Final Prints 

I have selected my 5 final prints for my street photography project.
I am happy with the outcome as I feel the images reflect my concept and work well as a series of imagery.
The aim of my photographs was to get a feel for street photography and after taking inspiration from different street and documentary photographers and taking out my own research I feel that I have created 5 Street Photographs.

Evaluation

Over the past seven weeks I have been working on a ‘Street Photography’ project using 35mm black and white film in which I have created 5 final prints based on my own idea of street photography.
   Before starting this project I had little knowledge and experience of using black and white film and a 35mm film camera; as in the past I had only experimented with black and white film several times.
I have always took an interest in and been inspired by ‘Street Photography’ so despite having little experience with 35mm Film I had a good knowledge of the genre of photography associated with this project.
    When starting this project I didn't have any particular ideas of what sort of street photography I wanted to create therefore I decided that I would be best to go out and shoot a roll of film and then work with the outcome.  After I was given tutorials on film photography and I had taken out my own research on my own film camera I felt much more confident to go out and take photographs because in the past although I have experimented with film photography, I have never had a great understanding of how a film camera works.
Immediately after my first time out with my film camera I felt much more confident about the project as my negatives came out with fairly consistent and correct exposures and this improved after every roll of film I used, therefore I feel this project has improved my understanding of a film camera which not only has a positive effect on the quality of my negatives but also makes me a more confident photographer.
    During the project I continued to go out and take photographs regularly and when comparing contact sheets I noticed a pattern in my photography and that was that the best or most effective of my negatives were photographs that I had taken of people who perform or are employed on the street such as newspaper stands, market stalls, performers and buskers. When I began to make prints I really liked this concept of people who are working that I could photograph and this made me feel like my project was coming together.
     Throughout the time making my prints I have definitely become a better film photographer but although my negatives were successful from the start I struggled with perfecting prints in the darkroom.
When I first began making my prints I felt I could not use Grade Filters as I struggled to judge what filters to use and I didn't really have much understanding of what they were used for. I felt like this set me back a little from my deadline but after watching a demonstration on printing with filters and seeking help with a print I gained a better understanding of making prints. After a few weeks I was creating good negatives with plenty of choice to enlarge yet I wasn't as confident with printing up until I shot my last two rolls of film in Liverpool when my project began to come together, as my concept was reflected in the prints I was creating and the prints I was creating were also a much better standard.
       Whilst creating my Street Photography prints I have improved my technical skills whilst using a film camera massively and this has made me a more confident photographer.
I feel that my prints are the best quality that I have ever created with black and white film and that I have gained a lot of experience from this and have a lot more knowledge about the technicalities of film photography.
If I was to improve my Street Photography prints I would spend more time perfecting my final prints and gain more experience using filters on the enlargers in the darkroom yet despite that I am happy with the outcome of my project and feel that overall I have become a more versatile photographer.

Coming together

                                                 
                                                Coming Together

So, finally after weeks of processing and printing my Street Photography project is finally all coming together. After a strong few days in the darkroom I have lots of prints to choose from to choose my final 5.
     After being unsure about using my original concept of creating street photography style prints of people who perform or work on the streets such as: market stalls, newspaper stands, buskers, traffic wardens ect I have decided to use it because as I have created more prints I have seen how this concept will work well as a series of prints.
    I choose my concept due to the fact I began to see a pattern in my contact sheets and that was that my most interesting or successful images were of people who earn their living whilst working outside or on the streets but shortly after deciding this I began to struggle to keep with my concept as I would see things whilst on a shoot that would make a good street photograph but wouldn't work with my concept.
   After making various prints I wasn't going to use a concept and was going to return back to just Street Photography to give myself a wider range of things and people to photograph.
To shoot my last 2 rolls of film I travelled to Liverpool in order to get photographs in a large City with a lot going on but after this trip when looking at my contact sheets I had many photographs of street performers and people working on the street that I wanted to use, since I have started making prints with my negatives from Liverpool I have seen my printing skills improving and my concept being reflected in my prints and therefore I feel my project is coming together.
The first roll of film I took in Liverpool:  

I was happy with the results as I am able to use several of them negatives and they will reflect my concept and be the best quality they can be as they are from my final two rolls of film meaning the 5 I shot prior to this were mainly for experience and have made me a better photographer.
                                             

Street Photography

                                         

 Martin Parr

Martin Parr is a well known Documentary photographer most known for his British Street Photography much like Photographer Tony Ray Jones; whom had a huge impact and influence on Martin Parr's work.

Being familiar with Martin Parr's work I find his street photography inspiring and i'm particularly interested in his photographs taking of the working class citizens of Britain, such as his photographs from the 'Life's a Beach' exhibit this is because its simply an observation of the way people live that is photographed, yet so effective due to the natural quirkiness of people and ironies in life.


                                                                                                    

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This image is from Martin Parr's range of beach photography. The image is interesting as there are a lot of things going on.
The photograph has a realistic feel about it because of the normal scenario of a man sunbathing on the beach and a little girl playing near by this is how I know that it is Documentary photography because it is a photographic record of real people.
Although the image is a normal scenario Parr has included humour as the man is sunbathing under a tanker which looks like it is about to go over him. This could be a representation of how people do not realize the little ironies in life.
The image has quite a warm feel to it due to the colour scheme which is made up of orange due to the sand, tanker, mans skin and the young girls hair; making this the main colour and the most dominant colour in the image.


The image above is from Parr's 'Life's a Beach' work yet it is quite apparent that the image was taken on a British Beach, this is because of clues such as the English news paper that the man in the centre of the photograph is reading, therefore I feel Parr was intending on portraying English beaches especially because the news paper is in the centre of the photo to catch attention immediately.
I think the image is taken at a really interesting angle as it is almost as if it was taken from a child's prospective as the eye level is level with the little girl next to the man and the photo makes us look up to the adults in the background of the image, making them look high up and dominant.
I really like the brightness and clarity of this photograph. The image on a whole is really bright and vibrant but this is because of the colours caused by the people in the image not just the lighting as the sky looks quite toned down and dull whereas the people in the image are really striking due to the bright sharpness of them. I think this works really well as the sky gives more clues to the location of the image, as a clear sunny sky would indicate the image was taken in a hot country whereas the sky in this image helps us realize Parr is portraying British beaches.
The photograph on a whole is really uplifting and vibrant, this is mainly because of the colour scheme and the prospective of the image also makes it fun but my favourite part of the image is the humour, I think its really effective that the man is holding a newspaper covering his face and most his chest that states 'Fatso' then his stomach is just below the newspaper it adds irony to the image making it more interesting on a whole.

                                         

Street Photography

Tony Ray Jones

Tony Ray Jones is a well known documentary and street photographer who created photographs in Britain which are usually ironic or humorous.

Tony Ray Jones started a new generation of Street Photography and Documentary Photography that changed future photography by influencing artists such as Martin Parr.

Tony Ray Jones seems to show a lot of different characters in his photographs as you can see the comparison of people in the three images above. I feel that this is the intention of imagery as there is no main person usually and the photograph is focusing on everything, which in my opinion makes the image more of a still frame of reality. 

I think that the three photographs created by Tony Ray Jones are all of a similar contrast due to his use of high contrast 35mm black and white film, making his photographs have a lot of contrast making them quite striking due to the black and white tones being so defined and sharp, this makes the images look more interesting and makes the features of his images stand out.  The image above is from Tony Ray Jones' work 'Only In England' and I think is to portray English Culture through these people on a beach in Brighton. The image portrays quirkiness and personalities of the people on this English beach. The image doesn't have one main feature and is focusing on 'people' and their behaviours in social.
The image is almost humerus just because of the elderly people and their mannerisms and I think Tony Ray Jones wanted to show just how interesting England can be and therefore portrays his concept 'Only In England'.
The image has a busy feel about it and I think this is because of the people who take up the majority of the photo and because of the textures such as the pebbles on the floor and the peoples clothing and belongings, this means there is a lot going on in the image and therefore it makes it more eye catching and interesting.

After exploring the work of Tony Ray Jones, I have realized how taking photos of a group of people can be just as effective and interesting as taking a photograph of one person or main feature and I will be considering this whilst creating my 'Street Photography' prints. I would also like to take inspiration from Tony Ray Jones' work by trying to capture peoples facial expressions to make my prints more effective like the work of 'Only In England'.