Documentary Straight Images / Work Diary -

Documentary Photography - 
The idea for the series of photography was "My Life" which inspired me to document my family life in a series of candid photos draw from the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

This image is dramatic and a pastiche of Bresson although I chose to depict the domesticity of family life and rituals or celebrations such as christmas. 

This image depicts the bonds between mother and child and the facial expressions fondly show this. The decisive moment is evident in that this exchange was extremely brief and I captured the frame at the exact point to display the narrative. 

This image depicts a nostalgia of reminiscing ones childhood and birth place. I also linked this documentary to studying my self-identity and my heritage from the majority of my family being from London. 

This photograph depicts the mourning of family who are gone. The sun rays were an artistic choice which I was able to achieve due to the positioning of my camera. Compositionally the grave and the two subjects fit into the grid technique cross-sectional intersections. The subject, to me attest, is particularly moving as they grave is home to my grandparents whom I never met and at the temporal point of production my uncle was also very ill. 

This final image does not directly depict family but instead is a monument to my family. The composition is intriguing an the use of levels brings the viewer closer to the subject of the image almost as a metaphor for bringing them closer to the details of daily life. 

Progression - 

I was extremely happy with the outcome of this particular photographic series documenting my family in birth, life and death. To improve I would have liked the opportunity to photograph other subjects such as old family polaroid photographs arranged in an interesting manner. I would also like to have photographed the pregnant member of the family to tie into the life cycle of birth, life and death. However, in relation to the final outcomes I m extremely pleased.

Documentary Contact Sheet -

Documentary Photography - 

Documentary Image Bank -

Photo-Documentary - 

Photo-Documentary : Photography that documents significant moments within society or in an individuals life.

Robert Frank:

Frank had a series called 'The Americans' published in the late 1950s. Frank himself was Swiss but decided to document the American lifestyle. The work is in the style of Street Documentary. 

Corey Arnold: 

Arnold documents his life through photography focusing mostly on his occupation as an alaskan fisherman who spends most of his life at sea on a crab fishing boat. Arnold also is part of film documentary on the Discovery Channel titled 'Deadliest Catch'. Therefore, it is interesting that Arnold continues to document his life in photographs rather than relying on film.  

Low Key Lighting Straight Images / Work Diary -

Straight Images - 

I like this image as the the low key lighting is known for hiding segments of the face but somehow elves deeper into the concept of identity. The central focal point is the light reflection on the eye of the subject. The negative space surrounding the face gives the impression of isolation. The stark contrasts between light and dark tonal areas helps to emphasise contours of the face. 

This second photograph is another of my favourites as I enjoy the side composition of the subject rather than being central. With this piece I intended to study perceptions of youth in society. The right sided weight of the image gives the impression of being parted from the norm, implied as deviant from the norm of society, and the lack of lighting on the eyes, supposedly the window to the soul, gives the impression of ambiguity and that the individual serves almost as a figurehead for all youths. 

This is my final favourite of the low key lighting series as it doesn't explicitly study identity or the hiding of identity. The shadows create an idea of battling light and dark and the hand is often referred to as displaying identity through fingerprints. This image was created to replicate the ideas of Macbeth in which Lady Macbeth asks why her hands will never be clean of her sins. The idea is that low key lighting can help display ideas of light and dark. 

Low Key Lighting Contact Sheet -

Portraits - 
All of these images were taken in the studio on a Canon EOS 450D. Using the mono-block with a snoot placed on the end to create a modelling light I used the settings of ISO: 200, shutter speed of 1/125 and an f/stop value of f/16.

Low Key Lighting Image Bank -

Portraits - 

Irving Penn : 
Penn is an interesting artist who studies identity through his portraiture; Penn does this through a technique known as low key lighting that evokes a sense of mystery and other such emotions.  I especially like the second image as some would say that it is not necessarily identity, however, in my opinion I believe it is identity as it is the hand of Miles Davis, a trumpet jazz musician, playing a trumpet chord. As a result I strongly hold the belief that it is an example of portraiture in the study of identity even though arguably it can be said that portraiture is when a face is present in the image.

Low Key Lighting Setup -

Portraits - 

Low Key Lighting : is a style of lighting used in photography, it makes parts of the image appear dark whilst the others lighter. (This is also known as the chiaroscuro effect).

Low Key Lighting Set-up :
This set-up usually consists of a three-point lighting.
Key Light
Fill Light
Back light
Snoot
Honeycomb
Reflector Dish

Honeycomb : 
The honeycomb is a tight grid structure which is fixed to the end of a light to make a concentrated beam of light. (the reflector dish also does this to a greater extent).

Reflector Dish :
The reflector dish reflects light in order to create a more concentrated beam of light.

Snoot :

A snoot is a tube that fits over a flashlight used to control the direction and radius of the beam of light.