Unit 4 Externally Set Tasks 2016
People and Possessions
People often have a strong and complex relationship with possessions. Cynthia Connolly has photographed people with their cars. Peter Menziel has recorded the possessions of families. Elliot Irwitt has observed the relationship between dogs and their owners.
I picked people and possessions because I feel like I will be able to capture different peoples emotions and their attachments to their objects. I'm interested in seeing peoples relationship with objects and being able to clearly see the difference in people side by side their possessions.
Ideas
Peter Menzel
Peter Menzel - 'Material World: A Global Family Portrait'. "He and other photographers took portraits of 30 statistically average families with all of their worldly possessions displayed outside their homes." This is a series of images that capture families in different cultures with their house, and their weekly shop of food. The images are all take above the subject so you can clearly see the background of the families. For example the last image has a background of their home, you can see theres loads of food which makes you think they're wealthy. Comparing this to the second image the background is a desert and they are completely isolated from everything. If the angle of the image was taken differently it would seem more like a portrait, but because it's higher up the people are detached. Menzel also created another series of images very similar to 'Material World' called 'What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.' This is very similar to the diet series because these people are photographed in a very similar way however the angle of the image is no longer from above and an extreme long shot. The images are now taken at eye level and it's a lot more personal as we can actually see the peoples faces and the people in the image actually play a big part seeming as it is more of a portrait. The set of images are very different because they are all taken at different shot types. For example in a lot of his images they are medium shots, we can see the subject in clear focus side by side their food which is also in focus, we don't normally see much of the home. However there are also some images that are long shots and we can see the whole body and the food isn't necessarily the focus. I think this has been done
Set 1
When creating these images I wanted everything to relate, like the images are snippets and an opening to a home. Looking at Menzels work he captures a family, a clear outline of their possessions and their home. I wanted to do just the same but in a way that is personal to the family. For example all of these images reflect the household alongside the peoples possessions. I wanted to start off by making the obvious link between people and possessions, for example taking pictures of people themselves with their possession like Menzel.
When looking at these images as a whole I think they came out really well. I wanted a series of images that have a similar style as Peter Menzel. He captures peoples homes with the people inside them. For example he has a family standing outside slums with the family in front and all their possessions beside them so we can clearly see they own them. Due to the way the camera has been angled it doesn't seem like a portrait. The camera has been placed above the subject and taken really far away so we don’t only focus on the family, but everything around them. What I wanted to do with my images is make them personal to me without it feeling like I’ve taken a bunch of portraits. I started with focusing on my possessions, my initial idea to start this snippet of my home was to focus on food. Food is something in everyone’s lives so I felt like it was a clear possession of mine. I started taking pictures of M&M’s due to the fact I had so many, like they are a collectors item. I then wanted to show how the food sitting there is a possession of mine. So I wanted to capture the interaction of me and how I use the possession. So I set the camera up in front of me on a timer, and set it to take 10 quick images in a row. As the timer went I ate the M&M making sure I looked away from the camera. Like Menzel I didn't want the image to focus on me and my facial features, but the things around me and what I’m doing with the possession. As I was creating these images my cat began to interact with the M&M’s too, as the cat is my possession too I then began to photograph her; showing the relationship between me and my pets like Elliott Erwitt’s dog series. I feel like I should have more work involving hands, this is because we can interact with more or less everything with our hands and you can clearly show the relationship between a person and their possession from the way they hold it. I also want to create more snippets, for example the whole set of images are a snippet into my life as they are all personal to me and everything there is found in my life. I think it would be good to create snippets of other people's lives, which would result in completely different images.
Response 2
After creating my first response I wanted to create a similar outcome but show how close I am to the possessions. The first response was a documentary of my house, a possession as a whole, and then I show some of the most unique items that make my house my own. However I wanted to make the images more intimate so the possessions I own are clearly attached to me, they’re not just an item I am holding up for a picture. My first idea was to use my pets, I have a very close relationship to these because I have to care for them so much and they are always there. So when it came to photographing them I wanted sure they were close to me, let them interact with me how they wanted to - climbing over me and each other. Then I took the shot. I then moved to taking images of me eating food. I had a few of these but it was extremely hard to get a shot that I was actually happy with. I think it's important to capture how people eat food because you can see very clearly on the relationship between them both. For example when you're eating pop corn you can either take a whole handful of popcorn and then shove it into your mouth as fast as possible because it takes so nice, or you can not be so keen on it so you eat it in an uncomfortable way. The facial expression shows the relationship between the person and their possession together which is what I wanted to capture.
Response 3
After creating my first outcome I felt like it would be really good to show how each and everyone will use the same object, but they can use it differently. When I was creating my images my subject asked to be anonymous so I was only allowed to work with her body so I decided to focus on her hands. From this I then thought about creating a whole series of images of people holding objects that people use of a daily basis such as: pens + pencils, cutlery, food, door handles etc. So I decided to create a series of images of people holding a knife and fork because I felt like this is most common out of all of them.
I let people model with a knife and fork doing whatever they wanted to, I didn't want to tell them what to do because they might not feel comfortable doing it, it might be the wrong emotion that they don't actually feel. So I simply said "hold them however you want" and then I took my images. I really like how these came out because it's not the generic way to hold a knife and fork, it doesn't look like they are ready to eat a meal they are just interacting with it however they want to.
Dita Pepe
When doing research on Peter Menzel I came across Dita Pete. I feel like the idea between them both are very similar, the composition of the images help create the portrait feel; the family are positioned in a way a normal portrait would be. This also ties in with the camera angle being eye level with the people so it feels like a portrait you see all the time. However when looking at the families they are wearing clothes that are personal to them which then ties in with the background. For example we can see one image of a family in their swim wear and the background is of a swimming pool. Compared to this there is a family standing in front of a cottage and the family are holding a goat, so we can clearly tell they live on a farm. From this I thought of creating a series that keeps the same style of hands, but the object that the person is holding has relation to the background. For example someone might be holding a raw egg and the background is a stove with pans, or a pencil and in the background you can see the art they've created from it. This would allow people to see their possessions and how it relates to the person as holding that pencil you then see how their possession related to them.
I began taking images that have the background and foreground working together. For example in Dita Pepe's images you look at the portrait first which is a family wearing something that they would normally wear, something that defines them. Once you see the background you then make the association that this is where they fit. So with my images I wanted to create just that, but the possession and where the person uses the possession.
Hannah Wilke - Chewing gum sculptures
Hannah Wilke created small sculptures of the woman's vulva, made from chewing gum and stuck them on herself. She was then photographed in a certain way to " provide a juxtaposition of glamour and something resembling tribal scarification". I thought of creating a similar response to this by photographing peoples mouths, along side the gum they have just been chewing. Most people feel weird about opening their mouth as wide as possible and having a camera shoved in their mouth for a picture. So in order to get my pictures taken people are going to have to step out of their comfort zone similar to Wilkes. Being uncomfortable in her pictures which is what I want to achieve in my response, along side their possession, they will be side by side their gum. They have to chew it up and spit it out which is also pretty uncomfortable as you're having to break a norm.
My reponse
So I thought that everyone's mouths are different, and the way we all chew gum can be different. Some people might like to swoosh it around their mouth so they can feel the texture, some people like to blow bubbles, there are all different kind of ways that people can interact with this possession. So what I've done is tried to capture that. People are very apprehensive when it comes to opening their mouths for a picture so being able to capture this creates emotion to the picture. Some people might choose to try and hide their teeth with their lips, therefore I don't ask my subjects to open their mouth in a certain way. I simply ask them for a picture of their mouth and I let them respond to it the way they want. I feel like these pictures came out really well however I have a huge issue with focus, due to the fact I wasn't using a macro lens you can't really see all the detail on the gum that I necessarily want. I personally don't feel like these images have achieved the effect I was going for. I think the key to making these images work is the display strategy because then you can actually match the mouth to the gum and visually see that. If I was going to present these images I would print off the pictures of the mouths and place the gum sculpture in their mouth. This would have the effect that the gum is actually in their mouth with a 3D feel to it, until you actually looked closely and realised that the persons possession is right there in front of you.
The list
I decided to keep them all together on the same piece of paper, I wanted to do this so you don't have to look at the images then. You can look at one single image and you can see every single piece of gum and how its been changed and morphed in the persons mouth. You can see how they are all different and individual due to the person chewing it differently. They all chewed them for different times and spat it out whenever they wanted to I had no control over it. So the gum itself is really personal to them because it's like a mould of their mouth. The gum is a sculpture of their mouth.
Edited images
The edit
When it came to editing I didn't want all of my edits to just be a simple colour change. For example when it went to changing the 'Curves' of the image, I knew it was going to change the whole image to a different colour. I feel like this helped to change the image making it look like a new approach which I liked. Which brings mood to the images and even helping to define some of the outlines.
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After experimenting with the 'Curves' I then wanted to change the 'Hue/Saturation' of the image. This means only the gum would change colour and the background would remain the same. I really like the outcome of this because it doesn't look like it's been edited, as gum can come in all different colours as they have been edited to add colour it looks natural. As the gum goes with the images of the mouths I feel like the colour really helps to define the person as they have picked out a specific colour.
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Brassai; Involuntary sculptures and more
Brassai created a set of sculptures that were created from everyday household objects that have a neglected presence which have then been amplified in unusual light. This is a display idea for the images that are inspired by Hannah Wilke. For example I can have the gum like a typology seen on the top left, this isn't one of Brassais images but it can be helpful for a display strategy.
Cynthia Connolly
My idea
When looking at Cynthia Connolly's work I think that she clearly captures the relationship of people and their possessions. In one image we can see the emotion someone is going through as they get out a car. They are stuck staring at something with a huge smile on their face, compared to someone else who is sitting on their car like they're proud to own it as it makes them look cool which is made clear by the camera angle not being straight on like a normal portrait. Breaking the rules in a sense.
Duane Michals
Final Piece
My idea was to create 3 sets of images displaying the relationship people can have with their possessions, this would be a small incite to their personality as they would interact with their possession differently. In the first set the person wanted to remain anonymous but they were happy with me taking picture so of certain parts of their body/face. For example in the first response I created I used the same model and only photographed her hands and I had to tell a story only using hands. When it came to creating images for my final piece she asked for the same anonymous effect. As she's a very spiritual person the possession that defines her was a crystal ball. It helps her to outline and highlight certain parts of her life in great detail, and so what I wanted to capture was just that. Just small certain parts of who she actually is getting her key features through the crystal ball. The second set is me. Reptiles are a huge part of my life as they require so much care and attention, so even though these are just buyable possessions, they mean a lot to me. So I wanted to capture the affection I have with my reptiles in the pictures. My first thought was to show how comfortable I am with them by having them in my bed as if I am sleeping with them. I tried to capture the relationship that they have with me as well, this is why I let them crawl over my head and do what they wanted to before I took the picture giving a slight aspect of chance. My final set is a single mother of 3 who works non stop to make sure her kids are happy while trying to do the job. She said that her cat is very similar to her, she's and old cat who's blind but she still manages to find her way around the house into everyone's bedroom and curl up with them. The cat is a mirror to my model which is why she wanted me to photograph her with her cat. Similar to set two, I really wanted to show the relationship between them both as it's very strong and intimate because they have been with each other for years.
I think my final piece went really well due to the fact I captured the effect I was going for. I feel like I was able to show the relationship between the person and their possession in my outcomes. From my research I noticed that it’s very important to capture the emotion of someone when they are with their possession. For example when I was looking at Cynthia Connolly I noticed that the facial expression of the people she has photographed are all different. Some of the people were trying to look cool on top of their car, others were stepping out the car amazed with a huge smile on their face. Therefore I felt like capturing the people would require them to focus on the possession and act like there wasn’t a camera there, and just interact with the possession how they normally would. I also looked at Elliot Erwitt due to the fact I was going to be photographing animals. On my second set of images I wanted to make the camera angles weird like they were what the reptiles were seeing. Instead of having normal portraits where you can see the person with their possession and it’s a simple medium shot and very bland, I wanted to purposely mix that all up and play with focus and perception, giving the effect that it’s from the reptile's eyes. When I was doing my research on how I should display my work I came across Duane Michals. He creates a lot of sequences that slowly evolve and tell a story, for example one of his sequences a man and woman’s clothes are removed slowly and more plants are being added to the room. I felt like this was really influential in my work because I wanted to create something similar. I wanted to display my images in the same style that he does. I feel like doing this would help differentiate the relationships between all 3 of my models. If I was to do this again I would likely make it more like a Duane Michals sequence as I feel I would then be able to tell a story. People might have interesting stories to share about their possessions and I would then be able to tell that through a small sequence of images. However as a whole I am happy with the final result because all of the images I feel work well as a whole, as individuals and as a strip.
Due to the fact I was taking my images indoors with ambient lighting I had to go into Photoshop and use the colour balance tool to adjust the image. This meant that the whole shot of images together didn't clash in colours as some needed to be colour balanced and others didn't. However once playing around with the colour balance I thought about putting these images black and white which would almost remove the whole meaning to the image and you would no longer see the background. You would be simply left with the part in focus through the crystal ball. I then went to display my images in a certain order. Due to the fact I had a lot of research on Duane Michals I wanted to have his effect on my images. First of all I laid my images out in rows. I didn't feel like it looked good. Your focus went everywhere and it was just a huge mess. I then decided to lay them out in columns and this worked really well. I had 4 columns of images which didn't look messy. It had a really nice effect as the black and white images contrasted together. After looking at my images from a distance I didn't feel like all 4 columns should be put together. So I removed the set of images of the woman and her cat due to the fact it didn't fit. When it's side by side all of the other images it clashed too much, you couldn't see the person with their possession due to the dark colours. I then decided to take away the column that went beside this to see what effect it would have. I then preferred the look as it gives a better contracts to the images. As I wanted to go for a Duane Michals look on my images, I was really happy when my teacher looked at my final piece and said "it looks something like Duane Michaels' images". Therefore I kept it as the two columns because it's what creates the effect I was going for.