Those whom I admire

Here are a few photographers that have really caught my eye, and although they dont have blogs you should check out their websites! :)

http://www.travisburkephotography.com/

http://www.ianbradleyphotography.com/

http://www.macodphotography.com/

http://www.stuwilliamsonphotography.com/

http://archive.tiffanyschultz.com/

http://www.patrickwinfield.com/blog/

Heritage Sites of Dubai

Once the inspiration for the 'Pieces of Me' project was complete, I made a mind map of all the memorable things that compose my life and how they have influenced me. Of course growing up in the Middle East played a large role in that, and as a result on a trip to Dubai I visited all the old heritage sites and while driving down the 12-lane motorways was able to really understand the huge shift from traditional Dubai, which was originally a small fishing village surrounding the Creek, to the metropolis it is at present.

I had the chance to go to a reconstructed Oasis, which is a small date palm forest in the desert, with traditional style Arabic buildings which had intricate designs on the walls, which I later found out were used to hide the defenses of forts! The wind tunnels are used to catch wind drafts and send them through the building much like an early form of AC, and were useful in determining the correct composition of the pieces. The most well-known animal of the Middle East is of course the camel, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to photograph the resident camel whom I nicknamed 'Khaled'.

It was 12 noon on a Friday, when we arrived at an old heritage site in Dubai called 'Bastakia' and so all the male Muslims in the area were walking for noon prayers. I stood a respectable distance away and tried not to disturb anyone as I captured their traditions of prayers. It was quite moving to watch the whole scenario as I had never been that close to the mosques during prayer time before.

While driving along the Sheikh Zayeed Road, the main motor way in Dubai, its hard to miss the tallest tower in the world; the Burj Khalifa. It really is awe-inspiring as you crane your neck to try and see the top of the tower above the cloud line. At over 828 metres (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records:

•  Tallest building in the world

•  Tallest free-standing structure in the world

•  Highest number of stories in the world

•  Highest outdoor observation deck in the world

•  Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world

•  Tallest service elevator in the world 

The penultimate image has been manipulated, but I love the underlining serendipity of this photo, catching the light just as it bursts from cloud cover, silhouetting the wind towers.

 

 

This was the view from a friends bedroom, looking over the Dubai Marina skyline, casting light on the surrounding lakes, almost hiding the hustle & bustle of this fast moving city with the serenity of the fountain.

 Photo © Sarah Ashworth Photography -All Rights Reserved

Inspiration for 'Pieces of Me'

Photographs can tell the story of a family's life, with portraits marking the changes and new beginnings of a persons history. Photographs also remind us of memories, and photography itself has changed dramatically over the years, with modern photography beginning in the 1820's with the first permanent photographs, and now is used as inspiration to all artists in one way or another. This project uses photography to capture the very essence of 'Pieces of Me', and show how it can be manipulated to give a deeper meaning to an irreplaceable moment, such as a birthday with my mum, or winning a school race.

Patrick Winfeild Junior, a major inspiration for this project piece, with artwork composing of multiple polaroid photos combined to form one large landscape shot. His collages capture different lights and examples of natural and man made landscapes, such as those below, and other examples include the morphing of pictures which focus on the human form. Winfeild has been referred to as a 'Quick Snapper' from his use of polaroids, similar to my keen interest in polaroid cameras with the intent that polaroids have the ability to capture images instantly which could be missed by other mediums.

Jeff Zoet; a photographer based in Pittsburg, specialises in unique interpretations of weddings, model portfolios and creative portraiture. The final result below named 'The Polaroid Collection' is a 3D image of a girl which I believe could influence my 'Pieces of Me' project.

 

Step 1: have the model hold two blank polaroid photos infront of her face & body. This helps decide which areas to focus on afterwards.

Step 2: Let the polaroids drop gently without allowing the model to move from her position, this is to see what is underneath the photos and to re-enter later on.

Step 3: Using a 'Dirty Polaroid' which has been duplicated, arrange them into a random collage, ensuring the two main polaroids remain in the exact same position.

Step 4: Next using photoshop start to merge the two together - masking the original photo and take out anything that wasn't in a Polaroid photo. Then create another layer of hands so they appear to be reaching out of the polaroids, and by adding shadows it will give the piece depth. 

an example of written work for University applications

As I do not take Art as an A-level my example of written work which is most relevant and up-to-date is from my Film Studies A-level coursework. The coursework compiles of an analysis of a scene of a film, including composition, lighting and the effect it has on the audience - all of which i thought would be applicable to photography.

How cinematography and editing is used in the 'bowling scene' in Across the Universe to create meaning for the audience

The main focus of this essay will be on the elements of cinematography, editing and sound in the bowling sequence of Julie Taymor's Across the Universe and how they create meaning and provoke a response from the viewing audience. Bruno Delbonnel is the director of cinematography, and has previously worked on mainstream films such as the 6th installment of the Harry Potter franchise. The scene I have chosen focuses on the over whelming attraction between the male protagonist Jude (Jim Sturgess) has towards Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) the female lead and how it is reinforced by cinematography, editing and sound.

In this scene we start with a medium shot of the two protagonists, both of whom are leaning in towards each other suggesting the intense concentration they have during this conversation. As the frame of the two characters is at such an intimate position, the audience is made aware of the strong attraction. Once 'Max', Lucy's brother, is seen exiting the house there is a slight panning in on him and while tilting upwards to allow the to allow the full house behind to be shown emphasizing his will to leave the constriction of his parents & their household.

The sequence then cuts to a frame of the main male walking through people playing their bowling shots, almost acting out the lines of the song "had it been another day I might have looked the other way", and by doing so explains how easy it is to miss the opportunity to find love to the audience. At this point the camera is being followed by Jude, who is moving closer towards it at a constant speed until finally the frame ends with a close up of his face.

Lighting is warm and cheerful and the players in the background celebrate their scores, unbeknown to Jude who is still oblivious to his surroundings. Once this frame has ended it wipes almost instantly to image of Lucy and Max taking turns to bowl, but in turn disrupting the play as they steal each other's bowling balls.

However when it is Jude's turn to bowl, instead of disrupting him Lucy hands him a ball with a comical and flirtatious curtsey; this is a clear signal to the audience that Lucy returns Jude's affection. During this frame the non-diagetic sound of the Jude singing in more subtle and instead the diagetic conversation between Jude and Lucy is more prominent, emphasizing the idea of the attraction they have for one another.

Galaxies & Glitter (Part 2)

So after the 'projected galaxies' idea I decided to shoot my models using a blank black canvas and then photoshop the images of galaxies onto the portrait. Facepaints were used to symbolise different qualities that each model represented; innocence, affection and individuality. The results were very pleasing & I started to think of a new and exciting project.

                                         Photo © Sarah Ashworth Photography-All Rights Reserved

Preparation

Before I decided to do another shoot, I wanted to ensure that it would be brought to life with the right materials so I started looking in children’s stores for face paints to experiment with and hopefully successfully symbolise the immaturity of adolescence. The facepaints were used to paint masks on each individual model, to portray their personality. Red symbolising seduction and power, blue for rebellion and beauty each pair of models had a similar matching mask, to suggest that each personality doesn't have to apply to one specific sex.

Finding a range of models from different nationalities was a key concept for the meaning of the shoot, as growing up in an expatriate background I was surrounded by different cultures and nationalities from a young age.

After shadowing professional photographers, I was capable of setting up a studio-esque environment, and by using a black background the editing stages would be made easier, as the black would act as a 'blank canvas' for the merging of galaxy photographs without the hindrance of editing a white background. I adjusted the light frequency to suit the surroundings, as the black would act differently to light than a white background and by using a Sekonic L-3J8 I was able to time the lights to flash in co-ordination to the camera, for which I used my Canon D550 with a 18-135mm lens.