tHE GREY AREA
The Grey Area
A space in photography that cannot be defined as the truth nor as fabrication. A definition where the true story behind a photo is lost in the void of personal interpretation. People are often misdirected to believing in everything they see, so therefore the Grey Area exists in order to challenge these views and correct these misinterpretations. Often used as a general term, 'A Grey Area' is someplace where an intent is unclear, the message hidden and the object itself is misunderstood.
- The term 'Black and White' refers to a straightforward explanation of something, so with the color grey settling in the middle, it already implies this mysteriousness.
As a A Level Photography student and as a member of society within the UK, I casually live within The Grey Area.
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Documentary Photography
A style of photography focused on documenting significant historical events. What makes Documentary Photography so memorable is it's inability to be affected by deceit, lies or manipulation. By capturing a moment of time as a still image, This seized occasion can now be constantly looked upon by a multitude of eyes. However, in some cases, although the truth of the event cannot be changed, what the picture shows can be. Those who intend to hide an objective will often choose to shield what they don't want an audience to see, or simply show something completely different.
- A prime example in history of this is Nazi propaganda:
A style of photography focused on documenting significant historical events. What makes Documentary Photography so memorable is it's inability to be affected by deceit, lies or manipulation. By capturing a moment of time as a still image, This seized occasion can now be constantly looked upon by a multitude of eyes. However, in some cases, although the truth of the event cannot be changed, what the picture shows can be. Those who intend to hide an objective will often choose to shield what they don't want an audience to see, or simply show something completely different.
- A prime example in history of this is Nazi propaganda:
The Reliability Of Photography
Many people trust that photos are facts. Pictures are of course just pictures that do not have a consciousness and therefore, cannot mislead nor betray anyone. Photography captures something in a moment of time, and that cannot be altered as it has happened, been documented and seen by everyone. They appear reliable due to these facts and can act as a catalyst to judgement one may make about a certain scenario.
- However photography can be deceitful an unreliable at points at previously mentioned.
If the one directing the photo consciously decides to misdirect or mask a specific incident during the making of the photo, the picture can be altered. Thus, the truth of the real event happening is concealed and the photograph has a different meaning, depiction and story.
Many people trust that photos are facts. Pictures are of course just pictures that do not have a consciousness and therefore, cannot mislead nor betray anyone. Photography captures something in a moment of time, and that cannot be altered as it has happened, been documented and seen by everyone. They appear reliable due to these facts and can act as a catalyst to judgement one may make about a certain scenario.
- However photography can be deceitful an unreliable at points at previously mentioned.
If the one directing the photo consciously decides to misdirect or mask a specific incident during the making of the photo, the picture can be altered. Thus, the truth of the real event happening is concealed and the photograph has a different meaning, depiction and story.
JACK LATHAM |
- Jack Latham is a well known photographer who is based in Bristol. He so far has had 3 published books: A Pink Flamingo (made along the route of the Oregon Trial in USA at a time of national financial hardship) , Sugar Paper Theories (about the Guomunder and about Geirfinnuer case in Iceland—a case of memory distrust syndrome in which six people confessed to murders they did not commit) and the Parliament Of Owls (concerned with a private men's club, the Bohemian Club, and its annual two-week-long camp at Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio, California. The truth of their meeting was hidden and no-one was allowed to interfere).
- Latham was born in Cardiff where he studied documentary photography at the University of Wales in Newport.
Sugar Paper Theories:
- Jack Latham took on the responsibility of researching the story about the disappearance of 2 men, Guomunder and Geirfinnuer where multiple people claimed that they murdered them. He then decided to create a piece of art based on this story.
- Jack Latham took on the responsibility of researching the story about the disappearance of 2 men, Guomunder and Geirfinnuer where multiple people claimed that they murdered them. He then decided to create a piece of art based on this story.
Parliament Of Owls:
- Jack Latham decided to do a project in which he called The Parliament Of Owls. He based this art off of Monte Rio in northern California in which holds a location of utmost secrecy named Bohemian Grove – a 2,700-acre retreat owned by the San Francisco-based gentlemen’s club, the Bohemian Club, founded in 1872. Many people of power visited there to hold inconspicuous meetings that were heavily guarded and never exposed to the public. Alex Jones, who tried to infiltrate the area, claims that there's an occult being held which sacrifice human lives.
Jack says that “Bohemian Grove is shrouded in secrecy, it doesn’t share with the public its events, membership list or lakeside talks. This is one of the largest gatherings of wealth and politics that happens yearly and the public are excluded from knowing what goes on inside. This vacuum on information creates ample opportunities for others to project new meaning, disinformation and conspiracy theories about the events inside. Some of which have real-world effects as a result.”
- Jack Latham decided to do a project in which he called The Parliament Of Owls. He based this art off of Monte Rio in northern California in which holds a location of utmost secrecy named Bohemian Grove – a 2,700-acre retreat owned by the San Francisco-based gentlemen’s club, the Bohemian Club, founded in 1872. Many people of power visited there to hold inconspicuous meetings that were heavily guarded and never exposed to the public. Alex Jones, who tried to infiltrate the area, claims that there's an occult being held which sacrifice human lives.
Jack says that “Bohemian Grove is shrouded in secrecy, it doesn’t share with the public its events, membership list or lakeside talks. This is one of the largest gatherings of wealth and politics that happens yearly and the public are excluded from knowing what goes on inside. This vacuum on information creates ample opportunities for others to project new meaning, disinformation and conspiracy theories about the events inside. Some of which have real-world effects as a result.”
PORTRAITURE PHOTO-SHOOT
In a standard portraiture photo shoot, the subject in the photo is centre frame, and the picture is only their face and upper body. So i wanted to try taking photos that avoided these stereotypes. For example, blocking most of my body through leaves or actually turning away from the camera to hide my face. I wanted to capture some photos that made people think about what convention is actually being used, in order to do this I either was far from the camera to give emphasis on the surroundings or made it so the focus of the picture wasn't actually on a person but rather an object (Like the table).
STORY EXHIBITION
We have been given a task to research a story within South East London and create a set of 20 images to showcase this story. Originally I wanted to play around with the idea of repressed memories or a traumatic childhood as I believed I could play around with many different photography techniques however that idea was soon changed as i did more research which eventually concluded to a child kidnapping story. I wanted to start the story off with an introduction to the child's life, to then change to more abstract and eery feel, eventually ending on the child's disappearance. I used the idea of perspective in my photos, taking the same photo but changing perspective. For example. the 2 pictures of an S.O.S sign, one is focusing on the sign and one is not, portraying the child's v kidnapper's mentality.
Here are the photos I took to demonstrate my story.
THE EXHIBITION
When hearing the feedback and original interpretations from the rest of the class I was surprised at first, as there was quite a minimal reaction from the group. My initial intentions were for the group to immediately question and discuss the reasons behind the layout of my exhibition however there was no discussion nor noticeable confusion. Therefore, if I were to do this again I would think more thoroughly about how to edit my layout in order to create the reaction I hope for, for example making the photos disoriented, some being upside down or broken.
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Upon hearing the interpretations of my peers I became quite interested in their deductions. Many people saw it as a murder rather than a kidnapping, which was due to the stalker-ish nature of the photos. Similarly, the group did not also understand the intent / reasoning behind my instruction to "Write a word that comes into your head" alongside crayons that were on display, this may have been due to its lack of clarity and randomness. The purpose behind this instruction was to make the group more physically involved with the exhibition and make them feel apart of the story, so to overcome this obstacle, I started drawing and writing all over the photos as I was the kidnapper targeting this child, however even this was not picked up upon.
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WHAT THE LIVING CARRY PROJECT
I found this project to be really engaging yet challenging, from the abstract to the simple, creating such a sequence of photos really pushed my creativity to the max. When researching Morgan Ashcoms 'What The Living Carry' I was fascinate by the constant atmosphere of a run-down like small town, achieved by his utility of the constant repetition of black and white photos compared to those with rustic, not as vibrant coloured photos. This constant motif acted as a guideline or a basis for how I would produce suitable photography for the task given, in which I believed I achieved in doing well. Throughout my photos, whenever on a street I would stick to the left side of the pavement, putting a tree in soft focus to obscure the surround areas, by exploiting this motif, I was able to produce a structured set of photos that seemed like they were the same road. Sometimes however, I would have breaks in this flow and take pictures of lamps, large buildings or other parts of nature to give the structure and series of photos a more fresh feel, not making it seem to obvious and boring. Similarly, this hiatus was also able to act as a narrative driver, to give those who view it a greater understanding of other areas of this made up town whilst simultaneously making the arrangement more intriguing.
JACK LATHAM AND TONY RAY - JONES
Our class took a 3 hour journey to the city of Bristol in order to see 2 exbitions that were on display on that day: Jack Latham's Sugar Paper Theories exhibition and Tony Ray-Jones' The English Seen exhibition. During our adventure we were given a list of photos to take, this list was as follows:
- A posed head and shoulders portrait photograph of a stranger
- A still life photograph of a brick in shallow focus
- A wide angle landscape photograph of the city
- A photograph taken of the motorway out of a moving coach window
- A portrait photograph of someone looking carefully at something
- A photograph shot from above of your shoes standing on the edge of something
- An architectural photograph of a corridor or stairwell
- An abstract photograph of light on surface
- A photograph of the corner of a framed photograph hinting at, but not fully revealing, its subject
- A close-up photograph of the word ‘fact’
- An architectural photograph of a brick wall so that the lines of bricks are parallel/perpendicular with the picture edge
- An installation shot of the ‘Sugar Paper Theories’ exhibition, demonstrating an interesting aspect its design
- A photograph of a section of the introductory wall text accompanying the Tony Ray-Jones exhibition
- A still life photograph of the ‘Sugar Paper Theories’ book
- A landscape photograph that is 95% sky
- A still life photograph of the inside of a dirty coffee cup
- A still life photograph of one wheel of the coach
- A low angle photograph taken underneath something
MY RESPONSE TO THE EXHIBITIONS
I found both exhibitions very interesting, especially how different both of them were to each other. I didn't know what to expect when first hearing about each exhibition, so upon entry into both exhibition, my first impressions and expectations were set at that very moment. Since we have studied Jack Latham's Sugar Paper Theories before, I already had an understanding on the type of photography that was upcoming, however I was a blank slate when it came to Tony Ray-Jones' The English Seen.
The Sugar Paper Theories - What stood out to me was the dim setting in which the exhibition was placed in, which radiated a personal aura. We had to enter the exhibition through doors, which mad it seem like we were entering someones private space, and that dim setting i talked about further pushed this narrative. Each photo had a spotlight aimed upon it from above, highlighting each photo as a crucial part of this story. We were greeted with an overview of the story Jack Latham researched at the start of the display, this gave whomever an understanding of what to expect and gave them a new way of looking at the photos, as they now know the meaning behind them. If a pictures intent is to deceive and misdirect someone, it is able to do so as photography is viewed as a very truthful art form, and I think Jack Latham was trying to inform us of this reality. By accompanying photos with a quote from someone during the time, which always referred to memory loss, it seemed that Jack was telling us to not trust our own original interpretations but look deeper into a photos meaning while keeping in mind the story, the potential lie and the overall picture itself.
The English Seen - Tony was interested in what English people got up to in the spare time. He often used streets as the background for his photography and he wanted to use his own individual twist in England to discover the answer behind his query. Every photo depicts some sort of activity whether it being visiting the beach, the drinking tea, to walking dogs etc. However, many photos seem to be an over exaggerated version of stereotypical truths placed upon English people at the time, perhaps this was in order to really highlight the activity being held or just simply making the photo seem more interesting. Unlike Jack Latham's exhibition, the lighting used was natural and the doors were open upon entry, which made the space feel more open and refreshing. I think this was due to Tony trying to put us into the role of British citizens in which he was observing. I saw the natural lighting and open space a reflection of the streets in which Tony explored, and now we have come into it, being surrounded by other people and his work makes us more as a whole rather than an individual. Since we too are British, by entering such a natural area, it is no different from outside the exhibition, the only difference now is that we are under surveillance.
The Sugar Paper Theories - What stood out to me was the dim setting in which the exhibition was placed in, which radiated a personal aura. We had to enter the exhibition through doors, which mad it seem like we were entering someones private space, and that dim setting i talked about further pushed this narrative. Each photo had a spotlight aimed upon it from above, highlighting each photo as a crucial part of this story. We were greeted with an overview of the story Jack Latham researched at the start of the display, this gave whomever an understanding of what to expect and gave them a new way of looking at the photos, as they now know the meaning behind them. If a pictures intent is to deceive and misdirect someone, it is able to do so as photography is viewed as a very truthful art form, and I think Jack Latham was trying to inform us of this reality. By accompanying photos with a quote from someone during the time, which always referred to memory loss, it seemed that Jack was telling us to not trust our own original interpretations but look deeper into a photos meaning while keeping in mind the story, the potential lie and the overall picture itself.
The English Seen - Tony was interested in what English people got up to in the spare time. He often used streets as the background for his photography and he wanted to use his own individual twist in England to discover the answer behind his query. Every photo depicts some sort of activity whether it being visiting the beach, the drinking tea, to walking dogs etc. However, many photos seem to be an over exaggerated version of stereotypical truths placed upon English people at the time, perhaps this was in order to really highlight the activity being held or just simply making the photo seem more interesting. Unlike Jack Latham's exhibition, the lighting used was natural and the doors were open upon entry, which made the space feel more open and refreshing. I think this was due to Tony trying to put us into the role of British citizens in which he was observing. I saw the natural lighting and open space a reflection of the streets in which Tony explored, and now we have come into it, being surrounded by other people and his work makes us more as a whole rather than an individual. Since we too are British, by entering such a natural area, it is no different from outside the exhibition, the only difference now is that we are under surveillance.
THE FINAL EXHIBITION
We were given a task to create a final set of photos based on everything we have learned over the grey area project, incorporating any skills or inspirations we picked up on.
My over-arching concept for this whole project is about how colour can convey different types of emotion. I find this to fit the grey area as emotions are all individual, despite given a general term, everyone has their own emotions, ones anger may not be the same as someone else's. Therefore, I expect and intend to express these individual emotions through the use of colour, which to me is heavily linked to the grey area.
Firstly, my original idea was to play with mirrors and reflections, and tell a story about how reflection act as a separate reality from the one we live in. I went around central London visiting places such as the Tate Modern's Observation Deck, to the One New Change Rooftop, heading to the Kings Cross Light Tunnel to finally end up in Canopy Market, which is where I took these photos. The reason I decided to not go with my original concept was because I thought that the photos ended up being very plain and uninteresting, and during the visit to Canopy Market, I ended up becoming more fascinated with the new and current concept and therefore developing photos to match this idea.
Aaron Schuman's 'Slant' project and one of my favourite photographers Yung Lee were both a great influence towards my piece. 'Slant' was all about taking news stories that involved delusion and fabrication and developing those into a piece of photography, using this idea of taking something like a story and putting it into a picture, I was able to develop my final product. Both scientific and spiritual beliefs have connotations between colour and emotion, these beliefs are a part of history and therefore, true. I developed this truth into a piece of my own work and is therefore, related to Aaron Schuman. Similarly, Yung Lee likes to focus on partnering colours alongside words in the form of neon signs to create meaning an portray emotion. Obviously I took the colour aspect of her vision and adapted it into my own perception, having the focus of a strong contrast between the main colour shown and the black void behind it. Yung Lee also did this, however many of her backgrounds were softly coloured, be that snowy leaves or a smooth blue waterfall.
Another key aspect of my exhibition is how every photo is lit in a different coloured light than its natural colour. For example, the most bottom left photo is leaves under a harsh red light, changing it's natural colour. Same with the top right photo, a man is placed under a purple spotlight and is therefore affected by it, also changing his natural colour. This emphasis on the intrusion of one colour into another is a common motif throughout my photos, adding the the original concept of emotion, and how someone can have many different emotions, however a strong one will overtake the rest.
The last key component of my exhibition is the biggest photo of them all, that shows a variety of colours in the shape of blocks, representing how one can have many emotions. However, a part of it that I don't believe people will notice is the colour of the blocks at both ends of the photo, red on top and blue at the bottom. This was an intentional addition, and the composition of the photos relate to it aswell. All red, angry photos are grouped at the bottom partnered with the blue block, showing that even the calmest of people may suffer with an overwhelming amount of anger and all cold coloured photos (Blue, purple and green) are with the red block, showing of course how the most aggressive people have a calm side.
My over-arching concept for this whole project is about how colour can convey different types of emotion. I find this to fit the grey area as emotions are all individual, despite given a general term, everyone has their own emotions, ones anger may not be the same as someone else's. Therefore, I expect and intend to express these individual emotions through the use of colour, which to me is heavily linked to the grey area.
Firstly, my original idea was to play with mirrors and reflections, and tell a story about how reflection act as a separate reality from the one we live in. I went around central London visiting places such as the Tate Modern's Observation Deck, to the One New Change Rooftop, heading to the Kings Cross Light Tunnel to finally end up in Canopy Market, which is where I took these photos. The reason I decided to not go with my original concept was because I thought that the photos ended up being very plain and uninteresting, and during the visit to Canopy Market, I ended up becoming more fascinated with the new and current concept and therefore developing photos to match this idea.
Aaron Schuman's 'Slant' project and one of my favourite photographers Yung Lee were both a great influence towards my piece. 'Slant' was all about taking news stories that involved delusion and fabrication and developing those into a piece of photography, using this idea of taking something like a story and putting it into a picture, I was able to develop my final product. Both scientific and spiritual beliefs have connotations between colour and emotion, these beliefs are a part of history and therefore, true. I developed this truth into a piece of my own work and is therefore, related to Aaron Schuman. Similarly, Yung Lee likes to focus on partnering colours alongside words in the form of neon signs to create meaning an portray emotion. Obviously I took the colour aspect of her vision and adapted it into my own perception, having the focus of a strong contrast between the main colour shown and the black void behind it. Yung Lee also did this, however many of her backgrounds were softly coloured, be that snowy leaves or a smooth blue waterfall.
Another key aspect of my exhibition is how every photo is lit in a different coloured light than its natural colour. For example, the most bottom left photo is leaves under a harsh red light, changing it's natural colour. Same with the top right photo, a man is placed under a purple spotlight and is therefore affected by it, also changing his natural colour. This emphasis on the intrusion of one colour into another is a common motif throughout my photos, adding the the original concept of emotion, and how someone can have many different emotions, however a strong one will overtake the rest.
The last key component of my exhibition is the biggest photo of them all, that shows a variety of colours in the shape of blocks, representing how one can have many emotions. However, a part of it that I don't believe people will notice is the colour of the blocks at both ends of the photo, red on top and blue at the bottom. This was an intentional addition, and the composition of the photos relate to it aswell. All red, angry photos are grouped at the bottom partnered with the blue block, showing that even the calmest of people may suffer with an overwhelming amount of anger and all cold coloured photos (Blue, purple and green) are with the red block, showing of course how the most aggressive people have a calm side.
DAVID BATE AND STEPHEN BULL
David Bate published a book titled "Documentary and Storytelling" discussing Documentary Photography's journey, we were asked to summarise what we wrote in 10 bullet points.
1. Documentary photography proposed a new way of life for the general public, creating a social purpose within society.
2. Media coverage and a publishing agency was not significant for the publication of individual work.
3. he documentary movement had many effects on those it reached, from documentation and recording to enlightenment and educate.
4. The government started to manipulate the upcoming documentary movement, by portraying themselves as good as news reels at a theatre and show the enemy as negative.
5. Photographers didn't have complete control yet at this time, the meaning of their art could be changed by the layout in which they weren't in control of.
6. Individuals within society were now introduced to being able to claim their own style of photography via Auteur Photography.
7. The development of styles between expressive photography and neutrality photography forced people to re-think about the way to portray themselves e.g their body.
8. Documentary pictures can show social processes, the actors within them and the conditions in which they take place.
9. Documentary photography hovers between art and journalism, trying to fuse creative treatment with the idea of actuality.
10. Documentary photography's most important insight is the interpretation and the profundity of the interpretation.
Similarly, Stephen Bull, a writer researching photography published his findings on documentary photography in a piece he called 'The Photography As Document'. Here are 10 key points I think summarised what he wrote.
1. Photography was used in a way where it was not just capturing the present but predicting the future, via police utilising mugshots as a way of identifying typical criminal appearances.
2. Documentary photography was used as means for news, which soon was replaced by radios and TV networks as advancements in technology had already started to surpass newspapers and photojournalism.
3. Photography can capture many elements of life, being used for surveillance and ID is one way in which it is used in everyday life.
4. Photography in the documentary age was perceived to be a reliable source of information as at the time, photos were perceived as un-editable.
5. Both professional and amateur photography was now apart of modern society.
6. Society became doubtful of photographers, as there grew a distaste towards their reliability when dealing with police cases.
7. Images that are of a higher quality should not have a higher regard than images of a lower resolution.
8. A photographs meaning can be changed and altered by the sheer amount of time it has been around.
9. Photographer bought around two types of perception, one of them is Photographic Subjectivity (The belief that photographer is the producer of the photo.)
10. The other view was Photographic Objectivity (The belief that the object in the photo makes the photo.)
1. Documentary photography proposed a new way of life for the general public, creating a social purpose within society.
2. Media coverage and a publishing agency was not significant for the publication of individual work.
3. he documentary movement had many effects on those it reached, from documentation and recording to enlightenment and educate.
4. The government started to manipulate the upcoming documentary movement, by portraying themselves as good as news reels at a theatre and show the enemy as negative.
5. Photographers didn't have complete control yet at this time, the meaning of their art could be changed by the layout in which they weren't in control of.
6. Individuals within society were now introduced to being able to claim their own style of photography via Auteur Photography.
7. The development of styles between expressive photography and neutrality photography forced people to re-think about the way to portray themselves e.g their body.
8. Documentary pictures can show social processes, the actors within them and the conditions in which they take place.
9. Documentary photography hovers between art and journalism, trying to fuse creative treatment with the idea of actuality.
10. Documentary photography's most important insight is the interpretation and the profundity of the interpretation.
Similarly, Stephen Bull, a writer researching photography published his findings on documentary photography in a piece he called 'The Photography As Document'. Here are 10 key points I think summarised what he wrote.
1. Photography was used in a way where it was not just capturing the present but predicting the future, via police utilising mugshots as a way of identifying typical criminal appearances.
2. Documentary photography was used as means for news, which soon was replaced by radios and TV networks as advancements in technology had already started to surpass newspapers and photojournalism.
3. Photography can capture many elements of life, being used for surveillance and ID is one way in which it is used in everyday life.
4. Photography in the documentary age was perceived to be a reliable source of information as at the time, photos were perceived as un-editable.
5. Both professional and amateur photography was now apart of modern society.
6. Society became doubtful of photographers, as there grew a distaste towards their reliability when dealing with police cases.
7. Images that are of a higher quality should not have a higher regard than images of a lower resolution.
8. A photographs meaning can be changed and altered by the sheer amount of time it has been around.
9. Photographer bought around two types of perception, one of them is Photographic Subjectivity (The belief that photographer is the producer of the photo.)
10. The other view was Photographic Objectivity (The belief that the object in the photo makes the photo.)