Final Evaluation

Throughout this project I have been heavily influenced by a 
variety of different photographers, who have inspired me in a mixture of ways to create my series of images (connected images.) Mark Laita (as shown on the right) was the main influence initially which triggered me to explore the various ways in which people live in the UK, his images which compared the different lives of American’s side-by-side were the main inspiration behind my shoot numbers one, and three. In my shoots number one and three I photographed subjects standing outside their houses, whilst also photographing different objects within their homes- I did this in order to create comparisons/links between how the individual presents themselves, and how their houses appear.

My shoot number two was inspired by James Russell Cant, and his series known as ‘Haringey’, this series involved the images of the same child being shown in two different scenarios, one in a purified manor, whilst the other made the child appear as though they’re on CCTV (which is commonly considered negative.) I found this series interesting as all this children are from the same area, and they will all have very different lives, and live differently despite all being from the same place; subsequently, this series influenced me to photograph my elderly neighbour smoking on a dark street, I chose to do this in order to challenge societies’ perceptions about how elderly individuals live and the path they chose to live their lives. Overall, I believe this shoot doesn't fit in with my overall theme, as the images don't clearly symbolise my aims for the shoot, if I was to reshoot this shoot again then I would include other elderly subjects, doing their hobbies, in order to create comparisons between the way different people of the same age live; consequently this shoot would then link to my shoot numbers one and three further, whilst also liking to influence from Mark Laita. 

My shoot numbers four and five are influenced by Martin Parr’s images of Brits on beaches, I found Parr’s images bright and eye-catching whilst also being witty, therefore they grabbed my attention and made me think how I too could recreate these scenes. My shoot number four was based around food, and how us Brits dine, if I had more time I would have included other images of people eating, not just one meal, in order to create more comparisons. Within my shoot number four my subjects were eating fish and chips, this is a typically British meal, therefore I believe this linked my work further to Parr’s, as his images were quintessentially British. My shoot number five was photographed on a beach in Norfolk, and in a caravan also; I chose to photograph images inside a caravan in order to explore how different people live in different ‘homes’, in addition I shot on the beach also to explore the different leisure activities individuals who live by the coast may have. Overall, I believe my shoot number five links more to Parr's images, as my shoot number four is slightly unorganised and the aims for it are not clear. If I was to reshoot my shoot number four then I would photograph a variety of individual's eating different foods, again in order to create comparisons further between the ways different people live. My shoot number five is effective, therefore I do not believe I would make substantial changes if I was to reshoot, however I would possibly photograph more images from inside the caravan. 

Shoot number six was influenced by the way August Sander (as shown on the left) photographed his portraiture images, Sander focused on capturing individual’s holding the tools they used to complete their job, whilst often starring deadpan into the camera lens. I chose to adopt the style of August Sander for this shoot, whereby I focused on how individual’s maintain the upkeep of their homes. If I had more time in this shoot I would have liked to develop my work by shooting other individual’s in their gardens, in order to create comparison’s in the viewer’s mind of how different people look after their homes (or don’t.) However, I do believe that my images as a whole are effectively framed, and executed in the style of Sander. 

My shoot number seven inspired me to go on and focus on the relationships between owners and their pets for my exam shoots. Within this shoot I wanted to focus on how although all of the owners have the same pet (a dog), they all live and treat this animal extremely differently. My shoot number seven was inspired by Elliott Erwitt’s photographs of dogs (as shown on the right), although Erwitt doesn’t explore the owner and dog’s relationship as much as I have in my shoot seven, his inspiration was paramount within this shoot as he inspired me to focus on dogs initially, and try to capture their wit and humour. Within this shoot I primarily focused on the owner, and their dog and I just photographed this interaction; however, when I decided to move forward with this for my final shoots I wanted to broaden my investigation, by photographing other objects in the homes which related to the canine companions, in order to create more links and comparisons for the viewer. 

My exam shoots were all progression from my shoot number seven, and were further influenced by another photographer called Sebastian Magnani (as shown on the left), who explored the idea that owner’s and their dogs look alike through face-swapping them both, I experimented and attempted this in one of my computer experiments in component 2. Within my exam shoots I wanted to explore this by having images of the dogs and owner’s interacting, as well as capturing images of the dog alone to explore their personality. In my exam shoots I also photographed the same objects in each house, these objects included: leads, food, toys, treats and beds- this would allow more comparisons to be made by the viewer, when exploring the various ways in which individual’s live with their pets.

Overall, I believe my preparatory shoots did influence my exam shoots by following the same theme of how different people live, however my preparatory shoots were not all focused on the interactions between owner’s and their pets, but other aspects of how people live (e.g. smoking, the difference in houses, differences involving food/maintenance of the home…) I believe that my project would have been more concise if I had focused on owner's and their pets for the entirety of it, however by exploring the different routes of how people live (e.g. their homes, hobbies, food...) it allowed me to narrow down on what I wanted to focus on for my final exam. If I was to start this project over I would focused on pets and owners from the beginning, and I wouldn't just explore dogs, but other unusual pets owners may obtain. 

Throughout this project I have learned how to work closely with my subject's, in order to achieve desired results within my images, this new knowledge has progressed more the further I have come through this project, and culminated at the end of my project where I have worked with owners and their beloved pets. By interacting with the owner and making them feel at ease, subsequently the dog did also meaning I could gain the most effective, and fluid images. 
I have also learned things about the way different individual's live, and how dogs can be like their owners, I have learned this new knowledge throughout exploring the theme of my project, which was how differently people live. I also believe that by learning how to place images next to one another (as I experimented with in my computer experiments in component 2) in photoshop this will aid my future projects, as I can now create collages or allow for direct comparisons to be made between two photographs. 

I believe that I was successful in responding to the exam paper, as my images are all connected through the theme of exploring 'the different way people live', however I believe that some of these connections are stronger than others. I believe that my work is weak in the fact that throughout my whole project I didn't solely focus on one aspect of how people live (e.g. hobbies), meaning that my work is not as polished as I would have liked- however, by exploring different pathways of this theme it allowed me to gain new knowledge, and explore a variety of photographers in my work (e.g. Latia, Sander, Erwitt, Parr...) I believe my shoots based on owner's and their pets are strong, as this is an interesting topic to explore, and one which many people would be interested in; furthermore the owner's were very interactive within the shoots, and they wanted to see the images of their beloved pets after, meaning they worked well with me when I was shooting. I also believe that my project would be more effective if I had more time, as many of my shoots would have been better if I had time to photograph other subjects, in order to create comparisons, this would have then made my project link more solidly to my theme of how different people live, as the shoots are better when they compare two individuals, and don't focus on merely one individual. 

I have chose to order my final series by placing one image from each of my exam shoots after one another; I chose to pick one image of each dog first, then one image which I believe captures the dog's personality, after this I chose one image of each dog and their owner, then one image of each dog's lead before lastly exploring the differences between each dog's paw. By setting out the final pieces in this way comparisons are easier made than if the images were all mixed together, also I believe this structure is more effective than if they were placed in shoot order, as then the viewer cannot easily see the differences between each owner, and dog's lifestyle. I have experimented with various ways in which I can present my images, as shown below:

I believe this is an effective way of presenting my images, however all of my images would have to have the same dimensions which would be difficult. I also explored with this lay out in my computer experiments within my component 2. 

Overall I am pleased with my final series of images as I believe they are effective and cohesive, and they all explore the same items meaning that again they all link. Erwitt's influence can be seen in certain images whereby I have captured the dog's being mischievous or one image whereby a dog is jumping in my exam shoot two, links effectively to one of Erwitt's images (as explored in my connecting essay.) Moreover,Sebastian Magnani's influence isn't directly shown aesthetically in my images, but its shown in the aims behind them as I have explored the interactions between dog and owner, as well as exploring the dogs personality, if I was to expand this I would include some images capturing the owner's personality, in order to allow more links/comparisons to be made. 

Final Pieces

I have chose to order my final series by placing one image from each of my exam shoots after one another; I chose to pick one image of each dog first, then one image which I believe captures the dog's personality, after this I chose one image of each dog and their owner, then one image of each dog's lead before lastly exploring the differences between each dog's paw. By setting out the final pieces in this way comparisons are easier made than if the images were all mixed together, also I believe this structure is more effective than if they were placed in shoot order, as then the viewer cannot easily see the differences between each owner, and dog's lifestyles. Overall I am pleased with my final series of images as I believe they are effective and cohesive, and they all explore the same items meaning that again they all link. Erwitt's influence can be seen in certain images whereby I have captured the dog's being mischievous or one image whereby a dog is jumping in my exam shoot two, links effectively to one of Erwitt's images (as explored in my connecting essay.) Moreover,Sebastian Magnani's influence isn't directly shown aesthetically in my images, but its shown in the aims behind them as I have explored the interactions between dog and owner, as well as exploring the dogs personality, if I was to expand this I would include some images capturing the owner's personality, in order to allow more links/comparisons to be made. 

I have chose to present my final pieces on my blogger rather tan on a powerpoint as I believe by having all of the images next to one another, it's easier to see the differences between each household, whereas if they were on separate slides on a power point this would be harder to do, as the images would all be of different slides. I have also experimented with presenting my images in a variety of ways, as shown below: 

This is an effective way of presenting my images, however they would all have to be either portrait or landscape to present them in this way, and my images are not therefore this causes an issue with presenting all my images in this way. This is a technique which I learned when experimenting with my computer experiments for this project (in my component 2.)

Computer Experiment

For this computer experiment I opened up two images, and edited the dog from one image into the other photograph. I chose to do this in order to experiment with my photoshop skills, and also to explore how I can manipulate images manually. I enjoyed creating this edit as it was relatively easy, and rewarding with the outcome. 

Firstly, I opened up the two images I would be using in photoshop, then I selected the quick selection tool, before selecting the areas of the image I wanted to move onto the other image, as shown below:

To then ensure I had all the areas I wanted selected I used the quick mask mode, which is the button at the bottom of the left panel on the screen, as shown below:

Once I clicked this button the areas I hadn't sleeked went red, I then used the rubber and paint tool to select and desert the different areas of the image, once this was complete I then clicked the quick mask mode button again to turn my image back to normal. 

I then used the cursor tool to drag the selected dog onto the tab of the other image and place it on the image, as shown below:

Cmd T can then be used to resize the dog section, whilst I also dragged the dog into position, in order to make the dog look more fluid in the image, and not edited I used the curves and levels tools to merge the dog into the image effectively. 

The overall outcome of the before and after images are shown below: 

 -BEFORE

 -AFTER

Overall, I believe the outcome of the image is effective, as the edited dog blends into the image effectively, due to my further editing of the curves, and levels in order to darken the dog, so that it didn't stand out against the shadowing which is in the background of this image. I also made the dog smaller and in the background in order to work with the action already occurring in the image, as the dog now appears to be chasing after it's owner in the background, whereas if I would have placed this in the foreground of the image it initially wouldn't have fit, and it also wouldn't have looked as effective, as the edges of the dog look slightly edgy when you blow it up big, due to cutting and pasting it into this image.

Connecting Essay

The above photograph is from my exam shoot number two, whereby I photographed the interactions between two dogs, and their young owner. In this image the dog can be seen mid-jump in the air attempting to catch a ball; this photograph is humorous as the dog almost appears to be standing up on its back legs, like a human; moreover the dog is seen in an unusual position, as dogs are more often than not on all fours, not leaping in the air. This image is photographed in a portrait frame in order to capture the full length of the dog whilst it jumps in the air. Moreover, there is virtually no blur within this image, this is due to the camera settings which were: ISO 400, an aperture setting of 7.1 and a shutter speed of 1/200, the quick shutter speed would have reduced any possible blur. When editing my photograph in photoshop I slightly brightened the image by using the levels, and curves tools, I did this in order to highlight the details within the image, as prior to this the photograph was slightly too dark. However, the background in the image is slightly cluttered, with the blue sheet on the floor and the young boy standing in the background, therefore if this image was reshot then I would be keen to try and shoot this image in a clearer setting- despite this, it's hard to go into someones home and then start telling them to move all their furniture about, I believe this wouldn't be received well by the owner. 

The above photograph is by Elliott Erwitt, from his series known as 'dog dogs', this image was taken in Paris, France in 1989. The photograph is slightly humorous as despite the owner being ridged and still, the dog is jumping up high in the air, although the viewer can still see this isn't too high, in comparison to the owner's legs next to the dog. The dog is slightly blurry in this photograph, this would have been due to a slow shutter speed on the camera. In this image the owner's face cannot be seen, causing all of the attention to be focused on the dog itself; this therefore leaves the viewer to question what the owner may look like. The photographer has got down low to photograph this image, and it appears as though he is looking up at the dog, this is interesting as it puts the viewer on the dogs level, as well as capturing the height of the dog's jump. 

Overall, I believe the two images link as a whole due to the fact they are both photographs of dogs, in contrast the dog in my photograph is bigger than that in Erwitt's image. Another difference between the two images is the fact that my photograph is taken from a higher angle, whereas Erwitt's photograph is shot from a lower angle, on the dogs level. If I was to experiment with different angles in my shoots I would attempt to try this lower down angle, in order to experiment with the outcome of my images. A similarity between the two images is the fact that both dogs are jumping in the air, however the way in which they're jumping differs, as the dog in my photograph is jumping stretched upwards towards his goal (the ball); whereas, the dog in Erwitt's photograph appears as though he is standing but in mid-air, this suggests that he isn't jumping for a goal, as the dog is looking at the camera, and not above it. 

Overall, I believe the content in the two images is similar (they're both photographs of jumping dogs), but the aims of both the dogs differs as one dog is jumping for a ball (in my photograph), in comparison to Erwitt's canine subject who appears to be jumping with excitement. 

Exam Shoot Three - Work Record

What I plan to do: Within this shoot I will again be focusing on a single individual with their pet dog, this shoot is progression from my preparatory shoot number seven, and exam shoot numbers one and two. When creating my final series of images I want comparisons to be draw between the different way individual's live, with their different dogs; therefore, I have photographed the same objects in each shoot (e.g. dog bed, treats, toys...) in order for the viewer to explore these differences- this is significant as although people may own the same pet (dog), their treatment and set up for the animal is very different. Moreover, the dog's personalities too differ, and I hope to explore this within the shoot, as well as exploring the different personalities of the owner's too. 
When editing my images in photoshop I used vignettes in order to progress on from my exam shoot number two, by using various editing techniques to better my images, instead of just using curves and levels all the time. I believe the use of a vignette brings the viewers attention into the image, and that I can control where I want the focus to be. 

Inspiration: Elliott Erwitt's photographs of dogs are the inspiration behind my project and this shoot, as his images of dogs and their owners are captivating, and interesting- something which I hope my images will also be. Erwitt's images may not explore differences in the way owner's live with their dogs, but they do explore differences in how different dogs can be. Sebastian Magnani is also another inspiration behind this shoot, as his photographs of owner's and their dogs create links between us and our canine companions being similar, therefore within my shoots I too hope I will explore this. 

Best image:

This image is one of my best from my shoot number three, the endearing action of the dog holding his paw up is captured in this image creates emotion in the viewer. Moreover, within this image the viewer can deduce a substantial amount of information, from both the dog and the settings around it. The dog isn't jumping and running around the garden, suggesting that it is not as active as some of the other dogs which I have photographed, therefore this allows the viewer to estimate at what type of personality this dog may have, corresponding with the questioning of what type of personality the owner may also have. This link follows my inspiration from this shoot, as Sebastian Magnani also compares how owner's and their dogs are similar through their appearance, whereas I am exploring this through their personalities- whilst also comparing these traits with other dog owners. 

When editing this image in photoshop I cropped the photograph slightly, in order to bring the viewer closer to the dog, furthermore I also changed the levels in order to slightly lighten the image. In order to also create a slight vignette I used the curves tool, and then the gradient tool in order to darken the edges of the image slightly. 

I photographed this image on the camera settings of ISO 200, F 9 and a shutter speed of 1/320, if I wanted to create a shallower depth of field I should have got closer to the dog, whilst also making my F setting higher. 

Worst image:

I believe this photograph is the worst from this shoot, due to the cluttered background confusing the viewer about what it is they're meant to be focusing on. The lead and the harness which are on the door handle are the main subjects of this image; however, other objects around this detract attention away and confuse the viewer- meaning my aims for this shoot are not clear. If I was to reshoot this photograph I would get closer to the object's I wanted to focus on, and use a shallower depth of field in order to blur any other objects in the background, unlike the wide depth of field explored within this image. 

The lack of connotation which is also attached to this image is negative, as this image alone doesn't allow the viewer to clearly know what I am photographing, or what my aims for the entire shoot are, therefore this makes the image confusing as a whole.

The camera settings which I photographed this image on are the following: ISO 400, F 4, and a shutter speed of 1/60, my low aperture setting of 4 should have allowed me to obtain a shallower depth of field- however, as I was far away from the object this wasn't maximised, therefore if I was to photograph this again I would ensure I was closer to the object, in order to maximise the effects of a shallow depth of field. 

What I have learned:  From this project I have learned how vast the differences are between the way people live, moreover despite all the owner's featured in my shoot sharing the same pet (dogs), they all live and treat them extremely differently from one another, whilst also having varying personalities. I have enjoyed exploring the different lifestyles people live throughout the entirety of my project. 

Exam Shoot Three - Straight Images

This photograph of the dog and the owner allows comparisons to be explored between their possible similar personalities or appearances, this links to me research I conducted on sebastian Magnani where he explores face-swaps between dogs and their owners. The framing of this image is effective as it captures both the dog and owner looking in the same direction, despite the owner looking down at the dog. The owner appears slightly stiff, this may suggest that she isn't as affectionate towards her dog as some of the other subject's I have photographed. 

I used a vignette to edit this image in order to bring the viewer's focus solely onto the dog, the innocent look on the dogs face combined with it's calm composure suggests this dog isn't as excitable as some of my other proviso subjects- this allows comparisons between the dog's personalities. 

Again, in this image the dog appears to be calm and innocent, the fact that it's rolling over implies it wants to be stroked on its belly, this suggests that it likes to have a bit of fuss, something which it's owner may not always give it. 

This photograph of the dog's paw is interesting as it's almost showing us the dog's identity, by displaying the pup's paw, which is almost like our fingerprints. Fingerprints and paws can be considered the same, as they are both linked to the 'hands' of the person/dog, therefore by exploring this dogs paw I believe that this will allow further comparisons to be made between this dog, and the ones I will photograph in my following shoots. 

The dog is outside in what appears to be a well-kept garden, this may imply that the dog is not allowed to do much out here, incase it messes up it's owner's work, therefore this dog may be well trained and calm due to this fact. The dogs paw being lifted creates emotion in the viewer and makes the dog appear 'cute', this can be contrasted with some of my other shoots of the dog's playing. 

Again, this image shows the dog to be innocently sitting on the grass, this is significant as the dog is not running about, suggesting it's a calmer dog, this can be contrasted with some of my other previous shoots, to explore the dogs personalities, and similarly the owner's personalities, which may be similar to those of the dogs. 

The glass-like eyes of the dog are starring innocently into the camera, this creates emotion in the viewer. 

This image demonstrates whereabouts the dog's bed is in this house, this image will allow comparisons to be made between my other previous shoots of other dogs in their beds. In this image the dog almost appears lonely, as the room looks large with the dogs bed in the middle, this may show how the dog is not wanted in the front room, showing how this owner may be slightly more strict than some others I have visited. 

This image of the dog's bed and where it's situated will allow comparisons to be made between my other shoots of similar items, in order to show how different owner's live differently despite having the same pet (a dog.)

This image of the dog's toys and where they're situated will allow comparisons to be made between my other shoots of similar items, in order to show how different owner's live differently despite having the same pet (a dog.)

This image of the dog's food and treats, and where they are situated will allow comparisons to be made between my other shoots of similar items, in order to show how different owner's live differently despite having the same pet (a dog.)

This image of the dog's lead and where it's situated will allow comparisons to be made between my other shoots of similar items, in order to show how different owner's live differently despite having the same pet (a dog.)