A2PersonalStudy:ReviewandEvaluationThethemeofDramaticImagesfascinatesmebecauseeveryonehastheirownwaythattheyviewanimage;theideathatanimageisdramaticcanchangeinasecondifasinglepersonhasaconnectionwiththeimage.ThetwoquestionsIdecidedtoexplorewithinthisessayare:‘Whyisthistobeconsidereddramatic?’and‘Whatdefinesthisphotograph?’.Ifeelthatexploringthesequestionswillbeinterestingandtheanswerstothesequestionswillleadtomorequestionsthatcanhelpmetodevelopandfurthermytheme.SomeofthephotographersIhavechosentostudywithinmyPersonalInvestigationare:HenriCartier-Bresson,AlfredEisenstaedt,EdwardWeston,AlbanGrosdidierandMattWeber.ThesephotographersalllinktomyprojectasIthinktheyallcreatedramaticimages,whichcontainavarietyofsubjectsandstyles.ManyofthephotographsIlookedatseemedtobecandidimages,oratleasttakentolooklikecandidphotographs.ThisledmetothedecisionthatIwantedtomakethisathemetobeexploredthroughoutmyprojectandtofindmorephotographerswhocreateworkofasimilarnature.Theresearchhasalsomademewanttoexploretheuseofacoupleinavarietyoflocationsandusingalargeamountofphotographictechniquestoshowtheirintimacyinsubtleandexaggeratedphotographsandtoexplorethefinalpresentationofeitherasinglephotographorthecreationofnarrativethroughasequenceofphotographs.Iintendtousethedarkroomduringthisproject,asitwillgivemethefreedomtoexperiment.IlikethatthedarkroommakeseachphotographoneofakindandIwouldalsolikethattokeepthatthoughteachofmyphotoshoots–creatingphotographsthatcaptureindividualmoments.Ifeelthisprovidesmewiththeopportunitytodevelopmyskillsinthedarkroom.Ialsointendtodevelopmydigitaleditingskills,usingAdobeBridgeandPhotoshop.IhavealsohadtheideaofgettingasketchbooksothatIcanuseitasajournalofmyphotographs.Havingasketchbookallowsmetotryavarietyofmanualeditswhichwillincludedrawingonmyphotographs,cuttingthemtogether,layeringthemandscratchingintothem.Iwilllookforphotographersthatlinktothesetechniquesandwillallowmetodevelopmyproject,furthermyknowledgeofotherphotographersandincorporateinspirationintomywork.Iintendthateachphotoshootwilldevelopthecontentofmyprojectandfurthermyknowledgeofcamera,editinganddarkroomskills.AtthebeginningofthePersonalInvestigation,IwasgivenaselectionoftitlestochoosefromandIdecidedthat‘DramaticImages’gavemethemostflexibility.IinitiallylookedupthetitleinPinteresttoseewhatphotographicresultsandideasIwouldget;the

photographsmainlyinvolvedtheuseofshadowsandlowkeylighting.TherewerelotsofphotographsbythephotographerEdwardWeston;hisworkthenunleashedalargeamountofrelatedphotographers,includingHenri-CartierBressonandRobertDoisneau.Bothofthesephotographershadaselectionofphotographswhichsparkedmyinterest;thesewerethephotographsofthepeoplekissinginamomentthatlookscompletelycandid.

Theseimagesinspiredmetotryandemulatethisideainmyfirstphotoshoot.IcompletedaphotoshootinLondonwithsomefriendsofmine[addwhetheryouthinktheseweresuccessful].Aftercompletingtheshoot,IstartedtoquestionwhatIthink‘DramaticImages’meanstomeandtoothersandhowthatmightlinktothephotoshootthatIhadjustcompleted.Idecidedthatthisalllinkstomemoriesandhowmemoriesholdapersonalresponsetoaphotographwhichmaymeanthatotherpeoplemaynotfeelthesameresponse.ThisideareallyinterestedmeandafteraconversationwithmytutorIcametotheconclusionthatthetitleIhaddecidedtoinitiallystartwithwasverybroadandIshouldnarrowitdowntothetitleof‘Movements&Moments’,therebycontextualisingthetitle‘DramaticImages’intomyownpersonalinterpretation.

Atthisstage,Icameacrossthephotographof‘TheDecisiveMoment’byHenri-CartierBresson.AlthoughthisisaphotographerthatIhadalreadystudiedIrememberedthatwhenIwaslookingintohisworkpreviouslyIhadseenaphotographthatcaughtmyeye.Thishelpedmedevelopmyunderstandingthatsomephotographscaptureamomentandneednowordsorexplanation.Thisphotographisrenownedandknownbyallpeoplewhounderstandandhaveastronginterestintophotography.Itisdramatictomanypeopleandnotonlyisitadramaticimage,itisamovementwithinamoment.

ThereasonIdecidedonMovements&Momentswasbecausetome,theybothlinktogetheranditisstillabroadenoughtitlethatfitswithinmyinitialchoiceof‘DramaticImages’.PhotographyisamediumIenjoyandanavenuethatIusetoexpressmyself,soitseemedsensibletolinkthisenjoymentandexpressiontomyA-levelsothatthestudycantrulybecomeapersonalendeavour.Photographyforme,isawayofcapturingmomentsinmyhistoryanddocumentingthewaymylifedevelopsandprogresses.Inordertodevelopmythemeinathoroughmanner,Idecidedtocategorisethemintofourpathways:LiteralMovement,MovementinTime,PersonalMovementandConceptualMovement.ThereasonbehindmychoiceswassoIcanlinkalltheideastogethertocreateanin-depthstudyofavarietyofsubjectareas,suchaslandscapeandstill-lifeandtryoutphotographictechniquessuchastheuseofshutterspeed.LiteralMovementTheideaofLiteralMovementwassomethingIwishedtoexplorefrommyinitialresearch.Icameupwiththemainideafromthe‘MomentsinTime’photoshootwhereIphotographedacouplefrozenwithinaseaofmovement,createdbyusingslowshutterspeed.Itookthisideafurtherbutsolelyfocusingonthemovementofpeopleandtakingphotographsusingarangeofshutterspeeds.Afterpracticingthetechniqueandcompletingpracticalworkwithshutterspeedinordertounderstandandestablishtheimpactandchangeonaphotograph,IplannedaphotoshootinWindsortoputmytechniquesintopracticeandcreateafinalidea.

MovementintimeMovementinTimewasalaterideathatIheldwithinmyproject,IcametomewhileIwasstudyingJohnBlakemoreafterresearchontheinternet.AlthoughatfirstIdidnottakeaninitiallikingtohiswork,afterlookingintotheideaasawholeIdecideditwasasuccessfulwayofshowingaclearmovementintime,Ithenlookedintohisworkinmoredetailandspenttimeanalysinghowhehascapturedthephotographs,myinterestthengrewtowards

hiswork.ThistheninspiredmetocompleteasimilarshootalthoughIcompletedasimpleshootwithoneflower.IdecidedthatIenjoyedtheideaofcombiningthetwotogetherandthisthenresultedinmydecisiontouseacetateandlayerthemtogethertogivedepthtothephotographs.Thisalsoshowstheclearmovementintimeandtheresultinwhathasoccurredduetothemovement.Thephotographsbelowshowthedifferenceinthedeadandthealiveflower,althoughIdecidedtoeditthesephotographswiththealiveflowerinblackandwhiteandthedeadflowerincolour.ThiswasduetohowIwantedtoconveythetheorythatjustbecausesomethingisstillaroundusandsupposedtobebeautifuldoesnotmeanitisso,andtheoppositeforwhatwecouldthinktobegone,orold,itdoesnotmeanitisnolongerbeautiful,infact,inthecaseofthecolourflowerbelow,Iseeittobemorebeautiful,thecolourshavedeepenedandthetexturehasbeensharpenedwhichhascreatedasuccessfulphotograph.

ConceptualMovementIamtotallycaptivatedwiththeideaofdisposablecamerasafterlookingintohowcandidtheyare,nobodycangobackinandeditthephotograph,howtheycapturethatmomentintimewithnooutsideinfluence.Thisthoughttome,isbeautiful.Thisisthe‘Movement’thatIholdstrongfeelingsforasitisastoryclosetomyheartandalsomeaningfultomanypeoplewhosurroundme.ItisamovementthatisverycurrentwithinmylifeandthereisnotadayinwhichIdon’tthinkaboutthestorybehindthephotographs.SharingthesephotographswithasmallpoemtoencourageemotionwassomethingIbelievewillworkwhenportrayingthe‘ConceptualMovement’.IdecidedontheuseofapoemratherthanmyownpersonalwordsasIbelievethatwayitcanmakepeoplewhoviewmyworkthinkaboutwhatthestorycouldbebehindthephotographs,ratherthanjusttellingthestorywithoutgettinganyonetothinkandfeelforthework.PersonalMovementIhaddifficultywhenworkingonthePersonalMovementidea,tofullycapturemyideasinaphotographicformat.Thispathwaywasreallyimportanttomebecauseitisaboutcapturingmemoriesandcreatingimagesthataredramaticbecauseoftheirassociations

ratherthantheircontent.Havinggrownupwithdigitaltechnology,Istruggledusingmydisposablecameraandnotbeingabletoknowtheoutcomeofeachphotographuntilthefilmwasdeveloped.ItfeltreallyimportanttomethatItookallthephotographsononecamerasothattheoutcomewouldbecomeafinalpieceandIcouldrecordhowIfeltwhenIsawtheimagesforthefirsttime.TheproblemarosewhenIreceivedtheprintedphotographswasthecamerahadadefectiveshutterandthisresultedinanumberofmissingimages.ThismeantthatIwasleftwithlessofaselectionofphotographsthanIwasexpecting.IthereforemadethedecisiontoshelvethePersonalMovementpathwayandtoconcentrateondevelopingtheotherthreethemesinordertopresentastrongerpieceofwork.FinalCompositionandConclusionLayoutforthefinalcompletedcompositionoriginatedfrommystudyofDuaneMichals.Hisworkinterestsmeduetothewayinwhichthephotographswithinonesequencelink,andthenthisfurtherlinkswithotherwholesequenceframeshehascompleted.FromthismyideadevelopedintohavingframesthatlinktogetheralthoughunlikehisworkIwouldlookintotheuseofconnectingthemtogetherwithacompletechangeincontent,makingeachframelookindividualwithoutunderstandingthelinksIhavecreatedbehindthem.ForeachframeIdecidedonasimpleblackframewithawidecutmountsothatIwouldbeshowingthephotographsoffasindividualcreations,andalsoshowingthemtogetherasafinalpieceofwork.WhenlookingbackovermythemeandworkIcanseeadevelopmentwhichdeepenstheideasthatIhaveandthereisaclearpatternofprogressandIfeelthatIhavemanagedtoselectindividualpiecesofworkwhichlinkintoboththemoreconcentratedthemeof‘MovementsandMoments’althoughIthinkthatthisworkthenalsofitswithinthebracketof‘DramaticImages’.IthinkIhavemanagedtocoverthegeneralpartswithinthethemeandalsothemuchmorepersonaltaketotheprojectasawhole,whichIthinkhascreatedamuchclearerpictureinmymindwhenIthinkabouthowIwouldnowthinkof‘DramaticImages’andhowitwouldbealmostimpossibletocompleteafullprojectoneverypartofhowphotographsareportrayedtobedramatic,whichiswhyIthinknarrowingthetitlethenmademyendresultmoresuccessful.