Documentary.

PART 1
Task 1-
Research into Documentary Photography.
Documentary photographers:

• Tim Goldberge
• Zed Nelson
• Dorothea Lange

Tim Goldberge
http://www.magnumphotos.com/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R151HV4

USA. San Francisco. 1986. "Stewart Washing at Burger King." Stewart in a downtown Burger King - in the middle of one of San Francisco's busiest tourist areas - washes up and gives himself a sponge bath. Aftershave spilled in the bag that held the belongings of several street kids and ruined his already soiled belongings. He is drying toothbrushes which have been spilled on.

USA. San Francisco, California. 1992. "Girl with No Name." This girl is holding a crack pipe - so crazed that she searches every corner of the sidewalk, picking up white refuse, hoping it will be crack. She has broken an identification card in half and is rubbing the ink from it on her face.

USA. Hollywood, California. 1989. "Hickeys." A boy showing off all his hickeys from the night before.

USA. Hollywood, California. 1988. "Psycho and Wolfette." Psycho is giving Wolfette hickeys in the back area of a Denny's.

USA. Los Angeles. 1989. "Lost Gangsta Crip." Casper shows off her East LA Crip tattoo. The Crips and the Bloods are two LA street gangs who have constantly fought against one another. Casper was a member of a girl's gang but left with the hopes of being able to leave it all behind. She is now homeless and on the verge of prostituting herself.

USA. San Francisco. 1988. "Boy with Marlboros." Boy hustler.

USA. San Francisco . 1989. Dave and Cookie jonesin'. Coming down off of drugs.

USA. San Francisco. 1988. "Playing With Shaving Cream." Ziggy, Tweeky Dave and Echo, three homeless youth, watch TV in the Crystal Hotel, and play with shaving cream moments before a playful shaving cream fight breaks out and covers them all and the room.

The photographs above are all about teenage runaways who live on the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. These images were taken between 1987 and 1993. These images were recordings of the adolescents involved lives and Goldberge got to know these subjects as well as interviewing their social workers and the police. These photographs look across the whole spectrum of the American urban lifestyle, including drug abuse, sex, starvation to where and how they are living.

Raised by Wolves is a collection of images all candid with most subjects being aware yet not posed making the shots more real and somewhat easy to interoperate. The photographs all tell their own story and give you an insight to their seedy everyday life, none being pleasant or what you would wish upon anyone to live. The images are all easy to understand and with there being so much going on in background of the photograph, it is not difficult to work out.

These photographs are about twenty-five years old, it is pretty obvious that these were around this era simply due to small factors from the subjects themselves, due to the way they are dressed down to the type of hair style. All the images are taken in black and white, most with direct flash. The black and white effect used throughout these images makes the gloomy situations of the adolescents more apparent and adds drama. You can get these images in a book called 'Raised by Wolves' including the narrative and an in depth explanation of the photographs or you can view them online.


Zed Nelson
http://www.zednelson.com/?LoveMe

Elham, 19, and her mother, 55.
Rhinoplasty ‘nose job’ operation.
Tehran, Iran.

Billboard
Rio, Brazil.

Spray-tan booth.
Professional Beauty Expo.
London, UK.

Christopher, 22.
Chest wax. J. Sister’s salon.
New York, USA.

Hair extension.
London, UK.

Finalist.
Miss South Africa Competition.
Sun City, South Africa.

Miss Essex.
Loser, Miss England competition,
Leicester, UK.

Ronnie Coleman, winner.
Mr Olympia Competition. Las Vegas, USA.

The photographs above are all about body image and obsessions people have with beauty. The photographs cover many different aspects for the personal desire for perfection, whether it is surgical body improvement/enhancement, cosmetic advertising, beauty pageants or eating disorders, all contemporary social issues.

Love me is a collection of images journalistic/candid, posed and intrusive in style. They tend to focus on a subject telling their own story of beauty and obsessive behaviour. The images are lifelike and believable meaning the audience are able to relate to the story the picture tells, as they are simple in their composition with no distraction.

The images are all current and this is obvious from the style of the subjects and modern theme. The photographs are produced in different ways, some are studio based, both portraits and still life and some are candid shots. All the photographs are taken in colour which emphasises the reality of the situation. The formats of these images are either on the internet in galleries or printed in books, which can be purchased. The theme of the photographs is beauty and obsession for youthful perfection. They are captured in a variety of ways from the image of a perfect face for example, to a face going through reconstruction as they strive for perfection.


Dorothea Lange
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html

Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children.

Eloy District, Pinal County, Arizona. Cotton pickers, Mexican children, in ditch bank at the edge of grower's camp. Boy at left picked 50 pounds of short-staple on preceding day.

Contra Costa County, California. Little boy from "back East" in front of tar paper house in the Davis camp, where he now lives.

Edison, Kern County, California. Potato picker, she is 52-years-old, has 8 children. Born in Tennessee, she lived and was married in Oklahoma, then came to California. Family became migratory agricultural workers and after four years settled in Kern County. She says, "I have a house and flowers." She and her husband work in the field at 35 cents an hour, 10 hours a day. This class of people is known to the present migratory workers as "locals."

Eloy, Pinal County, Arizona. Truckload of cotton pickers just pulled into town in the late afternoon. Fresh from Arkansas, "We come over to help folks pick their cotton."

On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler, Arizona. Grandmother and sick baby of migratory family camped in a trailer in an open field. They came from Amarillo, Texas, to pick cotton in Arizona.

Edison, Kern County, California. 17-year-old boy agricultural worker sacking early potatoes after mechanical potato digger on large potato ranch. Kern County planted 27,250 acres in potatoes

Between Weedpatch and Lamont, Kern County, California. Children living in camp...Rent $2.75 plus electricity.

The photographs above are all about Migrant Farm Families, these images were taken as an investigation into the harshness of the living conditions of the families hired to work in the cotton fields and farms in Arizona and California. These images were taken between 1935-1939, pre Word War II. The photographs cover many different scenarios of the migrant families’ lives, whether it’s capturing them working on the fields, young women with their children all an insight into their actual living conditions

Migrant Farm Families is a collection of images all candid and innocent, being sincere and pure in style. Each photograph tells its own story of the harsh and difficult time life was for the subjects, none showing happy smiley faces or showing signs of happiness, purely survival. The images are all easy to understand and relate to and the audience will feel nothing but respect and sorrow for the subjects, as they are all compelling in that they make you want to learn more about the picture you are viewing with a need to read the supporting narrative.

These photographs are about seventy years old, if you didn't already have knowledge of this series of images, you would immediately be able that they are not of recent times. This is obvious from the style the photographs as they are all in black and white, and have a grainy aspect to them, the quality is also a big give away, due to it being quite poor. Due to the era in which they were taken the photographer will have used 35mm film, which became available in the mid 1920's.


Task 2/4
From my research I am going to be looking further into how I believe my three chosen documentary photographers: Jim Goldberge, Zed Nelson and Dorothy Lange, tell their stories through photography.
Jim Goldberge's Raised by Wolves is a collection of photographs taken over the space of six years, then brought together to document the lives of teenagers from many different backgrounds, but with one recurring theme, they are all runaways and are all struggling for survival in the only way they know. Each photograph is supported with narrative giving an insight into what the photograph is depicting, not that the viewer would be unable to summarise the message on their own accord.
In each individual image the main focus is on what defines the subject mainly involving an unpleasant/negative element, for example be a boy washing himself in a public toilet - giving the impression and notification that he is homeless with little choices, and has possibly poor hygiene due to the conditions in which he has available to him to wash - it is sad and heart rendering. With each image concentrating on the negative aspects it intrigues the viewer to look deeper into the image to try and understand the feelings of the subject and just how they are coping with the situation they have got themselves into, enticed with a morbid fascination.
The images in this series of photographs are taken in both landscape and portrait, depending simply on the situation that's being captured. If it is concentrating on one single factor; like the image of the boy with the hickies on his neck, then the chosen style is of a close up portrait as the main focus needs to be the boy’s neck which tells the desired story. In the photograph where a girl is being seduced outside a pub in a dirty street, the chosen style is landscape as the surroundings are as important as the subjects for the full story to be told.
The images are all taken in black and white and some appear to have been taken with the use of flash. the black and white effect emphasises the negativity and the hopelessness of the subjects captured making them more compelling in some ways. The use of flash gives an almost startled impression of the subject, as if they have been caught doing something they shouldn't.
Black and white imagery is also very beautiful due to the shadow and highlights being clearly defined, and this in turn can affect the viewers’ perception, of the result making them believe the harrowing situation the subjects have found themselves in, whereas colour can often detract and be less atmospheric.
The images are all pretty similar in style and content, each one containing subject(s) and confirmation of the nature of the collection from the definition and pose, and the accompanying text completing the story. The narrative explains where the photograph was taken, who the subject is and detail regarding the situation. Some of the images have more in depth descriptive relative to the life of the subject forcing the viewer to understand rather than jumping to his own conclusion of how the photograph is depicted.
I believe that Raised by Wolves is successful in getting across its story, even the title is carefully written to give an idea of what follows and enticing the viewer to continue to understand more. The photographs are all similar and are a documented reference into the harsh reality if runaway life.
Zed Nelsons 'Love Me' is a series of photographs concentrating on body obsession and vary in that some show the finished article where as others show the pains people go to, to achieve it. The images run across the whole spectrum of beauty whether it be capturing a still life photograph of some fake eyelashes, an image of a losing beauty contestant to body issues and plastic surgery. These images were taken all over the world showing that this is a massive international issue.
The aspect of each different issue in the photographs stays the same throughout. The message is given clearly, and is obvious from the picture alone, in order to understand it is not necessary to study the photograph. The issues in the series of photographs are not major, but nearly everyone can relate to them, whether it is themselves or someone they know..as this is current and affects us all at some time.
The photographs vary in both landscape and portrait, and are journalistic in there composition, and in my opinion not a personal view of the world from the photographer, they are what they are..true life. They concentrate on the subject and generally have little background interference except for supporting detail such as the operating theatre in "The Nose Job" operation. They are all taken in colour and reflect the situation clearly and concisely, as they are depicted in true to life form. The supporting narrative is brief and to the point, basically introducing the subject or the location of the picture and in a few words explaining the nature of the photograph, almost in caption form as you would expect to see in a newspaper or magazine.
Doreatha Langes 'Migrant Farm Families' is a documented collection of images taken over the space of four years. These photographs look into the struggle of families, both young and old, and focuses on their living and working conditions, from ram shackled housing to backbreaking work in the field, they are just simple images of the people in the migrant farming community in America pre World War II.
The focus on each individual image is again captured with a negative vibe. Not one subject in any of the photographs show any sign of happiness, they all just seem to show the subjects trying to survive rather than living, even the children are subdued and not depicted playing or having fun, though the subjects appear to be willing to pose for the photographer. The images tend to be pretty subtle in reference to the issues, not in your face, this entices you to look more into the image, to try and figure out what it is that it’s trying to say. I believe the photographer had a personal interest into the plight of the migrant workers, in order for the subjects to be trusting and so openly willing to pose for her.
The images are both landscape and portrait again depending on the situation and whether the setting or more visual information is necessary. Not many of the photographs are candid, the majority are posed with the photographer capturing sadness in facial expressions. All are taken in black and white, which is perhaps due to the era in which they were taken, though this lends itself anyway to the mood of the situation, colour would have enhanced the blue skies and bright sunshine which would have detracted from the reality of the situation.
The supporting narrative, though brief, is informative enough for the viewer to understand the background to the picture. Each one provides detail of the location and an explanation of the situation; some even have spoken text included, from the subjects, giving even more basis to the narrative and the harshness of the reality.


Task 3

I am going to recreate these photographs by Tim goldberge-

These are my recreations-

I am going to recreate these photographs by Dorothea Lange-

These are my recreations-

I am going to recreate this photo by Zed Nelson-

This is my recreation-

Task 5

I really enjoyed the task of recreating the photographs, even though it proved more difficult than I previously anticipated, as I decided not only to use the photographers styling, but to actually copy the images exactly. 

When recreating Jim Goldberges images I tried to follow similar factors such as the setting, the composition, and took all my photographs in a black and white format. I was fortunate in that I had willing subjects to work for me on this shoot, due to the somewhat promiscuous edge. I am pleased with the highlights and shading throughout my photographs, along with structure. I feel this shoot went really well along with it being my most successful and fun to do.

For my recreations of Dorothea Lange images I tried my best get the positioning right, I am happy with the first image, but not so pleased with the second. I didn’t pay attention to detail and I took the photograph vertically instead of horizontally. Then again I am more pleased with the second images setting than I am the first. I took the images in black and white, and edited them later to add the grainy effect and made the colouring less vibrant, due to the age of the photographs.

The last recreation I took was one of Zed Nelsons photographs. If I had more time I would have been able to better myself with this recreation, like adding the tiara and the dramatic effect of the mascara running down the subjects face. I am disappointed with myself due to the fact I only manage to recreate one of Nelsons images, simply not giving my self the right amount of time I needed. I am happy with the composition of the image, and the action on the subjects face. I edited the photograph by softening and adding a neutral tone.

PART TWO

 Task 1  

My selected theme is 'cuts' this includes some of the outcomes of the economic down turn and the late 2000's recession. 

Here are some news headlines taken from various newspapers on the current 'cuts' situation and the impact it is having:

'Thousands of publicly funded services across Britain are about to be lost, with devastating consequences'

'The treatment centre for people with brain injuries, part of the Edgware community hospital in London, is about to close its doors'

'Ministers told that councils will find it 'exceptionally difficult to maintain a basic youth offending team'

'Disability benefit cuts: a disaster waiting to happen'

'Housing benefit cuts will put 800,000 homes out of reach, according to study'

'Chartered Institute of Housing says families face choice of cutting food bills to pay rent or moving out'

These quotes have helped me develop my understanding into the harsh reality of what is happening due to the 'cuts' taking place and the many subjects its affecting. 

They have also given me ideas into the photographs I plan on taking, whether its backing up the situation of 'maintaining a basic youth offending team' with images off street graffiti or damaged buildings eg, broken windows. Or 'families face choice of cutting food bills to pay rent or moving out' with shots of homeless people or someone busking to make pitiful money. 

I plan on doing all my shots around the streets of Leeds, where I feel I am most fortunate as it is on my doorstop and will have many opportunities on the subject of 'cuts'

ADDD PHOTOSSS

Going out and actually doing the shoot was more difficult than I originally anticipated. Attempting to take shots of homeless people proved almost impossible, as at the moment I am not in the financial situation to be handing out money to the subjects I approached. I have also had bad experiences in the past with the homeless which knocked my confidence slightly in risking the photographic opportunity. I was lucky that most of my shots where objects rather than subjects, like closed down shops and empty bus stops. All these photographs where taking in Leeds city center, all done with natural light. I feel most of the photographs went pretty well due to the fact that there are only so many closed down stores you can take shots of and street entertainers. With the theme 'cuts' I feel I was very limited to what I could take to try portray the situation, unless I were to come across protesters outside hospitals or proof that homes are out of reach for many of the public. With the very limited time I had to take these photographs it call came down to luck or contacts, which I unfortunately don't have.