Evidence is the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid. It can also be described as proof, verification and confirmation. Photographs are often used as evidence as they capture a moment in time, usually without changing the information that it gives.
In society photographs are used as historical evidence, evidence of people who are associated with troubling the law.
In Mandel and Sultan's book Evidence they removed captions from images found in archives from big companies in industrial America. The removal of captions makes the images more poetic and open to interpretation. They found it interesting that these photos were originally used as scientific proof for people's work. However, without the captions we are not able to decipher the original meaning of the image.
In society photographs are used as historical evidence, evidence of people who are associated with troubling the law.
In Mandel and Sultan's book Evidence they removed captions from images found in archives from big companies in industrial America. The removal of captions makes the images more poetic and open to interpretation. They found it interesting that these photos were originally used as scientific proof for people's work. However, without the captions we are not able to decipher the original meaning of the image.
Beyond Evidence
- 1977 California, Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan published the book ‘Evidence’
- 38 years later the work they did was shown in an exhibition called ‘Beyond Evidence’
- They were interested in the idea of story telling and narrating
- All positions had their own unique way of creating narratives
- The exhibition was about questioning truthfulness and whether their images were following a true narrative
- The book ‘created a whole new culture of working with photography’
- The book was about decontextualising archived images by removing the titles
- The book made people realise that using context is a key point in photography
- The two Americans went through around 2million photos to choose only 59 final images for the book
- By putting the photos together they connected, making new narratives to what the images were originally taken for
- The book tells a story through just images and not linear narratives
- In the exhibition Werker Magazine did the opposite and composed pictures into groups such as education, health and safety and the product of our wages
- They believe it is up to the reader to generate their own narrative within a certain subject
- They describe the image as an actor within the movement
- An artist Sarah Pickering, shows in her exhibition that she is not interested in the line between real and fake but more the way that stories are developed from an original story
image interpretations
Each group were given a set of around 10 images from Jack Latham's book called Sugar Paper Theories, written about the disappearance of two men in Iceland. However, we got given these images before understanding what they actually represented, letting us interpret them in our own ways.
This was the final story line that me and a pair created. Our story was based around a murder where the convict had managed to escape the scene without being caught. He then decides to reflect on his life and realises turning himself in would help him settle his brain. After serving the rightful time he decides to rebuild his life and improve it in remembrance of the man he murdered.
They Grey Area
At this point in history we are less trustful of photographs telling the truth and showing the real story. This is because over the years more photographers have began staging their work. As well as this technology has improved and come a long way. Photoshop apps have become a lot more popular as their attention to small details have become so accurate that people would't second guess the changes they made. Another reason trust in photography has been lost is due to major superpowers using photos as propaganda. Countries such as America use photos to advertise their products. To make these come across as something that customers want and need the images would be staged to advertise the product as completely positive causing us to loose trust. This causes problems for photographers in the modern day as they feel they almost have to prove the truthfulness of their images. As media is such a huge part of todays society it raises questions to whether the images are the photographers own, whether they have been edited or if they have staged the image. On the other hand, photographers may choose to take advantage of 'The Grey Area'. If they expect people to believe their images are fake already they may decide to stage their images as it won't change people's opinions. For example, they may ask their 'natural' model to change out of their original clothing and into a costume the photographer has chosen.
In order to take these images I decided to walk around the school and take them of anything that appeared as suspicious or mysterious. I found that areas that were empty or was not possible to see into more fit for the grey area theme.
A Parliament of owls by jack latham
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These are images from Jack Latham’s collection of 74 photos and 3 illustrations. Latham decides to investigate Bohemian Grove, a secret society. It is a restricted campground in California that belongs to a group of some of the most powerful men. The group meet for a two week retreat, once a year in the forest. Latham decided to work for years to uncover the secrecy and conspiracy theories. His book contains a variety of his own images as well as archival images taken from different forms such as newspapers. This mix of his own and not, helps Jack uncover the Bohemian Grove in more detail.
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Sugar paper theories by jack latham
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Jack Latham’s book ‘sugar paper theories’ is a collection of 46 coloured photographs, 37 black and white photographs, along with 8 illustrations and 9 press cuttings. Jack decided to explore the grey area of the Gudmundur and Geirfinnur case. This case was considered extremely controversial. Six people were convicted of the two’s murder. However, there was no legitimate evidence. Instead there was proof found after that the police may have acted unethically in order to get these confessions. Whilst being held, the six would endure different torture methods in an attempt to brainwash them. This included getting the group to reenact the murder scene and allow the police to take photographs. These photos would then be used as fake ‘evidence’ to show the six, convincing them that they are guilty.
clocks for seeing
John goto
John Goto is a photographer who created the photo book ‘Lovers’ Rock’, published in 2013. John Goto’s book is a collection of 45 portraits taken of young British African-Caribbeans at a youth club in Lewisham. Goto took these images whilst teaching photography at the Lewisham Youth Centre in south east London. He worked there for two years where he became a familiar face to the people that attended, and over time he built up relationships with them.
He took these images in the 1970s and titled the book Lover’s Rock. It was named after a genre of reggae music that was rooted from South London. The music is known for its romantic sound. I think this perfectly reflects his portraits as they show the positive love between the members of the youth club as well as the strength of their relationships with Gotto. His images show multiple individuals as well as couples sat on a single chair with a plain background. The images are simplistic yet have a long history behind them. Goto decided to take these images to show the people he worked with not only as people but for the history that comes with them. Making these set of portraits beautiful with a story behind each one.
Julian germain
Julian Germain published a book called For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds Of Happiness. The photo book is a collection of portraits taken of an elderly man who used this quote regularly so Germain decided it was a perfect fit for the title of his book. The man in the book is called Charles Snelling and the two met in 1992 after he decided to knock on Germain’s door for the vibrant flowers on sale in his window. Following this meeting, they worked together, documenting Snelling’s life for 8 years and built up a strong friendship.
Charles Snelling’s wife had passed away but his personality represents optimism and hope for the future. He keeps an album full of photographs of her as a memory and Julian puts a picture of the album in his book. Although we can assume Snelling was heartbroken over her passing Germain portrays him as the most happy man. Throughout the project, Germain follows Snelling’s life and the things that he decides to do. In a viewers appearance his life seems extremely wholesome and happy. He decides to stay busy and live a good life for his wife who died. Each portrait shows a different moment within his life. However, we are also left to question the decisions made by Snelling the subject.
This is my favourite portrait from the book as it gives off radiant energy. The bright blue car against the yellow house with an orange door reminds me of the sun. Perhaps it is on purpose to try and represent the happiness of Snelling. Charles is sat in the car grinning happily and it creates a warm atmosphere for the viewer. Personally, it makes me see the happy in life, even if it is the small things. Julian has captured a man who has been heartbroken and lost one of the most important people in his life but is somehow still laughing and smiling. He represents optimism and happiness which I think is something Germain must have grown attached to during this project. For me, he is inspirational as he brings light to the world even through his hardest moments. I think this book was so successful because of the message that Germain is sharing. As a generation we have become more aware of mental health and how it affects us and I think Julian wanted to show the audience that there is hope even in the darkest of times. And he has done this successfully through Charles Snelling.
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Juuso Westerlund
Weterlund decided to photograph his kids through their childhood. He described the pictures as poems he didn’t know how to write. His images capture important memories the Juuso has a personal connection with. He says the images he has taken were not captured because of an unusual situation but to salvage the memories for himself. Westerlund describes a painful relationship with his dad who passed away when he was nine from alcoholism. He describes his death as one that he wasn’t overly upset about as the memories he does have with him were not happy ones. He uses this project to question “ what does childhood mean, how does it feel to be a child?”
This is my favourite image from Juuso Westerlund’s collection. He has photographed his son blowing a bubble with his bubblegum and holding his arm that has an old scab on it. I think this photo is a good representation of all his images as it shows his son’s true authentic self. The scratch on his arm shows his boisterous nature and suggests that he is enjoying himself when he plays. The dark background brings the focus entirely on the boy and takes all attention away from wherever he may be. The contrast of lighting is really effective as Westerlund has used shadows to reflect entirely on his son. This picture brings joy to me personally as I think it shows a true childhood by using the things that are common in every kid’s life. His messy blonde hair, the blown bubble, the scab on his arm. It brings comfort to the viewer and perhaps reminds them of the fun they had in their childhood. Juuso has chosen to take this picture to capture the moment maybe meaning that there is a strong memory behind it. This could be based on the time it was taken, the event that caused the cut or even just the fact that Westerlund thinks it perfectly symbolises his son’s life.
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First attempt
Second attempt
town to town, niall mcdiarmid
We watched and understood how Niall McDiarmid makes decisions about how he wishes to capture his environmental photography. He focuses on matching colours with the backgrounds to create an interesting composition. We decided to take photos inspired by Niall.
Fugi gs 645s medium format camera
We deceived to begin experimenting with film cameras and how the little differences in the amount of the light in the background can completely change the final image. Finding the correct the right distance to match and ensure that the camera was in focus was also a challenge. I did enjoy this task however next time I would like to experiment more with different environments and people.
Sugimoto INSPIRED photos
photozine
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To make my photozine I used the app Indesign. I had been given a template to use for my work so the first step was to replace the original pictures with my own. I selected these pictures especially so that there was a range of different types of photography shown. Some included portraits of people and others were more architectural. The final photos chosen for my zine were from a variety of different settings which is something I like to think about when composing an order to my images. For example, there are some taken in a gallery in central London, inside the various different rooms. Others were taken using the school's own facilities such as the studio. I moved these pictures about until I was happy with the way each image was framed. The next thing I did was print the two pages, double sided in A3. I then folded it in the correct order to create a booklet. This was just to see if I liked the composition. I decided to refine it by printing on cartridge paper as it made it stronger as well as making it look nicer.