Tuesday, 30 April 2013

what does Nick think?


He agrees that the previous three images are the strongest 
  • wondered why i had changed my mind from looking at black and white portraits of gingers?
  • Thinks i should go back to this, and should DEFINITELY use large format! 
  • we talked about cost........ isn't as expensive as i thought.  25 sheets for £3

So what now?
  • need to order film
  • need to organise shoots and my time well
  • need to practice on a medium format camera using a green/ red filter. Which would make freckles punchy?
  • need to organise my time!

and i think out of those, these 3 i think are the strongest







started to think about which images i feel are the most successful to date...













Monday, 29 April 2013

elinor curruci

simple, but effective. 

similar to what i started to do in one of my shoots. zooming in and focusing on the lips.  for me, adding the nose in as well to really show off the freckles. 

imprinted skin. would be similar for me but the focus would be on the freckles. 



a ginger story i was told

During my time in Japan I lived in a city of 4 million people called Nagoya, which is the industrial heartland of Japan but, in the late 1980s when I was there, had a very small expatriate population. Consequently the locals had rarely encountered foreigners, especially those with bright red hair and thick, bushy red beards. The first new Japanese word I learnt was 'Gaijin' - the Japanese word for foreigner, which translates literally as 'outside person'. It was a word I heard every single day I was there, usually said with a little gasp of horror, shock or surprise. I found my physical appearance caused all sorts of reactions, from people crossing the street to avoid walking near me, to taxis slowing down then speeding off when they saw I was foreign to bus loads of school children pointing and shrieking and laughing as they drove past me. The most extreme reaction came once in a fast food restaurant. I had gone up to the counter and the girl there had her head down and was checking her till. She then looked up, saw me in all my gingery hairiness and had a hysterical fit. She started laughing maniacally, but this was a frightened, embarassed laugh, not a happy one, and the longer I stood there the worse it got. She seemed frozen to the spot yet unable to stop laughing at the sight stood in front of her until eventually her manager spotted what was happening and took her off into the back to calm down. That experience, and others like it during my time in Japan, gave me a new insight into the whole subject of racism. White Anglo-Saxon types are usually portrayed as the world's only racists and yet being the victim of racism in Japan opened my eyes to the fact that racism seems to be a universal attribute rather than one reserved for whites. And I suppose that begs the question: is it 'racist' to make fun of gingers? In America a common metaphor for something deeply unliked is that it is 'as popular as a red-headed stepchild' and have you noticed how in American film and TV the school bully is almost invariably a redhead?

shoots to date


  1. Gemma
  2. Bethan
  3. Andrea
  4. Rowenna 
  5. Martina - natural light
  6. Daisy
  7. Uncle Paul
  8. Dad
  9. Fanny
  10. Martine - studio
  11. Rowenna
  12. Ryan 
  13. Phillipa
  14. Ewan
  15. Martina's ginger fashion line 

NOW REVIEW AND GET A PORTFOLIO SELECTION FROM THE ABOVE SHOOTS

things don't always go to plan...

so, not long ago i wrote on here saying that i was going to continue this project using purely large format, however that has not exactly gone as planned.

Its a shame when finance has to factor in, however unfortunately, i simply could not afford to shoot in large format, as much as i would of liked to.

Instead i have continued with digital and i am happy with the outcome i have from numerous shoots. i think that now i need to look through shoots and look at what i have.

Saturday, 27 April 2013

I asked Ewan some questions... here are his answers


1. Do you like your hair colour, and why?
 I do like my colour, if for the only reason that I don't think I'd be me without it.
2. Has your hair colour had an impact on your life?
I think my hair has had most to do making me me, if not just because of genetics.
3. Where you teased for your hair colour?
Yeah I've been teased at times, but never heavily or too the extent that I know others have.
4. Has your view changed through the years with regards to your hair colour?
As I got older I realized that I wouldn't be me without it, and even if it contributed to alienation, I'm glad.
5. Any stories you can share?
N/A
6. Anything else you would like to share or add…..
Wouldn't change it for anything........


Shoot with Ewan

I think out of all my shoots, this one was the most fun. The fact his eye brows and lashes are so pale, against his ginger hair.  and he is a very photogenic guy.


1

2

3. i like close up, invasive portraits, like elinor curruci's project called 'closer'.Invasive, and i like how you are invading there space that they are in.   

4. this is one of my favourite. i love that you can see his pale eye lashes,and his ginger stubble is showing through.   

5

6




Thumbnails


Monday, 22 April 2013

Phillipa


I don't feel like this shoot was as successful. Some images maybe, but for me these images don't say enough... 



Seems almost 'staged' and not real. but i like the idea of this image and the fact that the hands are involved and hiding her face. 

i think that the delicate feel in this image works well. her pale skin against the hair  works well. and the central positioning of her. It looks like she is shy but on contrast to the viewer being given this girl as the central location in this image. 

i liked the idea of this but because of the light i think i had to hold the camera and not use the tripod, which was frustrating. as not necessarily from this angle but from right above her, looking down, i feel this would work really well. 

i am glad i got the breath from her mouth on the sheet of glass, but should of considered my framing more! and the colour of her hair isn't shown up well


Thumbnails



Sunday, 21 April 2013

shoot with Ryan



very successful shoot i feel. i am thinking i may have an image for end of year exhibition... maybe one??? 



1. different angle of framing then what i have done previously. The detail on the strains on each hair and the colour against the freckles i feel makes this a strong image. Blown up i feel the detail would take this image far. a tad yellow so would need to just adjust this in photoshop. Nick disagrees and doesn't love this!

2.  need to ask others for feedback on this as i can't make my mind up. not sure if this image says enough on its own...  looking at it more, i think that its not a punchy enough image. quite bland and i don't think enough is said through his eyes. 

3. the freckles and detail in the eyes. in this capture i tried to consider 'whats beyond the frame' in this image as the viewer you question what he is looking at so intently. 

4. similar to above. the freckles are so clear and sharp in these images and therfore i feel gives them strength. would love to see these images blown up. or in black and white!

LARGE FORMAT!!

Thumbnails

1

2

3


nick said....


that this magazine ... ( http://www.blowphotomagazine.com )

will be in the library and is centered around portraiture. Need to  look at, but isn' t in library yet. 

Friday, 19 April 2013

Just got some feedback from Clare Hewitt about my website

Hi Rebecca,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you re your website - I didn't want to write back until I'd had a proper chance to look at it.

It looks great - very clean and simple to navigate, and the images look lovely. Some of them have a really nice tone to them, particularly the ones of your sister.

Just a couple of changes that I would make, but obviously only if they make sense to you.

I would put your about section next to your contact section and have the images come first along the navigation panel at the top.

I'm not sure about the image that isn't a portrait being in the portrait section - it's a beautiful image but is it part of a wider series? Could it go somewhere else on the site, or is it a diptych with the image of your sister looking out to sea?

I would also say that the two images on your home page should be in the redheads section of the site too.

Other than that it looks great, well done!

Clare x

Thursday, 18 April 2013

thinking back.....

to the questions i asked some gingers. Reading back on them, there are some great answers to some and random sentences that i think may work well to accompany my work in the end of year degree show!

Old procedure/ framing!


I think that it is important to look back to the old procedure of photography, and that there is something to be learned. The thing that is most striking looking back to imagery made with these cameras, is that they seem to capture and portray stillness and silence. Two very powerful things to portray in an image.  
Perhaps this is why i find a connection with this kind of work. The longer shutter speeds means more of your sitter is being shown and there has to be stillness in the sitter. 

I can't remember who said this but i remember reading somewhere that the most important thing about written text is what got left out. 

I suppose a similar statement could be said about photographs. The zone between what is included in an image and what gets left out. this is shown and defined by the edges/ frame of the image. 

I think that within an image this can be a very exciting thing. What's beyond the frame??? 

i need to consider how i will frame my images... VERY IMPORTANT! what do i want to show!? what do i want to leave out? what is outside the frame and what is included? 

I have been reading.... 'TRAIN YOUR GAZE' by Roswell Angier

in the opening of this book they speak about how Avedon shot his series which was published in the 1960's in the Rolling stones magazine.
How his subjects were silent and he did not speak to his subjects.
As a result the images have an intense feel about them. "there was never any doubt who was in control"




These portraits show little of the sitters identity. This my be due to the overpowering presence of the photographer being a part and the centre of the focus of the image. You can really feel his presence in his portraits.
Avedon said that he thought all portraits, and especially his own, were "opinions". The photographers eye here does not seek to represent, it looks to persuade.

WITH MY WORK i think that because of my interest in portraiture photography. There is something to be learned from the way in which Avedon works. I think that this overwhelming presence of the photographer being part of the image is something i would love to show in my images. I think it is importrant to create a connection with my sitter and in hope that this will start to show in the images.

Its the final push now and just got to go for it! got lots to do and i think that it is important that i create interesting, captivating portraits which have a presence about them

some images from a short shoot i did



i think that these images are quite sad. you feel invasive of her space, like she is thinking about something. for me, images 3 and 4 are the strongest and could work well displayed next to an image from my shoot with ryan

1

2

3

4. this is one of my favourite. this cropping i feel works well. 

interviews/ I asked a few questions

I decided that it would be interesting to ask some  people with red hair some questions about what it's like having this hair colour.

Coming from a family of gingers, I asked my dad these questions and below is detailed his responses:


1. Do you like your hair colour, and why?
 Yes, I love it because it's different and there aren't many people with this colour.
2. Has your hair colour had an impact on your life?
When I was younger it was a good conversation-starter.
3. Were you teased for your hair colour?
Yes, especially at boarding school
4. Has your view changed through the years with regards to your hair colour?
Just gone a bit white round the edges 
5. Any stories you can share?
When I was in my early twenties I had long hair and when I had it cut the hairdresser asked me if they could use it to make a wig!
6. Anything else you would like to share or add…..
Having red hair has always made me stand out / be different and I wouldn't change it for the world.
My only regret is that I didn't pass it on to my beautiful daughters, but hopefully their children will have it as it is said that the 'red hair gene' tends to skip a generation - we shall see!!


I then asked Bethan the same questions. And detailed below are her answers:

1. Do you like your hair colour, and why?
yep I love my hair colour as it is a rare colouring which makes me feel special and different
2. Has your hair colour had an impact on your life?
Not really, I do get quite a lot of attention sometimes because of it people are always complimenting me on it which has made me a more confident person.
3. Where you teased for your hair colour?
yep, but mainly jokes from my two brothers, they find it funny to call me gimli from Lord of the rings because I am short and have ginger hair.
4. Has your view changed through the years with regards to your hair colour?
I used to not like my hair colour as It made me stand out from the crowd and when I was younger I was very shy and did not like being pointed out. But now I love it and am proud to have such an unusual hair colour.
5. Any stories you can share?
One time a boy came up to me randomly in the street and said 'Did you know that your head is on fire?' and then ran away laughing. I remember at the time I was quite upset, but looking back it makes me laugh
6. Anything else you would like to share or add…..

I then emailed my uncle the same questions. And below is detailed his responses: 
  
1. Do you like your hair color, and why?
Yes, I love my hair colour because it makes me special. According to my DNA analysis, under 2% of the British population have the same red-headed DNA as me!
2. Has your hair color had an impact on your life?
Yes - people's reactions to it have had an impact, especially in countries where red-heads are rare or unknown.
3. Where you teased for your hair colour?
 I was teased at school - gingernut, duracell, carrot-top were some of the names I was called, but they never bothered me.
4. Has your view changed through the years with regards to your hair color?
As I get older and the ginger is slowly being replaced with white, especially in the beard, I suppose I have become more fond of my gingerness.
5. Any stories you can share?

When I first moved abroad at the age of 22 to a small industrial town in South-Central Spain I was surprised to notice that, as I walked around town, the local old ladies always seemed to be upset by me. They would frown and scowl and cross themselves in the Catholic manner while muttering to themselves whenever I passed. Eventually I found out that in that part of Spain (and perhaps in other Mediterranean countries where redheads are rare) there was a superstition that is was bad luck to meet a redheaded man because apparently, Judas Iscariot was a ginge and all the muttering and the crossing was a way of warding off the 'evil' that I had unsuspectingly brought into their lives! Who knew?!
Another story concerns my experiences in Arabia where I have been living for the past 20 years. Under Islam, along with the prohibition on men wearing silk or gold, they are also forbidden from dyeing their hair except with henna (as the Prophet Mohammed had allegedly dyed his beard with henna). As a result I would often encounter older men, especially the more religious ones, who had the most glorious bright henna-red beards. As I had taken the opportunity of living in such a beard-friendly society to 'go the whole ZZ-Top' and grow a huge beard myself, I was often mistaken for a very devout Muslim. This proved useful not only in my job of teaching classes of up to forty 18-year-old Saudi undergraduates, who I seemed to have a lot less trouble controlling than my clean-shaven colleagues, but also when dealing with local officials. Indeed, once at Jeddah airport Darcy and I were waiting in a long line to go through passport control when two armed guards approached us, pulled us out of line, sped us through passport control and customs, showed us where we could catch the connecting flight to Mecca and wished us a happy pilgrimage. We smiled and thanked them and, when they had gone, snuck round to get our connecting flight to a completely different part of the country! 
6. Anything else you would like to share or add…..
I have never once in my life dyed my hair, although I feel that if I were blond or dark-haired I probably would have at some time. Being ginger is the best!

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

my website :-)

im getting somewhere with my website finally,
here it is:
  www.rebeccahudsonphotography.com

Monday, 15 April 2013

5 weeks to go! WHATS THE PLAN?????

to keep it simple..... i have 5 weeks left!

it's definitely clear to me why they call this the final push - I am certainly feeling the pressure! This is good thing though, as is giving me the kick up the bum that i need!

I have printed out the timetable for the final 5 weeks and have the pinned about my desk and i am making plans for each day! this is important for me as i need STRUCTURE and A PLAN!

i have decided that for the next couple of weeks. up until approx. the 5th may - i will continue to shoot. REALLY pushing myself to get as much done as i can!

After this - so from approx. 6th may - I want to purely focus on what my final prints will be, and doing final retouches, getting them printed/ mounted and getting my portfolio images selected and printed.

Finallly will be ready for the hand in on the 20th May!!!! :)