Lucy Levene

My tutor suggested the work of Lucy Levene in reference to the "idea of subjects lost in the digital world". I have had a look at her work through her own website and have paid particular attention to the Nightclub Documentary and the Come & be my baby series, although one image, entitled Game Boy, Tara & Vito's Wedding, Bedford 2013, from the series The Spaghetti Tree (found here), also caught my eye.

The images here are very much from an observer point of view and not staged in any way. The photographs show people at a nightclub or event and photographed unawares by Levene. The photographs are unflattering to the subjects and capture people looking unglamorous and lost in the moment. Through both series, the subjects are seen to be 'real', not doctored in any way to appear like the subjects are having a good time or looking their best and I'm sure this is something that we can all relate to in some point in our lives.
I personally remember spending ages getting ready to go out and even mid night when I know I'm rather drunk and a sweaty mess, I would still smooth my hair and try to pose in a flattering angle whenever someone took a photo. However, I also remember getting home being sweaty and dishevelled and when I look at these photographs, I come to realise that this is probably how I looked all along.
HiscoxCollection.com says "Levene treats her subjects with an uncanny sense for realistic representation" and I think this is a true statement for both the Nightclub Documentary  series and the Come & be my baby series.

As well as the visual representation of the realism of the scene, Levene also draws attention to the idea that her subjects are lost in a moment. The facial expressions convey concentration yet not at anything specific. As though their awareness is elsewhere, in their own thoughts. The images are very thought provoking. Although relatable, the viewer can really analyse this work. Personally, when I think of a nightclub, I think of loud music, dancing, laughter and friends, so to me, these images portray the complete opposite of that.
In relation to the distraction of devices, the image  Game Boy (noted above) shows a little boy sat alone completely engrossed in his computer device. The fact that he is alone doesn't phase him, he appears to be unaware of his surroundings and lost in his own digital world. The same type of image appears in the Nightclub Documentary series. The untitled image, found here, shows the separation the mobile phone creates between two girls sat together. We assume the girls are friends, due to the closeness of how they are sitting. Yet their body language could say otherwise. Instead of the two girls conversing and enjoying their night out, the fact that one is on her phone changes the scene. The one is distracted and more concerned with the phone while the other looks bored and detached.

In finding some way on which I could be influenced by Levene's work, I think this work has taught me that the facial expression could also be a part of the final photograph. Maybe I can bring in some facial portraits, as when people use their devices, they are detached from their surroundings and their concentration is within their digital world as opposed to in reality. I think I can possibly look to capturing some of these facial expressions as opposed to focussing more on the devices themselves.

References:
Hiscoxcollection.com, (2016), Lucy Levene [Online], Available at: https://www.hiscoxcollection.com/searchResults.aspx?artistID=232, [Accessed 21st December 2016]

Bibliography:
Colberg, J.M., (2016), A conversation with Lucy Levene [Online], Available at: http://cphmag.com/conv-levene/, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
lucylevene.co.uk, (2016), Nightclub Documentary [Online], Available at: http://www.lucylevene.co.uk/nightclub_documentary.shtml, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
Photofushion.org, (2016), Lydia Goldblatt and Lucy Levene [Online], Available at: http://www.photofusion.org/exhibitions/lydia-goldblatt-lucy-levene/, [Accessed 21st December 2016]

William Klein

I have done a quick Google search on William Klein and have been looking at his black and white images in relation to how to make my own images less flat and more dramatic. As with Brandt and Moriyama, the intensity of the tonal range in Klein's work is striking. His use of light is remarkable, highlighting the subject of the images and drawing attention exactly where he wants us to look. The other areas are then contrasted to be darker, more in shadow and less obvious to the viewer, as though to hide the areas of unimportance.
I was looking through the images available on the gallery Fifty One website and paid particular interest to the street photography images. Even with a wide angle, Klein does not waste any area of the photograph. The images are tightly framed to the subjects, and only wider if there is an area of importance in the background. As with Moriyama, some of Klein's images are grainy and show movement blur - highlighting the fact that the images are not staged in any way and have been captured in a moment.

As I have said when looking at the work of Klein, as well as Moriyama and Brandt, these photographers have encouraged me to embrace the black and white processing of my own work. I need to use the light to highlight my subject, where possible, and not be afraid to lose unnecessary detail when processing into black and white, in an attempt to create more depth to my photographs. I've also learned that my images do not need to be perfect in terms of clarity. It's ok to produce images with blurring and grain if I need to and not to worry too much about making a clear and concise image when trying to capture an image discreetly.
I will take the influences from these photographers from now on in, not only, taking my images but also in post processing them too.

Bibliography:
Artnet.com, (2016), William Klein [Online], Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/william-klein/, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
Beetles + Huxley.com, (2016), Willian Klein [Online], Available at: http://www.beetlesandhuxley.com/artists/william-klein-born-1928.html, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
Gallery51.com, (2016), William Klein [Online], Available at: http://www.gallery51.com/index.php?navigatieid=9&fotograafid=46, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
International Center of Photography .org, (2016), William Klein [Online], Available at: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/william-klein?all/all/all/all/0, [Accessed 21st December 2016]
Moroz, S., (2014), William Klein: 'My pictures showed everything I resented about America' [Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/06/william-klein-my-pictures-showed-everything-i-resented-about-america, [Accessed 21st December 2016]

Initial thoughts on Assignment Four

After speaking with my tutor, I am starting to think about the progression into assignment Four.

I would like to continue documenting the device usage within my home, especially in terms of my husbands usage. My tutor expressed that my husband has the potential to "carry a series" in the sense that he uses his devices so much that I have enough material to follow into it's own project. I have started to research areas within the impact of device usage within relationships to get some sort of basis to back up my own experience of this. Looking at the amount of articles that I have found so far, it's not something that is individual to me and in way of my project, the photographs are more than likely documenting something that the viewers can relate to themselves.

In my previous feedback, my tutor touched upon the whether it was important as to what my husband actually looks at while on his devices, "is it important what it on the screen?" and, personally, it doesn't matter. Any considerable amount of time that he spends on his phone, etc, is time that his attention is away from us/me. I cant say that I don't worry at all though, but that stems back to his behaviour early in our relationships, nine years ago. When I start to look further into research in this area, I will be able to reference more about that.

After my last feedback, I started to use my phones built in black and white filters, looking specifically at the tonal mode (which, I will be honest, sometimes comes out looking too flat) and also the mono mode which tends to have a bit more contrast. So technically I am taking teach photo three times, one in the normal colour mode, one in the tonal mode and one in the mono mode. This is where the photos are now becoming less discreet and more in your face. It's difficult to take three photos without them knowing that they are being taken.

Further notes: After taking the photos in three different modes, I have now uploaded all photos taken to date and I'm really disappointed as none of the preset black and white filters on the phone transfer to the computer. They have all transferred as colour files. So each photo that I took in the two black and white filters have all transferred to my PC as colour files and my library now has three copies of the same photo. That is disappointing. But now I can revert back to just taking the one photo and have to really consider the processing when it comes to editing the photos. As opposed to the built in filters, I will now solely convert the images into black and white through Lightroom. This means I really need to look at the tones and contrasts and to make the photos more contemporary.