Matthew Farmer. Photographer & Artist.
The two above digital images were taken for the character study project, to which we needed to photograph an interesting character and build a profile. I was fortunate that very recently prior to the project that my dad went on a day experience flying small planes and we traveled to the lake district where I managed to take these two images to help generate a fictional character. These two images certainly helped to build an interesting character.
This was a photogram I made while In the darkroom workshop. Pretty basic stuff but by just placing some everyday objects on some light sensitive paper and exposing it, some interesting things can happen. Silver, for example appears to show up very differently.
This is My final Image for Drawing With Light, I chose to use this image as it captures the lights on the fingers and it is also a self portrait with my face slightly unfocused in the background.
Another shot from The Drawing with light project. I feel the image is too dark, but overall, I am happy with the result.
The second project on Drawing with light was to apply skills I learnt during a studio lighting workshop to create self portrait. My series of images were inspired by John Coplans and Robert Maplethorpes work. I think The images were successful, both using digital and analogue.
This Is a digital image of where I shot my sense of place.
This is another shoot from my second shoot for ‘sense of place’. This shot is symbolising being lost in an arcade not knowing when to stop, yet the way out can be seen through the ‘blur’.
This print was part of my second shoot for ‘sense of place’. The idea was based upon being drunk and lost in gambling. My place was an arcade and bar, and to give off the said sense, I lightly unfocused the camera and shot close ups of abstract spaces, loosely inspired by Len Lye’s work.
This was an image I took for my first shoot for ‘sense of place’. My original idea was to use the concept that the sense of the traditional fireplace is being centre of the living room, and usually changes through different times of the year due to decorations at christmas etc. I chose to re-shoot because in the time given it wasn’t easy to shoot. I may come back to tis idea though.
Cartier-Bresson, born in 1908 and died in 2004 was a French photographer in modern photojournalism, and even considered to be its pioneer, who inspired generations. His style was in the form of a ‘decisive moment’ and believed that the very best images were not manipulated but natural, and often he would take photos on the go as he would see them. Many of which photos he took became hugely symbolical at the time, such as the image above; ‘Mississippi’. The Photo subject is about inequality of race, and at the time of the late 1950’s with the insertion of Blacks into the community, they were not seen as equals, and this is shown perfect here with the two black men framed on the right to appear to have less space and a smaller bench than the white man on the right who has enough room for many more on his bench. He also has open body language which shows confidence and dominance, whereas the black men seem defensive and withheld wearing dirtier clothes, perhaps after being hard at work. The white man also has a bottle of beer while the black men sit in font of an advertisement almost as if showing what they do not have. The image is composed perfectly to explain this inequality in race, all without being staged.
Perspective Eyes 