Tony Ray-Jones

Front Cover



Contact Sheet







Note on photographs and projects



Book mock up





I found this book on Tony Ray-Jones very interesting, not only because of the many images of England from the 1960's but also because it provides a great deal of insight into what Ray-Jones was thinking and his approach towards a project, in terms of planning etc. This can be seen through the various images of his notebooks and filofax pages, where it shows in detail the level of planning involved in most of his photography projects. This got me thinking as to how much I have planned throughout this project. I have set aside specific days to photograph and had a pretty good idea where I was going but apart from that I let myself be relatively free when it came to what images I wanted. The main exception was at the end of the project where I had it in my mind that I wanted an image of a west indian person in Leeds, so I made sure I returned to Chapletown to get the photo I wanted.

The Black House - Colin Jones

The Black House is another really interesting book that deals with the issues of race in and around the time I was looking at in my dissertation (the 1970's - 1980's). This book is a very good documentation of a troubled time in the UK in terms of social issues such as racial integration. 'The Black house' was a halfway house on the Holloway Road in London for young black men who were or had been in trouble with the Police.

This is an extract from an article on the Time Out website that talks about the project in more depth:

'In 1973, Colin Jones (dubbed ‘the George Orwell of British photography’) was commissioned to produce illustrations for a newspaper article about a community project for young black men in Islington. Published by the Sunday Times under the headline ‘On the Edge of the Ghetto’, the story proved explosive and by 1977, when more of Jones’ pictures were exhibited at the Photographers’ Gallery, the media had nick-named the hostel ‘The Black House’.

Though the project was officially called Harambee, the media took advantage of the fact that it was less than a mile away from the so-named lair of black power activist and infamous murderer Michael de Freitas (Michael X), the subject of a high-profile trial in 1972. Jones’ pictures had nothing to do with the site where de Freitas lived, but when news of the hostel broke, the papers resurrected the name.'

More here, very interesting: http://www.timeout.com/london/features/2936/Colin_Jones_and_the_Black_House.html

Black Britain: A Photographic History

Black Britain: A Photographic History is a book of photography compiled by Paul Gilroy who I looked at for my dissertation. It is a very interesting book that documents visually the history of black people living in the UK.

Tom Wood - Bus Odyssey

When I picked up this book i felt like I could immediately relate to it. I really liked the idea behind the photographs as they were all taken in, on and around the bus. The bus is something that everyone uses at some point in their lives and when you think about it is a very weird environment. A lot of the time people are all sitting together but there is very little communication between everyone. This project is described as a look at the 'somewhat banal marginal sides of everyday life.' and that many people on the bus 'embrace each other with the same absent intensity with which the other people on the bus distance themselves from each other'.

I think that this makes for an interesting place to photograph and in essence a challenge. Wood used a Leica camera that had a quieter shutter so that people wouldn't hear his camera as easily. There was also the issue of photographing out the window due to the reflection but in many ways this creates a nice effect as you can see both people outside and inside the bus at the same time.

Martin Parr

Photographs taken from a book looking at an overall selection of Martin Parr's work.









Above photographs are taken from Martin Parr's 'Think of England' book.

I think that Martin Parr was going to be an obvious inspiration for me in this project. We are both dealing with a similar subject matter in England and its people and in many cases taking photographs in very working class areas of working class people in regular day to day activities. There is also a stylistic similarity in terms of the use of bright colour and where possible I have tried to create photographs with a high level of contrast so that they really jump off the page. However I do think there are some major differences between my project and many of his especially that of humour. I have not tried to take funny photographs that are in effect visual puns, which many of Parr's photographs do. This isn't to say that some of my photos do do this but what I think is important is that I didn't intentionally seek to do this and I didn't want my books to have an overarching feeling of humour. I think that before I started actually taking photographs for this project that I had a very Martin Parr image in my head of what sort of photographs I was going to come out with. This didn't really happen when I started to actually go out and meet people and I guess this has been part of the natural progression of the project.

Saul Leiter

Finding Saul Leiters work was a slice of luck because i had never heard of him before. I cannot believe how much I like some of the photographs in this book, which is described inside as an 'unfinished and brilliant scrap book', which 'has the feeling of the instant which flashes across, an instant that Saul Leiter alone can see.'

I think this idea of moments and the fact that they are described as his moments that he has identified and captured in a split second perfectly encapsulates everything that I love about photography. I also really like the idea of them being 'unfinished' as many of the photographs have been hurriedly taken and are blurred or obscured in some way. I can really relate to this idea and methodology as for this project I have met and seen people along the way that I have wanted to photograph but unfortunately the window of opportunity has been so quick.This has resulted in many the blurred photograph but of which I haven't chosen to include in my books but I like this idea of a scrap book that shows a wide range of the photographs taken when out and about. there is also the sense of voyeurism that you get from looking through this book as many of the photographs appear to be taken behind objects that make there way into shot and give the impression that Saul was hiding and didn't want to be seen by his subject. I would say that my project has had elements of this at times because the project shifted when I started to use a zoom lens so that I could photograph people from further away and in some cases without the need to talk to them. It was a case of balancing this within my project as I didn't want all of my photographs to look like this as I believe there is great power in a photograph when you have someone looking right down the lens of the camera and really connecting to the fact that they are having their photo taken by a complete stranger.

I really like the colour photography in the book. There is more black and white but I think that America is a great place to shoot in colour because everywhere is full of advertising and bright signage that lends itself so well to street photography.

Further Photographer Research

After a chat with David in one of my tutorials it became clear that I should go back and continue doing some further photographer research to gain an idea where I stand in terms of what sort of photographs I am taking in this project.

This meant going to the Library and spending a good amount of time looking through photographer books to find some examples of photographers who have approached projects in a similar way to myself and help to put my work into some kind of context.

I will also aid another side of my research as to how to best present my images and whether I should do things like put a title under each photograph, border the photographs etc.

Peter Granser - Coney Island

Peter Granser's book on Coney Island caught my eye recently when I was having a browse through the library. Firstly because I have recently been to NYC and made a visit to Coney Island as well as taking my own photographs when I was there. I think it is such an exciting place to take photographs because it is such an unusual place. It is now extremely run down and decrepit and full of odd characters, which make for interesting photographical content. There is also something about Coney Island that lends itself really well to colour photographs as it is jam packed with faded paintwork and interesting hand painted signs. Granser's photographs both the buildings and the people in a very charming way that still portrays Coney Island as an interesting place to visit. Below is one of the photographs I took when I was in Coney Island recently.

Bicycle Portraits

Bicycle Portraits 1 from Bicycle Portraits on Vimeo.

I think that this is such a good idea for a project. What can I say it combines two of my favourite things in bikes and traveling. I have been to South Africa and it is such an amazing and interesting country that has had a troubled history but it is full of really friendly people. Just had to put this up because it is right up my street and think more people should get inspired into getting on a bike.

Thirsty and Miserable: On Tour With the English Defence League

http://www.viceland.com/int/v17n4/htdocs/thirsty-and-miserable-408.php?page=1

I saw this interesting and funny article on Vice's website, where by someone followed the English Defence League around the country and proved what a bunch of tools they are. I can't actually believe they waste their time preaching their deluded ideas around the country and I am glad that they are met everywhere in larger numbers by the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) members. The photo below is quite amusing and demonstrates well how stupid some of these people are.

Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic - Tate Liverpool

I recently went to the Tate Liverpool to visit the Afro Modern exhibition, which explores 'impact of different black cultures from around the Atlantic on art from the early twentieth-century to today.' It follows on from themes raised in my dissertation especially because the exhibition was inspired by the work of Paul Gilroy, who featured heavily in my dissertation.

I was really interested in the photography they had at the exhibition, I especially wanted to see the work of Pirkle Jones, Charles Moore and Gordon Parks. They all produced photography throughout the civil uprising and Black power movement in America during the 1960s/70s.

Evan Hecox: Artistic Process for Incase

Really cool vid about Evan Hecox and his approach to a project for Incase. It is really interesting to get an idea and insight into other artists working methods and to see how they go about a project from start to finish.

Jesse Brew: Graphic Design

I stumbled across this graphic designer called Jesse Brew through one of the many fixed gear bike blogs that I look at daily and they had this image of his up:



And it dawned on me that I am going to have to come up with some sort of design for the front cover/covers and after the lack of success I had with my last foray into book cover design where by I try to screen print it and something went wrong with the screen so loads of paint went through that I didn't plan on. Luckily it worked with the concept of the book so it didn't look too bad. This time round I am thinking about either digitally printing it onto some sort of fabric/material or using some sort of disperse paper technique using a heat press. I think that both of these options will be quicker and easier for me. Back to the poster I really like using a photograph to produce the fill for the text and I think if I can find the right image to go behind then it could work really well as a front cover.

On a different note Jesse Brew's screen printing work is really good and is bike related so of course I am going to like it. I also really like the Alaska montages might give something like that a go after NYC. Basically I just dig this guys creative style like most of his work and photography bits as well.

Nick Waplington: The Wedding

Nick Waplington's project 'The Wedding' is a follow on or continuation of his project 'The Living Room' where by he documented the daily life of a working class, Nottingham family in the late 80s through to the 90s. I think that both projects are very heartwarming and convey a lot of the emotions that are shared between a family and I think that it is amazing that the family gave him so much access and freedom to conduct his photography. This may have just grown over a period of time as he became more of a family friend but I think that the photographs produced are intriguing and engaging and people can really relate to their subject matter. 'The Wedding' is interesting to me because it documents a mixed race relationship and marriage and I think that this is very positive to see a it ultimately portrays a good message of a happy family.