Brian Morrison - Gun Clubs

Next I looked at the work of Brian Morrison, and his project named 'Gun Clubs'. To gain more inspiration I need to look at photographers who photograph people, and groups of people, who are similar, and research how they use their surroundings to represent more about the subject, and the particular group they belong to.

Morrisons work on the members of gun clubs stand out for me, as with my previous research the portraits are very straightforwardly shot and neutral.

Morrison's work is strong because he has captured the community of people that attend this Gun Club; I really like the idea of looking into the lives of people who have something in common. The portraits are again simple and straightforward, showing the subject fully. I especially like that although the project is about gun clubs, not one of the photographs shows somebody shooting their weapon - this way the audience looks more into the people and the characters captured, rather than focussing on the weapon aspect.

I really like these set of images, and take great inspiration from it. Although the weapons are used as props, rather than having the subjects fire them, I feel that the images are fairly 'obvious'. I would like my images to be a little more subtle, so the audience doesn't focus solely on the birthmarks, but more on the person as a whole. I feel Morrion's work achieves this to a certain extent, but by choosing to place his subjects in the obvious surroundings of the club, it loses it's subtle feel.

Percy Hennell - Re-constructive Surgery Portraits

Next I have decided to look at work created around more of a medical theme, but sticking to the same neutral format. The work by Percy Hennell, a WW2 photographer, shows injured soldiers and patients after re-constructive surgery.

The thing that strikes me in particular about this series of work is that Hennell presents his subjects in a straightforward and unflinching manner. Although the wounds and surgery shown in the images are a little more extreme than a facial birthmark, I feel that this approach could work - showing that a birthmark is nothing to be ashamed of, and presenting my subjects as they are without any sort of re-representation on my part.

However, although these images are fairly relevant I do not feel that they are particularly interesting. In my opinion they are a little too 'medical' in their style, and Hennell could well have been photographing as a simple medical record, rather than as a documentary piece of photographic work. The intention behind our images are different, as I plan to look a little more into the lives of my subjects.

Artist Research - Louise Maher

To begin my artist research I have taken a look at the work of Louise Maher, and her photographs of Catholic priests. The series of images, named "Fathers" takes the viewer into the homes of the subject. Although the subjects are photographed for being priests, I like the way that Maher does not focus on just that, and it enables the viewer to see the subject in a different light.

I also really like the neutral style of these images, the straight forward composition represents the subject in a 'true' light, giving the piece a documentary style. I will apply this to my work, because I do not want the viewer to just focus on the fact that the subject has a birthmark, as the work is more about my own journey and what I discover about their experiences with a birthmark.

Next to the images, Maher includes the sitters' testimonies of how they came into the priesthood, which accompany the open narratives within the photographs. This is a great way that I could show a little bit of my subjects story, and ensure that my work is perceived as I intend.  

Funding for the project

As part of the project, we are encouraged to find ways of getting our work 'Out there' by entering into competitions or getting funding. I have decided to go for the latter, with a fair amount of success. I began to build up my network of contacts before the start of term by visiting a ‘Fun Day’ put on by the Birthmark Support Group, at which I met the chairman of the charity. I have since been in email contact with him, and through a series of discussions and negotiations I have been successful in receiving funding for completing my project in return for the use of my images on the BSG’s website. The Support Group is in the process of updating their site, and need some more contemporary professional images of people that live with birthmarks. I have been in touch with the design company heading the project and they have given me a brief to work towards.

As a result, I am now running two projects simultaneously; one for the BSG and one for my coursework project. Taking on the funding from the BSG has hugely improved my access to subjects and freed me up to travel further distances to visit them. I propose to complete both projects to the BSG’s deadline, and spend my remaining time on the course to working with the images I have collected, experimenting with text and interviews to accompany the images.

First Post

Welcome to my blog for the 3412 Module of the Photography & Video Course! This blog is here to show my research and development over the course of the module. For my negotiated project I would like to produce a series of photographs looking into the lives of people who have facial birthmarks. I have chosen this subject because it is very personal to me, as I have a fairly large birthmark myself, on my right cheek. I have never had any confidence issues or problems with bullying because I look different, but from an early age I had a series of laser treatments on my mark, to attempt to reduce the colouring or size. Although for me, these surgeries did not have much effect, going to the hospital made me aware that other people living with visible birthmarks were suffering from looking different. I have long since stopped treatment, but have recently been made aware of the Birthmark Support Group charity, who offer help to people who have marks similar to mine. Through this, my interest in how other people deal with life with a birthmark has been re-opened, and I would like to explore other people’s experiences through photography.

To do this, I plan to build up a network of contacts around the country, including people who have facial birthmarks so I can meet up with them and find out about their lives. Out of this I hope to produce a set of portraits and a short interview which documents my investigation and as the project progresses I may find a way to include a part of myself in the images.

I hope you enjoy the blog