Narrative Photography
Whilst working with a brief around Narrative Photography I have gained a greater understanding of what this actually is and I believe this is because of the research I undertook.
I believe that every photograph has a narrative but a successful narrative photograph is one that is recognised as a narrative or makes the viewer ask a question or gain an understanding or message, this does not have to be the message that the photographer intended to portray per say but maybe their own personal narrative as an individual.
I began the project with no ideas or clues on what to do so I began by going to a place that I spend a lot of time at and that means a lot and has a narrative in itself to me and my friends. I took these photographs on my mobile phone as I was just experimenting with how this idea worked. I continued to use this initial idea of place for both Part 1 and Part 2 of this narrative project as I like idea of capturing a place as it can have a personal narrative to me as a photographer yet have a different narrative soley as a place and to other people.
For Part 1 of my project I took images at the Headland Hartlepool due to the fact I like the historic feel to the area and I find the church really interesting as it has a really eerie feel, I also have a lot of memories at this place such as my parents wedding, therefore I thought the headland would be a good starting point. I tried to portray these feelings whilst creating my imagery at the Headland, I felt my images were successful in conveying the eerie spooky side of the church yet I felt I hadnt shown my personal connection which I had hoped in my final image for Part 1 and I would do this differently if repeated.
For part two I was inspired by the work of Martin Parr and how he portrayed his heritage through his images in his works such as 'Think Of England' and 'Only in England' and wanted to portray my own heritage in the style of Parr. I found this more difficult as first anticipated as I didnt realised how hard it can be to make an image look aged or make it timeless. I wanted to make my images look like they couldve been captured in the 90's in Parrs times of capturing England as I like the raw, traditional feel they have and the bright bold colour schemes that every photograph has in common.
I tried to recreate this by taking my images with an external flash on TTI so that it goes through the lens in order to ulluminate my subject to the same as the background. This worked well but I found that on my first shoot the images were all slightly over exposed and therefore I had lost quite a lot of detail so on my secound shoot I didnt use an external flash and used my cameras standard flash on a high setting and found this more successful yet I wouldve preferred all my images to be captured with an external flash in order to undergo the same process as Parr, therefore if I was to do it again I would experiment more with a different external flash to see if I could create photographs with the correct exposure.
I used Lightroom to edit my photographs and I found this really successful as it is a simple layout and easy to import and export photographs. On the majority of my images I have increased the clarity, vibrance, hue and saturation in order to make my images have the bright bold striking look that I intended for when creating them.
My final series of photographs are taken in Hartlepool at beach resorts and holiday parks such as Seaton, Crimdon Dene, Seaview Houses I choose to do this after looking at work such as 'Think Of England' in order to portray my heritage through the attractions in my town like Parr did but on a larger scale (the whole of england). I found it quite difficult due to the areas being quite quiet and out of season. If I was to repeat this brief I would create a wider range of photographs to make my narrative more obvious and successful.
I believe that every photograph has a narrative but a successful narrative photograph is one that is recognised as a narrative or makes the viewer ask a question or gain an understanding or message, this does not have to be the message that the photographer intended to portray per say but maybe their own personal narrative as an individual.
I began the project with no ideas or clues on what to do so I began by going to a place that I spend a lot of time at and that means a lot and has a narrative in itself to me and my friends. I took these photographs on my mobile phone as I was just experimenting with how this idea worked. I continued to use this initial idea of place for both Part 1 and Part 2 of this narrative project as I like idea of capturing a place as it can have a personal narrative to me as a photographer yet have a different narrative soley as a place and to other people.
For Part 1 of my project I took images at the Headland Hartlepool due to the fact I like the historic feel to the area and I find the church really interesting as it has a really eerie feel, I also have a lot of memories at this place such as my parents wedding, therefore I thought the headland would be a good starting point. I tried to portray these feelings whilst creating my imagery at the Headland, I felt my images were successful in conveying the eerie spooky side of the church yet I felt I hadnt shown my personal connection which I had hoped in my final image for Part 1 and I would do this differently if repeated.
For part two I was inspired by the work of Martin Parr and how he portrayed his heritage through his images in his works such as 'Think Of England' and 'Only in England' and wanted to portray my own heritage in the style of Parr. I found this more difficult as first anticipated as I didnt realised how hard it can be to make an image look aged or make it timeless. I wanted to make my images look like they couldve been captured in the 90's in Parrs times of capturing England as I like the raw, traditional feel they have and the bright bold colour schemes that every photograph has in common.
I tried to recreate this by taking my images with an external flash on TTI so that it goes through the lens in order to ulluminate my subject to the same as the background. This worked well but I found that on my first shoot the images were all slightly over exposed and therefore I had lost quite a lot of detail so on my secound shoot I didnt use an external flash and used my cameras standard flash on a high setting and found this more successful yet I wouldve preferred all my images to be captured with an external flash in order to undergo the same process as Parr, therefore if I was to do it again I would experiment more with a different external flash to see if I could create photographs with the correct exposure.
I used Lightroom to edit my photographs and I found this really successful as it is a simple layout and easy to import and export photographs. On the majority of my images I have increased the clarity, vibrance, hue and saturation in order to make my images have the bright bold striking look that I intended for when creating them.
My final series of photographs are taken in Hartlepool at beach resorts and holiday parks such as Seaton, Crimdon Dene, Seaview Houses I choose to do this after looking at work such as 'Think Of England' in order to portray my heritage through the attractions in my town like Parr did but on a larger scale (the whole of england). I found it quite difficult due to the areas being quite quiet and out of season. If I was to repeat this brief I would create a wider range of photographs to make my narrative more obvious and successful.
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