Homeless - series 2

For my second series of Homeless, I chose a teenager as my subject.

I sketched out my ideas before hand to ensure they would work on a sign.

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Homeless - series 1

For my first forays into ‘emotional honesty’ inspired by Wearing, I wanted to take a series of almost identical images, where only the wording on the placard changed, and see if this influenced the way the subject was viewed.

For my first photograph series entitled Hungry and Homeless, I wanted to examine people’s attitudes to the homeless. To set up my shoot, I sourced a suitable location, appropriate clothing and props, and a willing model. On location, I set up the scene and briefed my model. I had assistance with the placard changeovers, as I needed my model to remain in position, and the camera was on a tripod to ensure stability and maintain the same photo position. 

I sketched out my placard ideas beforehand to ensure they would work on a sign.

The process

I used the MAGNETIC LASSO TOOL to trace the outline of the red cup.

I then went to SELECT and then to INVERSE. This means everything but the red cup is selected.

 I then went to IMAGE and ADJUSTMENTS and then to BLACK & WHITE. This converted everything other than the cup to black and white.

 I then decided that the white logo on the sock stood out to much. I used the CLONE STAMP TOOL to get rid of the logo.

 I used the rest of the black sock to get rid of the white logo.

I then added rulers to my image and noted down the dimensions so each photo would be cropped in exactly the same place.


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Gillian Wearing inspired mini series

Gillian Wearing is the artist who has inspired me to create this mini series. Gillian has always created photographs and films which explored the public and private lives of ordinary people. This is shown in her famous 1992-1993 series, “Signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that say what someone else wants you to say”. She asks people to write down what's on their mind.

“What might make it uncomfortable is people being so honest. Especially within the art world, you can get very guarded. That’s why I ask strangers, because people are much more honest to someone they’re not going to see again.” 

One of her best know images from this series is the image titled I'm desperate.

This image consist of a smartly dressed man in a suit with a content expression, holding a sign saying 'I'm desperate'.

''People are still surprised that someone in a suit could actually admit to anything, especially in the early 1990s, just after the crash… I think he was actually shocked by what he had written, which suggests it must have been true. Then he got a bit angry, handed back the piece of paper, and stormed off.''

I plan to emulate Wearing's work using card statements in two different ways: firstly by using pre-written statements to manipulate the interpretation of images; and, secondly, to get people to reflect on their outward impression to the world.

Artist contact request

I wrote to three artists, asking them questions about their work, including their influences, how they go about creating their images and if they had any tips on going about emulating their image. 

Firstly, I sent an email to Matt Siber.

I also sent an email to Jeffrey Wolin.

Finally, I sent an email to Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Style Emulation - Matt Siber

Artist Matt Siber is interested in the ways in which we communicate as a culture within public space. He is challenging the powers of persuasion and influence exerted upon large groups of people through advertising, news media, branding and propaganda. His work ‘seeks to investigate the methods and underpinnings of these systems of communication in an effort to understand them better’.

I will be attempting to emulate one of Siber's images from his 'The Untitled Project'. In this project Matt explores issues of communication in public space. He does this by separating the text from the visual photograph.

I planned out my design first so I knew how to layout my embroidery design on the fabric.

This is my take on Matt Sibers work. 

This is the original design (below), which I photoshopped to remove the text from the visual design using the stamp tool. 

The cyanotype process

Firstly, I took my photo that I had chosen to use and inverted it using photoshop.

Secondly, I added the lyrics of the song that went with that photo.

Next, I printed each photo off onto acetate.

Then, using the cyanotype paper I had painted and left to dry for a few days before I placed my acetate on top, placed it in the lightbox under a UV light and placed a pane of glass over the top to keep the acetate flat and to allow for the clearest outcome. I then left it in there for 1 hour. 

After the one hour was up, I placed the paper, upside down, into a tray of running water. By placing my cyanotype into the water, the water-soluble iron salts are washed away, while the non-water-soluble blue remains in the paper, giving the cyanotype its distinctive blue colour. 

Finally, in order to speed up the darking process and to fix the colour I soaked my cyanotypes in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.

Critical analysis

Not all of my cyanotypes worked the first time round, or even the second or third time of trying. Most cyanotypes took a lot of trial and error. 

I accidently rinsed my photos in hot water instead of using cold like normal and they turned a golden colour. 

Sometimes the words on my cyanotypes would turn out unclear and blurred. 

Sometimes there would be too much going on underneath the words and this makes the words unclear and hard to read.

Sometimes my cyanotypes would come out far too bright and would exclude some of the features. 

Sometimes, when printing out onto the acetate sheets the printer would leave lines and smudge and this would show up on my cyanotypes. 

Country Life

My photographic portfolio sets out to tell a story in pictures and is based on lyrics written by Steve Knightly and featured on Country Life, the eleventh studio album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands, which was released in 2003.

The title track and album opener, Country Life, is a poignant and finely honed tirade about the desecration of British country life and a bitter condemnation of modern values. Inspired by the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak but increasingly relevant today, the song examines rural poverty and social exclusion based on the experiences of an extended local family, and as told from the perspective of an angry young man.

Using an environmental portraiture approach and through the medium of cyanotype, I set out to show rural people interacting with their surroundings in a way that illuminates the subject's life. But along the way, it quickly became apparent that the rural scene is just as much about the people who are no longer there – pushed out by rising property prices, lack of jobs and public transport, as well as the increasing industrialisation of farming  ­– as the ones who remain. This is strongly reflected in the lyrics that accompany my images.

My photographs were taken using a Canon EOS 550D, and digitally enhanced in Adobe Photoshop to change the saturation of each photo and overlay the typographic elements.

The cyanotype process combines 21st-century technology and 19th-century photographic techniques to transform the original set of digital photograph and create powerful images that resonate in time.

Image 1: Country Life

Rural men and women are proud of their heritage, their land and their stock. The opening image shows a farmer at one with his old but lovingly maintained tractor, both of them hardworking and indispensable to the farm. 

 Image 2: The first cut

Working in the rain cutting down wood
Didn't do my little brother much good
Lost two fingers in a chainsaw bite
All he does now is drink and fight

The rural countryside represents a work place but it is also a dangerous place with tractors, farm machinery and chainsaws in everyday use. Each year in the agriculture, forestry and inland fishing sector, around 4% of workers suffer from an illness they believe to be work-related and 4% of workers sustain a work-related injury. Last year, 160 farm workers died at work. This image illustrates just one of the potential sources of harm faced daily by rural workers, where health and safety is paramount but challenged by the nature of machinery in use.

Ref: Agriculture sector. (2015). Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.hse.gov.uk/Statistics/industry/agriculture/index.htm 

Image 3: A man of many parts

Sells a bit of grass, hots up cars

Talks of travel never gets far
Loves his kids left his wife
An everyday story of country life

Young people living in rural locations learn to drive at a younger age than those living in urban areas. The majority pass their driving test and get their own cars before they reach the age of 20, reflecting the high priority of car ownership for the rural population in general. In one study, over 40 per cent of 17- to 18-year-olds were shown to be driving their own cars. For the rest, the 'no car, no job' situation is a classic face of disadvantage in rural areas. While many of these cars are old and high maintenance, they represent independence and are cherished by their owners. This image shows the local mechanic in his valuable ‘parts graveyard’ behind his workshop.

Ref:  Young people and transport in rural areas. (2000). Retrieved April 6, 2016, from https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/young-people-and-transport-rural-areas 

Image 4: Empty box

And the red brick cottage where I was born
Is the empty shell of a holiday home
Most of the year there's no-one there
The village is dead and they don't care

Second home ownership is a problem for rural communities for a number of reasons. A lack of available housing and increasing property prices forces the next generation into the town, while the incoming weekenders typically bring their food and other resources with them, so contribute little to the community financially and aid the loss of rural amenities, such as shops. The lack of people in this image is intended to convey a message of the missing rural generation.

Image 5: Last orders

Now we live on the edge of town
Haven't been back since the pub closed down
One man's family pays the price
For another man's vision of country life

Many rural areas have lost their pub, and with it the hub of the local community. While there are still around 48,000 pubs in England today, more than 29,000 pubs have been 'lost' or closed in recent decades. In 2016, there are 3000 pubs in imminent danger of closure, demolition or conversion, while 29 pubs a week are being lost across the UK. This image, depicting vegetation growing over abandoned barrels and bottles, is symbolic of the closure after the publican called ‘last orders’ for the final time.

Ref:  Four pubs close EVERY DAY in the UK. (2015, November 18). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3323833/It-really-closing-time-Four-pubs-shutting-DAY-UK.html

Image 6: Proud soldier

My old man is eighty four
His generation won the war
He left the farm forever when
They only kept on one in ten

After World War II, many British estates were broken up into smaller more intensive production units, aided by increasing mechanisation and a consequential loss of agricultural jobs. This image shows an old soldier holding his shotgun as proudly as he would once have held his rifle while on parade, while the seed drill he leans on is a remnant of the last of the horse drawn machinery of the era and a nod to the dig for victory campaign that helped keep the country alive in the war years.

Image 7: To the manor born

Landed gentry county snobs
Where were you when they lost their jobs
No-one marched or subsidised
To save a country way of life

The landed gentry are often asset rich (land and property) but cash poor and, for many small estates, the ‘big house’ became more of a curse than an asset, requiring frequent and costly upkeep. This image shows the local ‘lady of the manor’ with the ancestral portraits, with the ancestors perhaps looking down haughtily at what’s left of their legacy and considering whether the present incumbent is worthy.

Image 8: In the line of fire

Silent fields empty lanes
Drifting smoke distant flames
Picture postcard hills on fire
Cattle burning in funeral pyres

Foot and mouth in 2001 was a devastating blow for the British dairy, beef and sheep industry, and many farmers left the industry altogether in the aftermath. Our increasingly urbanised society fails to realise that without our grazing livestock, whether lost to disease or economically unviable milk prices, the countryside will no longer be managed to create ‘picture postcard’ views. This image recreates the horror of the funeral pyres that raged across Britain during the foot and mouth epidemic, the ear tags representing the more than 10 million sheep and cattle that were shot before being burned on sleeper-fuelled fires. 

Ref: Boyde, Carl . (Presenter). (2007, October 31). Inside Out. BBC.

Image 9: The deepest cut

Out to graze they look so sweet
We hate the blood we want the meat
Buy me a beer I'll take my knife
Cut you a slice of country life

In the UK, consumers are far removed from the production of their food unlike many European countries where even city dwellers have a link to a family plot. UK consumers shop with their wallets rather than their conscience, and have no real concept of animal welfare on farms and within abattoirs beyond our shores, or increasingly within with controversial halal slaughter on the up. This image shows a local farmer with one her lambs, born on the farm but destined for the table. 

Image 10: The last man standing

If you want cheap food well here's the deal
Family farms are brought to heel
Hammer blows of size and scale
Foot and mouth the final nail

Farm income in the UK has fallen by over 50% in the last five years. In 1939, 4.5% of the country's workforce was in the farming industry. By 2000 this had fallen to 1.3%. In the last two years, one third of the UK's 150,000 farmers have quit, while more than a quarter of English farms now rely partly on additional non-agricultural income. This image featuring the unmarried elder son of a small family beef unit reflects the end of the line as he will probably the last to farm this particular land.

Ref:  Pettifer, J. (Presenter). (2001, April 1). Crisis in the Countryside, Panorama. BBC. 

Image 11: The silence of the lambs

The coffin of our English dream
Lies out on the village green
While agri-barons cap in hand
Strip this green and pleasant land

Global agribusiness are buying up land, increasing the scale of production and changing the British landscape. Traditions and family farms are lost and, along with them, whole generations of local families who may have lived in and around the village for centuries. This image represents the families who have long worked these lands but will now be left behind as their descendants pack up and leave the village forever.

Image 12: The end of the line

What went wrong. Country life
It's a little bit of country life.

The portfolio closes on an image of despair and resignation, mirroring a business landscape where rising farm costs, reduced farm income, agricultural industrialisation and lost community are leading us to the end of the countryside as we know it.

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