Documentary Photography

Below is a quick video of my finished book.

These are my chosen photographs for my project - 'Individuality' and the ones i will be putting into my book.   Because i was photographing people which were so different and each had completely different personalities, i wanted to make sure that the photographs represented this. This was a risky decision to make as i wanted all my images to fit together as my own work and not to look like a different photographers work on each different page but at the same time i didn't want the subjects to all appear the same as they were all different.  to tackle this i tried to keep similar coloured and plain backgrounds. i feel the images all look like my work as the framing, positioning of subject and colours are all similar, obviously not exactly the same but thats what i wanted, each of these people were different and if i had produced photographs which were all exactly the same it would have contradicted my project of individuality and would not have been a true r...

These are shots from a quick shoot i did with Charlie; a barber in Worcester city centre. Charlie was busy but let me photograph him working and then quickly took some shots of him outside his barber shop. Charlie was someone who i really wanted to photograph as he is such a unique individual with a 'bad boy' exterior but is such a friendly, compassionate and down to earth guy. i wanted to photograph him in his uniform and whilst working, as barbering is his life and passion and is part of who he is.  i didn't think it would be right to photograph him away from that. As i am celebrating individuality i wanted the photos to ooze the character of my subject and by keeping his barbering uniform on i feel this was accomplished.  when editing these photos i tried to keep small amounts of colour in the picture but heavily toned down as charlie wasn't someone with a colourful personality, he was someone a bit cooler, a bit more calm and relaxed. i feel these...

These are shots from a shoot i did with a young entrepreneur called Clint. He is a new fresh face to the street food industry, recently getting contract with local pubs and bars in Worcester to sell his food. Clint allowed me to photograph him and for me this was an awesome opportunity as i was photographing someone who clearly visually expresses himself and has still managed to become a successful young man. It shows that your appearance doesn't have to stop you from achieving.  For this shoot i wanted to produce portrait shots of Clint in around Worcester but also in his work place. i wanted to keep the images coloured as Clint's hair was something which contrasted really nicely with a lot of coloured backgrounds. i also tried to experiment with shapes as i was inspired by  Matt Hans Shroeter who is a master as using shapes and forms in and around his subjects. 

These are a selection of photos from my latest day of shooting. These photographs are of Amber who is a piercer at the local tattoo studio. This time i made sure i had good available light so i could capture my subject a lot better, as last time i was shooting in the dark and it turned out to be harder than first thought.  for this shoot I wanted to get mainly close up portraits as it was Amber's face which was intriguing as it was heavily pierced and this was something that i wanted to show off in the photograph. Amber came across as a very confident women who took pride in her piercings and tattoos and wasn't worried at all about what people thought which was a breathe of fresh air really and this positivity was contagious. She is a local girl and started working at the local tattoo studio as she has always been fascinated with tattoos and piercings and now boasts a selection of them herself.  As i had a lot more available light i was able to select ...

These are some photos from my second shoot out in Worcester city centre. I met a young women called Dilys who kindly agreed to let me photograph her. As you can see it was late at night so available light was minimal and this definitely challenged me technically as i had never photographed in dark before. How i ended up shooting was with the ISO up to around 5000/6000 and trying to shoot in areas with street lighting which i could take advantage of. My subject was at first shy but after a few sips of her hip flask she relaxed and opened up to the camera. As part of my photographic series 'individuality' i really wanted to capture different people and that means going out at different times of the day and night, as not everyone is about during peak times. at the shoot i tried to use rich colours to portray my subjects crazy personality but i feel that some of the images didn't turn out the best. i think the difficulty in shooting in the dark hind...

Above are some early photographs i have taken. I wanted to produce some images which showed someone who was tattooed up front with no shying away. I wanted to almost force the viewer to look at a person which may be ruled off by society and a person who may have a negative stigma associated with them.  technically i don't think these photographs are the best but i have tried to experiment with a snapshot style similar to that of Nan Golding. The images are framed naturally with no big amounts of zooming and the images are slightly blurry to give the effect of movement and a fast paced lifestyle. personally i prefer the coloured shots over the black and white, as i feel the contrast between the colours is powerful and intriguing where as i feel the black and white are a little washed out.    I'm going to continue with these shoots and try to photograph as many subjects as possible to try and get a wide range of people/fashion and styles.  ...

In todays lecture we looked at considerations when photographing, so whether this be legal or ethical but also considerations to the effect your presence as a photographer has on your shots. If for example you were trying to photograph people in the streets and you walk around boasting a nice big camera and actively showing people you're taking photos, then this is certainly going to have an impact on the final results as each person is going to be aware of you and the camera and act differently to how they naturally would. A few ways you can go  unnoticed and  achieve a candid shot is:  - Using a Long lens - so you  don't  need to get really close to people, simply just zoom in.   - Covert - Almost camouflaging yourself within a scene. This is used throughout wildlife photography and can be used for street photography as well.   - Where cameras are the ‘norm’ – going unnoticed. So for example at a music/art festival or car sho...

Diane Arbus  Dianne Arbus  was an American photographer who specialised in photographing marginalized people— dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers—and others whose normality was perceived by the general public as ugly or surreal. I am drawn to Arbus as a photographer because she gave these minoritized people a voice. The people she photographed were outcasts and people that society looked down upon and judged for being different and this on a level links with my project as i am photographing individuality through fashion, tattoos, piercings and hair choice. The people I'm photographing will have someone from mainstream society judging and looking down upon them just as the people Arbus photographed.  Arbus' work is always quite brutally honest, it is up front and straight forward for the viewer to see, the style i will be photographing in is different but no less effective. Instead of photographing how it is i will be g...