York:- A Photographic History

Square MileByRichard Keys

1

© 2017 Richard Keyswww.photosociology.info

I am the author of this book – York:- A Photographic HistoryAssignment One-Square Mile, Foundations in Photography, Open Collage of the Arts.

I use a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. This means that you can make use of my photography for non-commercial purposes, you can make derivatives/changes - but you must identify where you have done so, and credit Richard Keys and www.photosociology.info as the author and holder of the copyright license.

2

ContentsThe Process – From idea to photobook Page 3The Critique of Peers Page 5Difficulties Page 5Reflection Upon the Result Page 6Online Book and PDF Links Page 6Contact Sheet PDF Links Page 6The Photos Page 7627 CE - The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter (York Minster) Page 7Back Cover Page 871 CE - The Southern Gateway to Eboracum, St Helen’s Square Page 9306CE - Constantine the Great Page 10866 CE - Coppergate, Jorvik and Ivar the Boneless Page 111190 CE - The Festival of Pesach Massacre, Clifford’s Tower Page 121350 CE – Shambles Page 131570 CE - Guy Fawkes - St Michael le Belfrey Page 141644 CE - Roundheads, Cavaliers, and the Siege of York Page 151739 CE - The Execution of Dick Turpin Page 161825 CE - Mad Alice - Lunds Court Page 171997 CE - El Piano, the Latin Quarter, and the Festival of Angels Page 182015 - The Great York Flood Page 19References Page 20

3

The Process – From Idea to PhotobookThis has been a really enjoyable project, that has developed from the initial ideas that I had. Upon reading the brief I was aware that I could not complete the assignment within the area that I grew up. I had researched John Wilfred Hinde following guidance from my tutor. I can see the importance of Hinde from the perspective of how he directed the scenes that he was photographing, his use of colour and his development process. One of my first ideas was to try and emulate his tourist photography, but I chose not too because I do not like the seaside. I find them to be rather dull from a photographic perspective, and I had not liked Hinde’s photography at all.

Over the years I have lived in York and heard stories about the place and I decided that I would explore these. However, I know so much more of York than those tales, so I decided to explore the history of York from the 1st Century to the present day. Although I know York very well, I conducted research before going, and developed a route that I would follow. The third idea that I had was to explore the notion that when we are so familiar with a place we stop seeing, and considered collaborating with others. The Johari window is a tool used in counselling and psychology that says there are things that we know about ourselves that others also do, things that we know that others don’t, things that others know about us that we don’t and things that neither of us know. If I collaborated with others then I could take a photo of the places that I was visiting, then explore the area and photograph something that I had not noticed before, and leave a letter asking others to take photos in the area and send them to me. It was my back up plan. However, I left it too late to seek permission from the council to leave letters around the town, and I am aware that it is a civil offence in many places to do so.

The brief for the assignment requires research into Tom Hunter and Dan Holdswoth. I also reviewed Chloe Dewe-Matthews upon the guidance of my tutor. What I realised from these reviews were the ability for photographs to tell stories. With Hunter and Dewe-Matthews there is an introduction or summary with the work and the narrative is explained via the text, and I could see that I could make use of this approach with the Square Mile assignment. A day before going to shoot in York I realised that I could turn this assignment into a photobook with the accompanying history with each subject that I photographed. There is so much history in York that I could see the potential for a sequence that moved through from the 1st Century to the present day.

The workflow coursework included light and shadow, diffuse lighting, stillness and movement, shooting in manual, making contact sheets, developing photography, and making decisions about composition and distractions.

My final twelve photos demonstrate those techniques, as well as moving through the historical time periods. Photos 3, 7, and 8 were taken to capture stillness and movement. Diffused light is demonstrated in images 1 and 9, and photographing for highlights and shadows is represented in image 11.

I have taken some inspiration from Hinde. He didn’t only put effort into making his photos, he took great care into ensuring that his photos were developed how he wanted them, including changing of colours. In my series photo 3 was quite flat, so I have used the burn tool on the left of the photo, and on the right above the street performers. I increased the exposure using the dodge tool, moving from the bottom right corner, along the street, and then through the street performers, and over the church. This way the eye moves through the photo. I have manually used the clone tool to sharpen the writing as it showed that my hand shook when I took the shot. Technically this was a bad photo, but the history was relevant to me, so I have made it how I want it to be. Seeking guidance from my peers I also altered image 9. There was a car in the background and a person was on the edge of the scene. I have removed the car, and moved the person so that they are framed by

4

the archway. To demonstrate how I achieved this I produced a Photoshop tutorial. In image 11 I used the replace colour tool in Photoshop image adjustments, to deepen the colour of the man’s shirt and jeans so that he could be seen clearly. My favourite photo is image 6 which is called “The Festival of Pesach Massacre - Clifford’s Tower”. It tells the story of the massacre of the whole of York’s Jewish community in 1190. The exposure has been lowered and there has been an increase in blues to lower the temperature. In my minds eye the scene needed to feel like a cold, isolated, and lonely place of death. To add to this, I have brought up the shadows over the tower, and then sharpened it. These adjustments were made in Lightroom using the grad filter, combined with the erase brush tool so that I could mask the areas that I did not want to have these effects. Shambles, photo 7, is also a photo that I am pleased with. I have lifted the shadows, and added black and a touch of warmth to give this old street an aged feel.

The Critique of PeersI have asked and received critique and feedback from my peers via the Foundations in Photography group e mail, as well as on my blog, from my initial ideas, evaluating contact sheets and photo selection, and with the development of photo 9. The most helpful advice has been from people explaining what is not working and why. My aim is to develop as a photographer, study the Open College of the Arts undergraduate degree in photography and long term to become a professional photographer. To achieve my goals I need to ensure that I seek the support of people who are courageous enough to tell me where I am getting it wrong.

DifficultiesWhilst in York I took just over 700 photos. After initial evaluation I produced a contact sheet with 70 Photos and then re-evaluated until I had two contact sheets with 48 photos (series 1 – Series 2), which I then developed. It was incredibly difficult to cull this down to 12 photos. There were several that I like and think are technically good photos, but did not fit in with the sequence of history. I published the contact sheets without adding the written history and then sought feedback. I then cross referenced this with the 12 that I preferred, cut out the images from the contacts and got down to 18 images. I left them on my floor for three days, moving a photo into and out of the series, until I settled on the final 12. Image two is not for evaluation, I added it to the rear cover of the photobook for aesthetics.

The PDF of my chosen series is here

My health has an impact upon what I carry and how much I can do. Taking my camera and tripod was too much and I became exhausted and there were a few places that I had planned to shoot that I didn’t get to. Also, York in the summer holidays is no place for a tripod. I shot the images using continuous shooting as an adaption for not using the tripod, and try to have the shutter speed at 250, although this was not always possible because of how I wanted the exposure to be, and to capture movement.

Not seeking the approval from the City of York Council in a timely fashion meant that I dropped the idea of collaboration with the public. It’s important to follow laws and by-laws when making photography, so I followed my plan to have a photographic history of York.

There have been several photos that I liked a lot that I have not included in the series. Some of them are photos that I am very pleased with. However, after reviewing Dewe-Mathhews and Tom Hunter, I have developed an understanding of the need for a series to make sense. A series needs a narrative, and I believe that I have achieved this. It wasn’t easy to leave out photos that I like.

5

After developing a photobook and sending it off to be printed I noticed a few spelling mistakes. Blurb do not allow editing once you have paid for a book to be printed. I had conducted proof reading by viewing the book in Lightroom before uploading. In future, I need to ensure that I copy text into a word document, and spell check, then print off to ensure that my wording is correct, before uploading to print.

Reflection upon the resultsHaving got to the end of this assignment I find myself very satisfied. Presenting a photobook for assessment is important for the level of study that I would like to undertake, and despite the spelling mistakes I am pleased with how the book looks. I have enjoyed the process of research, planning and producing a sequence for Square Mile, that demonstrates the skills learned during the Workflow coursework. Having an idea of how I want to make and develop photos is very important to me, and improving my technical skills is a part of the process. I didn’t enjoy taking the photos on the day. I was struggling with the physical demands of walking around town and the impact of that on a physical health condition. I experienced high anxiety on the day as well. I was sure that I had taken poor photos that were not good enough for the assignment.

The process of making use of contact sheets and seeking critique of others are new to me, but they have been a vital part of producing the work that I have. There is an OCA-student site and I haven’t made use of this during Square Mile, but I can see that this will increase the amount of critique that I can receive – one step at a time. As for pushing myself, that has been around taking photos to a plan, in one day, when I wasn’t enjoying it, and seeking critique. I have enjoyed this assignment.

Online Book and PDF LinksThe Book – York:- A Photographic History on Blurb or here for PDF Book Cover, and PDF Book. The link to blurb means that you can see the book format with pages side by side.

Contact Sheet PDF LinksThe final selectionDeveloped top 40 Series one a, and series twoEvaluated 48 – made up of series one, and series twoUndeveloped 70 Originals

6

The PhotosThese are in the order of the Contact Sheet, (I do not consider photo 2 two be part of this assignment, it is an aesthetic back cover photo).

627 CE - The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter (York Minster)

7

Back Cover

8

71 CE - The Southern Gateway to Eboracum, St Helen’s Square

9

306CE - Constantine the Great

10

866 CE - Coppergate, Jorvik and Ivar the Boneless

11

1190 CE - The Festival of Pesach Massacre, Clifford’s Tower

12

1350 CE - Shambles

13

1570 CE - Guy Fawkes - St Michael le Belfrey

14

1644 CE - Roundheads, Cavaliers, and the Siege of York

15

1739 CE - The Execution of Dick Turpin

16

1825 CE - Mad Alice - Lunds Court

17

1997 CE - El Piano, the Latin Quarter, and the Festival of Angels

18

2015 - The Great York Flood

19

References

http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/7139567/e8e66b5ce53d13a65f152606bd76a928cd945022https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/review-of-shot-at-dawn-chloe-dewe-matthews/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/review-john-wilfred-hinde/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/review-dan-holdsworth/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/08/12/assignment-one-square-mile-developing-my-ideas/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/review-tom-hunter/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/map-of-york-and-route-plan-assignment-one-square-mile/https://photosociology.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/photoshop-tutorial-cloning-between-two-or-more-photos/

20