'Street Seen' - Lisette Model (research activity - week 4)

I spent the day in the library researching different picture stories and new photographers to give me some more inspiration for my picture story around Gloucestershire. The first thing I picked up and looked at was a book called Street Seen, which is based on 6 different photographers that took photos in America from the 1940's to the late 1950's. The author and curator of the book is called Lisa Hostetler, and her aim was to get the readers to gain a new understanding/impression of war/post war.  Lisa put the book together to celebrate the artist vision of what America was like at the time but also to show how hard it was to be a creative photographer at the time. This is because there was a huge crossover of photographic medium at the time, such as personal/commercial photography, social realism and abstract painting was still important too.  Even though it was such a palaver at the time for the photographers because of the war and everything that was going on in America, the photographic work that got released was amazing. Each photographer that Lisa chose to use all had a different way of using the photographic medium but the work was 'fascinating and yet to be seen by many different audiences' even today.
One of the photographers in the book is called Lisette Model and she did some work using reflections of windows and taking images of 'running legs and feet'. Below are a few images from the series in the book:
(All of her images have copyright - The Lisette Model Foundation, Inc 1983)

 

The above image is called 'Window Reflections' taken in New York City in 1940, it was then exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well. This image was received as a gift from Lisette herself to Lisa for the book. 

The above image is called 'Running Legs' like many other in the book. New York was and still is a very busy place and no one had to time to walk or stroll around. Also taken in 1940, and is now owned by the International Centre of Photography, and has been since 1993. It was received as a gift from the Lisette Model Foundation in memory of Joseph G. Blum.

The above image is called '42nd Street from the Sixth Avenue Subway' in shot in New York again, if you couldn't tell by the name. The image taken at some point between 1940 to 1941, and is now held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The image was given as a gift from Marvin Breckinridge Patterson. 

Stow on the Wold Horse Fair

Stow on the Wold has been the holder of a Gypsy Horse Fair, that runs twice a year and has since around the early 15th century. It's held the closest Thursday to May 12th and October 24th, these dates were said to have been decided on the feasts of Saint Phillip and James (May 12th) and the feasts of St. Edward the Confessor.
Stow is right in the middle of many different track ways that lead around the county that workers would come and get shelter there and be able to sell some of their goods, in a sort of market fashion. From Wales and the West, the Thames Valley, the Forest of Dean, the Midlands, Worcestershire and the River of Seven. They would all travel through Stow and it became a recognised market that dated back to the 1100's and ran all the way until the start of the 1990's.
In the early 15th century there was a petition for two Horse Fairs, one in May and the other in October and these still run today.
On the 20th of October 2016 we travelled all the way to Stow on the Wold to photograph the fair and the people for our assignment. Below are some of my photographs on what its like today.

Tales of Gloucestershire - 'June Street'

As part of one of our assignment we had to think of a photo story going by the details of  'Tales of Gloucestershire'. Using this as a guide line I came up with a few ideas on what I could shoot around Cheltenham and Gloucestershire. My other idea was that because Cheltenham and Gloucester are homes to the University and many student, I could photograph the student halls and the students that live in them. I currently live in Pitville halls and there is around 200 other students staying here too, unfortunately for us, their still building the rest of the campus so at the moments it's a bit of a building site. But knowing many of the students that live here I thought I could photograph them, and their bedrooms, the way that they have made it like home and comfortable for them. This is the idea that I'll be using for this part of the assignment.

Researching into some inspiration on how to go about this I found Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows work on 'June Street', in 1972-1973. June Street was a little street in Salford that got demolished in 1975, Parr and Meadows took these images prior to this as a sort of memory of what it was like. Below are 2 images from the series that help explain a little more about June Street. The top image is of the residents, the children and parents and all the others looking like one big family, which is what it was like in a 'typical Salford Street'. The bottom image is of June Street itself, just and overview of the houses from the outside on.

Below are some of the other images from the series, he took them in the front rooms of the house all in the same way. It shows the different families and how they've settled into the house in the time they've lived there. I feel like this was a huge influence on my idea and help with my work for my story.

Tales of Gloucestershire - Simon Roberts

As part of one of our assignment we had to think of a photo story going by the details of 'Tales of Gloucestershire'. Using this as a guide line a came up with a couple of ideas on what I could shoot around Cheltenham and Gloucestershire. As Cheltenham is a very beautiful place, firstly I thought I could photograph the area and the people in the area. My halls are very close to Pitville Park and the Pump Rooms so I thought using landscapes as inspiration I would research into some photographers that use the style I might use.
Simon Roberts was the photographer that I looked into, he did lots of project photographing landscapes and belonging around the UK and the world. He shot in large format so all his images have perfect detail and are very precisely taken and presented. When he was shooting his images he would try to get to and elevated position from the subject because it gave the effect that the subject/models are separate from the landscape. One of the projects he shot was called National Property which is a series of images shot around the UK using different National Trust places. Below are a few of the images that I thought were the most like Cheltenham and the surrounding areas, even though its not National Trust property.

 The above image is actual in Gloucestershire. The National Arboretum in Westonbirt and was shot in 2013. I really like how the orange leaves stand out over the green and the overcast yet still bright sky.

 I thought this image was much like Pitville Pumps Rooms as in the big building and then all the grass and the people walking around. Nymans Estate, Handcross in West Sussex shot in 2014.

At the bottem of Pitville Park there is a boat hire and I thought this image was much like that too. The families in the boats, walking across the bridge, the trees. River Stour at Flatford, East Bergholt in Suffolk shot in 2014.

Tewkesbury Mop Fair 2016

Friday 7th and Saturday 8th of October 2016 was the return of the infamous Mop Fair. Originally dating as far back as the 12th century, its a very historical fair and started as an sort of career fair. The local families would dress in their Sunday best and enjoying an evening full of fun and games. As well as families, the local workers, such as farmers, craftsmen and labours among many more,  would come along too, each bringing something that represents their trade of work. So for example, the famers would bring along a pitchfork and the local blacksmith would bring a brandishing iron e.c.t.. All the unemployed or the people looking to change their livelihood would bring along a mop in the hopes that someone's might spot them and offer them a new line of work.
Now a days its a massive street fair packed with different rides, games, food stalls and much more, still an exciting day out but maybe not with your mop too.

As part of our assignment we got to photograph the event, excepting to use lots of slow shutter speeds and long exposures I was surprised how much I got to experiment with different techniques when we got there and once it had got dark. Below are some of the images I got: