Exhibition Critique

For this task I attended the Queensland Centre for Photography in South Brisbane. There were 7 Artists work available for viewing here.
Each Artist’s collection was separate from another’s. Some of them not so appealing to me. They were all lit with directional halogen lighting.

The Artist that stood out to me was Ireneusz Luty and his collection “City de Noir”

The images can be viewed at www.ireneuszluty.com or www.qcp.org.au

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”  “City de Noir” is a unique and engaging photographic exploration which presents the viewer with Sydney from new and unexpected angles. Pictures explore the ordinary moments absorbed by the intensity of everyday city life, encapsulates the fleeting experience and focuses on the beauty in the mundane. The unpredictable and ever changing nature of the city is conveyed through fluid and dynamic compositions and form, which is achieved through long exposure infrared photography. Pictures create the surreal impression of urban life immersed in rapid city environment. Ordinary scenes of everyday life are thus made extraordinary. Sydney is re-imagined and re-presented to the viewer in dark, mysterious and illusory way. ”

(Description taken from qcp.org.au)

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City de Noir is a collection of 16 black & white images all taken from around Sydney. All of the images seem to single out one or two people going about their daily routine in amongst a city of hustle and bustle. The use of slow shutter speeds and the clever use of light helps to create this. There is also a very strong use of line & shape in the images, being black & white they are also very high in contrast used to create a very dramatic feel to the images.

The image that stood out to me was “street crossing, Druitt Street Sydney” (image 15) The image is of two pedestrians waiting to cross a busy street, which is demonstrated with the use of a slow shutter speed creating fast movement while they are almost frozen in time. There is also a strong use of line in the image and again contrast.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to  be given the opportunity to relocate to Sydney for the company I was working for. I jumped at the chance. Not knowing anyone there I initially found it a very lonely place at times, despite being such a busy thriving environment. I think the series of images demonstrates that feeling very well and perhaps that is why they initially stood out to me.

I think the images are very successful, they are printed on Fine Art Cotton Rag.

Meaningful questions I could ask a photographer about their work.

1. What is your background? (did you study to get where you are today, if so what?)

2. What led you to become a photographer?

3. What was your vision for this collection & did you reach it how you intended?

4. Is there anything you would have done differently & why?

5. What inspires your creativity? Where do new ideas come from?

6.  something you know now that you wish you knew at the start of your career?

Moral Rights & Copyright ©

The objective of this task is to develop an understanding of moral rights and copyrights of the photographic industry.

Question #1
As a working professional photographer you notice that someone has used one of your images on their blog. They have not credited you for being the original photographer, nor have they said they are the photographer. It is just a personal blog showing interesting photographs from around the world.

Answer.
To be really honest I think this is the photographers fault in the first place. When ever images are uploaded to the internet (especially as a “professional photographer”) they need to have a watermark!! Ensuring all your images are imported with the correct copyright metadata is also important.
This is only a personal blog, so the blogger may not even realise that this metadata exists and that they are breeching copyright laws.
I would contact the blogger in a friendly manner and ask if they would mind adding a credit to you for the image or offer a watermarked image for the use of the blog only.

Question #2
As a wedding photographer you notice that one of your images is being used in the display window of the local shopping centre’s “quick print” printing shop. After talking with he shop owner, he tells you that a couple came in and got some enlargements done and agreed to let the shop owner display one of the images in the shop window.

Answer
So this comes down to your contract with the client. If your commissioned to take photos for a client for “private or domestic purposes” the first owner of copyright in them is the client. If you have in your contract with the client that you remain the owner of copyright then, yes this is a breach of that contract.
I don’t think that the customer is to blame here though. They were most likely flattered that the shop owner should want their photograph in the shop window and probably don’t realise there is anything wrong here. The shop on the other hand being a printing store should be fully aware of moral & copyright obligations. There are legal obligations, under the copyright act to “attribute the creator of a work” in other words credit the photographer. The printing store should be aware of the metadata stored in an image (and that’s assuming the photographer has applied the correct metadata and copyright details etc. on the file)
The fact that the store is using your image in their window for advertising purposes and financial gain I would ask the store to either credit you/your business under the image. You could supply a watermark image for this purpose or ask that the image is removed.

Question #3
As an advertising photographer you take an image of a building and a cityscape for a regular client. You agree on usage and price. It is agreed that the image can only be used for 12 months and printed up to A3 for a brochure, internal marketing and on their website and not to be used overseas. Six months later you notice your image is being used on the side of a tram, covering the entire tram. Once you start investigating the matter, you also realise that your image is being used for advertising in international magazines.

Answer
Firstly in this situation, it says that it was agreed on the usage and the price. Was there a contract signed? and was the usage stated in the contract. I have learnt this the hard way. ALWAYS have a contract and ALWAYS be aware of what is in it!! even the boring fine print.
So assuming there was a contract signed and because this is on a commercial-scale it is a criminal offence of copyright infringement. The photographer has a right to restrain the use of the images for purposes other than those which it was commissioned. The photographer is also entitled to commence an action in court and various remedies may be awarded, most likely “damages”- Damages are often based on the amount that the copyright owner would have been able to charge for the use of the material.
A court may also order a person who loses a case to pay the other party’s legal costs. However an award of costs will not always cover the full amount the person who won the case has to pay their legal representatives.

Authenticity and Validity

Objective: to gain an understanding of the importance of authenticity in photography and what the ramifications are when it is challenged.

Newsweek Cover vs Time Magazine Cover

The first image I have chosen for this task is this image of O.J Simpson which featured on the cover of Time Magazine in ’94. The arrest photo taken by L.A.P.D showed up on 2 different magazines at the same time, the Time Magazine cover seemingly different to the Newsweek cover. The magazine was criticized and accused of racism for the cover of the altered image. It was said that the magazine “demonized” a black man being charged for the double murder of a white man & woman.

Illustrator Matt Mahurin was the one to alter the image, saying later that he “wanted to make it more artful, more compelling.” The magazine did something it had never done before and has never done since. They pulled the issue and re-issued a second cover. Only mail subscribers ever saw the first cover.

Times Magazine’s re-issued cover

When an image is questioned like this  the photographer & the magazine has their credibility questioned. The two issues present here is a question of photographic ethics and the other is a question of racial insensitivity by TIME in deciding that blacker means guiltier. They changed the photo from what it was (a document) into what they wanted it to be. The magazine was making an editorial statement, not reporting the news. By doing this, they damaged their credibility and the credibility of the journalists.

Images and information collected from http://blogcritics.org/ojs-last-run-a-tale-of/ & https://nppa.org/page/5127

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The second image I have chosen is an image created by young cousins Elise Wright (16) and Frances Griffiths (10) in 1917 who claimed to have seen fairies in their garden. The series of images were highly publicised and caused quite a sensation. Many believed that the images were in fact of real fairies. The girls maintained that the images were never altered. The fairies were actually cardboard cut outs arranged for the photographs.

In 1917 long, long, before the days of digital an image like this would have been a big deal. This era saw an opinion of a photograph being factual. Today with digital manipulation I think most people accept that an image would have been altered in some way.

If the artist was intentionally trying to deceive the viewer or the public for some kind of personal gain then yes I think ethically it is wrong. Here though I think it is just a couple of kids having a bit of fun with their imaginations.

Image and information collected from http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/ETHICS.HTM & http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/

Self Portrait

Ok so this activity is to enhance our understanding of body image and identity through the exploration of design elements and objects used as symbolic reference to portray a message and evoke emotion.

So I had a few ideas for this task, first one was an image with my 2 boys. (As they are only babies they are pretty much my whole world.) They are at grandma’s house today though and I’m running out of time to get this task done so next idea…. Next idea didn’t work so here I am, no props, no setting just me in my daggy house clothes ready for a day of washing, housework, and assignments. I think I’m looking a bit 50s house wife here with my head scarf so it works pretty well with what my days consist of lately and where my life is at being a stay at home mum with 2 beautiful babies.

As far as composition goes I have used a square rather than a traditional rectangle. I guess this reflects that it is a self portrait in that most self portraits these days are for  social media purposes and are squares.