Tuesday 25 October 2011

PP1, Lecture 2, Social Media Success

Today's lecture was about the success of social media, and how it has now become an essential part of professional and personal life.  One thing that I picked up on, was that networks make things work; many aspects of networks. Networks of friends and family, water and sewage system networks, business networks, and many others.  Social network sites link people, and it is very important to be aware of the difference between personal and professional when using the sites.  Innapropriate content on a Facebook page could be taken in the wrong way.  This could be the difference between gaining and losing a client.

PPP1, Lecture 1, Who are you?

This first lecture was on the topic, 'Who are you?'.  We looked at personality archetypes and personality traits and how they work for and against us in the professional work place.  The personality archetypes work by you selecting one word from four different lists, each with two words each.  These words then form a four letter sequence, that has an explanation.  My sequence was ISFJ, which means I am quiet, friendly, responsible and conscientious.  I agree with this to an extent, but I think that some of the other categories apply to me too.

We also looked at personality mapping.  This is where you rate certain aspects of your life out of 100, and then draw these figures on a graph, and it comes out looking like a spiders web.  This can be done regularly, so you can see how you and your personality changes over a period of time.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Ways of Looking.

Today, group B and I went to Bradford, to visit the Ways of Looking photography exhibition.  One of the exhibitions halls we went to, was the Impressions Gallery, where I was told Martin Parr had his first exhibition, while the gallery was based in York, before the gallery moved to Bradford.

The first exhibition we went to was in the Pop Up space, next to Costa.  The work that caught my eye the most was that of Rob Ball.  His striking prints were of pacemakers that had been taken out of the bodies they powered before cremation.  This sounds grim I know but they had been cleaned up before they were photographed.




Ball created the series after working as a Forensic photographer, and it shows.  The meticulous attention to detail really comes through in the prints.  Each pacemaker is photographed on a white background, and in the centre of the frame.  The white helps to the visitor to focus on the pacemaker and in details.  Also, there is no meaningful text under each photograph, only the serial number of each pacemaker, which means that the viewer has to come to their own conclusion of the context of the photographs.  The prints do not have a frame which makes them seem to blend into the walls.  This makes the pacemakers look even smaller.


The next Gallery we went to was the Impression Gallery, where we were shown round by a fine art graduate called India.



This exhibition was created by Jeremy Deller.  He produced the exhibition from an archive of photos from a photography studio called The Belle Vue Studio in Bradford, and the photos are from the 50's to 70's.  The photos document the large number of immigrants arriving from Asia and the Caribbean at that time.  Deller used these photographs to explore the cultural and political heritage of Britain.  

All of the images are studio based, and the sitters are wearing smart suits that were provided by the studio, along with other props.  The sitters would then send the photo home, to show how good their new lives were.  The photos are framed with a creamy-white surround, with a black frame.  The photos looked dwarfed against the wall and frame, but this draws you in to look closely at the prints, and I like this idea.  


We were then shown around an exhibition of Red Saunders' work by India.  All of the photos are representations of historical events.  The photographs are subjective, trying to tell you something about the event that they are depicting.  The images have been shot in a way that makes them look like paintings, with the lighting highlighting different parts of the image that help to tell the story.  All of the images are staged, on sets and complicated lighting set ups.  




The photos have been printed very large, and are shown on a deep red background.  This is a reference to the great halls in old houses that had rooms to show the big paintings.  The walls were painted really rich, deep colours to set the paintings off.  

Overall, I enjoyed looking around all of the exhibitions, there were some interesting photos which gave me some ideas for my briefs.  





Also, here is a picture of Sam looking happy in the sunshine, in his sunglasses.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Layers, Blending Modes, Quick selection....



In Monday's Digital Imaging session, we learned how to use layers, blending modes, and the quick selection tools.  Here is an image of Brendan, my flatmate, which I shot a while ago, overlaid with an image of cracked mud.  I brought the image of cracked mud in as a new layer.  My aim was to create a double exposure effect.  I reduced the opacity of the new layer a little, and used a layer mask.  With a low opacity brush, masked in his eyes a little more, to make them stand out.  Its not as good as I would like, so I will have another go at it soon.  

Friday 14 October 2011

First day in Vernon Street darkroom...

Today group B had our induction in the darkroom.  We learned the process of developing film, getting the film onto the spool in the tank, mixing the correct amount of developer and water, keeping it at 20 degrees etc.  We then made contact sheets, cutting the negatives up into strips of 6 frames, and putting them into the glass negative holder.

We then learnt the chemical process of developing the photographic paper.  90 seconds in the developer, 30 seconds in the stop bath; being careful not to put the tongs from the developer into the stop bath, then back into the developer.  Then the paper goes into the fixer for 5 minutes, and then throughout the magic hole in the wall, into the wash baths for 20 mins.


This is the contact sheet that I produced.  It enabled me to see the images that I had taken, and decide which ones I want to print.  

This is the test strip for the two print below.  The lightest section is a 5 second exposure, and the sections increase in exposure by 5.  This is always a good idea to do, as it helps you to work out the exposure time for the final print.  

This is the first print that I made.. The exposure settings for this were f/2.8, 18 seconds, grade 3.  I am very pleased the overall print, apart from the minor blemishes on it (caused by chemical residue on my fingers, oops!), but when I looked at it in the daylight, I thought it looked flat in regards to tones and contrast.  

 This is the second and final print that I did.  The exposure for this print were f/2.8, 18 seconds, grade 4.5.    I much prefer this print, as it is much more contrasty (and more contrasty on my screen).  I am really happy with this print, but I may print it again, just to get it perfect :)

Sunday 9 October 2011

Workshop

On friday group B had a workshop in the studio, looking at different lighting arrangements.  We looked at broad lighting, short lighting, butterfly lighting and some others too.  We then had the afternoon to set up the lights, and try them arrangements out ourselves.

This is an example of broad lighting.  We used a shoot through umbrella for this shot.   

This is an example of short lighting.  This was using a beauty dish.   

This is an example of cross lighting, which was also using a beauty dish.  

Light Night

It was Light Night here in Leeds on friday, so my flatmates and I went into the city centre to see what we could find.  Light Night is a big event/exhibition where actors, poets, musicians and artists share their work with the city.  There were events all over the city, in the college, the libraries, the Electric Press building and more.  




The 2 photos above are from the exhibition in the College cafe.  


As we walked into town, we saw these projections of games on the sides of the city buildings.  We found the projectors, and there were kids actually playing the games! 

Thursday 6 October 2011

Charlie Meecham at Ways of Seeing Festival bradford.




Charlie Meecham is a photographer that documents the changing landscape of our environment.  For the Ways of Seeing Festival, Meecham set about documenting how Bradford is changing, sourcing old photographs of landmarks in Bradford, and re-visiting the sites of the photographs to document how the site has changed.  He has created an almost typology like body of work, which is one that I would like to see.