We had a guest speaker come into one of lectures, the Australian/ English Photographer Anthony Luvera. He came in to give us a talk about his work within photography, his views on what he does and how he achieves it and to also show us his new work coming out ‘not going shopping’.
I found Luvera to be very intriguing, I mean I was quite excited about this talk as I had researched him for one of our earlier modules as I was very interested in his work with the power relationship between subject and photographer. Funnily enough within his talk he bought this up, he mentioned how he is interested in collaboration and when a photographer works with a subject that there could be a dual and more sinister meaning as the photographer who is working for a commission. He has created images where he has worked with over 200 homeless people and he has let them be the photographers, giving them disposable cameras, their work was even exhibited in the London underground, as he said and I quote “I was interested in hearing what they had to say”. This gives the viewers outlook on homeless people a whole new meaning, as it shows how they acre for what little things they have and still put just as much effort in their ‘home’ as any other person would, they photographed what was dear to them and it makes you realise what we take for granted. As he had built a relationship with these people he saw them more as partners.
During his talk he gave some very useful advice, he told us to think about context and how our choices of where we put our subject can change the meaning. He also told us that audience is key. When working with his subjects he likes to see how he can involve them in the photographic process, I find it very intriguing how he views the dynamics between photographer and subject, in a sense its like pre-visulaisation, he’s taking time to get to know these people, he isn’t rushing things and I feel this is vital to do if you are trying to represent someone. It’s about representing the process, he sees documentary photography as a craft.
He then went onto show us his new work ‘not going shopping’ with this series you can still see Luveras style has not changed, he still takes time getting to know his subject and include them as much as he possibly can, it shows he cares. This series is about archiving culture and heritage of queer people living in Briton – Gay, Lesbian, transgender. Sent out a letter and asked people to come to session and bring 3 photographs that told their life story. Gave them digital cameras and would get them to bring them back each week to show what they had taken. He has always been interested in working with the community or as he prefers, group of people. With this project he even worked with the people to go tae photos in one of those old fashioned photo booths, when presenting his image he took four portraits and included on of the photo booth images, I found this really interesting in a sense it was like a ‘selfie’. This series had blog posts from Anthony himself and the participants, I found this quite moving as it really shows that he gets them actively involved!
For me personally I really liked this work and its good to see that Luvera hasn’t changed his ethics or style over the years of his photography work. If anything he has grown.
In response to the first part of your last letter, yes I am still a superhero fan, true and proud!
It is sad to say that things still aren’t perfect, however my out look on things have changed, things will never be perfect but I am okay with that, because if everything was perfect I would not be able to grow as a person or learn. Since my last letter, my chest actually got considerably worse, I ended up on chemotherapy for my asthma, and I tell you what that was scary however it makes you think and its that that’s made my outlook change, I’m still alive and I could still be a lot worse and I am not going to let anything get in my way of doing what I want and achieving my goals. Its weird, as its nearly been a year since I wrote the first letter but I feel as if so much has changed, I’m growing up and conversations with friends lately have made me realised that I am at a stage in my life where I am learning who I truly am and who my real friends are, and they are the people who are still in my life right now, unfortunately I have lost a few on the way but that’s life and I am done been taking for a ride, I only want the people who care for me and will happily put up with me for who I am and are always honest with me. I have some great friends in my life at this moment in time and I wouldn’t change them for the world, heck I’ll even be kind of living with one next university year! And yes that will be Tash, I’m going to be living in Callice Court and I’ll be 3 floors under her, its rather exciting, I mean I am nervous as this is a big step and I will miss my dogs and my mum even though we have our disagreements but I feel this will make our relationship grow stronger and help me grow even more as a person as I will learn to have more independence.
And as for Michael, yes you’re still with him, actually we’re engaged now! Crazy I know, but I felt it was right he makes me so happy and I love him to bits, it will be a long engagement and this is a mutual agreement as we want to save up and get a place of our own, plus we want to focus on university for now too, but we’re both happy with that, it’s a nice feeling, plus my ring is very unique too!
As for my first university year, well that’s been crazy too! I mean it’s been very busy, but I have learnt a fair bit! We made a pinhole camera a few weeks back which was awesome, it took me a while to get a decent image from it but I did it! And I learnt how to make a cyanotype print too. In terms of work, it is very different from college and I feel I still have a way to grow in terms of developing my skills however I do not feel as if I am heading down the wrong direction, I feel I am deepening my research skills and using a lot more resources then I would of college, I have also become a lot more analytical too. One last thing I am very excited for picbod!
So yeah it’s been a bit of an odd year but I wouldn’t change it for the world, here’s to learning more new things and developing my skills as a photographer and learning more about myself.
For this task I decided to show the two poster designs I created for my friend savannahs final year drama piece in Coventry University, she asked me to design a poster for her and her partner Daniels third year play that they are producing called Woyzec. I offered to help as she is my friend and it is a chance for me to practise other things alongside my photography course, plus I love drama! Even though I am not helping in the sense of performing I am helping out with the backstage and development of the page before its debut.
This is what I was given to work with, so I felt I would find some wartime apocalyptic image of the internet, obviously I looked for a large file and I converted it to black and white to make it look more dramatic and war time like. I did two copies so that they had more then one choice, for the first image my incorporation of the poppies was blending in a field of them at the bottom, so merging the two images to give it a surreal look. She also wanted to incorporate peas, so I made the ‘o’ of the woyzec with peas. I made the other image a bit more simpler and just had the ‘o’ of the image as a poppy. She ended up using the second image. I was happy to know that my poster designs really helped her and look forward to seeing them around campus!
I will just recap the talk we had with Steve Brooks and the task we were set. How disability is represented in the media, and ow they are always made to look like the victim or villain or they are not even included at all, the labelling of disabilities. So our task was to create an image that would include a disabled person but for them to not be the focus, the focus was on our education. We had to work with a partner to create this artefact.
My partner was Natasha Hancock. Our idea was to use myself as a model, as I have mentioned in my reflection about the Steve Brooks talk I have a disability and its not a physical one, so we thought it would be interesting to show this as its also not a disability that is focused on much, so we wanted to focus on that, obviously without it being the main focus. So we wanted to make this image real, so focused on our education, photography. We wanted to take an image that showed the work we do, having it so my inhaler was within the shot but not the main focus, it would be subtly shown whilst I was working and that would be the main focus of the photograph.
The first one is my favourite, the shallow depth of field is what I like about this image, as the focus is clearly on the work I am producing and not my inhaler, that has been blurred out but is still within the image, so the focus isn’t on my disability its on my work. It is subtle, and the fact that image is blurred means that we aren’t focusing on the disability and I feel having something like an inhaler makes in interesting too as thats not something you see everyday, I feel this isa good example of the artefact we were being asked to produce, and this project was quite personal to me and I feel me and partner worked well with this too, we initially had the same idea before we even had he chance to speak about, the saying really does go, great minds think alike!
With the second photograph I do like, and think aesthetically it looks great and it also works well with the artefact we are being asked to produce, but I feel for me the first one works better as its more focused on me doing some work, like for me personally its just a bit clearer for me to understand that, but it still does work both technically and visual with the brief set. I love the shallow depth of field as well, and how both images seem very natural and candid, you wouldn’t think they ha been set up. I always prefer working in colour too as I feel especially withe idea of disability that were making the focus on something serious, it makes it more modern and can help you audience to feel like they are there and help you more.
Another thing with this shoot which I am happy with is that the disability is asthma, you can tell that as there is an inhaler, and we haven’t stereo typed it! Like a geeky boy using his inhaler because he’s panicking, its not the main focus and isn’t being made out to be a joke too, which is something that bothers me. I am very happy with the work me and my partner produced and feel we successfully achieved our brief. And created a string artefact.
On the 22nd of October I attended a talk. This talk was about disability in advertising. I actually found this rather interesting as I am classed as disabled myself and also know people who have disabilities so this was something that is actually quite personal to me. So I was interested to hear what this talk was about.
Steve Brookes has worked for disabled rights after becoming disabled himself.
We watched a film clip from the film called ‘Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll’
– This is about a musician/artist called Ian Duray who does have a disability, and that disability is polio. But this film isn’t focused on his disability its focused on Duray himself. He once said ‘People like me do not want sympathy, they want respect’.
– From watching the trailer of this film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMKjx8ilLCY I actually became quite interested in it! It does look really good and I think Ian Duray’s story is one to watch!
They spoke about Browns, a restaurant/bar in Coventry and how it ‘abled’ disabled people to have better access around the restaurant, by having flat floors, a lift and even making food and drink more accessible.
One thing they touched upon was by saying that we are all in a sense ‘disabled’. By saying things like anxiety issues, dyslexia, and even OCD’s could be classed as a disability. I do not agree with this, I can see how they could disable people with these issues from doing certain things, but I am pretty sure they wouldn’t like to be classed as disabled, I mean come on, no one does even those who do have disabilities such as hearing impairments and growth disabilities. They have a mental illness, its as simple as that and I felt when they stated that it was a little offensive to be honest.
One thing they really got into was the labelling of disabilities, in how society separates the abled and disabled, but with this they were saying how the solution should be to say that they or we are differently abled rather then disabled. I agree with this as it is a lighter term and isn’t really separating them/us. As they were saying we read labels for identity. Me personally I think this is down to the media and how they stereotype people, like the disabled but not only that, race, gender, fashion, looks etc. I personally hate the media sometimes. Another thing the touched upon relating to the media is the absence of disabled people, and this could show that they do not matter. I agree with that as it is leaving them out and showing that they’re not abled to work within the media. In the 1980’s was when advertising started t include disabled people. However in advertising there is stereotyping, like showing how they are pathetic or pitiable, object to violence, laughable, a burden, non sexual etc and these are all negative ideas. Another thing the touched upon was how disabled people are either the victims or the villains. Like in films bad guys always have a disability, gangsters have a facial disfigurement and villains have things like a sight impairment or hooks etc. Like within photography and I agree they are right black and white photos are used a lot when advertising a campaign for a charity or telling a story of a disabled person as it makes it more serious which does work for what they are doing but again its showing it in a bad light and their body language is very sheltered, showing that they are vulnerable and I’m sure this isn’t how they wish to be shown and the camera angle can often be looking down on them.
Like images like this, its very distressing which works as it can shock an emotion into viewer reacting enough of an emotion within them to make a change. However this may not be how disabled people wish to be represented, and maybe photographers and advertising agencies should try and work with them, like letting the subject have more say in the photo and giving them a bit more control too.
Then it was bought up how it is possible to include disabled people in advertising by making a positive impression whilst selling a product rather then a negative one, or by focusing on their disability either, more about focusing on the product being sold. M&S managed to do it in their winter advert last year, with having a down-syndrome boy in it, but they weren’t focusing on his disability, the focus was on the clothes he was wearing and he was included with lots of other children too, so he wasn’t separated from anything. This was a lovely advert, that didn’t segregate anyone, and gave put a really positive message! Here is the advert they were talking about.
One thing that bothered me a bit was when they were speaking about comedians, and how they make disabilities comical, and when they were speaking about this, it was as if that was a bad thing. I completely disagreed with this as that is their opinion which they are more then welcome to, but I believe everyone is different as some people deal with things differently and being able to joke about things like your disability is just some peoples way of handling things and making their situation a bit lighter. You have disabled comedians who quite often make a joke out of themselves and its because they’re trying to show that they don’t want to be taking seriously and want to make others laugh which I think is admirable as its personally how I deal with things.
The reason I mainly attended this talk was to see what the task was at the end, as we need an artefact from this talk for one of projects in the module 154MC. The task we were set was to make an advertisement, for the photographers it was set around education, and we have to take a photograph which would be accompanied by a statement/text. Within this image you have to have a disabled person within the photo but not have it so the focus is on them, so that the focus is on what they are doing so the course or education they are enrolled in. As part of the task you work in pairs, so I will be working Natasha, couldn’t of asked for a better partner! And we have our idea set! All we need to do now is take our photograph! And we are going to focus on my disability of asthma, as its something that isn’t really focused or even classed as a disability but is subtle enough for the focus to not be on me. I will upload our results soon!
I really found this talk interesting and it seems like Steve Brookes is a very inspirational person, after his accident, he has not let it stop him and even proved his doctors wrong as they thought he wouldn’t walk again, where a now he does, yes he needs the aid of a walking stick and finds it struggle getting up stairs etc. But he does not let that stop him and is even involved in charities and travels around the country promoting inclusion without exclusion for disabled people! He is an ambassador of Disability Rights UK! Its people like this that are an inspiration as they fight for what they believe in but also carry on like normal, they’re not disabled they just function a bit differently.
On the 3rd of November I went to see my second film at the Eastwinds Film Festival. This film was called Pee Mak and was Comedy/ Romance film.
Before this film started, we actually had the chance of seeing the director Banjong Pisanthana, and he gave few comments, one of them which caught my interest was that the film was based on an urban Thailand legend. So I did a bit of research into this legend, and its a tragic love story, where wife and husband are separated by war as he is asked to fight in it. During his time at war, Nak (his wife) gives birth to their child, but due to unfortunate circumstance they both during the childbirth. When Mak (the husband) returns from war, he finds both his wife and son waiting for him.Unfortunately they are both ghosts and when Mak sees this he flees to a temple where ghosts cannot enter and Nak terrorises the town and is eventually captured by an exorcist. There are lots of versions of this story.
(info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Nak_Phra_Khanong)
The film I saw was pretty similar to this story but had a happier ending, where Mak loved Nak that much that he wanted to still live with her regardless of her being a ghost, it was rather sweet, some may even say sickly sweet, but I thought it was cute! It was a lot lighter and that’s thanks to the comedy within it. What I really loved about this film was the mix of genres within it, you had comedy, romance, and horror. There even seemed to be a bit of suspense within the film as there were parts that made you jump, it was quite funny hearing people in the audience scream and jump! One thing that confused me a bit was the time period it was set in as it wasn’t clear, there were a lot of modern references like Spiderman ones but the technology used within the film was very scarce and minimalist. It was very gripping, I didn’t want to stop watching, I was totally hooked by the story and am even considering buying this on DVD and would 100% recommend it to any of my friends. there were parts within this film that even reminded me of me and my boyfriend, it was so cute and the film at the end even had me in tears! I wish I had bought tissues! It was definitely a very cute love story and the story was easy to follow and not get lost in, there was not a moment when I tried to check the time, it went by that quickly! A good thing is that after the film the director spoke a bit and even mentioned how his films were available on Youtube, which is great as this is a film I would definitely like to watch again and I am still considering getting it on DVD.
On the 2nd of November, I went to the Eastwinds Film Festival to see a film called Hardcore Comedy. I must admit when I saw the trailer for this film I thought it was either gonna be an alright film or a film I would later on regret picking to see because it looked quite crude.
This eastern film brings a lot of controversy. The film has three stories within it, but all these events all cross over. Three events that happened on the same night and these three events all face different issues, very controversial issues. Drug use, Gangs, Brothels, Gambling and much more. When I watched the trailer for this film I honestly thought that it would just be about sex, that it would be completely crude with hardly any story behind it, and I was wrong, the fact that they crossed over three events all into one story was cleverly executed and it did manage to face all those issues with little events and still make it funny. This is a sex comedy with a twist, it also has over genres in there, like gangster references and romance and this makes the film to me slightly more relatable. With the first part, it was about a brothel and two men that live there, internet hackers, and this part of the three part story was crude but I feel they have done that so it is crude enough to not be seen as erotic in any sense, its just very funny and shocking, and the camera angles were very intimate, up close and personal. The second part was about a guy in need of money so he does some deliveries of drugs, but ends up falling in love with a girl he has to deliver too, and with this I like how they have lightened up this serious situation by adding love into it, it was sweet. The third part faced two issues gambling and gangs, this had more of the sense of violence in it but again also had romance within and by making one of the gang leaders quite camp, it lightened the mood up further, as it made it quite comical. One thing I have noticed throughout this film though is how they seem to look down on fat people, especially fat women. They were never shown in a beautiful light, always as something grotesque, and to me that am horrible and slightly offensive. So this was something I did not enjoy about the film.
To conclude Hardcore comedy is not a show for the faint hearted but if you want to watch a film with plenty of story with a mix of genres, then this is the film for you as it certainly covers all of that and in a very clever way. This film faces a lot of hard hitting issues, but tackles it in a way to make it funny, to make it more light hearted.
When heading into this Research Panel I was expecting a talk on Gender an Emotions. This first sentence may tell you that this is not what I received, it is partially true not but not entirely.
Our first guest speaker was Francien Broekhuizen, she has been researching into bridal identity and the effects thats feminism and class has on it, well this was what I gathered when trying to listen to her, she wasn’t really stood by the mic much so I could not hear and I feel that she was rather nervous when speaking too, which is understandable, heck I would be too. During her talk about her research she bought up about the economic crisis and and the affect that it has on weddings. During her slides she bought in extracts from interviews that she had I felt this was great primary research and is something I could include within my presentations or research in the future. Also she bought in tv and films like Bride Wars and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, making it more relatable for us the viewers/listeners, it keeps us more involved and interested. However I didn’t really find this talk very interesting and all I really got from it was that she spoke more about middle class rather then any of class or how it could affect the men of the wedding too. I personally feel that her talk could been in slightly more depth and a little more easier to understand.
The second guest speaker was Ady Evans her talk was a lot more interesting, it was about the sexualisation and effects it has on children, girls, and men etc. Again she also included interviews within her presentation and refereed back to it a lot, meaning she had a clear structure to her presentation, I also found her easy to hear and not quite as nervous as the first speaker. What I gathered more from her talk though was the public concern with sexualisation and the effects it has on women and children. Which is very powerful and concerning as it is something all girls and parents worry about and does brings in that thought of identity too. Feminism was bought into this too.
I do feel both talks definitely involved emotion, however I do not feel that it strongly involved gender, it seemed to me that it was more bout women, men weren’t really bought into it much, and to me with wedding things I would find it more interesting to see the effects it has on men and the effects sexualisation has on men. I have taken from this though to have a well structured presentation that has information that is informative but also draws the viewer in keeping them interested and maybe having something to structure it around and refer back to throughout the presentation.
On a trip to the Tate Modern in London, me and my class visited the William Eggleston exhibition. It was part of the energy and process exhibit. His photographs fit in the category of fine art and in this exhibition his images were focused on the American South and he is well known for his work in colour in fine art. To me his images fit in with landscape photography as they are showing something some people wouldn’t normally see, an urban culture, making a person think differently to what we would normally pass every day. Some of his images are populated but the focus is fully on the people. His images are candid, evoking more of a reaction out of the viewer because what you see is what you get, in a sense from previous research I feel that his work of this urban culture does fit in with the movement new topographics as it is showing what could potentially be seen as mundane but making it interesting and beautiful. His strong colours in a sense have a vintage feel but shooting in colour allows you to see that your not shooting in a specific time but the here and now and to me that involves an audience a bit more as it is current and having colour mean they can relate to the scene more, emphasise rather then sympathise in a sense. His images are a way of showing a lifestyle, the American culture.
When looking at Eggleston’s images, quite a few stuck out to me.
– With this the focus is on what seems to be a crossing guard but his wide framing leads you over the the left hand side where you see a little boy holding something. It is landscape image, with a large framing which to me is to keep the audience guessing what is going on in the rest of the world outside the frame. This image just stuck out to me.
– This immediately stuck out to me because its quite a colourful image for something that is meant to be seen as quite atmospheric and gloomy. Also the fact that the gravestone says “Smith’ is rather interesting too as that is quite a common name so you couldn’t even fathom a guess as to who this person could be.
– When I saw this image of the light bulb, it automatically reminded me of Minor White and his skill for re-sculpting boring or passable every day objects/scenery and making them into something more memorable. The only difference is that it is in colour.
I really enjoyed this exhibit and I can see how it fits in with energy and process as its the energy and process within the American culture.I still think it fits in well with landscape photography its just going against the typical conventions, having populated images, images that show you a place you may not have visited before, letting you experiencing their lifestyles and having it in colour really emphasises that!
Dear future super hero fan (I hope you still are anyway!)
I would be lying if I said to you that things right now are perfect because they are not and to be fair they quite shit! As per I am ill again, and to be honest I am getting sick of it, there is nothing at the moment that the doctor can do with me, they have come at a loss so are transferring me over to Leicester to get a second opinion and to see if they can help me anymore and put me on a different form of medication, to try and help bring my asthma under control. As be we both know at the moment it is completely unpredictable and I am not a well person. What is more frustrating is that till I get transferred over to Leicester I have to put up with being ill every 2 weeks!Since 2011 I have lost 2 stone in weight, which is great as I have been working very hard at losing it, its just a challenge and takes me longer due to being on steroids which puts the weight on, another thing that angers me quite a lot as a lot of people judge me without knowing my back story and realising that I have a valid reason for being the way I am, and Im not happy with my weight, so I am going to continue to keep losing weight as it will benefit my health too, people just irritates me sometimes when they’re so judgemental, I blame the media for that! Enough ranting for now though, I do hope that you continue to do well with your weight loss and become more confident with yourself.
On a lighter note though other things couldn’t be better1 You have a great boyfriend who has just given me a promise ring, he treats me like a queen and honestly makes me so happy, we could not be stronger and yes I do miss him now he’s gone to university, as I love him, I lost my virginity to this guy, and every time I visit him and say goodbye it hurts, but I trust him with my life and honestly know we will be fine and I would do anything for him. I also have amazing friends who have been through a lot with me, and always give me great advice or support when I’m down about my nan (as we know I only lost her last year) or with my weight or health, and because of this I would literally do anything for them and I know thats how they are with me (I hope this is still the case as I do not wish to lose any of them!). Also even though I argue with them lots, and I mean at the minute lots but family are still very good to me, I am considering moving out as I believe it will make our relationship stronger and down the arguing, well I hope so (and only you will know if I have made that decision) but I do love them lots and would be lost without them as they are very supportive! Also you have started university now which Im sure you and hope your still doing great in and working hard! Not to many wild parties he he! I know that through your problems you always manage to do work, so I am not bothered about that and I know you will enjoy the more independent level and become successful within the photography business as I know thats where you strive to be in the end! Never be down about that missy!
I’m going to sign off now, but I hope things clear up for you next year, especially your health and continue to keep looking after the boys1 I’m sure they’re just as cheeky as ever!! And remember with great power comes great responsibility!
Karley Foy Photography 