INSTAGRAM LOVE

Instagrammers!

There has been a debate about the successful smart phone application, Instagram. Uploading and sharing photographs you have or haven't taken with your phone and then changing the filters (or not) to create something new and interesting whether it took them 1 minute to a whole day. The debate here is that aspiring photographer's and professionals alike have been concerned to whether the app adds value to the photograph or even classifies as "photography". Another debate is to whether people who don't study the subject have become or are oblivious to the skill, creativity and technical aspect to any kind of photography.

I am discussing this because I am a fan of Instagram, and I believe that any photo, belongs to the subject, "Photography" because when isn't a photograph a photograph? There are people people who believe that it isn't good enough to make you a pro, but then why are there so many people who use it? 

I have been using Instagram for quite a while now and it has never really occurred to me whether it changes the value of photography or not. I use it to share my photos with other people, experiment with the filters it gives you and really for a bit of fun and to pass the time! I also enjoy seeing what other people have made and there really is some amazing work. 

Instagram has expanded its reputation rapidly in such a short space of time and I don't think people should regard it as competition at all. People can share what ever they like, there are no restrictions and no expectations, some people even share their dinner with us!

I have never thought that anyone was judging me and that's why I have always liked the application itself and to be honest it's quite a buzz when people "like" you photo or even follow you. I agree that there is some amazing photography on there and that's one of the reasons why I use it, however there are many people with 1000's of followers with pictures purely of food, or images uploaded from the internet, so I don't consider the app as a gateway to photography as not everyone is there for that, it's just what ever floats your boat at the time and sharing your experiences with the world.

Another point I will raise is that It encourages the use of mobile photography, and for me this does not effect whether you are good or bad at photography it's "how you use it" that counts. We as students in photography are always encouraged to experiment and explore the different ways and techniques of other equipment other than DSLRs, and I totally agree that you can make some equally as good images.

I have shared some of my images from Instagram. Visit my  Instacanvas gallery at:

instacanv.as/rosieknightley

Please share your thoughts and opinions too.

Have some fun with Instagram now!

ORI GERSHT

ORI GERSHT: 
THIS STORM IS WHAT WE CALL PROGRESS

25 January 2012 to 29 April 2012

Visit the Imperial War Museum for more information.

Here is another exhibition piece which I thoroughly enjoyed once again, Ori Gersht is a great artist and hugely inspirational!
This exhibition was quite surreal on first impressions, the work is very abstract and conceptual which makes it very interesting aesthetically. Many of the events featured in Gersht's work centre around World War 2 and the title was derived from an essay by German Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin.

Gersht re-examines our relationship with this debris through film and photography. (debris of past events.) He uses photography as a metaphor for history and explores the representation of past and present and the links and ruptures between physical traces, cultural symbols and memories.

Gersht is concerned with the relationship between history, memory and landscape. He adopts a poetic and metaphorical approach to explore the difficulties of visually representing conflict and violent events or histories. 

He also pushes the technical limitations of photography, questioning its claim to truth. 

Ori Gersht, 2011

CHASING GOOD FORTUNE: HIROSHIMA SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, NEVER AGAIN 01

Ori Gersht, 2011

CHASING GOOD FORTUNE: TOKYO IMPERIAL MEMORIES: FLOATING PETALS-BLACK WATER 

Ori Gersht used a digital camera at night to create his "petal" work, however the camera sensor struggled to record the correct light and colour information, resulting in stippled images, referencing early colour prints.

Gersht uses this visual "failure" as a device to explore the idea that photography does not present an absolute truth or narrative.

In his images of the "Cherry Blossom", taken in a memorial garden, was photographed at a shrine to Kamikaze pilots, the flowers became loaded with a dark, recent history. Simultaneously the images are beautiful, more positive connotations of the flower in the Buddhist tradition. It reveals complexities of trying to impose a single reading on an image.

WILL YOU DANCE FOR ME

HD FILM

"YEHUDIT ARNON"

The film is about a women who suffered a traumatic childhood and is imagining it all over in a dream like situation. The (old) women is sitting in a chair, now unable to dance like in her younger years, rocks back and forth in an uncomfortable manner with a separate screen featuring a field of thick, deep snow,  the setting she may have experienced many years ago. 

While she was a prisoner in Auschwitz, aged 19 she was ordered to dance at an SS Officer's party. She refused and was punished by making her stand barefoot in the snow. At that point she made a pledge that if she survived she would devote her life to dance. Later she fulfilled her dream with a successful dance company.

If you like the minimalist or abstract style of Art work please check out this website for some more images:

http://crggallery.com/artists/ori-gersht/ 

WAR STORY

War Story: 
Serving in Afghanistan
Imperial War Museum

Walking into the exhibition space you immediately get taken back by the array of photographs lined up along the outside of the walls. The powerful and striking portraits of the men and women serving in Afghanistan hit you in the face like you've just witnessed what they experience day to day. The project features interactive displays and photographs which demonstrate the soldiers first hand experiences of the conflict for present and future generations. (Information taken and available from The Imperial War Museum Website)

The idea is for people to get a chance to discover the compelling stories of the individuals and witness the collected material for the first time being put on public display. Most of the artefacts, videos and photographs are described and explained in the words and voices of those that that wore, used or created them.

Over 40 life size portraits feature in this exhibition which were taken and produced by Richard Ash and Damon Clearly. (Visit Richard Ash's website) Over 500 individuals were photographed for this project and it tells a compelling story through the eyes of many.

The process appears quite systematic visually but also technically due to the clean white backgrounds, (usually) no berets or insignia identifying their units, composed and processed in the exact same way and the consistency and conformity has instead highlighted the variety and individuality.

The direct gaze into the lens towards the viewer is unsettling yet intriguing which makes you wonder about the nature of their experiences. You get a glimpse of the person behind the uniform.

I enjoyed getting up-close and personal with these portraits, as if you were stood face to face in person with them, you can see every inch of detail in their faces, the lines, the worries and stress and emotions written all over. You feel a whole lot of sympathy with the brave and 

honorable soldiers.

"They are just like you or me. They are your brother, 

your dad, your sister, your best friend, your husband, 

your wife"- Richard Ash IWMP

ALL ABOUT EVE

ALL ABOUT EVE: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF EVE ARNOLD

Art Sensus, London Gallery

Another fab review on someone very inspirational, Eve Arnold, see what you think!

Walking into the exhibition, I had no expectations, no idea of the work she produced, but at first glance of her portraits of Marilyn Monroe and I was captivated.

Eve Arnold developed her career with very little formal training and travelled the world creating an unforgettable document of her journey. In 1952 she was taken on as one of the few female members of Magnum photos, which would have been huge achievement for any photojournalist. 

The content of this post has been gathered from the exhibition itself and some of Arnold's own words, at Art Sensus in London.

 Marilyn Monroe, Mount Sinai, Long Island, 1955

Cibachrome

Eve Arnold photographed Marilyn Monroe over a period of 10 years and runs like a thread throughout her work of the fifties in America. Arnold met Marilyn when they were both young and starting out in their careers and they developed a close bond and friendship.

The idea of her work was to forge a relationship which permits an atmosphere in which the subject feels relaxed and safe. Intimacy allows the person to be inhibited and reveal aspects of herself.

Marilyn Monroe, The Misfits, Nevada, USA, 1960

Isabella Rossellini, England, 1985

Angelica Huston at 16, Saint Clerans, Ireland 1968

Cibachrome

On working on films, 1959-1984

Eve Arnold documented the making of feature films, sometimes assigned by a motion picture company, sometimes a magazine. Locations are often more interesting and exotic then a photographic studio.

Clark Gable, The Misfits, Nevada, 1960

Francis Bacon in his studio in Kensington, London 1978

Driving force behind her work:

"Curiosity" was a constant challenge, The very unpredictability of photography enthralled her. Decisions of what to include, the framing, the trying to define the moment, the light moving across the face, kaleidoscope of emotions.

"I was hungry for answers led me to learn the profession to travel the world"

She was a one women cultural exchange.

Bar Girl, Cuba, 1954

On Photography

Everything was assigned but most of her work was based on her own ideas. The nature of the work leaves the decisions to the photographer. It is always a game of chance, fugitive and ephemeral. 

The terms used by photographers to express the mediums mutability:

Catch, grab, capture and seize. 

The things Eve Arnold did in the first few years were done by chance.

Eve Arnold visited Long-Island, the home of her family and friends, including Marilyn Monroe which triggered the "Nostalgia and affection" in her work.

Arnold spent 4 months in a hospital recording the first 5 minutes of the birth of a child. (she lost her own baby in mid stages of pregnancy)

She says in her film, that it's not about yourself, but the person you are photographing.

This exhibition was a real insight into the mind of a female documentary/ photojournalist photographer and her travels around the world and the people she saw is a huge inspiration to anyone wanting the same experience.

http://www.artsensus.com/artists/eve-arnold/exhibitions/all-about-eve.html

On Photography

The Law on Photography

This is a topic we have discussed at University about whether or not you have the right to photograph strangers in the street without permission. Does it matter if you are using the images for your work? Or What's the difference in being on CCTV? Both ways capture your face in public so is this something that should just be forgotten about? I personally avoid street photography for this very controversy. Here I have given some evidence where someone took action on a photographer for publishing his portrait in a gallery:

Between 1999-2001 Philip-Lorca diCorcia photographed pedestrians in Times Square, NYC.

The resulting works were shown at Pace/MacGill Gallery in Chelsea. When Erno Nussenzweig, an Orthodox Jew and retired diamond merchant from Union City, N.J., saw his picture in the exhibition catalogue, he sued diCorcia and Pace for exhibiting and publishing the portrait without permission and profiting from it financially. 

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, "Heads" Series

The suit sought an injunction to halt sales and publication of the photograph, as well as $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages.The suit was eventually dismissed by a New York State Supreme Court judge who said that the photographer's right to artistic expression trumped the subject's privacy rights. Mr. Nussenzweig's lawyer, Jay Goldberg, told The New York Law Journal that his

client "has lost control over his own image" he went on to say "It's a terrible invasion to me," Mr. Goldberg said. "The last thing a person has is his own dignity."

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, "Heads" Series

When is it right or ethically wrong to make an image? Think of yourself in the

position of the subject and ask yourself, am I happy to be photographed and be

unaware of it?

My Own Work,
 "Captured unaware"

Reading this has made me think about how I would feel being photographed in public and not being aware of it. Would knowing about the photograph make a difference to the right's the photographer has? 

Saying this, if the photographer approached me and asked for my picture and I asked what he was doing with it, it would be a different story and you could agree in person to whether that picture is publicized. People would question; Do you really know who this person is, or what the photograph is going to be used for?

It becomes a different story when you know the people in the image

 It it obvious that there is some controversy around this subject and I understand why. If I had to do a project where I make images of people on the street, I would find it extremely difficult approaching people and would probably photograph from a distance, therefore the subject would be unaware. If you photograph people in the street going to work or going home, how easy is it to then stop them and ask for permission? 

If I'm honest I do avoid this genre of photography because of these issues around the subject as I never know if I'm in the right or not? So I guess I'm neither for or against it for the reason that someone with a camera could be anyone and without approaching your subject you are taking risks with being reported, but on the other hand I can understand how hard it is for the photographer who prefers to capture people unaware, as all photographers know those are the best pictures.

I also agree from the other posts that being in public surely means your face is out there for everyone to see automatically and there's nothing you can do about it. It's a very difficult thing to judge in my opinion, but these days you have to be careful about everything!


Please comment your views.

AN ALL TIME GREAT!

Perspectives - David Suchet - 

People I Have Shot ...

ITV 1 Sunday 25Th March 10:15pm

Watch now if you missed it!

David Suchet follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Fleet Street photographer Jimmy Jarche, in a quest to capture on camera how Britain has changed in the past century.

I am so glad I watched this documentary as it was so interesting and inspiring. To see this work of a photographer I haven't been familiar with until now, has also given me an insight to what modern news photographer's were like nearly 100 years ago. David Suchet investigates his Grandfather's portfolio of images and goes on a journey to recreate a few of those photographs, with the same Leica camera.

I am particularly interested in Jarche's portraits of the minors and many famous people, because of the intimacy and comfortable presence they all possess. What is interesting here is the darkness of their faces against the pale innocence of the children represents this hard, long life that most of these people lived through.

 

Image taken from: http://balletnews.co.uk/the-royal-ballet-lower-school-in-itv-show/ 

This is David Suchet getting in close to capture the true essence of the Ballet dancer's, the show really does demonstrate the level of skill and determination news and documentary photographer's have to produce such natural and expressive work.

 Construction workers on the Shell Building, London, 16 June 1932

This image taken by James Jarche, clearly marks a moment in history, showing a working process of the building and the view of the Thames. David Suchet recreates this image, (although no image has been found) and is amazed to be standing in the exact same spot.

At the end of the show an exhibition is held for James Jarche's work and he has now become, for me, one the master's of news and documentary photography of that time. 


"I was just thinking now, if he was there, listening to this, I think Jimmy, would have gone-Wow, thank you very much I really didn't expect that, and if he had met me at the bottom of the stairs he'd probably go- YES!!" (with thumbs up)- David Suchet met with four photography professionals to discuss Jarche's portfolio and they were amazed at the work.

FEATURE!

Eighteen 39

I recently came across an amazing website, Eighteen39 the other day and decided to submit a photograph of mine because you never know what might happen.

Receive an email on the same day saying I will be featured on the 25th March 2012!

So excited, the link above is the page I am featured on!

You've probably seen this image before on my blog, but this is the actual one I submitted.

It has made be more positive about the work I'm doing at the moment, even if my Mum does hate this portrait of her!