Thinking about my film that I hope to produce, I am struggling to plan what I might show through the film.
It is difficult because I am travelling to a place where I really am not sure what to expect when I get there, I am unsure of what I will be doing whilst there and because I am going as part of a group I cannot pre-plan my trip. If I were going alone or with family then I could do extensive research into Gambia and decide what I would like to show and then travel out to that place to gather footage. But I have to go where the group goes on this trip (it is not safe to travel alone in The Gambia - especially as a young white female).
It is going to be really challenging and I will have to think quick whilst I am out there to make enough footage, and footage that I can use.
I think before I go I will have decided whether I will be filming the people, the surroundings, the animals, children, school or villages etc etc.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
David Goldblatt
Whilst looking at the work of Samuel Fosso, I came across David Goldblatt. He is a south african photographer working in Johannesburg.
"Goldblatt focuses on critical explorations of South African society. While he uses photography as a means of accessing and exploring people and societies, David Goldblatt is acutely aware of the ethics of photography, and has used the camera as a way of capturing the complexities and intricacies of the specific conditions and situations that he photographs. His photographs are neither propaganda nor violently provocative, but rather become far more complex, meditative documents that are open to interpretation and that permeate far more deeply, and for longer than the initial shock and violence associated with documentary and news photography." (http://www.goodman-gallery.com/artists/davidgoldblatt)
I particulary am drawn to the exhibitions titled 'Some things old, some things new and some much the same' and 'Fietas'
I feel that these images are what I may have gained after my trip to The Gambia. They are documenting an area, a time and a people. They are not staged, and I don't feel that they are biased.
I think there may be a sense of 'the other' coming through, but not in a way that makes them less than the photographer. He keeps their dignity intact. As the statement above says, he is aware of the ethics of his photographs, he knows that he could offend somebody very easily if he photographs them in a demeaning way. But he doesn't do this. It is obvious I feel that he is documenting that time, making record of it rather than exploiting it.
"Goldblatt focuses on critical explorations of South African society. While he uses photography as a means of accessing and exploring people and societies, David Goldblatt is acutely aware of the ethics of photography, and has used the camera as a way of capturing the complexities and intricacies of the specific conditions and situations that he photographs. His photographs are neither propaganda nor violently provocative, but rather become far more complex, meditative documents that are open to interpretation and that permeate far more deeply, and for longer than the initial shock and violence associated with documentary and news photography." (http://www.goodman-gallery.com/artists/davidgoldblatt)
I particulary am drawn to the exhibitions titled 'Some things old, some things new and some much the same' and 'Fietas'
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| ©Zulu woman salvaging bricks for a white contractor from Indians' houses demolished under the Group Areas Act, Fietas, 1982 |
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| © Hassimia Sahib's |
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| ©The Methodist Church (natives), City and Suburban, August 1961 (3_3216), 1961 |
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| ©27 April 2007 (4_A0508), 2007 |
I think there may be a sense of 'the other' coming through, but not in a way that makes them less than the photographer. He keeps their dignity intact. As the statement above says, he is aware of the ethics of his photographs, he knows that he could offend somebody very easily if he photographs them in a demeaning way. But he doesn't do this. It is obvious I feel that he is documenting that time, making record of it rather than exploiting it.
Samuel Fosso
Samuel Fosso started his career as a photographer at a young age of 13 ! YES 13!!
He opened his own studio, where he would take photographs of people for passports, portraits and weddings. It was called Studio Photo Nationale, and his motto was: "You will be beautiful, elegant, delicate, and easy to recognise." (http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/19/photographer-samuel-fosso-best-shot)
His clients generally wanted their photographs the next day. So if the roll of film wasn't finished Fosso would take self-portraits, to prevent any waste of film. Originally they were to send to his mother, so that she knew he was okay. He then began experimenting more with the self-portraiture; using new poses, costumes, new techniques.
Fosso uses a Hasselblad and an auto-timer. His photos are highly posed and staged, yet he makes statements.
"I am an African chief, in a western chair with a leopard-skin cover, and a bouquet of sunflowers. I am all the African chiefs who have sold their continent to the white men. I am saying: we had our own systems, our own rulers, before you came. It's about the history of the white man and the black man in Africa. Because they may try to cover it up these days, you know, but underneath it's still the same."
I like that Fosso is making a statement through his work, it is as though he is trying to bring forward issues without making a biased statement, he is bringing it forward and allowing others to think and make up their own minds. It is really quite powerful.
In my work however, I won't be doing self-portraits and I'm hoping to not set-up any of my images. Yet just document what I see and experience. I don't feel that this work has any direct influences into my work, at this present time.
He opened his own studio, where he would take photographs of people for passports, portraits and weddings. It was called Studio Photo Nationale, and his motto was: "You will be beautiful, elegant, delicate, and easy to recognise." (http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/19/photographer-samuel-fosso-best-shot)
His clients generally wanted their photographs the next day. So if the roll of film wasn't finished Fosso would take self-portraits, to prevent any waste of film. Originally they were to send to his mother, so that she knew he was okay. He then began experimenting more with the self-portraiture; using new poses, costumes, new techniques.
Fosso uses a Hasselblad and an auto-timer. His photos are highly posed and staged, yet he makes statements.
 |
| © Samuel Fosso's self-portrait as an African chief. |
"I am an African chief, in a western chair with a leopard-skin cover, and a bouquet of sunflowers. I am all the African chiefs who have sold their continent to the white men. I am saying: we had our own systems, our own rulers, before you came. It's about the history of the white man and the black man in Africa. Because they may try to cover it up these days, you know, but underneath it's still the same."
I like that Fosso is making a statement through his work, it is as though he is trying to bring forward issues without making a biased statement, he is bringing it forward and allowing others to think and make up their own minds. It is really quite powerful.
In my work however, I won't be doing self-portraits and I'm hoping to not set-up any of my images. Yet just document what I see and experience. I don't feel that this work has any direct influences into my work, at this present time.
Malick Sidibé
I am starting by looking at some african photographers - African themselves and also photographers who photograph Africa.
I feel that this is a good place to start - and hopefully will lead me onto other photographers who will be closely linked with my projects.
The first photographer I am looking at is Malick Sidibé
Born in Africa in the 1930's, Sidibé worked on his family's farm until the age of 10 when he was sent to 'the white school'. He began drawing there, and gradually got better and better, until he He then got his first Brownie Camera and began working with photographer Gerard Guillat. Here he watched Guillat work and began to understand the art of photography.
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| ©Nuit de Noël, 1963 Malick Sidibé |
This image when I first looked at it along with many of Sidibé's other photographs, looks staged. But actually this image is not, they couple are dancing.
However, when he was photographing inside a studio, he did stage the images. He says "As a rule, when I was working in the studio, I did a lot of the positioning. As I have a background in drawing, I was able to set up certain positions in my portraits. I didn't want my subjects to look like mummies. I would give them positions that brought something alive in them" So perhaps the aesthetic of the images being staged, worked through in all of his images. So that even when they are not, they could be perceived as actually being set-up.
Sidibé had a small film camera, so he was often invited to dances because other photographers would have been using heavy wet plate cameras. This makes me wonder though... could they be completely unstaged? I mean, if he is using a film camera and it is low light... the exposure would be long. Or does he have a flash gun ?
The mans trousers in the image and the floor do look like they are reflecting light, so perhaps there is a flash, which would mean that they perhaps aren't staged. However, the photographer would not be un-noticed in this circumstance.
Sidibé works constantly with black and white film. Colour film fades in heat, so his photographs would not last as long as black and white would. He says he sticks to film because "It's what I know. And I can do my own developing and printing. A good photographer should always do that." (http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/27/malick-sidibe-mali-photographs-interview)
The Guardian says about this photograph, 'It's an astonishing photograph, full of intimacy and energy, joy and anticipation' Then goes on to say, 'Like all Sidibé's work, it captures the pride and exuberance of a generation of young Africans during two decades of momentous – and euphoric – social and cultural change.'
Personally, I don't like the kind of glare this photograph has from the flash. It kind of burns out part of the image and I personally wouldn't choose to produce images like this.
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| ©Family Party, 1966 |
I like how 'fun' this image is. Almost like it has been set up, people have been placed where they will be in the frame, but then left to 'mess about' until Sidibé feels it the right moment to capture. Or he took many photographs, and this is just the one he chose to print.
The images though capture African people having fun. There is no portrayal of 'the other' here because infact there is no 'other'. Photographer and subject are African.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Floating ideas
During a lecture on Photography and Anthropology my brain started ticking and ideas started flowing and my page turned into a mess of scribbles where I was trying hard to note take for the lecture as well as get my ideas out of my head and onto paper.
We were thinking about the idea of 'the other'. 'The other' defines someone other than one's self, they are identified as 'different'.
Anthropology is basically the study of a group of people - rather similar to sociology but with more depth I think.
I have always been interested in people, and regularly can be found sitting in a public place 'people watching', I just get so fascinated in other people and how our paths can cross yet we know nothing about them.
The issue then of needing to know historical and contextual backgrounds of people before trying to represent them is really important. This is major, because when making 'judgements' over people it can be very offensive if you have not taken the time to get some knowledge of them before hand. Stereotypical statements aren't helpful or useful when you are studying in depth a certain type of behaviour or group of people.
My thoughts constantly on my trip to The Gambia, I began thinking about how my photographs may represent people, and whether I will do this offensively or not. Because I am only going to be in The Gambia for 10 days, I don't have the time to get to know individual villages backgrounds or the family backgrounds of the children before photographing them, and soon realised this could be a problem. I would hate to photograph a child, not be able to get a parents permission (because of the circumstances of the trip and only visiting the school and local village) and then use the image in exhibition or elsewhere and cause problems in someway. I do not want to do that. So I began to think, how can I still take photographs, and document my trip but anonymously to them and perhaps also myself.
MY FEET !
I have a great disliking of my feet - so not many people have seen them or will ever see them. However, as much as I dislike my feet, they are what get me to the places I want to get to. They are what are going to get me around The Gambia. So.. how about if I document my feet and the places they go for the 10 days that I am in Africa?
With this idea floating around and needing to be brought into reality of am idea.. needing to be refined I went to talk to a tutor about it.
This is the outcome of the meeting:
* my feet would give away too much to the viewer.
- It will be hot over there so chances are I will have skin showing, therefore the viewer will be able to see that I have white skin.
- My choice of footwear or sandal would most probably tell the viewer that I am a female.
- This could put another message into the photographs.. maybe it would make it seem that I am making known 'the other' which actually is not what I am wanting to achieve.
My trip is with a Christian organisation so the trip is about equality and everyone being equal, and we are going to try and help the poorer families and show love. So the idea of showing 'the other' in another way would not be what I would want for my images.
*I am to consider documenting:
- the school
- the children in the school
- the other volunteers I am travelling with
- Gambian culture - football
- socialising
- shop fronts
Basically, I am to document EVERYTHING.
I am only out there for 10 days so this is going to be a massive challenge, but if I am prepared before I go and if I photograph pretty much everything whilst I am out there then I will be okay.
*I need to think now about what the aesthetic of my final work will be so that while i'm out there and shooting I can have that in my mind and therefore, keep things consistent.
We were thinking about the idea of 'the other'. 'The other' defines someone other than one's self, they are identified as 'different'.
Anthropology is basically the study of a group of people - rather similar to sociology but with more depth I think.
I have always been interested in people, and regularly can be found sitting in a public place 'people watching', I just get so fascinated in other people and how our paths can cross yet we know nothing about them.
The issue then of needing to know historical and contextual backgrounds of people before trying to represent them is really important. This is major, because when making 'judgements' over people it can be very offensive if you have not taken the time to get some knowledge of them before hand. Stereotypical statements aren't helpful or useful when you are studying in depth a certain type of behaviour or group of people.
My thoughts constantly on my trip to The Gambia, I began thinking about how my photographs may represent people, and whether I will do this offensively or not. Because I am only going to be in The Gambia for 10 days, I don't have the time to get to know individual villages backgrounds or the family backgrounds of the children before photographing them, and soon realised this could be a problem. I would hate to photograph a child, not be able to get a parents permission (because of the circumstances of the trip and only visiting the school and local village) and then use the image in exhibition or elsewhere and cause problems in someway. I do not want to do that. So I began to think, how can I still take photographs, and document my trip but anonymously to them and perhaps also myself.
MY FEET !
I have a great disliking of my feet - so not many people have seen them or will ever see them. However, as much as I dislike my feet, they are what get me to the places I want to get to. They are what are going to get me around The Gambia. So.. how about if I document my feet and the places they go for the 10 days that I am in Africa?
With this idea floating around and needing to be brought into reality of am idea.. needing to be refined I went to talk to a tutor about it.
This is the outcome of the meeting:
* my feet would give away too much to the viewer.
- It will be hot over there so chances are I will have skin showing, therefore the viewer will be able to see that I have white skin.
- My choice of footwear or sandal would most probably tell the viewer that I am a female.
- This could put another message into the photographs.. maybe it would make it seem that I am making known 'the other' which actually is not what I am wanting to achieve.
My trip is with a Christian organisation so the trip is about equality and everyone being equal, and we are going to try and help the poorer families and show love. So the idea of showing 'the other' in another way would not be what I would want for my images.
*I am to consider documenting:
- the school
- the children in the school
- the other volunteers I am travelling with
- Gambian culture - football
- socialising
- shop fronts
Basically, I am to document EVERYTHING.
I am only out there for 10 days so this is going to be a massive challenge, but if I am prepared before I go and if I photograph pretty much everything whilst I am out there then I will be okay.
*I need to think now about what the aesthetic of my final work will be so that while i'm out there and shooting I can have that in my mind and therefore, keep things consistent.
Inspired
In our first lecture we were shown some examples of things we could create for our mixed media practical assignment. These were things including; interviews, series' of experimentation, sculpture, participant based research, film, books, animation, graphic design, installations, archives, sound recordings, etc.
One of the things that really struck me was
As I am soon to embark on my own journey to The Gambia, Africa, it struck me as something I may be able to create. Also, I have been to The Gambia before, so it struck me because I could relate to the things the film talks about. It is a woman's voice we hear, which again helps me to connect to it, being a woman myself and she has a very soft, gentle voice that is really easy I feel to listen to and almost to sympathise with. Even though I don't think the point of the film is to gain sympathy.
Watching the film, it seems that the creator has really spent a lot of time with the person whose story is being told, the visual artwork fits so well with the audible sound. It is not a case, it seems, of a story being submitted and a voice being recorded and then a film being thrown together around the sound, it all totally and complete engages with each other. The words emphasise what is being seen, and the visual emphasises what is being heard. The time that went into this must have been great.
It is really difficult to express the way that this film makes me feel. It is uplifting at the same time as being sad, it makes you think, it captures your gaze, your thoughts and your .. complete attention.
It has really inspired me .. Hopefully after a little more research I will be able to pick out what exactly it is that drew me in and captured me and then create something of my own.
One of the things that really struck me was
'Days Like This - Washing of Hands' by Joel Simon (2008)
As I am soon to embark on my own journey to The Gambia, Africa, it struck me as something I may be able to create. Also, I have been to The Gambia before, so it struck me because I could relate to the things the film talks about. It is a woman's voice we hear, which again helps me to connect to it, being a woman myself and she has a very soft, gentle voice that is really easy I feel to listen to and almost to sympathise with. Even though I don't think the point of the film is to gain sympathy.
Watching the film, it seems that the creator has really spent a lot of time with the person whose story is being told, the visual artwork fits so well with the audible sound. It is not a case, it seems, of a story being submitted and a voice being recorded and then a film being thrown together around the sound, it all totally and complete engages with each other. The words emphasise what is being seen, and the visual emphasises what is being heard. The time that went into this must have been great.
It is really difficult to express the way that this film makes me feel. It is uplifting at the same time as being sad, it makes you think, it captures your gaze, your thoughts and your .. complete attention.
It has really inspired me .. Hopefully after a little more research I will be able to pick out what exactly it is that drew me in and captured me and then create something of my own.
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Stop Procrastinating and Get on with it
Here goes my first blog post of the year...
I have been sat staring at the computer screen for a while now, unsure of how to start. I suppose sort of scared to start because it means third year has officially started, time is going to whizz past at lightning speeds and I feel like I want to cry. However, it has to happen at some point and why keep procrastinating? Lets just do it!!
This first week of term has been exciting, yet at the same time scary and daunting. I have 3 modules to pass this year, these being: Dissertation, Mixed Media and Major Practical Project. The advice given is to merge the 3 together in some way, make threads stronger and stop my brain become a massive tangled mess of stress and excitement.
As many people are aware I am travelling to The Gambia in November of this year and so I have been wanting to merge that into this years work. If I didn't then I would be very mixed up and stressed and not very dedicated to my work. However, by combining the two things together I hope it will help me out and allow me to be more organized.
So... my first ideas are:
Dissertation - Looking at photographers who have photographed in difficult areas. For example, war photographers, photo journalists, photographers who have photographed in Africa. This needs refining and needs a lot of work put into it but is my starting out idea.
Mixed Media - We were shown a film in lecture 'Days like this - Washing of hands' by Joel Simon. It spoke volumes to me ! (I will do a separate post about why it spoke to me later on as initial research) So I think I would like to do something similar to this for my work. A video, kept anonymous, about the things that strike you when in a foreign place. This may include sound pieces, illustration, text, spoken word, etc etc.
Major Practical Project - I had the idea of documenting my journey to The Gambia, in an anonymous way by photographing the journey my feet take. I really don't like my feet at all, but in a weird way they are one of the most important things to me because they get me to the places I want to go and allow me to see things by taking me there. I like the idea of representing someone or something, without actually showing them/it. This would be a challenge, but as a first idea it has really got me excited and I want to do it now. That has to mean something right? If I want to just run and jump and shout and do research into it then it must mean I have truly clicked with the idea!
So.. now to have a tutorial with lecturers and do some research and see what happens!
I have been sat staring at the computer screen for a while now, unsure of how to start. I suppose sort of scared to start because it means third year has officially started, time is going to whizz past at lightning speeds and I feel like I want to cry. However, it has to happen at some point and why keep procrastinating? Lets just do it!!
This first week of term has been exciting, yet at the same time scary and daunting. I have 3 modules to pass this year, these being: Dissertation, Mixed Media and Major Practical Project. The advice given is to merge the 3 together in some way, make threads stronger and stop my brain become a massive tangled mess of stress and excitement.
As many people are aware I am travelling to The Gambia in November of this year and so I have been wanting to merge that into this years work. If I didn't then I would be very mixed up and stressed and not very dedicated to my work. However, by combining the two things together I hope it will help me out and allow me to be more organized.
So... my first ideas are:
Dissertation - Looking at photographers who have photographed in difficult areas. For example, war photographers, photo journalists, photographers who have photographed in Africa. This needs refining and needs a lot of work put into it but is my starting out idea.
Mixed Media - We were shown a film in lecture 'Days like this - Washing of hands' by Joel Simon. It spoke volumes to me ! (I will do a separate post about why it spoke to me later on as initial research) So I think I would like to do something similar to this for my work. A video, kept anonymous, about the things that strike you when in a foreign place. This may include sound pieces, illustration, text, spoken word, etc etc.
Major Practical Project - I had the idea of documenting my journey to The Gambia, in an anonymous way by photographing the journey my feet take. I really don't like my feet at all, but in a weird way they are one of the most important things to me because they get me to the places I want to go and allow me to see things by taking me there. I like the idea of representing someone or something, without actually showing them/it. This would be a challenge, but as a first idea it has really got me excited and I want to do it now. That has to mean something right? If I want to just run and jump and shout and do research into it then it must mean I have truly clicked with the idea!
So.. now to have a tutorial with lecturers and do some research and see what happens!
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