Overall Aim/Conclusion

Throughout the year I have been capturing dancers and focusing on the shape and the hidden meaning in my previous work so when it came to photographing for this brief I had a views ideas I wanted to capture.

My first idea was to use dance and beauty and to photograph portraits of dancers before they perform, then after speaking to my tutor he mentioned to get deeper. Then I thought about photographing dancer as soon as they come off stage from performing, so when they are still full of adrenaline and are hot to capture their true emotions, but after researching it, we found that a University student has already captured that project and exhibited it so I could not do that. 

I went away thinking I would capture portraits of dancers and to photograph then as they are with any make-up or there hair all done up and to photograph them emotionless with not expression on their face. I explained this to my dancers and they still came with make-up on and hair done. When I captured them I found they had not emotion but the portraits did not have an effect and where just images of people so I decided not to continue with the idea.

I knew I wanted to capture dancers in the studio as I liked photographing dancers. When I thought about it and did some research, I wanted to go more surreal and dark. Also, in my previous shoots I would capture full length portrait shoots and wanted to try more close up images. I asked different dancers I have used before to wear black leotards and I used a black leotard so that the blacks would blend in with each other leaving, body parts visible so the images looked surreal. When photographing the dancers I used continuous lighting but found they were too dark so then used flash lighting so it would bring out the highlights in the dancers body

When photographing with the dancers I found the shapes they were making were beauty and did have a surreal to the image. I then decided to capture some images with just the body position and to try some with their black leotards on so there was two different kind of images. 

Overall I am happy with the images I have captured and feel like my lighting and editing techniques have developed from the beginning of the year and I like the shapes the dancers have performed and the hidden meaning behind the images and how you have to look deeper at the image to see passed what the photograph is trying to portray. Depending on the space I have available at the final end of year exhibition will determine how many images I will exhibited but due to the high lights and shape he created I will be using Davids images. 

London

My University colleagues and myself exhibited our best work in London in a gallery called "The Gallery at Redchurch Street" from the 14th to the 19th May. 

We all went down on the Monday, set up on the Tuesday and opening night was on the Tuesday evening. Then everyone went home apart from myself, Emma, Nikita and Sara who stayed down there the rest of the week to look after the work. 

I have included this as I was the main organiser for the exhibition and feel I learnt alot from the experience such as to be more organised, start early with regards to finding sponsorship and organising someone going down earlier to look at the venue. This experience has made me think about what I would like to exhibit in my final end of year exhibition. If I was to do it again, I would go down the week before to advertise it more and to look at the venue as it was alot bigger than I thought and to have statements next to everyones work.

Below is everyones pieces of work that was exhibited. 

 

Helen Neylan

Jenna Lawson

Mark Neylan

 Neil Derrett

 Barbara Goldstraw

Emma Holt

 Kathryn Jefferson

Carren Stockman

Carren Stockman

Nikita Raja



Sara Reid



Gemma McAuley



Chelsea Blackburn

Overall, I am glad I have exhibited in London, it was a brilliant experience, the work looked so professional, got amazing feedback about mine and everyone else work and it was a nice way of finishing off the three years I have spent with my Univerity colleagues.

End of Year Exhibition

I have narrowed down some of my images and have decided to use Davids images as there was more range in the body shapes and there was more highlights in the body and muscles compared to Megan's images. Depending on how much space I have I will be exhibiting some images from the series below. 

My aim when I started to photograph body shapes was to capture their bodies and not to include their face, that way the audience are focusing more on the dancers shape then looking at their face. Also the stereotypical dancer is fully glammed with with fake tan, make-up, glittery clothing so they can stand out etc... I wanted to show the real beauty behind it. Before performing dancers would stretch out so that they do not hurt themselves when performing. This is a vital part when dancing but the audience do not see this. So I wanted to show the beauty within dance and of a dancer stretching but also when looking at the photographs of David there are imperfections sch as hims toes and little marks on hims back and I wanted to show that not everyone in dance is perfectly formed and shaped. 

The image above shows the flexibility and funeral able side to the performer as I pushed him to get that angle so you can see then tension in his back and legs but you can also see this little imperfections such as his big toe and the marks on hims back. 

I like the shape of the body and the way his arm at the back is hidden by the front arm and how David's head is hidden making you focus more shape of the body. Although I like the shape I do not know whether I would use this image as they shape is surreal but there is not definition in the back or the arms compared to the other images.

I like the shape the arms create in the image above as it looks like his arms are really long compared to his body but because the arms are symmetrical I can't help but looked at whether the elbows match and how both hands are placed, so although I like the shape there is not any highlight definition either I will not be using this image above.

The above image is one of my favourites and I think I may use it in my final end of year exhibition. I like the shape of the body and the details within the highlights in the muscles. There is a slight shadow on the left arm so may try to edit it out to see if it makes a big different.

The above images is different from the images above and I like how the left leg looks like it is separate from the rest of his body but it would like better if the right leg was straight down to make it look more surreal. I like the concept of the image and if I had more time I were to re shoot I would try to improve this image. 

The above image is another one of my favourites. Although he is wearing shorts, I like the shape of his body and how his legs create an triangle and how his arms are parallel to each other. Also the details within his arms, legs and back. When thought he is wearing shorts, the image looks surreal as it looks like his legs are separate and it makes you fill in the gaps between hims legs. I will ask my tutors for advise as to whether to use the image above or it. 

Overall, I am happy with the photographs I've captured. Throughout the year I have been working with dancers and trying different techniques so I thought and visioned what I wanted to capture from the experience and knowledge i gained form my previous work/shoots. Next time I would try to capture close ups, find dancers who have more muscle definition and would try a mixture of dances in leotard so it blends in with the background and looks surreal but also some dancers nude so you focus more on the shape of the dancer. 

Tate Gallery

Emma and myself went to the Tate Gallery in London to have a look at some art work. When we were there I found lots of inspiration from some of the paintings and sculptures.

Below are Sarah Luca's sculptors. 

The above images are skin tights filled with cotton and shaped to form different sculptures.

The above image are photographs of her sculptures. They are the same material, skin tights and cotton but shaped differently. I had to get close to the images as from a distance it looked like a person and reminded me of the surreal images I was trying to create with my dancers.

Below are more examples Sarah Luca's work (taken from the Internet)

Below are some of the sculptures that I decided to capture as inspiration with regards to shape. I captured an image of them to show the surrealism/shape of the image/sculpture. 

The image below is by a painter called Peter De Francia called "The Bombing of Sakiet" 

Above the painting below:

Sixty-eight Tunisian civilians were killed in a raid on the village of Sakiet Sidi Yousef in 1958. The attack was part of French repressions in neighbouring Algeria, and provoked condemnation around the world. Shocked by the event, de Francia dedicated this epic canvas to the innocent victims. Rather than attempting an accurate record, he used fragmented imagery and harsh colour contrasts to convey the destruction. Like André Fougeron at the same moment in France, de Francia used his art as a means of protest. 

I like the detail and surrealism of the image

Keith Arnatt photographed himself eating eleven slips of paper each printed a different word, where together they form the subtitle of the work: "eleven portraits of the artist about to eat his own words."

Below are portraits of the photographer eating the separate slips of paper. 

I captured this image not because of what the image was about but because of the way they have exhibited the image by using a light behind. It gave me the inspiration to maybe a light from behind and print of acrylic to see what effect it gives such as my fabric print. It also gave me the idea of trying alternative printing techniques such as using translucent paper and bring my image on it and to maybe double it out. This is just an idea.

Overall, I ave not been to the Tate before and found some of the work to be very inspirational and stunning and I asked someone who worked there how you could get yout work exhibited in a place like the Tate and she said that it is either they go along to someones exhibition and like their work and then discuss about exhibiting or artists will send in work or if you already have a name such as David Bailey then their work will be exhibited.

Lois Greenfield

I have already done some research about Lois Greenfield but wanted to go back to his work find more inspiration for my dancers. The images below are captured in pairs and have a surreal feel to them but how they are performing together so they merge together and become as one. Not only have I found his photography inspirational because of the amount of diverse dance images he's captured but how his dancers have performed and they shapes they have created. 

After I had began to capture my images of dancers stretching and focusing on the body I found that Lois Greenfield had done a serious of images called "Body Scape's" were he photographed dancers nude either close up or portrait style and you can see the beauty of there body and movement. Below are some examples of his body scape work

I like the delicateness and softness of the body and the close ups of the different body parts as well as the shapes the dancers have created.

ReShoot with David

I went back in to the studio with David to reshoot with him. I wanted to capture images of him stretching but to make sure the body not symmetrical as in the previous shoot with David. 

Below are a selection of images from the shoot

This image is very similar to the image I captured of Megan's back but I wanted to try with David and push him more. As he is more flexible he was able to bring hims arms more and make them look more surreal than Megans image. The image above is unedited apart from being cropped. I like the image as it looks more surreal. If i was to edit this image I would make the background more dark and edit out the dancers back arm so the shape of the body looks more triangle. 

The image above is the same shape as the previous photograph but instead of the arm on his back being behind it is now in front making the shape of the body look different. I will not use the image above as I prefer the photograph above this image and I am not happy with the shadows formed on his back arm.  

I was trying to avoid symmetrical shapes but myself and David were working together to come up with different shapes as I could not know what he was cabiable of forming so he positioned himself in the shape above and althought it is an symmetrical image I like hoe the arms look longer than they are and how it creates a surreal feel to the image. 

I photographed David's back standing up so wanted to try the same body position but in a different position such as kneeling down. I like the position of the image as it does look surreal so I decided to edit it and make it darker and bring out the highlights to see what effect it creates. 

I like the image above and may use it in my end of year of exhibition. I like the shape of the body and how it forms a triangle with the legs and arms are parrallel to each other. Although he has leotard bottoms on I like how it blends in with the background so the legs don't look attached the body but at the same time the viewer can visualise the body and fill in the black area and form their own shapes. 

I have cleaned the image by making the background black, get rid of hims back and bringing out the highlights in his body. 

We tried several differen't back positions using the arms and another one of my favourites that I'm no to sure whether to use in my final end of year exhibition. I like how his right arm looks longer than his left and the shape his muscles has created. The image below is an edited verison of the above image. I have made the background darker so it is more black and have brought out the highlights in his arms, hand and back and have made the image slightly brighter. 

I wanted to capture different position without capturing David's face, this was so you focused more on his body and the shape then his body. We tried a few different positions and I had focused a bit on hims back so wanted to try alternative body parts so tried to include hims legs. I like the above image as it is different from the previous images I captured but I would of liked it if the leg in the middle of his arms were more straight down as I feel it would have more of a surreal feel to the image. Below I edited it slightly and brought out the highlights and made the background darker but I do not like the shadow across him leg and on the side of his left leg so I do not think I will be using this image in my final end of year exhibition.



Below are contact sheets from the shoot.

Overall, I am happy with some of the images I have captured. I hope with the guidance from my tutors to use one or two of these images in my final end of year exhibition. 

My aim was to capture the beauty of stretching as it is part of dance, you would stretch before performing so you do not hurt yourself and the beauty of stretching and the shapes the body creates a surreal feel but also stereotypically dance is about being perfect and standing out from the others but I was to show the beauty of it that it is hard work and you have to push yourself and it isn't always perfect and there are imperfections but their is still beauty.