No Man's Land

Here are (a recap for those who have followed this blog for a while) some of my favourite conceptually motivated university projects. I blogged about most of these projects when they were in the early working stages and if you would like to see those early experiments please feel free to look back through the posts here.

www.sammisparke.com

No Man’s Land

No Man’s Land is a conceptual project that attempts to capture some of the isolation and confusion unique to the teenage years, which many people will have experienced and can relate to.

In the series I hoped to touch upon the confusion and loneliness associated with being neither a child nor adult and how this existence is a kin to a transient state with no real point of reference. The subject of the series is Natalia, a 13 year old teenager from Poland, living in the UK. She was a perfect subject due to her age and social circumstance. The difficult changes all teenagers go through can be seen as magnified in Natalia who is not only coping with emotional and physical changes of the teenage years but with the added confusion of identity; being a Polish girl in the UK.

The changeable and transient nature of teenage-hood, and Natalia’s personal experience, is emphasised by the use of visual devices including lighting and camera angle. The choice of backdrop or landscape was also very important to the series. Natalia’s playfulness, awkwardness and sometimes loneliness was reflected in these changeable backdrops, which included the sea and tides as well as the seasons and nature.

Object to Subject

Here are (a recap for those who have followed this blog for a while) some of my favourite conceptually motivated university projects. I blogged about most of these projects when they were in the early working stages and if you would like to see those early experiments please feel free to look back through the posts here.

www.sammisparke.com

Object to Subject is rooted in theories of the ‘the gaze’.

I began by exploring mechanisms that act to disrupt a straightforward sexual reading of the female nude. After much research and experimentation I came upon the idea of emotion (the nude expressing strong and recognisable emotions) as a means of subverting a sexual reading of my model. The theory plays out that when the viewer sees an emotion in a stranger, an emotion they recognise, empathy takes place. In this case, after empathy is elicited, viewers who were once inclined to view the nude as a sexual object are much more inclined to view her as a subject or personality. The relationship between viewer and nude is fundamentally changed as the nude morphs in the mind of the viewer from object to subject.

The images use the backdrop of the home as a stage to position this narrative of emotion. Each of the images portrays a different emotion, however certain emotions may be interpreted differently by individual viewers as sometimes happens in life. The images are loosely sequential and if read as they are numbered will hopefully convey a story of emotion. In addition to this camera angles were used deliberately to enhance the impact of the emotions conveyed.

Taylor Wessing attempt 2012

I just found THAT email in my inbox telling me my portrait hadn't made it into the Taylor Wessing portrait prize this year. Arse.

Well this is the 3rd year I've tried and if I'm here and well I will try again next year I am sure.

May as well just show you the image now.

If anyone has any crit it would be welcomed but only if you are familiar with the Taylor Wessing portrait prize.

Caroline and Sarah

Concept:

Perspective points of view. 

The series aims to simultaneously investigate the relationship between twins, identical and non identical, and the way the world we live in views and engages with them. It attempts to look at the fascination our culture has with twins, particularly our obsession with 'difference' and 'similarity', which seems to be our favoured way of understanding and engaging with twins as subject.

Prelude to the final images is below:

Well, I have entered the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize yet again this year. Every time I do it I get very carried away in a little bubble of self-deception imaging ing I've picked out a theme from last year that will have the judges falling over themselves in admiration for my image. It is only after I have entered that sober up and consider how ridiculous it is to imagine even getting an image in the exhibition let alone winning!

This year however I was happy with the final image I submitted and this is how I got there:

This year I considered several subjects but it was a while until I realised I had the perfect one, one that has interested me for a long time, sitting right under my nose. My good friend Caroline is one half of a pair of identical twins.

What particularly interested me here is that Caroline and her sister Sarah, although considered identical twins, look quite different.....and this is where the context was born for this new project - 

'The series aims to simultaneously investigate the relationship between twins, identical and non identical, and the way the world we live in views and engages with them. It attempts to look at the fascination our culture has with twins, particularly our obsession with 'difference' and 'similarity', which seems to be our favoured way of understanding and engaging with twins as subject.'

Some of the images that go close to my objective are the following: 

Kornelia Shoot - No Man's Land Project

Again , this blog is for criticism and I would appreciate any after you have read what i'm trying to achieve (below).

The images here with Kornelia intend to show how teenage years can feel isolating and unsure, this goes two fold for Kornelai as she is Polish and came across here a few years ago with her family.

Kornelia is 15 (believe it or not) and I'm trying to bring out the serious side of her because she is a bit older than her sister and it shows in her behaviour - she is more introverted and serious, quite self aware, much more so than Natalia (not shown here). 

I am also trying to get a feel of  the whimsical, the ephemeral, a soft and hazy feel to show that teenage years are not real as such and full of uncertainty. In a way I want to show how teenage years are for trying things out, playing, moving from childhood to adulthood....that kind of thing.

Any crit very welcome from photography folk. (click on images to see them in detail)

Cheers.

Park shoot with the girls (No Man's Land Project)

This blog is actually to get some crit off my uni mates so I'm uploading a few of the same sort of images, which you wouldn't normally see.

I've decided to play on the different personalities and ages of the girls. For the younger one, Natalia, I'm focusing on her playfulness and with Kornelia, the older one, I'm going for a more serious feel.

My aesthetic is meant to bring out the whimsical, the ephemeral, a soft and hazy feel to show that teenage years are not real as such and full of uncertainty. They for trying things out, playing, moving from childhood to adulthood....that kind of thing.

Any crit very welcome.

Cheers.

Beach Shoot with Natalia and Kornelia

This is a shoot from a few weeks ago.

My flash wouldn't work, which I was gutted about as I think fill in flash is going to be the thing that makes these images look the way I want them to. Basically the only images I've been happy with so far is the shoot before this one with Natalia and her friends.

After a crit at uni, people liked the pared down background of the above shoot because it helped them focus on the subjects better.

With these images, I still really need to get more of a whimsical feel going......and there are a couple of shots that would get near if my sodding flash had worked (It would have gotten rid of the nasty shadows).

Any crit welcome. FYI reminder - the project looks at the teenage years as transient years where nothing is certain and things change quickly and often. I'm looking to get a whimsical feel, dreamy as such, and i've been trying to pick backgrounds that are also changeable like the sea (changes with the tide) and nature which changes with the seasons. Any suggestions of other appropriate settings would be appreciated. :)