Brief 4: Home

Initial Response:

My initial response to the brief as to take it quite literal, looking at what home meant to me personally. With this I photographed my pets as my home is wherever they are rather than where I’m living. From this set I have captured the bright colours of the background with the use of natural daylight. I have also captured photographs in black and white, presenting high contrast between the shadows and light. Both types of photograph, colour and black and white expressed contrast effectively against the colouring and pattern of the cats.

Within this set of photographs I have also made the main focus point the eyes of both the cats and dog, reading into it that the eyes are the window to the soul and with them you can know what someone is feeling.

Research:

Navid Baraty is a Brooklyn-based photographer whose work prompts an ability to reveal unexpected details that the eye(s) might otherwise never see. Navid Baraty’s work leads with a desire to accurately portray the shape and way the Earth is seen, and in doing so leads to capturing many breath-taking photographs.
	Navid Baraty’s photographs capture aspects of everyday life and tell the story of all those present within the photograph. These photographs are taken from the point of view of someone watching the world and the strangers in it, trying to determine exactly what these people and their lives are like.

My Response:

Moving on from my initial response to the home brief, I then decided to base my photos on the idea that home is the country in which you live. From this I then went to London as it seemed the best choice for taking photographs that represented England. While there I took photos or all the stereotypical thing associated with England such as the red of the flag, buses, phone boxes and guards outside Buckingham Palace. Here in my first set of photographs I have presented the positive and boastful stereotypes of England, showing a very small fracture of what the country is like: patriotic and rich with golden gates and statues.

Here my photographs are strong and effective with expressing vibrant reds and gold and making it seem as though these are an everyday visual around England. I have also effectively captured a photograph of Buckingham Palace, both with and without a crowd of people. The photographs with the crowd present the allure of the building with showing how many people stand around just to look at it, and expressing that they feel comfortable and at home there. The photograph without the crown presents a low angle of the building from the side, this exaggerates the size of Buckingham Palace making it appear grand and powerful.

More Research:

Simon Kennedy is a London-based architecture photographer whose work features landscapes of buildings and structures photographed in a way that is calming and hypnotic. Simon Kennedy’s was once a qualified architect and that experience have him a unique understanding of architecture, making him able to capture highly insightful and cutting edge photographs.

My Response: Simon Kennedy’s photographs are appealing to the eye, with his use of framing, leading lines and the point of view from which the photo is taken. None of his photos appear to be the same, with all of them expressing a different location and time of day.
	I find that the most effective and mesmerizing photographs to be those that are taken in the early of late hours of the day. These boast a range of colours, presenting a calm atmosphere especially as they feature clouds or smoke that is casually floating.

Second Response:

For my second set I again looked at the stereotypical buildings that represent England, such as St Paul Cathedral, the Globe Theatre, the National Art Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the Tower of London. With this set I also used my artist research to influence my photographs.

I used Navid Baraty’s style of taking photographs from the point of view of someone watching the world and the strangers in it, capturing aspects of everyday life and telling the story of all those present within the photograph. This can be seen within the photographs taken in Trafalgar Square, facing the National Art Gallery, and in the last three photographs below.

I also used Simon Kennedy’s view of taking photographs of just the building and from a distance, expressing the lines and creating a calm atmosphere. I also edited the sky and clouds within the photograph using Photoshop so that they appeared to be more substantial and present within the photograph; once again mirroring how Simon Kennedy’s photographs feature clouds that are present and floating to create a calming atmosphere.

I really like the colours and lighting from inside Kings Cross and outside where the sun is starting to set.