Erik Knudsen

Erik Knudsen is a Professor of Film Practice at the University of Salford in Manchester. He has filmed many documentaries and a few feature length films along with contributing to a number of informative books. One documentary was filmed in Cuba where he took a series of photographs. He has a growing collection of photographs which feature lots of dark tones and contrast. The images are mainly in colour but there are a couple in black and white. A contrast is shown between the streets of Cuba and the streets of Britain. Before this, he scripted and directed films and is also a former musician, singer and songwriter.

As part of our Wednesday work,

Food Still Life Task

For our fifth task, we were asked to complete a still life image of food. Before I took my images, I researched Martin Parr's work with food and noticed that he used a lot of sweet food and that the images were very colourful. I wanted to incorporate the same colour in my images as I believe that, to a certain extent, the object then stops looking like 'just food'. Although I took influence from a few of Parr's photographs of doughnuts and cakes, I also looked at them and decided what I wanted to do differently. First of all I wanted a plain background so the entire focus of the image was the food. I then wanted to crop the image in Photoshop so that it wasn't just a square photograph. Lastly, I wanted to pick one kind of brightly coloured food and make that food into something else.
Eventually, I decided on using smarties for flexibility and versatility and good use of space. I then decided that I would arrange these into a rainbow so as to include as much colour as possible. Overall, I am pleased with my final image as it is exactly what I had planned but, if I were to do it again, I would incorporate even more colour, change the composition and manipulate it in Photoshop to increase the contrast and the brightness.

My Video Interview

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY: MY VIDEO WOULD NOT UPLOAD TO BLOGGER. I ASSUME THIS IS BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE CORRECT FILE TYPE. I WILL ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WHEN I COME BACK TO COLLEGE.

This is my final video interview with my subject. After practicing all the techniques I have acquired and preparing the correct questions to ask with my subject beforehand, I went ahead and started the video. Surprisingly, I only needed one take, during which, at one point, I asked the wrong question. I resolved this by cropping that part of the video out using iMovie. I planned to attempt to turn the video sepia but, unfortunetly, did not have time. If I were to do the interview again or improve the one I have already completed, I would then attempt to do so. Overall, I am happy with my video interview, as I think that it correctly addresses the reasons for the interview, e.i. discovering information about her mixed heritage, whilst asking questions that are less linked to the topic to attempt to make my subject feel comfortable.

Research on Oral History Projects

For this assignment, as we were asked to include a video interview with our subject, I researched other oral history projects. I looked at 2 videos on youtube.com.

The first was named 'An Irish American Oral History'. I like the fact that it is quite an informal interview but it is clear that they have made some mistakes. It is obvious that it was a 'questions and answers' interview and the creator has done a poor job of cropping his speech out of the video. It often jumps where he has cut out certain parts and therefore doesn't flow as well as it should and, on occasions, his voice can be heard overlapping hers. I like the fact that she is being recorded somewhere that she looks comfortable as this will probably put her at ease and therefore have a positive effect on the interview overall. I feel I have taken a lot from this video and will use it as a guide of what not to do when I am interviewing my subject.

The second video that I researched was named 'Grandpa' M's Oral History'. The first thing that you notice about the video is that he has opted for the standard font, text size and colour and background colour and, therefore, the introduction is not very aesthetically pleasing. Although the subject is not actually shown in the video, I think the fact that photographs are used to visually tell his story is more interesting. I like fact that a few different techniques have been used, such as zooming in and out of the photograph, as it makes it more appealing to the viewer. Another positive point about the video is that he seems to be telling his story, rather than being asked questions, which makes it flow a lot better than the first video. I think one improvement on the video would be for the creator to link the photographs more with what he is saying during that moment. For instance, if he was talking about his mother to then show a photograph of his mother. After viewing this oral history project, I decided that I wanted to do something similar for my video interview but, after enquiring with my subject about this, she informed me that she didn't have enough family photographs relating as far back to her Great, Great Grandfather.

Research on John Goto

John Goto is a British artist, best known for his photoshopped montage colour photography. He began using computers in his work during the early 90's with a series made in Russia. I have been looking at his series 'Gilt City' in particular as was the one that caught my eye and interested me. The series explores the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. It was taken during the financial crisis of 2008 and the aim is to populate the streets of London with an assorted cast of significant outsiders. Goto made his first version of the series in 2002/4 and used digital montaging techniques. He showed 'insignificant' characters isolated within the busy commercial city. I like the fact that through this series he can explore the idea that two opposite classes can live together whilst highlighting just how different their lives really are. The images include a variety of different people, such as street entertainers, homeless people and drug dealers but they are shown as colourful characters against a grey corporate background.

security 2002/3

This image is playing with issues about race and representation as it shows a white male with his face painted black. He acts as guarding glass doors to a financial building but, as much as he stands to defend the building, it seems that at the same time he can also be viewed as evoking a threat. The picture is constructed to highlight division and opposition brought out through the approaching suited young male that is visible through the reflection in the glass doors. Also, the 'X' on the door serves as a barrier to the reflected figure.

Summer Assignment

We were asked to complete one photograph describing what we did or most enjoyed doing over the summer. As I worked a lot, my first idea was to photograph something to do with where I work but I decided to think a little more out the box and made the connection between earning and spending money. I walked to my bank and asked Kellie to take a photo of me in front of the 'Natwest' sign with notes stuffed into my mouth. I asked her to take two shots, one full body and one just of my face and the sign in the shot. I think they both look good in different ways. The full body shot looks good as I am trying to smile which reflects my happy mood whilst shopping. I prefer the zoomed in one, as you can see the sign more clearly, although I am not smiling and so if I were to take the shots again, I would take one zoomed in but with me smiling.


These are the final images: