Connecting Essay 4

Connecting Essay 4 - Documentary Photography

Edward Thompson's Photograph -

This photograph comes from a documentary series by Edward Thompson called 'Cowboy Church'. In this image, I like the use of light and colour and also like the way that the subject appears to be aware his photo is being taken but still appears natural. As a single image, the photograph draws the viewer in and makes them curious about the individuals lifestyle. However, when you are able to view the entire series, this mystery becomes much clearer. The image makes it appear as though the subject is getting the horse ready to ride which helps to add interest to the image as it allows the viewer to think about the lifestyle of the individual in the photograph. I also like the element of culture which is bought to the image. This element is emphasised even further when you are able to see the full series. 

My Photograph -

This photograph was taken by myself during the documentary photography topic and used Edward Thompson for inspiration when I was shooting for it. I like the way that the light comes from behind in this photograph as it gives the horse a slight glow around the edge which therefore helps to draw the viewers eye to the main focus point in the image. I like how the individual in the photograph appears relaxed and natural, although is still aware that they are being photographed as this helps to make the image successful. It also makes the audience curious about the subjects lifestyle, although this becomes clear when the full series is viewed.

The Connection -

Although the two images are not 100% identical, they share a number of distinctive similarities. The first, very obvious similarity is the fact that they are both photos of people with horses and in both, the individual appears to be getting the horses ready to ride. Another way in which the two images are similar is that they both present bold and vibrant colour. This helps to make the two images attractive and appealing to the viewer and therefore helps to make them eye-catching. In this way, the two could be thought to show the formal element of colour, but in fact are part of a series of documentary photography. I like how the two images also appear to show the individuals in a natural and relaxed state as this helps to emphasise the topic of documentary photography to which they both belong. For my image, I used Edward Thompson's work as inspiration and also attempted to capture the bold and striking colours and interesting compositions which are present in all of his images. Both images are interesting and capture an essence of the featured individuals lifestyles, and coupled with their full series, make very interesting, eye-catching and effective images for the topic of documentary photography.

Documentary Photography - My Life - Work Diary

Documentary Photography - My Life - Work Diary

Evaluation

The concept behind my series for documentary photography was to portray 'My Life'. To do this, I chose to capture the outdoor element of my life, with my photographs including both my family members and animals which are part of my lifestyle. Overall, I believe that my series was successful in portraying my lifestyle and I feel that I managed to gather a wide range of interesting shots. I feel that my series presented a clear theme which therefore contributed to the series success at conveying my lifestyle. I especially like the composition of the images as I feel that they help to create interesting and eye-catching images. Some of the images have leading lines and distinctive curves within them which helped to make the images more attractive and original. In addition, I like that the images have eye-catching backgrounds. When I went out to capture my images, I firstly ensured that the it was a bright or sunny day which helped me to create eye-catching and effective images. In my images, I included many of the formal elements such as colour, depth and in many instances, lines which helped to create bold and striking images. Finally, I edited the final images in order to make them brighter and more vibrant and in many cases, I adjusted the curves and contrast of the images. Below shows some of the images which I feel are strongest and most successful at showing my lifestyle in my series.


I think that this image is strong as it is successful at showing the environment as well as showing one of the horses. I also like the way that the light falls and the shadows which have been created within the image as I feel that this helps to make the image more appealing.


I really like this image as it is simplistic but has bold and striking colours. I also like the curves which are present as this makes the image more appealing and as a result helps to draw the viewers eye into the photograph more.


I also really like this image as it is original and interesting. I like the aspect of leading lines within the image as this helps to draw in the audiences eye. I also like the way that the image has an interesting background and like the slightly distorted effect which has been created by the angle that the image was shot at.

For my shoot, I had my camera settings as f/stop 5.6 and alternated between using manual focus and autofocus and for most of my shots, had my ISO at 200. These camera settings helped me to capture interesting and effective images and were appropriate for the type of images I was shooting. 

Idea Development

If I were to improve my work, I think that I would have gone out and shot at different times of the day in order to get the different lighting. In addition, I would have chosen to go out and shoot on an even brighter day than I did as some of my images still came out slightly duller than I would have liked considering the days which I shot were nice and light. In addition to this, if I were to shoot again, I would have experimented further with different angles as the images which I captured using a slightly peculiar angle look very effective and interesting. 
I would also like to use a tripod next time I shot for this topic as I think that this way, I could have achieved even more images and would have not been limited by means of which ones I chose. Finally, I would further improve my work by including more portraits of my family members with my inspiration being the series known as 'Cowboy Church' by Ed Thompson. I like the portraits he includes in this series as you are able to clearly see the individuals lifestyle simply by looking at their expression and clothing. Here are some of these images by Ed Thompson which I would use for inspiration if I were to shoot for the topic again.

Documentary Photography - My Life

Documentary Photography - My Life

For my project on documentary photography, I chose to photograph within the topic of 'My Life'. For this, I chose to capture the outdoor element of my life. My series of images includes photographs of members of my family as well as photographs of animals which are part of my lifestyle. 

Evaluation

Overall, I feel that my series of photographs were successful at portraying my life. I really like the way that it includes photographs of family members, animals and also captures the environment. I especially like the composition of the images as I feel that these help to create interesting and eye-catching images. Some of the images also have leading lines and distinctive curves within them. This helps to make the images attractive and original. In addition, I tried to make the images interesting by ensuring that my photographs included eye-catching backgrounds. I also created more interest in some of my images by using narrow depth of field to allow certain things to be in focus which therefore helps to draw the viewers eye to certain areas. When I captured my images, I firstly ensured that it was a bright or sunny day as this helped me to create eye-catching and effective images. Finally, I edited my final images in order to make them brighter and more vibrant and in many cases, I adjusted the curves and contrast of the image. I am pleased with my final series as an outcome as I feel it shows a clear theme and therefore documents my lifestyle very well. 

Documentary Photography - My Life - Contact Sheet

Documentary Photography - My Life - Contact Sheet

Artist Research - Documentary Photography

Artist Research - Documentary Photography

Henri Cartier-Bresson -

Henri Cartier-Bresson is was a French photographer who assisted in the development of street photography and was the co-founder of Magnum Photography. In addition to this, he is referred to as the father of modern photojournalism. The three images below come from Henri Cartier-Bresson's documentary series; The Decisive Moment. The Decisive Moment has been defined as a photograph which is taken at a precise moment which depicts the entirety of a story or action. 

Ed Thompson

Ed Thompson is a British photographer and his work focuses on different cultures and lifestyles. His work focuses on many different areas and he is mostly known for his documentary style photography. The three images below come from one of his documentary series known as Cowboy Church.

Comparison -

The two photographers and the way that they present their documentaries are very different. Firstly, Henri Cartier-Bresson obviously photographs in black and white whereas Thompson captures his images in colour. In addition to this difference, Thompson seems to stay with his topic more whereas Cartier -Bresson appears to stray further away from the original topic. In my opinion, I think that Thompson's work is more effective as it is easier to see what he is documenting as the images that he has captured are closer to the original topic and all the images relate more to each other. In comparison to this, Cartier-Bresson's images appear to be less related to each other and it is more difficult to see what is being documented by just looking at the images whereas you are able to detect a type of Western American theme when you look at Thompson's work, even when you are unaware of the actual topic of documentary.

Documentary Photography - Edward Thompson

Documentary Photography - Edward Thompson

Ed Thompson is a British Photographer who focuses on Documentary. I really like his work and am hoping to use it as inspiration when I capture my own series of documentary photographer. I like all his sets of work but my particular favourite set is the one called 'Cowboy Church'. I feel that this set of documented images are very effective and interesting and feel that they clearly present the topic in which they are supposed to be documenting. I really like the series as it shows a lot about the lifestyle of the people in the images, for example, it shows the weather, their surroundings, their clothing and their activities.

Below shows some of the images that are included in the 'Cowboy Church' documentary photography series.

Define - Documentary Photography

Define - Documentary Photography

Documentary Photography - Refers to a form of photography which is both relevant and significant to either historical events or every day life. It is photography which documents historical moments or points within individual's lives.

Four Annotated Images

The images below show documentary photography and present a type of life style. I really like that it is obvious that the images are connecting and that they are related. These images have been captured by the documentary photographer Corey Arnold.