What is Documentary Photography
Documentary photography is a genre of photography that captures events accurately without disrupting to document for now and for history. Documentary photography explores the subject which means it can take as long as months or years compared to photojournalism that focuses on current events.
Youth Unemployment (1981) - Tish Murtha
The collection of photographs are from Tish Murtha documenting the struggles of the working class in Northern England in the 1980’s. All the collections were published by her daughter Ella Murtha in a book and the Youth Unemployment project was a follow up from previous work called Eslwick Kids. The collection is personal and captures the divide in everyday life. During the 1970’s Britain’s lower classes were facing struggles with unemployment, housing and other issues which added to the gap between the lower and higher class and the government at the time were not implementing the necessary policies to make a real change. This results in new photographers emerging that wanted to document their communities and show the issues they were facing. One of those photographers was Tish Murtha who was from a large working-class family in Newcastle who went on to create multiple projects documenting the inequalities of the communities.
Tish Murtha was part of the community, this was not an outsider photographing people they did not know and did not understand. She knew what was important for the community and personally knew why these photographs had to be taken which is why I fully agree with project and have no issues with it ethically. We do not get any indication that she is taking advantage of these children or teenagers for her own gain. Instead we see people that are comfortable and just living their lives. The image was sourced from Tish Murtha's website that her daughter created. Knowing that Murtha did not publish them herself again add to the belief that she truly was doing this for the community rather than for her own gain.
In this particular photo amongst the rubble we don’t see them suffering, we don’t see them crying out - instead we see the kids enjoying what they had and making the best of it. I feel like the composition captures all elements beautifully, we have the children jumping in frame, the group looking on and then in the foreground the girl with the jarring puppet, them just watching something that would be deemed too dangerous now adds to the situation. I am not sure whether this image was originally taken in black and white or edited afterwards - Tish Murtha's daughter is the one who published the collection so I would assume that it was taken like this. The black and white effect hides the muted colours that may have added to the look of a run down area, so instead we focus on the playfulness instead. The image hasn't been taken to capture one specific person or this specific group of children instead we get the idea Tish Murtha's aim was purely to put across how resilient they were.
A wide depth of field is used, which for this photo works as we aren't meant to be looking at one particular element as all elements are important. The image is overexposed but I don't believe this was done purposely as it looks like this image was taken quickly in the moment to capture what the children were doing. Also, as the photographer didn't publish these images Tish Murtha may have been more focused on capturing the current situation rather than making sure all the traditional techniques are met. We can see on the boy that is jumping out of the window a small amount of motion blur so a fast shutter speed would have been used because to have captured any stillness at the speed he would have been at would have required it but not enough to freeze the moment in time which in my opinion adds the tone of the image.
Luxora, Arkansas, 2002 - Alec Soth
Sleeping by the Mississippi is a collection of photographs by Alec Sloth. The original source of the image was inkjet books created in 2003 then they gained enough traction to produce a completed book. Originally Sleeping by the Mississippi was not a planned project, it evolved from another one of his projects ‘From Here to There’ and between 1999 - 2002 following multiple road trips along the Mississippi River Sleeping by the Mississippi came about. The focus was to document America’s ‘Forgotten Coast’ through landscapes, interiors and portraits. The collection focuses on areas that are typically unheard of outside of the area and that look somewhat run down. The photographs give us a glimpse into their lives and focuses on areas such as death, poverty, religion, sex and politics.
While Alec Soth likely did not set up this scene and is truly how it was, I feel that it comes across that it is showing the town in a bad light. Instead of photographing the same scene with people within it, enjoying each others company, it is taken when no one is there. So ethically I do not see it as a major issue but I feel that the choice to photograph it empty puts a negative connotation on it. The original source is from his book for this project which he has available to view on his website which allows us to follow the story he has created in the order he has chosen.
This particular photograph shows us empty alcohol bottles and run down furniture outside, the furniture is pieces that typically you would see inside a home - highlighting on the poverty and need for interaction. The composition of the photograph makes it quite jarring with the red coach with no one on it facing towards us, it emphasises the loneliness and makes it seem we could be the other person in this group as its taken from the empty side. There is a simplicity to the photograph with the framing as there isn't lots of different things in the image, yet despite the simplicity it hits hard with a story behind it. The American flag can look out of place amongst the run down furniture and discarded rubbish as it looks untouched highlighting America's, particularly the souths love for the country regardless of their situation.
For this collection Alec Sloth used a 8X10 camera which is a large format camera and due to the size of it this image would have been taken on a tripod which is why this collection doesn't feature movement. The image looks slightly under exposed as there are certain dark elements that look too dark to bring back in editing but I believe this was intentional due to the subject matter - it emphasises the darkness and loneliness.
The Estate We're In - Matt Writtle
Angell Town in Brixton is an estate in London that has been scored by the Metropolitan Police as “red” on the Gangs Matrix, the worst classification. More than half of the estate lives in poverty which brings to light how we do not do enough for these communities to help. They do not have a community centre, they do not have somewhere to relax and something as simple as grabbing milk or bread is a task as they do not have a local shop. So the residents were looking to change this. With support from 'Evening Standard' who launched a £150,000 programme to help build the community they are helping this estate grow. Matt Writtle decided to document the community to highlight that they have a lack of aids and local communities. He captured those that are trying to stop the ongoing cycle of the younger generation following the footsteps of the gang members, spent time with some of the gang members and the undercover detectives.
The photograph comes across as one that a family member could have taken, they pay no attention to the camera and instead are focusing on the moment which to me suggests that Writtle has gotten comfortable with those in the photograph which allows him to act like a 'fly on the wall'. He has also chosen to focus on the positive side of the community rather than choosing to highlight the negatives, so I would assume that Writtle has gone into this with a genuine care for the community and wanting to help rather than exploit. This photograph was sourced from Writtle's personal portfolio website which means that he can place them in the desired order. Allowing the photographer to order a photography project is important because it helps communicate a story.
As I said earlier the photograph comes across as one that a family could have taken due to how comfortable they are. The composition and framing is interesting as on the left there is a part of the door frame in the image and on the right there is a person slightly in frame which adds to the feeling of the image being a family photograph. A slower shutter speed would have been used as the movement from the balloons and some of the children are blurry. I would say this was the right choice as it shows the excitement of the party. We can see that the window and some of the highlights on the balloons are overexposed, I believe that Writtle’s focus was more on capturing the moment as our eyes going to the people rather than the window.
Amye and Ahren - Sarah Amy Fishlock
‘Amye and Ahren’ is a project by Sarah Amy Fishlock that gives us an insight into the lives of Ahren and his mother Amye. Ahren was diagnosed at the age of eight, in 2012, with autism. Prior to this he dealt with three different schools transferring him elsewhere, as staff unaware of his condition were unable to handle his behaviour. This behaviour stemmed from the fact that Ahren was unable to understand the meaning behind certain facial expressions or words. Becoming frustrated, Ahren would then release his anger, especially at home. As Ahren continues to get older, the family – at the time of this project – were still struggling to find a suitable school for Ahren, resulting in his mother Amye being unable to work so that he receives the required support.
This project is focused on showing the unconventional daily life for Amye and Ahren and while other images in the project may seem busy and sometimes 'chaotic' this one gives a sense of stillness and peacefulness. It seems Fishlock has went at capturing Ahren's life as a young boy who is just going about his day, and while she mentions in an interview with Document Scotland that there were moments where he was upset she has chosen to only capture and publish those where he is not in distress which I find was the right choice for ethical reasons. It may have been different if he was an adult and was able to consider the risks with consenting to photographs capturing upsetting moments but as he is a child I feel it was the right decision to not show that.
I sourced this photograph from the Document Scotland website which is a collection of photographs taken in Scotland and will sometimes have interviews with the photographer about the project. I think showing this project on the website was a great way to show a larger audience the work and we also got to get a more in depth look into Amye and Ahren as they also interviewed Fishlock. This project is appropriate for the website as it shows life for those living in Scotland.
This image is very dark and parts of the image are underexposed, it almost creates a vignette around Ahren as he is lit but his surroundings are dark. It looks like there is artificial lighting, possibly a lamp as it is not overhead from the right which is lighting him. The image is made up of tones of green so Ahren lying against the white rug/blanket stand out. Sarah has framed him in the centre of the image and his position creates a leading line which works well in the middle and draws your eye to him. Ahren seems to be paying no attention to Sarah and is comfortable around her so the photograph comes across as intimate.
Tsattan People (2015) - Madoka Ikegami
Tsaatan people are a group of reindeer herders who live on Mogolia. They are among of the last remains groups of nomadic reindeer herders who live on a 50/50 basis with the reindeers as they need each other equally. They have survived by migrating within the forests to meet the needs of their reindeer as they rely on the reindeer for food, transportation, clothes, fuel and making tools, however, they rely on them for food such as milk and cheese - they do not use them for meat as they are sacred to them. They are a struggling group as the rest of the world is developing, changes in laws limiting their hunting of wild animals, the number of reindeers they have are reducing and their area changing due to climate change.
Madoka Ikegami documented the small community in a positive light - she could have came from an angle of struggle due to their reducing numbers but instead she let their personalities show - particularly in the ones with children. I find that the way they have been portrayed was done perfect, she photographs them doing their everyday routines so it does not glamorise any aspect of their lives. I sourced this image from Ikegami's personal website. This has allowed her to write about the project overall but also gave insight to each individual photograph, she details who is in the photography, their age, what they are doing and sometimes the story behind it. Having this additional information makes each image more personal and we get to learn what is going on rather than just seeing the image.
In this photograph we see Ganbat, far left, his two sons and their friend making a journey to a car pickup point that will take them to their school in their nearest town which they will stay at during the week and return to the community at the weekends. The composition of the photograph captures a lot of elements, we see the boys on the reindeer but we also get to see the community and where they live, it gives us a sense of their way of life. The photographer has used a wide depth of field so that we can understand the vast area they live in and the beautiful scenery as all elements are equally important.
Brothel - Zana Briski
Brothel was a project in Calcutta’s red light district. Zana Briski spent eight years in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) documenting women and their children in one of the brothels. This project led to ‘Born into Brothels’, an award winning documentary following the lives of the children born into the brothel where Zana teaches the children photography and features some of their photographs.
In the documentary that follow this project we learn that the children did not know about photography, so I am questioning how much the adults understood about what Briski would be doing with these images and any possible repercussions. This image covers their identity but other images in the project do show their faces so with the stigma of sex workers in the area I am conflicted about the ethics of the images as I do not know how aware the participants were aware of how far these images would go. So I would say that Briski had good intentions with the project, my issues are with the fact it is unclear about consent. The original source is from the 'Brothel' book but in order to put it on my website I sourced it from Zana Briskis personal portfolio website. The project being originally in a book is more powerful at portraying the message and their lives compared to on the website. A book helps the reader follow the story that the photographer has created as she would have placed them in a specific order and allows you to get a closer look at details including the editing.
The black and white filter helps the impact of the photo, it is a powerful photo despite the fact we see little detail. The photographer has successfully portrayed the tone and emotion even though we do not see a facial expression, we do not see anything in particular that is shocking yet we know this is not a cheerful moment. The high contrasted light is a feature throughout the collection and on this particular photograph it creates a shadow over the woman’s face to the point where it hides her identity. In my opinion this builds on the fact that someone people seem to forget that sex workers are people, they just seem them as a worker and also in her documentary she mentioned that a lot of the women were frightened to be on the camera due to the possible backlash against them for the work they are doing.
The background shows us little about where she is, we see what looks like a concrete wall that adds to the fact that this is not a ‘homely’ place, and adds to the tone of the photograph. From my perspective the framing of the photograph is slightly off, there is a lot of head space, whereas, her arm has been cut off at the elbow which is an awkward place to do so.
Higher Lands - Ben Roberts
Ben Roberts’ series Higher Lands is a project documenting the youth culture in the Highlands of Scotland and what their life consists of. Roberts is originally from England, so he spent 5 years in Scotland and during that time he created the project. His aim was to document the similarities and differences of how he grew up in the city compared to the kids living in the opposite type of area. The project is a mixture of portraits, landscapes and candid photographs, of which the majority are taken at events that are hosted by the community. Roberts spent most of his time without his camera when around them to develop a relationship so they would become more comfortable around him.
Ethically I find this particular okay as it is a simple portrait, however, other photographs in the project were quite personal and the participants are young so they may not realise the consequences of consenting to certain photographs being published. The series was originally part of a project by a third party called 'Youth in the Countryside' which was the original source, however, I was unable to find any record of the project being published online so I sourced the image from Document Scotland. as it is not on Roberts website. I think the third parties project being about showing young people growing up in rural areas shoes that there was a genuine interest as Roberts had to create a proposal in order to be funded.
This photograph is brothers Mick (left) and Lloyd Tobin (right) at the Tartan Heart Music Festival. This image captures the similarities and differences between the brothers - we have Mick (left) staring directly at the camera and Lloyd (right) looking elsewhere seeming uninterested - I like the contrast between them. This portrays the idea that Lloyd may be less interested and possibly more of the trouble maker whereas, Mick comes across shy. The photograph captures different parts of their personality, we can assume that Mick enjoys music, possibly drums as he is playing on in the photograph. Lloyd is portrayed as someone who enjoys joking around.
The lighting looks to be natural light that is coming from all angles as we do not see any shadows on the boys or a shadow from the boys on the wall. There is also a soft catchlight in Mick's eyes which suggest the main light source is coming from directly in front of the boys. The use of colour makes sense for the photographs as it about capturing the personalities and lives of the youth currently. Colour helps portray their personalities as we see more information about ie their clothes and hair. Also, he is documenting the youth, capturing them in colour adds to the youthfulness and the colour signifies the long life ahead of them compared to black and white that can make it come across as somber and older.
Rural Moments - Rui Pires
Rui Pires visited Covas do Monte in 2007 and found a welcoming community that lived a simple life and what we would consider old fashioned ways of life. Rural Moments documents a community that live within the Portuguese countryside, their ways of life, the community they have built and the individuals’ personalities. He decided that it was important to capture these photographs to show future generations that they humanity still exists; they are there to help each other compared to how many of the modern cities operate. Pires childhood was also spent in rural areas, so documenting those that lived within them has intrigued him. The fact he lived in similar areas may be the reason he was able to create such a close bond with them, he was there for their moments of joys, normality and sadly the passing of some members of the community. The village had many elderly people as the younger generations left in search of further opportunities in the cities. This regular occurrence of death was a reason for the project nearly coming to a halt according to Pires. He became family and he mourned along with them.
In my opinion I find that his project was executed brilliantly. The fact that he created a relationship with them and not in a way to take advantage of them shows that he truly did care for them and just wanted to show others that we can be like them. We do not have to be selfish and so harsh to each other. I found this photograph on Pires personal website that he has put many of his other projects on. As mentioned with others that were sourced from the photographers website it allows us to follow the story the photograph has created as it is in the order they choose. It also means that we get to hear about the project directly from Pires with no involvement from a third party that may edit the interview and it leads us to view other pieces of his work.
There is a grain to the photograph which becomes more prominent in the background to the point where details become unclear and blurred. This grain ages the photographs which is emphasised with the choice to have them black and white to the point where you would assume this was a photo older than 2007. In the middle of the photograph it is noticeably lighter compared to the left but as the image looks to be during the day and is using natural light I find it unlikely that a flash was used here as the lightness goes as far as the buildings in the background. I would assume that this was a mix of the camera used and was enhancement in the editing process. However this was done it enhances the subject and brings our eyes to them.
The choice of black and white removes the possible colourful background that could take our attention away from the person as we would see the beautiful landscape and instead lets us focus our attention of the person and the cows. The person looks to be posed staring off to the side as if someone else is to the left taking a photo as well which is an interesting composition and set up.
Føroyar - Kevin Faingnaert
Kevin Faingnaert's series “Føroyar” is a project documenting those living in the remote villages on the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic in 2016. The project captures the scenic landscapes and the stories of the people that have decided to stay on the islands despite the declining population. Faingnaerts main goal while visiting was to document the villages and the people that live within them before the population is non-existent. The Faroe Islands are a cluster of 18 islands that are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. These islands are a self-governed country meaning that they are in charge of regulations etc without interference from external authorities. One of the reasons they are finding less people staying on the islands is because many of the youth travel in search of more opportunities and choose to stay. According to Faingnaert, hitchhiking was simple. To them it was either out of curiosity of seeing a new face as they are not used to tourists or the word had already spread about a Belgian guy hitchhiking between villages with his camera. This shows just how isolated the villages are, everyone knows everyone to the point that they can point out a stranger straight away and trust him as there is not many other reasons to come somewhere so remote.
Faingnaert's main intention was to photograph the the island and those living on it before the population becomes zero and mentions that he would ask for permission before taking the photos. Whether I look at the full project or just his photo in particular I find nothing wrong with it ethically as I do not see a photographer taking advantage of a community or trying to portray them in a negative light, instead he just photographs what he sees.
I stumbled upon Faingnaerts work through an article by National Geographic. Similar to what I said for 'Amye and Ahren', having the work published elsewhere other than just his own website broadens the audience that sees the work and gets to learn about this community. National Geographic focuses on work that explores locations, particularly ones that are less known, animals and history so this project fits in with their audience.
The choice to compose the image as portrait, not zooming in to the people and instead taking the image from further away shows the vast size of the islands and creates a comparison to how small the people seem which brings us back to the fact that the islands population is small and reducing. I would say that using a large depth of field was the right choice as the sea and mountains are just as important as the people and buildings in the foreground. The blue tone across the photograph creates a coldness which is appropriate considering we can see that is winter and has snowed. The colour blue can also be a symbol of loneliness but also associated with open spaces which both encapsulate the islands situation. You then have the complimentary warmth from the lights in the houses and he one street light which reminds you of the people still living there and having their own lives amongst this vast open space.
Grey Summer Garden - Jorise Hermans
Grey Summer Garden is Jorise Hermans way of documenting a small community in () that mainly consist of housing for those with low income. The area has been given a negative reputation and numerous stereotypes so in 2016 Hermans went in with the aim of documenting how the community truly is. What he found was a community that was the opposite to how it was described and the people were welcoming to a stranger looking to capture their lives. A perfect description of this project is from C41 Magazine that states “Jorise Hermans unveils the beauty of a community hidden behind stereotypes”.
We can tell from the photographs and interviews that Herman had good intentions when documenting this community and truly wanted to show that the stereotypes were just that. Herman could have continued the negative reputation the community had but instead he met the people living there, got to know them and documented them in their true light. I found this project on Hermans personal website which is a portfolio of his work. A great thing about having the project on his own website is that he was able to add a personal touch at the end - if you reach the end there is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon called Idyll. This poem starts with the line "In the grey summer garden I shall find you" and I believe this was him connecting the symbolism behind the poem to the community which is very powerful. Having the work on his own website may also lead to the people seeing other work and becoming a fan of him and supporting future work. For example, Hermans has a Patreon that you can sign up to and support him on.
Natural lighting is used and from the rays of lighting that are shining through it would suggest it is as the sun is setting. This creates a beautiful golden glow to the image which is a great complimentary contrast to the green and brings warmth to the image. The colours and tones represent the people and the relationship between the two which adds a positive connotation the photograph, which again steers away from the negative stereotype on the community. Hermans has used a shallow depth of field as only the subjects and the pavement around them are in focus and the background is slightly blurred. This again draws our attention the the subjects but still reminds us of them being in the community. As a shallow depth of field was used then it is likely he used a a lower f/ stop to counter act the reduction in light that would of becoming through the lens which would have been particularly important as there would have been less light as the sun is setting.
All sources for images and information can be found here