Are we addicted to our mobile phones?

With my body of work project rooted in my mind, I am finding things while procrastinating on social media that are interesting and make me think. The following two images I have seen on Facebook this past week:

part of a slideshow posted via the Emotional Touch Facebook Page

This image was part of a slideshow but unfortunately the artist hasn't been credited. Amongst other images; this one really stood out for me in light of this project and impressively makes the statement that this is a factor of modern society. I have obviously been more alert to people using their devices in public, as this is what I have been photographing for my body of work, and I felt that this picture hit the nail on the head. Smartphones have become an addition to our body.

Photo posted by Paul Anthony on Planet Rock's Facebook Page

This is another fairly common occurrence nowadays, and this would actually make a great road safety sign but you would need to have them EVERYWHERE! Personally, checking my phone has two purposes. It's a means to check the time (I don't wear a watch), to use my camera, to check my calendar, to contact people or to pass time (usually using social media). And its amazing that in this (still relatively new) digital age, that we have a device that can be kept on our person at all times that allows us to do all these things. However, it does create a "zombie effect" when we are all wandering around staring at our phones. Added to this is the fact, as shown in the previous post, is the danger that we can get distracted by using these devices and wander around completely unaware of our surroundings. So whereas we are all taught road safety and to be careful of cars, now people need to be aware of people walking who are distracted by their phones. Hence the mock up of the street sign above.

'Control' by Pawel Kuczynski via Kuczynski's Facebook Page

Another powerful image came out at the time that Pokemon Go had been released, and which fits in with the images above. Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski posted his work titled "Control" to his Facebook page on 27th July 2016. The image shows the Pokemon character Pikachu saddled to a human who is engrossed in his phone playing Pokemon Go. Reading some of the comments on the image, there is a lot of negativity towards it with people claiming how good the game is for getting people out of the house and socialising with other players. Even though the game has these positive benefits, it also creates an alternate reality and a means of distracting players from their surroundings, creating the zombie effect or a Smartphone Zombie.

Several articles on the Huffington Post website refer to a 'mobile mindset study' by Lookout (2012), which "analyses and explores data- based trends about our relationships, emotions and behaviour driven by our phones". The study was undertaken online by 2097 adults aged 18 and over and found that almost 60% of the people surveyed checked their phone at least once an hour (lookout, 2012). It also found that the people surveyed will check their phones in numerous places such as laying in bed, driving or even while using the toilet. It concluded that "The results of the Mobile Mindset Study sketch out the contours of a new set of behaviour and emotional attachment driven by smartphones. The data surfaced the new place phones have in our values and social norms.."

And I can believe these findings. As I stated earlier, smartphones have multiple uses and so I can understand how people can check their phones so frequently, it's not necessarily to check social media in some cases. However, studies such as this and a 2015 market report by Ofcom, show that smartphone usage is an everyday necessity for a widespread and international population. An article by Ofcom (2015) states that the research found in the OfCom Communications Market Report - published on 6th August 2015 - confirms that the UK is now a "smartphone society" and "Two thirds of people now own a smartphone, using it for nearly two hours every day to browse the internet, access social media, bank and shop online." The Deloitte Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016 (UK Cut) (2016) is an insightful read. It highlights some of the facts about smartphone usage and how it impacts out relationships and daily lives. 

Data from Deloitte. Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016. UK Cut.

Data from Deloitte. Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016. UK Cut.

These finding show that 33% of the people surveyed will check their phones within 5 minutes of being awake and 27% will check within 5 minutes of going to sleep. Realistically, do we really need to check our phones immediately after waking or just before we go to sleep? I admit that I'm one to check first thing in the morning but as my alarm is my phone, I instinctively do it. And I wonder how many of that 33% are the same as me. Another interesting result founded by this report was that people confirm that arguments are created between partners due to mobile phone usage.

Data from Deloitte. Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016. UK Cut.

38% of 25-34year olds surveyed admitted disagreements were caused by two much phone usage, alongside 33% of users between both 18 - 24 year olds and 35 - 44 year olds. This confirms that relationships can be put under strain due to constant use of devices around the home and a break up of the family dynamic.

Bibliography

Deloitte, (2016), There's No Place Like Phone, Consumer usage patterns in the era of peak  smartphone, Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016. UK Cut [online], Available  at: http://www.deloitte.co.uk/mobileuk/assets/pdf/Deloitte-Mobile-Consumer-2016-There-is-no- place-like-phone.pdf, [Accessed September 30th 2016]

Fitzgerald, B., (2012), Americans Addicted to Checking Smartphones, Would 'Panic' If They Lost  Their Device (STUDY), [online], Available  at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/21/americans-are-addicted-to-smartphones_n_1615293.html, [Accessed: September 21st 2016]

Huffington Post, (2013), Smartphone Addiction Has Turned Mobile Devices Into 'Our Other Limb',  [online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/smartphone-  addiction_n_4079309.html, [Accessed September 21st 2016] 
Kuczynski, P,. (2016), Control [online], Available  at: https://www.facebook.com/pawelkuczynskiart/photos/a.315950128433573.91004.222849284410325/1330384106990165/?type=1&theater, [Accessed September 30th 2016]

Lookout, (2012), Mobile Mindset Study, [online], Available  at: https://www.mylookout.com/resources/reports/mobile-mindset [Accessed: September 21st 2016]
OfCom, (2015), The UK is now a smartphone society [online] Available  at: http://media.ofcom.org.uk/news/2015/cmr-uk-2015/ [Accessed September 30th 2016]
OfCom, (2015), The Communications Market Report [online], Available  at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr15/CMR_UK_2015.pdf [Accessed  September 30th 2016]

Should we check our childrens phones?

Although not directly related to my project, it's a side step slightly, but I read this story today via Facebook and wanted to write a little bit about it here. The question was posed on Q & A website Quora and was written by a lady called Lara Estep who has posed the question whether it is acceptable to look through your children's phones. The story can be found at the following link:

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-okay-for-parents-to-look-through-their-childs-phone/answer/Lara-Estep

The question is an important one in my eyes but one a lot of parents would hesitate to answer. Children are getting younger having phones nowadays, or even devices at all, and this opens up many ways of contact through the wonderful world wide web. Where the children can have phones and the ability to call and text, we now have apps and games where there are facilities to be able to contact other users.
I have recently read this article on The Mirror online, where the Mirror has found two Uk police forces who have been investigating separate cases of messages on the app Musical.ly sent by paedophiles to children. These people can send private messages through these apps and are using them to groom children and these are things that we and our children need to be aware of. In relation to Lara's story, it was through text and Facebook that her child was being sent messages by a new friends father, asking her to meet him.
It's difficult to show the dangers in these circumstances to children, especially younger children. They are too young and naive to truly understand the dangers they could be faced with in these situations. I'm sure there are many articles like the one posted in the Mirror, and I know there have been many many stories in the news regarding children being groomed through social media. And this is something that has emphasised through the technology that is available today.
Lara's story and question, is relatable and a concern for so many parents, purely for the risks I have discussed, if not for others. Personally, my children are still very young and so I have explained to my eldest that she is to report to me immediately should she ever receive a message or anything through any of her apps, etc. I have all their log in details but if I have any concerns, I talk to them and they willingly show me, without me having to look on my own behind their backs. As they get older, I'm sure they will get more secretive and I will have to trust them. If I absolutely had to as I felt their safety was compromised then I'm sure I wouldn't hesitate, much like Lara. But as kids are so engrossed in the age of technology, this is something that a lot of parents now have to worry about as the technology not only opens the gates for things like this to happen, but also opens the door for kids to be a lot more secretive about their lives inside this technology.

The Dolmio Pepper-Hacker Adverts

The Dolmio Pepper Hacker

My husband has just had one of these adverts pop up in between a game on an app he was playing (on his IPad) and thought it would be beneficial for me to include as part of my research, as it relates directly to the subject area of my Body of Work project. A quick You Tube search has given me more than a few results but it is worth me embedding these two adverts here as they have both been uploaded by Dolmio to their YouTube page - using their pepper hacker device. This device is a pepper shaker with a click button on top which, when pressed, blocks Wifi signal to all the devices currently using it.

The video above has been entitled 'THE LOOK UP EXPERIMENT" by Dolmio and involves a series of swaps to the family and room around the children engrossed in their devices at the dinner table. From switching flowers to ones of a different colour, switching paintings on the wall and then actually swapping family members for other random people, the experiment shows that these children are so consumed by their devices that they do not even look up and notice any of the changes until the pepper hacker is pressed and the signal is lost. It is only then that the children notice that they are sat at a table of random people.

This second video is also by Dolmio, introducing the pepper hacker and posted back in March 2015. The video is slightly different to the first in that the first video is more staged and set up. However, this video shows normal households and how, as it has been entitled, technology has taken over dinner time. The video, again a split screen showing four different households, begins showing how people will sit around the dinner table eating and using devices at the same time and how children need to be called several times before they will leave their devices/computers and come to the dinner table. As the pepper hacker is introduced and explained, the videos shows the mums twisting this device to switch off all electrical signals and also they children's reactions to having them turned off. But then, after the initial tantrums, the video ends with dinner time being restored to a family occasion without devices creating separation between the family members.

I feel that these videos are very important and relatable so many families today. In my home, dinner time is the only time that we will be all sat together, where we can converse about our days and where technology is not allowed. These videos show the distraction that this technology does have on the family dynamic. It also relates to the article in the Guardian in my previous post as to why parents are getting angry. This shows that children do not come immediately when called if they are on devices, whether its due to them not hearing being called or just not wanting to leave at that moment. My children are exactly the same. 

"Can I just finish this race first?","One sec Mum!" and ten minutes later they are still not ready and this is where the parents get frustrated as they are constantly waiting and getting annoyed that they are not doing as they are told. 

I understand that this is how technology is now and looking how fast it has progressed, even over the last ten years, its easy to see that it will only progress more. I only had the conversation with my kids this morning about how lucky they are to be able to have numerous children's tv channels, or even numerous tv channels period. How we didn't have the ability to pause the tv so we didn't miss our favourite tv show, or how we would miss the first 10 minutes of a film or song on the tv/radio that we didn't know was on and had to take that long to find a cassette and get it ready to be able to press record. But where we think it is a privilege for them, we have to think that this is their "norm and we have to think about how technology will change by the time they have children. I'm sure they will have the same conversations with their kids too, I know that my Mum had it with me. But it is important in the family dynamic to have rules and boundaries when it come to technology. There needs to be time set aside for family and interaction away from mobiles and IPads. 

Walker Evans

Walker Evans was an American photographer, born in Missouri in 1903. After graduating college in 1922, he spent time in New York and then Paris before returning to America to become a writer. Evans also started taking photographs around this time and his early work includes photographs to illustrate work eg The Crime of Cuba by Carlton Beal. In 1935, Evans was to accept a temporary job, which would later become a full time position, photographing a community of unemployed coal miners and small town life during the depression. Evans used the opportunity to document life exactly how it was and without sugar coating it. His later works Let us now praise Famous men, a collaboration with writer James Agee, and American Photographs, a publication by the Museum of Modern Art, show Evans' progression within his genre to become one of the worlds most influential photographers.

Evans produced a set of images between the years 1938 and 1941 which was later released in 1966 by Houghton Mifflin. The work was titled Many Are Called and includes a set of eightly-nine images of passengers on the subway, all taken secretly and without their knowledge. Evans had strapped his camera to his chest and poked the lens between the buttons on his coat to be able to take photos of the public unnoticed.

©Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/web-large/DP264548.jpg

The department of photos at the Metropolitan Museum of art states that "although the setting was public, he [Evans] found that his subjects, unposed and lost in their own thoughts, displayed a constantly shifting medley of moods and expressions - by turns curious, bored, amused, despondent, dreamy, and dyspeptic."

I think this is an important factor to note. As with the example above, the images in this series show a pure and unspoilt reality. Evans has documented the subjects as they travel to wherever they are going, possibly home - tired - after a days work, to a - happy - celebration or possibly to a - sad - gathering. All the emotions are real, they aren't forged for the sake of the photograph. 

In relation to my own project, the idea is the same. To document people using their devices needs to be real. And to do this, the photographing needs to be done without their knowledge otherwise the outcome changes. The photos could look fake and fabricated or the devices could be put away entirely. Most people check their phones/use their devices to pass time, as a distraction or because they are bored and sometimes people can be unaware that they are doing it, especially in a time sense. So for me to photograph secretly, I can document exactly how much of an issue this is in our society.






References:
Department of Photographs. "[Subway Passengers, New York city]. " In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000 -. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm (October 2004) [Accessed: September 14th 2016]
Department of Photographs. "Walker Evans (1903-1975). " In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000 -. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm (October 2004) [Accessed: September 14th 2016]
International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. 'Walker Evans (1903-1975)'. Available at: http://iphf.org/inductees/walker-evans/. [Accessed: September 14th 2016]

The Guardian article - "Why Parents Are Getting Angrier"

As a step into my research on today's societies dependancy on modern technology, my tutor gave me this article to start with.

Titled Why parents are getting angrier: 'children are bored out of their skulls with real life', the article looks at the work of Mike Fisher, who runs parenting courses and workshops for parents who are getting angered by uncooperative children.

In the article (Skinner, 2016) Mike explains that the main cause of parents becoming so angry at their children is that their children will not cooperate or do as their told. The world is now so overloaded with information that the children can access at any time of day or night. He says:

"Children have access to incredible information, such as social media and apps. It’s instant gratification and just another distraction from being present. That can have a catastrophic effect on children. They are consumed by social media and games, staying up later and becoming preoccupied. They are bored out of their skulls by real life. Meaning they are becoming less and less cooperative. And parents are getting angrier about it every year.”

When I was little, there was no internet at home, not even a PC computer. As I got older I had a Comodore 64 which allowed me to play games through the attached tape cassette drive or I could buy cartridges for it. Handheld games had one or two games built in and then came the Game boy, where you could buy different (and expensive) games to play on it, but we are talking original Super Mario Brothers and Tetris. We played a lot outside, going out after breakfast and having to be home for tea or when the street lights came on.
Nowadays, kids have access to a whole world of information. Most homes will have a laptop or PC (or both) where kids can access the internet, and not just to check on social media or research school projects but they also have access to games, programmes and films all in the same place. Up until recently, my eldest child had never heard of an encyclopedia! This is not to mention the numerous games consoles available, whether the bigger consoles or handheld ones. And then throw in smartphones, tablet devices and even IPods now where not only to they use the internet but they also have access to numerous apps to keep them busy. They have so much choice with all these things to entertain them, why would they want to do anything else. Between all these devices, a lot of time can pass and they can be entertained for hours. I think this is what Fisher means in that statement. They don't want to play outside (not that its safe for younger children to do nowadays in my own opinion). They want to be occupied in social media, they want to watch american tv shows, they want to play car games or battle games and update their Snapchat. So when parents attempt to remove them from that environment, the children get agitated. As Fisher says, they get bored without it and so act up and then the parents get agitated. And over prolonged periods of the children acting this way, and the parents not knowing why they are acting up - they get angry.

But as the article also explains, the parents are ashamed by the way they themselves are behaving and are ashamed about it. They wont admit it as they believe it is down to bad parenting but really it is down to the overwhelming amount of technology available to the kids today. Fisher explains that our culture lets us believe that we have to put on a front that everything is ok and that we are coping well with it all, when really parents can be pushed to their limits. But that as parents, we lack the ability to openly communicate with our children and that we can build up stresses then take them out on the children when things don't go as they should. Fisher also highlights that parents are stretched with so many stresses that are ingrained into us. We feel we have to live up to the idealised parent as well as compete with other parents, peers, partners and our own upbringing so parenting becomes more about how we actually parent in light of all those things as opposed to just going with it and working with our children.

The article is insightful in that parents can feel blame in their parenting ability when technology and the way the children are consumed by it can cause a lot of the stress between parents and children. I think we can all relate to it in a way. I know my children constantly nag to play on their computers, etc because its more fun than purely watching tv, or reading or playing with their toys. It's another world that they can escape to where they are not bothered by anyone and can do what they want (within reason). So trying to bring them back to reality can trigger a resentment towards the parents and a frustration in that parent towards the child. This then creates a barrier between the family and an example of how modern technology can create a break in the family unit.

References:
Skinner, N,. 2016. Why parents are getting angrier: 'children are bored out of their skulls with real life'. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/03/why-parents-are-getting-angrier-children-are-bored-out-of-their-skulls-with-real-life. [Accessed: 14th September 2016]

Second Skype with tutor notes

Following on from my thoughts in my post Looking towards Assignment Three, I put the ideas to my tutor who had requested another Skype chat. After looking at my ideas he asked which I feel more drawn to and I have to say, the dependancy on modern technology idea.
This is because it directly affects me. My husband and children are completely dependant on a number of modern computer devices and so I have first hand experience to be able to communicate that message.
I made a lot of scribbled notes during the call which I will decipher here:

• Firstly the test shots. Are they staged or is that how it is all the time? Most are my family so are they performing? and would they be willing to perform to possibly set up shots in the future?
• The FAMILY aspect - We discussed how these devices are supposed to be entertainment devices but yet can be causing a separation amongst the family unit. 

- try to show family separation through devices

- how do I feel about it? How do others feels about it?

- what is it doing to our relationships with each other?

- [my tutor knows of an article in the guardian] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/03/why-parents-are-getting-angrier-children-are-bored-out-of-their-skulls-with-real-life

• we spoke of the nostalgia aspect - analogue vs digital {technology is still new. children today don't want to play outside, they cant grasp that we didn't have this type of technology when we were their age}, upside is that children now (including very young children) can use all this new technology well. 

- use phones for games and apps but cant make an actual call - my kids!

• Do we need to man up and accept that this is how life is now? 

- focus on social research

When we discussed my test shots for this idea, my tutor asked whether I knew the other people to which I replied that I didn't and that I had just secretly taken them on my phone while I was out and about.  I explained that the theory behind this type of shooting was threefold. 

1. I don't like putting cameras in peoples faces (well, people that I don't know) and so I could hide behind my phone - pretending to be using it - while I took the photos. My tutor was surprised as it looked like I was really close to some people in the test shots. Shooting this was makes me feel more comfortable and it takes me onto my next point....
2. Shooting secretly allows me to catch these people using their devices as they are. If I were to go up to them and ask to take their photo, the image wouldn't work. It would then either be staged or their body language would change - maybe they would even put their devices down and smile. They could become very uncomfortable being photographed by a stranger, if they would even let me take their photograph at all. Secret filming/photos allows me to catch them in the act. {while taking shots for this project, even my husband doesn't actually realise how much he uses his phone until I make a point of photographing him doing it}
3. The irony of using my own phone/device to take the photos themselves. Emphasises my own dependancy to use my phone a lot.

Point two then brought up another possible line of enquiry - secret filming. Photographers such as Diane Arbus, Bruce Gilden, Garry Winogrand and Martin Parr were open about photographing people but some can see the camera as invasive, as an extended argument to point 2. My tutor suggested I look at the work of Walker Evans, Humphrey Spender, Sophie Calle & Natasha Capuana as they did more secret camera work.

• TIME - where does it go? Hours can be lost while playing on computers, searching online. Bate referred to it in Photography: The Key Concepts (p159) where he discusses how surfing the net is a state of distraction, that we aren't really seeing anything particular, we are just scrolling in a state of unawareness. And this is true. I know that for me it is. I can check social media and scroll down and lose an hour sometimes. My tutor felt it might be an idea to attempt to capture the passing of time somehow. Sequences maybe?

So the main points to possible explore were Time - Spying - Family Dynamic.

Research pointers were: Hidden cameras - Contemporary and up to date - Social Sciences (looking at newspapers and current family life)

It's a relatively new phenomenon but it happening right now everywhere, particularly the western world.

Also look at Roland Barthes - public and privacy??

As the photos are taken on my phone the question of quality did come up. I explained that as long as there was a decent amount of light that there wasn't too much of a problem. I think that only one of my test shots was ever so slightly grainy but my tutor suggested that i would probably want to show them a smaller size anyway. 

The conclusion was that my project could go two ways: to look at my own family or to show the time of others. So i am to continue with both for the time being and into Assignment three, which we agreed a time scale to complete by End of October. 

References:

Bate,D., 2009. Photography The Key Concepts. London: Bloomsbury. 

Tutor Feedback: Assignment Two.

Formative feedback

Student name	Amanda Callow	Student number	507285
Course/Unit	PH3: BoW	Assignment	2
Type of tutorial (eg video/audio/written)	Written

Overall Comments

Making your work is not about impressing or disappointing me - but about trying to find your own personal voice as a photographer. It is clear from this work that you don’t seem that concerned to find this personal voice so I have to ask you what do you want to achieve?

I have to be honest and clear because you are a 3rd year degree student but you are making stage photography which is not better than generally available commercial stage photography. As a degree student, you are expected to make more inventive, more contextually challenging work than this not simply regurgitating what others have done. You do show attention to the gestures and expressions of the performers but you are not thinking about the whole visual impact of your photos. Simple visual problems affect most of these photos, and these are things you should have learnt to overcome a long time ago. Viewpoint is a big problem, so is focus, composition and the general lack of variety in your images. (These are mostly all three-quarter length portraits). 

But I get the feeling you’re not really seeing these pictures as portraits at all and that is the main problem. You are referring to ‘gig photography’ and that’s why this work seems generic and lacking originality or personal expression. You are not finding anything visually interesting in this subject area. A portrait is a picture of a particular person and what that face, body, gesture expresses through the photograph. The problem with performers is they fall into subcultural genres and tend to want to look the same. Note for example, the way the rappers all hold the mic in similar ways. It’s about identification. Maybe you could find something in that to lift this genre of photography to a higher level.

I think you would benefit much more from a telephone tutorial, so next time, let’s arrange a time for a call. That would give you the opportunity to respond to what I’m saying and could give you a better understanding of where you’re at photographically and intellectually. 

If you are really unhappy about this report, you could transfer to another tutor. Maybe a portrait photographer like Les Monahan, Chris Coekin or Wendy McMurdo.

But I think you are getting to the point where if your subject is unavailable or impossible to access, you simply can’t make do with poor examples and you must find another subject. You need to be producing the best photography you can at this point in your development. 

Assignment 2 Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Photography/Creative Arts * Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. However, from the work you have shown in this assignment, I am concerned that you may struggle to meet the assessment criteria, and recommend that you instead consider either pausing your HE level studies for the time being or taking the personal development route rather than seek assessment (see Conditions of Enrolment, Section 2 a). Contact the OCA Course Advisors to discuss this further. 

Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Crowd

This is poor for a few reasons. It is very grainy. It is also framed in an indecisive manner - note there’s plenty of the decorated wall in shot, but you’ve cut the feet off  the two lads in the fore- ground on the left.

If you want to make a photo of bored spectators - it could be interesting! - you need a lot more clarity in your picture otherwise the image is unpleasant to look at and the telling expressions are not clear. 

Jellyfish

The essential issue here is that you’re not managing to bring the background and the foreground figure into a working composition. This could be achieved by using a fast lens - say an 85mm which stops down to f1.4. But the real problem is that the background doesn’t seem to have much to do with the more interesting expressions of the band members. Perhaps you can find a way to isolate the figures like this - decontextualizing them from the stage and therefore emphasizing their emotions. 

It is so typical to make these performers seem ‘larger than life’ idolized people. Maybe making them smaller would help you to see them and show them in a different light.

The mixture of black and white and colour photography appears indecisive. But it doesn’t appear that the stylistic aspects of gig photography interest you because these images are not heavily processed. That could be an avenue for you to explore - intense Photoshop work - which turns the photographs into paintings.

In Jellyfish 4 the mic stand coincides with the bass players head. Generally you need to get a totally clear outline with your figures unless there’s a non-distracting way to do it otherwise.

In Jellyfish 5, I like the way you’ve caught the guitarist in mid-movement, which adds a dynamic blur.

Jellyfish 6 appears to be out of focus on the band! 

SACollective

These two images look pretty convincing as commercial gig photos - the shot of the singer looking at the camera is particularly good because singers don’t usually look at the cameras. I’ve removed the distracting stage lamp behind the singer. 

WBWasted

Maybe because rappers are less concealed by guitars and drums, and the background is less busy, these pictures of this group are better. Some are grainy or noisy but I suppose there is no way of avoiding that.

In terms of gestures and expressions you have the same re-enactment of their favourite performers going on. So without the essential element - the music and lyrics - the postures and gestures are emphasized and that needs to be your main source of observation. Try to find something in this body language which is strong and try to find a way of emphasizing it so that it communicates to the viewer. 

Research
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

You’ve written a short paragraph about Rock n’ Roll photography is the new trainspotting. It’s not really clear what research you’re doing and what you’re learning from it - specifically. Are you learning something about dealing with the mess of equipment on the stage? Are you learning about handling the lighting? Are you learning about what to look for?

It is not clear whether you are looking at or critiquing the work of photographers mentioned in the course materials: Hannah Starkey, Taryn Simon etc. 

Learning Log

This is mostly about your working process and self reflection - and you admit that you couldn’t find the best access nor did you go to many gigs. It’s honest writing but it isn’t in-depth. Your motive appears to be to find the passion on people’s faces. There is feeling in these people, but there is also cliche. If it’s the faces you’re interested in, why not use a telephoto lens to get close? What you want to communicate is not coming across. 

Suggested reading/viewing
Context

I found this site, http://uk.complex.com/style/2012/10/the-50-greatest-music-photographers- right-now/kyle-gustafson

Because of the proliferation of gig photography, it is easy to find research material and to improve your observation skills. 

Pointers for the next assignment

You must engage thoroughly with the research in the next section. It should help you to lift your photography to a new level. 

Tutor name	Robert Enoch
Date	1st August 2016
Next assignment due	10th October 2016

Tutor Feedback: Assignment One.

Formative feedback

Student name	Amanda Callow	Student number	507285
Course/Unit	PH3: Major Project	Assignment	1
Type of tutorial (eg video/audio/written)	Written

Overall Comments
The two genres here: stage and landscape photography are so diametrically opposed in feel, style and content. The first challenge is to make a decision which of these you are going to pursue for Assignment 2. It is up to you but one thing I think you need to consider is this: of the two genres, which do you feel closest to and which do you feel you can innovate with?

The stage photography looks like standard stage photography to me. Despite the attempt to do “something new” by using double exposures or layers, it is still essentially performers in coloured lights and smoke!

The best work here is the black and white work. It feels more authentic and close to you, rather than something you’ve seen somewhere else. It’s an important point of maturity: do you want to emulate what you’re already seen or do you want to find something more personal? Only you can answer this question.

The image lay out on the Word file have come out a bit messed up. If you can send me a pdf file in future if you want them to be laid out in a document like this. Your image file is 203Mb! That’s a huge file to be sending over the internet. You need to reduce the size of your photographs before sending them; 1500px along the longest edge and between 120-200ppi. 

Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Stage Photography

You’ve captured the performers gestures, poses and facial expressions in some of these shots. I get the sense that because you can’t control the subject or the lighting, you’ve got to be lucky and that means moving around and taking 1000’s of shots. I can’t say I think you’re doing anything different from what I’d expect of stage photography. So, try to look around the subject, take shots of people in the crowd, people hanging about outside the venue, people queueing for the box office etc. Try to look at things that aren’t obvious. But also remember, you’re looking for strong portraits not just pictures of people playing guitars.

Your streaked Photoshopped images of the band photos are a step towards extreme stylistics that would probably work on a band website. But they look like a sketchy start rather than finished, polished images - which is often what bands want. 

Colour Landscape

Some of this work is extremely pastoral, traditional and aesthetic. Blurred waterfalls, macros of dew on a leaf and sunsets. Is this the kind of landscape photography you’re aspiring to make? You will need only patience (waiting for the light to be right) and a taste for hiking and travel to seek out this kind of subject. It may be difficult to find a landscape scene that hasn’t already been photographed in this way!
You’ve got to realize when you’re doing something that is cliché - like multiple exposures of wind turbines and long exposures of running water. It’s not that you can’t do it – you can do anything you want – but is it visually and conceptually effective? Look at how imaginative Ted Lee’s double exposure of the puddle is!

Photo 22 has a replaced sky. You need to be aware that if this technique doesn’t work, you shouldn’t use it. Such a rough black edge line is simply unacceptable. I guess you can find ways of perfecting the technique on YouTube etc. 

The Pier

The black & white photographs stand out among this work. They seem more real, more honest. It may be that this work could be built into an interesting series. But it is your choice. Not only are they strong compositions, there is feeling in them - the classic off-season seaside melancholy perhaps. And visually, you’re focusing on large, strong objects that express themselves in a sculptural way: the pier, the tower; and they dominate the frame. 

Research
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

It is interesting to read your learning log says, “Photograph bands on stage in the style of Sugimoto or Lenkkeri”! It may have worked, but you didn’t do it! 

It looks like you’re working through the course well and doing the research involved. One of the keys to really engaging with photography is to try to understand even one photographer really deeply. It isn’t just about ‘style’ but about what they are expressing through their photos.

Learning Log

You’ve sent me a Word document, which is okay, but you may want to start thinking about having a blog which can be a good way of collecting your thoughts and of sharing with other students. 

Suggested reading/viewing
Context

I note that you are reading David Bate’s “Key Concepts: Photography”. And you are studying photographers reasonably well. I think you need to find some photographers whom you really share an affinity of subject matter with. Obviously only you can know that. But it is really crucial at this point.

You should try to get to Tate Britain’s exhibition on Conceptual Art and also go on some OCA Study Visits because they will give you a chance to talk about photography with other students and tutors as well as listen to other people’s opinions and ideas. 

Pointers for the next assignment

You need to find out where your inspiration is, where the fire is and work with it. If you love bands and music, follow them around and get a whole range of different types of photograph. If it’s landscape, then keep searching, travelling and honing what it is in the landscape that matters most to you visually and conceptually. 

Tutor name	Robert Enoch
Date	29th April 2016
Next assignment due	14th July 2016

Assignment Two.

Following on from Assignment one, Assignment two asks me to produce a set of images to further my project started in assignment one. I have reflected on my tutor’s feedback from the previous assignment and have tried to use that advise moving forward into this set of images.

I have decided to continue on within the genre of music photography. I came into this level three module, comfortable in my decision to create my final project within this genre. Admittedly, my tutor’s comments within the assignment one feedback did have me questioning not only my choice, but also my ability to be able to work within this genre however, I have decided that music photography is where I am most comfortable in working and also most interested in writing about.
My tutor’s feedback gave me some personal thoughts in regards to this genre of photography and in my own work. In reflecting on the music photography images submitted for assignment one, my tutor commented that the images were ‘standard’ gig photography and questioned whether I would want to emulate something I had already seen or find something more personal. He also commented that gig photography appears to be a more about luck and capturing many photographs as the subjects and conditions are uncontrollable. But he also offered advice to move my own project forward, suggesting to look at different angles and things that are maybe not so obvious such as the audience and the crowd and queues outside the building. To me, this maybe broadens my project to be more of a documentary style of gig photography, to document all areas of each gig as opposed to concentrating solely on the performers themselves.

As I am also looking at Photography 3: Contextual Studies, I have been looking at texts within the area of music photography. Some of these texts have been inspiring to me in producing my own work, specifically the collections of work from other well-known music photographers.
Rock ‘N’ Roll photography is the new trainspotting is a collection of photographs made into a book by world renowned photographer Tony Mott. In the books introduction, Mott says “This collection is what I consider my best photographs, picked from different points of view, a combination of capturing the essence of the artist and photographic qualities.” The collection includes stage shots, portraits, colour and black and white shots and has really opened my eyes as to what a personal collection of music photography images could include. Unfortunately, I don’t have a matter of years to collate this project and so I obviously need to think how to progress this project within my own means of ability and time.

My main priority in producing the set of images for assignment two was to continue to produce stage performance and to continue to capture the passion through facial expressions but also to make these portraits clearer and stronger. I wanted to see if I could get to shoot to other genres of music and to incorporate other aspects of the shows into the images, as opposed to just being up close and on stage images. As with this genre of photography, and as my tutor quite rightly commented, this area of photography is based primarily on chance. I am unable to control the bands and artists, or the lighting or the crowds so I still need to work within my means but I find this the most interesting part of shooting this genre. It’s the not knowing that I strive on and it always keeps you guessing. 

Unfortunately, I have been unlucky within the time frame of this assignment and have not been able to get to many gigs at all. At the time of producing this set of images, I was only able to access one gig before my deadline and even that gig was jeopardised. The main headliner of the gig pulled out with two days notice and we were offered a refund if we didn’t want to attend the gig at all. With this assignment in mind, I chose to attend the gig anyway and was able to capture the support bands, inclusive of two performances by rap artists as opposed to rock bands. This was new to me as I have not been to a rap performance before and so it was a challenging new genre to photograph. But as far as the other areas I was hoping to photograph, there was no means to do so. There were only a few people there to watch the shows and therefore no queues outside, and very few inside to photograph either. Fortunately, it gave me more room to move around the venue, seems as it is only a small venue without a photo pit and I was also able to move to the back. I didn’t have any time constraints while photographing either so was able to swap lenses mid show and also photograph throughout the entirety of each performance if needed. I took my two brightest lenses, starting out with my Sigma 28-70mm F2.8-4 DG and then swapping to my AF Nikkor 50mm F/1.8D prime lens as I felt I didn’t need to use the zoom at all on the first. I kept a high ISO and an auto WB for the duration.

The first artist was the most difficult to shoot as the venue decided to not use the stage lights at all and instead, all I had to work with, was the light coming in from outside through the window along one side of the venue, but only one small window was actually on the left side of the stage. It made shooting difficult as the artist moved around a lot and constantly moved his right arm in gestures while performing. This made it near impossible to move around the venue for this performance too as a lot of the images were coming up blurry. The rest of the gig went as is usual. So I made use of the space by moving to different sides of the stage and also to the back of the room and also attempting to make use of what crowd there was into some of the shots.

The final selection of images which make up this assignment submission are the photos that I consider the strongest out of the images I took. I have tried to include a good selection of images which, once again, reflect the show as a whole. But I have a lot to do with regards to the final project. As I said, I only had the ability to get to one gig for this assignment. I was hoping to get another one in before the assignment was due but unfortunately I made an error on when the assignment was due and wasn’t able to get to another gig beforehand. So a lot of the images I wanted to try to get for this assignment, including more images of the crowd and audience, as well as of the gig goers outside, were not possible. So this is where I want to focus on moving the project forward. My tutor suggested following bands around to get different shots and viewpoints but this is just not that easy. I have responsibilities at home that don’t allow me to be able to get up and go as much as I would like. I can’t be at every gig, or follow bands around. The gigs I do get to sometimes actually cost me money that I don’t really have to spend so I really do have to work within my means. I will get to what I can and and will take opportunities that I can and will focus my project around it.

I am hoping to be able to get some photographs of the artists when they are not on stage to include in this final project but this is a something I am not sure I will have the opportunity to do. I am hoping to get to more local shows and therefore it is more likely for the opportunity to arise as the artists sometimes liaise with their fans before or after their performances around the venue. Bigger acts and shows won’t allow this so I think it’s better to aim for the smaller shows to attempt this. But again, I need to try to get to more shows if I am able to have a wider range of photographs to choose from going into the next instalment.

Final selection for assignment 2 

Bibliography:
Mott, T, 2010. Rock’N’Roll Photography Is The New Trainspotting: A retrospective of work from the  last 30 years. Dulwich Hill, AUS: Rockpool.

All Images available via Dropbox at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bguionvbbbr5ijx/AACs3ABlGPzOYAWNh3DrOMYCa?dl=0