I believe the grey area represents uncertainty in a situation or area of activity not conforming to a category, for example a portrait photo in landscape of a person facing away, or the space which separates one place to another but has no other use, such as a doorway. To me a "grey area" essentially presents a sense of uncertain ambiguity.
We were asked to take a sequence of 20 photos with the following ideas in mind
- A disguised portrait
- A doorway
- Tree bark
- An empty path
- A message
- A broken fence
- An abandoned object
- A glass or cup
- A disguised portrait
- A doorway
- Tree bark
- An empty path
- A message
- A broken fence
- An abandoned object
- A glass or cup
Documentary uncertainty
To me documentary uncertainty is the fact that photos cannot be fully trusted as evidence if used for news or to prove anything, this is because it is very easy to manipulate a photograph to fake a point.
An example of this would be when Stalin removed people out of photos in order to erase their existence from history, in the example to the right, you can see the people that were all eventually executed and were removed from the original image. |
Sugar paper theories
In sugar paper theories, Jack Latham, a contemporary photographer explores the Icelandic murder mystery and the use of photography which was used to convince 3 innocent suspects that they committed the crime and imprison them. This notorious case of memory implantation has come to be known as the ‘Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case’, or the ‘Reykjavik Confessions’, and is the focus of photographer Jack Latham’s 2016 photobook Sugar Paper Theories, now released in a second edition that will accompany an exhibition opening next weekend at the The Royal Photographic Society in Bristol, UK. The link between photography and its use by the police force can be traced back a long time, in the 70s photographs were seen as factual by the general public and therefore if they were manipulated they were extremely effective serving as fake news. It is not uncommon for police suspects, worn down after hours of police interrogation, to confess to crimes they didn't commit and actually believe they are guilty.
As i was looking through the book, i noticed that Jack Latham explores the complexity of the story and his confusion by making the pages in a random order which represents how the victims in the story were interrogated and manipulated, in a random order. The snowy cold theme of all of the photos were added to by the text, rather than the other way round, and throughout the book you will find folded pages with images inside, which are hard to see, this adds to the idea of uncertainty Jack Latham was aiming for whilst making this book. It is also unique in other ways, for example some pages in the book are made out of sugar paper, hence the name, whilst the majority are made out of tough paper. The book cover is made out of a rough type of card or paper and makes the heavy book surprisingly wobbly, this adds to the name 'sugar paper'.
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Parliament of owls
In parliament of owls, Jack Latham explores the mysterious, cult like 'bohemian club' held within the redwood forests of Monte Rio in Northern California, with members such as former US presidents and high profile men with power. The majority of the activities done there are unknown, The Club motto is "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here," which implies that outside concerns and business deals are to be left outside, despite the fact that multiple important business deals have been formulated at the grove. With 73 images in total, Jack captures the Bohemian Car Park in Monte Rio, the main stage at Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre, a strip club in San Francisco, as well as numerous characters wearing masks. Jack explores how the presence of such an elite, private space has become the topic of countless conspiracy theories from both the left and right. The series follows the people and locations of the area which have in some way fed into the rumours or stories. Rather than join in with the claims surrounding the club, Jack takes an observational seat allowing the viewer to have their own take on the book.
In the physical book, I noticed that every page was a double page, this means that there was a section in between every page which was not fully able to open and had either text quoted from the bohemian club or an image, the fact that some of the pages don't fully open emphasizes the secrecy of the club, and how little the general public know about it.
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Photos which portray a memory, a news story and an event...
We were asked to take a series of photographs which tell a story, I decided to do the theme of nostalgia and the fact that the pandemic has prevented everyone from travelling for a holiday or into their home countries
Text and Image
Cao Fei
Cao Fei is a Chinese multimedia Artist (born in Guangzhou, 1978) her work mainly includes, video, performance, and digital media. Her work reflects the life of Chinese citizens after the revolution and examines the wide spread internet culture as well as the border between dreams and reality. Throughout her career, Cao Fei has captured the rapid social and cultural change from contemporary China, highlighting foreign cultural influences from Japan and America.
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Stephanie Moshammer
Stefanie Moshammer (Vienna, 1988) received a bachelor of arts in graphic design and photographer at the University of Arts and Design in Linz and attended the BA in Advanced Visual Storytelling at the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
The photos on the right are from her project "Land of black milk" Stefanie aims to show the relationship between individual perception and the complexities of Rio De Janeiro by exploring the favelas and the people who live there, Stefanie presents the contradictions, the strains between class and race and the character within the city. |