A couple of classes within the college mine included went on a trip too UCAS today which is basically an open day but for a whole range of different course’s from multiple university’s, I pretty certain there were over a hundred options you could look into separated next to one another in stools. To be honest I haven’t thought about considering university ever but I am interested in continuing further education in Plymouth college of art or somewhere else after I’ve finished my second year of this pre-degree photography course, starting a degree course in film then when that’s done one more in music whilst finding a job and maintaining it through out my time at college in the next few years. I did take a look at two university’s that caught my attention one involving film which I can’t remember the name of and the other was The Academy Of Contemporary Music because music has always been the most important and favorite subject in life for me starting from an early age. The ACM music academy is split across the country in three different buildings Guilford and Birmingham having the exact degrees covering all the same skills, coursework then there’s one in London with a similar degree but the others also have diploma’s, the part-time course’s in the summer and on Saturdays.

Today the class has been put in three groups because through out the days lesson we’ll go to the lighting studio one group at a time will capture some pictures of food from your own choosing or some that the teachers have provided. At lunch I’ve decided to buy some fruit like apples, kiwi’s, grapes or orange’s maybe just one of each three or just one of them due to lack of expenses, I’m using fruit so there is some relation to Edward Weston work as he dose the same with vegetables as well and I’ll try my best to mimic his techniques of B&W close ups.

Edward Weston’s

I enjoy looking at the way he highlights the textures differently in each photo for incense the shaping for pepper makes it seem like a humans muscles, you can see the foamy layer of skin the kiwi has and the glistening juicy inside of it as it has been cut in half also you notice the remarkable structure a simple mushroom has from him closing up on the rippling like features. I feel that Edward has a unique talent of sight for figuring out the best angles objects and where a great close up can be created.

Studio Shoot

After buying these grapes at break time it was my groups turn to go into the lighting studio, I sorted to the grapes in a fixed position of a triangle then placed blueberry’s in a circle around it. I realise now that I could of done closer shots of the fruit like Weston’s work but didn’t think to do so in the moment of the shoot, after taking the pictures I then attempted to edit in the style of Edward weston by increasing contrast and selecting black & white. I see that in different edges of the grapes it’s either lighter from it facing the flash or the other side which is darker because the flash isn’t pointing that direction.

Texture of this coconut really stick’s out to me which is great because it’s the formal element I was aiming for due the style of Weston’s photography being the same. When choosing to use the coconut from the options of food we had been provided with I noticed that someone had punctured a hole inside, this didn’t distract me from doing my work in fact it may have improved it because you can see two textures that the coconut has to offer, the outer layer which is a hard stony brown covering with fur and twig like features and the inner where white coconut meat and milk are. I’ve always found that a coconut resembles a face where the three dimples are on the top so the result of making an additional hole just contributes to it being a face even more, you can also notice that the punctured hole is leaking making outside skin more dark then the rest of it.

This has to be my favourite out of the three i’d picked out of the shoot because it went well in the amount of how much I wanted too close up but it would of been possible to better shots even closer, and the edits went in my favour completely probably due to what textures naturally have to offer for instance the skin having lines and being very easy to peel. I found that even though the skin was fragile, easy to break, it seems that some parts are hard and tough when frozen in a single second like the surface of a shell.

Lighting diagram

I took the collection of images close up with a light source later editing the contrast, exposer brightness after selecting black & white.

 

 

 

This mornings session we leant what exactly cosmetic retouching was in a lecture brief and was set a task of reading two articles involving two people in each one explaining why cosmetic retouching can have harmful affects not just towards the models but the consumers also. After reading the articles we wrote are thoughts on both of them and how we felt on the subject of altering peoples appearance’s for the use of magazines. Then using a portrait everyone would had took yesterday we had a tutorial step by step on how we could do are own cosmetic retouch, the portrait I choose was one of the teachers Steve.

before and after

The portrait had to be saved in RAW before starting the airbrush effect and do all the usual adjustment i’d do on the sliders like brightness, contrast, shadows but increasing the clarity was mandatory to get first steps into the cosmetic retouch technique. The part of cosmetic altering we were focussing on was skin retouching where the model looks younger by having two layers one with strong clarity and the other with soft, once doing that label them was you are confused on which is which also softened layer goes under strong layer. Then after creating a layer mask click on the paintbrush icon to start painting over the strong clarity layer which will reveal the airbrushed image underneath.

Cosmetic Retouch Part 2

     

After doing yesterday’s session of skin retouching the class moved on too more advanced editing where the feature of the face can be altered extremely after doing your usual edits on the sliders and the same skin retouching effects, click flatten image and then photoshop filter liquify which brings you too another window where the options of changing certain features like eyes, mouth even the bone structure such as the chin, widthnass of the face are available.

I find altering a women’s appearance through the means of photoshop also know as airbrushing for the better of a magazine company is completely offensive too all girls on so many levels after reading the first article done by Jameela Jamil, she dose a great job of fighting the argument that airbrushing should be illegal due to the fact she says its a crime against women.

She gives three distinctive reason that explain how airbrushing is a damaging affect to women and too any of the consumers self esteem, the first point she makes is that it’s a lie to the consumers by saying it is a false idea of someone which can harm peoples self image and make them to drastic thing to change there body because they are competing with something that exist to sell a fantasy.

Second point was it’s bad for the person being photographed if they see the digitally enhanced version of them self’s. Make’s the person ashamed of there outer self and it runs the risk of attempting to match what is achieved on the screen with extreme measures of expensive, painful, often scary cosmetic procedures.

health issues also like eating disorders such as anorexia.

The third agreement she makes the statement of how young women get negative views on their selfs when seeing a airbrushed image and not realising it has been edited to a massive amount. This make these young girls act on dangerous health issues like eating disorders such as anorexia.

I think the article is great consideration to the harms of cosmetic retouching and how it should be dealt with I also feel its amazing when a celebrity such as Jameela Jamil or any for that matter takes notice of a serious problem within our society because it gains numbers in audience, listeners and more people become supporters such as her fans as she is an actor in a big hit Netflix tv series.

The second article comes from the perspective of a Australian model who was retouched several sizes smaller then her natural size in a image without granted permission. She became rightly outraged and shocked to find the photoshopped image online, describing how its not okay too altered women’s body to make it look thinner because all women’s body’s are beautiful and that this industry is crazy. She stood in protest by posting before and after pictures of the image on her instagram account and then continued too appear on the Australian today show and said that it is important to understand her displeasure with being photoshopped because young girls and boys have to realise the images they see in magazines and on TV don’t actually reflect reality. I feel that her augment is strong and righteous in the fact a company disregarded the models own thoughts or opinions on being airbrushed, this goes against her human rights but the company in questioning fella swim has apologised and removed the photoshopped image from their site.

I feel the articles are very similar the only difference I notice is that the first one is through the eyes of somebody famous when the other experience comes from a paid model but both opinion are the completely the same unless one of the women are more angry than the other which I could see the model being.

Dear MR/MISS Blog Editor

My name is Joshua Paul Doyle I am writing to you as a student from Plymouth College of Art in hope that a project I’ve been tasked based on wellbeing, empathy and altruism which I’m in the process of completing will inspire you enough to publish a feature on the topic I’ve decided to cover and feel is an appropriate subject to relate to the assignment at hand.

The idea I’ve chosen out of the other six I thought up is my first it will involve overcoming the struggle that ageism brings into our society on a daily basis as we interact with one another. I decided to do this idea also because of my personal experience, in recent years I’ve become more aware of the issues which are faced from both side’s of the argument the elderly and the youth, I find younger generations either lack respect for a mistaken moment or simple stupidity and the older generation are rightly jealous wanting to relive past years. My plan for the shoot is to catch it on a sunny afternoon in hope that’ll shine more positive vibes within the scene which I wish to make  clean as much as possible, the main surrounding will be a skate park younger subjects being stereotypical skaters and then I’ll mix these two groups which aren’t usually seen together in fun outdoor activities such as skating and circus skills like juggling, Diabolo, and any other that my model will bring. The point to my idea is that it is attempting to tackle the separation of social and cultural problems in all places where the old and your clash in terms of communication.

Thank you for taking the time to read my project proposal

yours sincerely Joshua Doyle

 

In the morning we did a step by step tutorial on how to put film into a manual SRL camera and how to properly use one, I find if I had more time to use one it would help me get more of a handle on the manual setting when next using digital camera also it would do the same for understanding exposure control. Theres a few setting the light meter determines how much brightness goes into the lens, film winder leaver is there so it puts the next shot of film ready before taking the initial photo, focussing ring adjusts the amount in depth of field form a subject to the interior background it shows how to this by a circle being in the centre of the lens that’ll change in focus when your adjusting the ring this was our main focus for techniques that shoot, aperture ring determines the depth of field between how far the subject in question is like a person from the background in meters and feet.

I’m happy that we’ve been tasked this subject of wellbeing, empathy and altruism because how can anybody living on earth say they haven’t experienced or had an interest in equality, diversity or prejudice when it affects every single person each day some people worst than others. Though it’s hard to find certain ethnic groups in Devon i’ve decided to search within my local area and friends, family to sum up particular groups I socialite on a daily basis with, for instance hippies, stoners, skaters, musicians and maybe homeless people, the disabled and children who have special needs such as autism because I feel everyone is ethical in many sense’s depending on where a person was raised, who they are infiltrated with, and what he or she dose in there pass time but one factor always remains we are all human on a mostly blue planet.

Ideas

I’m going with my first idea that consists of mixing two different groups which don’t normally get seen together I’ve chosen the youth and elderly because of either the lack of respect from the youth or jealously from the side of the elderly wishing to relive there younger days, I also feel as if I can not help but notice it in the recent year as I have grown older and because of the certain situation that has made me recollect on the ageism topic I have decided to do. I plan to do this shoot outside hopefully on a sunny afternoon to shine as much positive vibes in which I want to make clean in the interaction between both groups, the main point to the idea is that it is met to celebrate togetherness and destroy the separation of social and cultural issues within all places where the old and young clash in terms of communication. The young individuals will be stereotypical skaters at a skatepark as a elderly couple or just single person is walking by, the younger group will become friendly towards them and then begin teaching how to skate because the more active action is shown will define the amount of happiness within the frame. Circus skills might be added in as one of the models for this shoot dose that as well as skate also this idea relates to the style of a photographer Chien-Chi Chang in the sense that I’m potentially capturing a particular moment almost like a photojournalist except the fact that one or two models are famed in the image by my choice because it’s too hard to find a decisive moment such as this but easy to create one, you could also relate some of these similarities to a actual photojournalist W. Eugene Smith’s. I’ll consider some of my other ideas to do as a few are pretty easy and I’d like to see how they turn out, if there good enough I’ll use them instead and write a whole other project proposal or add a paragraph to this blog explaining the idea.   

 

 

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/films-that-show-diversity-in-new-york/

Article Name: Films that show diversity in New York

The article start with a brief introduction explaining how most New Yorkers are rightfully proud of the city’s diversity but struggles do still happen due trying to get along with their own kind or with different groups whilst trying to better themselves also police brutally is an massive issue there.

Then it continues to explain premise’s of six films which all attempt to bring out the realism that there are many problems in different ethnicity’s. Reading this article has given more insight to what diversity exactly it is. The first movie is “Do The Right Thing” where it has two ethnic groups Italian-American and an African American pizza delivery boy working at a pizzeria together, the owner of the restaurant Sal add photographs of black people to his “wall of fame” sparks a race riot during which a young black man “Radio Raheem” is killed by police. This film was actually inspired by real police brutally events that happen in New York, the murder of Micheal Stewart in Manhattan 1983 and echoed in the killing of Eric Garner in staten island in 2014. It continue’s by making the statement that most case’s where police brutally or un needed murder takes place when in police custody its not unusual that people get evoked, At least Do The Right Thing ends with a symbolic massage of a rapprochement between Sal and Mookie the black delivery boy, I feel this create unity between two friends in a world thats hard to get by and I am going to watch it because reading this has given interest.

Second movie was “Little Man” begins with a white middle class man brain and his family move into a Brooklyn building they’ve inherited but this forces a South American single mother Leonor out of business. The story’s perspective is viewed through sight of the white couple’s 13-year-old son Jake, who grows a close friendship with Leonor’s gregarious son, Tony this later is sabotaged by the parent’s of Jake. The writer says that it’s impossible not to feel anger on the behalf of the immigrant women character treated so callously by the entitled family even through writer-director Ira Sachs takes an even-handed approach to expertly made drama. I feel that this film would show me if I had seen it the harsh reality that people are bias and prejudice either intentionally or by mistake.

The article goes on to explain the plots of the other four movies Crossing Delancey, Brooklyn, Little Odessa and Hangin’ With the Homeboys and how the characters in each film try to better them selfs in economically disadvantageous situations, mainly friend or relationships dealing with troubling factors surrounding there ethnicity and central area where they have been raised in. I think this article is a great insight into New Yorks different multicultural groups also the way they operate with each other for an outsiders perspective who has never been such as myself and it has given me better understanding of diversity.