Externally Set Assignment 2023
Our World
Initially I chose "Our World" to be the topic I focused on as the title itself immediately pushed me to generate ideas about how I could respond I was then drawn to the work, and reasoning behind it, of many of the artists suggested under the topic. Nico Froehlich for example who says he (who grew up in Britain with parents who are immigrants) had decided to photograph the very things he used to try and hide when he was young. He then goes on to mention the ethnical and cultural diversity of many council estates and how gentrification is effecting these communities. Once I had done further research on the artists and there work I began to feel more comfortable in my ability to respond to the idea of "Our World".
Simon Di Principe
Grass Roots
Grass Roots
Grass Roots from John Hooper on Vimeo. |
Simon Di Principe is London based photographer born to an Italian immigrant father and an English mother. Simon Di Principe studied photography at London College of Communications His portraits have been featured in numerous publications, like The FT Weekend Magazine and The Guardian for example. Simon’s work has been exhibited in the UK, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile), his works is know to be created only with analogue film and all of his photographs are hand-printed.
Simon Di Principe single image analysis
I was initially drawn to Simon Di Principe and his 'Grass Roots' project due to the fact that I had personal experience in and around grass roots football and like the ideas behind the work. I then chose to evaluate this image alone as, on first impression, I liked this image the most.
In the image we see the a quite narrow shot of the pitches at Hackney Marshes two netted goals and the rest without as we look into the background of the image we then see several more pitches. I liked how this image contrasts from the actual atmosphere of the environment on the Sundays where there are games and how it seems to be so peaceful as apposed to the loud and energetic atmosphere you typically get on a standard Sunday League match day I also liked how the image was framed allowing us to see quite far into the background giving us an idea of just how many pitches there are at Hackney Marshes. The work of Simon Di Principe has inspired me to try to establish a sense of community in my own work whether this be through a similar thing like documenting my experience within football or something else that may differ in theme. |
Nico Froehlich
South of the River
Nico Froehlich is a photographer born and raised in South East London but he is also a second-generation immigrant, this part of his identity allows him to focus on themes such as identity, inclusivity and diversity which is commonly celebrated in his work with a particular focus on social realism and working-class life. Nico’s work has won various awards such as the Creative Review Photography Annual and has had consecutive winning portraits in the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain. Nico’s work has also been exhibited across Europe and at places like Photo London and Heathrow Airport. Nico's initial interest in photography sparked from his on and off relationship with acting he says "Building my craft as an actor by observing human behaviour eventually transitioned to photography" he then decided to study photography at uni in his late twenties and since he graduated he has gradually become known for his on-going project 'South of the River'.
Nico Froehlich single image analysis
I was initially drawn to Nico Froehlich and his 'South of the River' project due to the the things it aimed to portray I then chose to evaluate this image alone as, on first impression, this is the image I was most drawn to.
In the image we see a boy out on in the middle of the road holding a bike in front of a house and old unused van. I enjoyed what seemed to be an old abandoned truck in the back due to it being covered in graffiti and the colour of it that matched the boys outfit which I believe helps the smoothness of the image as rather than the background taking away from the boy in the foreground it complements it. I also enjoyed the young boy being the focus points of the image as I feel it helps deliver Froehlich's message I was also drawn to his bike as it brought to mind memories of my own experience growing up. The work of Nico Froehlich has inspired me to document the area I grew up in my own work as I was really inspired by the message he aimed to deliver about the gentrification and culture of council estates I feel it is important to document the not so obvious beauty of these areas especially to people who otherwise would know no different. |
My Experimentations
My initial idea of how I would respond to "Our World" was to personalise it and approach it as a way to capture and share my world and the places/things that have been apart of it throughout my life which was a big part of the inspiration for my first response.
My First Response
For my first response I decided to go back to and photograph the area I grew up in, my main inspiration for this response was the work of Nico Froehlich. I decided to start my project by photographing the area around the primary school I went to and then make my way toward the estate I grew up on photographing anything that caught my eye along the way. I mainly photographed the area focusing on things that brought up memories. On reflection when I look at the photographs I noticed that there a a lot of signs, some for streets or in parks but there are also some signs in images of objects and doorways, signs such as the hopscotch grid with the colours now a little broken and the doorway with the no ball games sign which hasn't changed in many years.
Tom Westbury
Commonplace
Tom Westbury is a photographer based in Hampshire, UK his photos are generally based around his interest in "places, spaces and peoples relationship with the built and natural environment and the traces they leave behind." He first became interested in photography through his work for the NHS his job involved some photography as he was responsible for producing communications materials such as posters, brochures and leaflets and this sparked his interest in photography he still works for the NHS in order to be able to afford the film he uses for his photographs. He said in an interview "my relationship with photography is really more about my relationship with the world around me. The camera is just the tool to frame and compose the world and separate slices of it. Photography has the uncanny power to represent reality with incredible veracity but, at the same time, to be very subjective and selective."
Tom Westbury single image analysis
I was initially drawn to Tom Westbury and his 'Common Place' project due to a few of the images reminding me of the places I grew up in and around I also enjoyed how he captured areas instead of people and how peaceful and empty he makes the places captured look. I feel the absence of people allows us to view the image with more of a concentration on the area pushing us to think why here? about a lot of the images and further look into the reasoning and inspiration causing the photographer to produce the work he did. I then chose to evaluate this image alone as, on first impression, I felt quite drawn to the image for reasons such as the graffiti and the feel the image has.
In this image we see what seems to be a sort of construction site the walls to which are covered in graffiti and the area surrounding it looks like it is fenced off from one side with a collection of quite tall buildings in the background. I liked the way this image was framed and the angle it was taken from as it allowed for a lot more to fit in to the image which most likely wouldn't have if the image was taken from a different position like ground level for example. I like how the image has managed to achieve the feeling of being colourful yet somehow dull all at once and how the emptiness of the image allows for us to really take in what is present in the image. The work of Tom Westbury has inspired me to capture locations just as they are in my own work in the hopes that it will help portray the images I take of my world as authentic rather than planned or rehearsed and copied I hope this can be achieved as I wish to capture my world around me as I experience it. |
Developing my first response
My idea for my first response was to give the image a 3d effect by having the base image be a full image and then having the smaller details come out of the image. To start the development of my first response I decided to print a handful of the same image and then take parts out of each of them that I wished to focus on an enhance in the developed piece I did this all with a scalpel to allow the cuts to be more precise and neat than a pair of scissors would allow me to achieve after this I then went out into the corridor and spray glued the individual pieces onto mount board to give it a firmer feel to it so it would be more stable for later down the process I then took all the glued pieces back into class and began to use the scalpel again to cut those pieces that had now been mounted out to allow me to then move on to the process of making the image come out of the base. (I did not complete this process due to a handful of teacher strike days)
Photoshop Experiment
For this process I decided to select some of my images and take them into photoshop. I added both a slight blue colouring to the image itself but also a faded blue postcode for the images taken in the Lewisham borough and a slight purple colouring with a faded purple colouring for the images taken in the Bexley borough in order to represent the boroughs Lewisham the borough I grew up in and and Bexley the borough i currently live in. Once this was added I decided to play around with fonts to try and find one that would fit the aesthetic of the images. The idea behind making these adjustments was to try to capture a lot about the area in the collection of images and I felt that the borough colour and postcode adds a feeling of identity to the image helping to tell a bit more of a story of the area in the images rather than it just being a seemingly random location. I took the inspiration for the colour of the text from the colour of the boroughs, although Bexley is technically considered a blue borough due to that clashing with the borough of Lewisham I chose to use the colour shown on there website instead.
For this process I decided to select some of my images and take them into photoshop. I added both a slight blue colouring to the image itself but also a faded blue postcode for the images taken in the Lewisham borough and a slight purple colouring with a faded purple colouring for the images taken in the Bexley borough in order to represent the boroughs Lewisham the borough I grew up in and and Bexley the borough i currently live in. Once this was added I decided to play around with fonts to try and find one that would fit the aesthetic of the images. The idea behind making these adjustments was to try to capture a lot about the area in the collection of images and I felt that the borough colour and postcode adds a feeling of identity to the image helping to tell a bit more of a story of the area in the images rather than it just being a seemingly random location. I took the inspiration for the colour of the text from the colour of the boroughs, although Bexley is technically considered a blue borough due to that clashing with the borough of Lewisham I chose to use the colour shown on there website instead.
I then had the idea to make the images black and white in order to allow the colour of the postcode to stand out a bit more than in the full colour image.
I personally enjoy the look of the images more once the black and white feature was added. I feel it does give the effect that I hoped it would and improves the overall look of the image as the images with the coloured background plus postcode seem to have a lot, maybe too much, going on for one single image I do feel if I did it again I would try to match the colours with each other eg. all the blues would be the same and also all of the text would have the same percentage of opacity to give the images a more coherent feel to them although this could be easily changed if I was to go back to photoshop.
My plan for the making/exam days
I have created a rough plan of what I intent to create over the two making days we have on the 4th and 5th of May it might be that I end up deciding not to do some of these things or that I decide to add something that was never on this list (or maybe both). Overall the plan is there to show the direction I want to go in and the idea(s) I intent to work with throughout my experimentations.
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