Phonar: Task 5 – Step 6 (Postcard to Massimo Vitali)

For the final step of task 5 I had to make a communication with the author of my assignment just like in my other tasks. For this step however I wanted to move away from the more traditional forms of communication such as letter and email and send Massimo Vitali a postcard. I felt like this was the most creative and appropriate method of communication as his work focuses on tourist destinations and the tourism industry and a postcard is a form of communication that is used by tourists while on holiday. While I only had a small amount of space to write that I have completed the task I feel that this is the purpose of a post card, to give a small amount of information.

Phonar: Task 5 – Final Images + Critical Rationale

For steps 4 and 5 of task 5 I had to complete the assignment in the Photographer’s Playbook by Massimo Vitali and provide a rationale for my decisions. The task called for me to make intentional mistakes while shooting a roll of film and these mistakes could lead to an unintentional masterpiece of an image. Below are my final images and critical rationale.

Critical Rationale

After reading the assignment many times and trying to work out how I wanted to intentionally make mistakes I decided to use a disposable camera as in the past when I have taken images on a disposable it is very unpredictable what the outcome will be even if I use the correct lighting and keep the camera still. I wanted to play with the unpredictability of outcome of the images even further by intentionally taking images while walking, photographing from angles that would not be in focus, pointing the camera into the shade and direct sunlight, moving the camera while holding the shutter and even using the camera without flash in dark lighting conditions outdoors. After carrying out research into Massimo Vitali for my other steps and discovering he shot in the direct sun on a summers day I wanted to include this element into my own work by shooting directly into the sun. This is something I often avoid due to the sun causing glare or harsh shadows however no matter how hard I tried to distort the image or cause a mistake that would result in the image looking bad once getting the images developed it was evident that my attempts to ruin the image actually created an abstract element to the image and don’t necessarily make the image bad. In fact it makes the images look almost documentary like almost like images taken by a participant. This is something I would like to continue to experiment with in my own work in the future and I now have the confidence to make mistakes while shooting as they could turn out to be an interesting and unusual image.

Phonar: Task 5 – Step 3

For step 3 of task 5 of phonar I had to create an image in the style of Massimo Vitali that was informed by my research. The image I created can be found below with accompanying text as well as on my Instagram here.

For the final task of #phonar2016 I had to create an image in the style of Massimo Vitali that was informed by my research. Vitali is an Italian photographer that is best know for his large-scale colour images of beaches and mass leisure events that are taken from a high viewpoint often on a large format camera. Early into his career he developed a mistrust towards documentary photography as it did not represent the complexities of reality and as a result this drew him away from photojournalism and towards a more conceptual way of working. Just like Martin Parr, Vitali is a chronicler of contemporary life. His panoramic views show people interacting with their environments and one another and because they are shot at a distance it lends a hint of voyeurism and detachment. In his ‘Beach Series’ he began to photograph people on Italian beaches from a high viewpoint to make a commentary on the sinister elements such as the ‘commodified leisure’ and ‘cosmetic fakery’ in modern society. Vitali achieves a balance between interpersonal narratives and the natural world. 

Phonar: Task 5 – Step 2

For step 2 of task 5 I had to make a visual portrait of Massimo Vitali based on my research on him and his work. The image and accompanying text can be found below as well as on my Instagram here.

For the final task of Phonar I had to create a visual portrait of the author of my assignment and this was Massimo Vitali. Vitali is an Italian photographer that has tried a variety of different aspects of photography throughout his career all the way from photojournalism to cinematography however his most recent work that he as continued from the 90’s until present day focuses on public spaces in particular Italian beaches as they resonate with him on a personal level. As a result I have used an image I took while on holiday which has similar connotations to his images of Italian beaches and it is a place that resonates with me. Vitali mainly photographers beaches in Italy and therefore this has led me to believe he has a very personal connection with the environment he photographs and that the images are not just aesthetically pleasing for him but have deeper layer of meaning as they show modern society and how people interact with their environment. 

Phonar: Task 5 – Artist Research (Massimo Vitali)

In order to complete steps 2 and 3 for this task I needed to gain a greater understanding of Massimo Vitali’s work and as him as an artist. In turn this will also influence how I take the images in the assignment he set.

Massimo Vitali is an Italian photographer that was born in 1944 in Italy. In the 1960’s he traveled to London to study photography at the London College of Printing. His work is held in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among other institutions.

He is best known for his large-scale colour images of beaches and mass leisure events that are taken from a high viewpoint often on a large format camera. Vitali has worked as a photojournalist, fine arts photographer as well as a cinematographer and these practices are visible in his work. Early into his career he developed a mistrust towards documentary photography as it did not represent the complexities of reality and as a result this drew him away from photojournalist and towards a more conceptual way of working. Just like Martin Parr, Vitali is a chronicler of contemporary life. His panoramic views show people interacting with their environments and one another, shot at a distance that lends a hint of voyeurism and detachment. In his ‘Beach Series’ (1995-) he began to photograph people on Italian beaches from a high viewpoint to make a commentary on the sinister elements such as the “commodified leisure […] and cosmetic fakery” which showed the behind the scenes of supposed normality. After his series on beaches he later expanded his scenes to include pools, ski resorts, discotheques, piazzas, and other tourist and leisure sites around the world. In his richly coloured, detailed works, Vitali achieves a balance between interpersonal narratives and the natural world. 

In an interview Vitali explains that he would ‘like people to understand that there are different layers of significance’ to his images and that.‘99 per cent of the beach pictures that I see around, there is only one layer of significance’. He wants to leave more than a legacy simple based on aesthetics and one dimensional images, furthermore he goes on to say ‘I think I always had a problem that so many people – even the people that buy the pictures, even the collectors – don’t really go to the bottom of the story. And sometimes they spend quite a lot of money and they don’t really go to the core of what I’m really trying to say.’ He continues, ‘When somebody asks me where a picture was taken, for me it’s just a disaster. It’s defeat. Because the pictures are not about the place. They’re not about the colours. They’re not about beauty or prettiness. They’re about us, they’re about our society.’

Phonar: Task 5 – Initial Brief + Step 1

For task 5 I was given an assignment by Massimo Vitali entitled Mistakes. The assignment was also accompanied by a quote from Raymond Carver which is as follows “You’ve got to work with your mistakes until they look intended. Understand?”. This quote underpins why Vitali set the assignment as he believes it is essential for everyone to make mistakes in their work to succeed in photography. Below is the synopsis of my assignment:

My initial thoughts on this task was to explore further into Vitali’s own work yet focus on taking images that I would not normally take due to the risk of them not turning out how I want. Therefore because I have to shoot a roll of film I am planning on using a disposable camera as there is more chance of the image having mistakes on it and not turning out how you expect even if you position the camera correct even in good lighting. This also gives me the ability to be more spontaneous with my images as I do not have to focus them or adjust the aperture.

Phonar: Task 4 – Final video + Critical Rationale

For task 4 of Phonar I had to take one of the assignments that was completed as a class in the Making workshops and either complete the assignment again or remake the image however this time it must be done using audio or video instead of still image. For this task I decided to use the assignment set by Tim Walker that we had to complete overnight. For this task it was important to incorporate key visual language elements that we had been discussing and experimenting with in the workshops. The synopsis of this task can be found below along with my response to the task.

The image that I produced for the Tim Walker assignment was of the pile of books in my room beside my bed. I wanted to show the spines of the books as well as the pages as they indicate how far I am through the book and it make them more personal to me. By taking the image at a slight angle and not front on I have made the focus of the image less about the tiles of the books are more about me as a reader and why I love reading.

Following on from this image I decided to make a video showing me interacting with the book from the act of picking the book up through to showing where I sit to read the book as this would give the viewer an insight into my personal experience when reading as well as the space around me. In the video I chose to shoot at a variety of angles to tell a story that shows my perspective when choosing the book all the way through to the act of reading the book itself.

The focus of the video is to show the narrative of the ways in which I interact with the book and my personal experience rather than focusing on what is written on the page and the book itself. Hence why on the above shot of me reading the book the text is not readable rather it shows the act of me reading. It was important for me to include some of the visual language that was present in my original image, therefore I chose to include a shot which pans over my bookshelf as this is references the book pile in my original image and also gives the viewer and insight into the amount of books I have in my uni room which in turn gives them an insight into me as a person.

While I used some of the visual language that was present in my image I also wanted to experiment with different visual tropes as it was a new medium. Therefore I have decided to keep my video in colour rather than turning it to black and white like in the image. For the image this worked well as it corrected the yellow lighting in my room and gave a focus to the details of the books however because I was not shooting close-ups of the books this time I felt colour was needed to create a warmer and cosier atmosphere as that is what I experience when reading. In addition to this, I also chose to add an instrumental track to the video as I felt it helped create the atmosphere I intended as without any sound I believe it would not be as emotive. The music I chose was meant to compliment the narrative rather than overpower it therefore it is quite soft.

By using an image as a starting point the developing this into another medium such as video it helped spring board my ideas and sped up the process of generating a concept for the video. This process of starting from a rather simple image and then developing it into a new medium whether this be video or even a physical sculpture is something that I will continue into future projects.

Phonar: Task 3 – Email to Amy Elkins

For this task I also had to make a communication with the author of my assignment and pick the most appropriate method of communication. For Amy Elkins I felt that this was email as she is active on social media and has kept a blog for many years about her work and research and therefore it would be most appropriate to send an email with links to my own blog. Below is the email I wrote to her:

The text in the email reads as following:

Dear Amy,

I am writing to you to inform you that I have recently completed the assignment that you set in the Photographer’s Playbook entitled Two Challenges. My name is Charlotte Pattinson and I am currently a second year BA (Hons) photography student at Coventry University whose own practice mainly focuses on the landscape and the natural environment however since completing your assignment along with many others from the Playbook it has changed my way of working and made me more open to experimentation and styles of photography that are out of my comfort zone. 

In the introduction to the assignment you said that you got given these tasks in your early stages of study they terrified you or nearly drove you to the edge of madness. This is also how I felt when I got set the assignments especially the one assigned by William Hendricks where I had to stay in one place and get 12 strangers to “sit for the camera” so I could take their portrait. For me this was the most challenging as I have always struggled with not only taking portraits but talking to people I am not familiar with and especially approaching strangers. When trying to complete the task I had many self doubts that I could not do it. I became very anxious about not only approaching a stranger to take their portrait but the act of doing this in a public space scared me. In order to get around this I chose to set myself up in one place at 1940’s event where people were dressed up for the event and it was very busy with constant streams of people. I felt that at this type of event it would be less daunting as they would be more willing to have their portrait taken as they were in character. Although I still felt nervous and anxious about asking them it was more manageable and this allowed me to relax more when taking the portraits and I am happy with the outcome. Due to this experience I have learnt more about myself as a photographer and as person and have gained confidence in taking peoples portraits. It will still take more attempts for me to feel more confident in doing it again however I feel that I am able to overcome this in the future. 

In addition to this, the other part of your assignment that was assigned by Silvio Wolf challenged me in different ways. It took me a while to get my head around what ‘nothing’ was and how I could translate this into a visual piece when often nothing is a feeling of absence. After researching into Wolf’s work and experimenting with accidental images and the visual language surrounding the darkness and light this led me to make an image that explored absence in an image. The image was an accidental mistake made during the developing process when developing my roll of film. An area of blackness took over the image and only part of the original scene from the image remained which makes you intrigued as to what the rest of the scene would look like without the black mark. Overall I really enjoyed this part of the assignment as it gave me an opportunity to experiment conceptually as well as with different mediums. 

If you are interested in viewing the images I have taken from your assignment I have blogged about it and you can find my research, experimentation and final images here: https://charlottepattinson.wordpress.com/tag/task-3/ 

Kind Regards,

Charlotte 

Phonar: Task 3 – Step 4 & 5 (Final Images + Critical Rationale)

The assignment I was given was split in to two parts. Part one was assigned by Silvio Wolf where I had to photograph nothing and part two was assigned by William Hendricks and I had to get 12 strangers to sit for the camera. Due to the nature of the assignment I have produced different styles of images however they have both been informed by my research into the artists who set the tasks.

Part 1

Critical Rationale:

I found this part of my assignment equally as challenging as taking portraits of strangers. At first I began trying to rationalise what ‘nothing’ was and how this can be translated into a visual form. My starting point was to look into the work of Silvio Wolf, the author of my assignment, and try to gain an understanding of why he set the assignment and how in turn this related to his own practice. In Wolf’s work he explores the threshold between light and dark and the relationship between the present and the absent.

I was greatly influenced by his series entitled ‘Horizons’ where Wolf used a chance-based darkroom process to create images of abstract fields of colour. It was this use of black and colour which inspired me to experiment with film photography and the developing process. The final image I have produced draws on themes of absence and presence within an image and how the black area indicates absence and makes the viewer question what the rest of the image would look like if the darkness was not there. The black area of the image was accidental and I did not originally intend for the image to turn out like this while shooting the film as I had no control over it. However drawing on the experimental methodology of Wolf I decided to keep the images that did not turn out how I expected in order to represent how ‘nothing’ can simply be the unknown.

Part 2

This assignment proved to be the most challenging that I have been set so far as I am most comfortable photographing landscapes rather than people. The assignment called for me to go to a place with a decent foot traffic and once set up I was not allowed to move from that spot until I had taken a minimum of 12 portraits. I wanted to go to a place that people were more willing to have their portrait taken and somewhere that had a cultural backdrop and setting rather than just in the street as this would mean the portraits would be more diverse and I would gain confidence in taking peoples portraits.

I went to a 1940’s war weekend event and positioned myself near the stalls and displays however I adapted the brief and instead of staying put in one place I moved up and down the row of stalls and set myself this small area to take the images in. I also approached people to take their portrait rather than waiting for them to come to me. I found this method more successful than simply staying in one place as it allowed me to interact with the participant more and capture them in a more relaxed manner as I was able to introduce myself and explain why I wanted to take their portrait. I originally shot the images in colour so I had the option of keeping them in colour or black and white. However once reviewing the images I decided to change them to black and white as I found the background of the images in colour were distracting and in black and white the details of the portrait stand out more which is what I wanted the focus of the image to be. The black and white also matches the photographs that would of been taken in this time period and I feel that it works more with the cultural context of the images. In addition to this the brief called for a minimum of 10 prints to be shown to a class however instead of printing these images in a physical way and sharing them with people in person I felt it was appropriate to present the images in digital form on my blog and on my Instagram as they will be shared with a wider audience.

Phonar: Task 3 – Step 3 (Amy Elkins)

For step 3 of task 3 I had to create an image in the style of my author Amy Elkins. The image that I created can be seen below with the accompanying text and on Instagram here.

Inspired by Amy Elkins work in ‘Whilst I am Drawing Breath’ I have created a collage of photos that are taken on a disposable camera whilst on my travels. Just like in Elkins series the images are by no means technically perfect and have personal marks such as the smug on the lens and the slightly off angle. For me they are snapshots of my travels. While Elkins used a camera on her phone to take the images in her series and I opted for a disposable camera as I was still able to make spontaneous images and I could not be edit or deleted them after shooting. The low quality of the images in both of our images reinforces the idea of taking the photo in the moment and creating a visual diary that is more concerned with using the image as a memory like a diary entry rather than taking a technically good photograph