Evidence is a book of photographs that was published by two artists: Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel in 1977. The photographs in the book were found in archives and were then sequenced together. All the photos are presented in black and white and no captions are provided, ultimately causing no context to be provided for the pictures. The pictures were very carefully ordered into a specific sequence, making the two pictures that were shown on each page link to each other.
- Evidence is proving that an event happened or that something existed. It can also be an object or a photograph that can be presented to a court or another group of people in order to prove something about someone's acts, making the existence of a fact more or less probable. Evidence is an important factor in knowing whether or not something did or didn't happen. Schoolwork can often be referred to as evidence as it provides proof that a student has been working a that they have produced something.
- Some synonyms of evidence are: proof, confirmation and verification.
- A photograph may be evidence of a crime or event. A photograph could be taken after a crime has happened to provide proof that an object has been used or that a place has been manipulated or vandalized. They can also be used to provide proof of something that no longer exists, such as a person or a place.
- Photographs are a very reliable as a form of evidence as they show an accurate and detailed view of the world. However, like most things, photographs can be faked and manipulated to work in someone's favor, possibly reducing their reliability. They are more reliable than a painting or a drawing as they use light to capture a moment and are a lot quicker than painting a scene.
- I think that Mandel and Sultan chose to call their photo-book "Evidence" because it mostly contains events and proof that those events happened. A lot of the pictures in the book are of objects which could be considered evidence of a crime or another event.
- I think that they chose to not provide any captions because they want you to try and understand the photographs in your own way and formulate your own ideas on what they mean. Photographs don't always require context in order to be meaningful as the picture should show everything they need in order to be understandable. however, I still think that providing context for a picture allows it to become more meaningful as the picture may have been taken for a specific reason.
Experiment #1
For this experiment we had to take different photos of a picture that we had chosen from the book "Evidence". We were given a set of instructions to follow when taking these pictures, however, we could interpret the instructions any way we wanted.
These instructions were:
I think that this could have changed the meaning of the image as it makes it appear more interesting, potentially making someone think more about what the picture means and why it's being presented in that way.
My favourite picture is the one with the light behind it that obscures the persons face. I like this one because it gives off a sense of mystery and makes you wonder who the person is and why their face is being hidden, I also think that it helps add extra meaning to the picture.
I think that these photos are evidence that pictures that have already been taken can still be changed and added to by anyone in order to add their own style to it. They show that after a picture is taken it can still be improved upon.
These instructions were:
- Use light to manipulate the photo
- Photograph someone holding the picture
- Photocopy the picture and photograph it
- Alter the picture and take a photo of it
- Take a photo of the picture in a book
- Photograph the picture in an unusual place
I think that this could have changed the meaning of the image as it makes it appear more interesting, potentially making someone think more about what the picture means and why it's being presented in that way.
My favourite picture is the one with the light behind it that obscures the persons face. I like this one because it gives off a sense of mystery and makes you wonder who the person is and why their face is being hidden, I also think that it helps add extra meaning to the picture.
I think that these photos are evidence that pictures that have already been taken can still be changed and added to by anyone in order to add their own style to it. They show that after a picture is taken it can still be improved upon.
Experiment #2
For experiment #2 we had to compile the photos that we had previously taken into a sequence. The sequence aimed to show the similarities between the pictures and that even though the photos at the beginning of the sequence may look different from the ones at the end, they are still able to link to each other in their own way. The repeating pattern of the straight lines throughout the photos allows them to share a similarity and lets them link to each other. We also decided to link pictures with similar shapes and colours as they allow the photos to communicate with each other even better as they share more similarities with each other. When two pictures connect with one another they often make the original pictures have more meaning.
From this task I learned that there is always a way to link two pictures to one another, even if they look completely different. It helped me understand that pictures are often similar to each other in some way or another and that they can provide more meaning to each other when they are put together.
From this task I learned that there is always a way to link two pictures to one another, even if they look completely different. It helped me understand that pictures are often similar to each other in some way or another and that they can provide more meaning to each other when they are put together.
Beyond Evidence
Beyond Evidence is a video that explains the meaning and the history behind the book "Evidence". The video explains where the pictures were taken from and how they create a narrative as well as the effect that no context for the photos has on the viewer. It shows the effect that the book had on the world of photography and how it changed the way photographers present their work to audiences. The book added new context to the pictures and allowed them to form relationships with other photos in the books, photos that wouldn't usually go together but work well together. From this video the audience are able to understand that Sultan and Mandel use the pages in the book as a form of visual storytelling as well as the fact that the audience would be able to form their own story from the book. When looking at the book 'Evidence' it becomes clear that context is important to a photographer if they want audiences to understand their photos, otherwise people end up creating their own meanings behind the pictures.
Flipbook of our photos
Evidence from Jon Nicholls on Vimeo.
Experiment #3
For this experiment we had to take a series of pictures that tell a fictional story.
The instructions for this task were:
The instructions for this task were:
- Create a series of photographs (between 5-10) that tell a story
- Your story should be fictional
- You could borrow the structure of another kind of story - romance, horror, detective, thriller, fairy tale etc.
- You should try to combine at least 3 different genres e.g. landscape, portrait, still life, street, architecture etc.
- Give your photo story a title
Questions:
2. Why is this challenging for documentary photographers?
This would be challenging for documentary photographers as it causes people to question their work and many people may think that it has been manipulated to become more in favour of a certain thing. This means that they may not be able to succeed due to the lack of belief from the people that see their photos.
3. Why might the 'grey area' between fact and fiction be an interesting space for photographers to explore?
Photographers may want to explore this 'grey area' because it leaves the photos up to interpretation, allowing the the people that see the photos to decide for themselves what they mean. This level of experimentation would be interesting to photographers because it introduces a new way for them to take and present their photos.
4. What does the phrase 'documentary uncertainty' mean to you?
I think that 'documentary uncertainty' means that something is made in a way to look real but in reality it has been edited to be a fake photo. I also think that it means people nowadays are more weary of what they are looking at and are often uncertain as to whether or not it is real or not.
- Why are we less trustful of photographs at this point in history?
2. Why is this challenging for documentary photographers?
This would be challenging for documentary photographers as it causes people to question their work and many people may think that it has been manipulated to become more in favour of a certain thing. This means that they may not be able to succeed due to the lack of belief from the people that see their photos.
3. Why might the 'grey area' between fact and fiction be an interesting space for photographers to explore?
Photographers may want to explore this 'grey area' because it leaves the photos up to interpretation, allowing the the people that see the photos to decide for themselves what they mean. This level of experimentation would be interesting to photographers because it introduces a new way for them to take and present their photos.
4. What does the phrase 'documentary uncertainty' mean to you?
I think that 'documentary uncertainty' means that something is made in a way to look real but in reality it has been edited to be a fake photo. I also think that it means people nowadays are more weary of what they are looking at and are often uncertain as to whether or not it is real or not.
Karma
I chose to not show the persons face in these pictures because it helps keep the story mysterious as well as the fact that it wouldn't add much more to the overall story. I like the angles that these pictures were taken at because it becomes clear to the audience that they are supposed to be looking at a specific object or part of the images. I also like the contrast in colours that appears in some of the images as I believe that it also adds to the clarity of the photo and it allows certain parts of them to stand out.
If I were to do this again i would take pictures of multiple people instead of just one as it would make it clearer to the viewer that there are multiple characters in the story. I would also focus more on the colour of the pictures and make the black and white ones be black and white for a reason.
If I were to do this again i would take pictures of multiple people instead of just one as it would make it clearer to the viewer that there are multiple characters in the story. I would also focus more on the colour of the pictures and make the black and white ones be black and white for a reason.
The Delivery
I chose to order these pictures in this way as i think that it helps tell a story properly and effectively as it appears as if the viewer is traveling and on a journey from one location to another. The sequence attempts to put the viewer into the shoes of the character and it allows them to act as if they are a part of the story and not just a witness to it. However, I think that i could improve this sequence by adding more meaning to the black and white pictures instead of just having them be irrelevant to the sequence, such as making them act like a flashback to add extra depth to the sequence. I chose to put the landscape photos at the beginning of the sequence as it allows for a small range of context to be presented to the viewer as to where the beginning of the story takes place. This decision is also what led me to the decision of putting the the pictures of the buildings before the pictures of interiors as it allows the viewer to understand more about the story and where each part of it is taking place.
Parliament of owls
Parliament of owls is a photobook created by photographer Jack Latham. It explores the unknown world of Bohemian Grove and the conspiracies that surround it. All of the photos in the book have been taken in black and white. There are multiple reasons why Latham may have done this, ranging from the fact that the camera he used, an 8x10 film camera, was gifted to him by his former colleague after he retired from using it. Latham was also given some black and white film along side it, which for this type of camera is very expensive, leading me to believe that he used this camera and this film because he had it already available to him. He also may have taken the pictures in black and white because people often tend to believe photos that are taken without colour more than ones with colour. This all comes down to that fact that some of the first uses of colour photos were for advertising and so the subjects of those images would have been manipulated to make people believe a certain thing. Latham's main aim with this book was to present the events of this conspiracy and by doing it in black and white he allows the audience to gain more trust in the photos. I like this book because the style of photos changes throughout and they are all unique. There could be a portrait on one page and a landscape on the next. The way that the book is laid out gives it a unique style that is very rarely seen as there are some pictures that can only be seen if the page is 'opened'.
There are multiple images in the book that appear very pixelated and unclear. These are pictures that come from documentaries or cctv footage from the grove. Anybody that looks at this book will struggle to miss these images as they all spread across both of the pages. These photos are interesting as they all provide a deeper look into the events of the golf club, they help the audience uncover a partial section of the truth. Even though they don't provide much information they are often accompanied by text versions of conversations between him and conspiracy theorists that have taken an interest in the grove, allowing for more context to be presented to the audience in an interesting way.
Clocks for Seeing
For this task I am going take pictures of skaters at different skate parks. I will take a variation of portraits and action shots using film and digital. I was inspired by Pete Thompson's book "'93 til" and how he presents the world of skateboarding during the 90's and other eras. All of the photos in the book are old film photos that Thompson has found from the early days of his photography and he has compiled them into one book. He mainly focused on taking multiple shots of a sequence and then choosing the best ones. the portrait shots that appear in the book were shot unintentionally as Thompson's only aim with them was to use up the rest of the film in his camera. This photo book allows for a look back at what is widely considered to be the 'golden era' of skating and I also aim to produce a similar outcome with my photos, allowing people in the future to see what skating was like at this time. From the photos we can see what the world of skating was like back then and how it has changed so drastically over time. Thompson traveled all around the US to photograph different skateboarders as well as different skate groups, however, he tended to focus more on the east coast skate scene as that is where he is from. There is a mixture of portraits and action shots throughout the book which gives a good look at what the world of skating was like. You can see how they dressed as well as what they parts of their environment they would use for tricks. There weren't many skate parks during that time so a lot of people would skate in the street and use what they had around them, this book shows that perfectly.
These are some practice shots that I took in order to achieve an understanding of what style I waned to shoot my pictures in. These were originally taken in colour from my phone, however, I edited them to make them black and white which fits the style of the photos I plan on taking. I plan on taking the pictures from multiple angles and of multiple different subjects.
My Response
My Zines
To make this zine I first had to put my pictures into the correct layout. I did this by using photoshop and putting the pictures in the correct order so that it would come out in the right places for it to be looked at as a book. I then printed it out onto sugar paper to make it feel nicer and sturdier. After I printed out the layout I folded it so that it would be more reminiscent of a book.
To improve on this I think that I could use a different type of paper so that it still has the same texture but it keeps the pictures black and white. I also think that I could put something on the back of the paper so that when it was folded it would look cleaner and nicer to look at.
To improve on this I think that I could use a different type of paper so that it still has the same texture but it keeps the pictures black and white. I also think that I could put something on the back of the paper so that when it was folded it would look cleaner and nicer to look at.
I continued to refine my zine to ensure that I could make it as good as possible. I did this by changing some of the images that I used as well as changing the sizes of some of them so that they had a border around them. I also made sure that the sequencing of the photos was a bit better which allows the zine to flow better as the images linked to one another. As well as this I also added a larger image to the inside of the zine so that it could be folded out to show the image. Doing this made makes the zine more interesting as it allows the people that look at it to interact with it more, hopefully meaning that it resonates more with anyone who looks at it.