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Matthew C. Digital Photography / Fall 2019-2020 / Strath Haven H.S.

For these two photos, I noticed that the lighting was coming from the window. So I used window lighting to compose the photo. I also noticed that the subject was looking away and his legs drew the attention to the subjects face.
These photos were pretty straightforward. David Bailey is a master at capturing the expressions of his subjects and I wanted to do the same. I had Ian take the same position and do the same expression. I do not think I was able to capture the same emotion the photo was portraying.
The photo that Bailey took is very dramatic, with the shadows outlining his face. This photo really stood out to me because of how it was shot completely head on with the subject filling the frame of the photo. I did some editing to highlight the shadows in my photo to create the ominous effect depicted in Bailey’s photo.

Philosophy: Though David Bailey’s photographs were mainly for his profession, his photos greatly influenced the world we see today. What makes Bailey’s career so compelling is his past. Coming from a working-class family to a world renowned photographer, Bailey’s past embodied the 1960s. The Swinging Sixties was a time of cultural revolution and modernity, and Bailey took right to it. But Bailey said his photos were never about his personal ideals: “I just made the selection for the show by choosing the best ones. It’s always easy – people say how do you make a choice but you know this picture is better than that picture. It’s always aesthetic with me; it’s never emotional or personal.” Bailey’s reasoning for becoming a photographer in the first place was to make a living for himself: “Well it wasn’t really like the war because it was the first time the working classes had a mass voice and lots of people were doing really interesting things. But I was never that interested in fashion. It was just the only way that a photographer in those days could earn a living creatively. Back when I was an assistant I had to go and look at fashion shows so I’d do it with another assistant and we’d take turns sleeping.” Bailey was not at first drawn to fashion photography however, his work as a fashion photographer shaped modern day obsession with celebrity and fame.

Influence: Throughout the experience of recreating and researching David Bailey’s work, I was definitely inspired. His photos gave me perspective on how each photograph should be shot. Many of Bailey’s photo utilize shadows to highlight the subject. In my own work now, I look to see how shadows contribute to the overall emotion that is being conveyed.

This photo counters a misconception people have about me. People think that I do not take my school work seriously. But, as shown in the photo, school work is my first priority. I take school very seriously, although my casual attitude might say otherwise. The composition I chose for this photo was strong subject. I want myself to be the clear subject in the photo, and I chose the light coming from the window.
This photo was my idea of an artful selfie. Fall is my favorite season, so I used leaves to illustrate my love for fall. The composition I chose for this photo was strong subject. My expression and the composition of the photo created drama for this selfie.
This photograph was taken by my Dad at nationals last year. This reveals something about me that people do not usually see. This is the sport that I play. It is hard for people to see that I fence because fencing is not a popular sport. Technique used for this photograph was angle. I edited the photo by lifting the exposure and contrast to sharpen the photo.
The activity that I tried was quitting social media for an entire week. Frankly, the experience was very rewarding. I was able to be less distracted and get more work done. The photographs that I took were to capture the struggles and benefits that went into this new experience. First, my emotion of not being able to use instagram anymore. Second, I was able to get much more sleep. Third and fourth, I had time to do more enriching things like reading a new book and studying for finals. Lastly, quitting social media helped me to exercise more. I united these photos as a group by applying the same filter(Chateau Deep) on all the photographs. To approach this prompt, I wanted my photos to depict how my experience of quitting social was very beneficial. Whether it was indoor or outdoor lighting, all the photos clearly depicted the subject. That is the reason I made sure that the emotion shown in my face was always present in the photos. (except for the running photo). I wanted the viewer to see that at first I was reluctant to try this but then realized throughout the week the activity was quite rewarding and enjoyable.

As the class comes to an end, there are many things that I would like to reflect upon. The inspiring and enriching projects, editing in photoshop, and the many learning experiences I undergone. I feel that I have learned many things, improving my photography skills as well as my editing skills. I also enjoyed the class very much. The balance between working outside the classroom and inside the classroom instruction was perfect. After this class is over, I want to continue to improve my skills as a photographer.