Brief 4
“Sheffield”
so in relation to the “Home” brief I wanted most if not all of my images to relate to objects and scenery rather than people and general places. So to do this I decided to focus on simple but artistic concepts originally like smart objects that I could reference back to my “home” (Sheffield) like Stainless steel or football related ideas, because of the originality. As well as this, I came up with other ideas such as imagery of graffiti or specific “Sheffield” related music concepts to then relate back to other briefs such as my portrait photography. After consideration, I believe that imagery of street art and other simplistic ideas like shots of music related logos and general establishing location shots sum up by idea perfectly as well as fit in well with other forms of photography taken in previous briefs.
Influences:
When originally planning for my “home” assignment, I instantly thought of ideas such as iconic landmarks and place settings like Meadowhall or the multiple steel factories because of its relevance towards Sheffield and appropriation towards my meaning of “home” in my opinion. choosing these buildings would have worked well in relation to my work, as well as all the possible digital media and designs I could find that would relate back to these concepts simply because how iconic they are. choosing these places as possible final brief shots could have helped a lot due to the vas amount of independent design companies and edits you can find of such pictures. Because these landmarks are so popular amongst a creative and digital city such as Sheffield, I feel like any ideas or concepts may have been created previously or replicated in some way. I also wanted some of my pictures to follow a pattern and I liked the idea of being able to relate them back to previous briefs such as portrait due to the music influence, and my still life because of how the project will relate personally to myself. Throughout this project I had many influences using my portrait research as inspiration and influences also due to how similar my concept is for both, working with the same theme.
Caesar Sebastian:
Caesar’s work, quite possibly is the best example of ideas and themes that I wanted to emulate within my photography project. The genre of nightlife, music culture and urban expression fits perfectly within his work and before finding him as a definite influence towards project, his images and ideas are concepts and preferred intentions are what I wanted to accomplish within my own. I really like how he hasn’t let a specific style or type of photography define him as a professional photographer. The “Wing It” approach to street/night life and the obvious expressions of having general fun and enjoying what yore doing are my preferred interests towards the whole project, but in relation to that, still being able to go out and get amazing pieces of photography that all work towards a theme. The mixtures of colours and grayscale as well as portrait and landscape photography influenced my own work because of how much it actually works towards my very own theme and intentions of the brief. I really like all of Caesar’s work and have used combinations of all this work pieces and shots to influence my own. Here are a few that inspired me to replicate his imagery in my own specific style.
Nicholas Goodden:
I really enjoy looking at Nicholas’s work, simply because of the type of photography he’s categorised in being apart off. I’ve always found street art fascinating and easy to look at and Nicholas is a perfect example of someone who can take an image that may be seen as “antisocial” and turn that piece into a work of art or something that can be seen as more positive and beautiful. Nicholas Goodden’s work has influenced me a lot because of the similarities between the graffiti he photographs and the ones that can be found all over Sheffield, yet again relating to music culture, urban expression and night/street life. Looking at Nicholas’s work has given me a good understanding on how to approach street photography and what styles work with specific graffiti, in relation to paid work and vandalism that usually tend to be too “expressive” and socially unacceptable/wrong. Nicholas has a wide range of different styles of street photography, and being able to take influence from all his work has helped my creativeness and approach to the project in relation to how far I can go in terms of ideas. Its hard to pick just a few of Nicholas’s work as examples of influences because of how much I’ve taken all of his work as inspiration, but here are some pictures that have really influenced my work.
Process:
Image 1: Tank
My first image is that of a nightclub logo called Tank. The image represents both Sheffield in “Home” as well as nightlife, and music culture for appropriation to the brief. The reason behind taking this first image is because of how much importance the club means to me now that I’m a big fan of night life and music production. Tank play Bassline and my entire collection of home images as well as my portrait photography brief has been based around this idea of street/night life and music/urban culture, so the club perfectly represents my ongoing theme in relation to continued and previous work. when taking the image I tried to focus more on the distinctive Sheffield postcode used as apart of the clubs logo compared to the name of the place itself to better incorporate the picture to “Home” compared to just a random club name. The club also has links to my second “home” in that of Lincolnshire due to Lincoln being the home or birthplace of the Tank during the war. The usage of a Dutch angle give the picture a more point of view perspective, similar to that of one that you might see if you attend the club compared to a straight shot that would also get all the logo in frame and focus and be more challenging to guide the audiences attention to the postcode, that I want to be more prominent.
Image 2: The Leadmill
My second image is that of another club in Sheffield called the Leadmill. the club obviously also relates to my ongoing theme and love of music production and nightlife culture. The Leadmill completely shows a new style of music culture in Sheffield relating to a completely different target audience in that of indie rock fans. I took the image because the picture represents a completely different side to nightlife and shows the contrast in people and personalities in relation to what music they listen to for escapism. The contrast in clubs is almost like the opinion between “prosocial” and “antisocial” depending on what music you enjoy listening too. Music has always been a big part of Sheffield’s lifestyle and the Leadmill can be seen as a prominent club due to Sheffield being the “Home” to the face of indie rock bands in pop culture, in that of the Artic Monkeys. The clubs name also relates back to Sheffield’s obvious association with steel and metal factories and fabrication back in history and can be seen as more appropriate due to the clubs place setting. The reason I decided to get a clean straight shot of the Leadmill poster is because I wanted to point out the contrast between both clubs. The image seemed very crisp and the white text definitely stood out as apart of the image to guide the readers attention to important information that would have made more relevance to the shot.
Image 3: Mardy Arts
My reasoning’s behind taking this picture is simply because of my passion and accessibility to street art and graffiti due to a large amount being in the Sheffield area. The artwork also relates directly back to my theme of nightlife and Sheffield happens to be a good city to explore this type of photography. The photograph is of that of a sticker being placed in situ to replicate street art. The text reads “Mardy Arts” that is a play on the word “Mardy Arse” which is Sheffield slang for someone who is moody. The word can also be directed towards the phrase “Mardy Bum” which is a song title for one of the Artic monkeys most memorable and popular tracks, which obviously relates directly back to Sheffield and my representation of “Home”. The matte black background also makes relevance to other images because of the use of similar backdrops during my all three images in my portrait photography brief. The piece fits in well with my collection of pictures and makes relevance to my interpretation of “Home”. I made use of the Mardy arts name compared to the design, due how well the text operates with the camera when the picture is of high quality, due to the text being chrome. The image as a whole represents my opinion on “Home” and the design relates back to both creative and digital media within Sheffield.
Image 4: Grinders Hill
The fourth image I’m my “Home” collection is that of simple wall art on Grinders Hill walkway. The alleyway consists of several pieces of graffiti all relating to different concepts and themes. My image is that of the evil queen from Snow White, in an unconventional place setting. The image relates well to my theme due to its alternative and different approach to graffiti or street art. The image seems inappropriate amongst other images of what you’d expect to be casual or every day graffiti found around urban areas. The image directly relates to other photography briefs such as my appropriation photography, due to the apple in the image being changed to chewing gum, to give the picture more of an unusual twist to stand out amongst all the other pieces of street art. I specifically placed the image of the evil queen in shot trying to allow focus on her compared to the other images the picture was connected to. I think that the backdrop in that of the bland wall, the bad paint job and the pealing of the brink and paper underneath the image only helps but add to the representation of modern street art and create a better image for street photography having never been noticed or appreachiated before.
Image 5: Phlegm
My fifth image is that of street art by a famous and popular Sheffield artist named Phlegm. Phlegm’s work is iconic around the city off Sheffield as well as recognizable due to his unique and very unusual style of street art. The characters and items in his imagery have always raised questions without being answered, but my reasoning’s behind photographing the imagery is simply to appreciate the unique style of art, all relating to my interpretation of “Home”. Phlegm’s work is easy to photograph due to the detail and embracing presence to an audience. The picture works well in its place setting even though the wall the image is placed on is extremely bland in itself. The picture Phlegm’s created almost lightens up the wall, creating unique beauty out of darkness, and its pictures like this along with a possible story that intrigues viewers to his work. I specifically took the picture the way it was to single out this interesting figure at the end of the street. the image works in relation to framing, as the street sign on the wall almost looks branded to the picture. I believe that this image in particular perfectly represents Sheffield and “Home” accurately in relation to pure graffiti and modern street art, simply because of Phlegm’s work and his reputation of one of Sheffield’s best artists.
Image 6: Town Lights
For my last image, I wanted to create a picture that would work well with all my themes as well as incorporate the pure beauty and creative/digital aspects of Sheffield during nightlife. This is a completely different approach to the way I’ve been defining “Nightlife” throughout my previous images but I liked the idea of using darkness as well as colourful imagery to create a nice piece of work. Using Sheffield’s advantages of tall buildings, I took a long exposure shot of a usually busy roundabout in the middle of the city center, during darker hours to try replicating work taken as influences throughout my research. I believe that my picture was successful in doing this because I ended getting a picture that replicated my original idea and concept. I also liked the idea of being able to showcase Sheffield In a positive light after usually all the negative reactions to graffiti and street art as well as the darker sides to music culture in that of drugs and alcohol. I also think that this image quite possibly shows the true beauty of Sheffield during night time in a way that cancels out all the negative effects of badly interpreted street culture.
Evaluation:
Overall I believe that my images represent my own interpretation of “Home” perfectly in relation to my photography’s themes and concepts. All my images are different and represent different meanings while still following a guide line. All my pictures did the job I wanted and need them to do and as a collective, I believe that they work together and represent “Home” in relation to Sheffield the way I needed them to do. Street art, nightlife and music culture has been my main theme throughout this project and other briefs, so in a assignment relating to my own understanding of the word “Home” I believe that they are fit for purpose and define my own examples of home photography. In relation to the pictures themselves, I liked my style and range and enjoyed thinking outside the box on this project, possibly coming up ideas and concepts not explored in the same way. I liked all my images but If I had the chance again, I would have liked to experiment more with specific camera techniques and ideas only to better my future projects and possibly create an easier understanding of professional photography without explaining myself.
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