Experiment 1:

Here I went to photoshop and used the Threshold filter, to make my photo look like it has a gradient effect. I also adjusted the colour to show how it can affect the mood of the image. This experiment is very similar to the pervious one I had tried except I hadn’t added colour before, these photos tend to represent a different emotion. I really like how these turned out as they aren’t just basic portraits after, at first had a different idea of what to use those portraits for, but after messing around in Photoshop I discovered the threshold filter and it made my photos have more of a design to them. As from the photos before you can see I adjusted the hue/ saturation and changed it to colour, this then allowed me to decide what colour looked best on each photograph. I had only taken a fair few photos of the model with a large gap at the top of her head, therefore I wasn’t able to edit multiple photos, if I were to do this experiment again I would simply ask my model to do different poses and make them more unusual, I would also like to get different people in my photos, as I was aimed to do a theme of sonder, the idea that everyone has a different life and everyone in the world is going through something, this makes it difficult to identify if i only use one model, however, though I’m only using one model it could represent the thoughts and fears that this person is going through and how they are different to mine, as the model is posing for the photos thinking of different things while I’m the one editing the photos, thinking of something completely different. I’ve chosen to use specific colours for each specific photo which could have been different if I had asked for the model’s opinion. I would like to get more models involved in my photoshoots to help create meaning. This experiment was inspired by Andy Warhol who also creates very similar photos like these.

Experiment 2:

This experiment was inspired by Pinterest, the model has a smaller person (herself) on top of her head. This could represent having different thoughts or different influences changing a person’s thoughts and their idea of living, I really like how this photoshoot turned out, though I did have to do a lot of editing to get rid of the shadow behind the model that was reflecting onto the background. I simply went into Lightroom Classic and used AI to crop out the background, I then changed the exposure on only the background and transformed it fully white. I then repeated this process for each individual photo I wanted to use, then I adjusted each photograph on top of the base photo. I really like how these final photos turned out. But yet again they would have turned out better if I had used different models to show how different people can influence a person’s life and how each person has things going on in their lives that we don’t know about. However, I could perceive these photos as if there are different people on top of the model’s head, these people could be perceived as a negative or positive thing. Overall, I do like ow these photos turned out as they do look very similar to my inspiration pictures. Although I said it would have looked better with a different model, from my inspiration only one model is used in the photograph. 

Experiment 3:

Lastly, I tried to use a blending filter with each of these photos, not really aiming to get a specific concept. I really like how the bottom one on the right turned out as I added all of the photos of the model standing up and doing a pose, I also changed the colour of each of the photos to make it more unique and stand out more. I made sure to make the bottom three on that photo look as if there was something behind them. Also, on the bottom left I simply overlaid each photo and turned one upside down. I also changed the colours of each photo to make it look more interesting and eye catching for the audience. For the top one on the right I added three photos on top of each other using a blending mode, each photo has a different blending mode added to make it have a different effect to it For example the pink photo of the model is quite hard and has a strong sense of colour and saturation whereas the middle blue one is struggling to seem through, the facial expression on the middle photo shows a sense of weakness and sadness, something that is wrong and the two outside photos are showing string happy emotions, there facial expressions are lot more visible, playing that the happiness if over shadowing the sadness and that is the reason people hide their emotions, this can show that this model/ person is going through something but isn’t showing it because they don’t want to be a burden to the others around them, and simply that the people around them have things going on as well. This whole sonder concept has been incorporated into my photos in a subtle way. Lastly the top left photo was purely just an experiment as I layered three photos together and slightly moved each one high or lower than the original, its slightly similar to the photo to its right. In this photograph, the eyes are the most prominent detail shown in total as they show a sense of power and dominance. As I had coloured all my other photos, I thought I would do the same for this one too but make the colour more subtle and less powering, for instance the colour I chose is a dark yellow with an orange shade. 

Overall, I was inspired by the Surrealism and Dadaism movement to try and recreate something that is dreamlike and unrealistic. I also wanted to incorporate the sonder theme inspired by union. Sonder means to reflect that everyone around you has their own life and is going through something that you aren’t aware of. It’s a way of showing that everyone is struggling some more than others and some people are better at hiding it than others, it shouldn’t make anyone feel weaker or less important due to their trauma. The main thing I was looking at was people and their emotions and how their emotions were reflected on. Each emotion has its colour but what if you were to switch the colours would the emotion still stand as strong or would I weaken. I believe that if the model shows a strong emotion, a colour won’t be able to change it and can simply only make it look overpowering to simpler. 

Laura Pannack –

Laura’s art focuses on documentation, socially, with inclusion of portraiture that looks to explore the relationship that is shown between situation and photographer. Pannack largely pinpoints shooting on analogue film which allows the process to become more organic rather then being predefined but still ideas. Laura tries to understand what she is photographing, for example while photographing an individual, she seeks to understand them, and their life, and present that creatively. Laura has a belief that trust and understanding is a very large key to portraying people truthfully, and you can see the development of this through her work over the years. This approach also allows Laura to have a genuine connection with her models, which helps enrich the intimacy between photographer and subject.

Laura’s work aims to tell and inspire peoples stories, causing connection and emotional engagement with not just her work but her subjects as well. Laura is a London based, award winning photographer. Known for her recognizable portraiture and social documentary work. Her work heavily focuses on the youth, forming connections and complex relationships. She was educated at the University of Brighton, Central Saint Martins Collage of Art and LPC. Pannack’s work has been incredibly exhibited throughout the UK and overseas, including at The National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, The Royal Festival Hall and even the Houses of Parliament.

Laura perceives ‘time, trust and understanding’ to be key elements to achieve full understanding of her subjects and portrayment of them truthfully. This allows her to achieve a genuine connection with her ‘sitter’, which benefits through the photos as you can see the emotion, connection and common ground they share in her work. Pannack shoots with analogue film, she finds beauty in the mistakes that come from working with such unpredictable material.

Laura’s work has received much ground and won countless awards, among which are the John Kobal award, Vic Odden prize, World Photo Press Award and the HSBC Prix de la Photographie prize. As well as her own work, Laura lectures, critiques and teaches at universities, workshops and festivals around the world, and in 2015, judged the portrait category in World Photo Press Awards in Amsterdam. Pannack has also been a widely published, not just for her photography, but commercially too< with work appearing in the British Journal of photography, Hotshoe International, TIME, The Guardian weekend, The Telegraph, Sunday Times and Creative Review.

Pannack has also been widely published, both commercially and as a photographic artist, with work appearing in The British Journal of Photography, Hotshoe International, TIME, The Guardian Weekend, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Creative Review. Her monograph ‘Against the dying of the light’ was published by Acts de Suds in 2016 and YOUTH Vol 1 was released in 2018 by Polite company.

Her work –

In Laura’s work, The captivating use of natural light gives a sense of connection, the warmth and reality it brings to her photographs is enticing. Using the outdoors and focusing on including something that can ground you like nature can be a very powerful tool for portrait photographs. It almost brings a sense of uncleanliness or dirtiness to the photos, and since Pannack’s aim was to be truthful and show unfiltered or covered reality of individuals lives, I believe they compliment each other very well.

Her use of eye-contact in her photos is very powerful. It forces connection between her and the subject, and after that, the subject and their viewers. With her aim bring to create connection this does not just create it, but forces it, like you cant look away. You can feel the emotion the thought that went into the work when you look in someone’s eyes and I think the inclusion of this in the work is very intelligent.

The impactful inclusion of touch through her work is very important for the aspect and story she is trying to portray. Being touched is a very vulnerable thing for a lot of people, and as her work and photoshoots include a lot of touching, it backs her aim as to allowing people to get vulnerable and make a meaningful connection with other people. Being showed that you are able to have that touching connection with another person can allow a viewer to be open to having a emotional connection with not just Laura but the subjects in the photos.

Her influence –

Laura’s work is very impactful, her influence is heavy on not just the world but my work in particular, I want to include so many aspects and ideas that have come from Pannack’s work, her inclusion of touch and eye-contact being the main ones.

With the topic of Union, eye-contact can be the most emotionally tuned, way to show how someone is feeling, you can read a thousand things from someone’s eyes, emotions like empathy, sadness and joy are easily seen through how someone looks at you, and including this into my project could be very impactful with creating emotional connections through my sitters and viewers.

Touch is a very difficult thing to photograph through A level photography, due to guidelines we have to follow. However, touch is such a powerful tool to show Unity through people. The intimacy and connection you view through touch is so powerful. With touch being one of the main focal points of my topic, its importance is huge. incorporating it into my work will have to be done with caution, but through my Femininity and Masculinity topic, I was able to find loopholes very easily.

Man Ray (born 1890 – 1976) was an American visual artist, who spent much of his career in Paris. He was best known for his pioneering photography and was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is also noted for his work with photograms (photographic image made without a camera), which he called “rayographs” in reference to himself. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, where his father worked as a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. He studied architecture, engineering and art, and became a painter. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above everything else.

Examples of his work:

Ray wished to distance himself from his family, yet he felt a connection to tailoring as it was a form of art. Growing up, he always displayed artistic and mechanical abilities. In 1904, Ray started attending Brooklyn’s Boys’ High School which provided him with a strong education and which he learnt basic art techniques. While he attended school, he educated himself with frequent visits to local art museums. After his graduation in 1908, Ray was offered a scholarship to study architecture but chose to pursue a career as an artist instead. Man Ray’s parents were disappointed by their son’s decision to pursue art, but they agreed to rearrange the family’s modest living quarters so that Ray’s room could be his studio. Man Ray stayed and lived in the family home over the next four years. During this time, he worked steadily towards becoming a professional painter. Man Ray earned money as a commercial artist and was a technical illustrator at several Manhattan companies.

Ray’s artistic beginnings started during the Dada movement. Shaped by the trauma of World War I and the emergence of a modern media culture, Dada artists shared feelings of disappointment with traditional modes of art making and often turned instead to spontaneous experiments.

The Dada movement:

Dada or Dadaism was an anti-art movement that developed in 1915 with context of World War 1 and the earlier anti-art movement. Early areas for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had spread to New York City and a variety of artistic centers in Europe and Asia. To develop their protest, artists tended to make use of nonsense and irrationality.

The art of the movement began primarily as performance art, yet eventually lead to visual, literary and sound media- including sound poetry, cut-up writing and sculpture. Dadaist artists expressed their discontent toward violence, war, and nationalism and maintained political connections with radical politics on the left-wing. Ray was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal.

In 1915, Man Ray had his first solo show of paintings and drawings after taking up residence at an art colony in New Jersey, as he had moved out of his family home in 1913. He produced his first significant photographs in 1918, after initially picking up the camera to document his own artwork.

Surrealism:

Man Ray’s experiments with photography carried him to the center of the emergent Surrealist movement in Paris. Led by André Breton, Surrealism sought to reveal the uncanny truth beneath familiar appearances in daily life. Man Ray proved well suited to this type of art, which led to him being represented in the first Surrealist exhibition with many artists, including Pablo Picasso, at the Galerie Pierre in Paris in 1925.

The Second World War forced Man Ray to return to the United States, where he lived in Los Angeles from 1940 to 1951. From this, he focused his creative energy on painting.

Photoshoot Plan

I didn’t originally plan on this photoshoot, however, when I was taking photos of St Aubin’s harbour I thought it would be a good idea to take photos of the hill on the other side as I thought it looked good. This will also create a further sense of Unity in my work as the subjects of my joiners all link.

Camera Settings

I used Shutter Priority with an ISO of 100 and a shutter speed of 1/800.

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering -

Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper –

Holding Genesis feels like holding a piece of the Earth itself. The book is fairly heavy, solid and full of raw beauty within the images. The thick, textured pages have a subtle, woody scent, like freshly printed paper. As you flip through, the black and white landscapes almost feel alive, with every detail standing out in the matte finish. It makes it feel like more than just a book, it’s an experience that pulls you into the untouched, breath taking world of nature with each turn of the page.

Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both -

Genesis uses thick, matte paper that adds a tactile weight to the book. The black and white images stand out with depth and detail, enhanced by the subtle texture of the paper. The lack of colour lets the raw beauty of the landscapes speak for itself, creating a timeless, immersive experience.

Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages -

Genesis is a large format photobook, with an A3 size that showcases the stunning black-and-white images in landscape orientation. The expansive layout allows the breath taking landscapes to be displayed in all their glory, with plenty of room for detail. It has 528 pages.

Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/leperello –

Genesis has a hardcover with an image wrap, showcasing a striking landscape. It uses Swiss binding, allowing the book to open flat, and has no dust jacket, letting the cover image shine.

Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping –

The cover of Genesis is made of linen with a printed image, featuring a sleek, minimalist design.

Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing –

The title Genesis is both literal and poetic. It references the beginning or origin of life and nature, while also invoking a sense of awe and creation, perfectly aligning with the book’s exploration of untouched landscapes and the beauty of the Earth. It’s both relevant to the theme and intriguing, drawing readers into a journey of discovery.

Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told? -

Genesis tells the story of Earth’s most untouched and wild places, capturing pristine landscapes, indigenous cultures, and wildlife in their purest forms. Through stunning black-and-white photography, Sebastião Salgado showcases the planet’s natural beauty, documenting everything from icy polar regions to vast deserts. The narrative is told through his powerful images, which speak for themselves, immersing the viewer in the rawness and stillness of these environments. The photos invite contemplation and reflection, making nature the central storyteller.

Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative -

Genesis is structured by geographic regions, each showcasing different landscapes. The black-and-white photography and repeating motifs of dramatic light and shadow create a cohesive narrative, highlighting nature’s raw beauty. The design flows naturally, emphasizing Earth’s untouched spaces and building a visual journey of its origins.

Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts –

Genesis features full-page and double spread images, with a clean layout that lets the photographs shine. There are no fold outs or inserts, just powerful imagery and minimal text.

1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

"Genesis" by Sebastião Salgado –

What is the book about? -

“Genesis” is a breath taking photographic journey by Sebastião Salgado that explores the last truly wild and untouched places on Earth. Over the course of eight years, Salgado travelled to remote regions across the globe, from the frozen landscapes of Antarctica to the dense jungles of the Amazon, the vast African deserts, and the towering peaks of the Himalayas. His black and white images capture the raw beauty of nature, untouched by modern civilization, as well as the indigenous communities and wildlife that live in perfect harmony with their environments.

This book is a visual celebration of Earth’s purest landscapes, where time seems to stand still. Salgado’s dramatic use of light and shadow brings out the depth, texture, and emotion in every scene, making even the simplest landscape feel powerful and alive. More than just a collection of stunning photographs, Genesis is a call to appreciate and protect the natural world before it disappears. Through his lens, Salgado reminds us that there are still places on this planet that remain as they were thousands of years ago, sacred, untouched, and awe-inspiring.

How does the book relate to the theme of 'UNION'? -

Sebastião Salgado’s Genesis perfectly connects to the theme of union in multiple ways, especially when looking at how nature, people, and light all come together in harmony.

One of the biggest ways Genesis reflects union is through its deep connection between humanity and nature. Salgado captures untouched landscapes and indigenous communities who live in perfect sync with their environment. These images show how humans and the Earth are not separate but part of a greater whole, existing together in a delicate balance. This idea of unity is especially powerful in today’s world, where modern society often feels disconnected from nature. His work reminds us that true harmony comes from respecting and preserving the natural world.

Another way Genesis ties into the theme of union is through the way he captures the merging of natural elements such as light meeting land, rivers weaving through mountains, and clouds blending into vast skies. His use of black and white photography enhances the contrast and connection between these elements, making them feel inseparable. Just like in a sunset where colours blend seamlessly, his images show how every part of the Earth is interconnected, forming one breath taking, unified landscape.

Overall, Genesis is about the unity of the past, present, and future. Its a reminder that these untouched places have existed for thousands of years and that it’s our responsibility to protect them. It’s a tribute to the way nature and people can exist in harmony, making it a perfect visual representation of union.

I started off this joiner by, once again, creating a mock-up on Powerpoint.

I then selected the images in Lightroom and cropped them so that they were the same.

I exported these images into Photoshop and formed my joiner.

I then changed the brightness, contrast and exposure of each of the segments separately to get my final result:

Photoshoot 1:

For my first photoshoot I did not have much plan yet but I went into the studio and took some photos of still life, and my phone which I may end up using in my final piece but I always find that my first photoshoot is the practise photoshoot.

I took 29 photos in this photoshoot.

After that I went through and flagged which ones I wanted to edit and where the best and most likely to use, this left me with 12 photos.

Photoshoot 2:

In my second photoshoot I had an idea of what I would do for my project and when I wanted to do it, I still think it was more rushed, I took street photography photos in town and also some photos of my friends being coupley or on dating apps to represent love today, romance, and social media has affected that and also some recreations of old in day couple photos.

In this photoshoot I took 137 images.

Once again I went through and selected the best ones and ended up with 47 images. These I plan on editing and improving to hopefully use in my final project.

Photoshoot 3:

In this photoshoot I took 164 photos, of my friends who are in a couple that was similar to old photos that I used as inspiration but except they where on their phones, to show a contrast and juxtaposition.

That I slimmed down to 33 photos that I will edit and choose the best ones for my book.

Photoshoot 4:

Photoshoot four was a photoshoot in town of street photography mainly just people walking by on their phones not paying attention to things around them, maybe missing out on future relationships they past by.

I only took 30 photos in this photoshoot, and will probably take more but these photos will just be fillers in-between pages probably to show even more affect of social media.

Then I slimmed that down to 7 photos, to edit.

Photoshoot 5:

In this photoshoot I went into the studio and mainly used roses and a skull to get symbolic images of romance and death.

This was 113 photo in this photoshoot.

This was cut down to 32 photos.

Photoshoot 6:

I then took more photos, in Churchill park in St Brelade. there are 89 photos here.

then slimmed them down to 22 photos.

For these edits, I decided to mix photoshoots 1 and 3 together and did edits on photoshop .

For these edits, I chose the two images I wanted to mix together. I made sure that I had one image from photoshoot 1 (outdoors) and one image from photoshoot 3 (indoors). I put the outdoor photo on the bottom in many of my edits and then opened another tab where id chose the photoshoot 3 image. using this image I clicked on the selection brush tool and cut out the part of the image I wanted (Alannah and Ethan) I changed the size of the brush to a smaller size when I began to cut out the edges. after completing that step, I then right clicked the selected part and pressed layer via copy. this then created a new layer on the side of the edit. I then dragged this tab down so that it was seen with my photoshoot 1 image. while being on the move tool, I was able to move over the cut out layer onto my other photo. I removed the extra tab I didn’t need and then moved the cut out part to where I wanted it on the image. I experimented with colour before deciding that using black and white worked better. I clicked on adjustments and then black and white for both the background and the cut out image. I selected the cut out portion and double clicked the box on the right side where the layers are. I then adjusted the opacity to around 80% which meant the underneath image was able to be seen through it. I repeated his step for each of the edits below sometimes using three images instead of two.