Planning the Project
To create my portfolio, I plan to undertake research on the subject ideas I’ve got in mind. I have a few ideas that I would like to choose to shoot, some of which are more easy to approach than others. I have the idea of shooting young homeless people, drug-addicted teenagers, new mothers and their newborn babies, children, my friend’s schizophrenia situation, or students undertaking a big exam to get to the university in Iran.
Here is a brief overview of the brainstorm
“When I do my work and I am exposed to the suffering of others – their loss or, at times their death – I feel I am serving as a witness; it is my role and responsibility to create a record for our collective memory. Part of this, I believe, has to do with notions of accountability. Perhaps it is only in their moment of suffering that these people will be noticed, and noticing erases our excuse of saying one day that we did not know.” Paolo Pellegrin.
When I was planning my project, I found some of them quite challenging and likely to cause suffering to people. As Paolo Pellegrin says, you need to approach to people as they are the main subject of my ideas. Not everyone likes to have their photo taken as they might find it an intrusion into their private life.
Although my photographs are a mixture of a couple of ideas, I have chosen to photograph children as well. I have been always fascinated with their world. I do love to photograph children to tell the story of their innocent, pure, straightforward and obviously cute personalities. I shared my subject idea with my teacher Valentina. She introduced me to a few photographers who had passion for shooting children, including Nan Goldin and Diane Arbus.
“My work has always come from empathy and love” says American photographer Nan Goldin.
Here I have put the mood board of the idea. They are photos by Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin.
Schedule of the project
After reading the brief of the assignment, I went to a few places in my living area to have a look at the scenes and try to take some test photos by my phone which is an iPhone having a good camera. I had some practice in finding a suitable and attractive position in photography.
Next, I borrowed a normal camera from the college to do the same practice. I liked the photos I took with my phone more than the photo by the camera as it didn’t have a good lens.
After I had a chat with my teacher Valentina, I took a camera and a lens of 24-105mm from the college to get to a better result. I found it quite better to take photos with this lens.
Style in my Photos
If I want to talk about my personal style, I would like to mention is that I have just started photography as something more serious than just entertainment, so I still have a long journey to achieve that. But, there is some choice of subject matter which I like to photograph such as children and street photography. Subject matter with a bold primary color and black-and-white images are my favorites.
I am impacted by Juanita Haslett style which is distinguishable in her unposed approach to her subjects. One of her subject matters is young children. Below are two examples of her photos.
I found it really interesting and exciting when I tried to take photos either while I was on the bus as I could photograph from a more high position or from a lower position when I put my camera on the ground.
When I do photograph I like to find patterns which are interrupted such as someone wearing in red which is one of my favourite colours.
Also, I enjoyed staying somewhere for a while waiting for something interesting to happen so I could capture the image immediately.
I have put a couple of photos I took to work on the mentioned styles.
Proposed Technology & equipment
I will be using the Canon Zoom lens 24-105mm which I feel confident to take photos of a greater wide shot, and also my iPhone. I did some editing in colours for some of the pictures. The pictures taken by the camera will be in HD at 1080p.
Criteria against which I will judge the success of my Photojournalism Project
For me, the most interesting aspect of photography is position. Knowing about some rules on position, I will:
- try to creat a set of pictures which demonstrates the rule of Leading Lines in position, and will use the lines to lead the eyes to the picture.
- photograph a set of subjects which will be Framing natural frames like wall, windows, etc.
- attempt to create a set of photos that tell a clear and interesting story that can be transmitted to a general audience.
References:
- Bartlett H., ‘Baby, children and family portrait photographer in London’, Available at: https://www.helenbartlett.co.uk/index.php
- ‘British Journal of photography’, Available at: http://www.bjp-online.com/
- ‘Belinda Grant Photography’, Available at: http://www.belindagrantphotography.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1Kv5hqXa2gIVh7TtCh1hmQVkEAAYAiAAEgIgEfD_BwE
- ‘Diane Arbus’ Best Photographs’ Available at: http://www.sleek-mag.com/2017/04/20/diane-arbus-best-photographs/
- Arbus D., ‘Fotocastalla’. Available at: https://fotocastalla.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/los-mejores-fotografos-del-mundo-maestros-de-la-fotografia-diane-arbus/diane-arbus/
- Arbus D., ‘11 Lessons Diane Arbus Can Teach You About Street Photography’. Available at: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/10/15/11-lessons-diane-arbus-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/
- Arbus D., ‘Why Nan Goldin focused on children in her new book’, Available at: http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2014/march/10/why-nan-goldin-focused-on-children-in-her-new-book/
- Digital Photography School, ‘How to Find your Personal Photographic Style’. Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-find-your-personal-photographic-style/
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