Final images and Evaluation

When i printed these up i was really pleased with how they came out especially the close up portrait. I chose 3 images that were portrait like so two actual portraits and then one image of her singing but looking straight at the camera, and then three of her dancing with the projector a big focus. When i first got my photos i didn't think they were very special but seeing them large after i had edited them slightly I was really pleased with the outcome.

If i could do this project again I would experiment with using tungsten lighting to get the lighting just right and probably try using another reflector on the other side of the model to see how it would look. I found this project stressful at first when i didn't hear from the dance school after my first attempt at photographing the Moscow city ballet failed, which would've been amazing if i had the chance. But despite that I am really pleased that it didn't work out and that i got to photograph Abi instead because the close up portrait of her is my favourite photo I've taken in a long time.

Shoot

When i arrived to the shoot i was very nervous but luckily Abi was very easy to chat to which made me feel more relaxed. I did alot of shots on digital as back ups but also to double check how the flash was looking. In some photos the flash wasn't giving enough light and when i would move around abit ( i stood on a chair for some photos to get more angles) the lighting would change and i got my assistant to move around aswell to vary the amount of light and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. All the shots on my film are of Abi performing and i just took a few portraits on digital at the end because i wanted most of my finals to be of Abi performing rather than posing for the camera. She is very confident so it made it easy to get some good photos especially as wehn she sings she dances so it brought more variety to the photos rather than all of them being her just standing there holding on to the mic stand.
This is a contact sheet of all my edited favourites, the last 5 are digital and the rest are film. I knew i deffinitley wanted the last in two in my finals but i couldn't decide which ones out've the others too choose because i wanted them to link but i didn't want them to look too similar that it would be a boring set.
When it came to editing the film ones i had to adjust the levels because unlike the digital ones the flash looked the same in all the photos so i just adjusted the levels and contrast so the blacks and shadows were emphasized.

Linda McCartney

When I started looking at portraits of singers i remembered a book i had bought a couple of months ago in a second hand book/music store, it was Linda McCartney Pictures. Its a book of portraits of singers and her family, alot of the photos are of singers performing and others are them backstage. What I like about her photos is that theres very little posing and she has just captured them in the moment, this is something i always like to try and achieve in my photos. Her photos are voyeristic but in a friendly way because you can tell she knew these people and they felt comfortable around her whilst she took photos of them lounging around as well as performing. To get something similar in my portraits I am going to mainly shoot photos of Abi singing rather than lots of posed portraits (which i will also do), i am going to shoot both film and digital as always. Because all the photos i have looked at are from the 60s and 70s i think using film will help achieve that same grainyness that is in the photos i have looked at for inspiration.

portraits of singers

I chose to look at photos from the 60s/70s because I find them more inspiring and iconic, especially as these days when singers have their photo taken its usually a remake of a iconic photo of another singer. I usually find inspiration in photos from different decades.
1. Marianne Faithfull by Gered Mankowitz - I saw this photo years ago and at the time i didn't know who it was but everything about it captures my eye, the surroundings, the clothes, the men in the background/reflection in the mirror and especially the pose. Theres something welcoming about her body language and then she has this look on her face that you can't read.
2. Joan Baez By Richard Avedon - I don't actually know who this singer is but i liked the expression on her face almost as if shes been asked a question she doesnt understand and Avedon has captured her face as soon as it appeared on her face.
3. Janis Joplin By Richard Avedon - I like how Janis stands out from the gray background which is hard to achieve in a black and white photo. One of the things thats i'm captivated by in a photograph is if the photographer has captured on off gaurdness of the sitter which reveals an insight into the person even if it is very slight, which I think has been achieved in this photo. I also like how you can see lots of detail in what Janis is wearing even the delicateness of her sleeves.
4.Patti Smith By Robert Mapplethorpe - The pose is almost sysmetrical and you can't quite tell what her expression is suggesting. Her eyes look almost childlike and feline. This is a simple photo but extremely effective photo that i could stare at or hours.

Idea 2

I went to a gig that was all Northbrook music students last week, and I saw a girl called Abi Flynn perform. She is a solo singer who has a unique performance, she uses a projector to preject black awhite pychadelic patterns on a screen behind her, she also dances whils singing. Shes very confident and its almost mesmerising to watch her. I appoached her after her performance about taking some photos and we have arranged a shoot. She has abooked a rehearsal room at her college and is going to set up the projector. I'm taking an assistant to help me with the flash and reflector so that i can i still shoot Abi using a flash but stil have the projection clear in the background. So i will have the flash coming from the side with a black reflector to stop the flash bleacching out the projection.
1. Set up for my shoot
2. scan from sketchbook of ideas

Planning my idea

I emailed the manager of the Theatre Royal to arrange photographing the Moscow City Ballet company reahearsing, they were performing at the end of January. He said that it was very unlikely that the company would agree to be photogrpahed so i emailed a dance school i used to have lessons at. I never heard from them so was abit lost at to what to do. I definitley wanted to do performers and especially dancers. I knew a friend of a friend who was a dancer but i wanted to shoot someone that i didnt know very well at all as it felt like cheating using someone i knew.
1. Scan from sketchbook of ideas
2. Corinne Day
3 &4. Jan Masney

Idea 1

I've always wanted to do a project on taking photos of ballet dancers reahearsing and photos of them backstage. I saw Mary Mc Cartneys "Off Pointe" exhibtion at the Krane Kalman Gallery a few years ago and think that is what inspried me. I also used to do Ballet and its still something i love so this is a more personal project.