Can a Photographer be an insider and an outsider?

There is much stigma around whether you are and insider or an outsider in photography.
If you ask someone if you can take a picture of them, you are immediately engaging in a conversation  you might ask them questions to get them comfortable with you and the camera being there, but does that mean you then become an insider because you know a little about your subject? or does it still make you an outsider because, yes, you are asking them questions about them to get them comfortable but you still don't know anything about who they are, not really anyway!

Some photographers I have looked at like Vicky Roy are insiders because he knows the streets he is photographing because he grew up homeless on them, he is also an insider because he befriends the people he is photographing through the Salaam Baalak trust that he occasionally works for. Martin Roemers on the other hand is an outsider because he is not local to the location of his shoots where he takes long exposure pictures of people on the street to show motion and his busy surroundings. 

Recently I went out into Ely and into Cambridge, both areas are very familiar and local to me, they are places I've been going to/ lived in all my life which makes me an insider to the location. On the other hand I am also painted as an outsider because the kind of photographs I was taking (long exposures of people walking through the streets to create blur)  meant that I didn't know the people I was taking pictures of they were just nameless faces in a crowd.

In my personal opinion I think a photographer can be a insider and an outsider in their work. For example I am focusing on street photography for my latest project, photographing people as they pass by me or I pass by them. In this instance I am an insider because I know the areas I am conducting my shoot in however I am also an outsider because I don’t know the people I am photographing and they don’t know me.

What do you think? are you an outsider or an insider to a photograph you are taking?

Thank You for Reading, 

Becca

Guest Lecture 6- Dean Chalkley

This week Dean Chalkley was our Guest Lecturer. He said that life it is all about expressing yourself through art. 

When Dean Chalkley was younger  he did a youth training scheme because he wanted to be a fashion designer... then he wanted to be a race car driver. Well  its clear he definitely had ambitions! 

Eventually he gave up his job to become a full time photographer, Doing a part time A-Level course to get into Blackpool University and I am glad he did this because his enthusiasm and drive for photography had me hooked! Hanging on every last word because he was so interesting.

One of the things Chalkley said was that the camera is a passport into other peoples lives and that the only way to get things done is to do it. These two things go hand in hand because if you see someone in the street who you want to take a picture of because they interest you in some way but you are to afraid of asking them if you can take their picture you are inevitably going to regret the fact you didn't ask! 

We were advised that it is worth entering competitions because it is a great way to get your work noticed. 

One of the main pieces of advice Dean Chalkley shared with us was not to take the university environment for granted we have the benefit of fantastic lecturers and also once you leave university you are on your own so to keep in contact with everyone!

Photography is one of the only jobs that you can include what you are interested in, into your work. If you like music then you go into the music industry taking album covers, if you like fashion you become a fashion photographer. there are so many possibilities out there we just have to find them ( thats my belief anyway) 

To me Dean Chalkley has well and truly made it photographing such people/ bands as Russell Brand, Daft Punk, Marilyn Manson, Pete Doherty, Nick Grimshaw, Simon Cowell, Oasis and the list just goes on and on. he has created endless opportunities for himself 

As well as this he has worked with such brands as Levi's and Ray-Bans. 

He has also Directed such films as The New Faces which reflects young models 

Most recently Chalkley had an exhibition at summers house. which was very successful.  

Thank you for reading, 

Becca 

Back to the Future

In the spirit of inside or outside photography, I was inspired by the recent  "Back To The Future day".
If you have never seen back to the future, basically, there is a scientist called Doc Brown that creates a time machine and accidentally sends Marty Mcfly (played by Michael J. Fox) back in time, to when his parents were teenagers ( really its amazing they made 3 films out of this concept) Mcfly is then tasked with finding past Doc Brown to help him re build the time machine and return to the future. and so on and so forth.

Whist watching this film I noticed how much of an outsider the character Marty Mcfly is because he didn't know anyone, It was the same place he had grown up in just a different period in time, it was familiar yet strange.

Each time he goes back in time or even forward in time (in the second one they travel to 2015) Mcfly becomes a outsider yet again.

This proves that you can be an outsider in more than just photography, you can be an outsider in just about anything.

Finally, Back to the future has been a film that has stuck in the hearts of many for a very long time, and was even the inspiration for the the name of hit 'Boy Band' Mcfly.  You wouldn't necessarily understand the themes behind the films if you were kid at the time they were being released, however many adults and teenagers today can pick up on them and really understand the message it is trying to put across.

This is a short post but it sums up what I thought about Back to the Future and the ideals it is trying to present.

Thank You for Reading,

Rebecca

How I feel about University Life so far...

What can I say, 8 Weeks after starting my course my fears and anxieties are gone. With commuting to Norwich I found it quite hard having got be up at 6:00 every morning just to be in for lectures starting at 9:00 it was physically draining especially with my recent increase in hours at work. I was getting to the point where something was going to have to give. 

I can say now that after the first week I was only having to be in for 9:00 twice a week which made it so much more bearable! and being in work for 7:30 on a Saturday became easier and easier, it is really all about adapting your sleep patterns and your body getting accustomed to the early starts ( it helped that I do drink a lot of coffee!!!!)

I have made so many new friends, that my mum calls "my own kind" which I find quite funny, I am really enjoying my course and I am learning a lot! 

However when we go into workshops we get given a number and told to go stand with the other people that have that number, this is quite a downside when you get split up from the friends you've made an effort to make! 

Despite this it hasn't put me off going into uni, the lecturers are really good and passionate about the subject but they are also willing to help if you need it. I was really struggling at first, I didn't know how to use my camera in manual mode and I also didn't have a clue about the lighting equipment, this was only because the equipment at my old school was very minimal and we barely got to use it. I was like a fish out of water. It was good to make friends that were in the same position as me. 

By far, the best part about my University if our Friday morning lectures, yes it is an early morning one, however each week is a different guest lecturer, some are students that have graduated in previous years and others and fully fledged photographers that have had a long career! It makes me excited to continue with the course and get somewhere. 

The people on my course are all so lovely, we all get along with everyone which makes it so much easier when we get split up into groups. Like today for example, none of my friends were in my workshop because of other things going on and we got split into groups for our lighting workshop (Disclaimer: I had worked with the people in my group before) and the rest of my group helped to put the equipment up ( something I'm still getting my head around) and we just had fun with what we were doing, I haven't laughed that much in  a long while. 

If I could give advice to anyone I would say don't be worried or scared, it is one of the best experiences you could have, everyone else is in the same position as you, and there is always help available if you need it. I have always been quite a shy reserved person but I found just going up to people on your course and saying "Hi" is one of the best things you can do! 

Thank you for Reading,

Becca

Inside/out// 1994 notes- First Impressions

First Impressions

• ·      Confusing at first to figure out who the author is talking about
• ·      You don’t have to be an outsider to the subject to be a photographer you can be an insider too
• ·      Nan Goulding is an insider to the photographs she takes because she is sometimes the subject of them and also she knows the people she is photographing she is an insider to the lives they lead
• ·      “as with arbus’ photographs of freaks and deviants the risk is that the subject- irrespective of the photographer’s intention- becomes object and spectacle”
• ·      the subjects are often victimized, marginalised, discriminated against, or even physically attacked
• ·       “the camera observes mutely; there is no text, no narration, no explanation, no commentary”
• ·      “it may well be that the nature that speaks to our eyes can be plotted neither on the side of inside or outside but in some liminal and as yet unplotted space between perception and cognition, projection and identification”

after seminar 1-

Do you agree with Sontag’s opinion of Diane Arbus?

·      Diane trying to fight against “boredom” – Is she trying to be an outsider by photographing the unusual? Photographing the unconventional

·      Mentally ill with depression – maybe felt like an outsider so she took photographs of “freaks” because she identified with them- but then contradicts this by calling them freaks.

Nan Gouldin – has an insiders approach because she knew the people she was photographing

·      Photographing herself with a bruised face or in intimate positions with her boyfriend also presents Gouldin as an insider…

Reinforcing the idea that a photographer can be an insider and an outsider.

Guest Lecture 5: Scott Grummet

Scott Grummett is a former graduate from Norwich University of the Arts back in 2010 where he then went on to assist photographers. In his lecture Grummett covered how to go about approaching photographers for assisting work. giving words of wisdom such as "ask what you can do for the photographer, even if it is just getting Tea" and "be chatty but still professional in your emails". 

The Golden Rules for Assisting.

• always look busy. 
• make friends, build a network and take notes
• Be early
• Make tea... ALL THE TIME 
• Always be aware of whats needed 
• and don't get drunk the night before a shoot. 

Grummett took photos for Harry Winston Jewellery and worked for wired magazine, and told us we should always have a kit primed and ready to go because you never know when you will get called out to a shoot.

Scott Grummetts main piece of advice was that it doesn't matter if you don't have the equipment or resources, because he started just taking pictures in his bedroom.   

Grummet mainly assisted food photographers, so his natural progression was into food photography, from this he has gained a regular client in Honest Burger, and has also shot for Nandos and KFC. He has shot for Esquire and directed films and tv commercials. 

The last thing Scott Grummett said to us was take pictures all the time. 

Thank You for Reading,

Becca x

Workshop 4: Flash Part 1

For this workshop we were learning how to mix flash light and ambient light. Our first task was to use a light metre and take the flash incident reading to determine the aperture  and take a picture using the flash. The first image was as F22 with a shutter speed of 1/125. This underexposed the image and turned day into night. 

The second image was set to F25 with a shutter speed of 1/125. this only made the image a bit brighter.

For task 2 we had to balance the flash and ambient light. The first image for this task was taken at F8 with a shutter speed of 1/125. 

The second image for this task was taken at F8 with a shutter speed of 1/250  which made the image lighter and the subject set apart from the background, the light is overly balanced. 

Our third and final task for this workshop was to get creative so we lit with the flash from above and from the side, and also from the side so we could freeze movement in the image. All of the images were taken at F5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/125. 

Blurred movement

Lit from above

Lit from the side

From this workshop I learned that aperture controls the flash lighting and the shutter speed controls the ambient lighting. 

 Thank you for Reading,

Becca x