USES OF PHOTOGRAPHY – WEEK 5
During week five of uses of photography, we focused on the ways photography can be a narrative form. Through looking at different examples we learnt how photographic essays work, and how groups of photos can tell a lot more than singular images. Week fives set text ‘”Reading” the Photobook’ by Gerry Badger comments upon the reasons for the development of the photo essay. Badger states that ‘The photoessay was developed to allow more narrative potential for the photograph’ Badger (2011) Badger brought to light the different reasons photographers began to explore photographic essays highlighting the way movies ‘challenged photographers to be more diligent in controlling the meaning of their images’Badger (2011) I found that this inspired me to look for the meaning and storyline behind the images I was and am taking, and look to challenge myself to tell a movie like story in my photos. A quote that I found encouraging was Badgers comment that ‘a photograph is strictly limited, joined at the hip to what has been photographed, yet at the same time it is limitless’ Badger (2011) This touches on how different individuals perceive the art in different ways and how endless amounts of stories can be portrayed through the work. I am now encouraged to find new ways to take photographs so that they can hold many different stories.
During week 5 we did a class activity focussing around lighting setups. During this activity we learnt about how to use strobes, off-camera flash, LED panels, Ambient light and other various monitors. This was so cool for me because ive never got to work with such high end photography gear. It was really insightful to see how the different photography tools can impact various qualities of photos. Overall, during week five I found it super interesting figuring out how to adjust lighting in photographs and also convey stories through my images.
Badger,G (2011) ‘Reading’ the Photobook, pg3, Ideal Bookshelf