Ian Jeffrey - PHOTOGRAPHY A Concise History

Recently been hospitalised following a heart scare that rather put a dampener on active photography. However it did give me a chance to read the above book [Thames and Hudson 1981]. The book illustrates the problems faced by anyone who attempts to explain the history of photography by selecting those photographers who are seen to represent a particular area of photography or a particular approach or even trying to place a photographer as being of a particular type. There necessarily has to be a selection that supports the view that is being put forward and, by definition, selection ignores/rejects other examples of a particular photographer's work that don't quite fit.

Photography is subjective and selective from the start. What is 'seen' and photographed and what is excluded is solely at the discretion of the photographer even where there is an agreed assignment. What is submitted for publication is a further selection and what is published is a final selection. To emphasise this selective process what is seen and understood by the viewer may be far from that intended originally. For example on p 183 of the book there is the image by Kersetz of his entitled "On the Quais Paris" that was published in  Day of Paris (New York 1945).For me it is a simple composition that illustrates the difference in the style of dress between the man in the bowler hat and the two men walking towards us in flat caps. I do not 'see' any fear in the man with the bowler hat at the approach of the other two men and yet in the narrative the author writes

"Some of his subjects are prey to passing fears: a bowler-hatted gent grasps a stout stick behind his back against two approaching cloth caps on a Paris quai in 1926." [ p 182]


Either interpretation or hundreds of others may be correct but the narrative suggests that the author makes his interpretation purely on his view of class - the bowler-hatted man is a "gent" but the other two men are just "cloth caps"as though they are of a sub-human species that are prone to attacking others. From this observation he reaches the conclusion that some of the subjects of Kersetz's photography are prey to a passing fear. The reader is guided towards a particular view that, I would, suggest, is poorly supported.

I found the book uneven in its approach and was more indicative of the author's views than an objective study of the history of photography. It was an interesting insight into the thinking of the author but I am not sure why I needed to know that.

Project 25 - Snow

Although it was a clear day there was an overcast sky so very little variation in the light. However i decided to take the shots anyway because it was a valuable learning experience plus I needed some winter shots for the portfolio images.

As suggested I set exposure compensation at +1.5. Interestingly when developing the RAW images and using 'Auto' exposure to establish a starting point almost without exception the result was between -1.2 and -1.5 suggesting the exposure compensation was not necessary. Certainly I had to make few changes to the exposure settings. I found that the snow had a slight blue tinge that was noticeable on close examination. I altered this by reducing the saturation of the blues using Lightroom. It seemed to work successfully.

The following are examples of the images taken:

I took many more but will be using those for the winter shots for both Assignment 1 and Project 15 portfolio work.

As I said above it was an overcast day but two days later the sun shone so I include two additional shots showing the effect of sunlight. and shadows.

In the first of these two there is a bluish tinge in the shadows that is not unattractive.

As stated in the Course material the chances of snow in this Country particularly in East Anglia is small. The lessons learnt from this exercise (apart from how tiring it is trudging through 4 inches of fresh snow carrying a tripod and camera) were the delights of such photography and the sculpting effect of snow fall

on trees and shrubbery. In technical terms the advice on exposure compensation has to be approached with some caution although why this is the case is less clear to me. Fortunately I invariably shoot RAW so I have opportunity to adjust the exposure later. Although on the day the lack of sunshine made the exploration of the effect of varying light not possible in the main I was able to do so later in the week.

Winter weather

Be careful what you wish for - someone may grant your wish. Woke up to 4" of snow which made the journey to the site where I had taken my autumn shots interesting to say the least. However it was well worth it. What was most noticeable was the way that the snow created fascinating patterns and sculptures where before there had only been the blandness of trees and shrubbery that lacked colour or differentiation. Lost myself in the delight of taking images in what can only be described a s winter wonderland. One of those days that makes photography so worthwhile.

Assignment 1 - Winter

Went out yesterday with the intention of taking the 'winter' series. Unfortunately there is little real evidence of winter and there is evidence of Spring. Hopefully the forecast of wintry conditions over the next seven days may rescue the situation.

It does raise an interesting question of what exactly does represent winter in photography. A very sharp air frost or freezing fog would help and of course a deep ground frost. Similarly with snow. However our present warmer than average winter just leaves leafless trees that changes the view but is not representative of winter as the rest of the landscape looks much the same. The requirement to take photographs of the same area chosen in Assignment 1 does impose restrictions particularly in an area that does not normally suffer from wintry conditions. In the 18 years I have lived in the area I can remember only a few 'winters'.

Fingers crossed or I may have to wait for another winter or beg indulgence and re-shoot Assignment 1.