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Assignment 5 Final

Street Photo: 

Interview:

“I am Abdelrahman El Gamal (left side) and I am 23 years old and I am with my brother Ahmed El Gamal (right side) who is 19 years old.  We have been working together in the Kiosk 5 years ago since our father, Mohamed El Gamal’ death. I started working exactly after finishing my school and the same case for my brother. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete our studies and go to university as after our father’s death, we had to take the Kiosk after him because it was our main source of earning and we had to gain our living for our mother and our two younger sisters. From this point in our lives, we really believe that god does the best for us and here we are, we are able to live and take care of our family.”

Reflection:

At the beginning of this assignment, I thought it would be the hardest assignment so far as I found it so hard to go to the street and photograph a stranger. I felt it was very weird to do that and I could not find a reason or how can I manage to do so. Also, I thought that it will not be right to photograph someone in the street without them knowing and I also felt that it will not be right if I ask them as because they may totally refuse or feel shy so I did not like the idea that I will make them feel uncomfortable. After a lot of research, I found out that the main idea of street photography is to actually talk with the strangers to make them feel comfortable first so I can encourage them to take the photo. What I had in my mind for this assignment was to photograph a worker who is working on a car that provide cold and hot drinks. I have chosen a local Egyptian Kiosk that is located in the 5th settlement. This idea came to my mind due to the fact that these Kiosks are very rare in that area. They are replaced by supermarkets but still there are very little number of rare Kiosks in the 5th settlement and this was one of them. The Kiosk is named “El Gamal” after their grandfather’s name. I didn’t have any issues regarding taking the photo or talking to the stranger, but I felt that when I talked to the stranger, he was a little bit nervous or worried about something. I firstly thought that he did not have a license for opening such Kiosk as I felt that maybe he was afraid that I am working for the police or something until I knew from him that he is in the safe side anyways. This was too obvious as it was clear that he was not comfortable in the way he was talking but I kept being friendly to him until at last he felt comfortable talking to me about his project.

Research:

I was inspired by the photographer Carloz Chavez who started his project “100 Strangers Project” in 2016. It began with him in 2012 when he travelled to Thailand with his fellow photographer David Hatfield in which they have spent 16 days there, moving around from one place to another. They started in Bangkok, then flew to a coastal town in the south, Krabi, then a boat ride to the island of Ko Phi Phi, then another flight, to the north, to Chiang Mai, and back down to Bangkok. Each day they hit the streets with their cameras, usually with no particular plan or destination, and just shoot. In Cheves’ first day at Bangok, he felt that there is something wrong with his camera that it could not focus, it was either over or under exposed every time but when he checked his camera’s settings it was totally fine and then he knew it was his problem. Moreover, he was unable to point his camera towards strangers as he felt that it is not right to point his camera and capture them without there consent and this brought fear to him that if he got caught doing that he might be chased or something like that and at this point, he knew what his problem was, that being in a hurry to shoot someone was the reason that he could not photograph properly. Finally, after days of trying, it popped into his mind an idea of asking the strangers first before shooting them and by this, he would be able to take his time to capture his photograph properly without hurry. Furthermore, he found out that most of the people did not mind at all where only few refused and this surprised him a lot. This was the main issue that I could have faced but after knowing this hint it was easier for me as I managed to talk to the stranger first before I shoot him/her.

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Assignment 5B Test shot

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Assignment5

Mostafa El Assas is a 20-year-old who studies law in the University of El Menoufya and has started his job project which is a car that provide hot and cold drinks. First of all, he has got the chance to lend an apartment from his cousin in the 5th settlement where he wanted to begin his project there. He wanted to start his project in the beginning of 2020 but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, he decided to postpone his opening due to the country’s circumstances. He was worried about his health, his family’s health and the customers’ health, also, he did not want start his job with a very little profit or even with losses as he said that it might be disappointing for him which may let him to cancel his project. When the country’s lockdown hours began to decrease and that the country is closing at 00 AM, he decided that this is the time in which he can start. He was satisfied with his beginnings as these types of projects were very useful in the Coronavirus period as people who wanted to hang out for a while do go to one of these cars to have a drink in the open air. “All safety precautions were taken all the time” he said. Mostafa had a very hard challenge which is to complete his studies while working in his project in two different and far away cities of Egypt. “I go to the University one or two days a week and of course I also go, whenever I have an exam, my brothers use to take on my role on these days” He said. All these challenges did not stop Mostafa from starting his project, he was so strong and determined. “Hard work pays off” he added.

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Assignment4

This photo was captured in 1936 by the American photographer and photojournalist Walker Evans who was best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans's work from the FSA period uses the large-format, 8×10-inch (200×250 mm) view camera. I think what makes a photo iconic are two things which are its uniqueness and the message it has behind the image. This photo fulfills both aspects together. When someone sees this photo, he will definitely will not be able to understand what is its purpose, he will only think that the photographer captured this photo when he was bored only, but no, this photo uniqueness comes together with its message. These boots are the work boots of Floyd Burrough who was one of the impoverished white tenant-farmer families in the deep South during the Great Depression. This was Walker Evans duty as a photographer as he was focusing on documenting the effects of the Great Depression on the hard-working farmers as he was working in the Farm Security Administration. Thus, this photo is not just a photo of a couple of boots but it was to praise the work of one of the hard-working farmers in a sensitive period of time.

Original Photo

My Photo

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Assignment 3A

Taken by: Spence Platt

Date: Aug. 15, 2006

Title: Ceasefire in Beirut 2006

This photograph was taken by the US photographer, Spencer Platt who made the winning photograph for the World Press Photo of the Year in 2006. The picture was taken on August 15th, 2006. Although this photo reveals the truth about the story I will explain, it is still extremely staged. I am sure that the first thing that your eye will catch is the red car with young Lebanese inside. After that, you will find out the in the background there is a huge mess of a destructed buildings. The picture basically shows a group of young Lebanese driving a car through South Beirut neighborhood that was destructed as a result of Israeli bombings. The photo was on the first day of the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel when Lebanese people started returning to their homes. Although this photo is clearly staged, it is still portraying the truth of what was happening as can be seen in the background specifically. The photo is not fully neutral because of the way the people and things are located in the photo; everything is extremely crowded. The way that the background shows the destruction as a result of the events happening and the way the people are sitting too close to one another in what looks like a 2 door Coupe car makes the photo bothering to my eye. Some other hidden meanings in this image include how each person is reacting differently to what is going on in the background, the two men on the very right seem as though they are both on the phone and the man in the middle is looking the other direction, not paying much attention to the scene of destruction on his right, and the guy on the very left feels very disconnected from the scenery. The photograph is very crowded which may cause confusion to the any one seeing it as they will get confused whether it is a joyful or sad story The man in the middle is covering a man behind him that is sitting on a red motorcycle, which I find is very irritating. I think the way that the photo is arranged is aimed to portray the message on instability and confusion. 

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Assignment #2

Rule of Thirds

Shape

Texture

Colour

Frame in a frame

Light movement

POV

Light direction

Black and White 

Original vision

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Class Activity #2

What makes photography ‘unique’? Explain your answer by using examples from the documentary.

Photography is a unique type of art. I know that it might not seem like art because photographed pictures are totally different from arts that are done by hand, but still, a unique photo that have much creativity can sometimes look like a handmade piece of art. A photo must be unique in order to it to be creative and look attractive. A photo that has not been seen before or one that has a quality that stands out, differentiate it from different photo will receive much more attention and responds. Photographs do have a lot of factors and details. The most fundamental factor is the subject of the picture. Also, another very vital factor is the story behind a picture, some photos may seem so meaningless and empty but when we understand the story behind the photo it might blow our mind. Almost all pictures are supposed to have a certain meaning or symbolism in order to convey a message to their audience. The details around the subject are also important because again they could tell us a story or more about the subject of the picture. For example, Seydou Keita had some photographs that do have a thousand meaning behind. He proposed some photograph that once you see them and look carefully at the subjects, you will know that there is a huge story behind it from the way the photo is taken and how it is expressing a lot of feelings. Also, photographer Martin Parr was taking photographs at a supermarket which made him unique and since he has joined Magnum agency for his unique work.  I think it’s very rare that you find a photographer going into a supermarket and taking photos of people shopping, in my opinion, I think this what made him unique. Moreover, photographer Jeff Wall, who had a photo of two women in their apartment, wanted to take a unique photo. He addressed that he could not tell the women something to do to get this unique photograph because he can’t direct person to do something as he said that how they look and how they feel is something you can’t ask for. So, to finally get the photograph he had painted in his mind, he just kept photographing them and waited for something to happen naturally. He took about 1000 photos of this scene in order to only get one perfect photo.

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Assignment #1

Photo1 : 

Correctly exposed 

Shutter speed: 1/3200 Aperture: F4

Photo2: 

Over exposed: Shutter speed 1/500 Aperture: F7.1

Correctly exposed: Shutter speed 1/500 Aperture F10

Under exposed: shutter speed 1/500 Aperture F18

Photo 3: 

Photo A: Shutter speed  1/1000  Aperture F4

Photo B: Shutter speed  1/80 Aperture F16

Photo 4:

Photo A: Shutter speed  1/250  Aperture: F5

Photo B: Shutter speed  1/30  Aperture: F13

Photo 5: 

Photo A: Shutter speed  1/15  Aperture: F6.3

Photo B: Shutter speed  1/15 Aperture: F4

Photo C: Shutter speed  1/15  Aperture: F4

Photo 6: 

Photo A/ Sunlight: Shutter speed  1/100  Aperture: F4

Photo B/Shade: Shutter speed  1/250  Aperture: F4

Photo 7: 

Photo A: Shutter speed:  1/ 100 Aperture: F3.5  Focal Length: 18

Photo B: Shutter speed:  1/60 Aperture: F4.5  Focal Length: 35

Photo C: Shutter speed:  1/30  Aperture: F5.6  Focal Length: 55

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Khalik Allah tackled one of the most fundamental and ignored issues of the society. He documented mainly black people who are suffering from homelessness, poverty, harassment and discrimination.  I think this can fit to the documentary genre where it relies more on a particular subject than photograph itself. Also, I think it could fit into the street genre as he tried out some real-life scenes coupled with some behind the scene images as he was observant about every little aspect around him. As soon as he sees a story unfold, he did not hesitate to capture the moment. Khalik mentioned that “Purpose in life is to extend the light into peoples” as he believed that these people deserve to have more attention, compassion and sympathy and as most of the photographs were taken at night as it is the time when they usually appear, and when they are photographed, they feel emotional and sometimes happy that at last they received some attention. He also commented that “To make knowledge born” and that basically means that his photographs can have a great impact of spreading knowledge to save a lot of people from falling into their paths by telling the consequences and how some of their bad choices made their life as it is now and also, his photographs can save some of them as where these photographs may become of a public interest where it may lead for a change in the future. I think he believes that photography can have a major role in shedding light on some of the fundamental issues impacting the society and raising awareness to the people about what is going behind the scenes. I think his type of photography is very creative in raising awareness and educating people about topics that are not appearing to the public, but I think photography alone won’t be able to fulfill his purpose as he will need to do more than photography, like he can perform TV shows for example to be able to be watched by more numbers of people.  

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Activity #1

The first project was done by Nada Ahmed, who discussed the matter of the industrial debris. Her project was about Cairo’s severely flawed construction system which poses constant inconveniences for the everyday citizen at best, and safety hazards at worst. She pointed out that construction projects in Cairo are usually done in a very random way and with a very poor urban planning in which construction are usually done anywhere and anytime without taking into account the surroundings. This usually has a great impact on the pedestrians who barely have any room to walk due to the broken side roads on every corner. Moreover, the numerous tires that burst because of sewer lids, and the likelihood of accidents or car damage in the case of new speedbumps or broken ones.

The second project was done by Alvaro Sanchez Montanes. He discussed the negative impacts that took place at the city of Elbasan in Albania due to the industrial development. He declared that Diseases, cancer, genetic mutations and contaminated air became common yet silenced by the regime, and the surrounding rural area was polluted and considered unfit for agricultural activity.

Despite that the two projects were captured at different locations in the world and also in different time beings, they have still tackled the same issue which is industrial pollution. Yet, both projects still had different types of pollution in both situations where in the first project, physical pollution took place as it impacted the streets while in the second project, chemical pollution that affect the people themselves. I think both projects can fit in environmental genre as both discuss environmental issues. Also, they can be considered as documentary where a particular subject is being discussed. I think both Photographers tackled a fundamental issue and they did it in a very nice way illustrated with to the point photographs. 

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The Black Power salute photo is considered one of the most influential protest images of all time. It was captured on the 16th of October 1968 when the African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stepped onto the world stage during the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Smith had scored the gold medal while Carlos had scored the bronze medal, along with the Australian sprinter Peter Norman who scored the silver medal. The photo was captured by the Life magazine photographer John Dominis. The image is now seen as a symbol of defiance and equality in the face of adversity and had become an iconic image of the Black Power movement and an emotional reference point on the recent racism incidents that are taking place recently under the name of Black lives matter. As for example, nowadays, at the beginning of football and NFL matches, players are to perform a black power salute for a couple of seconds before every match, just like the Smith and Carlos’s black power salute. Moreover, Dominis had later analyzed that Peter Norman, who was just standing still, was also part of the protest as he wore a small badge on his chest: “Olympic Project for Human Rights” which had been organized to protest racism in sports.