Aïcha Fall - editorial and documentary photographer
Aïcha Fall Born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Aïcha Fall lived her childhood there before leaving for France for her studies. Over time, Aïcha learned to create a link between her identity, her culture and her traditions, through Art. She is a story teller and uses photography to write her stories, many of them explore the culture and beauty of her community. All of her photographs are portraits with simple compositions and she uses a mobile phone to take the photos, and she uses props and objects from her house or around to add detail to her images, they are usually objects which represent her culture and remind her of home.
On the left is an example of one of the photos from her project "a seat at the table" and is a clear example of Fall's portrayal of identity, she creatively uses simple compositions and makes them vibrantly saturated and filled with colour by adding props which represent her culture. For example in this photo she used a chair and then a gold bucket with colourful rings at the top, these rings reflect on the model's face, adding a whole new dimension to the photo. |
A seat at the table is a fantastic visual tale. It’s also an invitation to another dimension.
She wanted to narrate black bodies beautifully and elegantly, bare torso, elegant gesture, almost dancing. In this project, she aimed to present her people in an elegant and creative way, posing her subjects in different interesting ways combined with the use of objects she found around her. In this photo she employs the characteristics of a strange man, his face is red and matches the watermelon's flesh he is eating, almost as if his face is made of the same substance, the table in front of him has multiple different fruits scattered randomly and are all cut in half and their warm colours of red and yellow contrast the dark blue table they are on, the photo, which was taken on a phone, also distorts the photo making the man's head stand out from the rest of his body most likely due to the wide lens it was shot on. |
I create my images with essentially what I found around me
Delfina Carmona - the photographer who plays with shadows
Delfina Carmona is a talented photographer and art director based in Buenos Aires. Her work clearly uses shadows, reflections and bold colours to put a modern spin on still life, which tend to be paired with fitting captions. The majority of her photos include some form of human form, whether it is a self portrait or a photo with her hand's shadow, this enhances the photo and adds depth and meaning leaving space and flexibility for her thoughtful captions.
Many of the objects used in her photos are usually not perceived as luxury items, however she presents them in a luxurious way using different lighting techniques and shadows from the glass and other reflective surfaces, this makes it seem more complex and almost diamond-like.
Many of the objects used in her photos are usually not perceived as luxury items, however she presents them in a luxurious way using different lighting techniques and shadows from the glass and other reflective surfaces, this makes it seem more complex and almost diamond-like.
This photo (see right) is a clear example of her use of shadows and reflections in her photos to make them more interesting and detailed. The centre of attention to me seems to be the broken wine glass in the centre of the frame, and the other objects are simply there to add a theme, as the only colours are yellow, red and blue, the yellow and red contrasting the blue reinforced by the shadow to create a warm theme. The folds in the blue blanket also add a subtle touch of detail and shadow to further play with the strong lighting.
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Larry Sultan
Larry Sultan was an American photographer best known for his photographs blurring the lined as well as merging both' documentary as well as staged photographs. A clear example of this is Larry Sultans' "pictures from home" which is a candid and posed project featuring his parents, and is a way for him to immortalize them in the photos.
In this particular photo, it seems candid as if his parents are unaware of the camera and are caught mid motion. Looking deeper into the colours and composition I can see that the reason for taking this photo is the colour coordination between his parents clothes and the fore-background, for example the pink of the flowers is the exact same colour as his mother's top, and his father's orange jumper matches the general colour of the room due to the wallpaper and decorations which range from yellow to light brown, all warm. it is also evident that there are basically no primary colours in this frame. Larry Sultan framed this photo so that his mother was the center of the frame however she does not draw all the attention, personally the first thing I noticed was his father as he is dressed in bright orange.
In this particular photo, it seems candid as if his parents are unaware of the camera and are caught mid motion. Looking deeper into the colours and composition I can see that the reason for taking this photo is the colour coordination between his parents clothes and the fore-background, for example the pink of the flowers is the exact same colour as his mother's top, and his father's orange jumper matches the general colour of the room due to the wallpaper and decorations which range from yellow to light brown, all warm. it is also evident that there are basically no primary colours in this frame. Larry Sultan framed this photo so that his mother was the center of the frame however she does not draw all the attention, personally the first thing I noticed was his father as he is dressed in bright orange.
HE HOUSE IS QUIET. THEY HAVE GONE TO BED, LEAVING ME ALONE, AND THE ELECTRIC TIMER HAS JUST SWITCHED OFF THE LIVING-ROOM LIGHTS. IT FEELS LIKE THE HOUSE HAS FINALLY TURNED ON ITS SIDE TO FALL ASLEEP. YEARS AGO I WOULD HAVE GONE THROUGH MY MOTHER’S PURSE FOR ONE OF HER CIGARETTES AND SMOKED IN THE DARK. IT WAS A MAGICAL TIME THAT THE HOUSE WAS MINE. |
Images from home, photoshoot 1
We were instructed to take photos of things which we link our concept of home with, here are some of the things I associate with my home and find in it:
When I took these photos, I was aiming to capture things in my home which are simply part of it, or that I like about it, for example certain small decorations I find around my house, such as the small, colourful light thing (second down) or the salt and pepper holders, (second from bottom. These are both things which I am familiar with and add to making my house feel like "home".
Frank Frances
Frank's work relates to the theme of home because each photo is a representation of Frank's idea of home, using objects he grew up around. In these photos, he uses foods he grew up eating and presents them in ways which seem random, however provokes nostalgia to him of his mother and grandmother cooking together.
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My response to Frank Frances:
I chose to use a film camera, perfume bottles and a coffee bag as the colours compliment each other well and all look good against dark backgrounds due to the see-through bottles contrasting the dark objects and background, I also used a mirror to add depth and detail.
I am mostly happy with the results however I would change the lighting and take more time on each photo. I photographed them from multiple angles however mostly from high angles or centered. I took inspiration from retro product shoots and edited them to have a similar look, the camera helps to accentuate this as well as it has a retro look and it's glossy finish allows light to bounce off of it and make it colourful.
I am mostly happy with the results however I would change the lighting and take more time on each photo. I photographed them from multiple angles however mostly from high angles or centered. I took inspiration from retro product shoots and edited them to have a similar look, the camera helps to accentuate this as well as it has a retro look and it's glossy finish allows light to bounce off of it and make it colourful.
Niall McDiarmid
What I find interesting about these photos is the consistent theme of home presented in an aesthetically pleasing way through the use of natural lighting and almost random however organized mess of things he has for breakfast which creates a sense of comforting chaos with a tinge of nostalgia, all the colours seem to compliment each other as well as they are mostly all light and pastel colours, including the table mats, to me it seems very set up and natural at the same time as the mess is so set up. I think the aim for these photos was for the photographer to create a series of photos which represent his home and things which he associates with it, for example specific breakfast cereals. At first I thought it was strange that it took so long for him to photograph this series as if he wanted to show how things changed over time during covid he could easily set it up differently within a day and edit photos to show shifts in light, however this way it is more important to him as the photos are legit and genuinely mean something.
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Diptychs
Still life set up
I worked well with the other in y group as we worked together to make sure all objects in frame were similar in terms of colour and overall vibe, mostly earth tones ranging from cream to dark brown. Our restrictions such as space made it slightly difficult to move around to get different angles however it wasn't a major problem and I don't see it as a disadvantage, simply a minor obstacle I had to overcome. I focused on emphasising shadows and changing the dull colours into either a moody or very colourful way.
Images from home, photoshoot 2
All these photos were taken at night, after I got home from work and it was quiet I took these photos to capture the stillness in the house, using the flash to show the detail of the things I was taking pictures of.
diptychs from these photos ^
Joined the selected diptychs together by the file name number, pairing them together based off of similar shapes and colours I see in them, and also what they are for example food or decoration, I put the first two together as both of the images are decoration and both have a similar edit and colour scheme.
I created a spreadsheet of my diptychs above.
This is an example of one of my favourite diptychs from the selection I created, and it was entirely by chance.
Both images are still life photos, and both objects are mainly used as decoration although the mask is obviously still a mask, I simply don't use it. Another thing they both have in common is the colour scheme, they are both dark and have blue tones due to editing and the use of flash creates a very contrasting image, despite the right image having red, to me it perfectly adds to the tones on the left image. |