Creative Production Photography - Josee Mallon

After many test shoots for my final project, I have decided on the final 6 photos I am using. I done the process of elimination of the many photos I have took, considering many factors such as theme, focus, clarity and narrative in each one of the photos. I chose specific photos in their similarity to one another; in order to tell a story through my photography. I also took all my final project photos on my iPhone. This was my own creative decision that was practical for my theme. Now, I need to edit the photos and place them in a web gallery so that they fit in and look the best they possibly can.

For my final project, the presentation of my photos is key. One of the requirements is that I have a Web photo gallery that consists of my final photos, which can be made in Lightroom. I decided to play around with the photos that I think I am going to use in my final project and made my first Web Gallery. I used the instructions from the Adobe website for guidance. Overall, this was an easy task to do and it makes the presentation of my photography look sophisticated. It is an easy app to navigate on and I was able to find everything I need directly without too much struggle. Now, I just need to finalise my final project photos and edit them on Photoshop so I can make my final Web Gallery. Here is a video on how I made my Web Gallery:

Before taking my photos, I had to think of an efficient plan for my photos. I had to ask myself questions on what it is I am trying to portray and create within my photography. In my photos, I want to be able to reflect and celebrate the nightlife of Brighton. I want to evoke a sense of excitement in my photos, by focusing on shadows and artificial lighting. I want audiences to be able to relate and have a sense of  familiarity  with my photos. I also had to consider a theme-related text and a photographer that could help me write a critical introduction. A text I could relate to my own photography is Hito Steyerl, 'In Defence of the Poor Image'.   This is because for my photos I took them on my iPhone, mainly due to practical issues that prevented me from being able to bring a camera into a club/bar.  Steyerl suggests how 'the poor image tends towards distraction: it is a visual idea in its very becoming'. This can relate to my images as mos...

This week, I went out again into Brighton to take more photos for my final project. Sticking to my theme of shadows and artificial lighting in popular bars and clubs, I found that I got some good photos that highlight the best bits of Brighton nightlife. I also was able to find more walls that had writing on them that heightened the narrative in my photos. These photos were exciting to take as there was so much choice when I went out; I was able to snapshot whatever I felt like without no-one acting unnatural. I am definitely going to be using some of these photos in my Final Project once I have edited the photos so they look exactly as I want them to. I like this photo of the 'Yes' sign because of the artificial lighting that compliments the sign, as well as the capture of the conversation between two women in the bar. I also like this photo because of the blurred motion of my subject. This emphasises the element and saying of having a 'blurre...

The readings this week focused on the idea of connectivity and consumer culture within our readings. This provided me with another outlook on the functions of photography. Although these readings may not particularly relate to my theme of my final project, I can still take some ideas and interpret them into my critical introduction Hito Steyerl: In Defense of the Poor Image This reading describes what makes an image a 'poor' image, connecting these ideas to a Neo-Marxist outlook that explains the hierarchy of photos and the consumers of different types of photos. However, it also explains that poor images are popular images, viewed and shared by everyone. This reading could be related to my final project. As I am exploring nightlife, I have to consider my own hierarchal status as a customer in a club or a bar. I do not have the same privileges as a worker or a photographer hired for that night in the sense that I can not going around taking photos of people with a bright fla...

In this week, we reflected on the idea of Ubiquitous photography. This is photography that is found everywhere and is constantly reappearing. I had a go at doing this ourselves with the 35mm cameras. I chose to focus on notice boards around Silverstone. It was hard to choose an object at first but I noticed many notice boards that were covered information. This was interesting as although it is an object found everywhere in the building, each one is different. This meant each one of my photos came out of different and consisted of different colours and tones, which would create an interesting web gallery of tones. This photo can be seen as having a political as a photographical message to it. As you can see, this photo I took contrasts the one above and below it. Although it is the same thing, the different notices adds the element of diversity to the photo. As you can see, all the photos have a similar idea about them. This relates to p...

Once again, I went out into Brighton and took more photos. For my final project, I want to go with the theme of shadows and silhouettes within nightlife, as this is what I captured in my previous test shots and I looked the like of them. Like my other test shots, I enjoyed taking these photos because at this point in my project I knew exactly what it was I was wanting to take, and could look out for this when I was out taking my photos. I like this photo because of the bright neon colours, but also the shadows captured in the wall as they look magnified. I think this is one of the photos that I will use in my final project, as the text on the wall of 'peach party' provides a narrative through my photos and conforms to my theme. I like this photo because of the artificial lighting of the photo and it coincides with the theme of shadows I am thinking about exploring. 

It is important to document and research Nightlife photographers who I can take inspiration from and critically analyse their work. For example, Gavin Watson is a British photographer who captured   some of the least documented of British subcultures – from capturing the tattooed young men in bovver boots of the 1980s British skinhead movement, to the halcyon days of 90s rave. http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/30620/1/gavin-watson-documents-the-zeitgeist-of-british-subcultures As well as this, there is also   Teddy Fitzhugh.   He is a more recent photographer who has been documenting   the, as he calls it, “ephemeral energy and physicality of the club environment” – a celebration of style and individuality amongst London club culture. These are examples of artists I can use as inspiration in my final project.

In this weeks readings, I found that there was a lot of useful stuff and terminology that will help me when it comes to writing my critical introduction. As the final project is creeping up, I am beginning to think about what exact readings and references I am going to want to use in my critical introduction, making sure that what I choose accurately reflects and and coincides with the theme of my project. Cory Dzenko - The Indexical Function of the Photographic Image This reading talks about the functions of the image and how it conveys meanings to its audiences. The reading talks about the digital image, which is translated into code. The digital image is altered, printed and displayed during its editing; there becomes a lack of a "physical connection between a digital photograph's subject and image" which in turn suggests that the digital image serves as pure iconicity. However, just because an image is a digital image, this does not negate its indexical function....

In week 8, I created photography glitches. We done this by converting a jpg file to a .txt file, then deleting some letters on the text file. We then reverted it back to .jpg to see the outcome. I used photos I had used from the previous week that we took of objects and people around campus using Flash Photography which I found fun. Although this is a cool skill to have, I do not think I will apply it to my final project, as it may corrupt the narrative and importance of the background in my photos, as I am not focusing on portrait photos. Instead, I want to focus on the natural theme of night life, only using tools such as Photoshop, etc to highlight the theme.

At the weekend, I went out into Brighton and took some more photos that I could use for my final project. As I was at a specific event, I did not have a 35mm camera on me, and instead using my iPhone camera in hope to capture some photos. These were the results:  I like this photo because of the shadows and the lights. For my final project, if I choose to use this photo alongside one of my previous test shots I will have to justify the differences in the photos. For example, this photo shows the shadows and sharpness in the area captured, but my other photo is in a well-lit background in a completely different surrounding. However, this shows the many different parts to Brighton night-life. I also enjoyed taking these photos as I found that I could enjoy myself as well as producing high standard photos. This is my favourite photo that I took. The shadows of the lights compliments the crowd and it captures the closed-in, trapped feel that is often felt in Brighton Nightcl...

A useful skill to have within Photography is being able to make contact sheets on Photoshop, in order to present all of the photos I have took from a specific day, making an orderly group of photos to present. The skill is relatively easy to pick up, as it only uses Photoshop and Bridge. I have included a video on how I created a contact sheet for our jumpology exercise done a couple weeks ago. This is the final result:

In Week 7. we attached the flash onto the camera for the first time and experimented with the camera. We set the flash unit into Programmed Auto Mode (P). We then took photographs of my peers, played around with high and low exposure and worked on performance photography, taking pictures of our peers whilst they were whistling.  I liked using the flash as it made the photos clear and bright, but I do not think this is an aspect I will use. I want to focus on shadows and lighting in photos, which using a flash may stop me from doing. The depth of field on this photo is nice. My subject is in focus and the background is blurred; showing the importance of the subject. The autumnal tones in this photo are really nice. I captured the 'busyness' of the university lifestyle whilst also capturing the beauty of the campus site. I engaged with this project as it enabled me to delve into the 'abstr...