TOM. Person X, Narrative photography, Contact Sheets.

STEVE. Task 2 & 7 Tim Walker Research. Painting 2 photography assigment.

Tim Walker is a British fashion photographer who uses extravagant staging/sets and outrageously creative ideas and brings them idea to life. Walker has published 4 books, worked for vogue magazine for over a decade and after 15 years of concentration on photographic stills he has started to direct a number of short films. At The age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue and has photographed for the British, Italian and American editions ever since.

Tim walkers pure imagination and passion for his shoots really inspires me, his ideas are so creative and his images are honestly breath taking to me. I love his unique style and usage of colours, lighting and 'stages' and how he thinks so out of the box you never know what his next project will involve.

(http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/articles.php?article_ID=3)

Charlotte Sinclair wrote in a review in 2008:

"Fashion photographer Tim Walker doesn't seem to belong to the world of you and me. He's a Peter Pan. A daydreamer. His pictures are mirages, telling stories conjured directly from the imagination that most of us left behind in childhood. Looking at Tim's photography is like following the white rabbit into a whorl where elephants are painted blue, horses are dusted lilac, painting come to life and pretty girls with thirties faces transformed into marionettes or abandoned princesses."

"Tim creates photographs that evoke wonder- a skill as rare and fragile as one of his butterflies. In presenting his imagination to us, his photographs remind us of out own capacity t0 dream and even though his images are pure whimsy, they feel true because they have been meticulously executed."

In November 2008 Tim Walker received the 'Isbella Blow Award for Fashion Creator' and in May 2009 he recieved an infinity award from The International center of Photography in New York for his work as a fashion photographer. In 2010 Walker was a winner of an ASME Award for his 'W' Magazine EastEnders' portfolio.

(Review on Visual Streak.com -http://visualstreak.com/2008/06/07/tim-walker-fashion-photographer/ )
"Tim creates evocative images full of textured nuance and intriguing detail and his innovative photography is amongst the most imaginative and exuberant being produced today. He draws upon his childhood to construct sets for his images that are witty and playful yet sufficiently sophisticated enough to perform for his fashion clients. "

Tim Walkers "advice/information" ( http://matthilde.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/mr-tim-walker-photographer/)

I found out from reading this blog page, blogging notes wrote during a Tim Walker press conference. (link above) that Tim walker prefers natural light when taking photos, he hates artificial lighting, he doesn't use digital cameras as he needs "real" and he wants the "real" to reflect in his images (he uses a Pentax 67). Walkers images show a large production but in the early years he wasn't interested in a big set, he started on a small scale and grew to what he creates nowadays. He himself hates being photographed, he describes it as being "revealing." Tim images are a mix of "ridiculous and individuality." a mixture of contrasting opinions. Tim believes the subject and photographer's relationship is key- he only has one assistant "too many cooks spoil the brew". He sees his work for Vogue as a stepping stone.

Advice he gave to the people listening to the conference:

• Be more instinctive, more within you, people want individuality.
• Be open to anything that can open doors.
• Make the set an extension of your personality, make the subject feel comfortable.
• Sketch the photo you want to take.
• Interpretation and imagination can come fro anywhere- make it happen.
• Be opportunistic, make the most of it and can from it what you can.

Tim Walkers work is so much different to most other photographers work. There's something instantly recognizable about his images and something instantly breath taking and each and every image I've seen of his has held some kind of "wow-factor" be it by depth of field, imagination, composition, lighting etc. Another fashion photographer; Jason Christopher uses a more clean cut style to his images there's no props, not much to the scene around the model or not much of a background other then on location- for the most part the images are all in studio done with a plain block colour background with just the model and the pose to the image although his images are beautiful they are no where near the kind of beauty that Tim Walker captures and creates- it's photography on a whole other level. Walker creates worlds and breaks rules rather then sticking to the tradition methods that other photographers take.



Task 7, Critique.



I think this photo is about the stages of emotions that Brides/soon to be Brides go through when their about to be wed. The first set of emotions being wonder,admiration, happiness and excitement the second set emotions being cold feet, doubts and stress and the last set of images being frightened and in need of escape. I feel that each pose the model is doing is showing these emotions perfectly.

Technically this photo is hard to talk about as the image has a very soft focus but I think this is purposely done as it could connote that the model has lost focus on what she wants as the poses change she gets more out of focus although I do think that if the top half of the model was more sharply in focus is might have more of an impact and be more effective. The slow shutter speed in this photo creates an almost Ghostly feel which I think is a brilliant aspect to the photo- it gives it a haunting feel and makes each pose flow nicely with the next.

what I'd change about this photo is experiment with it colour wise- I do like the blue, drained colour of the image but I'd try this image as black and white too and make it a grey/white colour as I think it could add emotion and more depth to the image.

DERVIN, Fashion Photography research, Richard Warren.

From looking at Richard Warren's portfolio I learnt that lighting, background and also props have a big impact on how an image looks and feels. Having a low-key lighting set up it creates drama and mystery. Having a high-key set up makes the model appear more innocent and pure which works better for close up shots of the models face to emphasize her/his beauty.

I've also learnt that the models pose has a massive impact on the image as it can also create drama, tell a story, emphasize beauty/body proportion and of course the pose is also used to show of the clothing there modeling. Also eye contact is an effective aspect of fashion photography, as images where the model is looking away draw you more to the elements around the model as apposed to the images where the model is looking straight into the lens then the viewer is drawn straight into the models eyes and then makes their way outwards and notices the other elements of the image.

Props used in images help tell a story/link to the subject. They also give the model something to work with but at the same time they can also distract from the model themselves- that's why mostly small props/extras are used in the shots this also helps give the appearance that the model is bigger/taller and makes it obvious to the viewer that they are the most important factor they should look at(pose also helps this factor)

TOM. Evaluation of Person X project. Narrative photography.

Over all I think the final set of images I took work well together because collectively they give the narrative I wanted with the message "even though there's some much to be upset about, there's always a reason to smile. You just have to appreciate the little things." I think the set of images get across this message well and tell the viewers quite a fair bit about my mum at the same time. When starting this assignment I tried a fair few ideas, splitting my focus in two and photographing two different people in two different ways- I found that I couldn't do both as successfully with the time limit I had and certain limitations with getting to the second person but after dropping one person/idea I found that I was getting further with the images, I was able to try out a lot of different compositions and a lot of different subjects with one one person X to focus on, it all became a lot easier and clearer what I wanted my final images to be like and get across.

Some of the image ideas I had didn't work as well compared to others ones (the Smallville tops compared to the walking stick) and ones I'd planned to do ended up being less appealing to me then the ones that I had no idea where going to happen(the Super man cups compared to the image of my mum and dad sleeping) over all I am content with the outcome of the final set or images.

At first in this assignment I struggled to capture images that had a clear and strong narrative, I knew what I meant by taking the images but it was unclear to anyone else looking at them what they meant unless explained which I found at when we had a group critique in class, after realizing this I decided it would be best to choose one Person 'X' and focus my time on making the narrative as clear as possible.

I really enjoyed doing this half of the assignment overall, I found it incredibly interesting to do a Person 'X' project and I learnt that the first/ most seemingly promising ideas may not always end up being the final result, that if something doesn't work out the way you thought it would, try again and maybe something even better then you imagined can come out of it. This assignment has also taught me how to create a clear and effective narrative, taught me how to choose images which work as a set and edit them all in the same way- so they look even more part of a set.

TIM. how to make paper. Book Fair Project.

way of making paper 1;

you'll need to identical wooden frames, a piece of screening, duct tape, scissors, sponge, bucket/tub, blender, any kind of paper to recycle, flower petals or anything else you want to add to the paper, several pieces of felt, newspaper to soak up excess water.

You have to create a mold by cutting a piece of screening to fit your frame, stretching it tightly across the frame and attaching it with duct tape.

after you create the mold you start to the blend the pieces of paper first by ripping it all up into small pieces. You add warm water to the blender - it should be about 2/3 full of paper and water mixture. Turn the blender on high and blend until it's completely broken down into watery 'pulp'.

You then pour the mixture into the tub/bucket you have, making sure theres enough room to dip the mold and deckle in, then you stir it around.

TIM. Image and text. TASK 14. What My images would look like as advertisements.

Advertisement colums;

Sandwich board;

Bus Stop;

Billboard;

TOM. working on the image order. Person X. Narrative photogaphy.

Order Idea 3.

In this order all the medical/negative feeling images are shown first, then my mum is brought into the set and then it ends with the positive photos which show the more happier aspect of my mum. I tried this order out because I thought having the positive images last would create a feel good ending rather then a sad ending- creating a meaning like "even though there's some much to be upset about, there's always a reason to smile. You have to appreciate the little things."

Order Idea 2:

In this order I've done a mix of the negative and the positive feeling images, by doing this it gives the viewers more information about my mum as each image goes by, it keeps them interested in who this person is and keeps them in their feet about what there going to see next, 'could it be a positive thing or a negative thing?' and then the final image which reveals my mums identity to see her smiling face and Smallville jumper. - which nicely brings together all the images as a set.

Order Idea 1:

In this order I've place the positive images first and then gradually brought in the negative ones, this is to produce shock and interest from the viewer- as they realize that this person X has a more serious undertone to the narrative- to then be shown the final image of my mother who shows them the message I want to get across.

"Even though there's some much to be upset about, there's always a reason to smile. You have to appreciate the little things."