Collin Grey
Grey has been subverting ideas about the classic homely family photo by focus. Many of them having a dream-like twist or inspiration creating absurdist photos about serious topics such as age and sex. These topics live in a liminal space of truth as they are about Grey's parents' generation but not about them as people. Looking back on this now it seems Grey sees this as an example of his distance with his parents and also how we may assume things about the elderly for example that they don't have sex .
"I wanted my personal work to be visually expressive and not let the visual style overwhelm the personal and emotional content of these images."
This image is interesting to me as the direct contrast between the two seems to be exaggerated by the black line between them. This line is not straight which makes the difference seen uncanny as if it is a splitting of worlds. The depth in this image is also interesting as the woman looks on behind him. The lighting separates the two as he is not lit , creating negative space. The colours in this image are mostly monotone apart from the woman and her chair that are vibrant, her coral chair mirroring his red lips.
Larry Sultan
"I wanted to puncture this mythology of the family and to show what happens when we are driven by images of success. And I was willing to use my family to prove a point.”
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Sultan uses domestic dreamscapes to picture his family in photos from home which primarily focus on his mother and father in their home in San Fernando, In a place of judgment of the Regan era's pressure on an already crumbling family dynamic. His project started in 1982 and spanned a decade which led to a spark of intrigue around surrounding the ageing of the greatest generation and the failings of the American dream the had been given as they faced seeing a struggling America where a 'great' one had stood.
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This message is interesting to me s the difference in light is organic and based on the depth of the newspaper; the man's arms create a vague shadow which disguises the man's shape. The background has a reflection which follows the shape of the shadows in the foreground. The knees of the man cut across the bottom off the image and the man entirely which causes a further disruption; the layer of paper creates a kind of rip through the image. The depth in this image is strange as it resembles a normal family photo. I think this is due to the composition as it does not follow the rule of thirds as the subject is in the middle of the photo. However this is subverted as there is no subject. In fact I think the subject of this photo is the idea of media consumption of the time that Sultan often explored as the newspapers of the time usually targeted this demographic of young families. |
Tina Rowe-My mother's house
This project began when Rowe's mother died in 2017 choosing to use a disabled camera with a wide angle lens. I find this choice interesting as this produces a surreal experience as the house is pictured as she felt it was as a child with one photo titled 'My Room'. Rowe takes ownership of this by photographing the home through a transitional stage as it becomes not hers, not her mother's, but a memento of the life her mother lived.
This image reflects some other themes I have seen in the Postcards From Home project as it has simple composition with a focus on sides. This image is split by the brightness from the window that seems out of place in the dark-filled room. There seems to be some tension between the light and dark of the room as we enter with dark and leave with light hinting at transitional nature of this place for Rowe who grew in this room. The depth in this image is the subject of the photo making the room seem like a hallway, the bright shoes on the floor breaking this and continuing the light into the foreground of the image. They do not draw attention and seem simply an extension of the light. Depth in this image is created through high lights making the room seem detailed as if the school books on the shelves are still in use and have appeal.
Frank Frances
For this reaction I chose to use still life as I found Frances' work on the idea of time and how time changes the context of a thing and how spending time crafting something can increase its value very interesting. This made me think of my hair routine and how I've turned my childhood perceptions of my densely curly hair as painful and shameful into something that helps me get out of a rut or feel better. The time I've spent learning about my hair has helped me love it and I wanted to honour that by focusing on the reflection and diffusion of light in my images as a way of showing focus on these products. I used a piece of reflective over my set and due to its bendiness this distorted the shape of the props.
My still lifes
I think this shoot went well as I experimented with many different uses of light and angles. However i think i could have improved this by adding more props that distort my other items i will do 1234567890.
This is my favourite photo as i had two types of lighting that seem to push against each other creating a curved bold line in the background of the image. I think this was a happy accident as it reflects the curves of colour in the still life. I put a light behind the products to show the use of these products as they are open with the idea of use. The light helped show the texture of the products as some light goes through the plastic or reflects on the metal and produces highlights of circular shapes that add layers to the image. The light becomes more intense in the reflection as it shows the space between the products. The reflection in this image disturbs the surrounding space and makes it seem like a distorted sense of depth as it seems closer. |
Collaborative Photoshoot
we used fabric over lights to diffuse it and give colour to the space.
Niall McDiarmid- breakfast
This series focuses on the ritual of family life broken apart by changes of light that are lightly framed by windows, people and everyday objects. I personally wonder if McDiarmid's opinion on breakfast changed over the course of the four years. I think that this focus on breakfast is interesting as we have changed into a world where we commercialise this time but also say that due to late stage capitalism we have lost it especially in the professional middle classes. Because of this I wonder whether McDiarmid explored both the changes in this time and specifically the class differences.
my reaction - artist visit
what i learned from the visit
What I dislike about these photos is the style in general as I tend to like more abstract conceptual art.
Winter postcards from home
For this project i chose to focus on the feeling of wanting to go home whilst being home. For most of winter i laided in bed crying i wanted to capture how this felt.
These were blury and there was not enough light do i reetook the
I editted them to have higher contrast and clearer texture.