LSP - Photojournalism and Street Photography - Day Two

Day Two (20 July) started with Holger recommending the Loupe Hoodman for viewing images on the camera, if we need to check them on the go.  I don't know if I need this really, at this stage; I tend to shoot a lot of photos to make sure I've got something, just checking for blinkies to make sure if exposure ok, and also a quick glance to see if exposure is right.  I have noticed though that you can't really see sharpness/focus very well on the screen, so this is something to bear in mind.

Our day began with a review of the Covent Garden expedition from LSP Day One.  I had a few pictures of railings and was advised that in a short photo essay to limit the type of image to just one.  I had tried to capture human form interacting with the background, but Holger thought this wasn't necessary and that shapes formed by humans are interesting enough.  He recommended looking at  Massimo Vitalli, who takes pictures of large groups of people in large format e.g. Disco, and then crops in to find little hidden stories.  Holger also suggested that in future I should be more aware of what my shots are about.  In respect of other people's contributions, he reminded us to look at crowds rather than performers and to pick out interesting reactions. 

We also spoke about Andreas Gursky and his picture Rhein II, which fetched over £2m at auction.   This is an image that is manipulated - and therefore hard to say what is true or not (we were discussing the concept of truth in photography).  I'm surprised a photograph can be this valuable, particularly one that is manipulated and can therefore be reproduced. 

The purpose of this day was to improve on our photo essay skills following the Covent Garden intro, and we were given the following pointers:

• Don't mix black and white with colour
• Create images that are on different levels
• Juxtaposition can be between photos as well as within a single image
• Realising what doesn't work is part of the creative process.

Photo essays were first popularised by Life Magazine; W. Eugene Smith was one of the most popular photo essayists (landmark photo essay Country Doctor), and then Leonard McCombe, who looked a private lives and Larry Burrows, Vietnam War photo journalist.  

(see slides for detailed structure of photo essay).

Simple structure of photo essay:

1. Establishing Shot - wide-angle broad view - sets scene and what story is about - introduces context - introduction
2. Portrait Shot - close up on subject or character of story
3. Detail Shot - detail about the story or equipment - interrupts rhythm
4. Interaction Shot - subject interacting with the environment or other people
5. Signature Shot - gesture that sums up story - real emotion - story climax - decisive moment

Our assignment then was to go to Leicester Square and shoot some good openers or Establishing Shot.

Here are mine, with feedback below; we were reminded that this image needs to be quite general, landscape format, likely to be double page in a magazine, needs context, don't photograph people from behind, shot needs to hook viewer up immediately - should be someone the reader can relate to immediately.

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. Window cleaner image - window cleaner is too small and photograph distracted by stuff below office block in the street.  Needs cropping to have impact (this didn't work so not loaded).
2. Taxis are too common in London streets to really tell reader what the story would be about.  Many scenes could have London taxis in them, and not necessarily be about taxis.
3. More interesting shot - has several layers - needs cropping and would be better if shopkeeper more visible.  Potentially tells story about someone who is trying to make a living.  Here is cropped version below.
4. Most interesting of the four - raises questions - well composed - could make interesting story.

We then went to the British Museum to shoot a complete photo essay comprising five shots based on the structure above.  Our subject was "Tourists" This was quite hard as it was crowded and hot, plus I was so focussed on the objective, my exposure skills collapsed....(also going from dark to light frequently - forgot to change ISO) - so some of my shots are too grainy.  Here are the results I selected to present at Day Three:

1. Establishing

2. Portrait

3. Detail

4. Interaction

5. Signature

We received feedback on this assignment on Day Three as follows:

1. Establishing: focus point is missing; agreed sets context but would be better with someone in focus in foreground that looks like a tourist
2. Portrait: needs to be more of a classic portrait, i.e. blurred background to make the subject stand out and crop/zoom in to subject
3. Detail: this is a portrait not detail (very good portrait) - detail should be of equipment e.g. camera, audio etc
4. Interaction: very good
5. Signature: not signature more portrait - too ambiguous for signature.  Signature needs to represent one moment that represents entire context (although in this case not sure what that would be...)