Bibliography

Research links:

http://happijack.tumblr.com/ - blurred face of girl
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/blurred-face - research into blurred photography

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002260/ - Melissa Moseley imdb
http://melissamoseley.com/ - Melissa Moseley's website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weegee - Weegee information
http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/ - Weegee
http://www.amber-online.com/exhibitions/weegee-collection - Weegee Famous photos collection

Amazon.com
Amazon.de           <---- Illustrative photography examples (true crime and fiction - what i chose)
Amazon.fr
Amazon.co.uk

Evaluation

I shot my final images for the William S Burroughs book - Interzone using a medium format 120 camera, 6x7. I shot using f/16 double exposure. I also shot on a T setting using a cable release. I wanted to create an image similar to what I had found in my research and I wanted to encorporate the two.
I set up the camera, the film and got the model (Tim Hetherington) to stand infront of the camera whilst I focused and corrected the settings to suit the photo. I used natural lighting as it created a really natural image but with a difference, the blurry face.
After I had taken my photos I then processed them, using a canister, developer, stop bath and fixn according to instructions. Once the images has been processed onto the negatives I then printed them. For this I used test strips;

negatives

test strips

After I had found out which light exposure was the right amount (2-3 seconds), I then used an enlarger and printed my final images onto photographic paper. Once I was happy with my images I scanned them onto the computer and began to design my book covers.

Book cover 1 - this is simply one image scanned onto the computer and placed under the penguin template, it turned out okay but could be more interesting.

Book cover 2 - For this book cover I used the negatives and a printed image, I think it gives it a very rough feel to the book, which is relevant to the book itself. The book is set in the 50's and i feel that the negatives do give and oldy-worldy effect to cover. I also created a blue version of this to add some colour and more emotion into the image.

Book cover 3 - I really like this book cover, I overlayed 3 of the finished prints ontop of each other and changed the opacity on each one until it looked right, it gives the image even more movement and created an interesting effect.

Book cover 4 - This is the same image as the one above but I have changed the grain, added a filter and changed the colour. I changed the colour to blue, simbolizing a certain mood. This is my favourite of the book covers that I have created. The grain adds even more to rough feel of the book.

I feel that I have reflected my research well in that format that I wanted to encorporate Weegee and Mellissa Moseley. I have encorporated Weegee by capturing in black white, creating a grainy photo and making it quite dark and mysterious. I have encorporated Melissa Moseley by capturing a lot of emotion, even though the models face is infact emotionless.
I am very pleased with my work, but I would have liked to have shot more some photos perhaps on the a white background also, to see how it turned out.

my final images

My first image shot using the medium format camera turned out well, I used a 1 second exposure - this is also a double negative that helped to create the blurry effect. I really like the shadows and how they have created a half faced shot. This is my favourite one out the three that i shot.

 

 

The second image is really good because of the blurry-ness that was created. I really like how focused the shirt is, it looks better than the first one.

My third image also turned out really well, i particularly like the lighting in this image.

I also have my negatives which I would like to use in my final product.

interzone covers (photoshop)

I have created some covers using photoshop and other peoples work to give an example of what you could do.

Portfolio link

http://meganportfolio123.tumblr.com/

Interzone book cover

I have decided to recreate a book cover for interzone by Willain S Burroughs. I thought it could be a really fun and interesting shoot to do. Although the current photo for the cover is quite literal to the title I wanted to push my imagination and do something more interesting and exciting. Some examples of the previous covers are these

 American Version

 Penguin modern classic version

From amazon.fr

This is the current cover for the book, i really like it. The photography has really used the penguin grid well.

I am planning on doing an image using film to recreate the 50s feel, as the book is set in 1954. I plan to capture a photo of someone shaking the head from side to side on a slow exposure to make their face really blurry. After I have developed the photo I am going to put a 50s style border on the print and carry it around in my pocket so it gets roughed up and looks more authentic. The photo style (border etc) will be similar to this;

The feel of the photo that I want is quite dark, but relatable. The book is set in North Africa, so I want to try and keep the background as neutral as possible. An example of the blurry face is this;

 

 

 

Blurry faces often are associated with being out of control, missing an identity or dealing with a struggle within yourself. I though that this was a good idea for the cover because the book is about a drug addict who is offensive and lives in a fantasy world.

I want to encorporate the work of Melissa Moseley and Weegee in my shot. I plan to encorporate Weegee by using a model for the front cover, much like crime books. I want to encorporate Moseley by capturing a strong sense of emotion in the shot.

ED2 photo assignment 2 - photographer 2

For my still photographer I have chosen to Melissa Moseley. She is known for stills during films such as Inception, The Notebook, Superbad, Killers and many more. http://melissamoseley.com/Category.cfm?nL=0&nS=0&nK=12989&i=170994

Melissa Moseley always knew that she wanted to work within the film industry but it wasn't uintil later she discovered that stills was what she was good at.

Her work is really really good and captivating. Some examples of her work;

Drag Me To Hell

Spider Man

The Notebook

The notebook

The notebook - (cover)

Her work really catches my eye because she captures a moment in a single shot, her photographs are always really powerful and full of emotion.

ED2 photo assignment 2 - photographer 1

The first photography in the style of true crime is Arthur Fellig, also known as Weegee. Many of his photos have been used in books as he used to tend to be the only man who got the shot needed. Born on 12 June 1899 In Ukraine, he worked in the lower East Side of New York as a press photographer and became popular from his signature style of stark black and white photos, he would follow emergency services and document their activity. He published photographic books and he also worked in cinema with directors such as Stanley Kunrick and Jack Donohue.
 self portrait


He used a 4x5 Speed graphic camera, f/16 at 1/200 of a second. He had no photographic training and was self taught, he had previously worked in a dark room as a technician. He was the only reporter allowed to listen to the police frequency radio, he maintained a complete dark room in the boot of his car. His photographs have been shown in the Museum of Modern Art and in many exhibitions and books.
Some examples of his work

 

ED2 photo assignment 2 - Two styles of illustrative photography

The first style of illustrative photography I am researching is non-fiction crime book covers. These are my favourite types of books and they always have really interesting and captivating covers. The covers of the books tend to have a direct link to the book, e.g the crime scene, the characters or something to do with what is written inside, as it is based on fact.

 The first book that I am going to look at is the Essex Boys book, which features some 'newspaper cut out' type font for the title, a photo of each of the Essex Boys and the range rover that they were found shot in.

This cover really interested me because it shows where they died, who they were and it makes you want to read the book to find out what happened. 

The second book I really like the cover of is Inside The Mind of a Murderess, which is about Myra Hindley, the infamous Moors murderer. The cover is really unique because it is very plain and simple, but with a picture of her mugshot that became really famous around the world. When people think of Myra Hindley they think of that one photo, so the book is linked with the photo now. 

Another cover that is an example of a true crime book is Charles Bronson's book, which also has a photo of himself as the cover, up until the recent block buster film 'Bronson' came out, and it now has a picture of Tom Hardy in his role of Bronson.

The real Charles Bronson

Tom Hardy as Charles Bronson in the film

 A lot of books do this. When they become big movies they tend to have the actors on the cover, rather than the original cover before it became a film. It helps the audience to know that it is a film and also a lot of people will read the book after the film. This is the second style of illustrative photography that I want to research, fiction stories that became films. It's popular to show the movie on the book because more people watch films than read, and the best way to advertise a book is through it's biggest seller - the movie.

The first book I have chosen is the lovely bones, originally the cover was of a bracelet floating in water (relevant to the story) and it was very simple and intriguing. The bracelet is mentioned numerously throughout the book and it's quite specific so if you have read the book you will recognise the unique house bracelet charm. 

Once the film was turned into the motion picture, it featured a still of what happens in the film. Including the field that plays a big part in the film/book,  the main actor and actress. The movie is also filmed in and interesting light and style, and this is reflected in the cover.

My Sister's Keeper is another example of this, there have been quite a few different covers for this book until it became a movie. The cover shows two young girls, presumably sisters - referring to the title. It looks very angelic and very light. All the covers before the film show either two girls or only one, because the book is based heavily in the main character. 

The film came out and the covers now show the mother (cameron diaz), the younger daughter and the older daughter. The book did not include the mother in the cover because the book is quite different to the movie. Also they have used the mother featured in the cover because the actress is famous and shows a direct link to the movie. Interestingly though, the font of the authors name has not changed throughout all the covers, showing a sort of stamp on her books.

Another example of this is the really popular, The Notebook. The cover before the film showed an old American style porch that's painted white (highly relevant to the story). It also has some handwriting on the cover, that implies a handwritten letter which is also very relevant to the story.

Once the film came out the cover changed, but not too much. The picture changed but the font and writing pretty much stayed the same. Now shown on the cover is a still from the famous kissing in the rain scene in the movie. This is also the DVD cover and is most iconic image of the film.

Evaluation ED2 photo assignment 1

Overall I feel that this assignment has gone well, I used pinhole, photogram and large format.

The large format camera, the 5x4 camera we used was quite difficult but it was also fun, we used 6x7 paper. I had to re-do my shot about 5 times because the photography paper kept getting jammed in the slides. We exposed the picture for 8 seconds and flashed the lights inbetween, my photo took only 2 flashes and it has come out quite well. I think if i had done more flashes it would have been better quality. When using the large format camera you have to focus the picture first, with a blanket over your head to enable you to see the picture (its also upside down). After you have focused your image, you have to open the shutter, attach the cable release and take the picture.

If i had used more flashes it would be a lot better, i inverted the image also. During developing, the photo developed really quickly. I am pleased with my photo and would like to use large format again. 

This is an inverted pinhole camera photo;

 

Pinhole cameras give a really interesting, unique and a bit weird effect to a photo. The pinhole camera I used was on old biscuit tin with a shutter, lense and film. I used photographic paper to capture the image (exposed for 20 seconds). After developing I then scanned and inverted it on the computer. I think it turned out quite well for a first go, it would have been better if I had stood closer to the camera though. Also, the image is a bit dark as it was a cloudy day.

 

I also tried photogram, where you put some of your belongings on some photogrpahic paper and expose the light to it for a number of seconds (1-5 seconds for me) from the enlarger. You then develop the photograph and scan it onto the computer.

 

I also used a DSLR (previously posted edited photos). I find using digital easiest as I can play around with it a bit more but film can give some really interesting results. As a whole I felt that I did okay at the assignment but with more time and practice could have done a lot better.

Medium format ED2 photo assignment 1

Medium format cameras refer to cameras that typically use film on media larger 24 by 36mm. My favourite form of medium format cameras are low budget lomography cameras such as Diana and Holga, they give a really interesting and unique feel to photos. Although they are cheap and cheerful, the photos are wonderful and really interesting.


Because this is a fun camera, it comes in a range of colours.



The Holga 135Bc is a 35mm lomography camera and costs on average £25. The Holga has a 47mm lens, f/8. It is a manual focus camera, and it has a variable shutter speed. The lens has four focus setting - portrait, small group, big group and infinity. You can attach a flash into the hotsoe and away you go. Because it is standard 35mm developing you can get it developed in every shop, dark room and studio.

Some examples of work done with a Holga
 




The Holga135bc takes 35mm film, negatives and colour and slide.

Large format - Ebony SV45U ED2 photo assignment 1

The large format camera takes sheet film, it used for high quality photos. There are three common types of large format cameras; the view camera, the press camera and the field camera. The large format cameras typically are slow to use so are best using on static objects, because you have to focus onto the object. If the object moves then the picture would be ruined.


This is the Ebony SV45U. It costs around £4,000.
The SV45U is similar to the classic cameras, such as SV45TE. It has asymmetric tilts and swings, allowing it easier use. This is a view camera, it folds.

These are some examples of what the Ebony SV45U can do.
  

Large format uses sheet film which is loaded into these;

The sheets cover the film so it is not exposed to the light before it has been developed,
Here is an example of how the film is loaded


The difference between medium and large format is the size of the film and the cameras used to take the photos. Medium format is anything between 24-36mm. The most common type is 35mm, standard size. Anything above 36mm is considered large format.