat. We associate the colour red with love, the hat being red represents the love that British people have for the beach. There is a lot of symbolism in this image from the sand to the towel to the big red hat. The red hat stands out to me in this picture because it is centred and is the first thing we look at. 

In this image we can see what looks like an old woman because of the wrinkles on her had lying on a sun lounger in her bikini. She is holding a cigarette between her fingers, she is also wearing jewellery and had red nails. This image has also been saturated like Parr's other work, by saturating the image we can see the scale of the tan this lady has as it makes her skin look rubbery. This adds to the comedic effect that Parr leaves on his photos as he is showing the comedy values of how British people love to tan. Parr has cropped the picture so that it is focused on her hand, this shows that he wants to emphasise the fact that she is smoking, we don't tend to associate older women with smoking but the fact that she's wearing red nail polish could show that she has an element of rebellion within her as we associate red with danger. Parr's comedic values could also come into effect with the jewellery. that she is wearing, similar to the man eating the chips, these people wouldn't normally be associated with the riches which is why he has focused in on her jewellery. Her nail polish stands out to me in this image because it is very vibrant and obvious. 

In this image we can see a woman sitting in a car reading a paper, what we assume is her husband is standing outside of the car taking pictures of the views. Although this image doesn't link to the beach theme like my previous pictures I still can use this image in my work. Similar to Parr's other images this also has comedic values because it compares the two people, the woman is in the car reading the paper rather than appreciating the views in-front of her. This comparison could be considered as sexist because it could be seen as though he is giving the view that all women care about is gossip i.e the newspaper stories rather than the views they are experiencing. The main focus of this image is the woman in the car because she is in the foreground of the picture compared to the man who is in the background of the picture. Unlike Parr's seaside shots this one is less saturated because it is showing a different meaning. 

Influence and Summary

Martin Parr has influenced my work because of his idea of expressing British Culture at the beach. His use of a comedic value is also significant as it makes people think about the features of their lives that they care about which are not actually considered as important. He focuses on the ides that British people on holiday only care about their tans and the food. Parr also uses saturated images which expresses his ideas more as it makes the tans seem bolder and draws attention to the people. In the beginning of my shoots I wanted to use Parr's idea of saturation but then when I explored the idea of British Culture further I realised that this was probably not the best idea for my final outcome.

 

This image links to Parr's work because it represents his idea of how obsessed British people are with their tans. This idea is made more obvious in the edited picture because I have saturated the image to make the tans appear more orange. My image relates to Martin Parr because it is taken at the beach and it documents the lives of British people. The weather is also a main focus because in all of Parr's images the sky is bright and blue which makes the idea of the heat and the sun more apparent. My technical approach is not exactly similar to Parr's because he gets close and personal with the objects he is documenting which I have not done here, my idea was more based on a landscape which isn't what Parr concentrated on. However, my conceptual idea was similar because he documented British Culture which is what I have documented throughout my shoots.

Illusrated Project Proposal

Illustrated Project Proposal

My personal investigation is: to create a visual record of the different types of British culture in Britain and the different activities that consist in peoples lives in different parts of Britain. The investigation will explore "British Culture" which will show urban landscapes, sea side towns and countryside landscapes.

Background
I've decided that I would like to focus on landscape photography mainly but I also want to incorporate the activities that go on in the different locations I am going to explore. I plan to travel to different places around the UK, for example I want to travel to Southend to photograph a seaside town and also capture London life by visiting places like Shoreditch and Oxford Street. Unfortunately, I am not going on holiday this year so I have to stick to British Culture in the UK.

I'd like to being this subject by shooting "typical British life in seaside towns". I want to photograph what normal British citizens do in seaside towns and the life of people who live in these seaside towns. I think this is a good starting plan because I will have enough time over the holiday to capture seaside towns which are quite far away from where I live. This will also be a good starting point because I can spend the first few lessons I have editing and writing up the images that I have taken. 

Photographers Research
I have researched different styles of photography that may influence my work and researched the photographers that may also influence my work. I think Martin Parr will influence my work as he took images of the stereotypical life in a seaside town, his work is very colourful and saturated which grabs my attention, I want my work to be similar to this. I have also researched the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, I like to use his ideas in my work because of his decisive moment. The decisive moment technique is useful in my work as when I am taking pictures I have to decide the right moment to take these images. Lee Friedlander's work will also benefit mine as it shows a lot of street photography which is what I am mainly interested in as a lot of the places I hope to take photographs consist mainly of streets. Also, Bruce Davidson is another photographer that I have already researched who will influence my work extremely because he photographs more urban landscapes which is the main areas I am interested in and I like to photograph. I am mainly interested in street photography and street photographers because I like the way that these images re portrayed and the way they are taken. 

I plan to approach this project by photographing people as well as their activities because I believe this will send the message I want to get across easily as my work will be about the lives of people across the UK. I will also take images of landmarks and famous places as this will help document the UK better and help show the types of places we live in and around. 

Illustrations
Whilst researching photographers, I came across a few photographs that have also influenced me as well, such as the images below:

In this image we can see a man eating the stereotypical seaside cuisine, beans and chips, the image is very saturated and Parr has cropped this image so that we are only focused on what the man is doing rather than him himself.  This is one of many images that were taken by Martin Parr during his Think of England shoot. This image has influenced my work because it shows the stereotypical cuisine that is eaten by the British at the seaside. The way that Parr has photographed this is interesting because he has focused on the hand rather than the food. Throughout his shoot he looks down on the British people, there are aspects of this in this image as he has focused on the ring which shows that he is mocking the ring as it looks cheap and tacky. The main thing about Martin Parr that has interested me is the way he edits his images and saturated them as it draws us in because of the colours. 

This is one of the many street photography images taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson in the streets of France. This image has influenced my work because it shows the immediate reaction people have when it is raining by getting out their umbrellas. In this image we can see two men standing with their umbrellas and in the depths of the image we can see other people walking. These men may be considered as richer men because they look like they are wearing suits, the way they are standing shows that they are judging the people in front of them walking. The people that are in the background do not have umbrellas so they could be considered as poorer people. Cartier-Bresson takes his images handheld we can see that within this image because the image isn't entirely straight however, taking the image handheld enables Cartier-Bresson to capture the moments as they are happening. Henri Cartier-Bresson contributes the decisive moment, this image was taken at a decisive moment because he would've had to time the image right to enable him to capture it in this way. The decisive moment is the main thing that interests me because he takes images at the right time to capture them in this way. 

This image was taken by Lee Friedlander, it was taken from his car window which we can see because we can see the steering wheel and the windscreen pillar. Through the window we can see an image of a car on a pole in the sky which we may associate with a drive-in or a petrol station. Although this is taken differently to how people would normally take images I think his technique is interesting because it captures important aspects of America in a a more interesting way. The message in this image is showing American culture because we associate America with gas stations and drive-in cinemas. This image has influenced my ideas on my shoots because Lee Friedlander aimed to document American culture but he does it in a different way than we would normally assume. I like the idea that Friedlander has expressed in this image because it shows that whatever way you look at something it can still be considered as beautiful. Although I might not use this exact idea in my work it has opened up my understanding about the ways I can produce an image.

This image was taken by Paolo Pellegrin. In this image we can see a building from a different angle than we would normally be used to. At first glance people may mistake this image as something else but when you concentrate on the image you can see it is a building. The image shows an element of abstractness within it because it doesn't immediately look like a building. The building is shaped similar to a 2D arrow pointing towards the sky. I think the idea behind this image was to document buildings in an abstract way as this image can be mistaken for something else. In Pellegrin's work he takes images of objects in different ways which has influenced my work. Although I may not take photographs like this in my work it has opened my eyes up to the different ways that an image can be taken and made to look like something else.

Techniques

The techniques I intend to explore as part of the project are:

Motion blur, animated gif,, black and white, colour saturation (Martin Parr) and shallow depth of field, I will also explore computer experiments and physical images.