Environment: Deconstructing Photographers.

We were set a task to select one contemporary environmental photography and closely analyse and compare 3 of thier images. When researching each photographer given, I came to the final decision of looking at Elina Brotherus to do my research on, simply because I personally found her images the most interesting and were drawn to them, therefore eager to do further research into her concepts.



Model Study 9, 2004

To start with, I looked at a self-portrait Elina did of herself. It appears she is sitting on wooden decking looking over a lake as the sun is setting. Theres something about the bright white sky reflecting off the lake which makes this photograph very pure, which I believe is how she's trying to represent herself. Elina is naked in the photograph, again creating a naturalistic pure portrayal of herself as the detail in her spine and her posture creates a sense of fragility. The trees in the background are out of focus, putting even more attention on Elina herself in the centre of the image.



Green Lake, 2007

Its the colours in this image that strike me at first in comparison to the first image. The green in the photo creates a completely different tone to the bright white in the first one. It seems the boy in the foreground of the image is much younger than the man in the background, showing that Elina here had focussed on a visual hierarchy as the young boy looks larger than the older man. The reflections in the water create a sort of 'dream-like' setting, making the environment un-clear at first glance.



Der Wanderer III, 2004

Last but not least, I researched another self-portrait by Elina. Similar to the first image, she has put herself in the centre, putting all the viewers attention on her figure straight away. However, I believe Elina has tryed to portray herself in a different way here, here the visual hierarchy is evident and her strong figure and dark clothing makes her look more of a strong woman rather than pure and fragile. The coat in contrast to the white back ground adds even more attention to her figure, and the height of where she is standing gives her a heroic sense.

Further Research - Objects for still-life.

The next step I decided to take was to look into what objects I want to use for the still life photograph. As I'm doing the theme of Child abuse, I don't want the photograph to be obvious and cliche, I want the viewer to be engaged by the photograph yet the message not be clear at first.

When thinking about my personal childhood and memories, I became attatched to certain things such as personal toys and teddys. The beauty of children is the way there imagination can turn any object into something so different and how a simple toy can become something so real and with it's own story. A teddy bear is an obvious representation of children so i decided to experiment with that idea:

I did a simple experiment with my camera and a teddy bear, I've tried to show how a simple object can be manipulated by the surroundings, lighting and angle. The first photo is a simple shot, brightly lit with vibrant surroundings. The teddy is therefore veiwed as it was intended to be, a fun cuddly toy used by children in a bedroom. However, when the settings taken away, the lightings more harsh and a visual hierarchy is obvious like in the second photograph, the teddy bear takes on a different persona and the perspective is completely different.

Obviously this was only a quick experiment but it's basically some simple trial and error to try and work out how my still-life's eventually going to look. My idea is basically to create a still life of childrens toys yet to manipulate that with the lighting and angle to create a deeper more frightening veiw on the objects.

Further Research (Child Abuse)

• It's estimated that at least one child dies every week in England and Wales as a result of physical abuse. Babies are particularly vulnerable and are five times more likely to be killed than all other ages.
• Approximately 30,000 children are currently on child protection registers. A child's name is placed on the register when health or social services staff are concerned that the child's at risk of abuse.
• Eight out of ten young people who've experienced physical abuse have also seen violence between their parents and carers.

Taken from the BBC news.

Thoughts...

When first given The Object brief, I was worried about the fact the actual idea of presenting a political message through an image was such a wide prospect that it would be difficult for me to simply pick one topic that interests me. I decided to start by reading newspapers and watching the news, simply so I could take note about what most engaged me and hopefully flicker some sort of inspiration. Of course, hard-hitting stories in the paper immediately caught my attention yet none of the topics felt right for me. I decided to do something more personal, the only way I'd be able to deliver a succesful political message through an image is if that I was able to relate to it in some how. I decided to stop looking at such wide media and focus more on my own personal ideas, a story thats personal to me would hopefully create a more succesful outcome...

The story I decided to look into and do more research on was based on a friend of mine who had a tough childhood. The story basically involves a single mum turning to alcohol and drugs and mistreating her child. Although I can't relate to my friends story, I've seen the damage its done to her which makes me feel so strongly about the subject that it feels right to base my project on the issue of abused children..

The Object: Research 2

William Eggleston, Tricycle, Memphis 1969-71

In comparison to the photography by Laura Letinsky, this still-life photograph has a clear visual hierarchy creating the impression that the viewer is looking uo and the tricycle, giving it a more herioc symbol. Also the setting gives the scene a more urban vibe rather than Laura's photographs which are more studio based with a white background. William Eggleston choice this still-life as part of a them of putting something uncommon in a common place - something intresting to think about when doing my own still-life. The photography particularly caught my eye as it's in colour, which is what my still-life also needs to be on so with further research into the photograph hopefully can build up more ideas of my final image.

The Object: Research

Laura Letinsky, from Hardly More Than Ever, 2002

This photographer was an example given when we first recieved our project, I was immediately drawn the unknown message in this photograph so thought I'd do some research on the whole series. Laura Letinsky's intrested in the subject of 'home', and how the particular space in constructed. She focusses on how 'the home' is supposed to represent who you are, yet also shows decisions you unconsciously make.

“The camera contextualizes visual information through a monocular lens; we ourselves do not really see photographically. Photographic space is a creation, a transcription. When you exclude information, reframing what you’re seeing through the camera, you see it in ways you couldn’t see without the camera.”

“Home seems a normal place, but look at all the work that goes into it. It’s not a natural space. I’m interested in that paradox about this home that’s supposedly organic and natural, that ‘just happens’ to be there, as opposed to all the work that goes into sustaining that idea in reality. It’s an uneasy space. If it’s true that the personal is political, rather than dealing with overtly political concerns, I’m seeing the home as a very politicized space.”

The Object: Brief

"Taking inspiration from the history of art and using a visual approach, employed in traditional still-life painting, construct a photograph based upon a current social issue. It is your chance to produce an individual comment or opinion through the objects in your still life. Construct a meaningful phototgraph through research and careful use of objects."

- Format must be 5x4 Large-Format.
- Final Colour - 'C-Type' analogue print.
- Contact sheets from the shoot.