nothingreataboutbritain

[nothingreataboutbritain]

Final Evaluation

What did you learn and achieve?

I learnt a lot about Manchester and its suburbs. I found some really good future locations for shoots as well as managing to get six photos which I am happy with enough to use for my project.

Which research sources did you use and how effective were they at providing the information you needed?

For research I used Wikipedia and the WeAreMCR instagram page as they both contain a lot of information on the city. I found a few locations which I unfortunately did not get to use from their instagram page.

What equipment did you use?

I used a Nikon FE2 with a 50mm 1.2 lens, A Pentax Espio with a 35mm F2.8 fixed lens, and a Bronica SQ-A with an 80mm F2.8 lens. I shot the whole project on Kodak Portra 400 as I find it’s the best film for colour reproduction and skin tones, as well as being incredibly fine grain.

How did you use the computers and technology?

I used lightroom and photoshop on my laptop to edit my final selection and illustrator to make my cover page. I used my Epson Perfection V700 scanner to turn my negatives into high res digital images.

What was your most positive experience?

I’d say my most positive experience was getting to know the people in my class better and producing work which I can use on my social media.

What did you find most difficult in this project?

I’d say this evaluation is what I have struggled with most as I really have trouble writing large ammounts of information about things I didn’t consider to be useful in making my project, eg Artist research or what I learnt or achieved.

On reflection, how could you of improved your work?

I could of improved my work by spending more time in Manchester and gathering more images from different places but  due to the weather that became quite difficult as it was raining heavily that day.

How effectively did you organise your work?

I think I organised my work very effectively as I kept it all neatly arranged in files and kept my negatives in holders, seperate from my other work and ready to be scanned in whenever I needed to do so.

To what extent did you achieve all your project goals?

I believe I exceeded my project goals as I have found new ways to display my pictures, as well as new things to do to my negatives to make them stand out from other peoples in the future. Eg cutting parts of them out and moving the image around. I kept a list of everything I needed to do and I’ve just checked off the evaluation as the final thing so I believe I have achieved all my goals.

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Toys R Shut, Ancoats.

This photo reminds me of Martin Parrs work due to the colours and location. I like that I captured movement along with an interesting background of the now abandoned Toys R Us.

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Heads off.

For this photo I decided to add some imperfections to reflect the location it was taken (Outside of an abandoned pub). I scanned the negative in at an angle and out of its negative holder so that the sides of the film framed the image. I then decided to use a scalpel to cut out his head and reverse it, then rescan the image with the reversed head and the exposed damage on the film that was left behind.

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Leopard Print.

This photo is one of my favourites from this trip. I love the diagonal lines in the composition and the contrast between the muted tones in the building of blues and reds in comparison to the bright coloured leopard print trousers.

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999 Mrs Lonely.

I called this photo 999 as this woman began questioning me on what I was doing taking photos of her and walking around the abandoned industrial estate. I took this shot very quickly as I liked how lonely this woman looked, stood amidst nothing but grey, her black outfit really stands out.

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M4 = Fucked.

This photo captures someones personal opinion on their own area. Calling it fucked suggests there are problems, this is accentuated by the closed down pub which the phrase has been written on. Around the corner this same person had expressed their anger at the amount of pubs and other social places being shutdown in M4.

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The first of my selected photos is one I took in Manchester on the night of the shoot. I want to include this as my theme ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ comes from a tattoo on Slow Thai’s stomach, captured in this photo. In this image I like the raw on camera flash, grain and damage to the film as I think it captures the vibe of what was a violent gig.

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These three photos are examples of composition which we were learning about during this project. The first image displays framing as I put Kofi between the trees to frame him in the image. The second photograph is using rule of thirds. I positioned myself so that Finn was in the left third on my camera screen. The final image is to show texture and lines, the texture being the wet concrete and leaves on the floor, and the leading lines being the three metal pillars. I really think this helped me with my project as I used some of these formal elements in my work. 

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Case Study: Dean Davies (British Photographer)

Dean Davies is a British fashion photographer from the Wirral. He focuses on creating editorial photographs out of familiar scenes and using normal British life in a creative way. In an interview Dean said “My shots are inspired by a memory of childhood and adolescence”, this is a feature in his images that I really like as they are very unsubtly British.

Often using grey council estates, or red brick buildings - Dean creates an image that we are all too familiar with being from the north. During this project, I hope to be able to use Dean’s work as an inspiration with the distance he keeps from his subject and the way he composes all of his images. Often the models are seen standing at diagonals from the camera, with their eyes looking directly at you or completely the opposite as if the shot was taken behind the scenes from a film about early 2000s Britain. I also like his use of bright colours, contrasting with greys and blues of the sky or buildings.

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Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre.

Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has been called "the world's first industrial suburb".[1] For many years, from the late 18th century onwards, Ancoats was a thriving industrial district. The area suffered accelerating economic decline from the 1930s and depopulation in the years after the Second World War, particularly during the slum clearances of the 1960s.

Since the 1990s Ancoats' industrial heritage has been recognised and its proximity to the city centre has led to investment and substantial regeneration. The southern region of the suburb is branded as New Islington, by UK property developers Urban Splash, while the north retains the Ancoats name, with redevelopment centred on the Daily Express Building.

- Information on Ancoats found prior to the trip from Wikipedia.

The Northern Quarter is an area of Manchester city centre, England, between Piccadilly station, Victoria station and Ancoats, centred on Oldham Street, just off Piccadilly Gardens. It was defined and named in the 1990s as part of the regeneration and gentrification of Manchester.

A centre of alternative and bohemian culture, the area includes Newton Street (borders with Piccadilly Basin), Great Ancoats Street (borders with Ancoats), Back Piccadilly (borders with Piccadilly Gardens) and Swan Street/High Street (borders with Shudehill/Arndale). Popular streets include Oldham Street, Tib Street, Newton Street, Lever Street, Dale Street, Hilton Street and Thomas Street.

- Information on the Northern Quarter taken from Wikipedia.

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This second contact sheet is from Ancoats and contains all the images I have selected for my ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ series. I shot these on 35mm and 120mm film. Using a Bronica SQ-A and a Nikon FE2 - both loaded with Portra 400.

There are some images here which nearly made it into my final selection but I decided against. 

I chose number 41 over 40 because I preferred that I’d completely separated the negatives so that Kofis head was clean off. I also thought the tone in 40 was too generic, being a very rich and true colour. 

I chose number 17-2 over 17-3 because I preferred being central to the corner of the building, however neither made it into my final series.

I chose number 9 over number 8 because I believed, firstly the woman was clearer in focus but because I liked the Toys R Us sign in the background being well framed.

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As I missed the first visit into Manchester to photograph the Northern Quarter, I decided to go into Manchester on Saturday with a few of my friends and photograph town then. This is my contact sheet from this shoot, although none of these images made my final selection.

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Following my plan, I made a mood board on Pintrest which I think captured my idea perfectly. The images I chose focused on colour over composition as well as characters over composition.

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The next thing I made was a list in which my ideas and plans could form. This furthered my vision of what I was going to create. Although I didn’t use a lot of this, it was still very helpful.

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The first thing I did for this project was make short analysis’ of a selected group of photographers whose styles influence me. This helped with creating a vision which I could base my images off on the trip.

William Klein:

I like the closeness and intrusive feeling in Kleins work. I see a pair of eyes looking directly into his camera through the moments of madness he captured. Klein’s early work focused on documenting the boroughs of New York, focusing largely on Harlem. From Williams work I take inspiration of his creative use of subjects in his images, and his quick framing and composition - making the viewer feel as if they were also there. 

Harry F Conway:

Harry Conways work has been a favourite of mine since I started with film photography. His very personal photographs of the homeless, and the strange in London make me truly believe he got to know them as people as well as photographed them. He captures a closeness and sorrow in the eyes of these people like no other photographer, probably because he’s been through hard times himself as an ex graffiti writer. I want to take the grit and raw tones from Harrys images and apply them to my own, especially in Ancoates as its a very industrial place.

The London Vagabond:

The London Vagabond (TLV), has been photographing people on the streets of Britain for the past five years, and during this time created a huge body of work. Often using cameras with no light meters and rolls of film long expired or left in the cameras from its previous owner, TLV manages to capture imperfect people in his own imperfect way, and I would love to apply a level of imperfection to my work by damaging my negatives or creatively scanning. 

Larry Clark:

I’m such a lover of Larry Clarks work that I have the lines from the end of his 1995 film debut, Kids tattooed on my chest. I find that Clark managed to portray youth culture and coming of age better than anyone. In both his early work with Tulsa and later with Kids, Clark captures drug abuse, sex, and the horrible realism of life for most people. I look at the subjects in his work and want to capture young people in that same way. Caught off guard and unaware.

William Eggleston:

Eggleston’s work uses a large amount of colour and thoughtful composition. He focuses more on buildings and whole scenes rather than individual people. For my work I will need to break away from simply just portraiture and begin to capture whole scenes as Eggleston did. 

Martin Parr:

Parr’s work uses a lot of humour and colour, I find that his work is very difficult to replicate or use as inspiration as it is all based on moments he captured rather than an area in general. I would like to use aspects of his humour in composition or subjects.