So far so good

After the Crit the other day I took some photos of the work I have done so far so I can share it with you all (and hopefully get some comments on what you think). 

High Viewpoint:

Eye Level:

And for my next shoot I will be getting down onto the ground and shooting from a low level, hopefully if the rain stops and the floor dries up a bit ( I don't really fancy getting a nice wet patch) 

Preparing for the Crit

So today we are having a group Crit of the work we have done so far. Crits in the past have made me nervous because in college we had to sit at the front of everybody and show off all of our work including artist research and how we developed our shoots rather than showing just the finished work, which is what we are doing in Uni, I prefer only showing finished prints because I know they are a good standard and I am proud to show them off (even if I do have a tendency to think to negatively about my own work even if I know it is good)

I think I am also less nervous about this crit because while I have been doing the developing process people have seen my work and I have received a few compliments already.

*Update*

The Crit went well, I received many positive comments about my work which I am very happy with, and the main negative comments were that a few of my prints were out of focus, which wasn't my eye the lens in the Enlarger had broken so one half of the prints was slightly out of focus but this can be fixed by a simple re printing. 

I also had a comment given to me about where and how I can take my next shoot which is a great idea so I've planned that for this weekend.

Inspirations from different places

I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Google+ when I came across a photograph that I liked so I googled the photographer and found his street photography work.


T. Malachi Dunworth

Russian Hill

Big Space

For my Street Photography project I have decided I would like to focus more on viewpoints. These images are taken from a high viewpoint which could be seen as looking down on people as though the photographer is better than the people within the photograph but I feel like he is just exploring different places and how he can show them in an unusual way rather than from just eye level.




Tom Wood

After talking with my lecturer about the shoot I had tried to do on the bus he mentioned I should look at Tom Wood, as he travelled around his hometown on the busses photographing the locals.

Tom Wood, Mill Street, Dingle, England, 1988

I like how in this photograph the viewer feels like they are sat on the bus looking behind them out the window. I would like to compare the inside and outside of the bus especially in different weather conditions such as when it is raining. 

Tom Wood, London Road, City Center, UK, 1993

In this photograph he is stood at the bus stop looking through the glass in the rain, I like the way the people are oblivious to him as they look as though they are preoccupied with an approaching bus. I think that if the people had been looking at him it would change the atmosphere in the photograph and it would not have been as effective.

Louis Strettner

While searching for Tom Wood I came across a website The Red list, and it has a wide variety of different genres of photography including Street Photography. 

Louis Stettner, Broadway Limited, Penn Station, New York

The movement of the man in this photograph makes me feel like he is running to catch his train, I could take this style and use it to photograph people who are late for their bus or generally running.

Louis Stettner, Six Lights, Penn Station, New York City, 1958

In this photograph the people have been framed so they are facing away from each other like she is leaving him behind. I like how they are the only two people in the photograph because the sole focus is on them. The line of lights leads the viewer down towards the man because he would not be noticed straight away otherwise.

Get the bus not blisters

Yesterday I loaded another film into my camera and I set off on my journey home from university, I have a two hour bus journey home so I thought it would be good to photograph people as they went past the window. Only problem was there was barely any people walking on the side that I was sat on, they were all on the other side but I couldn't switch seats as the bus was full.

When I got back into the bus station I thought it would be better to walk home instead of getting the second bus home as it would give me a greater chance of finding people to photograph (which it did) but I had forgotten how far away from the bus station I actually live so now I have a nice big blister on the bottom of my foot ( I really hope its worth it.)

I'm not walking home again, I'll stick to my bus.


I'm going to develop both the superman in the park roll of film and this latest film today so I'm really hoping that they work out and everything goes well.


*Update*

Both rolls of films came out well developed however some negatives were slightly over exposed (which isn't bad for not having a light meter)

Superman in the park

You would think it's going to be a great shoot when your out in the park and you see a superman walking towards you, only you realise as he gets closer that you have no confidence to ask for his portrait or to just take it without his permission. So I donated money to the charity he was collecting for (only about 50p, it was all I had - sorry) and then asked him if I could photograph him. Let's hope when I develop the film that it turns out right.

Back at the beginning of the weekend I had planned on being full of confidence and walking straight up to people asking to take a photograph but as the first couple walked round near me I froze and couldn't ask them, then it went a bit downhill from there as I realised the camera didn't have a light meter (I forgot to check that when reading the description online whoops) so I had to set the exposure using my digital and that was a little awkward swapping them about. 

I did manage to get a few photographs of people where I asked permission but mostly I stuck to taking shots of people as they walked past me (and even then I still froze a few times) so building up my confidence is something I need to work on.

For the last few photographs I took some more on the building site where I live so I can show a comparison from last time and I photographed some people as they walked past my house.

Planning a second shoot

These are some of the artists I have found while still researching artists to inspire me.

Derek Langley

Hampstead Ponds, London

I like Langley's use of reflections in this photograph and I cant wait to try it for myself in my next shoot (which will probably be this weekend when my new film camera arrives). 

Josef Koudelka

OLOMOUC. 1968. Czechoslovakia. Carnival

Looking through some of his work I was instantly drawn to this photograph. I think the way the boy has been portrayed as being angelic is what drew me in because I was not expecting it compared to the other photographs in the Exiles series.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 1968. Prague. Invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in front of the Radio Headquarters.

In this photograph the main focus is the man's hand and then watch he is wearing, I like how no face has been included in this photograph as it would draw attention away from the simple act. It also generalises the photograph to everybody in Czechoslovakia at that time rather than recording one persons own experience. I can take this style of photography and create my own work shooting the simple acts that everybody does even without realising.

Inspirations

OK I realized that I had posted my ideas for my first shoot without posting any photographs that I had found and inspired me.

So here are some of them now. (better late than never I guess) 



Alexey Titarenko

Untitled, photo by Alexey Titarenko, 2006

His work uses mainly buildings as the main subject rather than people, I'd like to create photographs similar to his because I like how the focus is on the actual street and he isn't following the typical street photography style of photographing people.  The viewers eye is easily led up through the street because of the perspective and the photograph has been composed as though the viewer is stood on a balcony looking out at the street them self.

Darren O'Brien 

Darren O'Brien

I found his website through his name being mentioned in another blog, a couple of his photographs feature workmen, this gave me the realisation that right outside my bedroom window there are workmen who are building the street infront of me so I took my camera outside and shot them while they were working (or rather while they looked like they were working because they dont do much work in my opinion) 


Jeff Overs

San Francisco, downtown

This photograph shows the separation of people in their own houses and the general society. Along streets people know their own neighbours but travel just one street further than that and they could know nothing about the inhabitants there. We all live together but we are all separately living (and thats my quote, no stealing!)

My own camera

So this weekend my very own film camera should be delivered (as you can tell I'm very excited) and I will be ordering a dev tank set so I can get my films developed easier without having to share equipment with the other students (which also reminds me I need to get a locker).

Anyway the point of this post was to update everybody on the roll of film I developed yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised that my negatives turned out great, apart from a few water marks which was due to me not using enough wetting agent while washing them and can be easily fixed.

We also got shown around the darkroom and shown the basics of using the enlarger, which was a great recap as its been a while since I've been in a darkroom but all the information came back to me and I was off making my contact sheet. Which means today after I buy some paper I can start enlarging some negatives then I'll upload them and show you all.

* Update *

I got home today and my camera was waiting for me a day early so I'm looking forward to this weekend. 

I also bought the paper I needed so tomorrow I shall be going into the dark room.

Following a plan... or not

So this weekend just gone I took out my film camera and went walking so that I could gather ideas and see if I could get a feel for what direction I would like to take my Street Photography project. (And to see if I could work the film camera!)

I started out with a plan to take 6 different starter shoots within the roll of film, I went out with 6 different ideas that I was going to take 6 different photographs of (36 exposure film)  however while I was shooting I came across different photo opportunities that I hadn't planned for so my plan got put aside but I still photographed my ideas.

My ideas were different to the generic ideas that people may associate with street photography, I have not included people as the main subject within my shoot but the presence of people is obvious by the subjects.

The first mini shoot on the film was taken out the window on the 8th floor of a building, this is because I wanted to experiment with different camera angles so that not all my work was eye level. While shooting these photographs it made me see just how small we actually are compared to everything else.

I decided to go walking around some of the streets I had seen while photographing from the window. I had originally wanted to shoot in six different sections, so I started the second section I had in mind.

Then I think I may have gone a little off the genre of "street photography" because I followed the path through to the nature walk and around the hills that I had seen from the building. My idea for going up there was to show the view of each from each's perspective (the hills seen from the building and vice versa). But along the path were some interesting subjects so I started shooting (and broke the plan of six different sections).

I then photographed the builders that are outside my house from 8am-4-pm because they are literally building on the street infront of me. (I thought it was quite a great opportunity to show a time lapse)

I'll post later on with how developing the film goes (I'll either be crying or cheering).

Street photography

What is street photography? 

Many people think of street photography literally and only think of photographs that have been taken outside of people in the street. (I did at first)

This isn't the only branch that falls into this category however as there are many different avenues that can be followed.

Street photography can include everything from portraits on the street to not including people but just the evidence of a person being there before. The label of street photography can also be misleading as the street is not the only place that can be used as a location as there are various other places that can be used such as beaches, parks and generally any space opened to the public. 

I do not want to follow the generic path of wandering the street and photographing the passers by, many people will be doing this and I would like my work to stand out.

Who am I?

This will just be a small introduction to myself because you don't know me or anything about me.

As you probably already know by my blog name I'm Cara (hello) and I'm starting this blog to share my experiences and inspirations over the time I am in University.

The Uni is a small specialist arts university in the north east and I'm studying photography (which again you probably already know by my blog name)

I will be updating regularly with different artists who have inspired my own photography shoots and I will be showing my own work (if it works, because shooting film can be a tricky process especially for a beginner.) 

Also I have a Facebook page (Cara Burns Photography) which gets updated with my photography shoots both personal and within University. So remember to check back for updates.