Real Life Horror Movie

After looking at different photographers I decided to take photos of my own. How photographers create atmosphere in there photo is something which I find interesting as it takes a lot of consideration of aspects such as lighting, pose, editing and composition to create just the right atmosphere in a photo. I chose to try and create a spooky atmosphere in my photos to create a scary movie type of feel to them, to do this I used a number of techniques.

I put all of the photos in black and white to emphasize the contrast and to remove any colour, so the main colour was black, which is the colour of all things scary. 

Firstly I looked at portraiture and how lighting could be used to create an atmosphere of horror. It's a well known thing that placing a light under your face makes it look scary; We've all been at a sleepover as a kid and told scary stories to each other in the dark with a torch in one hand lighting up our face. Except when you're a kid it doesn't quite look this scary. It's something about the way you can't see the eyes properly, because the eyes are what most of us find comfort in being able to see when someone is talking to us. 

To create a darker spin on a childhood memory I used a brighter light which was placed on the floor to cast more of a shadow. Because the desk lamp I used was the only light in the room I had to set my camera aperture wider, so I set it to a lower f.stop of f/5.6 to let in more light. After taking it, I then processed it in Adobe Photoshop to put it in black and white, as I thought taking away the colour of the skin would make it look less human. I boosted the contrast and brought down the brightness to give the background it's blackness. I like how dark the shadows of the face are, as it creates the effect of the darkness swallowing the face up, like there is just a floating face receding into the darkness. 

After seeing paintings by an artist who paints the sitter's face blurred, like they were shaking their head, I decided to play with the shutter speed to recreate something similar with my camera. After setting up the camera to a tripod and using a lamp to get the correct lighting, I set the shutter speed to 2 seconds to allow time for enough movement. After much persuasion my mum agreed to be in the photo and I asked her to move her face side to side, horizontally, not too fast but still allowing for her hair to swing. I had expected the face to come out in a blur and did not expect the two faces to appear. I like the final result of the two faces either side of the head because it reminds me of Janus (A Greek god with two faces on one head) and in some strange way it looks a bit like she's been possessed and her shaking her head is an attempt to get rid of the second face. It is because of this that I think it looks scary.  

My mum was starting to get a head ache from shaking her head from side to side, so I decided to give her a break. Still with the camera set to a two second exposure, I decided to see what movement I could make with my hands that conveyed a scary look. With my hands in front of the lens I made claws with my hands and shook them. The result looks like the hands are coming at the viewer, which make the photo quite direct and the motion blur makes it look like the hands are  moving towards you, out of the screen.

I decided to look into landscapes too. I took this one on a night where the moon was looking particularly spooky. I ceased the moment and took the photo before the clouds moved away. With the camera set to a wide aperture and high ISO speed to pick up the light on the clouds and the moon, I took this without a tripod, standing in my garden. I boosted the contrast on this to make the moonlight more luminous and atmospheric. If I weren't so late at night I would have walked to a more open place to take this, so there weren't trees obstructing the view.  

This photo was taken outside the front of my house on a rainy evening. What caught my attention was the street light reflecting off the rain on the pavement and I wanted to capture this. I think the weather in the image as well as the path way trailing into the distance and the amount of negative space created by shadows gives the image an eerie air. I like this image but I would prefer it if were taken at a lower angle and if I had moved further down the street to make the street lamp the focal point. Making the lamp a focal point would have allowed me to focus on the rain falling in the light.   

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5 photographers and their technique

Steve McCurry - Photojournalism

Steve McCurry, born 24th of February 1950 is an American editorial photographer. While studying a degree in theatre arts at Pennsylvania state university, McCurry began taking photos for the university's newspaper where he found his passion. His photography is mainly centered on portraiture and the culture of the many countries he has visited. He has won 4 "World Press Photo Awards" for his work, the most famous of which was a portrait titled Afghan Girl taken during his photo journalistic trip to the Middle East. It featured as a cover on National Geographic magazine in 1985 and is considered one of the most famously beautiful photographic portraits of the modern era. Among his work in the Middle East, McCurry also has a photo series which captures the wreckage in New York after 911. Steve McCurry’s approach to photography is very different from that of a fashion or portrait photographer. As he is a photojournalist, as the name suggests, he is capturing a true account of what he sees in the world around him and cannot pick and choose what he puts into frame or else he wouldn't be creating a true account as a journalist. While a fashion or portrait photographer would mainly work in a studio, spending hours adjusting lighting, pose, composition, makeup and clothing of the sitter in order to create visually perfect images, photojournalists work is much more challenging because they are working in a variety of environments, they must search for things to photograph around them and they photograph common people who are not used to being photographed like a model would. Photojournalists have less creative freedom as they cannot alter lighting or background etc. so their images tend to have a more organic, less artificial feeling to them as they are not over processed. This is why I like McCurry’s work; because his portraits of people from all cultures, ages and ethnicities reflect the natural beauty of all of us and celebrate diversity. His portraits of people are also very natural in pose and facial expression and you can tell by the ease on many of his sitters faces that he must take some time to talk to them before each photo in order to capture them in their truest, most comfortable self. 

Mario Testino - Fashion Photography

Mario Testino is a fashion photographer born in 1954, Lima, Peru. He originally studied economics at Universidad del Pacifico (The University of The Pacific) in Peru and later studied at San Diego University. In 1976, at the age of 22, he moved half way across the world to London to study photography, where he later moved permanently and began to form his career as a fashion photographer. In his younger years he would dye his hair bright pink, so as to catch people's attention and to make himself memorable as a photographer. Testino is now undoubtedly regarded as one of the world’s finest high fashion photographers and is best known for his work with Vogue, Vanity Fair and an endless list of A-list celebrities, supermodels and even royalty ranging from Kate Moss and Mick Jagger to Princess Diana and Kate Middleton. Testino’s work is very different to Steve McCurry’s but in some ways similar. Testino, in an interview with style.com, said “A fashion photographer is nothing without clothes and hair and makeup”, showing the importance that the synergy between fashion designers, makeup artists and stylists have towards fashion photographers such as Testino. In a way, fashion photography is like a group effort; people create an art work and then another artist comes to capture it. I like Testino's work because he manages to capture the essence of fashion with ease and with a unique edge that little other photographers have. Because of the individuality of his style, you can be flicking through a magazine, take a single glance at one of his photos and instantly say "That's Testino".

Anna Pantelia - Portrait Photography

Anna Pantelia is a Greek photographer born in Athens, Greece in 1991. She graduated from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens with a Bachelor's degree in Photography and Audiovisual Arts. She now studies a postgraduate degree at City University London and is based in London. At just 24, she has been named "Best Student Photographer" by The Guardian Student Media Awards and one of the 30 best documentary photographer under 30 by Magnum Photos. Anna Pantelia created a series of portraits titled "Recycle" using photos of inner city buildings and overlaying portraits of people through Photoshop. The result is a human face formed by the shape of buildings. I like these because they have an artistic feel to them and they carry a meaning in them; Anna Pantelia was trying to convey the idea of home and how where we grow up is rooted deep inside us and shapes us as people. I really like the style of Anna Pantelia's series of portraits and have used them as inspiration for some of my own photography. 

Ansel Adams - Nature Photography

Ansel Adams is a landscape and nature photographer born in 1902 in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his black and white photography of Yosemite National Park which have been widely reproduced. Adams was an environmentalist so his work reflects his desire to preserve the park the way he captured it in 1930. He first started taking photos using his brownie box camera he was given as a teenager and from then he was enthralled by photography. I like Adams' use of black and white in his photography (although it is not intentional - colour photography was not yet widely available). I think the black and white creates a dramatic atmosphere in his photography, which emphasizes the power and brutality of nature. After all, Adams is no stranger to the power of nature as his family were victim to many earth quakes at their home in San Francisco and I think he wanted to reflect his understanding of this through his photography. I like that instead of capturing the beauty of nature in a pretty sunny blue-skies and spring meadow style, (like most photographers choose to capture Yosemite) Adams has taken a alternative approach. 

Manu Brabo - War Photography

Manu Brabo is a Spanish photographer born in 1981. He has always been a freelance journalist, but since 2007 he has taken a particular focus on documenting conflict in countries such as Honduras, Haiti, Bolivia, Kosovo, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Brabo places himself in the center of conflict, rather than photographing from the sidelines, for a uncensored, hard hitting documentation of war and the impact it has on the lives of those living through it. However, his risk taking comes at a price; he has often come close to losing his life, witnessing journalist co-workers lose their lives and becoming a prisoner of war in Syria under Colonel Gaddafi's regime in 2011. Despite the danger, he works for the sake of the people. He wants to document their lives and show their reality to the world; showing what the media hide. For this, he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for Breaking News Photography. Manu Brabo's work is amongst some of my favourite photography because of the raw emotion of his photographs, which he achieves by getting himself in the center of total stranger's most tender, heartbreaking moments. Seeing how much war has ruined the lives of the people in the photos, who are clinging on for dear life makes Manu's photos  hauntingly impossible to forget.

The Evolution of The Camera

The First Ever Camera - Camera Obscura (900AD)

We as humans have had a fascination with capturing ourselves and the world around us since the dawn of time. Even tens of thousands of years before the invention of the first photographic device, our distant ancestors, neanderthals, were painting images on cave walls with dirt. Times have changed but the same fascination lived on. 

The first ever properly recorded device for capturing images came about in the 9th century in the form of the camera obscura. Although it is unclear who invented the device due to how early it was invented in human history and that it may have been gradually developed by multiple people, Aristotle and a physician named Alhazen appear to be the first who thoroughly analysed and experimented with the camera obscura in their academic work, making them the co-inventors of the worlds first ever photographic device. 

The camera obscura (which translates as dark chamber in Latin) is literally a darkened box, with a small hole in one side which lets in light and projects the image outside the box onto the wall inside. Although this did not permanently capture the image, it allowed artists such as Leonardo Davinci, during the renaissance, to create more accurate drawings. I find it interesting that the camera obscura is an amalgamation of art and science; created by physicists through physics, to be used by artists for art. The camera obscura was a major breakthrough in photography and human history, as it formed the basis of every camera thereafter. 

The Box Brownie Camera (1900)

A Kodak Box Brownie

An example of a photograph taken on a box brownie

The Brownie box camera came about in the early 1900's, was prevalent through to the 60's, and was the first camera to be simplified and compacted down enough to be bought and operated by the general public. 

The box brownie camera was invented by George Eastman, a chemist who believed everyone should have access to photography. So he developed what is called a "dry plate" photographic process, which enabled photos to be stored and developed after they were taken; removing the need for a photographer to cart around a massive dark room, as previously was the custom. This reduced the size of the camera to just a small box, which was convenient for anyone and everyone.

This camera marked a revolution in home photography as it was the first commercial camera and sold in its millions, with both my parents saying it was the first camera in both of their households as children. I think George Eastman's clever invention of the dry late process, rather than the previous wet plate was clever, and makes him one of the inventors of modern photography.  

The Instant Camera (1923 - 

Andy Warhol with his Polaroid camera

Examples of polaroid instant photos

When Samuel Shlafrock invented the instant camera in 1923, it was at the height of innovation. However, as time went on it's practicality went downhill as it was over taken by digital cameras which allowed their users to produce multiple copies of the same image, digitally alter them and give them much more creative freedom with the ability to change aperture, focus and shutter speed. As a result of this growing unpopularity in 2008 Polaroid - after many other instant camera brands before it - went bankrupt and announced that they would ceased to produce their film cameras. However, 2010 saw a massive revival of instant film as many began to see their sentimental potential. Despite being slow and unpractical compared to state of the art digital camera, they had a heart warming ability to capture moments in their purest and most natural form; making for brilliant home snaps of friends and family, ready to be stuck onto bedroom walls, photo albums and photo frames. Companies such as Polaroid were endorsed by celebrities such as Lady Gaga who was elected their new creative director which gave the company a massive publicity boost, they produced new designs and campaigns to revive the brand emerged. Many artists have also seen the potential of film camera as it has a very different appearance to digital photography and interesting effects can be produced by damaging the film rolls (damaging a digital camera may have a more devastating effect). Instant film is now back on the rise with Kodak producing a new range of instant cameras; a good idea for a Christmas gift for any keen photographer. I really like instant film photographs because I think they have a quirky look to them and have a certain look that cannot be achieved by using a digital camera.  

The DSLR Camera (1975)

A Canon 600D DSLR Camera

The DSLR (or Digital single-lens reflex camera) is the most prevalent type of camera used in modern photography in this era. It was first invented in 1975 by a Kodak engineer named Steve Sassoon. The invention of the digital camera allowed for images to be transferred to computers in higher definition without scanning and be easily processed in image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop which followed after the camera's invention a decade and a half later.    

What makes the DSLR so revolutionary was how compact it is. There was no need for instant printing like before, no dark room, no processing or time to develop. It's a simple press of the button and the photo goes straight to an SD card within the camera in milliseconds to be stored permanent where it cannot be damaged like a printed copy can. It also allowed a whole new quality of photo, no one had ever seen photos this high a definition before.  

One of the millions of examples of DSLR photos

The DSLR is mainly produced by Canon, Kodak, Fuji, Nikon and Sony. It allows for much more creative freedom as it has the option to focus and zoom and allowed for creative editing afterwards and made photographs easily broadcast. Without it, modern photography would not be so widely accessible.

The DSLR's price can vary from just a few hundred pounds, to thousands of pounds, as they can range from average quality for a family household camera to high grade professional use by photographers. It can be combined with various lenses such as macro, telephoto and wide angle for more specific types of photography. 

I think the DSLR is one of the best inventions of the modern age as it has brought photography into a new era and has made it available to almost anyone.  

The Smart Phone Camera (2000's)

The Apple iPhone 4 with built in camera

Then came the smart phone with the built in HD camera. And with it: the front facing camera. And with that: Selfie culture. 

The incorporation of high quality cameras into our phones has revolutionized our daily lives. We no longer need to carry around a camera wherever we go, we can fit one in our pockets and carry it around where ever we go, and share any of the photos we take at the click of a button, without having to import, transfer or upload the photos from SD card, to computer to phone. 

Having a built in camera in our phones has also increased our documentation of our daily lives. We take more photos and we can capture more of the little moments in life. It also allows absolutely anyone the ability to be a photographer, as the built in camera eliminates the need to buy a separate camera.  

The built in front facing camera, invented by Apple, has transformed the art of self portraiture. Before the front camera which only came out in 2008 on the iPhone 3, just 7 years ago, getting a picture of yourself was tricky. It involved self timers or asking someone else to take it for you which involved a lot more effort than it was worth. Little did Steve Jobs know when he made the decision to include the front facing camera that he would inspire an entire culture of self obsession. The definition of the term "selfie", first coined in 2005, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary is:

noun self·ie \ˈsel-fē\

An image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.

Though frowned upon by many, particularly older generations, the selfie has generated higher levels of self esteem in many by allowing them to easily and casually show off their appearance to hundred of friends on social media on a daily basis. Though some call it narcissistic, there's no harm in a bit of self confidence.  

The 2014 Oscars Selfie taken on a smart phone