shoot 1

art3

 

For my ART3 Personal Investigation I have been researching photographers in the self-portraiture genre as my initial aim for this year was to produce a series  self-portraits as a medium to express ones inner issues which otherwise would have no external/physical characteristics. My main photographer whom I have researched thoroughly being Francesca Woodman, famously known for her hundreds of self-portraits expressing her displacement from the world around her and her inner emotions and problems that she visualised through her photographs years before her suicide in 1981.

 

After analysing her work along with similar artists, I  then took inspiration and put it to good use whilst creating my own self-portraits in a similar fashion to Francesca Woodman..

 

 

 

 ISO-100
 f/22
 ShutterSpeed-20 seconds

ISO-100
f/-22
ShutterSpeed-20 seconds

I purposely used a high aperture of f/22 in this both of these images which allowed me to use a slow shutter speed of 10-seconds/30-seconds to achieve motion blur. As always I kept the ISO to 100 to avoid noise or grain. The high aperture of f/22 meant that the lens opening was very small resulting in more detailed light but also meant that I had to use a slow shutter speed of 20 seconds (which I intentionally wanted) to compensate for the small amount of light being let through the lens.

I feel that this second image is the stronger of the two visually as well as compositionally. The lighting in the photograph is of a very similar fashion to that of Woodman's work as the contrast in light is more subtle and softer as opposed to the more harsh lighting in the first, which creates shadows a higher contrast in light. This image on the other hand has a lower contrast in light as it does have both pitch black areas along with bright white areas, however, they do not appear within close proximity of each other, giving the image a more smooth natural look to it. The framing of this image is effective due to the fact that I purposely zoomed out making the fallen tree (that I positioned myself on) visible which breaks the photograph up nicely and is visually effective as it is entwined with ivy leaves.  I am positioned more central in this photograph as opposed to the slightly off centre positioning in the first.

wild?

This weekend I took a trip to Twycross Zoo to photograph and document the concept of isolating these so called 'wild animals' in tight clinical environments, far from the habitats they not so long ago lived in. I am aware that all zoo's aren't bad and that they do have positive outcomes such as protecting endangered species from extinction. Personally I believe this could still be achieved in a more humane way as opposed to enclosing them into a unnatural environment and exposing them to the public as a form of entertainment.

 

This photograph was taken shortly after arriving at the zoo and entering the 'Primate House' section.

After walking only a few steps I was soon greeted by a crowd of people of all ages, grandparents, babies in pushchairs, middle age adults. All of whom were stood inches away from the pane of glass, the only factor separating this exposed primate from the outside world. I shot this image with using an aperture of f/5.6 to produce a shallow depth of field. I purposely chose to do this to symbolise how this animal is out of touch with its environment, similar to the fashion that film directors do to show a character is out of place, or is well adapted to its surroundings. The pane of glass which stood between myself and the primate, created visible washed out effects on the animals fur, creating a low contrast feel to certain parts of the photograph. I wanted this to be clear in the photograph as it shows that it is enclosed, which along with the primates expression (which is something of a glum hopeless one) gets across the message I initially wanted to show.

 

 

 

Moving into the 'Chimp House' section of the Zoo, this photograph is one of the strongest visually as it easily portrays (how I personally feel) how this chimp's emotions are. Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing more than 98 per cent of our genetic blueprint. Humans and chimps are also thought to share a common ancestor who lived some four to eight million years ago. Chimpanzees live in social communities of several dozen animals, and can habituate themselves to African rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Despite all of this, here we find a mature old male chimpanzee isolated yet alone as he sits by himself with his back to the glass which allows hundreds of people to gaze at him daily. Through old age, his lack of hair means that the light is reflected from his tough wrinkled skin from the one side of his body creating a nice contrast in lighting. Positioned in the centre of the shot, he faces one of four walls in despair, all of which have become boundaries of his environment.