Specialist Location - A Dominatrix

The Plan

I wanted to do a shoot that took me completely out of my comfort zone to an area of life I had no knowledge or experience in. I contacted a dominatrix who I got to hear of from a mutual friend with a view of taking some photos for my specialist location brief. We arranged to meet a few weeks later to discuss the idea. She was willing to go along with it so we arranged a date. She discussed in detail what she does and gave me links to various websites were I could learn about what it was she did, she is what is called a CP, which stands for corporal punishment. Clients come to her to be caned, slapped etc in a safe environment. She was quite clear that she didn't want to be recognised in the photographs or the environment in which they would be shot.

After researching various photographers (see different Posts) I decided I would do the shoot as a documentary piece, I would shoot as it was happening and images would come straight from camera with just a conversion to black and white done in photoshop and cropping were needed. I want the photos to be as natural as possible, I don't want them to look cheap or trashy or to embarrass the people who have agreed to me coming into a very private world and letting me photograph it. I want to show a glimpse of this life without actually identifying the people in it.

I would be using my Nikon D5100 with a Tamron 18 - 200mm lens, as the lens has no image stabilisation I would be taking a tripod to try and eliminate as much blur as possible. No lighting would be used so that the images are presented in a realistic documentary environment.

The Shoot

To say I was nervous was an understatement, I entered an environment so far removed from my life with both excitement and trepidation. Here are the final 10 images I have submitted which show a small slice of the CP world:

Blazers & School Caps Hung By The Door

 

Tying the Buckles

 

Who's been a naughty boy?

 

A big collector she showed me a collection of cuttings she had which I arranged into the above collage and photographed

 

Removing stockings and suspenders, a sign that the session is over

 

Slapping

 

Getting ready to play

 

Another of her collection signs and canes on a bench used for restraint

From a different angle

As it happens!

(this image has come back from DS with A horrid Green Tinge To it)

 

 

Evaluation

 

This wasn't the easiest of assignments to undertake, I had no previous knowledge of this world or what to expect when I got there so I just went with the flow and photographed what I saw. The main room had very little light whilst the conservatory attached had what can only be described as a flood light in it with the blinds drawn. I took dozens of photographs, some worked being converted to black and white and others clearly didn't and worked far better in colour. I'm quite pleased with the final images and have achieved what I set out to do, I've produced a brief glimpse into the world of CP without it being  tacky & cheap whilst not giving away the subjects identity or location. The exposure isn't as great as id like it to be on some of the images but in my opinion documentary photography of this kind can allow for such small flaws in the technical side because of the subject matter. I've shot various pieces from a variety of different angles and compositions. Having a little knowledge now of what goes on I feel I can only improve further the more I get to know about them, I was quite hesitant at times, not something I'm usually familiar with feeling! This will be developed further as we have agreed to it becoming a longer term project for the both of us, separate images not shown here are being used by her for her website. I have enough material for an exhibition, I may also send some of the photos to the specialist magazines in this field.

 

 

Photographer Research - Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark is recognised as one of today's most respected and influential photographers in the world. For over four decades, she has traveled extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Her images of our world's diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of documentary photography. She has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She is a contributing photographer to The New Yorker and has published photo-essays and portraits in such publications as LIFE, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. She is drawn to those on the fringes of society,such as the homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes and gypsies.

She is also a Stills photographer and has worked on various blockbusters

Q. What do you believe is your ultimate responsibility as a photographer?

Mary Ellen: If you’re a documentary photographer being honest and fair is your ultimate responsibility.

I really like Mary ellen and the way she captures the fringes of society, her images are very raw and thought provoking.

 

Print Paper Photographic Media Unit 23

A photograph can take on a different feel or style dependant on the paper it is printed on, here are a few examples of papers:-

Digital C Types

Fuji Gloss - high gloss finish, accentuates colour with a punchy rich feel

Kodak Metallic - rich metallic base, producing a silvery, reflective finish with 3D effect

Fuji Matt - Semi matt finish with slightly stippled texture producing natural, subtle range of colours

Fuji Flex - Super gloss, with a plastic feel, warm base colour that produces rich tones

Giclee Papers

Epsom Semi-gloss - medium gloss finish, good detail and holds natural colour

Canson Baryta - Pure white museum grade  that offers maximum longevity

Hahnemuhle Photorag - Heavy art paper with fibrous finish, softens images and mutes colours to produce a fine art, watercolour feel

Hahnemuhle Pearl - similar to photorag but semi gloss. Produces an illustrative, painted feel, but retains more detail and punchier colours

Harman Gloss Warmtone - fibre based producing creamy whites and velvety blacks, alumina coating creates glossy vibrant prints

Canson Aquarelle Rag - Extreme textured, museum grade 100% cotton fine and produces warm, off white tones

Motion Blur photographic Media Unit 23

As well as helping achieve correct exposure, the shutter speed also controls the way movement is recorded, fast shutter will freeze subjects whilst slow shutter speeds will record blur.

 The following images where taken using a long shutter speed to blur movement in the photos.

 

 

Large Format Camera

Large Format Camera

Large format means film that is generally at least 4x5 inches (or 9x12 cm). Film this size is generally used as individual sheets, rather than rolls as in smaller formats. (There are large rolls of film, though, used for such things as aerial photography.) Exposures on a large-format camera are made one at a time, using film loaded into film holders.

While there are many varied designs of large format cameras, there are two basic varieties: the monorail camera, and the field camera. A monorail camera uses a single round or square tube/rail as the base of the camera on which the front and rear sections slide back and forth to accommodate lenses of different focal length. A field camera design allows the camera to fold into itself to facilitate ease of storage and transport. The monorail camera design allows for greater versatility in camera movements, such as swing and tilt, but is typically large and heavy. The field design is usually smaller and lighter, sacrificing range of motion and rigidity.

Most, but not all, large-format cameras are view cameras, with fronts and backs called "standards" that allow the photographer to better control rendering of perspective and increase apparent depth of field. Architectural and close-up photographers in particular benefit greatly from this ability. These allow the front and back of the camera to be shifted up/down and left/right (useful for architectural images where the scene is higher than the camera, and product images where the scene is lower than the camera), and tilted out of parallel with each other left/right, up/down, or both; based on the Scheimpflug principle. The shift and tilt movements make it possible to solve otherwise impossible depth-of-field problems, and to change perspective rendering, and create special effects that would be impossible with a conventional fixed-plane fixed-lens camera.

The main advantage of large format, film or digital, is higher resolution. A 4×5 inch image has about 16 times the area, and thus 16× the total resolution, of a 35 mm frame.

NOTE TO TUTORS - TAGS

The following tags have been added for the relevant briefs

Digital Montage - tagged Digital montage & unit 27

Photographic media - tagged media, photographic media & unit 23

Specialist location - tagged specialist location & unit 31


any problems let me know

ta ta for now

Vicky

Digital Montage - Research

Whilst trawling the net looking for inspiration for my Digital Montage I came across the work of Peter Kennard @at_earth on twitter. Following the death of Maggie Thatcher he produced the following montages

 

 

 

 

This gave me inspiration to work on a Thatcher Montage in relation to Section 28.

 

Kevin Cummins - Photographer Research - Photographic Media

After studying photography for four years in Salford, Kevin embarked on a career that was to encompass a wide range of photographic work. The burgeoning punk scene in Manchester dominated his early work and he quickly became one of the premier documentary photographers of the era.
He then started working with Manchester’s prestigious Royal Exchange Theatre and was soon in demand by major theatre companies across the UK, most notably: The Royal Opera House, The Royal Northern Ballet, The Liverpool Playhouse and The Oxford Playhouse.
Kevin was instrumental in establishing City Life, Manchester’s ‘what’s on’ guide and was a founding contributor to The Face, the influential style magazine where he won an award for Magazine Cover of the Year. - www.kevincummins.co.uk

Kevin in the last couple of weeks has been working with the library Theatre on Manchester Sound

http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarytheatre/sets/72157634067894411/

Cummins, typical Manc, combining art with a good time, a sense of beauty with a take-the-mickey ability to get on with all his subjects,  "I never liked that anodyne studio stuff," he says. "I wanted to put bands where they were comfortable." Which explains the iconic shots of Joy Division on a snow-covered bridge over Princess Parkway, of Shaun Ryder grinning beneath a big E, of the Stone Roses covered in Pollock-like paint, of Liam and Noel in Man City shirts, even that one of Madonna dancing next to one of the Haçienda's striped pillars. All memorable, defining images. There are others too, to satisfy the I-was-there crowd, such as a picture of Andrew Berry and his fellow snippers at Swing, the Haçienda hair salon; of the desolate sweep of the now-demolished council estate in Hulme; the sweaty, bemused Haçienda faithful just after the lights went up. Miranda Sawyer The Observer, Sunday 20 September 2009

 

 

 

Some photos taken on mobile phone at recent exhibition in Manchester

 

 

Historical Process - Cyanotype

The historical process I choose to work with was Cyanotype.

For this process potassium ferricyanide and ammonium ferric nitrate were mixed at a 50% ratio.

This solution was then applied to canvas and left to dry in a dark cupboard, once dry, a negative image on acetate was applied to the canvas and held in place in a glass frame, this was taken outside to develop in the sun for approx 10 to 12 minutes. Once developed it was rinsed under cold water to remove all the residue and then put into a tray of hydrogen peroxide to darken the image where required.


Developing In the Sun

One of the finish results taken on mobile phone

Colour Transparencies

Reversal film produces a positive image on a transparent base. The film is processed to produce transparencies. This means that what you see on camera is the resulting image.

They are then made into a slide, the most common of which is 35 mm slide, with the image framed in a 2×2" cardboard or plastic mount.

These films are the preferred film choice of professional photographers for images intended for reproduction in print media. This is because of the films' high contrast and high image resolution compared to negative (print) films.

You can get a wider range of tones and colours on a slide than a print, just as an image on a monitor will be more vibrant than any print.

We did a range of colour transparencies on a medium format camera in class.

Colour Negative Film

In photography a negative is an image, usually on a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film, in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. This reversed order occurs because of the extremely light-sensitive chemicals a camera film must use to capture an image quickly enough for ordinary picture-taking, which are darkened, rather than bleached, by exposure to light and subsequent photographic processing.

Colour negative film is not normally used used for reproduction work as most organisations prefer transparancies. When choosing a film you need to pick the right film for the intended photo.

The positive uses of film are:- Better Dynamic range - In Black and White. Allows for minor focusing issues along with  minor exposure issues and film has a higher resolution than digital.

I went out on a Friday evening with and old Minolta AF25 point and shoot loaded with AGFA Vista Plus 200 and took the following photos.

 

 

Sources - Wikipedia and 35mm handbook

Diane Arbus - Photographer Research

Diane Arbus ( March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people (dwarfs,giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers) or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal.". Arbus believed that a camera could be “a little bit cold, a little bit harsh” but its scrutiny revealed the truth; the difference between what people wanted others to see and what they really did see – the flaws. A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid . . . that she would be known simply as 'the photographer of freaks'"; however, that phrase has been used repeatedly to describe her. WIKIPEDIA

As part of my specialist location, I intend to shoot people we would not usually gain access to and Diane Arbus does just that, although I would not call my intended people freaks!

Other Media - mobile Phone & Audio

When I did the 2 test shoots I took some photos of the cast rehearsing along with an audio recording

To Die For Entertainment - Final & Evaluation

Here are some of the final images from the To Die For Entertainment Photo shoot. I have picked a varying range from publicity shots to cast portraits to show the range of styles I did on the day.

I was asked to take a variety of photos for the company to use as publicity for one of their up and coming shows, the images would be used on the web to advertise on social network and also to design a poster. I was very successful in doing this, one of the images was used to make a flyer and poster and another was used by the local press to advertise the event.

Overall I was pleased with the standard of images I produced and the imaginative way that I shot them. The sky in the outdoor shots is missing detail but on the day the sky was grey and flat so it wasn't even possible to bring back any detail in photoshop or lightroom, this isnt too much of a problem as the shoot was about the characters in the images and not about the surrounding environment. I would like to have tried some with off camera flash but did not have one available.

I achieved my planned intentions, images edited in lightroom and cropped in windows live.