In assignment 2 I borrowed my parents collection of family photos that were recorded on colour slides. For that submission I picked images that were pertinent to me and overlaid them with documents that represented significant events in my life.
I would like to embark on a future project using the combination of slides, cartridges, projector and screen. Victor Burgin used projection and one idea is to produce a ‘Now and Then’ photograph, possibly a re-enactment.
William Eggleston portrait
Another idea is to look for similar famous art photographs that have commonalities to the family slides. It would be a study of the family snapshot and art.
My final idea involves a nostalgic study of the 60s and 70s holiday camp and its place in UK social history.
Question for Seller, Exhibition view, Belfast Exposed, 2006
An archive is normally a collection, sometimes stored away, but in the possession of a person who has an interest in the material. The archive is usually a valued possession such as family albums. The context of these images is clear as they are records of family moments captured in the past. The owner, even if they are not in the photos, will usually have knowledge of all the people and places in the images.
Nicky Bird’s series Question for Seller combines the concept of family image archives and the modern phenomenon of eBay. The result is a series where the images have been removed from their original context and re-created by the artist combined with text from the seller. Bird requested some information on the history of the images and why they are being sold. The responses are presented alongside each archive and displayed in a gallery.
The series is not about the images themselves but about the connection between the images and the seller and understanding why they are for sale and at such low prices – 99p. Notably all of these images were unwanted, not only by the seller but also the rest of the eBay community. The only person interested was Nicky Bird. There is a sad aspect to the series of forgotten people and unwanted photos. It is a study of relationships with the past and the value we place on it. In this series it is not only a subjective value but an actual monetary value – 99p in these cases.
The fact that an artist has had a concept, compiled a set of images with seller responses and displayed them in a gallery has made them art. The images individually may not be worthy of a gallery wall, but as an archive they have the element of time, identity and place which are all good photographic characteristics. The main feature of this exhibition is the very point of displaying it on a gallery wall and how something of minimal monetary value and interest can then, during an eBay auction at the end of the exhibition, be wanted and have their value increased.
Staging scenes to capture a single image that provides a narrative has been used by photographers since the early days of photography. Initially it was only acceptable for photographers to capture the thing in front of the lens. The ‘Truth’. It also acted as a record of nature and to capture geographical locations that people could only dream of visiting.
Some early practitioners such as Henry Peach Robinson wanted photography to be accepted as art and were influential in encouraging use of artistic creativity in composition and techniques. He not only encouraged this in atmospheric outdoor scenes but also produced indoor tableau recreating literary scenes such as his interpretation of Lord Tennyson’s 1932 poem Lady of Shalott. This is a common photographic subject as the poem is about a curse where reality can only be seen through the reflection in a mirror. These types of subject relate to the specificity of photography and alludes to its nature of capturing an image through a lens, commonly via a prism or mirror.
Lady of Shalott BY Henry Peach Robinson (1861)
In fact, Robinson was critical of his own attempt saying “It was a ghastly mistake to attempt such a subject with our realistic art and … I never afterwards went for themes beyond the limits of the life of our day”. This realisation came about because viewers were confused as they had assumed it was real scene and not an acted out tableau. In fact Robinson had used two negatives, one of the lady on the boat in the water and another for the tree lined background. It was apparent that the art world was not ready to interpret this photograph and just saw a model lying in a boat.
Streetwork by Philip-Lorca diCorcia (1989)
Philip-Lorca diCorca (b. 1951) is a contemporary photographer who researches sites and sets them up, usually without the actual subject in place. He then sets up a camera to capture his subjects, sometimes, unknowingly and other times to recreate a grabbed street photography moment. His lighting is theatrical and is a combination of natural daylight and studio lighting. In one series he set up a tripod in a Times Square with overhead strobe lighting. The camera triggered as passers-by walked past resulting in Streetwork (1998) and Heads (2001).
Philp-Lorca diCorcia’s work is a style of staged candid street photography. Another photographer who stages his scenes is Gregory Crewdson. His work differs from diCorcia as it is completely staged with actors and set design. His lighting and sets are built to a high budget movie standard. His role is equivalent to a Director/Cinematographer and does not actually handle any camera. Even his outdoor scenes are staged in ‘closed off’ roads and neighbourhoods with striking lighting giving an otherworldly feel. He generates surreal scenes and creates multiple levels of narrative, strong visual colours and clarity.
Cathedral of the Pines exhibition @ Photographer’s Gallery 2017
His work has been described as psychological and this can be seen in Cathedral of the Pines (2013). The lighting is not as dramatic as in his previous work but the psychological element is present in the form of the blank/thoughtful expressions on the subject’s faces. The combination of seeing all of the images together in exhibition large format adds to the unease and uncertainty which is not as noticeable on a screen or in a book.
The scenes appear mundane but the lighting is not a natural light which requires an artistic eye. My photography on the course to date has been to use the camera to capture accurately the scene in front of me. Lighting has only ever been key in my night assignment in EYV module. I can see that using additional lighting can emphasise certain areas of the frame and add a certain atmosphere. My problem is understanding how to use it and in what circumstances. By creating an artificial light the author needs to have a concept and story that matches the lighting otherwise it will be gimmicky.
Assignment 4 image by Martyn Rainbird
I have already identified that when I take my camera out I need to have a concept in mind. I am now unlikely to take pictures just to record being there. I may take some family pictures and have started to use shallow depth of field for those. I certainly get closer in the my subject which is usually an historic building or woodland.
I have never staged a scene apart from moving a few things around to tidy up scenes for Assignment 3. These images captured my home as it is so I would not count it as staging and there were no human subjects included.
The scene being studied is from the film ‘Goodfellas’ (1990) Directed by Martin Scorcese (b. 1942) and Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus (b. 1935 – d. 2017). The sequence can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJEEVtqXdK8
I had not watched this film prior to seeing this sequence however, it grabbed my attention and I have since watched the film and read reviews and news stories relating to the film.
The film covers a time period from 1955 to 1980 and follows the mobster life of Henry Hills. The film is an adaptation of the non-fiction book ‘Wiseguy’ (1986) by Nicholas Pileggi (b. 1933). As a result the whole film has to be careful with continuity and props to ensure they are in keeping with the period. The ‘movie mistakes’ websites have had a field day with this film as there are inconsistencies with brand logos, car models, gun makes etc. but most of them are only a couple of years out (apart from a contemporary baseball hat worn by a member of the kitchen staff). From a viewer perspective these ‘errors’ do not impact the feel of what you are watching. All of them are ‘of the period’ and would have been known by the props department and production team.
The song playing over the 3 minutesequence ‘Then He kissed Me’ (1963) by The Crystals and produced by Phil Spector. Continuity wise this is correct as the couple get married in 1965. It is a very recognisable song and instantly places the scene to an era. The lyrics also add a narrative to the scene. Interestingly the use of the song and limited dialogue makes this a self contained story. You do not have to have seen anything of the earlier scenes to be able to read what is happening and understand the characters. Having now seen the film in its entirety this scene is in the first half of the film which is a little lighter than what comes later. The song choice is the main device to emphasise this feeling in this scene.
The scene follows a couple, Henry Hill and his date Karen Friedman, walking from their car, which is parked across the street from the restaurant, to their table situated at the front of the stage. The Steadicam operator follows the actors about two paces behind as they walk swiftly, descending stairs, weaving through corridors, through the kitchen and past a crowd queuing to get a seat in the busy restaurant.
Henry is wearing a black suit and white shirt. Karen is wearing a black evening dress. Throughout the scene Henry is meeting and greeting acquaintances placing cash in to the hands of the people he knows. The camera does not emphasise these transactions. Rather than move around, the camera remains at head level and pointing in the direction they are walking. It suggests that all of this is normal activity and emphasises that this has happened many time before.
Everybody knows who he is even if they do not talk to him directly such as the kitchen staff. It is obviously not unusual for ‘guests’ to be entering through the ‘back door’. He appears to be popular, friendly and very generous, joking with people along the way. As soon as the Head Waiter sees him he arranges for the couple to be seated in the best seat in the house. In fact the waiting staff have already picked up a table and are carrying it to its place even before the Head Waiter has signalled to them. The waiters know who he is and know what needs to happen.
Karen is surprised how much money he is handing out and surprised at the excesses of paying a hotel doorman to look after his car. We, the viewers, are effectively in her position, taking this all in for the first time. Getting to know the man on her date, the places he visits and his associates. When she asks him what he does he lies and says he is in construction. She doubts this and he responds that he is a union representative. At this point the there is a comedy drum roll from the stage which acts as a full stop to that conversation and also adds some humour to what has until then been a suspicious entrance. Although there has been no violence or anger we have seen already that this is only just under the surface.
Visually it is a dark scene, black and white clothing and uniforms used throughout with vibrant colour splashes of red, red curtains in the corridor, red alarms on the wall, red fire hydrants. In this scene the red not only connotes passion but also blood and violence. The dark lighting suggest secrecy and intimidation. The pace and sharp changes in direction describe the type of life Henry leads. Fast paced, ducking and diving, meeting and greeting. He is a generous loveable rogue and if Karen can accept his white lies then so can we, the viewer.
One of the ‘movie mistakes’ I read said that Henry did not need to go through the kitchen to get to the main dining area. This would not have been a mistake. The walk through the kitchen would have been for Henry to let all the kitchen staff know he was at the venue and to be on top of their game, and to show Karen how influential he was. It had the added benefit for the viewer to tell us the same information. Karen would have been so overwhelmed with everything dashing past her she would not even have noticed, the same as us.
Semiotics originated with Swiss linguistic analyst Ferdinand de Saussure. He showed that language was a system of signs or signals which enabled people to communicate with each other. The terms he used were: ‘signifier’-something that stands for something else; ‘signified’ – is the idea of the thing it stands for; ‘sign’ – is the union of the two. [1]
Where Saussure related semiotics to language, Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980) used it for images and published his thoughts in the book Mythologies (1957). One of his examples is a bunch of roses which he uses to signify passion. The roses are the signifier and the passion the signified. Each existed previously separately but when brought together the roses were ‘passionified’.
‘The sign has a particular meaning to a person or group of people’ [2]. It is the combination of the object/thing (Signifier) and its meaning (Signified). The sign is always the thing plus meaning.
Judith Williamson [2] discusses the use of semiotics when decoding advertisements rather than using the more traditional ‘form’ and ‘ content’ for reading images. She argues that ‘form’ and ‘content’ can be separated whereas ‘signifiers’ and ‘signifieds’ go together which results in a meaning to a specific viewer or group. Admittedly that may take on a different meaning to different people which is where advertisers use their skill to sell products by appealing to an unconscious aspect of a persons visual knowledge.
The best photographs are the ones that do not give everything away, they leave a certain amount for the viewer to translate themselves. An advertisement is similar in that the more successful ones are more subtle and can work over a period time to gain brand loyalty without being too pushy. The skill is in using visual language that can be understood by the right group of people.
Goodyear G800 Supersteels advert – Google Images
In her study Williamson looks at advertisements and describes them using semiotics. The most interesting is the advert for Goodyear tyres where the new design is shown being tested on a jetty. At first glance the jetty is the signifier and the signified (meaning) emphasises the that the tyres can be trusted to stop your car before falling in to the water. In fact there is another use of the jetty in that its construction has a similarity to a tyre and rather than being the risk element, it can also be used to show strength and toughness, withstanding water and erosion. These are all attributes that the advertiser wants the viewer to attribute to their tyres.
The advertisements she looks at throughout her study show that ‘the work of the signifiers is as much a part of the ideology and social convention as the more obvious signifieds’. ([2], p19.)
Ideology is one of the categories that Negreiros and Howells describe in Visual Culture [1]. They use John Berger as a key author in this area with his book The Ways of Seeing (1972). Political standpoints and sociological aspects allow different meanings to be read in to images.
They also review the work of Pierre Boourdieu, a French Sociologist, who believed texts are produced with twin concepts: ‘habitus’ and ‘field’. The former can be described as ‘people assume and articulate the world vision of their particular social group’. It is their second nature based on childhood and upbringing and held for a lifetime. These dispositions are unconsciously absorbed and operated.
It is these ‘social groups’ that advertisers use to get the best return for their marketing buck. Their choice of content will be matched to the media format and publication.
Panzani advert – author and year unknown
In ‘The Meanings of Photographs’ chapter of Stephen Bull’s Photography [3], he describes Barthes study of the ‘Panzani’ advert and reiterates the use of ‘connotation’ of a return from the market, of quality fresh food from the home of pasta, when in reality it is factory food made in France. Bull goes on to explain Barthes other observation of connotation in that it is dependant on ideology.
In Barthes usage, ideologoy is a set of beliefs, learned and reinforced by the masses themselves. ‘The connotation of the Panzani advert depends on its position in culture where ideologies of naturalness, authenticity and the experience of other cultures are unquestionably considered desirable. [3], p36.’
Advertising is used a lot by authors and academics in the study of interpreting images because they are well laid out and planned. However, the principles remain the same and are available to a viewer when reading a photograph. Bull uses Martin Parr’s image England (a cup of tea) where the connotation is of ‘Britishness’.
Martin Parr England, 1998
The Panzani advert used red, white and green to emphasise the products ‘Italianicity’. Parr uses red, white and blue for his British cup of tea on a gingham tablecloth. He adds another socio-political angle by using a tea cup with a Chinese pattern. This image can then be read by its viewers as a history of British tea drinking or alternatively recognition of the British Empire and the positive and negative connotations of that period of British history.
References:
Howells. R and Negreiros. J, Visual Culture, Polity Press, 2nd Edition, 2011
Williamson. J, Decoding Advertisements, Marion Boyars Publishers, 2002
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was a French philosopher best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction. His concepts and theories are associated with postmodern philosophy, so it is not too much of a stretch to relate it to art photography.
His theory is to find what might be of value in ideas that we easily overlook. He identifies that we have an excessive loyalty to one aspect or side of an idea or argument. He encourages people to look at aspects of an opposing idea where you may find aspects of the truth.
We fail to see the advantages of neglected opposites because we are trained to believe there is a correct answer to anything. It follows that everything else is wrong. Derrida, however, encourages people to be comfortable with not being able to reach a correct conclusion. He emphasises that there is not a neat solution behind every problem.
Derrida believed that uncertainty was a mark of maturity. Confusion and doubt should not be embarrassing traits. He viewed IQ testing with scepticism as it only measured one aspect of a person but not what type of person they were or their individual characteristics to be good at things.
In keeping with these ideas he concluded that things cannot be neatly expressed in words or writing. We can then conclude that a photograph cannot neatly express correctness of a thing. Who decides what is correct. The artist, the millions of potential viewers, the editor of a publication. Photographers and editors can control what is included or accompanies an image but it still has the possibility of being misinterpreted by someone.
A street photographer has to be aware of his intention and not include anything that may redirect from viewer from their intention. Similarly a staged image may still evoke different thoughts from different people.
Take the example of a bathroom advert from a newspaper. The scene is probably a mock up of a bathroom rather than a real bathroom, but it is not clear. The photographer and designer have created a scene that is warm and luxurious in an attempt to get the viewer to initially dream about having such a bathroom and then enticing them to believe it is possible to have this.
I have circled some aspects of the photo that I think are interesting:
Bath, sink and toilet – the basic items of a bathroom are included. Note that the toilet is only partially in the frame as it is not considered to be in keeping with pleasant luxury. It has a necessary and practical function but the author does not want us to dwell on that aspect.
Text – The name of the company is prominent along with the large text of the percentage off deals. The text ‘up to’ is vastly smaller so the viewer may miss this ‘small print’ but this may be after they have visited the showroom or set their heart on a new bathroom suite. ‘Experts’ is repeated throughout. The ‘Deconstruction’ principal may get us to challenge who determines who is a bathroom expert. ‘Bathrooms matter’. Do they? Compared to what? They help some of us relax but some people may have an issue with water, heat and steam.
Graphics/Colour – The company logo includes snake like lines implying a warm bath. Red circles are used to emphasise the deal and the cooler blue returns us to the companies brand colour. The image is mainly black and white bit a small touch of blue (duck) and copper (taps). As a result these stand out but the viewer has the ability to imagine the room it in there own favourite colour palette.
Space – The scene is actually in quite a small space but the designer has chosen a basin and bath that has space underneath. The mirror, a signifier of beauty, adds space as do the inset shelves. The tall radiator adds to the height.
In use – Although there is nobody in the frame using the bathroom, there are indicators in the form of a draped towel over the bath edge, a rubber duck on the floor and a bowl for flannels and soap next to the bath.
Practicalities – I initially couldn’t understand the relevance of the step and in particular its sharp corner, especially in a slippery environment. Further ‘looking’ made me question the practicalities of plumbing. I worked out the basin plumbing but for a second I couldn’t understand the plumbing of the bath taps. I then realised it would be under the raised floor. The angle of view hides any potential untidiness.
Deconstruction will tell us to make note that this is an advert and to be aware that we may not need a new bathroom or the offer may not be as good as it first appears. But there may be some advantages in having a new bathroom. More relaxing maybe. It may increase the value of the property so it could be an investment. Keep an open mind and something good may come of it.
Elliot Erwitt (b. ????) took images that had dogs in them. In this light hearted photograph there is a small dog dressed in a hat and coat looking straight at us. In fact, straight at Erwitt’s camera. His viewpoint is low down at the little dogs eye level. The little dog looks intrigued although a little bit puzzled.
Our eye then scans the rest of the scene where we see the owners boots and the front legs of another dog. Our gaze hops two steps to the left and returns back to the little dog.
The dogs eye level is centred on the horizontal plane and in the right hand third on the vertical plane. The image shows us strong verticals, mainly in the form of legs but also the tree, the lead and the pavement blocks.
The subject of the image is the little dog and because we view it at his level we can begin to wonder what a walk with his owner is like. What is his owner like? What is the big dog like? Does he wonder why he has to be dressed in a hat and coat?
It is a humorous encounter and cleverly composed.
The course notes raise these further questions that I had not contemplated: Does he like to help the ‘underdog’? Does he prefer dogs over humans? Is he making a statement about giving everyone a voice? Or is he just making a joke?
I thought he was just making a joke. His series of ‘dogs’ suggests he does like dogs but is it just this image that raises those other questions or the whole series?
The course notes ask ‘What photographs are not used as a means of expression or communication?’. Having given this some thought I am of the opinion that all photographs communicate something. They may not have multiple layers of meaning or expression but they all communicate something.
The requirement of a passport photograph is for it to be expressionless. Its purpose is a means of communicating an identity in the form of a pictorial likeness.
Photographs recording a collection of objects are communicating ownership, an itinerary of possessions and also a likeness.
A scanned document is the transformation of a paper document to an electronic version. The need to convert it allows it to be communicated efficiently to a large number of recipients.
Maybe the question was specific to art photography. If so then context plays a big part in what on the surface may be mundane and emotionless. The very act of picking up a device to capture the pictorial likeness of something raises the question of ‘why?’.
If the photograph communicates what the photographer wanted to then it has been successful. This will be one of the main criticisms of student assignments. There is always subjectivity at play but a submission can be judged against the students intention. Maybe this is why art photographers do not want to give too much away about their intentions. We as viewers are left to read the images and decide whether it means anything to us.
In fact I do know of photographs that are expressionless and fail to communicate as I am still smarting from the assessors describing my EYV submission images ‘meaningless at times‘. I knew what the idea was but at times I failed to produce images that communicated that idea. I am beginning to see that now and the difference is the amount of time and thought I put into a series of images. Although you may not realise it that process comes through in the final images.
Nigel Shafran is a fine art photographer and uses his personal life as his subject. He does not appear in any of his images, but he communicates his habits and daily routines. In the series ‘Washing Up’ he takes photos of his sink are before and after meals and accompanies the image with text captions describing the meal.
Nigel Shafran – Washing-Up 2000
The course notes state that it is intimate, beautifully lit and composed. Really? Dishes and utensils around a sink? I have looked at his other series and they appear more of the same and I am struggling to understand the artistic merit. It appears to be the photography equivalent of reality TV, or a Facebook post from someone you vaguely know letting you know what they had for tea.
Nigel Shafran – Washing-Up 2000
The questions to this exercise provide some additional context relating to gender. I don’t see that a series such as this would be favoured by either a man or a woman. If anything it is about what utensils were used in the making of the food. By not including people he is not attributing stereotypes to the act of domestic life. Maybe it was more profound at the start of the 21st Century but I don’t feel that this series carries much weight on gender politics.
I also struggled with the change in portrait landscape choices. The scenes drain away any emotion from me as a viewer. I imagine there is more context that I need to research. Something about the artists that means that the kitchen is a significant place for them or some reason that these tasks are difficult.
Wolfgang Tillmans – Studio Still Life 2014
I have seen similarly composed images by Wolfgang Tillmans of items on his desk. I accepted these fairly easily but I think that was because I was aware of his other work and the subjects he chose. His range of subjects and methods add gravitas to the work he produces. If that was the only type of work he produced I would probably struggle to understand it but as a series looking at the workspace of a photographer I found interesting.
Maybe I have more against kitchens and dishes than I had realised. If I like looking at an artists desk why do I dislike looking at another artists kitchen? What would I feel if it was Wolfgang Tillman’s kitchen?
This has been quite an interesting exercise and has drawn out more passion than I had before writing this piece.
In assignment 2 I used photos of myself as a child. In part 3 I have started to research photographers who have re-enacted old family photos. The artists have chosen self-portraits and either played their younger selves or other members of their family.
For this exercise I felt I wanted to produce a straight photograph with myself included. I wanted to choose a good memory having dealt with negative events in my last assignment. This made me think about how I wanted to portray myself. How could I make it interesting and show feelings? I also wanted to continue practising indoor lighting as I have found this very difficult up to now.
Nostalgia was going to be the major concept and I decided to re-enact a typical Saturday morning playing Subbuteo on my own listening to music on Radio 1 and to my LPs. This was probably around 1977/78. I thought I would set up the pitch and the players and have a Radio 1 logo and album cover in the background.
Subbuteo catalogue 1978
With this in mind I went in to the loft and retrieved my box of Subbuteo teams and accessories. On opening the box I found a catalogue and inside there was a photo of a boy playing Subbuteo. I remembered this photo and decided to re-enact that photo. I had the goals and the pitch side photographers. I felt this added a nice relationship with what I am doing now. I changed my shirt for a similar checked style as the boy in the photo.
I setup my lamp and tripod and tried out my various lenses to reproduce the required depth of field. This was the most difficult aspect which in the end I have not achieved. Focusing and the over exposure of my hand and crossbar were problematic. However, I think I have been quite successful in getting up close as without the catalogue image I would probably have gone for a wider angle shot which would not have portrayed the action. Interestingly it was effectively a still life. Nothing was moving.
I imported my image in to lightroom, cropped it to the same aspect ratio and also warmed it up a little. The final image is not as sharp as I would have liked and I will try out some other setups using more natural light.
Subbuteo re-enactment 2017
I decided to create my own composition and chose to use one of the photographer figures. A typical self-portrait idea is for the photographer to capture their reflection in glass or a mirror. I decided to get the photographer to stare straight at the camera and thereby ignoring the action on the pitch. He would also be staring at me, the photographer.
Subbuteo Photography 2017
I thought this was an intriguing scene. I added myself in the form of my ‘flick-to-kick’ finger. Overall I was pleased with the outcome as it captures a childhood memory and adds the element of ‘Who is the photographer now?’. In this scene I do become a subject of interest even though you can’t see my face. The figurine brings me in to the frame even though it is only made of plastic and has no emotions or reactions.
I would like to embark on a future project using the combination of slides, cartridges, projector and screen. Victor Burgin used projection and one idea is to produce a ‘Now and Then’ photograph, possibly a re-enactment.
Another idea is to look for similar famous art photographs that have commonalities to the family slides. It would be a study of the family snapshot and art.
My final idea involves a nostalgic study of the 60s and 70s holiday camp and its place in UK social history.
Martyn Rainbird 