Week 5 

In week 5 we spent the whole of our Tuesday class testing out different lighting gadgets. We set up a few different pieces of equipment that each functioned in a different way as well as creating a different effect for lighting. The lighting equipment I spent most of my time on was a softbox lighting kit which was connected through a little remote to the camera and flashed when a picture was taken. I never realised how different lighting made pictures seem. Although the cameras are amazing, without the lighting the photos looked dull. With the lighting, the pictures looked as if they had been taken in a studio professionally. As well as following the ‘lighting handout’ we received we were able to create different effects for the photographs as we changed the position of the softbox and the camera. If the lighting was moved to create shadows (on the side or from a very high or very low position) the photos looked creepier and darker. If the softbox was moved only slightly to the side or directly front on, the face was well lit and gave the ‘professional’ effect. We also got to play around with the reflector kits, it was very interesting to see in particular using the silver or gold one. Depending on the outfit or tone of the person, the gold and silver reflectors either complimented the person or created a strange tinge to the images. The class was very fun, I have never experimented with lighting before, and it gave me a lot of new knowledge I would have never known otherwise. The reading of the week, ‘Reading the photobook’ (Badger, 2011), also gave great insight into the idea of a photo essay and how we consume this type of media. I liked the idea of the media form not having rules, no particular way to create one, “it doesn’t matter, you can do absolutely what you want. It’s all fiction anyway.” (Badger, 2011).

REFERENCES:

Badger, G 2011, “Reading” the photobook

Week 4 

In week 4 our main focus was on the documentary, ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013). The documentary followed a man who uncovered some magnificent photographs in an auction and made it his mission to discover more about the mysterious photographer, Vivian Maier and to publish her work to the world. Vivian Maier was a complicated woman, and it begged the question in class discussions about the ethical morals of publishing this private photographer’s work. In my own personal opinion, I do find it hard to say, her work was clearly at a professional level, and she was proud of it and thought it was good- it showed the world some outstanding art they may never have seen otherwise. On the opposing end, she never published it herself, and being a very private person, she may never have wanted it to be. As well as the complicated legality of who deserves the money made from her art after her death, the whole documentary formed so many questions. Vivian Maier also took a lot of street photography, which as discussed in class and in the reading, ‘Is it OK for people to take photos of you in public and publish them?’ (Lake, 2014), was another controversial conversation. I personally would not like for someone to publish a picture of me without my knowledge in public. It is argued that the art of street photography must be protected as it is their right to do so in public, but other sources claim, “A right to privacy has always been weighed against the competing right to freedom of expression and has been protected by courts only in certain circumstances.” (Lake, 2014). Street photography is amazing, and I love that it captures a culture or timeframe (e.g. NYC photos in the 1950s) but it does offer the question of whether people like Vivian Maier were creating ethical art.

REFERENCES

Lake, J 2014, Is it OK for people to take pictures of you in public and publish them?, The Conversation.

‌Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

MIMESIS PORTFOLIO – SASKIA CHRISTENSEN_Mimesis

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What were some key discoveries in this module in terms of your creative process? (It may be useful to break this down in to the different phases of creative inspirations, pre-production planning and organisation, the actual shoot, and post-production and presentation).

Creative Inspirations + Pre-production 

In the first week I came back, I was told to research a photographer whose work inspired me, and I chose Bruce Weber. What particularly inspired me about his work was the vintage feel he has to his photographs, no matter how eccentric or posed the photograph is, there is always a level of simplicity and class to his usage of black-and-white. When I looked into the assignment shortly after I had finished my presentation, I realised that I was definitely not going to be able to mimic his work because it was far too planned, (especially being a fashion photographer). At this point, I began planning things that I would be able to photograph, and photograph well. I quickly created a small mind map to get my thoughts flowing on what I wanted to capture within my portfolio.

I realised that I was not as comfortable doing portraits or taking pictures of architecture but rather lent toward more raw and simple photos. I decided I wanted to capture ‘a home that people live in’ inspired by the readings from Susan Sontag on capturing memories and moments as they exist.

From here, I began looking further into photographers that sparked an interest, but would be more realistic for me to grab inspiration from. From this research, I ran upon an article where photographers displayed life from within the pandemic which displayed less flashy, more ‘authentic’ photographs. This is where I saw Hashim Badani’s picture and it really began to inspire what my photographs could look like.

 

Although he is not incredibly famous or well-known, he is still an influential photographer online, having 23,000+ people following him and viewing his photographs. Like Bruce Weber, I loved the black and white image as well as the photo seeming really genuine as to how people function in the home – something that is not often photographed.

The Actual Shoot 

The actual shoot was very simple for me, I began photographing ‘normal’ things throughout my house still keeping in mind the composition of the photograph. I really wanted to capture this idea of a house being lived in. I feel like it is not often we see interiors of places being messy and used, but this is real. My idea was to take as many pictures as I could, and I could filter through the bad ones and good ones later, and choose my favourite 5.

Post-Production + Presentation

In the 3rd week of class, for the first time I learnt how to use Lightroom, this meant after class I was able to sit down and enhance my pictures. I actually had a lot of fun tweaking and experimenting with my mimesis portfolio, and the in-class time actually benefitted me greatly with this module. It also highlighted to me the power of editing, and how elevated your pictures can look with a bit of modifying. I decided to make 3/5 of my photographs in black and white seeming as that was the trend of inspiration for me at the start.

From then, I just put all my pictures into a PowerPoint. I am proud of the work I have done, and although the photographs aren’t particularly stimulating (I’ll have to experiment a bit more), I am happy with the work I have done and have learnt a lot about photography already.

 

REFERENCES:

Hashim Badani’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/hashimbadani/

Nast, C 2020, 7 photographers capture family through their lens in the time of a pandemic, Vogue India, viewed 28th June 2023, <https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/photographers-capture-family-through-their-lens-in-the-time-of-a-pandemic>.

Again, I was sadly unable to make this class, but it is understood the class activity involved getting more hands-on with a camera and really learning how each component works. The exerts from the reading of the week, ‘On Photography’ by Susan Sontag describes the nature of realism in photography, though it is often limited by other factors, “whatever the limitations (through amateurism) or pretensions (through artistry) of the individual photographer, a photograph –  any photograph – seems to have a more innocent, and therefore more accurate, relation to visible reality than do other mimetic objects” (Sontag, 1977). It describes the way photography is an attempt to capture the real-world, but it is often “haunted” by taste and integrity. I find this to be a very interesting argument, although photographs seem more authentic and rawer than a painting or other art form, it is often skewed to be visually appealing. I can see examples of this in modern life, if I am posting a picture from a holiday, I want to post a picture that is visually pleasing whether it really appears this way or not; “photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, that the program was carried out, that fun was had.” (Sontag, 1977).

I also resonated with Sontag’s argument about nostalgia. Photographs and cameras capture moments in time, memories, and memoirs of the world we live in and people we know. Photos allow us to capture something that has meaning to us, and cannot be taken away from the photo once it has been taken, becoming ‘immortal’; “cameras began duplicating the world at that moment when the human landscape started to undergo a vertiginous rate of change: when an untold number of forms of biological and social life are being destroyed in a brief span of time, a device is available to record what is disappearing.” (Sontag, 1977).

REFERENCES:

Sontag, Susan 1977, On Photography, New York Picador.

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I was unfortunately not able to attend the first two classes, so I am unable to review class discussions or exercises. Nonetheless, I found the two readings extremely insightful and interesting. The first reading, ‘Photomeditations’ by Joanna Zylinska shed light on the ‘meaning’ of photography being argued and debated by many scholars and educators. “To live is to be photographed, to have a record of one’s life, and therefore go on with one’s life oblivious, or claiming to be oblivious, to the camera’s nonstop attentions” (Sontag, 2004). I particularly connected to the reading’s point of photography being a part of life, especially in the modern age. Whether it be with passport photos or Instagram posts, evidence of your life through photography is something that is close to unavoidable. Photomediation theorises that “photography as a diverse practise that not only changes ‘everything’ but that also undergoes constant change.” (Zylinska, 2016). I believe this discusses that because photography is so adaptive and ever-changing, photographs themselves can even change over time.

The next reading was a short video, ‘The Decisive Moment’ by Henri Cartier Bresson. This interview was particularly fascinating to me as he discussed his personal experience with photography as a very successful and famous photographer. I appreciated his honesty in capturing a moment, “It’s a relation between your nose, your eyes, the window behind, and that’s my pleasure; to establish these relations. And, sometimes there’s no picture, there’s no picture.” (Bresson, 1973). He explains how the smallest movement or gesture can entirely change the visual composition of a photo, and capturing a moment is a very difficult thing to do, sometimes it doesn’t work; there is “no picture”. He continues to describe his quick and impulsive nature he has while he works, “It’s (photographs) are a more personal story – quick thinking. There’s a whole world in it.” or, “It’s an instinct” (Bresson, 1973). The quote that particularly resonated with me was his description of capturing portraits of people in their own environment or element, “you have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt, which is not a very easy thing.” (Bresson, 1973). Some of my personal favourite photographs exhibit people in their homes or their own environment. I find these photographs to be more touching, more story-telling and often speak for themselves.

References:

Kamila Kuc & Zylinska, J 2016, Photomediations : a reader, Open Humanities Press.

bt465 2016, HENRI CARTIER BRESSON – The Decisive Moment 1973_2007, YouTube.

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https://online.fliphtml5.com/zqmku/ncoe/#p=1

 

 

A1; REWORKED by Saskia Christensen

The Piano Man

As we walked outside to the bustling streets outside of Melbourne Central, I was hesitant to pull someone aside, they all looked so busy. People walked past with their heads in their phones, headphones on, walking with a firm pace, ‘I don’t know if I can do this’, I’m thinking.

Joe and I look at each other, “maybe we could head toward the uni instead”.

As we make our way through one of the buildings, we are stopped by the sound of quiet piano. It is a boy sitting alone on the piano, air pods in, seemingly having a bit of fun.

 I awkwardly ask for a few pictures of him playing the piano and he shrugs and says, “yea, I guess.”.

 

 

He laughed as we took some pictures, “these aren’t going anywhere, are they?”, (he obviously wasn’t a media student), ‘only to my blog’, I say. He continued to play a little tune, it was clear at this point, that he didn’t really know what he was doing.

“Can you really play?” I say, he laughs,

“No, not really, nothing impressive. Just here for fun.”

 

 

He plays a song that sounds like something you’d have to learn in year 5, a simple nursery rhyme-type song.

I notice that the room is quite dark compared to some pictures outside we had taken earlier, so I adjust the camera and look at the display. The dark effect I think, gives the pictures more of a ‘classical’ feel which suits the piano nicely.

I ask him if he’s in between classes, “yep, just waiting for a friend” he says as he continues to play. Shortly after, his friend comes over and begins giggling,

“I was gone for 5 minutes, and you’ve managed to have a photoshoot?”, he chuckles.

The pair seem like close friends, and it is evident that his friend has never seen him touch a piano either, he definitely didn’t know what he was doing.

 

 

We all laugh as we take some pictures, they must know as students themselves how we feel in situations like these.

We thank the friends and walk away, as I’m looking at the pictures on the display, I’m smiling. The pictures make it seem as if this man is a music composer, and he’s practising a song for his final performance. When in fact, it was just him filling in some time, goofing around in the hallways of RMIT.

I thought it was interesting the effect the monochrome had on these pictures, it made them seem so formal, so serious. I knew I wanted to use these pictures when I had gotten home, displaying the effect black and white has on the meaning and interpretation of pictures.