Week 11: Practising Instagram – Video

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAkxM9_AnfC/

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I wanted to try something new this week regarding video. Firstly, I painted a canvas of a 70’s themed, coloured spiral, with the words “Let’s Groove Tonight” in a 70’s style font. I searched on the app store for video editing apps and after browsing, fell across ‘Prequel’. I opened up Snapchat and recorded a video, whilst playing the song ‘Lets Groove’ by Earth, Wind & Fire from my Spotify at the same time. I would have done this through the iPhone’s camera/video built in app, but it wouldn’t allow me to play a song and record at the same time, whereas Snapchat does allow this. Then, using prequel, I added a ‘Disco’ effect onto my 8 second video, creating special effects of sparkles to go with the theme of grooving.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

On Instagram, when publishing the video, I trimmed the video from 8 seconds, to 4 using the trim feature, so the chorus happened from the start of the video. Also, I browsed the Instagram effects, before settling for ‘X-Pro 11’ and toned this effect down to 45/100, so the effect wasn’t as prominent on the video, making sure to not take away the true colours of the painting, but enough to make it stand out.

I captioned the video “LET’S GROOVE TONIGHT !!!! Who also wishes they were grooving and not stuck in lock down :(“. This context directly matches with the content of my video and the context of being in a UK lock down due to the global pandemic. Also, I added a geo-location of “Lockdown”. It isn’t a real location but enforces that I am in lock down and am doing activities in my home. As the whole country is in lock down, I wanted the post to have a unanimous feel so users could relate and would boost activity on my page by liking and sharing the post.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Once the video was authored and published on Instagram, I added a comment of hashtag, such as: #letsgroovetonight, #thingstodoinquarantine and #painting that related to my post, to help boost engagement with the post. I then uploaded the video onto my Twitter through the in-app link. I found Instgram’s accessibility really easy to use to share across other social media apps.

Week 11: Practising Instagram – Photo

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAaMZmslMkv/

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

This week I wanted to try something new and I actually took this photograph from the Instagram app. Lots of users prefer to take photos outside of the app then choose their preferred ones to upload. However, I have never used the Instagram camera so tried this out. It worked similar to the iPhone camera app and I lined up the objects I wanted in the frame and took the shot by pressing a circle on the touchscreen. This experience was very smooth and I will definitely think of doing this again.

To fit in with the theme of my Instagram account, I took a photograph of paintings I have created recently and hung them up. I wanted the effect of an aesthetically appealing photograph, with lots of bright colours and similar shapes (the canvases) at similar heights. Achieving this, I think it looks good, displaying my creations against a plain white background to highlight the elements I wanted in the photo.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I published the post using the geo-tag location of ‘LockDown’, relating to the current context of me being in a UK lock down due to the spread of COVID-19. This geo-tag doesn’t correlate to a direct specific physical location but to people’s lock down experiences. I thought this was quite creative as I’m using the location in a different purpose to how Instagram intended it to be. I used this on my previous post so thought I would keep up with the correlation.

I added the caption “3 of my painting creations! Please feel free to send me any paintings you do!” I chose this caption as it allows other users to engage with my post. With the Instagram algorithm, the more users that interact with my post, through liking, commenting, sharing and messaging, the more activity I will receive, through my post going onto other’s users explore pages.

After I uploaded this post, I then added a comment including many hashtags, so my post would gain a bigger engagement rate by appearing on these hashtags when people search them, or appearing on their explore pages if they have similar interests to the photos I uploaded.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

When uploading my post, I chose to distribute it further through the application of Tumblr. Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking website. My post would sit well on Tumblr as I am blogging about my art. Hopefully,  by sharing my post on another social media website, it will create more engagement with my account.

Week 10: Practising Instagram – Video

https://www.instagram.com/p/CANLn7bFWNG/

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

For this week I wanted to create a better video post, involving more videos. I thought the carousel of 10 feature Instagram offers wouldn’t fit my idea of recording the process of painting a picture. Thus, I opted for creating the video first on iMovie. Using the camera application on my iPhone 11, I videoed myself using the back camera painting a couple of seconds for each new section I did. I found this process a little difficult as I had to keep stopping to record, and my hands were dirty with paint. If I was to create this again, I would use a tripod and record the whole process from the same angle, so it looks more continuous and unbroken.

I then uploaded all videos shot onto iMovie and edited them to create a 13-second long post. As I am comfortable with using iMovie, for next week’s video, I want to try something new that I haven’t used before on Instagram.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

iMovie offers a feature that lets users upload straight to Instagram and add a caption. I did this but after uploading I found it didn’t let me choose a cover photo for my post. I like this function within Instagram as you can choose a specific frame from your video to become the cover photo. Therefore, I deleted this post, exported the iMovie and uploaded via Instagram.

I captioned the video “How I created this beautiful sunset painting!!”. Also, I added a geo-location of “At Home”. It isn’t a real location but enforces that I am in lockdown and am doing activities in my home. A the whole country is in lockdown, I wanted the post to have a unanimous feel so users could relate and would boost activity on my page by liking and sharing the post.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Once the video was authored and published on Instagram, I added a comment of hashtag, such as: #painting, #thingstodoinquarantine and #sunset that related to my post, to help boost engagement with the post. As it’s a video, I uploaded it to Tik Tok as well, which is known for its accessible short-video content. I didn’t use the Tik Tok app to video my video so I wasn’t able to add any more videos to it or filters and effects that Tik Tok offer. I would have liked to add an effect as they provide ones that would have worked well with the colours in my painting video. However, I settled for just posting the video that I made straight on to the Tik Tok platform.

Week 10: Practising Instagram – Photo

https://www.instagram.com/p/CANyC1pFrn_/

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

This week I wanted to try out Instagram’s carousel function, so I chose 3 photograph’s I had taken on my iPhone camera. Instagram created the carousel function which allows users to uploaded up to 10 photographs in one singular post. Instagram wants to maximise time spent on the app. The more swipes and touches of photo’s on a post, the more time you are spending on the app, therefore, creating more money for Instagram (How the Instagram algorithm works, 2020).

Then, I added an Instagram filter on all the photo’s and toned it down to a subtle filter that made the colours pop in the photos. I did this so the post would look more aesthetically appealing when users see this post on their explore page and would want to click through and onto my account, to gain a bigger reach.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I published the post using the geo-tag location of ‘LockDown’, relating to the current context of me being in a UK lock down due to the spread of COVID-19. This geo-tag doesn’t correlate to a direct specific physical location but to people’s lock down experiences. I thought this was quite creative as I’m using the location in a different purpose to how Instagram intended it to be.

I added the caption “Lockdown painting of a sunset somewhere sunny and warm, not like the UK!”

After I uploaded this post, I then added a comment including many hashtags, so my post would gain a bigger engagement rate by appearing on these hashtags when people search them, or appearing on their explore pages if they have similar interests to the photos I uploaded.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

When I was publishing my post, Instagram provides 3 links to other social media apps you can directly post to. This means its a really accessible way to gain a bigger reach so I slide the bar along on Facebook. Thus, my post, caption included posted onto Facebook the same time it did on Instagram.

References  

heyDominik (2020) How the Instagram Algorithm Works in 2020 [Online], 31 January. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1229&v=LWfVwVAOIvA&feature=emb_logo> [Accessed 19/05/2020].

Week 9: Practising Instagram – Video

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_zs9eeFgia/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

For my second post on Instagram this week I recorded a video of the painting I made. On Instagram in the past, videos had to be longer than 2 seconds but now you can upload a video that is 1 second. I used an iPhone 11 to capture the video I recorded. I used the back camera as this has a higher megapixel of 12 and faster shutter speed. Thus, having an overall better quality of camera. And it means I can look at the screen on the front of the smartphone to see exactly what I am capturing, making it easier for me to position the camera. Apple (2020) states,

“12MP Ultra Wide. Capturing four times more scene, it’s great for landscapes, travel, groups, large interiors and action shots.”

I took a few different videos so I had a range to choose from before deciding on the one I wanted to edit. As I prefer Instagram’s filters for photographs not videos, I used an editing application called GlitchFX to create my desired video. I played around with a few effects before choosing ‘Glitch C1’ for a colourful glitchy video, mirroring the abstract painting.

Then, I uploaded the edited video into iMovie, an app created by Apple that lets users edit videos. I added a song from my library – Make Luv by Room 5 to the video.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

In iMovie, there is an option to upload your video directly to Instagram. Using this feature, it instantly directs me to the Instagram app where i am free to further edit, filter and caption my video. I captioned the post similar to my first one, with rainbow emojis either side so it would correlate, “A C R Y L I C  P A I N T I N G  A L E R T Song: Make Luv by Room 5 @juniorjack” I also added hashtags so it would reach a wider audience than my followers. I chose to tag the artists of the song so that users could further interact with the post, for example it gives him a link from my post so users can look at his profile.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Despite Instagram offering the in app distribution features,  I forgot to distribute my video to other social platforms. A limitation for this week, I will distribute my Week 10 posts to other social media services.

References 

Apple (2020) iPhone 11 [Online]. Available from: <https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-11/> [Accessed 09/05/2020].

Week 9: Practising Instagram – Photo

Instagram Handle: lockdownlooks212

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_zrxWDliWO/

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

This week we looked at Instagram in more depth in terms of all the creative design work that goes into a seamless experience. One thing I found interesting was that 1 billion people in the world use Instagram. One application. One billion people. It’s incredible and proves how Instagram has grown from 25,000 users on day 1 to users continuously coming back to the app every day to engage in endless, bottomless content (Ian Spalter: Digital Product Design, 2019).

Currently, due to the global pandemic of Covid-19, the UK where I live is in lock down, meaning everyone who isn’t an essential worker has to stay home. Therefore, I wanted to create a profile that would distract people from the sadness of the world outside of their phone and for the limited time of their day they are on Instagram, provide uplifting content that might inspire them to create something too. Thus, my account @lockdownlooks212 is centred around colourful paintings, that connote glee.

For my first post on Instagram I wanted it to stand out.  I used an iPhone 11 to capture the photo by using the Camera application already installed on the phone. Apple is notorious for their camera quality as with each iPhone they launch, they upgrade the software of the camera to match that of a physical camera.

“No phone today is complete without a camera, the quality of which has continued to improve as sales of traditional cameras have simultaneously shrunk” (Palmer, 2014, p. 245)

With the iPhone launch in 2007, they were the first company to networked a camera on a smartphone. This was the fundamental transition that happened to allow Instagram to become a used application by users. Photo’s weren’t of good quality due to it being the first camera with lots of room for improvement in terms of pixels. Thus, Instagram created filters, so that users would want to share their poor quality photographs as they could disguise them under filters such as a postcard, that would give them a different aesthetic.

I used the back-facing camera of the iPhone 11 as this allowed me to see the screen on the front of the phone. I could size up exactly how I wanted the painting positioned within the frame, which allowed me a greater concision in a flowing movement of capturing a photograph. Time moves very quickly and our lives can be so busy sometimes we don’t have time to stop for minutes to take one single photograph of something we like. Therefore, Apple have used the constraints effectively as you can either press the circle button on the screen to capture the photograph, or the physical volume + button on the side of the phone, catering for whichever option is easier for you to capture that specific photograph.

I wasn’t satisfied with the photograph by itself so when uploading it in the Instagram app I went on to filters. After looking through them all by touching the screen, I chose X-Pro II and turned down the filter capacity from 100 to 62. I did this so the colours of the painting stood out exactly the way I wanted to in terms of contrast and brightness. I then went back off the ‘Filter’ button and onto ‘Edit’. From here, I used the adjust tool to straighten the image exactly how i wanted, lining it up with Instagram’s square format and cropping out the kettle from the top so that the painting would line up with the top of the photograph. Finally, I used the sharpen tool to increase the sharpness on the photograph, making the acrylic paint stand out more to attract users who enjoy acrylic paintings.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I published this photograph to Instagram and it was the first post I have made on my new account. This made my Instagram profile look a bit odd as Instagram’s layout is in rows of 3, forming a portfolio of 9 posts, mirroring the grid they have when editing your photographs. I published it with the caption that reads with a rainbow emoji either side, “A C R Y L I C  P A I N T I N G  A L E R T An abstract colourful painting I created during this gloomy lockdown to a some #colour into your lives! #painting #lockdown #keepingbusy #covid 19 #paint #colourful #acrylicpainting ” I added some hashtags to the caption so that my post would reach a wider audience as I don’t have any followers yet, and it did as an account liked the it. Currently, as I’m writing this blog I have spotted a spelling mistake in my caption. I have wrote “a” instead of “add”. One significant aspect about editing posts on Instagram is that even after you have published, you can go back and edit your captions, geo-tag and tagged friends. Thus, I have edited my caption to read correctly, meaning my caption will now say “edited”.

I took many photographs before deciding on this specific one, most of them were blurry or not in line with what I wanted. I always do this when I want to capture an image, I think its more a Gen-Z thing where we take lots and lots of photographs of the same thing hoping at least one will be like the one we want. This could be due to the technology and space in our smartphones and gadgets, that we now limitless storage to capture and keep all these photographs.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Regrettably, I didn’t chose to share this post to any other social media services I have. I am going to set up Pinterest for my next Instagram photograph.

References 

Ian Spalter: Digital Product Design (2019) Abstract: The Art of Design, Season 2, episode 5. Available from: Netflix. [Accessed 05/05/2020].

Palmer, D. (2014) ‘Mobile Media Photography’, in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media. Routledge, New York pp. 249–55.

Week 8: Networked Videography

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practising?

@taramilktea, real name Tara Whiteman, is an Asian-Australia blogger of travel, lifestyle, food and fashion on Instagram. Her posts have a very colourful aesthetic, following her passion for digital art. She creates IGTV’s of some of her travel adventures and lifestyle. Setting her aside from other vloggers, she does not upload her content to YouTube, only Instagram and her website. This sets her aside from others as most vloggers want their content on every platform out there, including the big platform for vlogging, YouTube.

What is the title of the video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

The title (caption) of the IGTV post is:

“Home
The space we’ve been spending every waking moment in isolation. 🏠 All furniture by @harpersproject linked below: 🎶 Morning Glory – Liza
Sofa – https://www.harpersproject.com/collections/sofas/products/the-barwon-sofa
Marble coffee table – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/scandi-low-round-marble-coffee-table?_pos=2&_sid=c3ddeda4b&_ss=r Marble coffee table – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/round-marble-coffee-table-medium?_pos=3&_sid=4e1f68ff7&_ss=r TV Unit – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/solid-timber-side-board?_pos=2&_sid=b59252631&_ss=r Rug – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/ropeweave-rug?_pos=1&_sid=19b3c3b6c&_ss=rVases – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/large-decorative-timber-vase?_pos=2&_sid=5115dff97&_ss=rMirror – https://www.harpersproject.com/products/free-standing-marble-mirror?_pos=4&_sid=95e0010bc&_ss=r“

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-eYprLlfCg/

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

It was posted on Instagram on April 2nd 2020. However, it may have been produced before this date. She does not specify but it can be inferred that this video was recorded on a different day and may have took a while to edit, consequently meaning Tara posted it days after filming and editing. Also, some vloggers and influences have a schedule to when they upload on Instagram. This is due to an Instagram algorithm, so their posts come up first when lots of people are on their news feed’s.

How was the photo or video authored?

Tara is always open about what video camera and software she uses, in a Facebook post she writes “I’ve always been team Canon”. She states she likes to use the EOS M6 Mirrorless Camera by Canon for photos sometimes. However, for the video I am looking at, it is not stated which video camera she uses. It can be inferred she uses video cameras that are designed by Canon as she likes to use Canon for her photographs. Also, as she is in some shots of the video, it is implied someone else is helping to film. They are most probable under her instruction, still making it directed and authored by Tara. Also, some shots are of the room rotating. To get this unique shot, it can be guessed Tara uses a gimbal. A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows rotation on a single axis, holding a camera.

She also uses software to edit her videos. Although it is unknown what she uses in this video it is most probable by Adobe as she is candid about using Adobe Lightroom to edit her photographs.

It is also unknown the software Tara used to edit this video, however there is a wide range of simple editing software that fit the characteristics for Instagram’s IGTV, such as: iMovie. Video content produced offline can easily be published within blogging software. This in turn opens up the practise of video-blogging to both non-professionals and professionals.

How was the photo or video published?

The video was published on to IGTV on her Instagram page @taramilktea. IGTV was launched in 2018 by Instagram, in a way to compete with YouTube. Following YouTube’s launch in 2005, it has been flooded by a growth from online video blogging, to a variety of forms that now make this media a significant part of communications (Keen, 2020). Using IGTV, a user can post up to 10 minutes of content in one post and can even create a running video series. It is a popular way for vloggers to post as they can reach a wide audience. In Tara’s case, she has 1.3 million followers worldwide and the video has 62.4k views. This implies IGTV is successful in competing with YouTube.

How was the photo or video distributed?

This photo was distributed across her Instagram page, but she has also tagged in her caption links to all her furniture by Harpers Project. Instagram now has a rule where sponsored posts have to be clarified by the user, either with #ad or another way. However, Tara does not specific this, so it is unclear whether this is a sponsored post for Harpers Project furniture or just her personal taste. Instagram is utilised by vloggers to create money from sponsored posts. “Instagram became home for a less official economy in the form of sponsored, promoted and paid messages delivered by Influencers” (Leaver et al, 2020, p.33). Thus, creating a shift to corporate sponsored content within media platforms. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between vlogger’s having a capitalist agenda, focusing more about views than creative, unique content. Nevertheless, this post would have had a wider reach as Harpers Project was tagged, meaning an additional audience exploring Harper’s Projects Instagram might come across her post.

Also, Instagram have an explore page, taking in to account people’s personal data across many integrated social media platforms and sharing that cookie data to create a tailored page full of posts the user might engage with. Therefore, with this logic, user’s who like aesthetic furniture and vloggers similar to Tara, might have this IGTV post come up on their explore pages, creating an even wider audience reach.

References

Taramilktea (2018) Editing my photos with light room. [Online], 1 June. Available from: <https://taramilktea.co/2018/06/01/editing-my-photos-with-lightroom/> [Accessed 28/04/2020].

Keen, S. (2020) Networked Video [Lecture] COMM2219 Networked Media. RMIT University. Week 8.

Leaver, T., Highfield, T., Abidin, C. (2020) Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures. Digital Media and Society, United Kingdom. p. 1-38. Available from: <https://primo-direct-apac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1d27kpc/RMIT_ALMA51238311040001341> [Accessed 29/04/2020].

Loren, T. (2020) IGTV: The Ultimate Guide to IGTV. Later. [Online], 7 April. Available from: <https://later.com/blog/igtv/> [Accessed 28/04/2020].

@taramilktea (2020) Home. Instagram. [Online], 2 April. Available from: <Available from: <https://taramilktea.co/2018/06/01/editing-my-photos-with-lightroom/> [Accessed 28/04/2020].> [Accessed 28/04/2020].

Week 7: Networked Photography

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practising?

Emma Louise Connolly is a British model, focusing on fashion and is engaged to British reality TV star Proudlock. She was born in Dunblane, Scotland and is 28 years old. Her Instagram handle is @emmalouiseconnolly

I chose Emma as the persona she forms through her Instagram profile inspires me to make a better effort when it comes to my own fashion style. There are thousands of British models on Instagram, but Emma omits a certain likeability factor, being very engaging to watch etc. Currently her Instagram has over 400,000 followers, making it a portfolio of her life. She started being interested in fashion and fashion photography when she was a teenager, and studied fashion design. Since then, she has starred in many fashion campaigns, even appearing on a billboard in Piccadilly Circus in London.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

The title, Instagram calls it the caption, states “thankful for another year shooting the beautiful @hm Studio collection. This top makes me feel like Leanne Rimes in 2001 in all the best ways. And this photo makes me feel like I’m on the album cover. THANK YOU ❤️ #HMxME ad shot by @alexkenealy ✨”. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8f_mWip5JD/

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

The photo was uploaded to Instagram on February 13th 2020. However, it may have been produced before this date as it was for a brand campaign. Therefore, making an educated guess she didn’t get the photos that day regrading timings and priorities of the shoot and the photographer will have chosen the best ones to send to her.

How was the photo or video authored?

Emma Louise Connolly uses her iPhone for many of her Instagram photographs she takes and also owns cameras herself. However, as this was for a branded H&M location campaign, a professional photographer was used. Luckily, Emma has tagged the Instagram handle of the photographer: @alexkenealy. Alex Kenealy is Los Angeles photographer, specialising in fashion photography. She creates artistic video art on her website, but is most known for her aesthetically pleasing photography. On her Instagram profile, she describes herself as a director and a creative photographer. Looking through her portfolio of photographs, she truly lives up to being creative, using different angles, models, utilising lighting, features and so on.

I am limited to finding information on the camera’s used. Being a digital photograph in the 21st century, the majority of her work will be through the use of a digital camera. It is probable she uses a variety of cameras and could have used any camera from this list in order to generate this shot.

How was the photo or video published?

The photo was published via the social media network application Instagram. The concept of an ‘Instagram Influencer’ has become an increasingly used term to describe the models that construct an ‘Instagrammable’ portfolio of photographs that can influence their followers. For example, they post photographs of brands and take them as part of online marketing, aligning Instagram with the advertising agency.

It is very common for models to create an online portfolio through their own Instagram profiles. As western society moves forward, the network does too. It gives models the opportunity to monetise how they use Instagram, providing a vocational drive Behind every post. In Emma’s context, with each post she uploads, she is building her persona even more, creating a name for herself through her photographs. This in turn helps to grow her audience and the demand of content from her.

Emma also includes the geo-tag of California. Doing this means when other Instagram users search the geo-tag California, her post will come up for some who may interact with fashion, accessed through their shared cookies and personal data from other sites via the network. Through the Instagram algorithm of how many followers and activity an account has, the further up the post will go. Therefore, she will have more of a reach with her post, gaining more of an audience and exposing more branding for the H&M campaign, which she will be making money from.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The distribution of this photograph is immediate. The Instagram post will go on to the news-feeds of all of her followers, depending on when they will go on Instagram and how often they interact with Emma’s account. People use social media every day and interact with it in many different ways. Currently, the likes on the post is at nearly 6,000. This means already we know 6,000 people have seen the photograph and have gave a positive response towards it.

In this era of ever-changing technology, online photography changes with it. People use it in many different ways that 5 years prior no one would have dreamed about doing. Also, there is a fascination with producing aesthetically appealing photographs and utilising Instagram’s provided grid feature and filters to help build your account. Essentially, Instagram naturalises our understanding of how images are produced and shared in a contemporary society. With Emma using this knowledge to advertise her shared brand campaign with H&M, reaching a potential new target audience for the brand, always thinking about money. Emma’s account is clever because she styles her posts in a way that makes it not obvious and streamlined, when really these potentially paid posts is what keeps her career alive.

References

Kuoch, S (2019) Top 10 Best Cameras for Fashion Photography. Re Think Through. [Online], 9 October. Available from: <https://rethinkrethought.com/cameras-for-fashion-photography/> [Accessed 23/04/2020].

Long, J (2018) Who is Emma Louise Connolly? The design grad and model engaged to Made in Chelsea’s Proudlock. The Tab. [Online]. Available from: <https://thetab.com/uk/2018/08/13/who-is-emma-louise-connolly-the-nasty-gal-model-engaged-to-made-in-chelseas-proudlock-77302> [Accessed 23/04/2020].

Week 5: Analogue Photography

Nude, Italy

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practising?

Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer considered himself a surrealist artist, but was labelled a photojournalist. He firstly became interested in surrealism paintings, soon moving on to photography. He began taking pictures in 1926, but later became more serious with his work in 1931. He approached photography like an artist, he was interested in the structure, the composition and the relationship between shapes in images.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

The title of the photograph is Italy, taken in 1933, at the start of Henri’s photography career. I found it through the website of the MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, a famous art museum in New York. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/54904?artist_id=1000&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist.

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

It was produced in 1933.

How was the photo or video authored?

Henri Cartier-Bresson used a Leica camera for most of his career, particularly using a 50mm lens. Therefore, it is highly likely this photograph was shot using this. He was gifted his first camera in 1926 by Harry Crosby. In 1931, 2 years before this photograph was taken, he moved to Marseille where he acquired the Leica camera with a 50mm lens, which he then used continuously.

For this photo in particular, the style of it gives off a certain ambiguity through the geometry of the body. Henri produces unusual photos, which can have unpredictable meanings. However, this photograph is quite candid. What i find particularly interesting is the use of colour: the black and white aspect, the contrast of the dark water, to the pale naked body floating in the dark water, the abyss.

How was the photo or video published and distributed?

It is difficult to find where this photograph was originally published. However, it is highly likely it could have been published in his book, A Decisive Moment (1952).  On the MoMA website, it is stated to have been printed in 1986 via Gelatin silver print. It is currently accessible through the website Paddle8 and MoMA, whilst not being accessible via Magnum Photo’s, a co-operative website co-founded by Cartier-Bresson himself.

References

MoMA. Henri Cartier-Bresson. Italy 1933. Available from: <https://www.moma.org/collection/works/54904?artist_id=1000&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist> [Accessed 20/04/2020].

Paddle8. Henri Cartier-Bresson. Nude Italy. Avaialble from: <https://paddle8.com/work/henri-cartier-bresson/184809-italy/> [Accessed 20/04/2020].