William Eggleston

William Eggleston was born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Sumner, Mississippi. Eggleston's early photographs were inspired by the photographer Robert Frank, and by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson's book, 'The Decisive Moment'. He first photographed in black and white but in 1965, started experimenting with colour. In the early Sixties, his dominant medium became colour transparency film.

This photograph shows that a child has been there and played on the bike. It gives a sense of mystery as to why the child left the bike there in an open space. I like the low angle that the photo was taken,  it makes the bike look larger and changes perspective.

This shows rubbish that has ben left on the floor which implies that people have been there. The fact that the rest of the photograph is quite empty, makes the viewer focus on the litter. It makes you think about why the photo was taken. It is similar to photographs taken by Mark Ruwedel.

This photograph is of a jacket hanging up, this relates to an idea that i had for this project. It shows not just that someone has been there, but they are still there, otherwise they would have taken their jacket.

This is Close to a photo that i wanted to take. Instead of photographing plates at the table before the meal has been eaten, i wanted to photograph the plates at the table after the meal has been eaten because this way there is no sign of the people as they have already left. It is the same perspective that i want from the photo i am going to take.

The next thing i am going to do is research Mark Ruwedel as he photographs similar subjects.

Change of Focus

After thinking about the photos I was going to take for gathering, I was thinking that taking pictures of objects that show there has been a gathering, or simply that someone was there, would be more interesting.
Heres a list of some ideas to show this:

• Empty plates (after a meal)
• Half empty glass
• Shoes at the door
• Messy bed
• Rubbish that has been left on the floor
• Chewing gum under a table or on the floor outside
• Footsteps
• Coats hanging up
• Brush with hair left in it
• Bubbles in the sink
• Book with a bookmark in
• Dirty oven 

I also think from looking at these sort of objects, you can tell a little about the person that has been there.
My intent now is to take photographs of these objects and to research a few artists that experiment with this idea.

Church Photos

These are the photographs i took of a church, as a type of gathering place.

For most of these photos i had to correct the exposure and decrease the gamma correction. This is because the lighting was too bright from the natural light coming from the windows, however, the people were under exposed, so decreasing the gamma correction made the lighting look more equal throughout the photo.

Plan For Final Piece

I've got two ideas for my Final piece.
One of these ideas is taking a series of photographs of different gatherings, for example, church, bus stop etc. and the final piece would be all of them set out next to each other to make a gathering in itself.

The second idea, which i think would be more effective, is having 2 photos next to each other, both of them of the same place, from the same angle. However, one of them having loads of people gathered in the room and the second one of just one person. This will emphasize the gathering in the first photo and also the loneliness in the second.

To make it more effective, i am going to experiment with enhancing the colour in the first photo, to make it seem more vibrant and alive, and as for the second one, i am going to desaturate the photo but not completely, i am going to do it so that its subtle but noticeable. This will give both photos more significance.

Shirley Baker

These are a few of Shirley Bakers photographs. Most of her photos are taken in black and white. They all include people and gatherings.

The Next Step

I like the photographer Shirley Baker and the idea of gathering. I would like to look more into gathering places and different reasons why people gather. I am going to research images on different gathering places and different reasons why people gather.

This is an image of a wedding i found on the internet, Weddings are a special event that usually a lot of people gather to celebrate the Partnership of two people.

 This image is of people gathering in a church. It is a gathering place for religious people to share their beliefs and pray to God.

 Protest is another reason why people gather. People gather to protest for something they believe in or have strong opinions on.

 People also gather for funerals. Funerals are not a happy gathering however, everyone eventually has to go to one to show respect for the person who has passed away and their family.

 Concerts usually have a load of people gathering, people go their to support a musical artist or go to listen to an artist live, and to socialize.

This photo shows students learning at school or college. A lot of people gather to go to school to learn and socialize with friends.

All of the photos above show different reasons why people gather and i would like to experiment and photograph some of these reasons and hopefully, for my final piece i will have a series of photographs showing different places that people gather.

My Photo Essay Plan

This is the plan i drew out of my photo essay.