Herb Ritts

Herbert Ritts was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black and white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical greek sculptures. He took many photos of famous actors, models, and more.

The above chosen photographs show workers in a stereotypical way in my eyes, his work glorifies the jobs which although he is showing the works in a good way, it also denotes something that isn't true. This is in contrast with the work of Brian Griffin where he actually takes real engineers and workers and places them in positions that praise them, however there are similarities between the work of Herb Ritts and Brian Griffin.

Jasper White

This isn’t the first time Jasper White has featured in the BJP – we ran his Man sheds project, a study of Australian men’s most private spaces, in February 2011. His latest personal project, Bird Cages, is another spin on personal space, this time tracing the rooms within rooms of pet birds in Barcelona.
My personal favourite set of Mr Whites photographs is the one titled 'Sheds'. The familiar setting in his work give for an interesting spectacle which I can relate to, to a certain extent. This recollection is something that draws me into the image. There is so much that one can read into them.

 What he has to say about the 'Sheds' set- "I’ve recently completed a project shot in various locations throughout Australia that takes you into the private world of working men’s sheds. These sheds are the personal retreat of their creators, filled with the various ephemera of their lives and interests. Viewed as a whole, each shed becomes an extreme focal point of human individuality in what could be described as the barren wasteland of rural Australia. The shed frames an individual portrait of its creator, and this visual impact of the unusual and the unpretentious is what I find so interesting."

Below are several images from this set.

Project Proposal No.2- Brian Griffin

After working extensively for Rosehaugh Stanhope, photographing the construction of Broadgate in the City Of London, Brian Griffin was commissioned to photograph a Broadgate subject of his choice. At the time he was mourning the loss of his father through industrial pollution. He believes he has always treated the worker with dignity and on this occasion photographed the worker not unlike a Knight lying in state in some cathedral.

Lying In State- The tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city.

Brian Griffin had been a big part of my research and inspiration throughout the project and the work that he has produced has helped me to see the hardship of the industrial workers both past and present.

Project Proposal No.2- Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an English mechanical and civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

In terms of the project, due to the time that Brunel was inventing and creating, it was around the same time that photography had come into its own and had started to become more utilised in the UK. This enabled him to photograph each of his projects which helped him to keep visuals for archive uses. There are several iconic photographs on Brunel, the most well known photograph being of him stood looking proud and powerful infront of a huge chain, shown below.

I intend to use this photograph as one to recreate my own, in terms of the composition and stance of Brunel. This lending itself to the praise that todays engineers would not be where they are without the great engineers that have been.

Project Proposal No.1 Personal Space

Project Proposal No.1 Research

Psychology- An academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviours. Psychology has the immediate goal of understanding individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases and by many accounts it ultimately aims to benefit society.

Sociology- The study of society. It is a social science which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity.

Personal Space- The region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else's personal space are indicators of perception of the relationship between the people.

Differences In Countries Personal Space- Body contact and personal space in the United States shows considerable similarities to that in northern and central European regions, such as Germany, the Benelux, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The main difference is, however, that Americans like to keep more open space in between themselves and their conversation partners (roughly 4 feet compared to 2 to 3 feet in Europe). Greeting rituals tend to be the same in these regions and in the United States, consisting of minimal body contact which often remains confined to a simple handshake. In 1966 anthropologist Edward Hall identified four different zones of personal space Americans like to keep around them.

We'll Take Manhatten- David Bailey

David Royston Bailey CBE (born 2 January 1938) is regarded as one of the best British photographers. Born in the east end, he became a photographic assistant at the John French studio, then photographer for John Coles studio five before being contracted as a fashion photographer for British Vogue magazine in 1960. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, he captured and helped create the 'Swinging London' of the 1960s. In 2012, the BBC made a film of the story of his 1962 New York photoshoot with Jean Shrimpton.

I watched the film about David Bailey when he was working for the Vogue Magazine, it gave me a detailed insight into the fashion industry and showed me some of the good and bad points about the business.

It made me realise about how important it is to stick to briefs however it also taught me to be unique, like Bailey did. The editorial industry is a very tricky business. A very interesting watch and a great film!