What does The Grey area mean in every day life?The Grey area is defined as a situation or concept that is poorly defined so that the true meaning of the something that a creator made is unclear and up to interpretation, hence it being called "The Grey Area". The Grey could refer to smoke so in that case it could also be named the clouded place of the mind.
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Jack Latham( A contemporary photographer):We had a look at 2 of his work: "Parliament of Owls" and "Sugar Paper Theories". Both explore different genres/themes that I shall be exploring in this page. To begin with, his older project "Sugar Paper Theories" This piece of documentary photography was a way in which was his way to express his feeling towards a notorious double murder in Iceland which was dropped by the police. In this project he attempted to make the viewer feel a range of emotions stretching from fear, claustrophobia to fascination however because of the nature of photos it becomes a game whether we can trust these photos to show the truth, I believe he does this to convey that the police officers that worked on the case didn't know really what they were doing and that because of this they made up evidence, Jack Latham asked the people who were there during the case to reenact the murders so to show how terrible the case was. He thus created a question on the relationship between the truth and the memory of the case and the people on the case. This links closely to the Grey area due to this work being in the middle of both fact and fiction.
"Parliament of Owls"-This other project by Jack Latham explores similar themes to his previous work "Sugar Paper Theories" in that it explores the themes of truth and memory. During the creation of this project Jack Latham was exploring the conspiracy of Bohemian Grove which was seen as an elitist group that is hidden away from the outside world, this meant that it was difficult to get the perfect photo as the club is very secretive. This led me to believe that Jack Latham added an element of this secrecy in his photos therefore putting the work in a place of being fiction but almost reality, it's almost like uncovering the truth behind a mystery. |
What is documentary photography?
Documentary photography is a style of photography used mostly to accurately depict events/ occurrences whether it being in the present or historical events.
Are Photographs a reliable form of evidence?
People say that photos are very reliable as they're used in police work as forms of evidence, however there are several cases that the police were wrong so that poses the question can we trust photos? Threshold concept 5 states that the world is seen differently by the camera as photos only show part of an object or area therefore hiding much of the truth therefore photos are no longer viewed as innocent but is now almost sinister.
Jack Latham work:
In each of the works above, my class and I annotated photos from Jack Latham's work (Parliament of owls), attempting to say where the photo was taken, how the photo was taken and the reason behind Jack Latham taking the photos. In each photo we found common themes, each photo was taken portraying a sense of mystery and lack of understanding which is understandable due to the nature of the context (Bohemian Grove).
Exploring The Grey areaWhilst working on The Grey area we were asked to go around the school an attempt to create almost a story board of photos in order to get used to working in this kind of mind set.
I decided to base my work on the idea of being blocked, that there is no escape, it was made black and white in order to make the viewer feel distant and afraid or perhaps confused about what's happening in it. |
Parliament of Owls - Photo shoot
In this photo shoot, my main focus was landscapes but trying not to show the entire area where it was taken, this was inspired by the works of Jack Lathem's "Parliament of owls".
WWW: normally in landscapes you expect to see a full description of an area however in my photo shoot I decided that I wouldn't want the viewer to have an accurate description of the area
EBI: Some of the photos do not conform to what a landscape should be, next time I must be diligent in ensuring my photos are all Landscapes. Also I feel some of these photos do not convey the same feeling "Parliament of Owls".
WWW: normally in landscapes you expect to see a full description of an area however in my photo shoot I decided that I wouldn't want the viewer to have an accurate description of the area
EBI: Some of the photos do not conform to what a landscape should be, next time I must be diligent in ensuring my photos are all Landscapes. Also I feel some of these photos do not convey the same feeling "Parliament of Owls".
"Slant"- My story: Lowerbound
In this photo shoot i attempted to portray the story a story where a girl was taken from her homeland and sent to marry a man from England, She eventually died in high street Gravesend. Since that time there has been several accounts of strange occurrences such as strange symbols appearing on computer screens, random settings change on devices, the sound of someone typing can be heard when no one is typing, lights flicker on and off and kettles turning on randomly. It was not until later where people began to make the connection between the two.
I decided that this was an interesting story and began digging into the details of it, the lady that died was a native American whom was bought over to England when an English gentleman whom she saved the life of in 1607 a few years later another English Gentleman found her attractive and decided to marry to her in 1614, she died a only three years later in 1617 at a fairly young age. It is said that the reasons for these strange occurrences is this lady.
I decided that this was an interesting story and began digging into the details of it, the lady that died was a native American whom was bought over to England when an English gentleman whom she saved the life of in 1607 a few years later another English Gentleman found her attractive and decided to marry to her in 1614, she died a only three years later in 1617 at a fairly young age. It is said that the reasons for these strange occurrences is this lady.
"Slant" Exhibition:
Once I have chosen my story for my exhibition i just had to take the photos and create a book out of them. I decided to bind my book using a Japanese binding technique using thread and punching holes through several sheets of paper. The cover had a dark wooden appearance with the inside being thick black card.
The way I displayed my exhibition is that I hid it within a book shelf among other books, so the only way it would stand out is the spine of the book which was very distinct compared to the other book in the book shelf (see photo first photo below).b The reason I displayed it like this was because my story has to do with hidden things that are out of view without really looking so I thought that it was fitting that the book was obscured from view without a second look as well. The shelf was in the view of everyone in the class however due to my books nature it was overlooked and was not noticed until people began to look closer. |
The feedback:During the exhibition each person was given feedback on their projects by each person in the class. People seem to understand my story to some level, in that they understood the theme was creepy/haunting, the use of alteration of monochromatic pictures and more colourful photos suggested a form of transition between this world and another as well as creating a strange physical feeling in the stomach, almost sick as if this world was decaying. People were also quick to pick out that some of the pages were smaller than some of the other pages, this was to make the smaller picture appear more hidden, forcing the audience to be more aware of the story when found. Without seeing these smaller pictures I was sure that no one would truly understand the story which was partly why i made the decision to connect it to certain larger photos in the book.
There were a few things that my class was unable to pick out however, such as the foreshadowing of the end of the book shown on the fourth photo displayed below. I was determined to make a ghostly translucent print depicting the end of the book to symbolize that it was fate that caused the end of this story. |
Journey to Bristol for exhibitions:
To experience Jack Lathem work in person as well as seeing an exhibitions with another one for comparison.
We were tasked to take many type of photos over the course of the trip (as shown below) |
In depth - Sugar Paper Theories:In the Sugar Paper theories exhibition we were forced to walk into a windowless room with white walls where the photos are hanging. The only light in the room came from very hard lights almost as if we were in an interrogation room which linked to the actual story being that there were people whom were framed for a crime that none of them committed.
Through this exhibition my group and I were given insight into how the victims of the police investigation felt during this time, it made me physically cold to the touch as if I were anxious. The fact that the lights used to display the photos were so hard it was as if an interrogation was occurring while we were in that windowless room and that we were either the interrogator or the victim to the interrogation. The fact the actual books of the interrogation was blocked by glass suggest me that we were the victims as we are unable to physically touch the evidence. |
The Instructions Written Out:
- A posed head and shoulders portrait photograph of a stranger
- A still life photograph of a brick in shallow focus
- A wide angle landscape photograph of the city
- A photograph taken of the motorway out of a moving coach window
- A portrait photograph of someone looking carefully at something
- A photograph shot from above of your shoes standing on the edge of something
- An architectural photograph of a corridor or stairwell
- An abstract photograph of light on surface
- A photograph of the corner of a framed photograph hinting at, but not fully revealing, its subject
- A close-up photograph of the word ‘fact’
- An architectural photograph of a brick wall so that the lines of bricks are parallel/perpendicular with the picture edge
- An installation shot of the ‘Sugar Paper Theories’ exhibition, demonstrating an interesting aspect its design
- A photograph of a section of the introductory wall text accompanying the Tony Ray-Jones exhibition
- A still life photograph of the ‘Sugar Paper Theories’ book
- A landscape photograph that is 95% sky
- A still life photograph of the inside of a dirty coffee cup
- A still life photograph of one wheel of the coach
- A low angle photograph taken underneath something
Tony Ray-Jones - The English Seen
Our second exhibition we went to "The English Seen" exhibition which was a big change from the previous "Sugar Paper Theories" exhibition, instead of walking through a door into what was in essence was an interrogation room, we were greeted with an open door with plenty of windows creating a more open ambience also the photographs were lit up by soft light making it feel even more open. In my personal opinion of the exhibition, it felt like walking into a coffee shop on a street.
The Final Exhibition: The Grey Area
During the making:
For the exhibition we decided to display our photos in a certain order on an A1 sheet of paper. People whom decide to come to the exhibition will be able to view our set of photos and hopefully talk about how the set of photo makes them feel.
My original idea was a set of dark photos in order to display a sense of loneliness however, I found that the photos I had did not portray the theme as I best hoped it would. Therefore I made a new idea after researching a story about a boy who fell from the top of the Tate Modern. I felt this story was horrifying and thus made me inclined to make my exhibition around this idea. I set out on a journey to the very place this story took place, to the top of the Tate and just stood there looking out at the view of where this 6 year old boy once stood. Later that same day I found another high place in order to get this view with the Tate in the same picture, this was heavily inspired by Mark Ashcom as both display the city in a similar fashion, giving the illusion it was taken from the same place.
My exhibition includes a still from the movie Vertigo, three skyline photos, a bottom up portrait and an image from a news coverage of the story. The reason for the touristy nature of the top images is to represent the original innocence of the boys day, it can be read as a panorama to show the overall view from the Tate. The bottom right image and the background image display people with a face of worry or concern almost looking to the bottom left photo which displays the image of the news coverage. It is worth noting that all these photos including the back drop are from a place set from high up looking across and not directly down excluding one photo displaying the crime scene.
How is this related to the Grey Area? The Grey Area is the place between the truth and fiction, and by this definition I believe that my exhibition displays the Grey Area well. My reasons are that I never explicitly state what my story is about however with more than one look you can begin to see the patterns and links displayed in my final works as stated in the paragraph before.
My original idea was a set of dark photos in order to display a sense of loneliness however, I found that the photos I had did not portray the theme as I best hoped it would. Therefore I made a new idea after researching a story about a boy who fell from the top of the Tate Modern. I felt this story was horrifying and thus made me inclined to make my exhibition around this idea. I set out on a journey to the very place this story took place, to the top of the Tate and just stood there looking out at the view of where this 6 year old boy once stood. Later that same day I found another high place in order to get this view with the Tate in the same picture, this was heavily inspired by Mark Ashcom as both display the city in a similar fashion, giving the illusion it was taken from the same place.
My exhibition includes a still from the movie Vertigo, three skyline photos, a bottom up portrait and an image from a news coverage of the story. The reason for the touristy nature of the top images is to represent the original innocence of the boys day, it can be read as a panorama to show the overall view from the Tate. The bottom right image and the background image display people with a face of worry or concern almost looking to the bottom left photo which displays the image of the news coverage. It is worth noting that all these photos including the back drop are from a place set from high up looking across and not directly down excluding one photo displaying the crime scene.
How is this related to the Grey Area? The Grey Area is the place between the truth and fiction, and by this definition I believe that my exhibition displays the Grey Area well. My reasons are that I never explicitly state what my story is about however with more than one look you can begin to see the patterns and links displayed in my final works as stated in the paragraph before.
Stephen Bull - The Photograph As Document
Stephen Bull talks about documentary photography and its evolution from people believing that photographs are concrete evidence to people becoming sceptical and fearful about the power that is in photography:
-In 1844 William Henry Talbot - Stated in his book that photographs can provide legal evidence of stolen objects.
-photographic subjectivity (It is suggested that it is the photographer behind the camera that is regarded as the producer of the photo)
-photographic objectivity (It is suggested that it is the object in front of the photo that makes the photo)
-It is suggested that photographs will always show the way things are
-In the past it was believed that photographic portraits show the whole truth, including the inner personality of a person
-The thought that photographs only show the truth however caused much frustration when dealing with crime
-Eugene Atget described his photographs simply as images that he documents
-Photography was then considered an art form so there could be a split between what was reality, the objectivity of the image and what was the interpretation of the photographer, the subjectivity.
-in the 1970s is when "honourable" / "victim" photography was created, showing the concern for the subject of the photo while still expressing photography in their own artistic vision
-During the Vietnam war, war photography was shown and was described as "shocking", "repulsive" and "attractive"
-In 1844 William Henry Talbot - Stated in his book that photographs can provide legal evidence of stolen objects.
-photographic subjectivity (It is suggested that it is the photographer behind the camera that is regarded as the producer of the photo)
-photographic objectivity (It is suggested that it is the object in front of the photo that makes the photo)
-It is suggested that photographs will always show the way things are
-In the past it was believed that photographic portraits show the whole truth, including the inner personality of a person
-The thought that photographs only show the truth however caused much frustration when dealing with crime
-Eugene Atget described his photographs simply as images that he documents
-Photography was then considered an art form so there could be a split between what was reality, the objectivity of the image and what was the interpretation of the photographer, the subjectivity.
-in the 1970s is when "honourable" / "victim" photography was created, showing the concern for the subject of the photo while still expressing photography in their own artistic vision
-During the Vietnam war, war photography was shown and was described as "shocking", "repulsive" and "attractive"
David Bate-Documentary And Storytelling
-Documentary Photography aimed to show the ordinary lives of ordinary people - for somewhat an educational purpose
-During the 1930s the aim of documentary photography was to not only record and document events but also to "enlighten" people
-The layout of the pictures on the page became key in order to get the story being told across
-Pictures could be put into sequences to show events unfolding in time, although true it was not necessary to put them in chronological order
-Pictures could be ordered to show their significance and meaning
-There was a lack of control over the layout of the photos taken (this was mostly left to the editors of the publishers) and therefore meant that photographers would publish under their own "authorship" creating "photobooks"
- The aim of photography was to make the spectator an "eyewitness" of an event, to show the viewer what the photographer saw.
-During the 1930s the aim of documentary photography was to not only record and document events but also to "enlighten" people
-The layout of the pictures on the page became key in order to get the story being told across
-Pictures could be put into sequences to show events unfolding in time, although true it was not necessary to put them in chronological order
-Pictures could be ordered to show their significance and meaning
-There was a lack of control over the layout of the photos taken (this was mostly left to the editors of the publishers) and therefore meant that photographers would publish under their own "authorship" creating "photobooks"
- The aim of photography was to make the spectator an "eyewitness" of an event, to show the viewer what the photographer saw.