Contact Sheet- Creative Assignment

This is a contact sheet of all my photos.

Independent Research

Looking and Seeing

-worksheet-

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Street Photography

Street photography is photographing life in general. More often than not it is actually shot on a street. There is never normally a particular subject, it is more focusing on capturing everyday life and people going about their everyday routine. Street photography is usually quite random, Street Photographers never normally sit and plan what they want their image to look like, but instead take pictures when they see the opportunity. 

The decisive movement is when a photographer captures an event, but also captures the whole meaning of the event and it is clearly seen in the image.

Juxtaposition is when you place two objects side by side to compare them or to show contrast between them. For example, in photography, you could take a picture of an insect and a leaf, to show the size comparison. 

When doing street photography there are many ethics to take into consideration. The image is mostly going to be of people, so it's important that you try any protect their identity, as some of them may not want to have their photo taken. It would be better if you tried not to get a shot of a person's whole face but of them at an angle or turning away, as that way it means that their face still isn't very clear but you still get a good shot. 

It is also important to make sure that you aren't taking any pictures of children, or if you are that you blur their faces out. For example if you are photographing a busy high street and there is a toddler in a pushchair, you have to blur their face out unless you have permission from their parents, otherwise it is illegal. 

You also have to be quite considerate towards people who aren't willing to have their photo taken. If they really object to it then it is better to just delete the photo and apologise to them, rather than cause a scene. 

You should also be mindful when photographing homeless people. Even though it would come across as a very powerful image, it isn't worth embarrassing someone and exploiting their living situation just for a picture that you think people might want to see. 

DO

-Photograph busy streets

-Take pictures of things that you feel capture everyday life

-Capture things out of the ordinary

DON'T

-Make a scene when a person doesn't want their picture taken

-Exploit peoples living situations for a piece of art

-Go for 'easy shots' ie. Street performers

I searched 'street photography' on Google images and had a look through and this is the picture that I liked the most. I like that it's so simple and it just looks like the photographer has just taken their camera out and taken a random shot, it doesn't look staged at all. It looks like it might have been taken in New York and it makes me feel quite wintry and christmassy, because of the snow. It also makes me feel quite happy. 

The photographer is Markus Hartel and he is based in NYC. His pictures are mostly in black and white and I like the fact that they all are because it keeps the pictures really simple and it doesn't come across as a big set up and as though it's staged. 

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Inspirational Photographer

There isn't really one photographer who I really like, but I do like the style of photography in Vogue. Although they use a different photographer for each new issue, I think the images in it are easily recognisable as pictures from Vogue. Even though each issue is different and some of the images are quite abstract, all of them still look classy and not overly staged.Although none of the photos are exactly the same, the running theme seems to be centred around fashion. A lot of the pictures seem to either be in black and white or quite calm colours, there are none that are extremely bright and eye catching. The Vogue photographs inspire me because they are all different and they make me want to come up with some more of my own original ideas.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/

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My Favourite Photo

My all time favourite photo is the 'Lunch atop a Skyscraper' which was taken during the construction of part of the construction of the Rockerfeller Centre in New York. I really like it because it is really laid back and doesn't look as though it's been planned out, it just looks like someone had just picked up a camera to capture the moment. The image makes me happy because it's so simple, it's just taken on a normal day with normal people.