Direction of Work

Q: Where is my work going? 

A: Forced Reality.



Q: What is forced reality?

A: To me forced reality is a situation, a reality and a scenario of which every aspect is real apart from it's not at all. It's all created, forced, false, fake but it looks real.



Q: Expand?

A: It's a real building, a real person and a real stage. The only thing is the people in the photos are actors playing a role, playing a character I've created. They are being part of a story. Although this story isn't moving image, it's a still photo. 1 photo per scene/story. 



Q: What will link the photos together?

A: I'm hugely interested (partially inspired & uninspired) by Britain. British culture, how we are, the social classes that exist. The mundane, the banal. The chavs and teenage pregnancies of Britain interest me. Being British and Northern has hugely carved this into me, Firstly British people like to complain, it's all very doom and gloom, we are never satisfied. 


                   Quick Background of me:

I've been brought up in two different ways. My father was brought up middle class then graduated Uni with a 1st in Politics. He's a very sensible and calm person, fairly average and pretty conventional. He's the reason I'm fairly calm and has hugely developed my curiosity and from this I've always questioned things. My Mother was brought up in a working class environment, she failed uni and got a job for the council. An average job, but nothing particularly interesting. She then married my (then) Step Father, again never went to Uni and came from a Northern working class area and family. He's much more boyish, rough and ready and less cautious compared to my father. Because of this contrast I've been able to see everything from two sides. My mother lived in a small house in a (then was) council estate. I was surrounded by chavs, tower blocks, local alcoholics and basically the dregs of society. The area wasn't awful by any means, it just wasn't the best Crime wasn't huge, it was just very average and mundane. However I was able to escape this at my fathers, we lived in a 4 bed semi, in a nice neighbourhood. Here it was a more affluent area, no chavs, no concrete tower blocks, all streets lined with trees and every house has multiple cars. 

My High School (11-18) wasn't great. It was a huge school with a fairly poor reputation, with most kids from poor and more deprived neighbourhoods. My school experience has hugely made me who I am today, I was able to see things, from different cultures, different people and from this I was able to see what I want for myself and what I want to avoid. Some people I grew up with are now in prison, others are at Oxford the school has a huge range of diversity.

As a Photographer I've always been drawn to the grim, the banal and the shit of society. I'm interested in the boring dullness of being British and how it's failing. I think it's much more interesting, many photographers do this in a documentary way, finding the dullness in the uk and photographing it as it is. What I want to do is to create the sense of this Britishness and Dullness. Creating it without actually having it, not in a documentary style, but from a more thorough fine art perspective. 


Back to the Question: What will link the photos together?


The Photos will all have a ongoing sense of 'British' running through the series. I want to also touch on issues such as isolation, fear and depression in the series. These won't be huge parts of the photos, I just want them to have a sense of these feelings in a select few of them. 




Q: What Next?  

A: I'm currently creating scenes and ideas of what it means to be British to me. These are inspired by the things around me and also what I think will be interesting to explore. I'm also looking for actors and actresses to play roles in the photos. Advertising on Facebook and in acting agencies to find suitable people for the roles.




      

Boxing Ring PS Idea

After doing different sketches I took to Photoshop to try and build an idea of what I'd like the boxing photo to be. 

I could see what I want to create in my head, I feel this is very close to what I'd like the final photo to be. I want to have a fairly small, weedy blonde boxer. Stood to the right centre of the ring, looking up to something out of frame. The Boxing Gym would be empty, almost as if it's just about to close, with a janitor about to lock up, or one family member (of the boxer) sat on a chair (darkened) to show some support. 

I want this photo to have a sense of vulnerability, a sense of adolescence and coming of age. I see the boy to be David in a David and goliath scenario. The odds are against him, yet he's persevering. The situation is quite bleak, quite dull. However I want these photos to have character, to have a narrative and to be British. I don't want the photos to be hyper realistic, I want them to be cinematic but the main aspect I want to achieve is for the photos to be believable. I want them to have a documentary style, but every aspect will be staged and controlled by me.

Jeff Wall Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yG2k4C4zrU

Some interesting views on how Jeff Wall recreates scenes he's experienced. This makes me think about how I want to portray my own photos and what I want to create, is it something that I've experienced, or is it something much more cinematic and more created. Created in the sense of an imagination, rather than the physicality of creating the 'real' scenes.

Test Photo

Test 1

This was a test photo I took to try and manage people in order to create a sense of false reality. I don't think it was particularly successful, by using family members I tried to create a a atmospheric photo, with some kind of before/after feel to it. I feel the woman stood on the right of the frame adds to this 'crewdson' style of photo, however I feel the motorcycle and rider is looking too much towards the camera, this is something I really didn't want. It gives the camera attention making it seem too false. I feel this photo is lacking a lot of things, it doesn't have any real tension to it. However I feel if the photo was just of the woman without the bike it could be a stronger photo. I think just by doing this test shoot I learnt a lot about trying to position people. I know these people weren't models/actors so taking direction wasn't easy for them. (I told motorbike rider to look to his left and act as if he was riding down the road. I tried adding smoke to the bike with spray smoke, with a LED light behind to catch the smoke. This didn't particularly work too well but it made me realise I need to practice lighting much more.

  

              

I've cropped the biker out of first photo to see how it works, I do feel this add's much more atmosphere to it. The original photo was meant to have a girl stood in the bedroom window of the house. This didn't happen, but I still like how this photo emphasises isolation and I feel the woman's position is much more strange, as if she's looking for something, waiting for something. The way she's looking at the floor add's a sense of insanity/desperation to the photo. This photo definitely works better than the previous and I feel it's a stronger direction for me to develop from.

Jeff Wall

  

  

Jeff Wall

There are some aspects of Jeff Wall’s work that I do really like, yet there are other aspects that i’m not too fond of. I feel that his photos are very hit or miss, a lot of them are quite plain and don’t make me engage with them. I feel a good photo makes you want to look at it again, I feel his photos are forgettable, there isn’t any real draw to them. I feel his photos are definitely lacking narrative, there isn’t anywhere near as much of a story compared to Crewdson’s work. Once you realise that his photos, like Crewdson’s are all created and everyone in the photo is an actor playing a part it does change your opinion on the photos. For me this does add some interest, what I then find interesting is the fact that these photo’s don't look false, Wall has set out to make these photos seem as real as possible. When you compare how both Jeff Wall and Gregory Crewdson create scenes there is huge differences. Wall has set out to create staged photos but make them look as natural as possible, whereas Crewdson’s work is much more cinematic and obviously false. Wall doesn’t use false lighting anywhere near the extent Crewdson does, his photos are much more realistic visually, yet I feel there is a lot of atmosphere lacking that he could have enhanced or even created with some lighting. 

What I do really like about Jeff Wall’s work is the fact you don’t question its authenticity, you just accept it as real. I do like this aspect but I feel it could easily work against you, it almost makes his photos seem dull and Vernacular. I want to create a body of work that does play with this notion of falseness, however I’d like to find a mid point between Crewdson and Wall, not so real people don’t question it, but not too obvious it’s not questioned as being real. Both artists have a great style of working yet I feel there is some connection lost between them and the audience. 

Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson

Crewdson’s work creates a huge amount of speculation. His photos are all staged and created by himself and his crew of up to 100 people. What i really find interesting about Crewdson’s work is his ability to create a sense of atmosphere in his photos. His photos are incredibly cinematic, they usually show a scenario just before something is about to happen or a scenario where something has just occurred. He is able to create a uneasy feel, a sort of isolation and there is definitely a aspect of anticipation. I have always admired his skill to create a scene that tells a story, a sense of narrative is something I feel like i’ve been lacking throughout my work. Although Crewdson’s work is incredibly detailed and does carry huge impact, I do feel that his work is sometimes too forced. His photos are obviously fake, although he spends hours making them realistic, they seem ‘hyper realistic’ / ‘too real’. Comparing this to Thomas Demand, who’s work is of the mundane and realistic you don’t really doubt it’s authenticity but there’s something captivating and uncanny when you realise it’s all folded paper. This is something I feel Crewdson is lacking, I fail to gain a sense of realism from his photos, especially when you are aware of his practice. Regardless of his practice, his photos do show too much of a falseness, they are almost too perfect then the audiences mystery and interaction is lost. 

What I want to take from Crewdson is his ability to create such an amazing set, to curate everything from casting, the layout of building and a key component is lighting. Crewdson’s lighting is incredibly detailed and he is able to create a very cinematic yet realistic lighting set ups. I’ve always thought that light is the most important aspect to photography, yet my previous work hasn’t worked with artificial lighting, therefore this is something that I really want to play with, and use to create visually aesthetic photos. Another aspect of Crewdson’s work I’m going to take into my own work is his ability to create atmosphere, I really admire how he is able to create striking images, and his subjects/models create this sense of isolation which really adds atmosphere to the photos. 

Lighting Tutorial

Lighting :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JD3gnnlHi4

Great Depth to how he's used lights, and scrims etc