Assignment 4: Submission

Finally!

Back on the rails after a long drought. Cannot believe that it is over 18 months since I last submitted a group of photographs for comment as part of an assignment.  Guess we all have highs and lows, creative blocks, whatever, but this has been long and drawn out.  Too Long!

Sending my photos to Simon was cathartic, a release of pent up energy.  However, I have to admit that I am more than nervous about his response, the long break has left me very unsure of myself and concerned that what critical sense I had might have left me.  A few days and I will know.

In any case here is the submission

Introduction

At the beginning of this course I made several decisions that would have a long term impact on my progression and what I created. One was that Robert Frank would be the subject of my essay and thus my “in the style of”.  I also determined to pursue a long term study of the people of Munich, creating a progressive portrait of the inhabitants of the city.  The goal would be a book, “Die Münchener”, a parallel to “The Americans”.  However, when working on assignment 2 I got myself into a difficult place creating another book, “Fest”.  I invested too much time and energy in book design and too little on the actual assignment.  Subsequently, I learned a lot about book design, but turned in an assignment that could have been far better with additional work.  I learned a valuable lesson and that was to focus on the brief and not on my personal take on what I wanted to do. I still plan to produce Die Münchener, but later and in response to this assignment and my tutor’s feedback, not as a precursor.

This assignment took even more time than I anticipated, 22 months have passed since I first took photographs that contributed to this submission, my original plan was to submit this assignment in Spring 2013, not 2014.  2013 became a lost year, one in which I made little or no progress on the course; the combination of a close family bereavement and severe overwork left no energy for study.  There is good and bad in this.  I lost momentum and interest in the world of photography, but I gained time to think and re-assess both my interests and my commitment.  Entering 2014 I feel re-energized and ready to re-engage with my studies, I hope that comes out in this assignment.  These are the first photographs I have submitted for comment in nearly 18 months, have I moved forward or sunk back?.

During those intervening months I did not stop taking photographs, I kept taking pictures of the city and it’s people, sometimes landscape, sometimes street, exploring different styles, even playing with medium format film.  I always had an idea of what I wanted to achieve, but not quite how I was going to achieve it.  I tried to be open to whatever I found, traveling to different locations in the city and it’s surroundings, capturing whatever interested me.  This broad approach to imaging Munich created issues later in the process, but enabled me to sustain the project over time.  The greatest issue was what to present, how to capture the essence of a population in 12 photographs.  Clearly such a goal was impossible, hence I have tried to present 12 images that reflect upon my experience of the city, but at the same time echo the work of Robert Frank and his study of the Americans.

Munich is an eclectic place, left leaning, social democrat in it’s politics, yet surrounded by the traditionally conservative Bavarian countryside.   It is wealthy, there is little or no poverty, jobs abound, being unemployed is on the whole a personal decision. Although expensive by German standards it is not when compared to other comparable global cities.  It is a centre for finance, but balances that with a strong manufacturing base, BMW has its home here.  The cities bishop became a Pope, yet it has one of the most progressive gay communities in Europe.  The people of Munich are open minded, hardworking, full of humour and can afford to have a good time.  This assignment takes a look at those people and tries to capture something of the diversity of this amazing place I call home.

In the Style of

A key problem I had to resolve was what “In the Style of” meant and in particular how I was going to interpret the brief.  I have struggled with this since I started the course and although I have come to a view and one that informs my photography, I do wonder if this is what the designer of the course had in mind.

I have decided not to copy Frank’s visual style. I don't own a 1950's B&W film Leica and if I did I still would not use it for this work, nor do I want to replicate this in software.  I am in the process of developing my own visual style and at present that is clean sharp and ordered, very different to Frank.  I am not sure I would benefit by going against that at this stage in my development as a photographer.

However, Frank is a great influence on me and my work, but more in the sense of his subject choice and methods.  What I am trying to do in this assignment is to channel Frank's way of looking at the world, using my camera to ask questions and capture the zeitgeist of Munich. I have taken time over the assignment, paralleling Frank's months on the road, to develop ideas and narratives over time, not a few weekends.  I have tried to present within each photograph an individual narrative, each should ask questions of the reader and hopefully contain the occasional surprise.  Frank excelled at single image narratives.  I am also looking for a little humour and social commentary, again something that Frank brought to his work.

To add context to the set I am also drawing a little on a German photographer, August Sander, each photo is an illustration of a "type" of Münchener.  The goal is not a complete typography, but a set of 12 individual photographs, each examining a different aspect of what it is to be a citizen of Munich.

Process

The extended time for this study resulted in a lot of photographs, roughly 2-3,000 taken over 30 or more separate days.  I edited as I went, after each shoot examining the “Digital” contact sheet on my screen and selecting those that I thought had some merit.  This resulted in a pool of 230 photographs that I then further refined to a final set of 48.  These I printed onto plain paper enabling me to get away from the computer screen and look at them as physical objects.  At all times I dipped back into the complete volume of photos, pulling images in and out as my thoughts evolved.

Getting this down to 12 was hard, it always is with assignments, but this time particularly challenging as I had been working on the photographs for such a long time.  A problem I have is a tendency to develop favourites, photographs that for any reason I become attached to.  I lose objectivity and can end up rejecting more effective images to keep these in the set.  At this stage I share my thoughts with friends and fellow students to try and see if any of the final set do not work for any reason.

Once I had a working set of 12 I remained open to change, but at that stage started to think about how each photograph should look as a finished object.  From the beginning the decision was to work in B&W, not necessarily to parallel Frank, but because I wanted to explore the world in this medium and chose to use this assignment for that.  Once that decision was made I was pretty much committed because it influenced what I shot, how I shot it and what photos I selected after each shoot.  I have looked at the final set as colour images, some work, many do not.

I am quite heavy handed in developing my images, liking string contrast images.  I have consciously tried to dial that down with this set, looking for a smoother tonality and thinking ahead to creating final prints.  I make very few local adjustments to images, preferring the standard tool set in Lightroom to that offered by Photoshop.  The biggest processing decision was in how I cropped each photograph.  I have not standardized the aspect ratios, choosing whatever works for each individual image.  This risks disjoint between the images, however, there is no intent for a linear narrative; each photograph should present a standalone statement.  That said, sequencing is still important, the photos will be read in the order I submit them, so some care was needed.  The sequencing of images in The Americans is much commented on and is an essential element of the structure of the work.  With only 12 photographs establishing rhythm or patterns was not possible, and I did not permit sequencing to influence image choice.  However, the sequence chosen is deliberate.

Learning

What did I learn from this assignment? Patience and Stamina!  Well, those were the two qualities I needed to keep going.  I have struggled badly with this assignment, in part due to external factors, but also down to my own prevarication and unwillingness to call it a day and finish the process.  There is a risk that the time taken might lead to a disjoint in the images, I have tried to avoid this, but am still concerned.  I think I fell into that classic art trap of never being able to call something complete.  Indeed this is not complete, in a sense it never can be, but a set of 12 photographs had to be selected and presented.

I learned a lot about camera handling and the activity of street photography.  I used small cameras throughout, either fixed lens compacts or mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.  In this sense I did borrow from Frank choosing discreet cameras that limited the attention that I drew.  I found that cameras with fold out screens that could be used at waist level made me more or less invisible.  I also discovered that a cheery smile diffused most people’s look of concern about being photographed.  In short, my confidence rose considerably.

Most of all this was a lesson in developing an inquiring mind, looking at the mundane to find the marvellous, using a camera to tell the story of the people of a city.  I hope that together these photographs ask questions bit also reveal something about the people of Munich in a way that Frank’s photographs revealed 1950s America.

 

 Artist: The first and last photographs in this set are very different, but both contain the word München and bookend the set. Within a few of the photographs in the set I have tried to include direct or indirect references to the city.

This is an artist at a craft fair held once a year in the city centre.  The city is frequently taken over for fairs or demonstrations, most weekends there is some activity.  The city supports freedom of expression and art is central to the core values of the people.  Photography is not always so welcome.

The photo contains a very clear indication not to take photographs and hints at the struggle of engaging in street photography in a country that places huge value on privacy.  It is not perfect, when shooting a lady crossed in front of me, her handbag is still in the frame.  I could crop closer, but wanted to completely include the lady in her chair.

Worker: This is another photograph that obliquely hints at the city.  When buildings are being renovated or replaced the hoardings frequently contain large scale photographs of what will be revealed when the work is complete.  The worker in question is taking a break for that essential of modern life, sending or receiving a text message.  Once it would have been a cup of coffee or a beer break with colleagues, now we retreat to the solitude of electronic communication.

Shopper: I struggled with the crop of this photo, undecided about the left hand window that is very partially revealed.  However, with the window in place the photograph takes on the impression of a series of stills from a movie, a moment in time captured as part of a continuum.  The photograph illustrates the cleanliness of a Munich grocery shop, and the people in the queue occupy themselves with phones and even a newspaper.

Penner: A Penner is the local word for a tramp, not necessarily a homeless man, but a down and out, usually alcoholic person who hangs around the city centre.  He has been collecting bottles to return for their “Pfand” or deposit.  Tourists rarely realize that 25 cents of the cost of their coke is the bottle which can be returned once empty.  For every 10 or so bottles he collects he can earn enough for another beer, his current bottle sits next to him.  The kiosk to the left will handle the transaction meaning he can maintain his perch in the winter sun.

In this photo the flag is that of Bavaria and contains the arms of the state, again a reference to where we are.  I had to lighten the man’s face as the low winter sun was really casting deep shadows.  I could have moved in closer to drive more of a portrait view, however, this is meant to place him in a place, the photo is about the Penner, but it is also about where he is.  I am reluctant to chase down “The Other” in my photography, but many of Munich’s Penners are a part of society and tolerated, well to a point.

Pensioner: Clearly the elderly lady is not the subject of this photo, but she does create an odd juxtaposition with the immense Buddha in the background, “Made in Dresden”.  What that is about, I really have no idea.  I have cropped the photo to emphasize the position of the Buddha.  I hope this photo has a sense of humour within it.

Lover: Street photography is often simply a matter of luck, although I do wonder if the couple saw me composing the photo and decided to help me out, they laughed as they walked past me, all smiles. My plan was a photo of the Tambosi café to the right a famous Munich spot to sit in the sun and engage in people watching, note that all seats face forwards. I waited for someone to occupy the left foreground to add balance, then got lucky.  I have cropped the very heavy shadow on the right of the original photograph.  The shadows are stronger than I would have liked, however, this was taken in February and that was the light.

Photographer: I think like many photographers I am fascinated by imaging the act of making a photograph.  This was taken during the annual Christopher Street parade, the photographer was looking for couples to create portraits of.  I think this speaks of Munich’s eccentricity and tolerance of alternative lifestyles.  There is also the confluence of tradition and counter culture, the lederhosen of the photographer and one subject are fiercely traditional, contrasting with the perhaps more stereotypical leather pants of the right most man.

Transvestite: I questioned whether I should include two photographs of visibly gay men in my set, however, I think the two photographs act as a contrast.  The first illustrates acceptance, the second bemusement and perhaps hostility.  There is a risk in any set of photographs of focusing on the unusual, however that is often the source for interesting photographs.

The cleaning crew stand in stark contrast to the two guys walking past them.  I think I got the focus about right, enough background blur to make the couple stand out.  I would have liked a little space above the subjects head, but this was taken with a fixed focal length lens and there was not enough space to manoeuver.

Protestor: This is the only out and out portrait in the set and as such is a simpler photograph than many of the others, however, it still asks questions.  Although clearly a man with attitude to my eyes he still looks somehow vulnerable among the black clad heavy guys around him.

I took this at the annual protest against the NATO security conference held in Munich every year.  I stalked him for a while with a tele trying to frame him against the arch behind.  This is one of the photographs that loses something in B&W, his hair is almost the same orange as the 4 lights beside him, providing a better balanced image in colour.  However, I think is still works in B&W.

Cop: The NATO conference also brings a heavy police presence, literally thousands of cops are deployed across the city in riot gear.  This group was defending a rather smart shopping arcade, a potential target for the anarchists protesting.  Life went on as usual, the police smiled, people chatted with them, they were present but not really in the way.

They are also pretty OK about being photographed, this is one of many that I took.  I have chosen this view as it offered the best sense of the strangeness of heavily armed police lining the streets of the city.  By omitting their faces it perhaps raises the sense of threat a little, reducing them to instruments of the state not people.

Musician: A long standing tradition on “Christihimmelfahrt” (ascension day) and also father’s day in Germany.  Brass bands accompany processions to church.  The bands then go to the beer garden and provided they continue to play, beer will be on the house.  This photograph offers a contrast to some of the others, illustrating that whilst tolerant and progressive, Munich also values tradition, especially when that aligns to beer drinking.

Although liberal, Munich is still deeply Catholic at its core.  The city manages to balance these two values.

Taken with a 35mm equivalent lens this is a rare close up.  I am becoming more comfortable with street photography, but still tend to shoot from a distance, although that is in part driven by a desire to include the landscape around the subject to add context.

Fan: My final photograph is the raw emotion of victory, Bayern Munich had just won the Champions League and with it a treble. There is a lot of emotion around the football team and the city is very proud of its achievements, fans are as fanatical as anywhere.

This was also a lucky shot, I was as caught up as they were, having spent the evening out on the streets watching the game on outdoor screens and consuming a fair amount of beer.  Perhaps being a participant and not simply a photographer meant that I was a part of the crowd and not a voyeur.  This definitely benefits from B&W, the colour image has serious colour problems.

Assignment 4: Contact Sheets

I have now been shooting this assignment for nearly 2 years.  It has been an on and off exercise, but one I have sustained throughout the course.  I have taken roughly 2-3,000 photographs over 30 or more separate days out with my camera.  It is now time to put the camera down and start the process of converting this body of photographs into a coherent set that can be submitted for the assignment.

My first task has been to finalize the conceptual basis of the assignment.

1. I am not going to try to copy Frank's visual style, I don't own a 1950's B&W film based Leica and if I did I still would not use it for this.  I have my own developing visual style and want to progress with that.  I have adopted a clean sharp style and admit that this is very different to Frank.
2. I am sticking with B&W.  It has been a distinct goal of this course to explore the medium and see whether it works for me.  It does and suits this subject very well.  The fact that Frank used B&W is not a part of this decision, indeed that would be a reason to shoot colour.  Another advantage is that I used 5 different cameras during this assignment, all digital and all with subtly different colour handling.  B&W will a visually more coherent set of photographs
3. I am trying to channel Frank's way of looking at the world, using my camera to ask questions and capture the strange or the marvelous.  
4. I have taken time over the assignment, again paralleling Frank's months on the road.  However, I don't have the ability to consider all of Germany as my subject so have constrained my scope to the people of Munich
5. I have tried to capture within the photographs a complex narrative, each should ask questions of the reader and hopefully contain a few surprises.  Frank excelled at asking questions within a single image.
6. To add a little context I am drawing a little on a German photographer, August Sander, each photo should be a "type" of Munchener.  However, I am adopting a rather loose definition, not one tied to profession, perhaps more to stage of life, such as child or OAP, or activity, shopper, drinker, or position in life, wealthy, poor, etc.  To a degree I will match this to the final set of selected images, but it will help drive that selection.
7. I am not standardizing my aspect ratios, I choose whatever works for the image.  This will create disjoint between the images, however, their is no linear narrative, each image is a stand alone statement.  However, sequencing is still important, and so I need to be a little careful.  Frank drove certain themes in the Americans, even if they were hard to follow as a novice photographer.

Applying these concepts to the body of photographs I have taken over the last couple of years, I have refined down to 48 individual photographs that I think are strong enough to submit.  Working down to 12 is not going to be easy.  To assist that process I have created 4 "contact sheets" each with 12 photographs.  I will now take these to the garden with a couple of red and green marker pens.  Hopefully the result will be 12 photographs.  My challenge is that some of these photographs have become favorites due to visual content and whilst they might be funny or striking they do not contain the narrative element I am looking for. A good example is the following

I love this photograph, it makes me smile, but is it really strong enough, I don't think so.  It is a good photograph, but it is simply what it is, it does not really ask any questions.

My challenge now is to find 12 photographs that speak of Munich and reveal something of the fabric of society in which we live.  I am, however, also resolved to create a book from this study, a book that will definitely include the photographer with his proper pose and hat.

Assignment 4: Glockenbachviertal

Assignment 4 is proving to be a good thing for my photography, once a week I now make a point of getting out and about in the city to take photographs.  Each time I try to explore a different district or theme.  I guess I am trying to place myself in Frank's shoes, exploring the world around me, open to whatever comes along, my goal being to document a sense of what is Munich and who are her people.  I am treating Munich as a clock, starting at the hours, roughly 2-3 km from the city and then making my way towards the center.  I live at 2 o'clock, two weeks ago in Schwabing I was at 12.  Last weekend I was in the Glockenbachviertal, an area of Munich associated with the gay and creative arts communities; 7 o'clock.

This is an area that needs more exploration, last weekend was cursory, but that was the point to explore not to examine.  In terms of the current assignment this was not so successful a day, the photos I found were more concerned with landscape than people, although as a part of this study landscape is important in helping to define the context that surrounds and influences the people.

This is a photo that would mean little to anyone not living in a city where cycling is a primary form of transport.  These are trolleys that attach to the back of bikes into which shopping, pets, or as designed children can be placed.  Kids love them, I must admit they look lethal to me.  Anyway this line of parked trolleys is suggestive of the waiting for the sun, winter is still dominant.  Not so interesting other than as a record shot.

Very typical residential area, high gates and security in a part of town that whilst very fashionable is also rough at the edges.  This appealed to me because of the structure, the parallel lines and the depth.  It does not contribute much to the current assignment, but does say something about Munich.

At risk of a study of "The Other" I found the juxtaposition of the poster and the shop interesting - it suggests to me that the lifestyle portrayed on the right is the subject of scrutiny.  I like this image because it says something about the city, there is an open acceptance and even embrace of alternative lifestyles.  Munich is a very liberal and progressive city embedded in the culturally conservative state and deeply catholic state of Bavaria.  There is a balance operating here.

More landscape, this time an anything goes men only gay club.  Again there is a risk of negative comment here, but somehow it does look seedy and uninviting.  Maybe that is the purpose, keep away those who do not approve.

No idea what this was all about.  The mattress is made of bronze and draped over a low wall in front of a chapel.  I think the statue is representative of the down and outs who hang out in the adjoining cemetery, however, why there is a half burnt new testament next to it is a mystery.  Perhaps this works as a metaphor for the uneasy truce between religion and unconventional lifestyles.

Gothic photographs of graveyards are a cliche, but an often visually interesting one.  This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Munich, many of the graves are decaying the writing on them slowly fading.  The grave furniture is massive and clearly a major investment in the preservation of memory, an investment that is slowly failing.

OK, this is odd, but again a comment on the city.  This shop is not an antique gallery, the suit of armor is new and intended to be used.  In the UK we have a number of different groups who get together and re-enact history, normally as conflict.  The English civil war is a big one, but the Napoleonic wars and WW2 are popular.  Re-enacting recent warfare is not an option in Munich, wearing a Nazi uniform here is not an embarrassment committed by the rich and stupid, it is a route to prison. Thus people with a yen for history and wearing costume gravitate towards the high medieval period.  This is their shop!

I like people in rows and lines.  This would work as part of a bigger study, but not in this one, however, I like the structure.  It simply does not say very much.

However, this one is better.  There is an ambiguity in the scene created by the plastic window on the tent that obscures the inside.  Might work better in the evening, when the light inside would lift some of the gloom.

Another people in rows type of photo, but a better one.  There is depth and some animation in this image, plus the contrast of the man drinking alone against the crowded and more convivial background.

Grrrr....  Landscape as social comment.  This used to be a wonderful old beer keller, wooden carving, painted walls, surly but efficient staff, inexpensive but marvelously filling food, and a good glass of beer.  Now it is a hole in the ground that will become a new gastronomic experience.  GRRRRR

This frustrates me and many other people in Munich.  They will preserve the curtain wall at the front offering the new building a facade of age, but inside all will be new and more expensive.  It truly is a symbol of commercial pressure winning over tradition.

I finish this set with the weekend demo, this time against the Venezuelan government.  Every Saturday someone gets a  permit to make noise and have their time to protest.  I thought these people to be more sincere than most, they cared about their message and were happy to be photographed.

In the response to my essay my tutor made the following comment:

In your blog you refer to images in Frank’s style. What many seem to lack is his immersion in the topic - look back at his study of the Welsh miner! Look again at how you remark on his use of focus to be in the middle distance with material closer to the lens being blurred. This adds depth and brings the viewer in. You work seems pin sharp through out and very ordered in terms of uprights and horizontals. Frank’s work was much more fluid. Look again!

This comment is well meaning and informative, but I have a problem.  My goal with this assignment is to explore Frank's world view, his methods and his way of presenting his work.  What I am trying to avoid is to copy his visual style.  Perhaps I am wrong in this, but my goal at present is to further develop my own style, a style that is precise and clean.  I do not think I would gain very much by imitation.  What I want to learn about is context and narrative, to try and imbue Frank's complexity of vision within a single photograph.  I may reject photos that are visually compelling if they do not tell a story that requires some thought on the part of the viewer.  This was Frank's powerful contribution to photography in the The Americans and is something I need to explore in my won work.

Assignment 3: Tutor Feedback

The feedback on my critical essay was mixed, not bad, but not great either.  I am OK with that as this piece of work was a re-connection with my studies after a long absence and as such was something of a new beginning.  The feedback was excellent in content and the advice given something that I will take to heart as I move towards the completion of this course.

To begin, all was not bad:

"Your submission not only succeeds and meets the brief well, but also addresses an aspect of Robert Frank and his work that is more unusual, relevant to your own work and made more interesting as a result."

The essay had done what I wanted it to do, to explore an aspect of Robert Frank outside the usual analysis of "The Americans".  It also connected to my own work.

However, there were a number of flaws in the essay, some of which I was aware of when I submitted the work and chose to ignore. The first and most critical comment is that the essay is overly personal and that the introduction and conclusion are too lengthy.  There was a reason for this.  I was struggling to reconnect to my work and had just stepped back from a decision to abandon the course and the OCA altogether.  I very deliberately used this essay as a way to connect my work and personal experience of photography to Robert Frank and his development as a young artist.

This made for a rather uncontroversial and reflective account of Frank's work which whilst intended, maybe did not make for such interesting reading.  An interesting comment was that my essay at 2,850 words was overly long, hmmm, advice I have had is the word count should exclude the bibliography and +- 10% is OK.  The essay was 2,572 words by my reckoning.  However, there is a good point here, I struggled to get my message into the requisite number of words, this meant that I could not dig deeper into certain elements of Frank.  My tutor called out the following areas to address more:

1. The influence of Brandt and Tuggener - I had much more material prepared on this topic, how Frank met the Taciturn Brandt who said nearly nothing to him, how Tuggener influenced Frank in the direction of social comment through photography and design.
2. Evans - Whole books have been written about the relationship between these two men.

I guess, I could have made more of the critical aspect by reigning back my own introspection, but that would have missed the point of the essay.  This was never intended to be a study of Robert Frank, but an analysis of what I am doing with my own work and where I am going.

One very apt comment referenced my conclusion:

A better ending would be to re-focus your points by de-personalising them; answer the question I pose in the revised title. You could summarise why you think Frank’s developmental journey is significant ; not only for himself, but also to others: the defiance of convention, the need to tie in with the Zeitgeist, benefactors etc.

By tying the essay to me, I did not consider how Frank influenced others that followed and how his work changed photography, but then again, that could only be done with extensive reference to The Americans, so perhaps I had limited chance given the topic of the essay.

A parting comment was a critique of my blog and it's lack of direction.  Sure, I agree, in the last year I have been all over the place, but that reflects my inner struggle to get back into the course, but also disenchantment with the Social Documentary course framework. Now that I am focused on purely the assignments, rather than the technique obsessed projects I hope my blog is beginning to have greater direction and cohesion.  The biggest hole in my work at the moment, is any academic reading or critical assessment of others work.  Two years ago, whilst on the Landscape course I was deep in this kind of material, for a period of roughly 4 years all I had read were critical texts and histories, I think I burned out a little on this material.  I need to get back into this, read a little more and most of all look at the work of others.

In conclusion the essay did what it said on the packet, maybe no great contribution to academic writing, but it did get me back to thinking about photography and most of all actually taking photographs!

Assignment 4: City and Park

My current challenge with this assignment is finding the correct context within which to present the photographs that I am developing.  The subject has always been clear, the people of Munich, the problem I am grappling with is how to bring that into a framework that will capture the essence of Robert Frank's influence on my work.  I learned during the Landscape course that the objective is not to simply copy my chosen influencer's style but to channel their work through mine.  What can I learn from Robert Frank that helps with the development of my own visual style.

I think I have made it pretty clear that I am not comfortable in the photography of people, I prefer things, landscape, structures, stuff that can be solved using a camera.  The reason I am doing this course is because I do not like it, this is a stronger learning experience because I am struggling with it.  The problem with that statement is that my visual style conflicts with the demands of social documentary.  I continually look for precision in my work, I like high contrast and strongly defined photographs.  Frank was very different, his images are often "hazy" and the subject obscured - they require a reading.  He reacted rapidly to situations, took a photo and moved on, I like to linger and try to work out what it is I want to say with a photo.

Where this brings me is the challenge of finding a linking theme to this assignment and then tying it back to Frank.  A while ago I rejected the idea of creating my own "The Americans", but styling it "Die Muenchener", a study of the people of my city.  I find myself drifting back to this idea, but in a shorter form, 12 photographs that illustrate the people of the city.  There is a risk in such an approach of creating an August Sanders does Robert Frank.  My goal is not a typography, what I want to create is a social statement about the people of Munich, each photograph revealing different aspects of the city that go beyond a set of interesting photos of people.  They need to speak of the social issues, politics, and concerns of the people, perhaps subtly, perhaps overtly.  The influence of Frank is the twofold, first his approach to creating the photographs, an extended study imply exploring and photographing stuff that interests me.  The second is the comment,  the statement made by the photographs on what I see around me, they need to contain within them a narrative.  One of my challenges is that I look for simplicity in my imagery, I try solve the geometry of what I observe, that might not be the correct approach for photographs that need a complex internal narrative.

Visually I have chosen B&W for these photographs.  This is not inspired by Frank, but is a personal response to the material I am creating, I simply find that mono works better for these subjects.  I initially considered completing the whole course in mono as a learning experience, that is no longer my goal and for sure assignment 5 will be colour.

Since reconnecting with this course I have once more picked up my camera on a regular basis, trying to get out every weekend and take a few photographs.  The last two weekends were no different.  We continue to enjoy a warm sunny and very dry winter, in my 20 years in Munich this is the first winter that has not been characterized by fierce cold and heavy snow.  Last weekend the temperature in the shade hot 17 degrees, people were sunbathing in swim suits, on the 15th February, Mad!  I captured some interesting images, one or two that have possibles written on them, others that simply said something to me.  All are a study of the people of Munich and I hope all say something.

Heading into twon I took the bus to Muenchener Freiheit, just north of the city center, giving me a good 2km walk into the city.  I sat on the back seat and looked down along the interior.  I think this is too complex visually, but it is a record of a space that many ordinary people find themselves in and the girl to the right working away at her smart phone is very characteristic of modern life.  Not a keeper, but it interests me and might be part of a wider study.

Getting closer to the city I passed the Tambosi cafe, a great sun trap and well they simply obliged.  Like this a lot, it contains many elements of city culture and has a dynamic created by the kissing couple.

A group of tourists, possibly exchange students camp out in the center of Odeons Platz, Americans I think (German students wouldn't hang out here, it is not cool).  This is a photo better defined by its structure than its narrative, so not very strong.  There would need to be more movement to make it work.

This on the other hand is also very static, but full of elements that talk to where we are.  There are technical issues with the image, a shallower depth of field would have yielded a better separation of the foreground, but I think I can cope with that.  There are a lot of beggars in Munich these days, but this guy is not one of them.  He has a profession of sorts,  collecting used bottles discarded by tourists who do not realize that we recycle almost everything here and that those bottles have quite a high deposit (as much as 20p).  Collect 10-15 and he can buy a beer and watch the world go by from his perch in the winter sun.  Within the frame is also a Bavarian flag (hints at Frank's inclusion of flags) as well as a reference to the cities main newspaper.  I think this has a good internal narrative as well as capturing an element of Munich life.

OK, not terribly sophisticated, but half the world seems to have given up with actually looking at stuff.  It seems that it is more important to record something to show to friends rather than to actually experience it.  Kind of odd to go home and show people what your telephone did on it's holiday.  Not a keeper for this assignment, but a possible for a more extended presentation.

Now this is an image I like.  When I took it, my mind was on the group of people approaching.  Then the guy to the right entered the frame and the girl raised her arms in joy.  Job done?  It was not until I looked at the photo on the computer that I realized that I had much more.  The reflections of the people in the ceiling add an extra depth to the photograph.  I cut the photo into a letter box to emphasize the ceiling whilst retaining the people and their dynamic.  Of course I am attracted to the geometry of the circles, reflections and the vanishing point almost at infinity.  However, this also captures the sense of the modern city and the ant like existence of the people within and yet the emotional engagement they have with each other.  Very probable!

In the same area there are a number of cafes with the high tables very typical of Munich.  This captures the ethnic diversity of the city and again could be filler, but it is not strong enough.  The man at the back confuses the foreground couple and there is not enough gesture to make the photograph speak.

A week later I switched from the city center to the parks, lapping up the warm winter sun.  This is a gentle image and speaks of loss and absence, it's narrative lies in asking who Thomas W. Schmidt was.  Looking closer we get a small clue, the brass plate reads "Fur unserer Lieben Flaneur".  For our beloved Flaneur, a French word that google tells me means Loafer, but for every photographer has the special meaning of a street photographer who ambles along waiting for the event.  Cartier Bresson springs to mind.  Here was a man who enjoyed a walk and probably spent time enjoying the view from this spot.  I am not sure about this one, it says a lot to me and I find within it a rather lovely narrative, but is that enough.  Maybe.

Another Shaun image that attempts to create distinct planes of structure, not one for the assignment, but nice...

This has potential, there are a lot of different stories within this image,  the question I would have is that it might be too structured, again I am trying to create a single dimensional flat canvas against which to portray the people.

The next two speak of the sun and the warmth, combined with the conviviality of beer garden.  In the first image it is the shadows that make the photograph interesting, not sure that photographs of people backs would be strong enough for the assignment.

I have a number of photographs like this one, it is a grab shot capturing the crowded world of the beer garden.  As a documentary shot I think it works, it captures a sense of Munich, but is probably not strong enough.  There would need to be a stronger engagement with the camera or more happening in the frame.

The last image in this entry has no chance of making my assignment, but is my personal favorite of them all.  It would not work well in B&W, the colour of the people picks them out against the background.  What makes the image for me is the absence of the leaves.  It reveals the scattered positioning of the people better, all over are small vignettes that contain within them stories that ask to be told.  I also find that the summer behavior of the people conflicts with the clearly winter landscape creating a slightly strange surreal atmosphere.

I think I am getting towards a good set of possibles for this assignment, in fact I could probably now complete this assignment and call it a day.  However, I am finding the exercise of getting out each weekend to create photographs to be an enjoyable one and want to continue a little longer.  I appreciate that every new set of photographs simply makes a final selection more difficult, but that is a problem I can happily accomodate.

Assignment 4: Nato Demo

Looking back at my last few blog entries, I can see what my tutor meant when he recently commented that I need to focus on my development as a photographer.  I am all over the place, drifting from one project to another.  I suspect this reflects my disengagement with the course and a tendency toward exploring personal interests rather than focusing on OCA work.  With this blog entry I hope to start to bring my photographic focus back to the subject of Social Documentary.

I am not by nature terribly bold and taking photographs of strangers is something I find very hard to do.  I think this reflects in my style which is rather stand-off and structural than up close and involved.  A constant dialog I have with myself is whether this is a good or a bad thing.  I have to a degree found my voice as a photographer and that voice is not street, I prefer a more studied and formal approach.  I do not think this precludes me from making a social statement, but it does mean that my work has a particular way with people; I continually find myself trying to represent people as landscape.  On the other hand, I am starting to think that I should not resist this tendency, but go with it and see where it takes me.

This conclusion, however, conflicts with my next Assignment, creating 12 photographs in the style of Robert Frank.  His style is very up close and personal, with little concern for formalism.  I suspect my approach to photography is more Stieglitz than Frank.  That means that I need to draw from Frank something of his style and approach to working that I can engage with.  For me this is possibly his critical and question eye, his need to create photographs that ask questions.  Another element could be the engagement over time with a subject, immersion into that world.  In my case the world would be Munich and it's population.  For the last 2 years I have been creating photographs that I intended would come together in a book that would parallel "The Americans", nominally caller Die Muenchener.  I am questioning this idea now and think it might be better to instead consider his earlier volume, Black White and Things and create a series of 12 photos in 3 thematic groups, as Frank did.  What I explicitly do not want to do is to try and replicate the look of Frank's photos.  What would be the point, I am not Frank.  I need to conclude this concept soon as the clock is ticking on my course.

In the mean time I have decided to try and get out at least once a week to do some street photography in the city.  The occasion that drew me this weekend was the annual NATO conference in Munich, now in it's 50th year.  The event invariably draws a large and loud protest accompanied by the massed presence of Munich's police force.  This is always a good opportunity to take photographs, although in a very intimidating environment. That made it a rather daunting, but also good place to try to re-engage with documentary photography.

The conference takes place at a hotel smack in the heart of the cities shopping district, creating an interesting mixture of protesters, riot police, weekend shoppers and rather bemused tourists.  Munich has a strong tradition of protest and activism, most weekends will have a group setting up in the city center to vent their anger at something, last week it was Egypt. However the NATO conference is a biggie and pulls in a lot of people and thus also a lot of security.  I went out with an open mind, with no particular agenda.  I find this works for street photography, it is impossible to predict what might happen.  The sun was shining (good and bad for me) and the crowd was in a good mood, I have sometimes wondered what would happen if they weren't.  The police had the same thought and there were cordons set up around the more expensive shopping areas and government buildings, potential targets for the more anarchic fringe.

My goal was to come away with 10 or so photographs that captured the sense of the event, portraying the people there.  It took me a while to get into the mode of street photography, i.e. becoming unafraid to point and shoot in a large crowd.  I found myself using my camera in a stealthy mode, i.e. using the pop out screen and looking down rather than bringing the camera to my eye.  This gives a sense of presence in shots, but is not so accurate.  I have divided the photographs into 3 groups.  First of all the protesters.

The first image used a tele to pick this guy out of the crowd.  His hair was bright orange and very striking.  I am processing to B&W so this is lost, but not the structure.  What I wanted with this image was the juxtaposition of the protester with the arch behind, did not really work, the framing is off.  I think it is an interesting portrait, but nothing special.

This man had found what I thought was the best protest symbol in the crowd, a rusting WW2 German helmet that with the grass looked as if it had just been dug out of a field.  It reminded the crowd of the terribly losses Germany had suffered as a result of the militarism the crowd was associating with NATO.  The turned away face leaves some information about the man, but it is the shadowed relic of war that makes this photograph for me.

This was an odd juxtaposition, the hoody and the Hammer & Sickle. Not sure if it works as a photograph, I think some part of the mans face would have helped.

Here I have tried to contrast the anti-establishment crowd with the Town Hall behind, the symbol of government in Munich.  I think this is too confused to work, I am too close or not far enough away.  Crowds work when there are thousands in the frame or when there is a close up of an individual against the mass.  This just looks jumbled.

I found that the photographs I was getting of the protesters were OK, but just OK. People with placards and long hair are good subjects, but there was nothing particularly new or different about this.  What I did find interesting were the lines of police fronting the shops.  Clearly, there was a real fear that the crowd might vent it's anger on the symbols of capitalism all around.  Everywhere I looked there were lines of highly intimidating police heavily armored and armed.  This brought out the structural in me.

The first shot was taken from inside the shopping center, entry was permitted, but maybe not if dressed wrongly. This photograph works for me, apart from the structure the lack of faces draws attention to the word Polizei and the equipment these men are carrying. In front of them Saturday afternoon shopping continues as normal.  I tried a few times to create photos that juxtaposed the shoppers with the police, but could never get the degree of separation that made a good shot.

Same group of police from the other side:

Here I have tried to place shoppers into the frame.  This is a very complex image, perhaps too many layers.  I wanted the word SALE with the police and then the shoppers.  In colour it is far too confusing, in B&W it might work, I am not sure.  There is more involvement.

Perhaps a different crop would work, removing the guy on the right. Unfortunately I did not have the feet of the police in the frame, but this is much better and may have potential.  It illustrates many aspect of Munich and whilst still confusing, perhaps the need to disentangle the image might add some engagement on the part of the viewer.

My final two photographs from the day are portraits of the police.  The first one is light the second I think darker.  In the first the light makes the scene seem airy, the hand holding couple defuse the sense of threat that might be conveyed by the police.  I think this photo may have worked better with more of the policeman's face and the presence of the second person in the couple.  The challenge of working in the street is that constellations come and go, you have to work with what happens as it happens.

I find this photograph strangely attractive, the two extremely good looking people with their almost medieval equipment creates a strong contrast.  Again I am missing their feet, but the eye contact with the female officer suggested at the time to move on and not spend time recomposing.  However, it is that firm gaze that I think elevates this photograph above the others.

In my concept of Black White and Things the above image would be Black whereas the one above would be White.  I need to think about Things.  Not really sure if this will work, but my approach is aligned to Frank.  I am accumulating a library of images of the population of Munich that explore multiple aspects of life in the city, what I need to do is to tie them together as a narrative body of work.

Yesterday got me back on track, another step in the right direction.