Date: Wednesday 6th April 2016
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Editing Software: Photoshop CC 2014
Settings: Indoors: F10, ISO 400, 1/60, Flash
Outdoors: F10, ISO 200, 1/100
Plans For Shoot: My plans for todays photoshoot is to photograph men's work in the style of Henri-Cartier Bresson, one of the personal opinion exam artists, through documentary.
What I Hope to Achieve: I hope to achieve a series of photographs that depict the average roles and activities within the field of work for the stereotypical male.
I want the pictures to reflect the work of Bresson, a famous documentary photographer, and to do this I would like for my images to show an insight into the decisive moment and when it is the best moment to capture an image.
Additionally, I also want to create a nostalgic, retro and timeless feel to my work and to do this I plan to edit my photographs into black and white using Photoshop CC 2014.
Furthermore, I want to capture at least four photographs that depict my chosen response to personal opinions in a creative way and that I am happy to display.
I want to experiment with different tools in Photoshop to achieve a dramatic and tonal series that exemplifies my interpretation of the exam and Henri Cartier-Bresson's work who served as my inspiration for this photoshoot.
What I Actually Achieved: I did capture photographs that depicted stereotypically masculine roles such as using machinery, a pillar drill, the DIY around the house and the caretaking of the man cave including a garage and a shed.
I would hope that Bresson's influence can be seen in my work although it is not a direct pastiche. The use of the black and white definitely aids the process of achieving a final outcome that reflects the work of the photographer who inspired this shoot. The decisive moment played a direct position in my work as I studied the subject, my granddad, from afar and wanted to deviate from posed photography and thus was able to capture him in his natural environment.
I did use black and white editing techniques to address the nostalgic feel of Bresson's work and now my own. As Bresson was using first a Kodak Box Brownie and later a Leicia camera his photographs were in black and white which influenced me.
I did capture a few more than four favourite photographs in this photoshoot but I cut it down to four for uniformity.
In Photoshop I used techniques and tools such as 'Black/ White', 'Brightness/ Contrast' and the more advanced 'Levels' to alter my pictures until they were bold and tonal black and white photographs I was pleased with.
What I Am Going To Do Next/ Progression: Next I am progressing on to a very different style of photography were I will be including not only photographers but also artists as my inspiration.
To improve in the future, if I was to complete a similar photoshoot, then I would shoot various subjects in various locations to expand the relatability of the photographs as photography is largely about relating to someone's individual personal opinions and belief systems.
Least and Favourite Image Evaluation -
Least Favourite:
Favourite:
Favourite:
The reason the above photographs are my favourite and least favourite image is for a variety of different reasons.
My least favourite is so because the composition is not as well planned especially due to the fact that I was focusing on the decisive moment and the photographs are candid and not posed. Due to the bright outside weather the exposure was somewhat too bright which I should have adjusted more in Photoshop. Additionally, in some photography lens glare can add to the final outcome although in this image I believe detracts from the tone of the image. Also, the image was much brighter than the others in the series, specifically more so than my favourite, due to the lack of tone adjustment through 'Brightness/ Contrast' in the editing process.
The second photograph is my favourite as it is of high tonal quality with good use of 'Brightness/ Contrast' and depicts the decisive moment well. The cluttered stereotypically masculine work space is accentuated by the bright sun on the worktop contrasting to the dark pillar drill head. I also believe that, as I know the subject, I was able to photograph them in a setting that accurately depicts their personality and character in a way that it is almost as if I was not there with a camera. Therefore, this image most accurately depicts the inspiration from Henri Cartier-Bresson and his photography techniques.
Meaning -
Denotation: DIY, physical work, use of machinery, pass-times.
Connotation: Males are stereotypically the manual labourers DIY workers within a nuclear family configuration and these gender biased ideas are passed down through the institution of the family, the inequality that transcend times through the employment of nostalgic black and white filters.
Context: This photoshoot depicts my ideas about how gender stereotypes have evolved but not far enough to deviate from the vintage atmosphere of these photographs, the belief systems of older generations is not working in cohesion with where the majority of society would like equality to be working towards.
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