Reading and Reasearch and Personal Photography: Saul Leiter.

I recently visited our local Abbey Walk Gallery on a wet day.  I have always been attracted by some stainless steel sculptures in the courtyard and on this day they particularly caught my eye.  The are highly reflective and were covered with rain drops and rain running down them.. I was reminded of the work of Saul Leiter and, although only having my phone to hand, I took some pictures which are displayed below.

Assignment 3: A Photographic Commission. Final Submission.

Assignment brief:

Restrict yourself to the flotsam and jetsam of the estuary and tie it in with beachcombing? You're a beachcomber but instead of old pottery and coins you collect photographs of rubbish. You see the rubbish as a great subject for photography but you're also keen to raise important issues about the environment and have an exhibition of your photographs organised at a local museum. The magazine - lets say it's a serious, glossy nature or culture publication - wants to cover the exhibition and your work. They want some of your exhibition photographs - interesting rubbish aesthetically photographed on appropriate backgrounds (its important that you take them out of their estuary context so that they appear as a collection). They also want a few location shots of you collecting on the estuary. There should be one or two wide angle close ups with rubbish you've just discovered clearly visible - perhaps one with your hand in shot or a portrait closeup with rubbish, and a distance shot of you beachcombing alone to contrast the environmental beauty of the estuary with the overall theme of rubbish. If you have a second camera you could have this in shot. It will start with a double page spread and run over eight pages - a total of eight to ten shots. Delivery as usual via dropbox, files to be 2880 pixels longest side.

To view the images large in order to read the captions, please click on a picture.

Having been out and taken some more in situ images and rephotographed the glass array and bottle top spiral, I have now reselected my final 10 images:

 In this shot I have focused in really close with the lens set at 10mm.  This has ensured that my hands and the paint tin loom large in the picture but the wide angle shows the landscape behind.  The outer dunes and the Bull Sand Fort can be seen on the horizon.  I have chosen this one for my initial double page spread as it allows space for a title and caption as I have shown in my magazine layout.  My caption for this image is:-
Beachcombing photographer, Mike Pickwell, who currently has an exhibition at the Cleethorpes Discovery Centre, scours the dunes at Tetney looking for material for his unusual images.

 As I wanted to tell a story with my photographs, I have begun with some in situ shots.  With some speedy footwork I managed to take a delayed shutter shot with a second camera, so this one shows me photographing myself.  The main camera is set low to achieve the wide angle close up type of image shown in the first shot.  Again a wide angle shows the landscape well, with shipping on the far horizon.  The caption for this is:-
Mike examines one of his finds with camera set up ready to take its portrait.  A tripod is essential for this type of shot to ensure level horizons and pin-sharp images.

 This and the next picture show items of jetsam in situ.  Again I have used a 10mm lens at its closest focusing distance to make the subject loom large, yet at the same time give an impression of the expansive landscape.  Caption:-
A plastic cleaner container litters the beach after being thrown from a non-British ship.  Presumably the crew gave no thought to the harm it causes.

 Caption:  A jettisoned drink bottle mars the majestic view of the estuary.

 For the out of context shots I arranged some of my objects into arrays and assemblages inspired by Martin Waters and Gabriel Orozco. (Also see blog for Tuesday 10th June Further inspiration for Assignment 3)  I was fascinated by Martin Waters constructed out of cha;k and brick on the beach at Spurn.  When I found and photographed discarded gloves at Horsheshoe point I was reminded of his glove tower.  When arranging my spiral and grid, I had in mind Gabriel Orozco's grids and assemblages at the Gugenheim.  In this image I organised some of the many bottle tops I came across into a rainbow spiral. I actually rephotographed this shot as I wanted each top to be touching the one before. Caption:-
Bottle tops are a regular find on Mike's excursions.  He likes to displays his items in a variety of ways, here a spiral arranged in the colours of the rainbow.

 I took this shot lying on the ground so that the beer crate loomed above me.  Again lens set to 10 mm and closest distance with the Bull Fort and a ship on the horizon.  Caption:-
A Holsten beer crate, probably from a German ship entering the river.  Bottle crates are common on the estuary, often half buried in sand and part of the landscape.

 The opposite effect here.  A shot taken with a 150mm macro lens to home in on a small object.  Caption:-
A macro shot of a drinks bottle top.  Objects like this can be a danger to wildlife.

 I wanted to show that not all jetsam is harmful or an eyesore.  Bottles jettisoned from ships usually break (when they can be dangerous), but over many years the action of waves and sand wear them down until they resemble semi-precious stones.  They are collectors items and whole websites are devoted to them.  I took great care arranging this display using metal rulers to help achieve straight edges and ensuring that no pieces touched each other.  My inspiration was again Waters and Orozco. Their work reminded me how beauty can be found in the most unusual places, but however much flotsam and jetsam can be arranged into works of art, we must remember to danger such things pose to the environment.
Caption :-
Not all jetsam is ugly or dangerous. Sea glass makes a pleasing assemblage in the style of Martin Waters and can be found on most beaches.

 This and the image below show tow more assemblages photographed in a studio situation.  Caption:-
Children's balls and a section from a lobster pot anchor are going to take many years to decay.

 Caption:- Local beaches are littered with plastic gloves that have been discarded from ships passing up and down the river.  Not only are they an eyesore, they are small enough to be eaten by marine mammals.

With my captions I have tried to answer some or all of the 'Ws': Who, What, Where, When, Why.  I have tried to be brief and succinct not to overstate the obvious.

Although the brief does not require it, I enjoyed experimenting with a magazine layout and I show one possibility here.

All that remains now is to  enter the captions into the metadata in Lightroom and send them to my tutor at 2880 pixels longest side and 300dpi.

As I complete this assignment I am reminded of a quote made by Robert Hobart in 1793 that I came across at a major exhibition on Joseph Banks and his voyages on the Endeavour with Captain James Cook.  Hobart said:
"Wide as the world is, traces of you are to be found in every corner of it" 
No doubt true then, but even more true today.

Assignment 3: A Photographic Commission; Returning for Some More Images.

Saturday was a fine and warm day, but pleasingly overcast so I returned for some more in situ images:

I am pleased with these images and glad that I made the effort to return.  I like the interesting detail in the skies and am happy with the way the jetsam features large in them, yet the environment is still shown to good effect.  It amused me to find the Holsten crate as I had taken a long exposure shot of it in the surf a few weeks previously.  This reminds me of artist David Nash who works with wood and is based in Blaenau Festiniog, North Wales.  I really enjoyed his exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park a couple of years ago.  Several years ago Nash sculpted a huge wooden sphere which he let free in the local river and then photographed its progress out to sea over the following years.  Although only weeks apart, when I rediscovered my beer crate, the delight I felt must be akin to how Nash himself felt every time he rediscovered his sculpture.  More in line with Nash is the drifwood image on this page which I had photographed three years previously a couple of miles up the coast.  It makes me wonder what tide could have moved this huge piece of timber so effortlessly.

Rephotographing the glass array.
I spent some time and effort this morning re-photographing my sea glass array.  I was careful to ensure that no pieces touched and the space around all of the pieces was reasonably even.  I also wanted it to be as square as possible.  This is the best of around twenty rearrangements.

Assignment 3: A Photographic Assignment; First Draft

Again a reminder of my Assignment brief. :-

Restrict yourself to the flotsam and jetsam of the estuary and tie it in with beachcombing? You're a beachcomber but instead of old pottery and coins you collect photographs of rubbish. You see the rubbish as a great subject for photography but you're also keen to raise important issues about the environment and have an exhibition of your photographs organised at a local museum. The magazine - lets say it's a serious, glossy nature or culture publication - wants to cover the exhibition and your work. They want some of your exhibition photographs - interesting rubbish aesthetically photographed on appropriate backgrounds (its important that you take them out of their estuary context so that they appear as a collection). They also want a few location shots of you collecting on the estuary. There should be one or two wide angle close ups with rubbish you've just discovered clearly visible - perhaps one with your hand in shot or a portrait closeup with rubbish, and a distance shot of you beachcombing alone to contrast the environmental beauty of the estuary with the overall theme of rubbish. If you have a second camera you could have this in shot. It will start with a double page spread and run over eight pages - a total of eight to ten shots. Delivery as usual via dropbox, files to be 2880 pixels longest side.

To view Images large in order to read the script, please click on a picture.

First my selection of images.
I have chosen these images largely because I think they are my strongest and I also feel that they tell a story.

 I chose the first image as it shows me among a large conglomeration of Jetsam.  It is taken in good light and has a summery feel to it.  I selected it as the initial double page spread as there was a large area of sky to take a title and caption over the top of it.

 This is a straightforward shot of me examining a find with the camera in the shot to set the scene as a lead image at the beginning of the body text.

Here I have photographed my trawl of jetsam out of context, but not yet in a 'studio' setting.  It illustrates the theme of the article.

 I was inspired by the work of both Martin Waters and Gabriel Orozco and wanted to show an array of some objects, in this case a rainbow spiral.

 I chose this picture to illustrate my theme of plastic being a danger to marine life.

 A second array of images, this time sea glass to illustrate that some jetsam is beautiful.

The remaining images illustrate both assemblages of objects and also objects that can endanger marine life.

Magazine Layout
Before setting out my magazine pages  I researched several periodicals:  National Geographic, The Guardian Weekend Magazine, Washington post and New York Times.  I looked, especially, at how they laid out their images and set out their captions.  I again opted to stick with the Sans Serif fonts of Verdana for the title, ariel for the captions and Georgia for the body text as I feel that they work well for me; they are clear and easy to read and give a reasonable variety, whilst at the same time not confusing the reader with too many.  The brief asks for a double page spread for the first page and I have opted for full bleed as often used in National Geographic.  The layouts were produced in Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 using A3 size documents.  My tutor has asked for images to be sent to him at 2880 pixels longest size so I will resize them before Dropboxing them.

Although I am quite pleased with this effort, it has been drawn to my attention that the grid of sea glass has some pieces touching and I need to correct this.  I also need one or two images of jetsam in situ and aim to return for some close-up wide angle shots that will show the environment as well.  I think that it would be better for this project to have all of the images in pvercast lighting where the sky acts as a giant soft box and so avoid any harsh contrasty lighting.