What is The Grey Area?
The Grey Area to me is a place or photograph that doesn't have much purpose - you don't know why it's there. It is also when you are confused, you don't know where you are or where you are going. In photography, I think it's about an image in which you don't really understand what it is about or what its of. Photographs were originally used to document something - a moment in time. But photographs have changed over time and they now have different purposes. People use photograph as a form of art and as a job. Whether that is as a photographer for a family or a social media influencer, we all use photographs in our everyday lives.
We were asked to take a series of photos that included five of the following subjects:
- A Gesture
- A Sign
- A Note
- Looking up
- An Empty Room
- The view of a worm
- An open book
- A small object shot in shallow focus
Photo Experiment
We were given text from a source and we printed out a few of our images we liked and arranged them. We arranged them in a layout which told a story and matched the text with images we thought matched.
I think I was able to take some nice photographs. It was difficult to stick to the prompt, so some of the photographs don't contain the original subjects. I picked my favourites and printed them out and arranged them in a way that I thought fit and told a story. I matched the images I thought matched with the text.
Story telling though photographs
We were told to take a series of photographs and organise the pictures in a sequence to tell a story. Ask someone you know to look at the pictures and interpret the story.
These must include:
- A disguised portrait
- A doorway
- Tree bark
- An empty path
- A message
- A broken fence
- An abandoned object
- A glass or cup
These must include:
- A disguised portrait
- A doorway
- Tree bark
- An empty path
- A message
- A broken fence
- An abandoned object
- A glass or cup
"You want a glamorous life style. You want the glitz and fame of instagram but you're trapped. You've hit a dead end. You're lonely and empty. You want to leave Londpn and move to another country but instead you are hidden."
What is documentary uncertainty?
Documentary uncertainty is when you're unsure if a photograph is trustworthy. Photographs are fiction and we do not know the person behind the camera or their intent - good or bad. Historically, photography has been used for bad. It was used to oppress and bully people. This creates an uncertainty and distrust with the relationship between people and the photographer. Some may call the photographs 'fake news' as they are edited to be different and create a false narrative for people to believe. It is commonly used in the news for propaganda.
While the notion of a document is historically tied to ideas of certitude and confirmation and is primarily used in the legal realm, this certitude has all but vanished from contemporary consciousness. The experiences of the 20th century, its large-scale enterprises of propaganda and disinformation, have created an attitude, which could be called habitual distrust as well as advanced media literacy. Documentary modes still appeal to institutional modes of power/knowledge and cite their authority, but the effect is rather a perpetual doubt; a blurred and agitated documentary uncertainty..."
- Maria Lind and Hito Steyerl, ‘The Greenroom: Reconsidering the documentary and contemporary art’
Sugar Paper Theories - Jack LathamSugar Paper Theories is a book made by Jack Latham. It is based on an investigation in Iceland in which the police convinced 6 people that they were involved in the murder of the two men when in fact all of them were innocent. He made this book to document the case with photographs. He photographed people and places that related to the case. Most of the photographs were taken in Iceland where the case took place. Articles on the case were including in some of the pages. His book turned into its on investigation of on the subject, talking to the suspects, conspiracy theorists and bystanders. The book is made with lots of different paper such as sugar paper. The pictures are displayed very differently in the exhibition than in the book. You can look here for the exhibition.
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Parliament of Owls - Jack LathamParliament of Owls is a book by Jack Latham. It is based on a place in California called Bohemian Grove where politicians, usually Republicans, meet secretly. The photographs he took are quite mysterious and leave you asking questions. The photographs being taken in the middle of the forest makes the photographs more ambiguous. Without the context of the area the photos.
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Telling a 'real' story through photograph
We were told to take photos which tell a real story and arrange them in a way that tells that story.
I think I was able to take good photographs and arrange them in a good way. I think it’s hard to tell what the story is from just the photographs. I would’ve liked to take more photographs so I had a wider range to pick from and picked a more interesting story.
I think I was able to take good photographs and arrange them in a good way. I think it’s hard to tell what the story is from just the photographs. I would’ve liked to take more photographs so I had a wider range to pick from and picked a more interesting story.
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Stefanie Moshammer
These pictures are from Stefanie Moshammer's series titled 'Grandmother said it's okay'. This series she recreated her memories from her childhood with her grandparents and 11 cousins. This included playing together, dressing up and creating scenes with clothes and objects around the house.
Cao Fei
Can Fei is a multi-media artist, she uses video, photography and digital media. Fei's work is mostly created vitually as she creates utopic and dystopic settings with a platform called 'Second Life'.
Signs & Text Photographs
We were asked to take photos relating to text. My photographs are related to lyrics, I listened to songs while taking the photos which makes them indirectly related to the lyrics and songs i was listening to
Exhibition Title - Fade out
This exhibition is a collection of images between different student and how they interpret the theme, “Grey Area”. All the exhibitions have their own story and person behind them. There are lots of grey areas in our everyday life. Things that don’t make sense, we don’t think into them much. In between things, underneath things, behind things, questions left unanswered.
Exhibition Layout
I made lots of exhibition layouts before I decided which one I liked best because I couldn’t find a link between my photographs. But in all these photos, I saw that there was a border or line separating two different things, the tape separating the two areas of ground, the gate separating you from the person behind. I choose this layout because just like in my pictures I accidentally created a split and separation between the photos. There’s a jagged line separating four of the photos which I thought matched my exhibition well.
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Exhibition Ideas
The location of my exhibition would be outside a park, on the fence. I would advise it to my family and friends and around the park. Anyone could see it if they passed by.