Research - Fragile

This first photograph is taken from a series shot by Olivia Hemingway where she took 2 Siamese kittens into Paddock residential home for the elderly with Therapaws.

The set shows the natural and undisturbed enjoyment of the elderly people interacting with the kittens. Hemingway has shot most of the images unposed meaning they are as natural and accurately informative as they could be, making for more powerful photographs.

I chose this image in particular because the old woman can be seen in her chair and is framed quite closely showing her frail skin and general old age, both representing fragility. Also the shallow depth of field focuses the important aspects of the image and improves its aesthetics.

The image of the old woman shot by Olivia Hemingway is very similar in some respects to my shot of Captain John Styles shown to the right. The natural happiness is clearly shown in both images and is not forced which shows how enjoyment can come in different forms regardless of age and fragility.










This image was taken by Laurie Harper in 1983 and is named, "A Taste For Life". I thought this was an amazing representation of fragility in a very stereotypical environment, a hospital ward.

The old woman to the right of the frame can be seen to be struggling to walk along the ward and needing to use the wall for support. This emphasises the old age and fragility when coupled with the hospital location.

Harper has shot the image fairly wide in order to show lots of the environment and therefore more infomation. It is also shot in black and white which makes helps the image have a more dull and isolated feel adding the the fragility.

I found this image in an article about the potential for pensioners having to pay more than £72,000 a year for their care in 2013 by the Telegraph.

I could not find any background information for the photograph other than it was taken from the stock market, Alamy.

I really liked this image because it focuses on the small detail in the centre of the frame, being the pills. This symbolises fragility because the old woman has to rely on medication in order to stay alive.

The other aspect of this image I thought was a good representation of fragility is the hand of the nurse on the woman shoulder, comforting her. This along with her holding the small cup of pills in the foreground emphasises the representation of fragility.

The photographer has used a shallow depth of field in order to drop everything slightly out of focus other than the hand and pills. This is to bring the main focus/small detail of the image out. Without this technique it would be less obvious in the frame, therefore making it less information.

This image is very similar to the one I shot of Captain John Styles (shown to the right). I framed this image and used a similar depth of field for the exact reasons I have listed above.

Research - Touch

I came across, Dan Barham, 'Originally from Manchester, UK, but now living on Vancouver’s North Shore, Dan works as a photographer, cinematographer and film-maker for numerous editorial and commercial clients across the globe.

With a strong background in mountain biking and other outdoor sports yet able to work in all fields of photography, he captures natural, authentic images which blend artistic visuals with astute story-telling.'

After looking through a large amount of his work related to mountain biking I took inspiration for my own photographs from his cinematography rather than his photography.

A lot of the inspiration for my similar photographs have come from his short films related to injured bikers or ones that have taken a sudden change of path within cycling such as going from downhill to road biking.

This is a screen grab from one of Barhams short films. Due to the image being a screen grab from a moving image the quality isn't as high, but the composition of this image is what i like. You can see the raw energy and speed of the rider and bike as they go round the corner. Its framed very tightly which emphasises the points I have made.

The only negative of this shot I think is the colours. I think the picture is fairly dull and maybe a little on the flat side. This may have been the look Barham was going for, trying to give it a moody feel which he has done in my opinion, but I think that an image should be more bold in order to stand out and be unique.

I found a photographer called Daniel Ronnback whilst doing my research and found his approach to shooting downhill biking very interesting and inspiring. He doesn't use really expensive equipment or particularly plan his shoots. He talks about just going to a shoot and shooting what he sees and feels whilst there. Many photographers would say that is extremely bad practice but looking at the shots Daniel gets and his relationship with the riders it clearly works.

He shot this image of one of his close rider friends doing a whip on a dirt jump. I really like the way he has composed this image and used the trees to make a frame within a frame which is something I have been experimenting with a lot recently. It adds aesthetics to the image along with controlling the main focus of the image to the rider. The shot is fairly wide showing lots of surrounding but Daniel has dropped most of this out of focus leaving the rider as the main point of focus.

I am unsure of the photographer that shot this image, my only information on him is that he is local the Falmouth University. He shot this of Ben Moore (my subject) last year at the Falmouth Urban Downhill competition which Ben won.

I like how atmospheric this image is. It has been shot wide and shows the environment, spectators and the rider. I think that images that are shot this wide often have far too much dead space and I believe that every part of an image should add to it in some way whether thats aesthetically or as information. I think that each part of this image does adds to the final piece which is why I have chosen to include it in my research.

Double Page Spread - Joe Walker

After being paired with Joe for our double page spread/interview brief, we sat down to get to know a little bit of background information about each other before the interview so that we knew a little bit about specific interests to ask about.

It was very clear that Joe was really into his music and festivals so this is what I based my interview around.

The questions I asked him were as follows:

What was the first album you ever bought?

1    So when did you begin to develop an interest in music?

So you’re mainly into punk music then?

3    So I guess you moved beyond that phase? Was there a moment when you discovered something new or was it slower than that?

4    So you go to a lot of festivals?

5   What would you say you’ve taken from your experiences then?

6   You certainly seem to have a passion for festivals, have you ever gotten involved with working or setting them up?

7       Anything planned for this year?



Some of these questions I had planned before the interview but others I added in such as 3 get gather more information on what he had just said to me.

Fragile

This first picture was shot in the sitting room of Captin John Styles before he took his days medication.

I think frame I included 2 main aspects to show fragility. Firstly being the pills showing that his body cannot fully function without the help of something else and secondly the old wrinkly skin on his hands.

I shot this image very tightly to emphasise these two aspects and to reduce distractions from the surroundings. I don't think the impact of the old wrinkly skin would have been as strong if it wasn't so tightly framed.

I kept this image in colour to show the blemishes in his skin (again showing fragility) and the aesthetic contrast of the white and coloured boxes.

I used a high aperture partly due to very low light in the sitting room and partly to drop the background completely out of focus in order to reduce the distractions of the green cushions and sofa in the top of the frame.

This image is of John walking through his garden aided by his walking stick before doing some gardening. The way in which he is walking shows he is fragile and this is emphasised by his walking stick.

I chose to use a slightly lower aperture in this image in order to gain a larger depth of field in order to show his vast garden. This gives us more information about the area he has to maintain day to day and the full shot of him showing that he shouldn't be capable of this task.

This image was shot just a couple of minutes after the photograph above. John has enjoyed gardening for 50 years and does not let his age determine when he gives it up. He told me he takes far longer to do the same tasks but the same enjoyment is still there.

In this shot he was turning over the dry soil in order to make the bed ready for planting potatoes.

I really liked this image because I incorporated an action shot into a shoot regarding fragility but i think that in this case they work well together. In a way, Johns character and determination to not let old age stop him from doing things is shown from the digging but the rest of the frame showing his full body shows the fragility.

This image shows John looking through the images from his 50th Wedding Anniversary. This was shot in his 'Palace' which is a glorified shed at the side of his garden.

The lighting in the 'Palace' was very bad meaning a high ISO had to be used, therefore reducing the overall quality of the image.

The reason I chose this shot for my final 5 was because I felt that it really showed his true character and personality. Although it doesn't show fragility aswell, I think it is still just as informative and has a valuable place in this 5 picture story giving a more rounded and informative look into Johns life which I think is important.



This is the final image from the 5 picture story of John leaning against his 28 year old Volvo 240 estate that he has had from new and done 250,000 miles in. This car is his pride and joy and I shot it because I felt it showed fragility in two ways on being in John and the other his very old car.

I shot several images of him and the car and some where the vechile was more visible but I felt that this one really showed the connection he had with it and also emphasised fragility from where he is leaning on it.

Fragile - 5 Picture Story

For my 5 picture story related to "Fragile" I have chosen to shoot an elderly couple in their home in the New Forest. I want to portray the struggle and extra effort that has to go into everyday activities such as walking and gardening and use these tasks to show the fragility that comes with old age.

Below is a mind map of some ideas for images from the shoot.

Surfers - Final 3 - Relationship

I took this shot whilst James and Brieuc were jogging down from the car park to the surf. The pat on the back was a very short but informative moment showing the closeness of the 2 surfers relationship.

The lighting wasn't the best due to it being failing natural light on a dull overcast day. Also, the path they are running along had fairly large trees either side blocking out even more of the already low light. I was shooting with a large zoom lens due to the nature of the sport and therefore it was difficult to compensate for the low light with a high aperture which is what I would usually do.

Despite this photograph not being technically strong, I think, looking at it from a relationship perspective, it is very unique and information, therefore making it a strong image.










I wasn't sure about this image at first, but with a strong caption I think it could work very well to show relationship. The spot they were surfing, Porthcurno, was big, powerful, with a strong current and at high tide, making it very dangerous. Not to mention there being no one around to help if they got in trouble.

This image shows the 2 surfers as they come over the rise seeing the surf for the first time that day. They are both feeling the same excitement and fear and I think that unique connection makes this a good relationship image.

This lighting in this image is still not strong but better than the previous since they are more exposed to the low amount of natural light available.





What I really like about this last image is that the 2 surfers are the only clear subjects in the photograph. I shot it from the top of the path leading down to the beach to show the vast sand and the two small surfers running down to the water, one behind another.

The reason I converted this image into black and white is because I really wanted to emphasise the contrast between my subjects and the background. In the colour version, I think the deeper meaning of relationship between the two surfers being very isolated in a very natural environment was less clear. The colours in a way were a distraction.

Relationship - Married Couple - Research

Photographer, Jordon Matter made a series of photographs showing professional athletes go about their everyday lives with the same drive as they have for their sport. The series was called 'Athletes Amoung Us'.

This image is of professional NFL player, Erik Coleman on Valentines day showing a different approach to romance in the bedroom. I chose this image because it shows what would usually be seen as a very intimate private moment in an amusing way combining the relationship Coleman has with his sport combined with the relationship he has with his wife.

The intimacy and closeness of the relationship is still clearly shown from the physical connection of the pair along with the clothes they are wearing and the environment they are in. Matter has carefully framed the image using a fair wide angle lens in the room so he can clearly show the environment they are in whilst ensuring that the couple are his main focus.






Photographer, Murad Osmann has become very well known recently for his extremely unique project which involves him following his girlfriend, Nataly Zakharova around the world taking photographs from the same position behind her, holding her hand in exotic locations.

This particular image shows the couple at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Each of Osmann's images appear to have a very 'HDR look' which makes them look quite cartoony in a way. Normally, I do not like this in a photograph because I think there should be a clear line between a completely computer made image and one taken in a camera. Having said this, in this series of images (such as the two I have shown here), it works well to show the magic and adventure in the couples relationship.

Another couple of small aspects that trend throughout the set is that the couple always hold the same hand and that Zakharova always has the same ring on the same finger. This gives us more information about their relationship, showing a small intimate detail about them.













I am unsure of the photographer of this image. The couple (Chantelle and Nick), had been dating since 2001 (year 10 in high school, USA) but had left it this long to get married to ensure they were both ready for the commitment.

This image is very similar to my final image for my 'married couple relationship' photo. As I did, the photographer has shot the image with a very high aperture in order to drop everything out of the acceptable point of focus other than the ring. This is to clearly show the relationship between the two people. The single hand of the man and woman are also in the photo but not in focus because they still offer important information to the frame, emphasising that the relationship is between 2 people.

The image is very simple with extremely bland colours to ensure the focus is kept on the very subtle detail in the centre of the frame (the ring) which gives us the most important information in the photograph.