Photography Heroes, Goals and Pointers #Blog School Homework

Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, my Dad was a press photographer, that's how he met my Mum.  She was a model and he was assigned to photograph her in her bikini on Southend seafront.  You could say that my brothers and I came in to existence because of photography!  My Dad was a predominantly a press photographer during the 1960's-1970's, he used a manual 35mm SLR Nikon camera and Ilford black and white film.  After taking his photos he then processed them all in the darkroom ready to go press that same day.  Here are some of his images below.

I studied fashion design at university and as a consequence looked at a number of fashion photographers for inspiration, Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, Guy Bourdin, Rankin and La Chapelle to name but a few.  Whilst I found these images fascinating and inspiring they are, at the end of the day, designed to sell a lifestyle.

I remember stumbling across a small photography book in the Uni library, it was called 'Living Room' by Nick Waplington. It candidly documents the photographers family and their neighbours, warts and all.  I was immediately drawn to this style of photography and have been in love with it ever since.

A similar photographer is Richard Billingham, he also documents his family in a very candid way unashamedly photographing the poverty and deprivation he grew up in.  In his book 'Rays a Laugh' Billingham uses the cheapest film and leaves the images purposely unfocused to add a rawness to his work.  His father is an alcoholic, his mother a chain smoker, his life seems chaotic and brutal but there are moments of true tenderness that shine through.

World Press Photo is an annual competition that showcases all the best press photography from around the world.  Some of these images are truly inspiring and at time very upsetting and harrowing.  I have chosen a few below to illustrate the power of press photography, to see the full archive click on the link.

::masked Iraqi war prisoner holding his 4 year old son::

::young jockey and horse in Mongolia::

::Maria, drug addict and sex worker::

Photography can raise a smile, make us shed a tear, bring back strong and profound memories and ultimately capture a moment in time that would otherwise fade or be forgotten.

My photography goals are to keep practicing, try to use manual mode more often and to learn some of the more key functions of my camera.  I would like to set up a mini studio and to put more planning and thought into the composition of my photos.

The photographer who has most inspired me has been my Dad, it was his work that sparked a lifelong love of visual language and creativity.  He is still taking photos today because he loves to.

A Final Photography pointer (from my Dad)

For craft/lifestyle blogging purposes natural daylight takes the best photograph, flash can flatten an image and occasionally look garish.  If there is a lack of natural daylight and you have no choice but to use flash, place a paper tissue over the flash, this will diffuse the light and give a better result.

Lou xx



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