Evaluating Identity

At the start of the Identity unit, I first planned ideas based around a range of themes such as nationality, culture, age and social class, which was the general themes which I wanted to follow in the unit. I first began researching infamous 60’s photographers such as David Bailey and Terence Donovan who captured the swinging sixties culture within their studio work. David Bailey’s style of portraiture was a key inspiration to me during the project as from the start I wanted to capture similar results as some of his most iconic photographs, such as the portraits of Mick Jagger or Jean Shrimpton. Alongside researching Bailey, I began to experiment within studio lighting and how I could use backdrops in a similar 1960’s style. Shooting in the studio gave me a basic understanding of equipment and lighting positioning (e.g. butterfly, Rembrandt etc) which even though I didn’t use at the end of the project, I would like to revisit in the future to get a better understanding. I began to take inspiration from Donovan’s portraits which were shot in urban environments but still captured the slick aesthetic as seen in Baileys portraits, which led me to shoot my second set of images focusing on a subject dressed in vintage 60s style clothing with a union jack as a backdrop (inspired by early photographs of The Who). The shoot led me to develop on the idea of identity through nationality and also how to capture British-ness in a portrait without any explicit giveaways. With the idea of British nationality, I researched Gavin Watson who created candid snapshot portraits of his skinhead friends during the 1970s and Platon a British photographer who created a series based on his family’s Greek heritage. Watson’s work gave me the template to which I wanted to create my work in a relaxed, unprofessional manner but still deliver a story effectively. I shot more images in this style within a friend’s bedroom without any artificial setup to the scene but after comparing the images to the shots before I decided to go back to my original style and create more tradition/clean portraits. Following with the theme of Britishness/60s I looked into Robert Clayton, John Bulmer and Vanley Burke who focused their work on a specific area and time within England during the 60s, 70s and 90’s. Planning my final set of images for hand-in, I decided to follow the same likeness as test shoot three but also focus more on the location which the model was in. I used David again as a model as his natural ‘look’ fitted the project well, as well as most of his clothes being vintage/retro. I chose to shoot a roll of HP5 400 (pushed to 800 for more contrast / being able to shoot it comfortably indoors) with David in a traditional pie & mash shop as the interior was classic and the essence of a pie and mash shop is completely British. As for the final four prints, I decided to work parallel with the vintage aesthetic and print the images in the darkroom which I was incredibly pleased with the outcome as I wasn’t pleased with the scans which I previously got from the negatives (I found the scans to be have too much grain and blown out highlights within David’s shirt while in the darkroom prints I was able to split grade the print to achieve more dynamic range, as well as getting better grain structure than the scans). At the start of the Identity project I found it incredibly difficult to come up with a theme/idea which actually interested me enough to create work over. I think the idea of identity is so broad that I didn’t want to create work which seemed meaningless or overdone. This is probably the main issue I faced during the project, but I soon overcame it by purely researching photographers which I have taken inspiration from before and creating images purely on what I wanted to do on the day. Towards the end of the project was when I started to enjoy the work I was creating as I liked experimenting with the notion of being and also the visible differences between culture within the 60s/70s and now.

Test Shoot – Four

For my fourth test shoot, I decided to go back to the original style of portraits which I shot in test shoot two as well as using David again as a model as I feel his look looks reminiscent of 60s/70s. Planning a shoot, I decided to get some inspiration from photographers / fashion campaigns which used location and clothing to create a vintage aesthetic. First I looked back on research which I did focusing on Gavin Watson who focused on his skinhead friends during the 70’s which was exactly the same style of candid portraits which I wanted to create within my own shoot. Alongside researching Watson’s images, I decided to take inspiration from Burberry’s Christmas 2018 campaign which focused on Matt Smith within an old-style café. The Burberry campaign was a crucial influence within my shoot as it gave me some idea of where I wanted some of my images to be located. Wanting a relaxed, natural feeling within the portraits as seen in Watson’s work was another reason to use David as a model as we are comfortable with each other meaning we could work efficiently, and he knew what results I wanted to achieve. I decided to base my shoot in a traditional pie & mash shops which would work well alongside David’s clothing to create an old-fashioned effect. I specifically waned to include the tiles on the wall within the frame as I particularly liked the reflections within the tiles behind David.

As for camera used (film or digital etc) I decided to use my Nikon F2 35mm slr as I didn’t want to be noticed taking photos within the shop so the waist level viewfinder on the camera (similar to the ones found on 120 film cameras such as the Bronica SQ-B or Mamiya RZ67) meant I could shoot the images I needed without it seem obvious that I was taking photos. As I was wary of whether or not I was allowed to shoot in there I found the waist level viewfinder a great advantage over using other cameras. Another advantage of using 35mm film cameras over digital or medium/large format film cameras is that in my experience people usually are less suspicious of what you are doing, they are more compact than medium format meaning you can be more discreet while shooting and often the shutter sound is quitter than I have found on digital cameras. Alongside my F2, I decided to use a 50mm f/1.4 lens as I wanted the flexibility which the large aperture gives in lowlight situations such as in the shop. As for film, I chose to use Ilford HP5 as I am familiar with the film and the kind of results, I would be able to achieve, specifically with the large grain working well with the vintage theme. However, HP5 is a 400 speed film and the shop was fairly low lit meaning I had to push the film to 800 ISO so I would be able to shoot a shutter speed faster than 1/60s reducing shutter shake. Pushing the film wasn’t too difficult, I only had to compensate the underexposure on the film by over developing by 13 minutes rather than 6.30 minutes in Ilfosol 3. Ilfosol 3 isn’t the recommended film to use when pushing HP5 as it can exaggerate the grain and developing time but in my case I wasn’t to concerned with either of these factors but in future I would probably use a developer which is specialised at pushing such as Ilford DD-X or XTOL.

After developing and scanning the film, I was pleased with most of the shots on the roll, most specifically the shots within the pie & mash shop, which I thought I would while taking the shots. I was cautious with how the pushed HP5 would perform but I it seems to have held up quite well; there is some grain in the frame which lacks detail, but I am not too concerned with this. One thing I have noticed after scanning was that when zoomed in the scans would be slightly pixelated even at a high-resolution scan. I researched into this and according to a few photography forums, flatbed scanners can sometimes perform poorly with HP5 due to the grain structure. As of this, I’m probably going to print the final photos in the darkroom as I am fine with grain but don’t want any unwanted pixilation when looked closely at the final print. I am pleased with the relaxed portraits from the shoot, most notably the portrait of David in the mirror shot in a vintage store which reminded me of the style of photography from mid 20^th century, such as Andre Kertesz or Bill Brandt.

Test Shoot – Three

After test shoot three which I focused on producing a set of straight-forward portraits which incorporated the union jack within the frame to draw the theme of nationality within the final images. For test shoot three, I originally planned to produce another set of portraits in a similar theme as the ones before but when I arrived at the subjects house, we went to his bedroom to decide on what clothes to use for the shots but I was instantly attracted to how messy his room was. There was guitar leads and endless amounts of jackets/trainers on the bed and floor which I wanted to use in the frame. I wanted to capture the mood/feeling within his room rather than a constructed scene which was present within test shoot three. I wanted to capture the scene before the shoot, the environment that my friend actually lived in rather than one which I created for him. Through the images, I wanted to the viewer to feel as if they are intimate with the scene, actually viewing experiencing how the subject lives and how their environment effects their identity. I wanted to use the notion of how the bedroom’s state can reflect the subject and also the feeling which I felt within the room. After developing and scanning the film, I appreciated my choice in focusing the shoot on my friend’s bedroom rather than my original plan to use the union jack backdrop again, as the use of location greatly reflects the subject’s personality and also his laid-back approach to life in general. Subconsciously, I think the decision to create snapshot style portraits came from looking through Gavin Watson’s work and also other photography books which used a lowkey photography approach.

For this shoot, I chose to use a medium format film camera as I wanted more detail than 35mm and I also wanted the slowed down approach which 120 has. I chose to use a Bronica SQ-B rather than another medium format camera such as the Mamiya 7 or Mamiya RZ67 as I have used the Bronica many times in previous work and also confident with how to operate the camera. As for lens, as I wanted to get as much of the bedroom scene within the frame, I decided to use a 40mm wide angle lens which would roughly work out as a 20mm lens on a 35mm frame camera. I’ve used the lens in the past and I really like how it captures an image as lens distortion us limited. I chose to use Ilford FP4 as my film due to the low ISO meaning I could achieve minimal grain within the areas which lacked detail and the film also has a clean, subtle contrast which I personally like over other films such as Ilford HP5. As for camera settings, the low ISO meant that I would be using slow shutter speeds around lower apertures such as f/4 and f/5.6. I chose to use a slower shutter speed than necessary as I wanted to use a smaller aperture to get as much in the scene as possible without the subject creating unwanted blur in the frame. For most of the shots, I decided to shoot at f/5.6 at 1/8^th of a second which worked well for the scene I was photographing. Towards the end of the roll, I decided to use a slow shutter speed, such as one or two seconds, to create intentional blur within the subject, created a link to the chaotic environment which he was laying in.

I’m pleased with the results which I got from this shoot; the contrast between the contrasted aspects of test shoot two and the free approach to test shoot three meant I enjoyed the unpredictability of the shoot. I’ve found through doing the shoot that I want to further use the contrast between shooting constructed scenes and snapshot style within my Identity project. I have also thought about what kind of images I want to use as my final four / six and how I want to present them. I quite like the idea of using both straight forward portraits and behind-the-scenes shots alongside each other.

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Portraits from Interview Workshop

Test Shoot Two

After spending some time researching a wide range of photographers, I realised that one key theme within each photographer’s work was the notion of nationality and also belonging. For instance, Vanley Burke focused on the Birmingham community which he grew up in, Gavin Watson on his childhood skinhead friends and Platon’s depiction of his home country Greece through his ‘Going Home: Greece’ series. I began planning on what direction to take my Identity project in, first thinking about a way in which I could portray myself by photographing others, as seen in Watsons work. This idea led to thinking about my own nationality and what being British meant to me, which linked well with the political situation which the UK is in at the moment with the recent general election and also Brexit. During the general election, I discovered that most of my friends held completely different political views from my own, which I found interesting as I presumed that they would hold a similar view. I wanted to interpret this within my project, which led me to plan two shoots each one focusing on one person and how they believe perceive the political climate which we are currently in and also how important being British is to them. 

Linking the test shoots back to the research I conducted on David Bailey and Terence Donovan, I wanted to create a 1960’s aesthetic within the shots. I began looking back through iconic swinging sixties portraits by Bailey, Donovan and Duffy which led me to the idea to use a union jack as a backdrop which would be a straightforward way to create the link between the subject and their nationality. For the shoot with David, I decided to plan a more constructed set of photographs which would allow me to spend more time considering compositions and lighting. When I turned up for the shoot, David was already dressed in mod-style clothing which I thought looked great and would work well with the 60s aesthetic. Throughout the shoot little was changed apart from David changing various shirts and jackets. For the second part of the shoot I used my mate Dan as the main subject and to delve into the notion of how the subject’s local area could influence their political views, I photographed Dan around his local area. 

For the two shoots I used 35mm Ilford XP2 film shot using an 80mm lens. I chose to shoot 35mm film (rather than 120 or digital) during the shoots as I wanted there to be grain within the frame, adding to the vintage aesthetic. Adding to this, I also wanted to have the ability to print in the darkroom if I wanted to. After developing the XP2 film I realised that the roll was expired by two years and I was unaware of how the film was stored; this meant I wasn’t sure on what kinds of effects the scanned film would have. After scanning, I realised that the film had a large amount of grain caused by the roll not being in date which I’m not sure has caused too much grain. In future shoots I’m going to check that the film using is in date and if not, compensate for any sensitivity which may have been lost. The 80mm lens was useful in preventing distortions within the subjects’ faces and also prevented any unwanted space within the frame. These scans were used with an Epson v700 flatbed scanner which is fine for online and small prints but to get better results I am going to scan some of my favourite photos with a drum scanner to get as much information from the 35mm negative as possible.

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Vanley Burke

Vanley Burke a Jamaican social documentary photographer most known for his iconic images depicting black culture within Birmingham during the 1970s and also recently. Burke’s work from the 1960s and 1970s capture the real black Windrush Generation which was gradually migrating from his home country over to Birmingham and other parts of the UK. Not satisfied with how black migrants where being presented in mainstream media, Burke decided to document what the authentic African-Caribbean community and culture were like within Birmingham, worlds away from the common misconceptions and underlining racism of the Native British. Burkes photographs all hold a political sensitivity, underlying questions which the viewer is forced to decide.

While browsing through Burkes archive, one photograph stood out amongst the rest: a street portrait of a young boy holding his bike, with a Union Jack flag flying from the handlebars (Figure 1). The theme of identity within this image is evident; the boy is of African-Caribbean heritage but feels connected with the country which their family emigrated to. This at first can be interpreted as a young boy embracing the new society which they are living within but once you start to analyse further, the viewer can portray the scene in a much darker way. In the present, the Union Jack creates a great sense of pride and patriotism to British people but only a hundred years ago the flag was feared by many countries who associated it with colonisation and oppression. Jamaica was colonised by Britain in the 18^th century and only became independent in 1962, meaning the boy riding with the flag within Burke’s community may have evoked some negative connotations. When questioned on this portrait, Burke explained ‘To have this young man with this flag, it poses a lot of questions’ (BBC, 2017) and later elaborated on the theme of identity with philosophical questions within his community such as ‘Who we are, where we are and who we are likely to be’ (BBC, 2017). The portrait also explores the notion of what nationality may mean to the young boy; he grew up in a community full of African-Caribbean and therefor their traditions, but he may also feel connected to British life for which he became a part of. The idea of a flag being taken away from its history then used and associated in different ways is a different take on what it means to belong to a certain geographical place. For instance, the boy associates the Union Jack with his community which happens to be held in the UK, while a woman living in the Scottish Highlands may view the flag in a different way. This idea can also be applied to the way people may interpret the English Flag: UK citizens living in rural communities feel pride when seeing the St George’s Cross while a quarter of British people associate it with racism (Copping, 2012).

Like many other photographers I have researched during the Identity unit, Vanley Burke’s work clearly depicts a period of time which was personal to himself and as well as his community. By being a member of the community which he was photographing, Burke was able to capture the people how they really were and not how the photographer wanted to portray them. Burke held the same values and political ideology as the people within the photographs, meaning he understood them completely. You can recognise the connection Burke created between him and the subject, they trusted him to portray their community in the right way to the rest of the UK, unlike how they felt other photographers were presenting them.

BBC Britain In Focus (2017). [Online Video] Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDUYj5k98ic (Accessed 2/1/20)

Copping, J. (2012). St George’s flag is a racist symbol says a quarter of the English. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9217620/St-Georges-flag-is-a-racist-symbol-says-a-quarter-of-the-English.html (Accessed 2/1/20)

Figure 1

John Bulmer – ‘Black Country Series’

John Bulmer is a documentary photographer most known for his extensive projects since the early 1960’s focusing on social life within the north of Britain. Inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt and Larry Burrows, Bulmer went against the grain within 1960’s photojournalism by using colour film as his main choice, which was looked down upon during the early to mid 20^th century by professional photographers due to its association with holiday snapshots. Like William Eggleston, colour photography stood out to Bulmer who used the medium to his advantage, whether it was to capture a child’s bright red jumper against the grey stone roads native to the Midlands (Figure 1) or  a mother’s radiant ginger hair in front of a soot-covered brick Victorian home (Figure Two). Like Robert Clayton’s Estate, Bulmer’s photography produces an insight into a period of time for which the viewer can look upon like an historian. As well as working as a factual representation of northern England during the mid 1960s, Bulmer’s work also has the ability to produce an emotional feeling: the notion of community, identity and belong comes to mind, before a time when people become indulged with mobile phones and their online presence. Bulmer held the ability to capture the decisive moment; he felt the mundane was worthy of documenting, for instance a woman placing bed sheets on a washing line (Figure 3) becomes a scene which is worthy of being presented on a gallery wall. Like Clayton, Bulmer’s work is quintessentially English, it is instantly recognisable especially to people in the north. This theme could also be looked at the other way – to the English Bulmer’s scenes seem familiar but to a non-British viewer the suburban landscapes could appear other-worldly. Like Estate by Clayton, Black Country series gives me a sense of familiarity. Through recording the British people, Bulmer was simultaneously recording his own identity, what it means to him to be British, more specifically northern. Another similarity between the two series would be the notion of people creating the atmosphere; in Estate produces a sense of light-heartedness through the use of the local people around Lion Farm Estate and the same with Bulmer where he documented the local people in daily routines but with the skill of making the final image interesting, for example two women walking to work while still having rollers in their hair.

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Figure 3

Robert Clayton – ‘Estate’

Robert Clayton is a British documentary and portrait photographer, most known for his series ‘Estate’ which focused on Lion Farm estate in Oldbury, West Midlands during the 1990’s. Clayton’s main theme within his photography is the ever-changing landscape within Britain, with three major projects focusing on council estates throughout 20 years. Clayton’s series focusing on the Lion Farm estate presents the viewer with gritty urban landscapes, often juxtaposed with a vibrant/saturated object within the frame, such as a red mini or green grass surrounding colourless brick and mortar. Estate dabbles with the notion of what real, daily life is like for locals living within forty floor high buildings which often seem bleak and unwelcoming, contrasting with the original 1960’s idea of council estates bringing a sense of post-war luxury to the still run-down Britain. Estate forces the viewer to recognise that the scenes in which Clayton is presenting is not stills from a constructed film set, but rather reallocations which the residents call home. But in the stale environment, Estate also gives us a sense of playfulness: shopkeepers standing outside their corner store in eighties sitcom stances or an adolescent lad drifting around the estate on a motorbike while dressed in his school attire.

In a surprising way, Clayton’s work was instantly alluring to me when I found it while researching photographers; I usually am more interested with images which are black & white as I find colour often takes away from composition and form when it is used for not explicit reason. I didn’t find this within Estate. The use of colour, especially in the boy in on the motorbike photograph, produces a much more light hearted effect for the final images than if they were in b&w. I enjoy Clayton use of angle and lenses within the series as in each photo he truly captures each scene perfectly. Again with the schoolboy’s portrait, Clayton captured the shot from a lower angle, making the boy nearly the same size as the block of flats behind him, working alongside the bike to make the viewer understand how the boy probably acts much older than his age. Adding to this, ­­­I presume that Clayton used a wide-angle lens, meaning he would have been able to get as much content within the frame as possible

After researching Estate, I’m very interested in the idea of how a subject can belong to their surroundings and also how the same environment can greatly influence them. I’m also intrigued with the idea of how ‘Britishness’ can be portrayed and interpreted within a photograph as in Clayton’s work, where the subjects are quintessentially northern British. Another interesting idea could be how a sense of Britishness seems to be more important to some than others, especially between different ages and social classes, and even more relevant in the present with the recent general election and Brexit, with some viewing the situation as a way for Britain to be ‘British again’ by leaving the EU.

Platon’s – ‘Going Home: Greece’

Platon is a British/Greek portrait and documentary photography based primarily in New York who is renowned for his portraits of celebrities and world leaders, some being: Obama, Putin and Boris Johnson. Born in Greece but raised mostly in England, Platon first worked for British Vogue in his early photography career, then invited to work for the political magazine George and also become an assistant for photographer John Kennedy Jr. Also working extensively for a range of other magazines, Platon has produced an overwhelming number of front-cover portraits, mostly depicting the world’s most notable figure. Platon’s portraits remind me of a modern-day Bailey portrait; with a clear white background and a subject filling the frame, producing a powerful effect. Similar to Bailey, Platon uses a similar Hasselblad 120 film camera with strong high-key lighting, produced by one main flash positioned directly in front of the sitter. One key difference within Platon’s portraits is his use of lens; using a wide-angle lens within a proximity of the sitter, creating a dynamic photograph which distorts forms and adds a feeling of surrealism to the frame. One of my favourite examples of this is his portrait of Christian Bale which uses a wide-angle lens on a Hasselblad 500c camera, positioned from below his legs, making Bale appear to seem gigantic and godlike to the viewer. Another key example of this style is the Jim Carrey portrait which creates a 90s rap music video style via the use of Carrey’s pointing hand making up a large chunk of the frame with only his head popping in towards the top right.

Platon has been one of my favourite photographers for as long as a can remember. His striking black and white portraits has also stuck out to me but his episode in the Netflix original series Abstract: The Art of Designin 2017 which documents his process of capturing portraits inside and outside the studio, has been a strong inspiration to me. Although appreciating Platon’s studio work, I wanted to research into his other work which was taken outside of a controlled environment, similar to the work of Gavin Watson’s. I watched the Abstract episode again while researching artists for the Identity unit and I was especially drawn to some of his photojournalistic style portraits which he shot while in Greece. These portraits where for his personal project ‘Going Home: Greece’ which was released after the episode was aired. The Greece based side project of Platon’s documents his homeland and the people which his heritage connects him too. Platon’s use of camera during the shoot is a Leica M6 rangefinder camera which he shot 35mm black and white film through. The use of a rangefinder is a great choice for the style of portraits which he was taking: the small, quite camera allowed him to not make too much of a scene and also meant he could engage with the subjects more without constantly checking the back of the camera to check the shot. The use of 35mm is also clear in the final photographs due to the prominent grain within the frame. The use of black and white correlates well with the white stone villages which most of the project was based around.  Platon describes the Greek people of which he photographed as being ‘real’, lacking any kind of body modification which is evidently present within the celebrity culture of which Platon is ingulfed in, completely contrasting with the Greek’s ability to grow old gracefully without shame. While creating the project, Platon focused primarily on the quiet, non-tourist Greek towns which he was born and on the older residents within their natural environments. One of my favourite aspects of the series is Platon’s decision to focus just as closely on the Greek village environment as on the people within the frame. The most powerful shot to me is the portrait of the old women cleaning the stone pavement. Although not showing the women’s face, the viewer doesn’t necessarily need to see it as it isn’t very important within the frame; for instance, the viewer can see the women is of old age and also the Greek terrain which she lives within. The photograph is an unconventional portrait, but it is just as powerful. I find this series so intriguing because through taking portraits of others, Platon has also portrayed himself. Taking photos of the Greek people, he was also expressing his heritage which is so different form his New York style of living.

Taking inspiration from this project, I am interested in following the theme of using the subject’s environment within the frame to further enrich the final shot. Like the man within the Greek bar or the women washing the stone street, it could be an interesting way of capturing more personality than just placing a sitter in front of a white backdrop. The notion of expressing one’s self within the frame is also another theme which could be interesting to look into, especially incorporating my environment within the photographs.

Gavin Watson

After researching into the work of David Bailey and Terence Donovan, I decided that I wanted to divert my attention from studio portraiture and focus on photographers who shoot on location. I felt that with Bailey and Donovan their prime was during the sixties, so I wanted to focus my attention on another decade/subculture which led me to look for a photographer who focuses solely on a certain British subculture. I found Gavin Watson’s work on a Fred Perry collection which used a series of his skinhead portraits on a set of polos. Watson is a portrait / subculture photographer who, during the 1970’s, shot an extensive amount of work on Skinheads and in the 1990’s on ravers. Watson started his photography career in London during his youth, taking photographs of his younger brother from ages ten to twenty and his skinhead friends from fourteen to twenty-three, shadowing them on the streets, nights out and in their homes. Smeared in modern day by white supremist association which is ironic considering the movement was heavily influenced by Jamaican culture; the original skinhead values include listening to reggae and ska music, wearing Dr Martens and having headstrong attitudes. Watson unknowingly created some of the subcultures most powerful photographs, expressing the skinhead philosophy through scenes of youths within their gritty urban environments. Watson’s portraits to me express a period of time during each person’s life when they were full of life and a part of a team. Most of his work appears to be shot of 35mm due to the grain present. I personally think that the grain works really well alongside the photo’s content as it gives a snapshot aesthetic and also corresponds with the rough street landscapes of which most of the photos were taken. On the other hand, some of his work also seems to be timeless; the portrait of the boy with a cassette player appears like it could be taken today and the group photo of the lads jumping off a roof represents the same lad culture which is also present amongst boys today. Watson’s photographs don’t need a caption, everything within the frame is expressed fully to the viewer just by glancing on. For example, one of my favourite shots by Watson is a young skinhead smoking a cigarette in the London Underground. The composition within the frame draws me into the scene; the young lad in the left side first grabs the viewers attention, then the eye is brought to the man posited behind, appearing tired and resting on the handrails, there for contrasting with the youthful energy which the boy radiates. The use of b&w film is also effective in drawing more attention to the skinhead theme within this shot due to most of the tube interior being much darker than the boys head. I enjoy looking into Watson’s work as it seems fully authentic, no stylists or location scout, just a group of childhood friends expressing themselves through a particular subculture. I’m currently deciding on what direction I want to take my identity project; starting with studio portraits, I found them to be a good way in understanding lighting for portraits quickly which I have enjoyed but I would also like to carry on with the style of photography which I shot during the Environment unit, which used street photography within Soho, London. Currently planning ideas, I’m interested in following a similar ‘English / British’ theme as Watson, which I could use London as a location to contribute to the theme. I’m also interested in the current political position which we are in at the moment, with such a wide range of Brexit opinions being held by the British public, causing some people to feel more British just because we are leaving the EU and also the general election causing divides between people. I’m planning on doing a shoot inspired by Watson but with mod inspired clothing. I also liked the use of a union jack within one of Watson’s shots which could be used as an interesting backdrop.

Terrence Donovan

Terence Donovan was a photographer and film director, who like David Bailey, was one of the most famous celebrity portrait photographers during the ‘swinging 60s’. Having a very similar start to life as Bailey, Donovan was raised in East London, completed two year national service and was also a photography assistant to fashion photographer John French. In 1959, Donovan left French and set up his own studio in Knightsbridge and had his first British Vogue commission in 1963, which focused on a classic 60’s hairstyle by Vidal Sassoon on Nancy Kwan (Figure 1). David Bailey, Brian Duffy and Terence Donovan formed the ‘Black Trinity’ which captured the essence of 1960s London, through their use of celebrity subjects and also the way they styled their fashion photography shots. The trio were the first photographers to become ingulfed in celebrity culture, socialising with singers, actors and notable royalty. Donovan’s style holds some key similarities to Bailey’s but still has other strong characteristics which makes Donovan renowned in his own right. Like Bailey, Donovan’s work is still known today for its ability to ‘capture the nuance and gesture of the time’ (Quick, 2012), in essence the same way a time capsule would, just in the form of a photographic print. Donovan’s work was established in the late 1950’s for its sleek, elegant style focusing on menswear against gritty landscapes; most notably his spy themed shoot (Figure 2) which predated the Bond films by three years, where Donovan juxtaposed smart menswear with east end slum locations, such as gasometers and shattered builders still not renovated from the Blitz. This style revolutionised the way men’s fashion would be perceived by the British public. Taking the understanding of men’s fashion as being mostly for practical use to bringing a new ideology of using menswear to make oneself feel suave or spy-like, resulting in how men’s fashion is advertised today. Vogue soon started commissioning Donovan for front cover portraits with a more elegant, feminine take; originally shooting on location in the elements, Donovan’s ability to shoot within a fixed studio environment was just as strong, producing straight portraits with one sitter. Donovan had the ability to knock down any walls the subject had and bring out their true personalities, most famously the Jack Nicolson and Ronnie Wood portraits. In my opinion, I prefer Donovan’s late 60’s work as it used a similar style as Baileys early 60’s photographs; using a clean, white background, one main subject and multiple flashes. After looking at a few of Donovan’s studio portraits, his process seems to be fairly straight forward: from photos I have seen of Donovan in the studio, he used a Pentax medium format 120 camera and nearly always a white background. As for the use of flash, it appears that he would place multiple soft boxes around the sitter which would light the whole of the face, while in some portraits, such as the Nicholson shot, he seemed to use short lighting which would light the right of the famous, leaving the left much darker, similar to Bailey’s George Michael portrait. Donovan also seemed to photograph men and women in different ways in my opinion; for example, in most of his portraits focusing on women, the composition seem to be delicate and feminine with the subject being under sheets or under dressed, while on the other hand his male portraits are much more bold, with the sitter looking into the camera, filling up most of the frame. This could be a result of the man / women stereotypes during the era but could also suggest what styles Donovan believed would be successful to the viewer. As a result of this, I mostly enjoy looking through his male portraits as they appear to deliver much more raw emotion to the viewer.

Quick, H. (2012). Terence Donovan Fashion edited by Diana Donovan and David Hillman – review. the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/16/terence-donovan-fashion-book-review (Accessed 10 Dec. 2019).

Vogue (1963). Nancy Kwan. Image. Available at: http://www.terencedonovan.co.uk/portfolio/fashion/18-nancy-kwan-british-vogue-1963 (Accessed 10 Dec. 2019).

Terylene (1960). A model in Donovan’s studio. Image. Available at: https://www.thecut.com/2016/06/terence-donovan-photographer-speed-of-light.html (Accessed 10 Dec. 2019).

Figure 1

Figure 2

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  British model Twiggy posing in front of Union Jack flag, 1966.

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Test Shoot 1 – David Bailey inspired

After researching into David Bailey’s 1960s work, I decided to practise lighting within the studio to become more comfortable with how to successfully light within studio portraits. To create a Bailey style, I chose to use a white backdrop for the images, which causes the effect of the subject appearing stuck on within the final photo. As for the lighting setup, I chose to keep it simple at first and then gradually through more test shoots make the lighting more intricate. I booked out two flashes and a Canon 5D MKIII as I wanted to see straight away what my results would be rather than shooting with film. While setting up the studio lighting, I placed a 50cm x 50cm soft box on each flash unit which created a short lighting effect, while still being broader than using the flash directly without a soft box.

I placed one flash unit behind the sitter, shooting towards the white backdrop which would act as a means of making the background completely white behind the sitter. I placed the other flash in front of the sitter, slightly higher than their face to create a Rembrandt effect within their faces. I set the camera settings to iso 100, shutter speed 1/125s, aperture f/8 and setting the flash to 6 in power. The low iso meant I could reduce any possible noise in the final image, the 1/125 shutter speed is to sync with the flash and the aperture was used to get the right exposure. Through the shoot, I gradually moved the flash in front of the sitter to achieve various lighting on their face. I found my favourite lighting was considered ‘short’ due to only one part of the subject’s face being lit while the other is dark.

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Butterfly Lighting, Clam Shell, Short Lighting, Broad Lighting

During the Butterfly Lighting, Clam Shell, Short Lighting, Broad Lighting workshop with John on Thursday, I practised various studio lighting techniques to capture the face of a subject in various ways. To achieve a fully white, blank background, two soft boxes were positioned far behind the subject and shot directly on the backdrop which meant that when the flash was fired, the backdrop was completely white within the frame. For a darker background, such as grey or pure black, the flashes could be turned down to a low setting or completely off meaning less light is captured by the camera behind the sitter, I particularly liked the grey tone which could be achieved in this way as it complimented the sitter very well. As for creating various lighting on the subject, more spotlights were used to illuminate the face and body. In most of the lighting techniques, one flash with a soft box was used and often was positioned in front of the subject at a slightly taller angle than their head. This creates a strong depth to the subject’s face with a wide range of light and dark tones. When using the Clam Shell technique, the soft box is positioned downwards on the subject and then a reflective surface is positioned underneath the subject’s face. One of my favourites from the workshop was Short Lighting which focuses on only lighting a certain part of the sitter’s face, and leaves the rest unexposed, opposite to broad lighting which focuses on lighting the whole face. I find that Short Lighting is very good at creating a moody image while broad is good for more cooperate portraits which would be used in advertisements.

The image below was created by lighting the right side of the face with a 50cm x 50cm soft box which was placed below the face so the eyes and eyebrows were lit and then a large reflector held on the left to expose the left side of the face, but still keeping it darker than the right. From here, I instructed the sitter to face towards the soft box but have him looking towards the camera so I could create a dramatic effect of the subject looking at the viewer. Taking the image first in Lightroom, I added contrast, increased the whites and lowered the blacks to create more dramatic changes from light to dark within the image. I followed by bringing the image into Photoshop and then slightly added more detail within the skin and hair with the High Pass layer.

Task 1 Alec Soth and Richard Avedon

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Alec Soth

Alec Soth is an American documentary photographer, who focuses on long term projects which involves creating meaningful, story-like scenes to the viewer. Soth focuses his work on individuals and what can make them interesting to the viewer; for instance, most of his portraits focus on the identity of the subject and how their surrounding space can add to the story which the photograph is telling. Soth will also sometimes use probs when necessary to add a further dynamic within his frame. In the case of his portrait of the ice skater, the viewer first notices the girl in the lower centre of the frame, wearing white ice skates with neon prink blade covers, contrasting with the earthy tones which surround the skater’s blades. Looking upwards, her rolled up sleeves alludes to her being accustomed to the cold weather, while her pose seems to be obviously unnatural, with her torso leaning towards the right of the frame and her head leaning to the left. This could be a result of the skater waiting for Soth to set up his tedious 10×8 large format camera or it could be an intentional pose which mimics the same stance as the trees in the background. The location within the frame also gives the viewer an insight into the skater’s life. The quantity of snow implies she lives in a cold climate or could suggest that maybe she ice skates on frozen roads such as the one in the foreground.

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Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon was an American portrait photographer whose main style of portraits focused on close-ups of celebrities and everyday American people with a clean, white background, similar to the likes of David Bailey and Platon. Avedon’s use of background results in the subject being the centre of attention and the viewer is instantly pulled into the way in white the subject is presenting themselves. Avedon’s portrait of president Gerald Ford is a strong example of Avedon’s ability to use a stripped back background but still give the viewer some context of who they are looking at. In Ford’s portrait, the background only includes a hint of an American flag placed on the left of Ford, which could be reflective of the president’s reputation of being a left-wing politician during his time in office. Ford’s pose seems stiff, possibly giving the impression of importance, power or seriousness, while his expression implies that he could be cunning. Usually presidential portraits include the Oval Office so to take Ford away from his desk and place him in front of a backdrop could be Avedon’s means of stripping away his president role and capturing his true personality.

Rembrandt Studio Lighting Workshop

Rembrandt lighting is a Portrait Lighting technique which is used to add depth into the subject face. The use of Rembrandt lighting creates a triangle on the subjects face on the less lit side. This is often used by using one key spot light to about 45 degrees infant of the subject. To bring this style of lighting within Rembrandt’s paintings into a modern day portrait, a set which consisted of a large black backdrop, one spot light, one reflector to light the underneath of the face and positioning the camera directly infant of the model. The lighting setup is very simple, starting off with using the modelling light on the spotlight to achieve a triangle under the eye, in my case it meant placing the light higher than the face with it shooting downwards and about 2/3 metres away from the subject. Using the lighting in this way meant that the background was left fully unlit and one side of the face was completely lit while the other was not.

I found the setup during the workshop was incredibly stripped back but the images which were achieved seem to be very interesting. I like the way in which the one spotlight gave the images more depth and a sense of mystery to the subject. The lighting is still used extensively in contemporary photography, with David Bailey using it more currently in his more modern work. If I was going to use this style of studio lighting in my own project, I would probably increase the power of the spotlight or bring it more centre of the subjects face to bring up the exposure on the other side of the face. I would like to use Rembrandt lighting with a light backdrop instead next time in the studio as I think that the juxtaposition between the clear white background a the dark side of the subjects face would create a strong dynamic within the frame.

David Bailey – Kate Moss Portraits, Studio Lighting

Looking through more of Bailey’s work in the Library, it was obvious that nearly all of his work is studio based, with only a handful of assignments shot on location. Bailey’s photographic style seems to revolve around the ability to have complete control over the lighting within the shots, often with the use of multiple places within his studio space. As seen in these two photographs of Kate Moss, the background within both images are identical which forces the viewer to focus primarily on the subject, as well as lighting and composition. Another interesting notion within these two images next to each other is the cameras ability to capture a moment in time, from when the first Moss image was shot in the 90’s and the second which was shot in more recent times. This causes you to look at the two photographs which could have been shot at the same time due to the identical studio portrait style, while infant they are actually twenty years apart. Shooting with a clean white backdrop and good lighting can take away a subject from a particular story or context and leaves the viewer to analyse the model/subject solely by how they present/portray themselves to the camera.

In Bailey’s earlier work from the 50s/60s, he used side lighting in most of his portraits, focusing on getting texture and strong contrast in the subjects. In more modern times, as seen in these two images, Bailey seems to focus more on using multiple spot lights in multiple positions around the subject to get a more rounded lighting. From what I can tell from both of these, Bailey would have used spot lights focusing around Moss, while probably not using reflectors as the jawline is less exposed. This could be caused with a flash which was positioned higher up and shooting on a downwards angle onto Moss. In the second Kate Moss photo, it seems that Bailey positioned the lighting from the left of the frame, causing the right side of Moss, most notably on the side of her arm, to become underexposed, creating depth and texture within the frame. It’s also possible that Bailey uses another external flash behind the model to get the background completely white. This would also eliminate any shadow created by a flash positioned infant of the subject.

I think Bailey’s deceasing to shoot mostly film within his work adds another characteristic to his portraits which I like. His use of 35mm and 120 film gives the subject texture via the way the emulsion exposes to certain light and also the way the grain occurs within the subjects skin. This is most prominent in the second photo of Moss where a drawing like texture is creating on her arm. I really like the use of film within studio photographs (also seen in the photographer Platon’s work who also shoots on a Hasselblad medium format film camera) due to the way that the grain within the film is able to make the subject feel much more real or touchable through the print, rather than shooting on digital which creates a completely smooth look to peoples skin.

David Bailey

David Bailey is a in infamous portrait and fashion photographer who is most known for his successful studio based and location work, which he has been creating since the late 1950s. Starting his photography career in 1959 assisting photographer John French, Bailey became interested in studio based photography, mostly focused on clothing and other various brands as subjects, which led him to work as a fashion photographer for British Vogue. Bailey became one of the first photographers who became a part of celebrity culture in the swinging sixties due to his strong links to pop icons such as Mick Jagger, The Beatles and the Krays. Bailey’s personality within the studio was notorious for being energetic and assertive, which led to Blowup a pop culture successful film being strongly based on him. Shooting an outstanding eight hundred pages for Vogue in just one year, Bailey is known within the photography community as one of the most important photographers and celebrities within 1960’s London.

Baileys focus started primarily on editorial fashion but with a modern twist; traditionally fashion photography had a model in a conventual pose with the product displayed as the main subject within the frame. Bailey decided that the model and his or her poses was just as substantial in the final print as the clothes. This created confrontation with the editors of Vogue and other magazines during the time, due to Bailey placing his models in offbeat positions, taking the viewers’ attention towards the individual and away from the clothes. On the other hand, his work was received as a breath of fresh air from the public who were ready for a change from 1950’s style of fashion magazines. Baileys work is still inspirational in current times due to the ‘Informalism and the deliberately anti-glamour poses (creating) a strong contempered resonance’ (Harrison, 1999). Bailey also had the ability to connect with his models, often leading to relationships, and made the model, as well as himself a member of celebrity culture. In the early sixties, he chose to use model Jean Shrimpton as his muse which meant that the viewer could recognise a relationship between the photographer and the sitter.

Baileys use of equipment was another stray from the norm of his time. Starting off with a Rolleiflex TLR, he chose to be mobile while shooting so didn’t use the traditional 5×4 large format cameras which the likes of Vogue were used to. He also began to be endorsed by Olympus and used a OM-1 for his field work, often ‘using a enlarger to shoot the 35mm negative onto a 5×4 negative, therefor tricking the magazine editors into thinking he was shooting on large format (The Real Blow Up: Fashion, Fame and Photography in the ’60s, 2002). His use of smaller, more portable cameras allowed Bailey to move more freely around the studio capturing candid shots of the subject.

David Bailey is one of my favourite photographers due to his focus of strong, black and white portraits, his ability to create classic photographs without a substantial amount of context and he also fits within the theme of identity. All of his studio work uses a clear, white backdrop with one or two subjects filling up around 70% of the frame. Using multiple external studio lights, the photos have a high contrast and deep blacks, while still keeping a large amount of detail.

My two favourite portraits of Bailey’s are ‘Jean Shrimpton, 1965’ and ‘Mick Jagger, 1965″. Both photos use a similar lighting setup (with the Mick Jagger photo having slightly more contrast) and also have the sitter filling up the top and bottom of the frame. These two images are the style of photos which I want to create within the Identity unit as I think they portray who the individuals are really clearly with the stripped-back approach.

Harrison, M. (1999). David Bailey. London: Thames et Hudson, p.37.

The Real Blow Up: Fashion, Fame and Photography in the ’60s. (2002). (video) Directed by M. Hall. BBC.

Jean Shrimpton, 1965

Mick Jagger, 1965