Documentary

Photography





Erica McDonald
Erica is a photographer and
educator from Ohio. She
currently lives in New York
where she bases most of her
work. The photographs on this
slide are from her project 40
Days and
Occupy Wall Street.
This is a fine art photograph of an old lady from
Erica McDonalds project called 40 Days. The
woman is in the centre of the photograph and
occupies most of the frame. The viewers eye is
automatically drawn to the woman's face as it is
the brightest part of the photograph. This
photograph has a very short depth of field which
means that the woman is very focused and you
can see lots of detail. What can be seen of the
background is blurry due to the depth of field. The
light used in this photograph is very direct as it
lights up the womans face but not the background
or other part of the photograph. The light in this
photograph creates a subdued mood due to the
darkness of the rest of the photograph. This
photograph has quite a narrow range of tones. It
goes from black to grey and with the high level of
contrast, it helps to create the subdued mood of
the photograph.This photograph was taken from
the eye level of the woman which implies that the
photographer was of a similar height or it is
designed to create the illusion that the viewer is
stopping to look at this woman
This photograph was taken during the
protests to occupy Wall Street in 2011. In
this photograph this man is being
arrested by the police. The viewers eye is
attracted to the purple of the mans
hoodie and then travels to the police
officers and then to the van that he is
being pushed up against. Again there is a
short depth of field and so the man being
arrested and the police are in focus but
the action going on behind them is
slightly blurred. Also the arrest takes up
most of the photograph so it is hard to
see what else is happening in the
background which draws even more
attention to the arrest that is taking place.
The lighting used allows to viewer to
explore the photograph more. Compared
to the previous photograph the viewer
has a clear view of the background
despite the fact that it is blurry. Despite
the vibrant colours this photograph has
quite a serious mood due to its context.
This photograph is also from
Occupy Wall Street in 2011. This
man seems to be making some sort
of speech as there are people
around him and taking photographs
and recording him. The man is in
the centre of the photograph and
there seems to be some distance
between him and the rest of the
crowd. There is quite a long depth
of field as the viewer can clearly see
the people behind him and the
buildings. The man doesnt take up
the whole frame which allows the
viewer to feel like they are part of
the crowd. This is a very colourful
and bright photograph. This is
created by the amount of light used
when the photograph was taken
which allowed the colours to come
across as very bold.
Ed Thompson
Ed Thompson's photographs of the Texas hill country show
America's backyard, and give deep insights into the
psychology of a country that so dominates the rest of the
world yet whose citizens know so little about it. The surreal
cast of characters and locations Ed has discovered on his
odyssey offer a unique perspective on America's
relationship to itself and to the rest of the planet. - Paul
Lowe, 2008.
Ed Thompson is a
British freelance
photographer. His
photographs often
focus on fringe groups
and subcultures,
although his choices of
subjects are widely
eclectic.
This photograph shows an elderly woman eating
chips in a diner in America. The orange in this
photograph and in the background the bright blue sky
makes this photograph feel warm and inviting. People
wouldnt normally expect to see an elderly woman in a
diner where you eat of trays, you would expect to see
a young person doing that. However this photograph
was taken in America where their culture and
lifestyles are completely different to ours in the UK so
we could assume that this is normal and expected in
America. The two key elements in this photograph are
the writing on the window and the elderly woman. The
writing on the window attracts the viewers attention as
it is very bright and bold. The elderly woman captures
the viewers attention as she is the only person in this
photograph and she is perfectly focused. The viewers
eyes travel between these two main elements before
they start to travel to the tray on the table and her
companions hand and the activity that is taking place
on the other side of the window.
This photograph is from the occupy
london by St.Pauls Cathedral. The
viewers eye is drawn to three main
people in this photograph, the three
women as they are the most
visible. Light in this photograph is
key. It creates a bubble around this
small group of people keeping a lot
of the photograph in the dark but
still eluding to mass human
presence. This photograph is really
eye catching because what is
visible in the light is very bright and
colourful.
These people were at a long
protest so their raised arms might
be in protest or prayer if this group
were religious.
This photograph shows a part of the
campout by St.Pauls. In this photograph
there is a man standing next to a lot of
shelters with projections playing onto
screens and the side of the cathedral.
This photograph seems to be taken from
the edge of the camp due to the distance
between the photographer and what they
are photographing. The light used in this
photograph comes from the street lamps
and the cameras flash which implies that
the photographer is likely to be trying to
capture this event as naturally as he can.
He wants to document it not create it.
This photograph creates a sense of
desperation as normally sites like this are
built by refugees not protesters. The
protesters desperation was for equality
and better banking and their
overwhelming views on this subject
create a very passionate and desperate
mood on this photograph.
Andrea Bruce
For eight years she has chronicled the world's
most troubled areas as a staff photographer for
The Washington Post. She focused on Iraq
from 2003 to the present, following the
intricacies and obstacles of the conflict
experienced by Iraqis and the US military. She
also wrote a weekly column for The Post called
"Unseen Iraq."
This photograph shows a group of
soldiers walking along a path that is
marked out by high walls of barbed wire.
The viewers eye travels down the path
to the camp where the soldiers are
coming from and the photograph goes
from being and small group of soldiers to
something much bigger and the
background in some ways starts to
takeover the photograph. The depth of
field used is not very long but the
background is not so blurry that the
viewer does not know what it is. The
light on the main part of the group of
soldiers does not seem to have an
obvious source so either there is a lamp
being held over them or the light is
coming from where they just left, which
is very bright. The presence of the
barbed wire in this photograph creates a
sense of unease because the barbed
wire is there for their protection and
therefore makes the viewer wonder what
the threat is and how big a threat it is.
This photograph shows a handcuffed
man having some sort of interaction with
another man who we would assume is
his guard. Since we cannot see their
faces to see what is going on the viewer
has to guess what is going on between
these two people. The relaxed body
language suggests that they are merely
having a conversation. It could also be
the man leading this man to his cell for
the night. Neither person seems to be
making an obvious gesture as to what is
going on and this makes the photograph
seem quite solemn. Both the men are
only just in the photograph. This
emphasises the space in between them
and tells the viewer that their
relationship is not strong, that they
arent very close.
The wide range of tones along with the
low contrast creates a sense of a
claustrophobic space.
This photograph shows a young boy being
pulled out from a collapsed building after an
earthquake in Kashmir. The boy is clearly in a
bad condition as there is lots of dirt and blood
and his head is not supported by his neck. The
rest of the photograph shows an army medic
taking the boy from the rescuer and getting
ready to place him on a sheet to be carried
away. The composition of this photograph
highlights the chaos surrounding the earthquake
and the desperation of people to find and
rescue survivors before it gets too late. The
composition of this photograph creates a sense
of urgency in this crisis. in the background of this
photograph you can see citizens that are
probably waiting for people they know to be
found and rescued. Further behind them we can
see the remains of other buildings that litters the
street. The light in this photograph puts more
emphasis on the little boy than anyone else i the
photograph. The photograph is taken from the
perspective of the people on the street who are
helping the injured get to hospital to be treated.
This photograph has a long depth of field as the
viewer can clearly see into the background.

Mimi Chakarova
She is the recipient of the 2003 Dorothea
Lange Fellowship for outstanding work in
documentary photography and the 2005
Magnum Photos Inge Morath Award for her
work on sex trafficking. Other awards
include a People's Voice Webby as well as
a nomination for a News & Documentary
Emmy Award.
Vika was trafficked
to Dubai. Her
clients were as
young as twelve
and as old as
eighty-three. She
was almost
nineteen when she
was sold and
forced to have sex
with as many as
thirty men a day.
At the time this
photo was taken,
Vika was living in
a shelter for
trafficked girls.
This photograph shows a
young woman lying on a bed
with her arms stretched out
at the sides. The position
she is in suggests a sense of
liberation and this is
particularly obvious after
reading the caption of the
photograph. However, the
photograph is quite dark and
it therefore also creates a
sense of being trapped. The
woman, Vika, was freed from
being a prostitute but is now
so ashamed of what
happened that she feels
trapped as no-one can know.
This creates a downcast
feeling in the photograph.
The photograph is taken
from the perspective of
someone standing over her.
In this photograph there is the woman from the
last photograph and her friend who are having
a cigarette before they go out for the evening.
The woman in the centre of the photograph is
the only one who is completely in focus. Her
friend and the car are both blurry which draws
attention to Vika. There is a long depth of field
despite the blurriness from the movement of
the car. This photograph is also quite dark
which complements the viewers knowledge
that these two women were in a dark place
and are now in a situation that is slightly better.
Neither the two women or car quite reaches
the frame and therefore there is a fair amount
of empty space that makes up the rest of the
photograph. This photograph was taken from
the perspective of a friend standing with them
on the street. It is taken at eye level.
A mother attends to Fatla, her 27-year-old
daughter who attempted suicide earlier that day.
In hope for forgiveness, the highest number of
suicide occurs on Fridays, the holiest day of the
week for Muslims. Most take organo-phosphorus
pesticides used in agriculture. Half a tablespoon
can kill a person within 30 minutes. On average,
there are 5-7 suicide attempts per day, mostly
women residing in villages. The photograph feels
like it was taken quite close to the people in it and
therefore makes the viewer feel connected with
the photograph. The negative space in this
photograph is the walls of the hospital which
creates a feeling of loneliness as it looks like it is
up to the mother to keep her daughter alive and
that she has little or no support from anyone else.
The two bodies go to the edge of the frame
however with the empty space on the left hand
side of the photograph it doesnt feel balanced
and this could be deliberate to show how the girl
in the bed is on the edge of life and death and
how precarious their situation is. This photograph
has quite a sad and solemn mood to it as the
mother is clearly upset but the viewer also gets
the sense that the mother is disappointed with
her daughter for trying to take her own life. For
example she is turned away from her daughter
she is not looking at her or holding her hand.