John Londei
John Londei has a project called 'shutting up shop' which is a project shot over a fifteen year period beginning in the 1970s. The project started as a tribute to independent shops that once dominated in the english economy. For this project, Londei walked into the shops and asked if he could photograph the owners standing infront of their shop. Londei started with a shop which he valued personally, the pharmacy, which then lead him to carry on and document a wider variety of shops.
This photograph shows the owners standing in the middle of their shop. This image is particularly eye catching due to the overcrowded composition of the photo. In this image, you can see how parts of the owner’s body are covered by objects and parts of the shop which cause a feeling of overcrowding. Despite the numerous items in the shop, they seem to be arranged neatly and even colour coordinated at certain points in the image. The darkened sides of the photograph draw the viewers’ attention to the muddle part which is where the owners are standing. This composition, alongside the darkened edges, makes the owners the main focus of the photograph.
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Being inspired by the work of Londei, I went into our local high-street to try and photograph some local shops. Although many shops wouldn’t allow me to photograph them or their shop, I found some shops that allowed me to after some time. Shooting inside of shops proved to be difficult as I only had a few moments before the workers had to get back to work so I didn’t have much time to adjust the camera settings or review the pictures. I managed to get some success photographing the local butcher shop. These photos worked particularly well as the butcher is in his traditional work clothes and so it is clear to the viewer what worker I’m photographing.
Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter is a Photographer born in London in 1965. Tom Hunter is a british photographer living and working in East London. He photographs local shops as he thinks that they represent the local community.
This image has lots of different colours which makes it very eye catching for viewers. The various different colours work well as they increase to the vibrancy of the photograph and bring life to the image. The way the shop is set up allow for contrast between the neatly stacked chewing gum and alcoholic bottles with the crisp packets and boxes at the bottom of the image. This picture gives a sense of overcrowding as the whole frame is filled with items. Corner shops are a vital part of the community as they are a so diverse in their supply. Corner shops are mainly visited by local members of the society and therefore the owner usually knows everyone.
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Contact Sheet
In these two images I tried to recreate Hunter’s corner shop photo. Cornershops work well when being photographed because of the various different colours of the sweets and drinks. In the first image, the owner is on the left hand side of the photograph. Using the rule of thirds in my composition, it draws the viewrs attention to the shop before the shop owner.
In my second image, I included more of the surroundings of the shop, which again add even more colour to the image. The owners green jumper makes him stand out but it also matches well with certain items in the shop (such as the chewing gum at the front) which suggests that he and the shop are closely linked, almost like he is part of the shop.
In my second image, I included more of the surroundings of the shop, which again add even more colour to the image. The owners green jumper makes him stand out but it also matches well with certain items in the shop (such as the chewing gum at the front) which suggests that he and the shop are closely linked, almost like he is part of the shop.
In The North
Marcus Lyon
Marcus Lyon is a British photographer who went to study Political Science at Leeds University, then went to study Leadership at Harvard Business School and Performance Measurement. His work, ‘Somos Brasil’ is a project that he created which portrays the different ethnicities of Brazil. He travelled throughout Brazil to capture people from different areas of the country. In his work, he takes pictures of different types of people standing in front of a white background to isolate them from the surroundings. This project included portraits as well as the DNA and personal stories of the people being photographed. This means that the work becomes a lot more personal to the person being photographed as we learn about their background, ethnicity and get to know parts of their life. The app that Lyon put out, allows to scan a portrait of his photography book and it will give information about the parson’s DNA and soundscapes.
“Somos Brasil draws three elements of identity: visual, spoken and genetic together to cast light on the personal, social and cultural diversity of Brazil”-Marcus Lyon Biography
“Somos Brasil draws three elements of identity: visual, spoken and genetic together to cast light on the personal, social and cultural diversity of Brazil”-Marcus Lyon Biography
RICHARD AVEDON
Richard Avedon is an American photographer born, May 15, 1923 and died on the 1st October, 2004. Avedon was an American fashion and portrait photographer. Richard Avedon created a project called ‘In the American Midwest’ which consisted of people’s portraits in front of a white backdrop. His goal was to try and capture the different types of people, different ethnicities and different cultures in the Midwest of America. Throughout the whole project, Avedon made the pictures black and white. This could be to try and have all the different images of people equal in some way despite their very different portraits.
Comparison between Marcus Lyon and Richard Avedon.
Both of these photographers have taken portraits of people in front of a background therefore their work can easily be compared. Both photographers also travelled through the country to find diversity in their photos.
The main difference between the work of Lyon and Avedon is that Lyon has his photos in colour and Avedon has his in black and white because of the age of the images. The black and white could be seen to take away from the photo but it also means that the viewer is even more focused on the subject with fewer distractions. Lyon uses colour to his advantage as most of his pictures have great use of colour schemes and bright colours.
On an overall basis, Avedon uses more unusual looking people to photograph which intrigues the viewer to want to find out more and have a closer look. Lyon photographs both usual looking people and unusual, however, Lyon’s use of props make the image more interesting and give more information about the subject’s passion or job.
Both photographers give information about their subject but Lyon gives a whole personal story which is recorded directly by the person being photographed (on the app that he has created) . This brings a lot more engagement between the viewer and the subject and can also satisfy some of the questions the viewer might have when looking at the image. Avedon also gives information about the subject, however this information is very minimal and only consists of the subject’s name, age and the year the photo was taken. Even though this information isn’t much, it proves to make a big difference of some of his images (like the one I annotated above).
In conclusion, I prefer Lyon’s work as the props and colour make a big difference. Lyons work could potentially answer some of the questions the viewer had after looking at the image but unfortunately this only applies if the viewer can comprehend Portuguese.
The main difference between the work of Lyon and Avedon is that Lyon has his photos in colour and Avedon has his in black and white because of the age of the images. The black and white could be seen to take away from the photo but it also means that the viewer is even more focused on the subject with fewer distractions. Lyon uses colour to his advantage as most of his pictures have great use of colour schemes and bright colours.
On an overall basis, Avedon uses more unusual looking people to photograph which intrigues the viewer to want to find out more and have a closer look. Lyon photographs both usual looking people and unusual, however, Lyon’s use of props make the image more interesting and give more information about the subject’s passion or job.
Both photographers give information about their subject but Lyon gives a whole personal story which is recorded directly by the person being photographed (on the app that he has created) . This brings a lot more engagement between the viewer and the subject and can also satisfy some of the questions the viewer might have when looking at the image. Avedon also gives information about the subject, however this information is very minimal and only consists of the subject’s name, age and the year the photo was taken. Even though this information isn’t much, it proves to make a big difference of some of his images (like the one I annotated above).
In conclusion, I prefer Lyon’s work as the props and colour make a big difference. Lyons work could potentially answer some of the questions the viewer had after looking at the image but unfortunately this only applies if the viewer can comprehend Portuguese.
Portraits
As a first attempt, I went into MuswellHill to try and take portraits of strangers. I headed out with a partner who would hold up a large piece of white cardboard behind the person getting photographed to isolate the background. Having done so, the only focus of the image is on the person and not what’s going on behind them.
After my first attempt, it quickly became evident that it wasn’t easy asking strangers if they were willing to be photographed on the high-street therefore I did not manage to get lots of pictures. Even with the little pictures I did take, I tried to vary the peoples ages and ethnicity to make my final images contrast each other.
Allotment
Andy Buurman
Andrew Burrman is a british photographer who created a project titled, "allotment". In this project, he takes pictures of people enjoying their time at the allotment. This project was shot in Handsworth, in the heart of Birmingham. The allotment is an escape from the city life for many people.
Paul Tucker
My attempt
For my first attempt, we went out to the local allotment to try and capture interesting shots following the work of Buurman. The contact sheet shows the different types of shots and angles I took.
Best Photos
- Describe the specific project, what inspired the artist to make the work, and how they produced it.
- Is there a greater meaning behind this work, and if so, explain. What value does this work have in society?
- Describe what you like/dislike about it and how you will use their work to inspire yours.
- Select two of their images, specifically, and describe them. Explain what you like/your thoughts about them.
- Is there a greater meaning behind this work, and if so, explain. What value does this work have in society?
- Describe what you like/dislike about it and how you will use their work to inspire yours.
- Select two of their images, specifically, and describe them. Explain what you like/your thoughts about them.