Documentary Photography Definition

Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, or real life reportage, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit.


My interpretation:
Documentary Photography is a style which is used to capture very real and honest opinions or lifestyle, this makes them very deep in connotation and meaningful, and maybe sometimes relatable.

Strom Thorgerson Research

Storm Thorgerson was an English Graphic Designer. He is best known for his multiple work with rock artists including Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, as he also directed music videos and designed their album covers.

I very much like his work because of the abstract and sometimes slightly surreal aspects. This gives his picture interesting and unique features that make his work recognisable and memorable. Whilst his pictures have surreal elements, I like his use of vibrant and saturated colours to contrast this theme. A common theme in a lot of his pictures is the bright blue sky, as his pictures, especially his personal works, are mainly located outside, on a wide spread of empty space, with a clear and bright blue sky. Then he inserts various types of foreground images in a 4th plinth style. I like how he uses shadows and works very well and cleverly with lighting, to make the images he inserts, very life like looking, like they belong there.

Location/Landscape Work Diary

Description of Shoot:
In this shoot, we went on a class trip to Trafalgar Square to take pictures. I focused on taking location and landscape pictures.

Best Images: 

 I liked this picture because of how it is quite rustic and quite abandoned looking, like it's not taken good care of. As well as being an amazing city filled with very famous landmarks, there are also some places in London that are not so looked after, places that represent the real London. I have edited this picture to put a cooling filter on it, and to make the tones stand out more.





F/4.2    ISO 400    SS 1/30





I like this one because it shows the typical London that we all know; the London we all expect it to be.
I like the way some buildings are in the background, as a silhouette, like Big Ben Tower. I think this adds depth to the picture, as we see how the street goes really far back. In addition I really like all of the lights that create a real atmosphere of city night life. I also think this adds a lot of business to the picture, there is a lot going on. I also like the taxi in the picture and how I managed to get it in the picture when it was moving, this must have been a result of the shutter speed allowing the movement to be captured while still recognising it is a car, rather than just a blur.







F/5.6    ISO 1400    SS 1/15





Progression:

This shows a location portrait that I tried however I don't like how it turned out because of the flash, it made the model stand out too much because of the way it illuminated her but the background remains dark. I also don't really like the position she is in.

To improve this shoot I could have taken more location portraits but with no flash and I could have her look at the camera instead of looking away.

Location/Landscape Straight Images

Computer Experiments 'How To'

To invert the layer:

Copy the layer

Cmd J

Click the 'normal' drop down menu and experiment with different settings

Above is an example of a picture I took in London that I manipulated in photoshop. I inverted the colour and selected the 'lighter colour' option in the drop down box.

To add a filter:

In photoshop click on the drop down menu for filter, then select filter gallery. This offers various filter options. Many of which can distort the quality of the picture. In portraits this can make it look more anonymous as their face cannot be clearly seen.

To liquify an image:

First go to filter, then liquify then select the icon along the edge of the screen relevant to which type of tool you want to use, then edit the brush size depending to how much of the picture you want to manipulate. 

To Tilt Shift:

filter, blur gallery, tilt-shift, hold down command key and drag the grid to the place you wish to be focused. The shift grid can be rotated and adjusted.

Connecting Essays

Example 1: Alec Soth

The picture above shows one of my pictures from location portraiture. I think it resembles the work of Alec Soth because it shows someone who looks relevant and belonging to the background they are in. Showing a naturally placed picture rather than a set up in a studio. And similarly to a lot of Soth's pictures, the person in my picture is not showing much facial expression but is still looking towards the camera. So it isn't in a candid style but it does't show much emotional attachment. The picture below shows one by Alec Soth that I felt related the closest to mine.

Example 2: Heather Edwards

The picture I took above, is one from my colour shoot. I found the photographer Heather Edwards when researching natural and plant photographers. I think my picture resembles her work in terms of colour, idea and depth. This being that there is a clear fore ground and back ground that have been differentiated with a shallow depth of field to emphasis the definition of the fore ground. In terms of colour, they are both edited to be very vibrant and saturated in colour. I also think the angle and zoom of the picture resembles her work. Especially in the example below. To make my work even more similar to hers, I could make the green of the grass less vibrant and make the colours of the leaves even more saturated. In her work below, it shows the grass being quite dull in colour but this makes the pink stand out even more making it look even more bright.

Example 3: Rut Blees Luxemburg

The picture above shows one that I took in London on a trip for my landscape pictures. I think the main ways it resembles Rut Blee's work is in terms of colour, editing, lighting, connotation and the actual landscape. A lot of her work is focused on urban city scapes. The example below has connotations of mystery and the city night life and how it can seem like quite a scary place to be. I think my picture also shows this because of the way I have edited it to show emphasis on the dark shadows, this shows a tonal contrast. I also edited the colour levels and saturation of my picture to make the yellow and orange undertones more strong. She does this in the majority of her pictures.

Example 4: Irving Penn

Irving Penn is best known for his low exposure, low key lighting, studio portraits. The picture above that I took is my favourite picture from my low key lighting studio shoot. The resemblance is with the tone and lighting. This is because of the shadows that cut out some of the face, this has been done with Penn's picture below. This makes the portrait seem quite abstract and also have a mysterious connotation as areas of the face have been taken over by negative space. To make my picture resemble his work even more I could zoom into the face further like he has done in the example below.

To further the connection between the two, I edited the picture in photoshop. I focused on making the picture black and white, and creating that low exposure and really high tonal contrast.

Example 5:

Landscape Image Bank

I like this image because I like the way the colours and tones all work together. Especially in the sky and the way the red tinted clouds work against the muted blue sky. I also like the angle the picture has been taken from as all the trees are in line and leading downwards and we can see that direction. I also like the simplicity of the trees, I think it has quite a powerful connotation as trees are known for being very bright and full with green leaves however seeing trees in such a bare way is quite contradicting. I think this portrays quite a lonely connotation.

I like how this picture has been taken from above so we can see the rooftops peering through hills. In addition I think the background horizon of what appears to be a landscape of factories and smoke. I think whilst this is not very obvious as it appears to be quite far away in the picture and can't see much detail, I think it adds depth to the picture. I also think the dark tones and shadows give the picture quite a mysterious connotation.

I really like the overall effect and connotation of this picture. The denotations are a very shadowed and transport tree landscape that has been reflected. I think the reflection and the way the clouds start to fade into the trees it makes the trees look like they're fading away. I think this has a mysterious connotation as it is quite an abstract way of seeing a landscape. I think the tonal contrast and the simplicity of the picture helps build this connotation.

I like this picture because of the abstract aspect of it. This is because the picture shows the top of the skyscrapers but because of the dark shadows, the rest of the buildings is quite difficult to see. This makes the picture have quite eery and daunting connotation because of the dark tones and shadows. I think it's quite powerful how there is no other objects, like the background is very plain, this makes the buildings stand out even more. 

I like the way the back half of the picture is overpowered by the clouds and mist. This makes the picture have quite a frightening effect as the building in itself is quite strange and ancient looking. I also think the way the picture has been manipulated, especially the way the dark tones have been accentuated, in addition the way the colours have been muted, this adds to the eeriness as bright colours portray happiness and adds life to the picture.