Joel Sternfeld

As well as regularly completing the exercises, I would also like to make time to take a look at photographers work. My tutor kindly suggested some particular photographers of interest and I am aiming to take a look at them all.

The first is Joel Sternfeld who is well known  for his documentary photographs of the U.S. I have taken a look at two of his collections When It Changed (2007) and First Pictures which was taken between 1917 and 1980. I chose these two as they link well with the course and because I find them particularly interesting and inspiring.

When It Changed.

This contains close up portraits of delegates who were debating global warming at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal in 2005.

 

 

I just love the range of expressions that have been captured, you can almost guess what is being said. These range from looks of concern, interest, concentration, and my favourite which would have to be the gentleman who fell asleep.

First Pictures.

This series depicts the travels of a young artist as he takes in beaches and busy streets. I have selected some of my favourites from the collection.

I chose these particular images as they show a certain sense of humour. I like that you can express some of your own personality while capturing the lives of others. The use of colour is also what draws me to these photos.

I am now considering my options for the second assignment and feel particularly inspired. It is interesting to see two very different styles from the same photographer.

Exercise: Developing Your Confidence.

Due to some family issues and trying to run my business I have had no free time to even consider photography. I did manage to have a couple of hours out in Cambridge, my nearest city, to make a start on this next set of projects.

I am hoping to get back on track now and so I have taken a few days off work to write up this project and hopefully shoot a few others.

We were to choose an outdoor situation where there are lots of people and activity in which we can feel confident using a camera. This next set of projects filled me with dread in some ways as photographing strangers makes me worry that I will be challenged. I choose Cambridge because I am so used to visiting that I thought it would make me feel more confident than if I went somewhere new. I also considered the fact that they are always so many tourists that I should go relatively unnoticed.

I shot around 20 images before I started to feel uncomfortable. I was really trying to shoot without being noticed which made it quite difficult to really capture peoples expressions.

I have selected a few of my photos below, I have tried to show a variety.

 

1/600 f5.6 ISO 200 90mm

 

1/600 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm

 

1/1600 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm

 

1/1000 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm

 

1/640 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm

 

1/640 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm

 

1/400 f5.6 ISO 320 105mm

 

1/400 f5.6 ISO 320 105mm

 

Looking back at the images I think I did slightly better than I thought I would but I have used along focal length. I think this was to create distance between myself and my subject, again so that I wouldn't be seen. I think that I will head back to Cambridge for a couple more exercises as I now feel slightly more comfortable.