PROVOKE PHOTOBOOK
founded in Tokyo, Japan 1968 by Daido Moriyama, Takuma Nakahira, Takahiko Okada, Yutaka Takanashi, and Koji Taki.
Provoke has been described as: 'are-bure-boke', it is a description of its visual style. This phrase translates to 'grainy/rough, blurry, out-of-focus' . The attitudes I can discern from these photographs are that his signature style is blurry, black and white images that defy the laws of the traditional photography.
These photographs are from the issue 'Provoke'.
I would describe these 3 photographs visual qualities and subjects in listing:
I would describe these 3 photographs visual qualities and subjects in listing:
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The word Provoke suggests to me that it is deliberately making the viewer feel a certain emotion. What is provocative of these images is the subject matter and the composition of the photographs because there are some images that are off centred and does not look aesthetic to our eye due to the blurry, grainy shots. I think it is titled provoke because they wanted to communicate their feelings about post-war Japan through photography.
It was stated that ' Provoke was a form of protest, formed by a heady mixture of attraction, ambivalence and repulsion, that caused the photographers and writers involved to make a bold, confrontational statement', compared to the society I live in now people also respond to arising conflicts or events, they will photograph the conflict and publicise it to the online platform to raise awareness and possible find solutions to end or solve it. I would also respond by photographing my surroundings outdoors to document the feelings and attitudes that may be circulating around my neighbours or family members. Moriyama uses a consumer compact camera to photograph his society, I think if I was to photograph I would use a film camera or any good quality cameras where I am able to adjust the focus because I think quality is important to help document the details clearly as blurry/grainy images may be misinterpreted by many people as they may find it hard to interpret the photographs subject matter.
It was stated that ' Provoke was a form of protest, formed by a heady mixture of attraction, ambivalence and repulsion, that caused the photographers and writers involved to make a bold, confrontational statement', compared to the society I live in now people also respond to arising conflicts or events, they will photograph the conflict and publicise it to the online platform to raise awareness and possible find solutions to end or solve it. I would also respond by photographing my surroundings outdoors to document the feelings and attitudes that may be circulating around my neighbours or family members. Moriyama uses a consumer compact camera to photograph his society, I think if I was to photograph I would use a film camera or any good quality cameras where I am able to adjust the focus because I think quality is important to help document the details clearly as blurry/grainy images may be misinterpreted by many people as they may find it hard to interpret the photographs subject matter.
DAIDO MORIYAMA RESEARCH
RESPONSE:
I will photograph my response to 'Provoke' by taking a series of images using my DSLR and I will attempt to photograph differently by not looking into my viewfinder and I won't focus too much on having my camera in level with the horizon; I may not produce well composed image but I don't mind so much as many Provoke images are not in line and blurry or out of focus. I might shoot in auto focus as I will not be looking in the view finder I still want my images to have some clarity in them however, I may take a few images that are purposely out of focus to see how it may appear.
How I edited the images in the style of Daido Moriyama
I used Adobe Photoshop to edit in the style of Daido Moriyama by changing the coloured digital image into black and white. I went to adjustment>brightness/contrast to increase the contrast and control the brightness so that my image appeared dark and high contrasting black and white. The photos itself appear blurry because I purposely unfocussed the lens. I did try to incorporate some movement in my shot however, I was shooting in auto which is why the movement does not look dramatic; next time I could try to shoot in P mode as it would absorb movement much more.
Provoke Era: FORGOTTEN WOMEN
Ishiuchi Miyako
Ishiuchi Miyako born in 1947, she is a female japanese photographer. As a photographer she is documenting her life as her first series focussed on her coastal hometown - I think her photographic subject is a valuable story to be documented and told . She experienced an unusual life which is represented within her series 'Apartment' - this series contain images of the apartments her and her family lived in. The tone of her series of images are very grainy and dark as it is printed in black and white, it makes me feel sad and sympathise with Ishuichi Miyako as I can see her experiences and the environment she was living in. When I look at the images as a series, it tells me that Japan was a mess and unstable from a female perspective as the buildings looked inadequate.
These images are from the Apartment series. I think that these 3 images are linked as they are shot in the same space; first image is an overall view of the apartment, the second image is a set of stairs that I assume is inside the house and the third image is a different perspective inside the house near the stair. The tone is very dark and it draws out the texture within the images especially on the surface of the walls - it does not appear smooth and a flat, it contains many different tones on a rough surface; it looks rustic and gives off an old abandon space atmosphere.
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In the video: Miyako Ishiuchi on Post-Hiroshima Japan | TateShots , She talks about her photographs having convictions, which means an opinion, idea or view. Therefore I think she means that her photographs contain her view of her beginning as a photographer. She said she disliked the town she grew up in because it was always a naval base for the Japanese and Americans which would have exposed her to many negative occurrences in the post-war period; this could be a reason as it why it was a town full of "wounds" for her.
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Ishuichi Miyako said, 'You can take photos of places where time is stored and compressed', which relates to the Threshold Concept #10 - Photographs warp our sense of time; they remind us of things lost. I think her quote relates the the threshold concept because she is saying we can keep a photographic record of the place we were in and store it into a digital device where the image is compressed inside, which enables us to review the photograph we had taken that is now in the past to remind us of that time we would've briefly forgotten.
There is another japanese female photographer artist I could research who is called, 'Toyoko Tokiwa', she is best known for: "her 1957 book of text and photographs Kiken na Adabana (危険な毒花), and particularly for its portrayal of the red-light district of post-occupation Yokohama, with US servicemen", stated from source: https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Toyoko%20Tokiwa .
The impact of japanese female photographers on my work have made me photograph more of my surroundings as I could look back at the images to reminisce the time of the photo it was taken.
There is another japanese female photographer artist I could research who is called, 'Toyoko Tokiwa', she is best known for: "her 1957 book of text and photographs Kiken na Adabana (危険な毒花), and particularly for its portrayal of the red-light district of post-occupation Yokohama, with US servicemen", stated from source: https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Toyoko%20Tokiwa .
The impact of japanese female photographers on my work have made me photograph more of my surroundings as I could look back at the images to reminisce the time of the photo it was taken.
RESPONSE:
Images inspired by the 'Apartment' series.
I have chosen to photograph a series of images inspired by Ishuichi Miyako's 'Apartment' series. I responded by photographing inside my house and purposely photographed out of focus with a flash on, so that it enhances the colours within my photograph because I was going to edit them in black and white later on and I wanted to able to make them appear high contrasting. I composed my images carefully as my photographs will appear unclear I thought I could compose it carefully so that it was easy to view and allow the viewer to have their own thoughts about my series of photographs.
I think these 3 image was the most successful one because of the composition and the darkness of the images are similar to Ishuichi Miyako's apartment series. I photographed these with my flash on to enhance the colours within the image so when I turn it into black and white it would appear high contrasting. Using Adobe photoshop I went into image>adjustments>levels to change the lightness of the image to make the photograph appear darker. I can continue to photograph outdoor of my house probably of the back garden doors and garage doors and edit it into black and white to further develop the response. These were photographed digitally and Miyako used film therefore, I am aware that the texture of the images are different but I was successful at getting a similar mood to Miyako's apartment photographs.