What to do with my images?

Now I have my images I need to do something with them. Firstly I will put them into photoshop and give them a more intimate feel by making them darker and highlighting certain aspects of the images. I also need to find a way to show my pictures and I am really interested in doing an installation, much like I wanted to do in the beginning but that idea didn't prove to be too easy. As well as this I want to do a mini project on my family history. This may give me a better idea of how my family was made up and some inspiration for an installation. I already know that my Grandad had a couple of brothers and sisters during the war that sadly past away but I wonder what else I could find out. I am thinking of taking a video camera round to my Grandad and asking him to explain his past to me and this will give me a better idea of how he has turned out like he has today and what has made him who he is. Although there is very little time until the exam I think the video will be very helpful and it will give me a good insight into some bits that I didn't previously know. I have already taken some still shots of my Grandad in digital and film, these are a couple of the digital shots. I took these pictures in the style of a formal portrait as this ties in well this my film photography work.

What I Now Have

After following my Grandad around for the day I ended up with just over 500 images to pick from to put into my exam piece, i have begun to troll through them and pick out the ones that I think show the essence of what I was trying to show through following my Grandad for the day. I am still quite undecided on how to portray my images as I want them to be striking yet still tell a story. Here are just a few, all unedited and just picked out as quite intriguing. I made sure I kept track of time throughout the day as I wanted to make sure the viewer had a clear understanding of when the photographs were taken and my Grandad's daily routine. These pictures are the morning pictures.


























I have many other pictures to continue from the morning. I went to work with my Grandad after asking permission from the boss and these are some of the interesting pictures from there.

Making a Result

After thinking long and hard about what I wanted to start to pursue for my final piece I came up with the idea of stalking someone. This idea would require me to follow someone for a day and take pictures of them preferably without them knowing. Obviously this would prove very difficult so I decided to contrive my images and use someone a bit closer to home. I approached my grandad and asked him if he would mind me taking some pictures of him and he agreed to me doing this. Through my images I want to capture his day but not so it shows his face at all, so it looks as though I am completely in the background and he doesn't know I'm there. I briefed my grandad on this idea and he agreed to let me follow him at work and at home, I am very excited about this task as I am hoping i can develop it into perhaps an installation for my final piece. I got this idea from various styles of photography and in particular Yokomizo and also from the experimenting of street photography from Bruce Gilden. I like the way Bruce Gilden took pictures of people unprepared and this was the outlook I wanted to in my pictures. These pictures in particular by Bruce Gilden are very intimate and they tell the story of different people's lives. I want my pictures to be like this to some extent as I want them to be quite intimate and as though I know everything about this man's life and I want the viewer to get this same impression too.










Along with this I also had a look at photographer Darryn Lyons. Lyons is a paparazzo or a member of the paparazzi, his work has taken him around the world and has linked him with many famous celebrities such as David Beckham. The idea of paparazzi links well into my project as I am intending on following my Grandad for the day and this is what paparazzi do all day long. I intend to expand on this idea in my installation. Here are some of Darryn Lyons most recent paparazzi pictures.

Another Idea

After trying with the initial idea of an installation to do with war and conflict and disaster I decided that maybe it was a better idea to move on and get pictures of my own to put into an installation, also that way I might get some more inspiration for a creative installation.
Through another brain storm of idea's I came up with the idea of stalking and personal space. I am interested in following someone for the day and capturing every aspect of their day, from when they wake up until they go to bed. We never really know how people fill their whole day as it is never possible to do this. Previously in class time we looked at Yokomizo and the project titled 'Stranger'. Yokomizo wrote letters to people living in a street at told them that on a certain day she would be outside their window to take a picture of the inside of their front room, if they didn't mind their picture being taken they were to leave their curtains open, if not they were to close the curtains. This project really interests me and the pictures are very intriguing. The way in which she has captured the people shows their feelings and creates atmosphere in each of the pictures.











Along with Yokomizo, Edward Hopper also did the same sort of thing. His paintings are very intimate and they are quite like Yokomizo in that the interest the viewer and they seem like he is 'stalking' his subject as the pictures show such a high level of intimacy and they are in personal spaces.

Continued expansion on first thoughts and idea's

From the idea of God I also took the idea of confessions. Confessions have much mystery behind them as they are completely personal and generally only one person will know their inner thoughts. The idea of confessions opens many different thoughts and idea's such as a confession booth at a church, or a confession to someone you love. Confessions are part of everyday life. We confess to ourselves and to others. Francis Bacon was very interested in religion and much of his work is centralised around that. His pictures are very different and take the idea of religion onto the next level. One striking painting in particular is the picture of the pope. This painting captures many emotions and there was a lot of outcry from the public after many catholics saw this picture.



I really want to create an installation of a confessions box. I want this to be something that is life size and a person can fit into. I have drawn out a plan of this and I am going to make a smaller sized version of it. The box will have pictures on the wall of war and other disastrous events and I want these to have a massive impact on the viewer. The only problem I have at the moment is that I cannot take any of these pictures myself, so all my pictures would have to be copied from either books or the Internet which I am unsure about as I want the work to be my own. However if I continue with this project I also want music and speaking playing in the background to make the booth/ box feel eerie and the person inside to feeling highly uncomfortable. I did research some war photographers and I found Nick Ut and Phillip Jones Griffiths very intriguing and their images really striking.

The top 3 are by Phillip Jone Griffiths and I think they really hit home about how harsh the world of war was and how so many people had no idea what was really going on behind closed doors. The 4Th pictures is by Nick Ut and it is one of the most famous pictures of the Vietnam War. His picture is incredibly striking and caused a lot of controversy from the general public. I think these pictures of war are amazing and very courageous as the photographers put themselves into a war zone. The only problem I have is that I cannot replicate these images in a way that I think is sensitive enough to be respectful.

After going home and thinking about the idea, I created a smaller size and here are some pictures of it..
The scale is 2"x 12" which is a sized down version of the 6ft box I was going to create.

Expansion on first thoughts and idea's

From the words in the word lists I have picked a few of the words to expand on and look into.
One of the first words that caught my eye was God.
I am interested in finding out whether religion has a mysterious background and whether the myths and legends of different religions are true.
To begin my research I simply typed in religion into Google and found tons of information, some relevant and some irrelevant. One thing that struck me though was cults.
I then began looking into different cults and the stimulus behind their beginnings. A cult is generally defined as 'a group who's beliefs and practices are considered strange.' This definition of a cult opens up many idea's and it links really well into the idea of mystery. The research into cults really opened my eyes to what they were and are about. Some of the information I have found is quite disturbing however still very interesting. One of the main cults of today is Scientology, many influential celebrities follow the community religion such as Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta and Jason Lee.

The symbol of the cult is 2 triangles with an S entwined.

Another interesting cult I researched is the Manson Family Cult. The cult was first contrived by Charles Manson in 1967. Manson killed over 10 people and is now in prison. He drove his members to become cold blooded killers and got them involved in his killings.
Cults are still in running around the world and the mysteries of them are known to very few. What I really want to know is why they are created. Why do lone people make these groups and cause such mayhem. There are many faults in creating them but it takes a lot of imagination.
Along with cults there are many other sorts of religious groups around the world today, one of the most prominent being Christianity, including Catholics, Methodists, Church of England etc. I am planning on going down to my local church and finding out a bit more about God. This way I will be able to get together some interesting images. I did a Documentary project as I went around the church looking for suitable images and documented them. This can relate back to my coursework about documentaries. I tried to take pictures that represented something through them and I didnt want to take standard images of a church that were predictable.







































I am very happy with how these pictures have turned out and I did enjoy trying to search for an 'essence' of God rather than just photographing the church as a whole. I think this idea is good but perhaps now one I will pursue as I think I could do something slightly more intriguing.

First thoughts and ideas

As a class we came together and began to piece together words and thoughts that we decided would pair up well with the words mystery and imagination. Many words are varied and different and there are a couple of the words that I wish to expand on.
Imagination
I had many thoughts and idea's for the word imagination and these are a few I've come up with;
asleep
unknown
suspicious
new
surrealism
crazy
random
magical
fun
lost
creativity
subconscious
horror
dreams
freedom
colour
storytelling
dimensions
unbelievable
dangerous
spontaneous
invention
escapism
perspective
undiscovered
mystical
unreal
space
psychology

Mystery
I also had many idea's for the word mystery and here are some;

future
processes
past
war
people
myths
shadows
questions
God
investigation
detective
darkness
crime
creation
religion
abandoned
freedom of mind
thoughts
magical
evolution
Da Vinci
cluedo
loosing
behaviour
war
untouchable
riddle
different

Exam; Mystery and Imagination

The theme of the exam is mystery and imagination. Obviously this sort of theme opens lots of doors and expands many ideas from just minor details. I am very excited about the question for the exam and I already have many ideas to get started on.