Design Investigation & Work Based Learning

Photography

Photography is a form of visual communication, ever wondered where that phrase comes from, a picture speaks a thousand work. For my design investigation i have chosen to research into the field of photography as it is something iam particularly interested in and wish to learn more about. I find the use of analog and authenicity photography really interesting, and have noticed this style has become more poplular and increasing in todays society. Once upon a time we could not wait for the latest sharper, more faster taking cameras to come out, but now it appears everybody is reverting back to authenicity, but why?

Authenticity (Nominal and Expressve)

Researching into authenicity, i found out that it carries alot of meaning rather than just one in particular. An authentic photography may mean how much of it conforms to the photographers intention, it could mean how much expression and moral passion has gone into the work, or it could mean taking a photography which would be impossible to re-capture again

Questions to ask

To learn abit more about this field and what it takes in order to be a good photographer i set a list of questions which i will ask photographers, including successful photographers and students. The questions i will be asking is:

1. What interests you about photography?

2. What inspires you when it comes to photography and how do you go about finding inspiration?

3. What skills do you think it takes in orderto become a good photographer?

4. Do you use computer technology to alter your work and if so in what way?

5. What do you think about authenticity within photography?

6. Why does authenticity photography appeal to you?

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Authenticity (Nominal and Expressve)

I managed to contact a student at London Metropolitian University and although he was unable to answer all my questions he did share a little of his thoughts to me on photography. He said:

“Photography allows me to capture a moment, memory and emotion which in some cases can be more effective than other methods of visual communication, because it allows us to place ourselves in the scene and we are able to relate and break down the scenario how we see it according to the subject”

I asked him outside university what purposes does his photography serve? He said:

“Its purpose would be non other than to reflect feelings and emotions, while still remaining pleasing to the eye for its viewers”

Ideas And Developments

These are a few experiments i did using a photography app that i purchased. I tried to pay particular attention to lighting, compositon and detail. I really like the top right image i had taken lying down on the floor. Coinsidently thinking about where to start looking for inspiration, lying on my bedroom floor i thought where do i start exactly? staring at the light from below i began to see what was just right in front of me. Shadows, rays of light, patterns with an object! what i was looking for was right in front of me.

For my design investigation on photography I managed to contact a student at the London Metropolitan University who studies Graphic Design. I decided to contact him because his style of working almost always consists of photography and he always uses briefs as a opportunity to use photography. I find his work very inspiring and like his style of work, he uses loads of different techniques and media for his photography including using a cannon SLR camera, pinhole cameras, and even photography downloadable apps. Although he was unable to answer all my questions he did share a few of his thoughts with me on photogra-phy, he said “Photography allows me to capture a moment, memory and emotion which in some cases can be more effective than other methods of visual communication because it allows us to place ourselves in the scene and we are able to relate and break down the scenario how we see it according to the subject”. From this it came clear to me that he uses photography as a way of expressing himself a more effective way of communication by using visual. By using photography to capture a memory or moment this enables the viewer to perceive the message by any means they wish. And by taking photography of something that we can all relate to we can then break down the different meanings within the picture. I asked him as a amateur photographer how do you go about finding your feet and setting out into this field of art. He said: “You just need to identify with your surroundings, to see what’s around you and not just look, its kind of difficult to explain and takes some practise, try to focus on lighting, lines and different compositions. After sharing this piece of advice with me I did start of observe my surrounding and soon started to see and relate to what it was he was trying to explain about finding inspiration. I noticed that lighting in a photograph played a huge role whether it be authenticity or not. The way that light would reflect of or on particular object or light rays through and between objects I found really interesting and would make photographs very dynamic. The little tips he did share with me I found very useful because it helped me to widen my eyes and look more further beyond than what is just in front of me. It has helped me to understand that not necessarily that there has to be a subject in a photography but just paying particular interest in lines, light and composition can be more than enough to create an interesting photograph. Another thing that I learnt too is that you don’t have to have the latest camera about in order to shoot photos, the real rustic and authentic photographs would most prob-ably benefit more by using a pinhole camera of some sort or even the kind of cameras that were about before digital ones, the disposable ones. These types of cameras produce unwanted effects which before time we wouldn’t of liked but today it has become a part of creativity and more and more people use this style when it comes to their own work. It could be that this style fits in with peoples photography and style of working when it comes to expressing your feelings and emotions, a sort of dream like trance effect, this effect could help us to identify with the picture more and relate to it. Through this research I have found out what is required in regards to finding inspiration, and also how to go about shooting my own photographs.

Industry Contact Report

Final Outcome Ideas

Realising that alot of photography is about your inner self and your own feeling which reflect in your work, i decided to take a series of photographs which shows some ones feelings and emotions, i thought about making a storyboard of the different feelings and emotions. After some thought i started to think about possibly intergrating a manifesto with these photographs, perhaps re-take the photos with the person holding a piece of paper displaying manifesto points for authenticity within photography.

Here are some points of which i came up with for the manifesto:

1.Your mistakes and errors are creative

2. Find your feelings and emotions

3. Less is more

4. Look right in front of you

5. Be patient

6. Follow your own vision

7. See and dont just look

8. Forget technique

9. Your camera doent matter

10. There are no rules

11. Practise be patient

Design Investigation Manifesto aftefact

From my idea, i started thinking about what way i could inergrate my manifesto points onto my photograph. From the student i interviewed. I was inspired by his piece of work where he used overlaying text on top of a photograph, so i decided to experiment using this same process and it worked quite well, the background images emphazing the text. In order to make the images appear more rustic, i decided to print the photos then take a picture of that print out and repeated this 3 times, producing a more rough and authentic look.