Martin parrs exhibition / Research

I visited the Public in west brom to see Martin Parr's exhibition on black country stories

with over 600 photos on view off the black country life , there was even a few architectural and close up photos in the mix so was nice to see hes work




Martin Parr

 During the last 20 years Martin Parr has become established as Britons best-know  and most successful documentary photography
His goal is to show the real side of every day life  rather than the carefully edited idealised image other photographers show

          Some strange close ups from martin Parr

Martin Parr wanted to become a documentary photographer from the age of fourteen, and cites his grandfather, an amateur photographer, as an early influence of Art in 1970. In 1983, he began taking photographs in New Brighton, a run-down seaside resort on the Wirral outside Liverpool in England. Built as a Victorian rival to its elegant namesake in the south, by the turn of the century it had become a favorite resort for working-class families and day-trippers from towns in the industrial north west. By the time Parr got there, three New Brighton was in severe decline . Instead of the grainy black and white in which photographers had traditionally reflected Britain (particularly working-class Britain) for the past half-century, Parr took a medium-format camera, flash, and color film. It showed New Brighton and its holidaymakers in an unforgiving light. There was no safe veil of nostalgia, nothing subdued by black and white.

I found a article about Martin Parr in one of my old mags

A collection of martin Parr's work

Martin parr talking about some of hes photos at Parr world

a exhibition that was held in Gateshead at the Baltic

showing some of hes collection of books and photos

and showing a collection of hes own work .

Decisive moments

• 1952 born In Epsom surrey
• 1970 starts studying photography at Manchester polytechnic
• 1975 Given a Arts council of great Britain photography Award
• 1984 Takes up colour photography
• 1994 Becomes a full member of magnum photos
• 1999 Parr's book common sense signals a new direction with more focus on close up detail rather than wider scenes
• 2004 Appointed professor of photography at the university of wales
• 2005 Becomes a honorary fellow of the royal photographic society
• 2008 Made a honorary doctor of arts at Manchester metropolitan university

  

Black country stories

Martin Parr has spent a year documenting life of people in the Black Country, exploring modern day society and its cultural make up

 

I took some photos of the exhibition with my mobile phone



The photographic archive of 667 photographs is currently being displayed for free at The Public until 23

January 2011

new art now exhibition . research

I went to Birmingham art museum to look at the exhibition new art now
it had a great photo of a city landscape

This photo by chineses artist miao xiaochun is a colossal cityscape it shows a

 busy city with  architectural buildings in the background 

I studied the photo and realised that it was took with a slowish shutter speed to show the 

action and movement in the photography 

Statement of Intent , Theme two Architectural

Statement of Intent Theme two Architectural

Intentions

For this them i have chose to photography architectural

I like Tudor buildings and old buildings and there are many in warwickshire area
I hope to capture some images from when I visits and the towns around me

Reason for theme

I have chosen the theme of architecture because i have not really done it before in much detail and I'm
curious if i can capture 10 good images , I hope to capture the details and beauty of the architecture i come across in my local area .

Equipment

Canon 450d
Canon 18-55mm lens i will use this lens manly in the wide angle 18mm to capture the whole of a building
Canon 28-70mm lens to get closer detail and equality of image
Canon 50mm to get a more quality shot
Tripod or monopod for poor light and darkness . A tripod is a great help for using slower shutter speeds

Lighting

I will hopefully use ambient light manly trying to capture the sun and shadows on the buildings i come across
A tripod or monopod will help and can be used at night fall to help with exposure

Health and safety

Keeping equipment dry
Do not run with your camera
Be careful of ice and slippy surfaces
If using a tripod make sure it is stable
When changing lenses be careful of getting dust or water into your lens or camera

Joe cornish / Macro / architectural research

                                                                       Joe Cornish

Joe has twenty five years of professional photography under hes belt he was born in Devon in 1958. He is famous for hes beautiful landscape photography

which can be found in many books and magazines  .

Hes photographs are in more than thirty travel books
He has worked with the national trust for many years
contributing to many of there books .

Joe Cornish recently came to the college to give a evening talk

Regrettably i was unable unable to come to the talk because of the distance i live from the college
and the traveling by public transport

One of Joe's inspirations was the work of Ansel Adams

Adams Ansel photographer and environmentalist, was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Charles The grandson of a wealthy timber baron, Adams grew up in a house set amid the sand dunes of the Golden Gate. When Adams was only four, an aftershock of the great earthquake and fire of 1906 threw him to the ground and badly broke his nose giving him a distinctive look .

A commercial photographer for 30 years, he made visionary photos of western landscapes that were inspired by a boyhood trip to Yosemite. He won three Guggenheim grants to photograph the national parks (1944--58). Founding the f/64 group with Edward Weston  in 1932, he developed zone exposure to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film.

                                                   Some of Ansel Adams photographs.

Joe Cornish has done some beautiful close up macro work also

   This shot of a leaf under water is beautiful showing the leaf under the water and above , great reflections and shapes make a great photo.

The crispness of the leaf and the colours are beautiful

Hes use of a wide aperture in a close up is something i have liked to use in my photography . Its makes the leaf stand out and makes you see the sharpness of leaf that he is metering onto .

Comparisons with my work

                       I have done something similar recently focusing onto the
                        first berry's and letting the rest fade into the background

450D

Lens 60mm

Shutter speed 1/80 sec

Aperture f/2.5

ISO 100

Metering Evaluative

                                       

  Joe has done architectural shots as well

This great photo has great composition using the for ground and patterns of the floor it has great leading lines and texture .

                                                    This stairway has great leading

                                                  lines with lovely tones of colours

This church is a great composition showing the 

clock tower and the front of the church

A close up of a part of the church showing the detail of the Statue

                                                         Comparisons with my work

I have done something smilier at  Lichfield  , I took a shot of Lichfeild Cathedral

and took some shots of the detail of the building

 


Lichfield Cathedral

450D
Lens 18-55mm at 18mm
Shutter speed 1/60 sec
Aperture f/7.1
ISO 100
Metering Evaluative

I have used a composition that shows the front of the cathedral

Close up of Statue on Cathedral

450D
Lens 50mm
Shutter speed 1/125 sec
Aperture f/1.8
ISO 100
Metering Evaluative

             I have used a shallow aperture and metered onto the woman I have the baby in soft focus

Joe has published many books like First light where he guides

 through the building blocks of landscape photography , with over

100 photographs included its a book any photography would love to own

Joe Cornish has also been in many photograph magazines I found a article in a old magazine i have about Joe Cornish and Scotland : The project of a lifetime it had some beautiful photos published inside

Hes also done books for the national trust like coast 

Joe talking about how every body is a photography these days



A great joe cornish photo being displayed on a wall

Hes a link to a great video of joe cornish at work > http://vimeo.com/10832802 

Statement of intent , Theme one Macro

Statement of intent

Theme 1

Macro

Intentions
I will try and capture close up in nature from a water droplet to a butterfly , what ever i come across
i hope to get close up and capture the beauty we miss with the naked eye .

Reason for this Theme

I luv macro because you never know what your gonna get till you look through the view finder
I'm always curious how a photo will come out after you have took it ,some times you see more than you even saw through the view finder capturing hidden worlds .

Equipment

Canon 450d
canon 50mm f/1.8  lens  . Used with close up filters you can get surprising results
Tamron 60mm Macro lens .
Tripod  . To help with poor light
Flashgun . To help with getting a better exposure
hot shoe lead .To help with changing the direction of the light on a subject

Techniques

I will use just my natural techniques of just getting up close with the subject and trying to get the best composition to show the subject to its best
Using the best manual setting for the natural light around me and using a steady hand to get sharp detail
Post production will be using cs4

Lighting

As with macro photography ambient light can decrease the closer you get to a subject so i will balance the  ISO with the shutter speed and aperture to try and get a good exposure
I will use my on board flash to help with exposure and my flash gun .

Health and safety

Be wary as you look though a view finder you do not always no where you are stepping so always be careful where your next step is taken
Keeping equipment dry
Do not run with your camera
Be careful of ice and slippy surfaces
If using a tripod make sure it is stable
When changing lenses be careful of getting dust or water into your lens or camera
The care of the insect or livening plant you are shooting do not disturb nature let it be and try and capture the beauty you see .

Macro at stratford upon Avon

 I went to sratford upon Avon and took some macro shots along the river there was alot of frost and it was a sunny day

I took the shots of the berrys useing my 50mm lens and a close up filter +10

I took the last two with my 60mm macro lens

I came across this plant and noticed the frost and ice was melting so i took some close up of the seed heads with the water