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.
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.
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
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
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