ISBN: 978-1-59711-316-8: Mary Ellen Mark; on the Portrait and the Moment.
ISBN: 978-1-786-09034-8: Wiley ESKIBOY
ISBN: 978-0-500-29395-9: Hip hop Raised Me
ISBN: 0-944092-50-0: Bruce Davidson; Brooklyn Gang
The Language of Colour: An introduction, Theo Van Leeuwen, Reviewed by John A. Bateman. ISSN (Print, 1742-2906), (online, 1743-1662)
ISBN: 978-0-525-57388-3: Vikki Tobak; Contact High
https://pro.magnumphotos.com/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2K1HZO4QT2EOVP&SMLS=1&RW=1276&RH=608#/SearchResult&VBID=2K1HZO4QT2E0O7&SMLS=1&RW=1276&RH=608 
https://pro.magnumphotos.com/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2K1HZO4QT2DP1K&PN=10&IID=29YL53X2NG1
http://www.simonwheatley.tv/film_home.html
https://www.fableandfolk.co.uk/cheltenham-hiphop-ryan-free-2019
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Simon Wheatley is a documentary photography who creates stories and video inside of the Hip hop and grime culture, he works mainly within the social documentary world capturing the everyday of artists in the streets, in their homes in the recording studio and at gigs. The images below are taken from his work, 'UK Grime', taken primarily inside of London he has attentively captured the faces of the artists and the places they live in.
Firstly I love his use of colour, it works very well, the whole culture is extremely colourful, each person differs, some have 7 colour on them, I see why he uses colour here, they need the colour to stand out inside of London its a tough place to be recognised. Simon gets very close and he likes to put his camera up in their faces with flash, but even with shots like these they are candid and they capture the energy of the places and people. I can feel these moments because I can see whats going on and I can relate to times in my own life where I can hear and see this thing gong on just like in these shots. 
In terms of his focus he is interested in the people and their minds (freestyle music), how they present themselves (Outside appearance) and how they socialise together (Groups and gangs). 
I really like his set up, looks like a 35mm camera with a 28mm lens, weak fill in flash and E6. The colours are beautiful and the shadows are black. Sometimes he bounces the flash off of the ceiling to fill the room with light. He has captured some very intimate moments with people also. this would be possible by getting close to certain people and be allowed to put that camera up to his face in delicate moments, the subjects seem very comfortable with his presence, Simon must be a good communicator. 

Mary Ellen Mark has a lovely simple way of breaking down the confrontation the photographer gets but also the confrontation the subject gets when shooting portraiture photography.

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To create colour contact sheets I would need a colour darkroom, paper and chems, and money to pay for the time etc etc. But this is not in my budget or easily done, I could pay someone to create them for me but this would not be the same, I'd rather create the documents myself oneway or another. So I simply photographed the colour negatives (C-41) in their plastic sleeves on a light box using a full frame camera with a 50mm macro and an overhead tripod. This way was the only way I could see working best, I could scan them on the MFD scanner but this would create newton rings because of the acetate sleeve. Either way, I need a digital files which can be manipulated for book output. all I need to do to these is invert the colours and correct the white balance and all should be fine.  

"Ellie Ramsden is a photographer and videographer based in London, who specialises in portrait, music and street photography. Ramsden's love for underground music and youth culture have led her to document London's music scene, and she has self-published a photo-book exploring women in the grime scene. Ramsden also works as a Campaign Associate at Digital Voices, a digital marketing company, helping to craft creative campaigns with brands."- About Page. 
Ellie has recently released a book called 'Too Many Man - Women of Grime', in the book she documents the rappers, writers, producers, DJ's, filmmakers, radio presenters and more, of the Grime scene in London, Ramsden picks up the fact this industry is heavily dominated by males, hence the title which is an direct expression to 'Boy Better Know's' (Skepta, Wiley, JME, Frisco and Shorty) song; 'Too Many Man', in which the chorus goes 'We need some more gils in here' repetitively. Being a women her interest obviously lies in the female perspective. Creative and well constructed portraiture is her style, capturing the artists behind current popular culture music which has quite rapidly hit the fabric of the mainstream in recent years. Her photography creates representations of the places and the people, seeing these artists in the streets of their home town sets it into context very well.   Ramsden has thrown in another level of engagement within the work, using writings that the artists provided her with, lyrics that show the viewer quite a bit about how the artists think and perceive the world, but ultimately how they work, these documents of their lyrics are like photographic prints, only written language is their tool and Ramsden has enhanced this with the visual language that helps create the forever changing image we have of these artists.

I came across this book: Contact High: A visual story of Hip-Hop. It was the design of the cover that interested me right away, being a film photographer and noticing a collection of contact sheets on the front made me pick it up. Obviously heavily inspired by Magnum Contacts, Vikki Tobak, has collected and created a huge series using contact sheets of Hip-Hop photoshoots which go all the way back to the start of this era during the late 1970's in America, consisting of various photographers of the times, such as Mike Miller, Lisa Leone and DuBose. Before getting into the content right away, the design of the book is very well put together. There is an obvious colour scheme running though out the book, Black, Gold, White and Red, the black pages really work with the contact sheets because it makes the negatives appear to float on the page especially with black and white contacts, this is a very engaging way to allow the viewer to analyse these physical documents in a few ways. Avid photographers will recognise film stock and even camera marks to be able to recognise exactly what camera was used etc, but this is secondary information. The writing in the book is presented very neatly also, the use of handwriting and graffiti-style font is used throughout, to pick up on the 'graff' image that goes hand-in-hand with Hip-Hop music. The text on the pages is placed in coloured blocks that match the colours of the pens and pencils used to mark the edit process on the sheets. For example; Red is used to select the frames on the contact sheets so the writing on the page next to it will float on top of a red box in white or black writing. Even the page numbers are stylised in a certain font. 
So the book is a Chronological edit of documentary images of Hip-Hop artists, presented as contact sheets this allows for the viewer to look deeper into these images that are so heavily imprinted onto the public conciseness, by seeing more than that one album image or that one image of Biggie on a t-shirt. The contact reveal the whole run-up to those shots, revealing the photographers inner workings and being able to see what takes their attention and ultimately how they think and frame the world. Revealing all the secrets, the viewer can piece together the images in their head for them self and be able to see the bigger picture as such. 
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Editing slides looking at images that really stand out on their own. All of these are taken from 3 rolls of E6 consisting of Provia 100F and Ecktachrome E100, both deliver beautiful detail and colour. Using E6 as well as prints allows the viewer to view images with light as printed (lit up from behind on a light box). This only applies to physically viewing the work but in final output the images will be looked at in terms of aesthetic quality and meaning. 

I had created some prints last year from one of the rolls, the one taken in 'Sketchsters' bedroom studio set up. Printed on warm tone fibre based Ilford paper, the selenium reacted with the paper very nicely. Selenium is a heavy metal, it basically is used for its archival properties, adding 200 years or so to the print this chemical is also very poisonous and is not to be breathed in, I also had to wear gloves. The toner reacts with the black in the prints and ripens them slightly. 

I did a test with a scrap print that was good enough to use. I was using, "Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner for Films and Papers". I mixed it up 1 part toner + 6 parts water. So 200ml toner and 1200ml of water, creating 1400ml of liquid overall, which was plenty for about 10 prints before the chemical depletes. I saved it after the use I had out of it though, there will still be life in it after 3 or 4 prints. I cut the scrap print into 4 pieces when it was dry and then soaked it in running water for 15 minutes or so, just to loosen u all of those fibres and allow any fix or other chemical to fully wash out. The four pieces were then put into selenium and each taken out at 1 min, 2 mins, 3 mins and 4 mins. This allowed me to see all of the stages of the toning visually, and this would allow me to understand the times needed using that specific paper at the specific chem strength. My final result was 3 minutes in 1+6 dilution, this gave the blacks a very slight richness and just crisped the edges up. 
I also toned a Resin based contact sheet from the other day also and this came out nice but I dont like the deep purple in the black on the contact sheet, they should be completely black.    

This shoot was from the other week. I messaged Beth one of the Hip hop artists to do a photoshoot for an hour or so somewhere. We decided to meet up and go to the top of the hills so that the Cheltenham landscape was in the distance and my job was to get creative with the camera. I got her to sit in the boot of her car and just engage with the camera, we got some great shots. 
Now then the choice of camera determines the visual perspective of the image, for example, using a 35mm camera which is taken with the camera held up to my eye, this creates a perspective in the moment in which the subject is looking into the photographers eyes, they are engaging with the photographer as well as the camera. Now if I used a camera from the hip such as a Bronica SQ then the perspective changes, the subject now sees the camera as tool to be used to communicate to the world. The subject is no longer looking into the photographers eyes but engaging with the camera completely. 

I started to look back through all of my work to pick out the negatives that document the nights and days with various hip hop artists and graffiti artists who I very quickly became friends with, hanging out and meeting up to discuss possible photoshoots and next gig dates etc. I have almost three years of work on them so far and most of the work is unpublished and has not been looked at with a fine concentration as of now.

I created a folder with over 40 rolls of negatives, ranging from black and white, colour negative and colour positive, medium format and 35mm. I had to buy clear acetate sleeves for the negs so that my next step would be a lot easier, it took me about an hour to sleeve them all. (glad I wont have to do that again). So my next step was to contact print all of the negatives with I have got so far, this would be made easy with the clear sleeves so that I can just put them on the paper in the darkroom and lay glass over the top. I used 9 1/2 " x 12" paper Resin coated Ilford paper which is a perfect size in my opinion for contact sheets and is easy to work with yet produces fine quality results. All types of medium format and 35mm would fit perfectly on the page. 

So I found a really nice rig made for contact sheets, it was a wooden frame with glass as the top half on a hinge. I think the frame could hold 12"x16" paper which is the size paper I will be using for some prints, but saying that I will actually be using an easel to frame my prints. I managed to create all of my contact sheets from every roll of film in two days! Because my preparation was tip top then I was able to fire them all out when I got into a flow. 

I have been darkroom printing for a few years now and I love to get in there when I can, to keep things fresh in my head in terms of what works visually on a page for example, its amazing how you can forget things. As soon as I did my first test print using a cut off piece of paper, I immediately got into a flow and concentrated on getting them right. I stared with the first roll I ever shot on the hip hop scene, which was under the Honeybourne-line, I got a really good feel of the exposure times and just created for two whole days without taking my mind off of it. 

These contact sheets would be the pages in the book, probably on the left. These contact sheets show the whole journey that not only the photographer has taken in terms of documenting and getting close to these rappers and artists but the actual progression of a part of the UK hip hip culture within Cheltenham. 

"ASSIGNMENT 001 (80%)
A project proposal / learning agreement, as outlined above, to be submitted (email word file to proberts@glos.ac.uk) for discussion/approval to tutor by Monday 9thOctober 2018 at the latest.  This will form the basis of tutorial conversations and should undergo further development as the project progresses.
Set(s) of images and/or moving imagery clearly fitting into the genre of Documentary Photography and forming a substantial body of work - a final Major project or portfolio of photographic work and supporting material. Submissions should reference details in the submitted proposal. Deadline is Monday 13thMay 2019 at 13:15 to module tutor. 




ASSIGNMENT 002 
Supporting materials including risk assessment and evaluation of work 
A Risk Assessment submitted and approved BEFORE any photographic work is undertaken. Failure to undertake a Risk Assessment, and putting yourself at unnecessary risk, may result in the University rejecting your work for assessment.
Submission Checklist Assignment 002

• Research, Development and Production ‘notes’; clearly showing the development of the work, research material should be critically evaluated and there should be clear reflective analysis of the photographic work / project as it evolves – this will take the form of an online blog. Provide the URL. This blog can also be submitted as a PDF file through https://www.blogbooker.com. You will also be required to undertake a formal presentation about the development of the work and expand on the intention and final resolution of the work to audience in the lead up to the final deadline.
• An extensive reflective, critical and evaluative written analysis of the final work including consideration of the audience for the work and the effectiveness of the selected presentation format for exhibition/publication/dissemination.
• Your ‘in progress’ personal development plan, which should identify your career aims and your goals over the next 12 months and your plan to achieve these goals with the intention of maximising employability.

Deadline is Monday 20thMay 2019 at 13:15 in Room HW AP015A to module tutor." - Noodle. 



Proposal:


The goal of this project is to compile stories for a book based particularly on the UK Hip-Hop scene; with a concentrated focus on artists creating what is recognised as 'LoFi HipHop' and 'Funk' music and performing sets to the public domain within Cheltenham, using ‘Contact High’ and also ‘Magnum Contacts’ as my main inspiration for presentation (design) and photographic aesthetic considerations (contact sheets and editing) and (compositions and locations) and for conceptual ideas I will be using writings from various sources including these individuals. Ever since seeing photographers work presented as contact sheets and prints in these books, I have always been surprised by the level of engagement that this type of work allows for. The contact sheets reveal the inner workings of the photographers attention, and allows the viewer to peer behind the moment of the selected frame(s), and to be able to watch a moment unfold, also to be able to see how the photographer edits their work, the viewer is able to see how the photographer sees composition and the light. The contact sheet is like going back stage and speaking to the band and being let in on a secret. Being able to see the scene come together for that one frame is somewhat enticing, the images really take you into the story and engages the viewer to connect all of the frames together themselves, to visualise the moment, in this case to be able to feel the vibe and hear the music. “The birth of British hip hop was triggered by New Jersey crew Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight,' which reached number three in the UK singles chart in December 1979 and was the first time most people in the country heard rap.” https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-10-records-that-helped-british-hip-hop-find-its-own-voice/ Accessed 5/3/19 @ 09:36. 40 years later, British Hip Hop is more alive than ever, the songs and the visuals that go with them are now deeply engrained in the millennial generation, Although Jack Farai from 'Motion Enterprise' says that "Hip Hop died in 2000". when I was speaking ot him recently.   
I intend to create a substantial body of photographic documentary prints, including contact sheets, single negative prints (Silver gelatine and Platinum palladium) and a fully realised and finalised book, which documents the Local ‘Hip Hop’ Scene in Cheltenham. Picking up on cultural identity and the background of that which is now in the fabric of the mainstream. I intend to capture the individuals ​that represent the hip hop sound and to explore the culture and identity of this era, I will be submitting unpublished work going all the way back to the start of university when I first started shooting them, like the third week of uni I think. I aim to create over 50 contact sheets consisting mostly of black and white negative and some colour negative and a few E-6 positive slides. Although the slides will not be in contact sheet format, in their frames they will be from various points in time and different gigs around cheltenham, portraying a visual narrative, (maybe chronologically). The contact sheets will be used to analyse each negative and exposure, I will show the edit on the contacts with certain colours that conform to the books overall colour scheme and design (Black, Gold, Burgundy and white). Using only the black and white contact sheets, which I will be creating myself (the colour will be sent to a lab), from the edited images I select, I will print in the darkroom, depending whether they are square format or 35mm or 6x7 even, I will aim to create consistant sized prints, which reflect my highest technical and documentary ability, Either way the prints will digitised for the book so the size of all the images will be adjusted digitally. All of the original darkroom prints will be used to make a one off hand-made book If I have the budget post shooting. 

The landscape module has come a long way, starting off looking into a few painters, recognising styles of painting some abstract, expressionist and some realism. Seeing how they used light to convey depth and richness, danger and security, good and evil and so on but also making powerful statements about reality at that given time. Many are assigned to political language such as Paul Nash's Constable and Gainsborough's landscapes. I started to explore British photographers who have been representing the landscape, starting with Mark Power, a bit of Parr, Simon Roberts, Fay Godwin, Ansel Adams and Frank Gohkle. I came Across the New topographics work through reading their works but also through seeing an unrelated image by chance by William Christenberry of a red shed within the American landscape, I saw this repetition of structure being photographed by various photographers, then I looked into the Bechers who a were part of the topographics exhibition also. But I saw a new way of seeing to be honest and it was through these works of the ten photographers who were part of this exhibition, a representation of the urban environment: the abstraction of the landscape of buildings and industrial corps's left on the land into a world of sculpture, form and essentially ideas which originate from the mind. This representation for me transcends the political, environmental, idealistic, definital process of naming and designating and allows the beauty of nature, whether its through repetition of pattern (Bechers) or simply the intent of the photographers through their definitions (photographs) and way of seeing, it's a beautiful way of seeing the world. This really took me and allowed me to understand and become influenced by this "Movement". A very artistic approach to creating a representation of the landscape, especially the presentation, beautiful black and white darkroom prints nicely frames etc. But the only thing wrong with these images is that there are no people in frame, this is a sense of failure, a misunderstanding maybe, because well people are in a sym-biotic relationship with nature, we are as much a part of it all as the buildings, the land and the sky. Well my Dissertation gets at this clearly. The Human-Altered Landscape took my interest as a good bit of research by exploring landscape photography and art in the mid 70s and through this exhibition. Simon Roberts's work, Mark Power and Lewis Baltz are also who persuaded my interest to landscape, exploring the social and industrial landscape we find ourselves in today. Many places reveal ancient ruins and historic locations and formations (Fay Godwin's work shows this well through political campaign) but there are also places that show remains of previous topographics and have been on the landscape since the late 19th centry, waiting to be re-landscaped. The Bechers explore the post industrial era in America which has been put in to many books, they depict sequences of building and water towers etc which is very clever way to document in terms of archive but also brings in a sense of comparison of building and structure. Simon Roberts links into this as he is focused on a similar picture, but the new topographics doesn't depict people present within the landscape, where more contemporary Roberts does. He sees the world as a kind of theatrical play. 
Looking at paintings I feel help a lot with catalysing thought and imagination if its a good painting. And I find it very interesting how closely related painting and photography is in art. And really where the art lies in photography, the print, making a photograph with your hands and chemicals, (recreating reality chemically) I didn't manage to print my negatives on 16x20 inch paper which is what I would have loved to do and explore further. My FMP is going to explore platinum palladium and various papers so that will be another dream ;). 

So I managed to make 8 successful darkroom prints which I have put into sleeves and just put a bit of hard card behind each print to keep it flat. My intention is to sell a few prints at the exhibtion over the time it is open, I will be displaying them on a plinth next to my work and in to presentable case.   

This project has been quite tough, having to look through suitcases and boxes of images, seeing my whole families experiences and holidays, their faces when they were young, and the moments where they are loving life and some where they are not. The project allowed me to we explore the use of the image within my family environment before I was born, I saw how the postcard was used to communicate person to person about everyday life etc. The selection process was very long but I finally managed to just choose a selection of about 30 and went with those, I ordered them chronologically, most of them had dates and names on the back which helped a lot with the narrative and to help me find direct family. The ones I chose were thoroughly looked at in terms of subject, composition and engagement with the viewer and with the knowledge of certain photographic styles such as Reineke Dijkstra. Printing in the darkroom is also something I enjoy doing with a lot of my work so it was really nice to be creating work that is adding to the family albums at the same time as creating towards a book that directs a vision.