B&W portraits as a documentary strategy

Zed Nelson's 'Disappearing Britain' B&W project was captured in impromptu studios setup on locations such as mine shaft or the harbour. By removing and separating the subjects from their natural environment we are able to learn a great deal about the individual characters or in this case their classification as a specific worker, but furthermore we are able to find out about working methods or even working conditions. Like Jeff Walls 'Backpack', which was closely based on Manet's 'The Piper', such minimal portraits teach us as much about the individual person as about the ideas of a specific time and era.

                    

                   


















Similar qualities can be found in Irving Penn photographs from the project 'Small Trades', again the subject is removed from its surroundings and placed in studio environment in order to supply with a type of classification. Such simplification allows to categorise with ease and with the use of a single photograph.

The Father of social classification was August Sander, a German photographer, who spent most of his life photographing ordinary individuals with an ambition to create a classification of the 20^th century German society. Despite dedicating to the project over 40 years of his life, August Sander never completed it.

Sander assigned his photographs into seven categories: ‘The Farmer’. ‘The Skilled Tradesmen’, ‘The Woman’, ‘Classes and Profession’, ‘The Artists’, ‘The City’ and ‘The Last People’, which included the elderly and people with disabilities, birth defects and mental issues. Sander believed in the hierarchy of occupations and this can be clearly seen in the way the photographs were captured, i.e. intellectual classes were photographed against plain backgrounds in studio environment, whilst physical labour in their natural working surroundings, often with tools of trade included.

August Sander had a very clear vision of the German society of 20^th Century. The accuracy of his vision was often questioned back in his day, with Nazis banning him from working for the lack of glorification in his photos. Today, we can appreciate the photographs as a comprehensive collection of social types and classes of Germany, mainly because of their natural capture and lack of artistry.  

I can’t help but to wonder if such classification would work today, i.e. in such vast society as England is? Can we really summarise a modern adult by inserting him or her into a single frame and therefore into a single category? I would hate to think that I am only a PA due to the task of working occupying most of my daily routine. Zed Nelson in his ‘Disappearing Britain’ was successful with his classification, because he concentrated on a niche topic of the disappearing trades and traditions. But without a doubt to create the classification of social types of today would present a great challenge.

London

London visit yesterday was very amusing. Plenty of entertaining street occurrences, like the Irish dancing church hating Jew and his drunken add on companions (pic below).

On a more serious note, I did manage to finally make my way to The Photographers Gallery in Ramillies Street, where I saw the exhibition of work by a Hungarian born artist Tamas Dezso, who captures post communism era in countries like Hungary and Romania. I clearly remember his work being featured in British Journal of Photography a few months ago, as they stunned me with their clear honesty and an unquestionable beauty. Although the main element of his photographs are poverty and struggle, I can't help but to see them as very poignant and melancholic, almost attempting to seek the beauty amongst the constantly deteriorating landscape and its inhabitants. Examples of his work below.

May and more delays

It is now the end of May and I'm still unpacking in my new place. Brighton is fantastic, but somehow my camera has not ventured outside yet. Is she perhaps too provincial to match the sophistication of the big city? Does she need a little more time to deal with her shyness? In all honesty, it has been too manic to even consider documenting the experience of the last few months with the camera. I never claimed to be one of the passionate individuals, who reach for their capturing companion in all situations. I prefer to snap when things are calmer.
Anyway, the move has been a bit of a nightmare. It has taken us an extra month to find somewhere to live in Brighton, during which I had to contain my life into a tiny flat in Alderney. We are now here and have been working hard over the last few weeks to establish a comfortable base for the future months. In between Birthdays, Guests and trips in and out of the Channel Islands, today is the first morning that I managed to sit myself in front of the blogger and consider writing an update. I am finally starting to see some clear space, which I can hopefully fill with my creative interests.

Some photos summarising the last few months, I have not been completely useless photographically.

The big move

It's official, we have sold the house and are finally moving to the Mainland UK. I will be taking a few month off OCA study in order to move the house and study towards the Life in UK test to get my British citizenship. I shall be back at the end of April!

Research point - Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, in photography it involves the reading of a picture and its meaning. It is the interpretation of the photograph rather than its translation.

As photographers and/or viewers of photography we must consider the representation and therefore what a photographer attempts to represent with the photograph. Ferdinand de Saussure, the Swiss inventor of the theory of semiotics argued that a written and visual language is based on a system of signs composed of 'a signifier' (the form which the sign takes) and 'the signified' (the concept it represents). An American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, who also developed a theory on semiotics used a three part model based around 'the representamen' (the form that the sign takes; not necessarily material), 'an interpretant' (the sense made of the sign) and 'an object' (to which the sign refers).

There are a few significant points in the understanding of semiotics, i.e the signifier does not resemble the signified in relation to a symbol, the relationship between the two is based on our knowledge and therefore it must be learnt. Here perhaps it is worth mentioning such questions as subjectivity and cultural differences, the elements crucial for decoding a photograph, questions raised by Roland Barthes, the French literary theorist, philosopher and semiotician in his book 'Camera Lucida'. Icons on the other hand are a little different, as the signifier resembles or imitates the signified. Further to this we must also remember about indexicality, in which case a signifier is physically connected to the signified, i.e. smoke indicates fire or heat, tears sadness, etc.

Exercise - Analyse Martin Shields photograph

Analyse Martin Shields photograph of two young footballers. What are denotations and connotations of this image?

Denotation of the image stands for its literal meaning, it is what we see on the photograph, connotation on the other hand attaches a further meaning, going beyond what is seen.

First and foremost we see a couple of boys, obviously just after a football game or on their way to a game (judging by their clean outfits, it could be the latter), or perhaps the different kits tells us that they support different teams, they are walking hand in hand, in an obvious friendship.  They are surrounded by derelict houses, the landscape in the photo seems very neglected.
Going beyond the obvious and concentrating on the connotations of the image, I can't help to wonder if the innocent friendship in this very basic environment will soon be over or maybe just improved? Will the derelict houses be pulled down and a better, newer place will be built, perhaps the youngsters are marching together towards an improved future or marching away from a place where innocent play is still allowed? The boys could also represent the two opposites coming together, two rivals ending up in a friendship?


The second part of this exercise involved reading the actual article the image was produced for. 'Glasgow tenants vote to sell off council housing' - in 2002 article from The Independent we learn that 83,000 council homes were transferred to a private housing association following a public vote. The predicted result was to be a major improvement in the living conditions in some of the worst areas of Glasgow. On the other hand, the opponents of the scheme were worried about the high rises in rent and further financial complications following the transfer.

My initial review of the photograph was therefore correct, with the exception of the final paragraph commenting on the enemies coming together.

Saturday Morning