A Small Voice podcast

I recently listened to a podcast with the documentary photographer Magda Rakita. Magda lives in Cambridge, England and studied at the London College of communication. Magda spent most of her early life in Poland, as her father was in the military, she would always be moving house. Magda developed a love for photography at a later age than average photographers, she started off in a career in finance, but would do anything to find a way out of it. Magda has creative narrative photography in places such as Liberia and Afghanistan.

As well as being a photographer, Magda is an advocate for Intersex people all around the world, and has only recently started speaking about being intersex recently. Only 1.7 of the world population is intersex, and the subject is not widely spoken about. She is currently working on a project called ‘One Point Seven’, which is based on the subject of intersex people around the world.

Wim Wenders

We went to the photographers gallery to look at The Wim Wenders show. This has been my favourite gallery we have visited with university so far, and I love Wim Wenders style and passion for photography. There was a video playing inside the gallery about Wim Wenders, and it inspired me a lot, as even if people criticised him about taking photos of them, he did not lose confidence. My favourite polaroid of Wim Wenders is:

This is my favourite one of his photos is as it is as if we are seeing the world from his eyes and perspective. I think this is a really creative idea, as because those glasses are made for his own eyes, it’s like he is letting us into his world in a very personal way.

National Gallery

The first painting I looked at in the national gallery was by an artist from the 1700’s called Thomas Gainsborough. The painting is a self portrait of him, his wife and his newly born daughter. In the painting, the painter himself is at the front of the shot, this can be to show his dominance in front his wife and daughter, as he is a man. In the 1700’s men were seen as higher up in hierarchy than women, which could be his reasoning for him being the main view of the shot. He is also wearing red which connotes power, and too reflects on society of the 1700’s. The red of his clothes can also show danger, which can be related to the unequal and unbalanced hierarchy of the time, meaning that the less wealthy lives depended on the decisions made by the rich and famous. The man is also wearing the dominant colour of black, this can connote the isolation between the women accompanying the male figure. This can also be shown as the women and baby are dressed in pure colours such as blue and white.

 

The natural lighting in the painting is peaking in from behind the clouds, this can suggest a new horizon for the family within the painting, as the bright light connotes the feeling of life and youthfulness of the child. This can be a new dawn for the family. The blend of dark colours surrounding the family adds more emphasis on the colours of the clothing of the family, which can suggest how wealthy and powerful the family are in society which can be seen by the contrasting colours.

The second painting i visited at the gallery was also from the 1700’s, painted by a man called Joseph Mallord William Turner. The bottom of the painting is much darker than the rest of the painting. This is also where the people are painted, this can suggest the destruction the people within in the painting have experienced. The sea and the sun can connote hope and new beginings as they are in much better light than the bottom as the sun is the giver of life for the earth, which may be the case for the people in the painting hoping that their ventures will bring them good luck. The artist has purposely chosed to place the people of the painting within a small space to focus on the surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dylan Collard

Dylan Collard is a portrait photographer from London. He has an extremely unique and raw style in his work, capturing different shots using the same prop and making each photo different. He uses the same green 3 seated bench in 5 photos in his portfolio, and each one captures the faces and body of each model in a completely new way. The first photo is of a young boy, who looks as if he is tired, which is also shown through having a water bottle next to his feet. The next photo in the portfolio is of a 20-30 year old women sitting on the same green bench. She has taken off her shoes which implies she is extremely comfortable, and looks like she’s just come back from the beach. The third photo in the group of 5 shots is of a professional looking man. His clothes look clean and ironed, and he is wearing a top hat. He is sat in a professional yet comfortable position on the bench, with his hands holding each other. This can mean that he is withdrawn from being himself for the camera, or it’s just a comfortable position for him. The 4th photo is of a surfer, who has scruffy hair and is sitting extremely lay out over the bench. He is taking up a lot of space on the bench with his arms which means he feels comfortable in the situation he is in. He is also wearing no shoes which adds to his surfer persona. The last photo in the group is of a fairly elderly man, who is sitting in a desert setting, and has on hard wearing shoes.