Assignment Breif:
Learner Name:
Thomas Kirrage
Student ID No: 581541
City of Bristol College
Art & Media
College Green Centre,
St Georges Road
Bristol
BS1 5UASpecialist Area: PHOTOGRAPHY
Date: Friday 6th February 2015Section 1
Working title:
The beaches of the British and Spanish Coastlines.
(Flotsam and Jetsam of the British & Spanish
Coastlines) 20/04/2015
What you will work towards producing:
Section 2
Influences, starting points and contextual references:
I would say that, what influenced me to do ”The beaches of the British and Spanish coastlines: is I think, that they have a certain uniqueness to all other things that I have photographed in the past and there is something really special about them. You can find all sorts of material on a beach and they really tell a powerful story.
Early ideas research and sources:
My research ideas will be to look at some work that has been done of what I am investigating to do. Basically to try to find as much material of what other photographers have already done before me and then try to incorporate their ideas into my own work.
My sources will be to find all of the beaches that I want to use in my work. There are certain few around the area where I live in Bristol and there are also others around the country that I know of but haven’t been back to for a while. Back in Spain, I have loads of beaches all of different types, which I know will be useful towards me in my work.Section 3
Intended techniques, media processes:
The techniques that I will use for this assignment will range over what I have learned during these two years. More from what I learned in the first year, because that was all going towards the different techniques to use in photography. Understanding the lighting, the timing and the final image.
The media process will be using either Photoshop or Lightroom to make the tiniest adjustments to the photograph, just to give it that little bit extra to make it a much more powerful image.
Timescales:
My time scale for this assignment will be from the 20/03/15 all the way through to the 20/05/15. There is much for me to cram in but I do enjoy the challenge, seeing as this is my very last project for the Extended Diploma in photography. It will bring an end to the two-year course and I want to make it the most special and most creative photographic project that I will have ever done. My aim will be to split the assignment up into 3 weeks for each part, then that way it will all be equally balanced out.Section 4
Proposed method of evaluation:
For my evaluations, I will divide it into three different parts. There will be a part for the beaches that I do for Britain and then there will be a separate evaluation for the beaches of Spain. Finally I will do an evaluation of the two put together which will describe the similarities and differences and what sort of things that I found on them.
Then there will be a final evaluation of the whole two years work and how it all points to the end of this final major project.Flotsam and Jetsam Definition:
In maritime law, flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage:
- Flotsam is floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo.
- Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposely cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and is washed ashore.
- Lagan (also called ligan)is goods or wreckage that is lying on the bottom of the ocean, sometimes marked by a buoy, which can be reclaimed.
- Derelict is cargo that is also on the bottom of the ocean, but which no one has any hope of reclaiming (in other maritime contexts, derelict may also refer to a drifting abandoned ship).
(Examples of my ideas from a COBC student from a few years ago, who did a similar project, Sam Jackson)
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| Selection of Sam's Final Prints. General Jetsam found on a beach. |
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| Selection of Sam's Final Prints. Different coloured and shaped pebbals with their grid references co-ordinates to the exact location. |
Well, I was totally blown away when I saw how much work Sam had put into his project. So many photographs, so many editings out, so many process of Photoshop and a lot of evaluations. I would definetly say that after just one look through Sam's sketch book and looking at his final pieces, I had got a huge inspiration, to try to follow on from what he had carried out. I also got the grid reference idea from his work as well. If you look back to his final display of his pebbals, shot in the studio, you will se that there is a range of numbers and two letters attached to each photo. The grid reference gives the exact location of where his work was shot. This makes it easier to find it on a map.
I am definetly going to try to immitate the work that Sam has done, also by adding some of my own techniques to it as well.
Andy Hughes:
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| Andy Hughes |
Having seen some of Andy's work in another person's book, who had a smililar idea to what I want to carry out, makes it a little bit easier to write about him. I will definetly say that he takes a very good selection of flotsam and jetsam. Particularly the ones of the flower pettals in the sand. Also all the old plastic balls and general bits of rubbish. He also seems to experiment with the lighting in his photographic work as well. It make his images come out a little clearer and a little bit more vibrant and they are all blooming with colour.
I would definitly say that its Andy's work that I am going to work towards to.
Clifford Ross:
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| Clifford Ross |
Even though I am doing flotsam and jetsam as my project, Cliff's work on waves is absolutley beautiful. I can't think of any other way to say this, but his photographs of the crashing waves and the landscapes that include water are really powerful. In a way they have a real poetic sense about them, reflecting to the word power. They are a force of mother nature and can not be challenged in any way. All of this photos have a really deep depth of field and are all strong with clarity.
Jeremy Underwood:
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| Jeremy Underwood |
Jeremy's work is very similar to Andy Hughes work, except he does soemthing really creative to make his work stand out to others. He collects up all the human and natural trash that he finds, and turns it into works of art, then waiting for the perfect light, he captures these really arty looking photographs.
When I am out shooting on various beaches, If I find anything that could be made into a work of art, I will try to do some of this creative flotsam and jetsam debris, art work, But I don't want to make my work too complicated.
Evaluation of Research
Seeing as two of these photographers were mentioned in Sam's work as research material, you may think that I haven't done enough research, but I dug deep into their works as a whole, to find out as much about them as I can. I would defintly say that its Andy's work that shows a genre that is more related to what I want to carry out in my work. I won't disagree about the other two photographers, their both really talented and have shown me some really beautiful photographs. The ones of the waves, as I mentioned above, have a really strong sense of mother natures' power, and the ones of all the creative artwork made out of rubbish are really arty.
My Work in SPAIN:
Contact Sheet of my Photos from Spain:
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| Spanish Beaches on the Costa Del Sol in Stormy, Dark and Clear, Light weather. |
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| Flotsam and Jetsam Debris on the Spanish beaches of the Costa Del Sol |
First Set of Images Edited out:
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NO SCREEN SHOTS of this image as all I did was a crop and a slight boost of the vibrance levels.
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These two shoots that I did in Spain, particularly show what the beach landscape looks like in both clear and calm weather and what it looks like in dark Stormy weather. These landscape images don't gain me any extra credit for the project, as I am particularly interested in the flotsam and jetsam, but they do show the area, where I have taken all of the flotsam and jetsam images:
Flotsam and Jetsam Images: x2 shoots from Brean Down, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset:
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| Final Edited Image: (Clump of Seaweed) |
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| Final Edited Image: (This is practically a whole different image to the original and I feel like I might have over done it a little bit. Given it a little bit too much HDR effect, which has made the stick really bright red at the top. However I do like what it has done to the colours of the cliffs. |
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| Final Edited Image: (Cropped it in a little bit to give it a little more detail) |
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Brean Down, next to Weston-Super-Mare. It had been a long time since I had been to brean down and I never actually went onto the beach when I went in 2011.Whilst thinking of my project and looking around me I could see that there were a couple of things that would look good for my project. In particular the ones of the old red plastic crate. That is probably the biggest item that I have ever found on the beach whilst being in the process of this project. Unfortunatley it wasn't in my mind to take it back to Bristol, to shoot in the studio.
Flotsam and Jetsam Images from SPAIN:
(I Didn't manage to get the grid references of these locations, but here are satellite, map images of where all of these where taken)
Evaluation of Shoots in Spain:
After doing three shoots of my project in Spain, Two landscpaes ones, both in clear and rough weather and then one of close ups of flotsam and jetsam, I can honestly say that I have a conclusion for this particular part of my work. It turns out that the majoirity of things to find on the Spanish beaches is Jetsam. Which is the rubbish, dumped by man. The beach is a place of peace and retirement. It is a place where one should feel comfortable and be able to have time to themselves. It is not a place where it is to become a mans' trash can. However some of the things that I came across really fit the description of my project and I feel like a captured a good selection of images for my flotsam and jetsam. As well as all of the jetsam that I found I also came across a large quaitity of flotsam as well. Some pretty pebbales and bits of broken driftwood, I found nesstled amongst the rubbish.
I will point out that I did not manage to get the grid references for any of these photographs as I wasn't aware of the app that tells me the exact information, however here is a map to show where I took the photographs.
I now await the next challenge.
29.04.15
Weekend Shoot From Dorset. 23rd - 25th April.
Portland Bill, Chizsel Beach and West Bay.
Contact Sheets:
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| Taken on My Canon EOS 500D |
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| Taken on my iPhone 5S |
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Evaluation of Shoot:
Even though my shoot from Dorset was over 3 weeks ago, I still remember it very well. I chose to go to Dorset, because I knew it was one of the best places to find what I was looking for. For the two days that I was down there I had one day which was in the sunlight and one day that was cold and cloudy. I photographed down at Portland Bill for the first time which was a sweet little place even though its quite a big island and I did two shoots down there. One in the sunlight and one in the cloudy, dull light. I also photographed at the two ends of the famous Chesil Beach. First day was down at the endge of Portland, which was the day I had sunlight and I came across quite a few interesting things. The second day I photographed down at West Bay, which is where I went 6 years ago and I had the dull, cloudy light for this day. As well as all the flotsam and jetsam images I took some really beautiful landscapes of the places where I went and by the time I was driving back to Bristol I felt like I had acheived a huge amount of work. Whilst I was down in Dorset, I collected a variety of itmes off the beaches and brought them back to Bristol, ready to shoot in the studio.
Dorset Studio Shoot:
As well as shooting on location, I was reccommended to bring some things back with me, from the various beaches that I had visited and photograph them in the studio.
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Even though my shoot from Dorset was over 3 weeks ago, I still remember it very well. I chose to go to Dorset, because I knew it was one of the best places to find what I was looking for. For the two days that I was down there I had one day which was in the sunlight and one day that was cold and cloudy. I photographed down at Portland Bill for the first time which was a sweet little place even though its quite a big island and I did two shoots down there. One in the sunlight and one in the cloudy, dull light. I also photographed at the two ends of the famous Chesil Beach. First day was down at the endge of Portland, which was the day I had sunlight and I came across quite a few interesting things. The second day I photographed down at West Bay, which is where I went 6 years ago and I had the dull, cloudy light for this day. As well as all the flotsam and jetsam images I took some really beautiful landscapes of the places where I went and by the time I was driving back to Bristol I felt like I had acheived a huge amount of work. Whilst I was down in Dorset, I collected a variety of itmes off the beaches and brought them back to Bristol, ready to shoot in the studio.
Dorset Studio Shoot:
As well as shooting on location, I was reccommended to bring some things back with me, from the various beaches that I had visited and photograph them in the studio.
Contact Sheet:
Evaluation of Dorset Studio:
As
well as having done a location shoot, I was really happy and pleased with
myself after doing this studio shoot. This topic was actually the very first
topic where I decided that I would use a studio for my work. The last 5 topics
in the studio have been mandatory and I must say that it felt really nice to
have the choice this time. I was really
impressed with the items that I brought back with me from Dorset and what is
really special about them is that all have a story about them. The red plastic
item, I am guessing is an old lever from a boat control system, the blue net
has come from a mess of fishing nets and this really shows how much of a
problem fishing nets are. The flowerpot is nothing special. It was just a plain
black flowerpot that I found on the beach. All of the pebbles are special,
because they have all come from different parts of the beaches that I visited
and have probably been there for hundreds of years and now, there part of my collection.
The editing process of these photos was really fun. Experimenting with all of
the different colour shades, exposure, contrasts and sharpness was really cool.
A dull looking image becomes a really creative piece of art.
2nd - 4th May 2015 (Chichester)
Bracklesham Bay and West Witterings, Chichester:
Bracklesham Bay and West Witterings, Chichester:
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| Taken On My Canon EOS 500 D |
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| Taken On my iPhone 5S |
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Evaluation of Chichester Location:
After
my visit to Dorset, I knew I had to do one more trip to somewhere that I knew
had beaches, where I would find flotsam and jetsam debris. I have known the
West Sussex coastlines since I was a young boy and it was really special to go
back and see it all again. My trip down to this part of England wasn’t just
work for my project, it was a chance for me go and see the area where I grew up
for a short time, before I moved overseas, 11 years ago. I visited two
different beaches whilst I was in Chichester. I went to Bracklesham Bay, which
is a shingle beach first, where I got most of my photographic material and
where I found all the material to bring back to Bristol. On the day I went to
Bracklesham, I had a mixture of sunshine and cloudy weather, so a number of my
photographs came out with different strengths of depths of field. The day after
I went down the beach of West Witterings, which was a sand beach and was where
I found a little bit of material, but it was just enough for what I needed. I
use to come to the West Witterings a lot when I was a young boy and it’s a
place with many special memories for me. If my memory can remember as far back
as 18 years ago and is correct, it was the first beach I ever came to with my
family. So this wasn’t just a photography trip, but it was a little adventure
as well.
Chichester Studio Shoot:
Evaluation of Chichester Studio:
After
having really enjoyed my studio shoot for Dorset, I was really keen to do
another one. Strange, considering I’m not a huge studio fan. However I had
collected another crate-full of stuff from the two beaches that I had visited
in Chichester and was really keen to photograph them in the studio. I would say
that on this trip, I found a lot more jetsam than flotsam. Don’t know why, but
I just seemed to find more general litter than natural debris. I would also
agree that the items that I found this time were a bit more colourful and were
very eye catching. When I came to the editing process of my Chichester studio
shoot, I really enjoyed playing around with all the tones, contrasts and
colours. By just by adding a few adjustments in these clever photography
editing programs, it makes a picture seem much more vibrant and alive, another
successful studio shoot completed. I now wonder what’s next.
Evaluation of Final Major Project:
For
these last three months, this final project has been some of the best fun
throughout the two-year BTEC course. This was a topic where I had to combine
all of my knowledge and use all of the skill that I had learned, in order to
make this my best work, from the two-year course. This was also the only unit
where I was able to do both location and studio shooting. All of the other
units I have had to do either one or the other. It has been a really fun
process. This project particularly has been a very unusual one for me, but its
one that I feel that I have achieved quite a lot. Normally, I wouldn’t really
want to photograph things like rubbish and old rotting wood and rusty metal,
but in this case, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to get on with
it. I would say that I got the main boost to do this after looking at a young
photographers’ work, who as at the college a few years ago, who did a very
similar thing to what I wanted to achieve. By keeping his work in my mind I
managed to achieve everything that I had set out to do on my proposal plan.
This
has been a really fun project to do and I’m glad it was the one that I did as
my final major one. I will always look forward to new photographic tasks, but
it is always wonderful to remember the photography that I have done in the
past.
