Pieter Hugo again...

Having taken another look through Hugo's work, one element that stands out for me is that he includes himself in the images. His self portrait at the end of the project is really effective in wrapping up his story.

I think this is definitely something I should explore to find a way of visually wrapping up my project, as I feel that I am part of the group of people I have chosen to photograph. This project has been as much about the people I have visited as my own personal journey of discovery to find out what it is like for other people to have lived with a birthmark.

Potential Layouts and Presentation Ideas

Now I have a number of usable images, I need to consider how they are to be laid out. There are a number of ways that I am considering:

Diptychs - The two images that I like from each shoot could work together as a diptych, printed large and shown on a wall.

Text - There is potential for this project to be confusing for the viewer if there isn't accompanying text, so one option is to have a short page, perhaps with quotes or information about the subject alongside each image set.

'Mugshot' Grouping - Having looked at the work of Pieter Hugo, Thomas Ruff and Eileen Perrier, I have begun to realise that the closer cropped shots of my subjects are almost as strong, if not stronger than the images that are wider. I feel that they still capture a sense of identity and character, but you can still clearly see the birthmark. As a result, these could be presented together, as a group, laid out in a line on a gallery wall. The prints would have to be fairly large to have the intended impact.

When I get my work printed, I plan to experiment with these layouts to see which works the best.

Thomas Ruff - Typology/Portraiture

Now I am coming to the end of my project, I have begun looking at the way other artist present their work. Thomas Ruff does a series of portraits which could be regarded as typological in style, which interests me.

As with a lot of other artists I have looked at, and similarly to my project, he employs the head and shoulder crop in his images, and I think these work well together as a group.

Subject Visit Six - Brian - BSG Photos

I think that this set of final images for the BSG are the best that I have taken, and show a progression and development of style. I made the most of the natural light available (on Brighton pier!) and utilised the shallow depth of field available with my lens.

I think I have come quite a long way and am happy with this set of images!

Subject Visit Six - Brian

These are the selected images from my final shoot. Due to time constraints and around half of the potential subject I contacted dropping out or being unable to meet me, Brian is my last subject. I do not feel this is a bad thing, I still have five usable subjects and feel that this still represents my journey of discovering what it is like for other people living with birthmarks.

This set of portraits was more tricky to achieve, as Brian's house was currently in the middle of being packed up to move, so I wasn't able to shoot there and use the studio lights as I had intended. I chose instead to shoot in a cafe, but picked an empty spot to ensure the pictures didn't have too many distracting things in them. I had to rely heavily on my camera flash but I feel that they still came out quite well.

Pieter Hugo - Looking Aside

Pieter Hugo does some very interesting work on people who look 'different' - his series 'Looking Aside' is particularly moving.

"In this intimate and unsettling series of images, created between 2003-2006, the artist points his lens at those people whose appearance makes us “look aside”. Hugo’s subjects are the blind, people with albinism, the aged, his family and himself. In doing so, he forces us to confront ourselves and our preconceptions and prejudices, and question why we are so awkward when we encounter people who are unusual in some way. In these frontal declaratory portraits, we see what we usually choose to look at from the corners of our eyes"

I especially like these images because, as with most of the artist I have looked at that are relevant to my project, the subjects are photographed in a straightforward and unflinching manner, leaving the viewer to make their own assumptions. Hugo doesn't attempt to represent the people as miserable or as being negatively affected by their differences, which I feel is very important. 

I also like the close cropped style, and am glad that I took images in this format for each subject I visited!

Subject Visit Five - Emily - BSG Photos

I feel that I am doing well now with the style of images I am now producing for the BSG project, and my images are conforming to the style that Flag require.

Subject Visit Five - Emily

The most recent visit I have been on is to Emily in Liverpool. This is the first shoot I have done in a while, so am pleased to have managed to organise one after being let down by quite a few people.

I decided, as I didn't know much about her home, to take a set of studio lights to give me the most options when it came to shooting. I feel that this was a good choice, as the images are much better exposed and improved in general. I am now usually only shooting the two images, as I know what I am after with each shoot, and this keeps the time the subject spends in-front of the lens down so they don't feel uncomfortable.