Corinne Day

Corinne Day was born in England, and started her career as a model. While travelling and doing work for catalogues, she met Mark Szaszy in Tokyo and he trained her in photography. She began looking for fashion photography work with magazines and got her first job with The Face magazine for which she did a fashion editorial called “The Third Summer of Love” featuring Kate Moss. Although she was successful in commercial work, she decided she preferred “reportage” so she continued on to more documentary photography about her life and her friends.

   Day’s photos have an element of casualness and seem to reflect real life. She doesn’t put make up on her models, much of her photography is candid and she seems to use whatever lighting and surroundings that are available to her.  This first photograph that inspired me is from her “The Third Summer of Love” photo shoot. Kate Moss is sat against a grungy backdrop with a bed-head hairstyle and a cigarette in hand. She’s not very consciously posed and she’s holding her face in a natural expression. Everything from her wardrobe to her composure reads as casual and unforced.

   The second photo that I was inspired by was from her documentary photography phase; she put this one in her autobiographical exhibition titled, “Diary” and her biography of the same name. Judging by the look on her friend’s face, this photograph seems candid and unplanned. The pale colouring and unpolished setting are reflective of her style. I love the simplicity of her photography. She doesn’t try to make life seem any more extravagant than it is but she manages to create such a beautiful mood.

    The last photo I took inspiration from was also of Kate Moss in the “Third Summer of Love” exhibition. It’s taken portrait style so the subject was clearly aware of the photo being taken but there is real emotion being conveyed through her expression. Day’s photography really has an element of natural influence. As mentioned before, she doesn’t like to put make up on her models, she leaves their hair natural only adding occasional braids or crimps and she incorporates organic elements such as the necklace Kate has on in this picture. I think this makes for a feeling of freedom and youth that I really like.

              The three photographs of the ones that I took that I chose to edit actually turned out to be similar to the three I was inspired by.  I tried to achieve the effortless, grungy look by giving my model, Olivia, no make up except a smudgy dark lip colour, braiding her hair loosely and picking out a simple, vintage inspired outfit. I left the backgrounds natural, refraining from tidying up any clutter or grime. In my editing process, I dulled out the colours and added some light blur textures to replicate the camera quality that seemed constant through Day’s photos. I hope that I have achieved the same effect and mood that I take from Corinne Day’s photography, I love her work and she’s definitely a model for me in my work.

Sources

"Corinne Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinne_Day>.

"Corinne Day - Home." Corinne Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.corinneday.co.uk/home.php>.

"Corinne Day (Vogue.com UK)." Fashion News, Latest Trends, Catwalk Photos & Designers (Vogue.com UK). N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.vogue.co.uk/person/corinne-day>.

Alternative Process #3

Aperture: f5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/25

For my final alternative process, I decided to do a silkscreen. To start the process, I took pictures of my friend Olivia's eyes open and closed. After that, I put the pictures on photoshop and posterized them until only black and white were shown. I played around with the brightness, contrast and exposure until I felt the right amount of detail was shown. Then I printed them and had them transfered onto acetate. I stapled silk onto a canvas and covered it in emulsion. After letting it dry, I projected the images from the acetate onto the silkscreen using a light board. I scrubbed away the loose emulsion, leaving me with a silkscreen with my images on it. I placed the silkscreen over my t-shirts and used black and white fabric ink to press through the silkscreen, leaving the image on my shirts. I'm really happy with the way they turned out and I think I'll actually end up wearing them too!

Photo Journalism

On our field trip to OCAD, we had an opportunity to wander around the surrounding areas of Toronto to try our hand at photo journalism. The goal was to take a picture that told a story.

Every time I visit this area of Toronto, I try to have a meal at the eclectic "Village by the Grange" food court. It offers a wide range of food from various ethnicities and provides an interesting setting for lunch. But even if I don't have time for a full meal, I always make a point of stopping at the "Coffee Exchange." This is what I've captured in my photo above.

In the past, I've had time to stop and chat with the man who usually works behind the cash register. I've learned that he's also the owner of the shop and father of some of his employees. He's explained to me that the shop is family-run and "family morals based." They believe in fresh ingredients, fresh coffee and options for everyone. The Coffee Exchange does all they can to offer a wide variety of coffees, teas and decaffeinated drinks for anyone to enjoy. It makes it so much easier to want to spend money on your coffee fix when you know how much love and thought is poured into it. In the picture I took you can see all 10 of their freshly brewed coffees (all different roasts and flavours) and the daughter of the owner making a drink in the background. 

Alternative Process #2

Aperture: f5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/25

This week for my alternative process photo, I decided to do a photogram. I wanted to try and display different values as best as I could. For each letter, I layered different materials over top of my photo paper when I exposed it. For the opaque "F", I just used plain white paper. For the "A", I layered tape and stretched out cotton. For the "D" and "E" I just used clear tape but I layered more for the "D" than the "E". I think it was pretty effective.

Alternative Process #1

Aperture: f5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/25

This week I was working with an alternative process of photography. I did a gel medium transfer. To complete this process I took a photo, printed it and made a photocopy of it (for the most possible concentrated ink.) After that, I taped it to a masonite board and began to layer gel medium over it, letting it dry in between each layer. After about 20 layers, I took it off the board and dipped it into a tub of water. I rubbed off all the paper with my fingers so that all that was left was a thick layer of gel medium with the image transferred onto it. My final product was a slightly transparent, thick image with an interesting tint in it (likely from the yellow and blue paint residue that was on the paint brush I was using.) I'm very happy with it!