Shoot Four

These images I took during one night that my family were visiting, I think that showing a range of ages all taking selfies and becoming lost to technology is going to be more effective than just asking young adults who the technology is aimed at.

Noah Kalina's - Everyday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPPzXlMdi7o

In this video Noah Kalina has taken a 'selfie' everyday for 12.5 years and has compiled them in this video, this project is not the only one of its kind however it is the longest I have seen the project being completed for.

I think it's extraordinary to see the changes that he goes through over time as during the course of his life he won't see the little changes that happen daily (the effects of ageing) however watching the time lapse video of his life it becomes obvious that he is changing.

First Ever Selfie?

http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-1839/

Although the genre of 'selfies' did not exist when photography was first invented there was self portraiture and Robert Cornelius did just that, he exposed the film himself and posed for a minute to get a photograph of himself.

The image is thought to be the first photographic portrait taken, showing that 'selfies' have been around for longer than we thought. Self portraits were common when photography was just starting out because it was easier for the photographer to model so that they could practice techniques and exposures.

Not everybody agree's that this image is a 'selfie' because of how the Oxford dictionary has defined the genre, according to the definition given I would say that this image is not a 'selfie' but a self portrait, however this image predates mobile phones so I think that the image can be classed as a 'selfie' because of the limited technology available.

#trulyrich

Chevrolet

This two minute commercial for Chevrolet shows us how the world is happening around us while we are taking pictures to post online, sometimes while trying to take the perfect image we forget that imperfection is part of life and that we should celebrate it.

This commercial shows us that we should not try and show off for people online but we should be enjoying the moments we are trying to capture.

The narrative in the advert shows a family who are enjoying daily life, but it shows the mum is missing out on laughing with the kids because she is trying to take the perfect image of the cake and how the dad isn't playing with his kids because he is taking pictures.

Other short clips were also made for the campaign, some show a series of "perfect" images but then the last image shows what truly matters; for example the window seat clip shows many images looking out from an aeroplane window seat however what really matters is that you are with somebody you care about.

http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2013/11/21/lauren-greenfield-shoots-stills-directs-commercials-for-trulyrich-chevy-malibu-campaign/


Lauren Greenfield

She has directed the commercial and she has used some of her own images as the selfie that the model has took, she says she looked at how the models would take pictures of themselves or how the dad would take pictures of the children and tried to make her images look as candid and real as possible, I think this has worked because all of the images look as though they are real and have been taken by the family. She says that she was going to let the images be taken as the shoot was acting out however she realised that the photographs would be a key aspect of the advert so she has used a combination of both her own work and letting the photographs been shot on set.

Selfie City

http://www.selfiecity.net/


This website shows the details of research done into THE SELFIE.

They have compared thousands of selfies from cities across the globe and have made an imageplot which is a large grid of all the selfies and how the people have posed themselves (head tilting). The graphs can be compared to see how the cities have different social standards on how they want to be perceived.

Through surveying selfies they found that many people tag images as selfies even if it is of food, pets or places.  They also looked into the age range of selfie takers and the gender percentage, they found that in younger people there was a higher percentage of women, but there was a higher percent of older men than older women.

Shoot Three

These images I took in the studio using a shallow depth of field (f2.8) I have chosen to focus only on the phone and the hand that is holding it to show how people have become obscured by their images they display proudly online, I am showing that people are losing focus and becoming lost to how many "likes" they can get on a photograph. I wanted to show that the person has become lost and I have done this by shooting in the studio on a plain background.

Kanji Ishii

http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-16-860-898-31-85-view-beautiful-still-life-profile-ishii-kanji.html#photo

The composition used in this image is very well thought out as it looks natural as though the model has just been handed the tablet and she is holding the tablet as though she is looking at it from the viewers perspective, this draws the viewer in as they feel like they are becoming the model in that they can have the products that are being advertised. I think this image shows how society is changing as an advert for jewellery is being advertised through a piece of technology.

Tutorial

Notes :

research into the "fetishization" of the phone

develop the technique so that flash exposes the person / phone in one (to stop phone shake)

compare a 'selfie' with 'straight' portrait (ask the person to have a natural expression)




After the tutorial :


I went straight to the technicians to see if they had any technique ideas about being able to one have a faster exposure and they said increasing the ISO might work to show the phone screen as well as the person, or to just ask the person to be reaaaally still.

Shoot One Reshoot Outcome

These are the best images I took for the re-shoot of the keyboard shoot :

Shoot One Reshoot

In this shoot I have included my iPod on the table to show that I am completely surrounded by technology. I have used an Apple iPod in these images because Apple is a major company and their products are easily recognised, I have also changed my lock screen image to an image of their logo just so that people can instantly name the brand.

These images are a preview of what I have taken (these are photographs taken on my phone so that I could quickly upload them onto my blog) I have taken the images on my phone as well as the camera because I wanted to be able to show I had done work incase anything went wrong or I left my card in the camera (which I had for the group crit) 

#SelfieSchool

(yes really)

http://www.dailydot.com/lol/selfless-selfie-school-lessons/

As part of social media week Oliver Lang hosted a gathering to celebrate their phones camera quality and invited people to get together and take selfies,

" If people are taking photos of themselves with art, they might as well take good ones, he told me. " Here

Daniel Lindh

http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-16-860-898-31-85-view-beautiful-still-life-profile-lindh-daniel.html#photo

These images are of the models who are glamourising the object they hold, they look like advertisements that could either be for nail polish or for the objects, they are useful to me because I can create similar images by highly glamourising the model and the environment or taking a documentary approach and show the object being used in its natural environment and not making the model made up and fake.

Look Down ('Look Up' Parody)

In this video the guy is saying that the times are changing and our social interactions are changing, not everything has to be found locally, being online is broadening our horizons and letting us contact people we would not normally have access to. Things are being made more easily available with the invention of apps and new technologies, we do not have to stick to what we know but can spread out and find people in other areas.

This video makes me think more about technology than the original because now I have watched both I am comparing their opinions and drawing from my own life experiences with people online and I feel that we should exclude ourselves from social media however we should not become dependant on it to the point we do not have a life outside virtual reality.

Hermione Hodgson

Studio Riley project


https://www.behance.net/gallery/15293407/Studio-Riley

This image is another example of what I am wanting to create with shallow depth of field, the person is not focused on and the entire focus is on the phone he is holding.

Junichi Ito

http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-16-860-898-31-85-view-beautiful-still-life-profile-ito-junichi-1.html#photo

The first image below is similar in style to what I am going to do in another of my shoots, I am going to arrange the photograph so that there is a model who is eating the keys so that people will be able to connect to the image more as it is more literal.

The other two images caught my eye as they are both hands posed with technology.

Look Up From Anti-social Social Network

This video by Gary Turk highlights the changing way that people interact with others, it shows what happens when we become dependant on our phones - life is happening around us and we are missing out.

He says that people may have friends online but can still feel alone; I agree with his video because talking to people through a phone doesn't have a personal connection as you rarely know what the other person is doing or feeling while you are texting/inboxing. I think this feeling of not being connected has made apps like Skype and Snapchat popular because we feel more social being able to see the person we are chatting too even though you are still talking to a screen and not a person.

Apple iPhone adverts

These adverts show two users holding the newly released Apple iPhone's, they show the user how the phone would fit into their hand and explore some of the features that the phone has, I think the way they have been set out can be useful to me because I am wanting to look at people and their phones.

VOP Studio Photography

http://www.vopstudio.net/2010/10/portrait-shoot-with-sigma-50mm-f14-ex.html

Image from VOP Studio's blog

The image above is taken with a f1.4 depth of field, this has the effect of the hand being in perfect focus and the face being obscured slightly and not in focus, I am wanting to recreate this effect with the model holding their phone.

Shoot Two (Pre- shoot Ideas)

I am going to show people holding their mobile phones to show how we depend on them and how common it is to see somebody holding their phone.

There are different phones being marketed at different people and companies are mainly aiming their products at younger generations because there is more profit to be made.

I want to look at how people use their phones for example taking pictures of themselves, many peoples camera albums, is full of images of themselves and/or friends so that they can look back and remember what was happening when the photograph was taken. Many of these images are posted to online social media sites and shared with other friends.

This can sometimes spark arguments as a friend may upload a photograph that you think you look "ugly" in. I want to get to know peoples perspective on how they look and I would like them to take a self portrait that they like and would share online.

In this photo-shoot I think I am going to show the model holding their phone in front of their face, with a "selfie" on the screen of the phone, I want to use a very shallow depth of field (I'm thinking around f1.4) so that the model is out of focus and only the phone is in focus. I am thinking about doing this because many peoples lives have become dominated by social media, people taking photos for the sole purpose of posting online to make their lives seem interesting and so they feel included and liked.

Mateusz Nasternak

https://www.behance.net/MateuszNasternak


These images were created for Samsung in collaboration with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Samsung are sponsoring the event and have created these advertisements for promotional purposes.

They show how connected we are with technology because mobile phone companies are sponsoring large events.

Underwater Photography

I got the prints back from Asda and they all worked very well (yaaaaay!)


Here is just a quick preview of some the photographs I have taken from underwater:

Why Food Photography?

In my first image I am setting the scene like a breakfast table so I started looking at food photography as I was styling it like a food shot and thought that looking into the genre would give me tips and helpful prompts into setting my photograph up.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/angienaron/379037427/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/cphilippeau/


https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=breakfast

Joel Pares Photography

Judging America

http://www.joelpares.com/judging-america/


His series of photographs/GIFs show the stereotypes people face in daily life and what they really are. It is a thought provoking series that makes me think how I perceive the world and the stereotypes I place on people at just a glance.


Hybrid

http://www.joelpares.com/hybrid/

People make assumptions on the first impressions they make of people, everybody has a story and something about them that people don't always get to see straight away. This series shows two different sides to the person, a hidden side that people don't always see.

Shoot One

So for shoot one I wanted to show how technology is so integrated with our lives that we don't even notice it anymore, so for this shoot I am setting up a breakfast style scene and showing how technology is incorporated into everyday daily tasks.

I have used keyboard keys as the food as a subtle way of showing technology, rather than taking it literal and showing the person eating a mobile phone or a laptop. I have not wanted to be literal because we are so reliant on technology that we don't notice when we are using it anymore. I think that being subtle will make the viewer think about when they are eating and make them realise that most people use more technology than they realise.

Here is some of the outcome I got :

Synthetic Beauty - Raj Khepar

http://www.diyphotography.net/featureless-studio-shots-models-are-quite-creepy/

http://rajkhepar.com/3ljppj3ai2mwpegrox7f0hvdaf2eii

Photographer Raj Khepar set out to highlight the excessive use of post production on beauty photographs by editing beauty portraits to the level where they show no facial features. Here

 In his series "Synthetic Beauty" Raj Khepar has extremely retouched his portraits so that his models have no facial features, his work is to show how companies obsessively retouch photographs so that the models are unbelievably perfect.

His series removes the models identities and leaves the face blank, this is very influential because people portray themselves very different online as to how they are actually are, some people's entire online life becomes everything to them, to the point of feeling like they have nothing outside the online world they have.


I can take this in the direction of covering peoples faces with their phones rather than removing their facial features.

Tom Eshchar

http://www.diyphotography.net/tom-eshchar-shoots-nude-projections-on-naked-bodies/

Tom Eshchars work

Tom Eshchar talks about how vulnerable and exposed his models feel while they are infront of the camera, they don't realize that they arent being seen like they think they are.

This is true when people don't have their mobiles on them because of theft,loss or no charge. They feel cut off and lost without their mobiles, it shows how dependent we have become on technology as a society and as individuals.

I can show this by projecting images of phones over people to show how the phones are becoming part of our identities and that they are a common place in our lives.

Sandro Miller

http://sandrofilm.com/main/index.php

http://sandrofilm.com/main/advertising.php

Sandro Miller's work 

More examples of Sandro Miller's work

In his advertising portfolio Sandro has worked for Samsung, he has photographed people holding the phone and or tablet, I am going to try something like this to show people and what phones they have, I am going to try photographing different ages and see how the technology differs between ages.

Older generations will have simpler technology because it will be easier for them to understand as they have not been introduced to it for very long and it will be a foreign concept.

Technology is now being marketed at younger children because there is a profit to be made as the children will want the latest and more expensive technology as it is released.

Pre Shoot 1

For the first image I have in my head I am breaking my old laptop's keyboard apart so that I can use the keys in part of the image, they had seven years of grime and dirt underneath them though (eewwwwww it was disgusting) so they needed a good wipe down so that none of the dirt showed up in the images, which it did when I took the close up of the arrow key. (shown below in "Pulling the keys off")

Keyboard before

Pulling the keys off

Keyboard After

The keys

Laptop was a bit dirty

Setting up in the kitchen