callum.moon

March 9, 2017Callum Moon

Brief 4: You Are Here

You Are Here

For this brief we were asked to take photos that represent the concept of “Home” and what this idea can mean for different people both culturally, emotionally and sentimentally. This concept in terms of a genre with in photography generally includes themes of nostalgia, usually fairly generic imagery of things like family, the landscape or things that bring us back to our childhood. My response to this brief flips this idea slightly but I feel has the same meaning, the photos I’ve taken are of skateboarding which on the face of it has no connection notions of home however I feel this explores a deeper meaning on what people consider home to be, for the kind of outsider subculture that skateboarding is generally categorised in the majority of people who are involved have a live in a world separated from the idea that where they came from/grew up makes them who they are, for them home is very much where they are at that moment as a large part of skateboarding involves exploration and breaking traditions or the pre-determined way of doing things.

Breaking the established order is a big part of what skateboarding is, both in the physical act of re contextualising the world around us and interacting with the space of architecture to create something other and in the lifestyle of being typically misunderstood by mainstream society and often persecuted for the act itself. With this in mind the skateboarder doesn’t have that connection with their place of upbringing in the same way as the place that they feel most at home is at the skate park, city centre, car park, plaza, public area. In terms of how photography applies to this, documenting the lives and experiences with in skateboarding has been a well explored area for the past 40 or so years with work by photographers such as Larry Clark, Lance Dawes, Grant Brittan, CR Stecyk and many more recently and I wanted to see how I can use these ideas in relation to the brief especially with trying to take a more photo journalistic approach.

My initial ideas were to take photos of the surrounding activity and atmosphere of being out with your friends skating where its just you, your friends and how you can create something with whats around you. This would generally involve more of the scenery and less emphasis on the physical action of skateboarding which is something that i wanted to keep as a focus to show the individuals in the place they feel most at home. The photos I took were all in one night, I wanted to make it as spontaneous as I could to try and keep that sense of documentation and how i was going to capture whatever was thrown my way rather than going to various different spaces as I thought it would have a more nostalgic feel more authentic of what skateboarding is about.

Artist Research

blondeymccoy-ollie-paris-alexpires — this is an excellent example of how skateboarding mixes archiectural and sport photography, the frame is mostly taken up by this european urban landscape but your eye is drawn from the floor up to skateboarder, the body language mixed with the set up of the spot shows the narrative of the action taking place but with a style that adds an artist perspective to the photo as more of an event in motion that deserves a level of attention but captures his gestures in a graceful way almost to make it look as if he’s flying.

the world of skate photography can be considered a genre in itself as it combines portraiture and architectural photography and has such a wide range of possibilities to fit into the frame. One of my favourites is the french photographer Alex B. Pires, due to the nature of skateboarding photography its often for commercial use as the culture is very visual so photography is very important to pass on information but this photographer tends to focus on the more art based side which tends to put emphasis on the individuals body language and architecture in the same way that you could take a photo of a dancing or sports.

final images

this was a different approach to get a closer angle — the approach on this photo was to get a more intimate angle limiting down to just the necessary components to know what is happening with in the frame, The colour in the image also works well with the white of the wall next to his shoes. This closer angle gives more detail to the roughness of the concrete, you begin to see all of the imperfections and marks in the architecture.

With this image i wanted to take more inspiration from more modern skateboarding photography where the emphasis on the landscape around them and how the subject fits into the frame. with this one in particular it fits central to the rest of the image and there is again the divide of the night sky with the floor. The lights in the back create a warm light which gradually turns into cold light from the flash on the camera. The clothing on the subject is dark and sinks into the night sky which contrasts with his hat and hand. Overall i like how his body language is pointing to the trick he is doing. This is a common convention in skateboarding photography and is that main thing that makes a skate photo into a good photo.

this photo is on the soft side in terms of focus but the framing of the image in general works well and the sharp focus of the image isn't particularly needed, it shows the location dropping more out of focus behind him and the lighting really puts emphasis on his body positioning and the harsh contrast of the barrier and the floor. — this photo is on the soft side in terms of focus but the framing of the image in general works well and the sharp focus of the image isn’t particularly needed, it shows the location dropping more out of focus behind him and the lighting really puts emphasis on his body positioning and the harsh contrast of the barrier and the floor.

This image works well for the same reasons, everything in his body positioning and leading lines shows where he is going in this, even the placement of his arm creates a look of him dominant to his enviroment, the empty car park in the background also adds to the ambiguity of the image, its not certain what time it is, how many people are there its just about him and the downward road infront of him which in the framing of the image points across the frame rather than diagonally.

Out of all of the photos of this happening this one stood out to me as the main subject isn't necessarily the person riding the skateboard but the environment surrounding them, this is evident in this image as the two sources of light from the flash and the street light lights up the two corners of the frame and the subject is somewhere in the middle rather than taking up a lot of the frame. another thing i like about this image are the leading/intersecting lines of the barrier, road markings and skyline in the background. — Out of all of the photos of this happening this one stood out to me as the main subject isn’t necessarily the person riding the skateboard but the environment surrounding them, this is evident in this image as the two sources of light from the flash and the street light lights up the two corners of the frame and the subject is somewhere in the middle rather than taking up a lot of the frame. another thing i like about this image are the leading/intersecting lines of the barrier, road markings and skyline in the background.

This image stands out in particular to me, his body language seems to point to where he's going and the height its captured at makes it clear that hes coming out of the wall, the floor markings and lines with in the wall behind him are all very directional. — This image stands out in particular to me, his body language seems to point to where he’s going and the height its captured at makes it clear that hes coming out of the wall, the floor markings and lines with in the wall behind him are all very directional.

March 9, 2017Callum Moon

Brief 3: Portrait

Artist research

Alasdair McLellan

One of my favourite photographers for portraiture is Alasdair McLellan, I first found Alasdair’s work through his involvement in fashion photography, doing work for ID and Palace. His style of photography is often very contemporary yet he keeps a wide range of styles registered in his work, his versatility of subjects and aethetic in his photographs add to what makes him a great photographer, ranging from high concept fashion work to work reminiscent of Irving Penn or Richard Avedon.

p.php-9 — This photo uses colour to tie the picture together, the dark teal background sets the image apart from what we’re used to seeing for a start but way it goes with his jacket and shirt ties the whole this together. Even the contrast between the shade of his hair and the background makes it seem like a conscious creative choice as it works out really well in bringing out the texture of his hair. His facial expression is another thing that makes this image more captivating, not a straightforward smile, you could say it was more of a gurn like the flash was too bright or something, yet he still looks confident with the way that one open eye is looking into the camera, maybe even in a confrontational way. His hand also goes with this idea, his arm takes up half of the frame and is emphasised in the frame, the fist and thumb is set up as a pose which conflicts with his confused looking face.

alasdair mclellan p.php-7

p.php-8

Familiar Portrait

the familiar photograph i wanted to take advantage of the industrial side of the campus, while looking around we found this shipping container which I thought would make a good background with the ridged metal contours, especially along with the fact it was a sunny day which created a variety of shadows and light reflecting of the metal surface, the lighting in general worked well for this image i feel in the way the light shines off of the corner of his forehead and lights up the side of his head and create shadows emphasising his facial features. The lighting of the image was very warm with the burgundy shipping container the colour of his jacket, one thing that was difficult about these images is that i wanted Gabriel to be inline with the lines in the shipping container however to the right hand side as you can see on the other photos from the shoot there is a lot of foliage to the right of him that is really distracting from the rest of the image.

Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 18.16.37

Self Portrait

for the self portrait i wanted to use a low shutter speed and motion blur to create an interesting effect on the image instead of just having a straight forward portrait on a white background. Many photographers will use this effect on a portrait as it adds a level of ambiguity to the subject, and a level of unknown to it that often isn’t there for portraits as they are about capturing every detail of their facial features and is more about laying out as much about the person as they can in the frame. Many photographers use this such as even the ones iv’e research like Alisdair McLellan or others famous for this effect in particular like Brett Lloyd or David Galsytan.

turesI chose this photo as it has the most movement yet still has a defined image with in it, and I like the way its in the lower half as the image is split in half almost by the line between the wall and the ceiling . the lighting in my room where i took the photos was way too on the warm side but with this image i feel it worked to my advantage as i wanted to have that variety in hues which ended up having cold blue/green colours in the background but having warmer tones in my face.

Stranger

I chose this image as it shows the most accurate telling of the atmosphere at the time, it was a sunny day with a lot of people on the high street and this busker was stood outside Anne Summers singing as loud and as passionately as she could, the performance was completely at odds with all of the corporate signage around that area and she really stood out through the crouds of people, i feel this image in her facial expression and her body language in relation to the framing how she is dwarfed by these mannequins and giant signs yet she looks graceful and strong in the front of the modern corporate high street.

March 9, 2017Callum Moon

Brief 2: Found Object

Artist Research

Niko Vass is an amazing still life photographer, his photos are surreal and often fantasy related, he photographs antique watches, keys, camera cases in a way that draws heavy focus onto the details in the objects colour and shadows. He photographs in environments that seem to match the aesthetic of the object too creating scenes that would fit into a fantasy novel or fairy tale with heavy realism and detail but with other worldly qualities about them that make them stand out as more than just objects through the lens.

525295_363228897117006_214818250_n — This is a good example of how he creates an other worldly atmosphere around the simplest of objects, they key in the image is clearly ornate and looks like something out of a fair tale but the way its hung on the tree and how the light hits it perfectly to emphasise the contours with with shadow makes it stand out even more than just an object. the brilliant vibrance of the tree in the background is an interesting choice as most of the time you’d blur the background to obscure it but in this case it stands to support the key while still being colourful and bright in itself.

My Found Object

For my found object photos I decided to set the objects up in a studio type environment, using a blank white background to begin with to bring more attention to the objects themselves. The objects I used where generally small random bits of metal all with varying levels of rust, shape and shine to them with the initial idea being to contrast them against one another. I essentially ended up just using the flash on my camera mixed with the light on my phone in some photos to control the shadows better, which was another thing I wanted to focus on in particular as the shape of the objects where the thing I found most interesting and wanted to capture the most.

Screen Shot 2017-03-31 at 01.55.12 — found object shoot

February 6, 2017Callum Moon 1 Comment

Brief 1:Appropriation

Artist Research

Appropriation is one of the biggest tools in today’s media out put, every content creator incorporates some form of appropriation simply by the process of inspiration and emulation in the most fundamental sense of taking something and changing its meaning. One of the most prolific artists known for his heavy use of appropriation is Banksy, Banksy is an anonymous graffiti artist from Bristol. His work is heavily saturated with references to pop culture and current events often changing the context and perspective to add different meaning or to parody the original. Often incorporating satire and subversive imagery to get his political activist view across.

the first idea i had for appropriation with advertising is the way models are presented in a similar way to renaissance paintings of religious figures and icons. in this photo i used a kate moss calvin klien advert crossed with the virgin mary, which gave me the conceptual idea for the rest of the images crossing ideas of fame/advertising/capitalism with imagery of high art/religious imagery

this image was more supposed to connect how images of war and conflict were represented through paintings and sport photography, in many ways idealising their movements and focusing on the aesthetic qualities of conlict in an expressive way

in this image i went off of photography and tried to do something with the idea of the modern celebrity and how celebrity has become the new religion in terms of the media coverage and the masses of people that worship these idols in a similar way. this photo is kim kardashian and north west spliced with a statue of jesus and mary.

January 19, 2017Callum Moon

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