Research

Upon starting this course, i was given a book The Photograph - Graham Clarke (1997)
I had a very long and tedious day of traveling and so decided to spend those hours researching, reading this book, about the history of photography.
I found learning about the origins of photography very interesting, and the ways in which photography was used; artistic and for documentation.
One thing that never really crossed my mind is that what appears to be natural photography
could actually be arranged/ made up by the photographer. On page 49 there is a picture by Calvert Richard Jones of Garden implements

Garden implements - Calvert Richard Jones

Upon first glance, this photograph  just like a photo of outdoor clutter. However, Jones apparently staged this photograph. Arranging the implements into order of there use. This has made me reassess pictures i see after first glance, to look for deeper meaning within the picture.
I am beginning to look at each photograph and photo opportunity as a more than just a photograph, as a piece of art.
I was already aware of the connotations, messages and emotions could convey but not from such an artistic point of view.

Another subject i found extremely intersting with this book is the work of Cindy Sherman. She photographed many naked female bodies, of real women and mannequins, one photograph shown on page 130 shows a mannequin of a naked female body with a sausage inserted in a phallic manner. The mannequin also appears to have a male face. Her photographs are very gruesome and absurd. Focused on the way women are/were depicted as sexual objects. She challenges the ways in which women are viewed and photographed ad was very 'out there'. I can draw inspiration from her radical, graphic, unusual, extremely creative images.