Darwen Roll of Honour World War II

i decided to look up war veteran's in lancashire and whilst doing this i came across Darwen's Roll of Honour. below is some of the info from the site.

This Roll of Honour has been completed from chronologies listed at the end of the year in the pages of the 'Darwen News'. It firstly lists servicemen that are known to have died, secondly the missing, presumed killed, and thirdly awards.

The Roll lists all these who died whilst serving King and Country together with the seven civilians killed during the German bombing raids on Darwen during the weekend of the 19th-21st October 1940. The Roll also lists all those who were reported missing and presumed killed (those recorded as P.O.W. are not included). the Awards page lists those people recorded in the 'news' as being decorated for their war efforts, including two posthumous awards (one of them being the Victoria Cross).

One could sense the sadness in Darwen during the war when compiling this when yet another Darwen casualty was announced. Almost everyone was affected in one way or another regardless of their status or class. Recorded in the list of those killed is one Captain Stuart Russell, Darwen's Conservative Member of Parliament.

information taken from:http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?language=eng&pageID=1777

BLACK STAR RISING

ABOUT BLACK STAR RISING

Since its historic beginnings in the golden age of American photojournalism, the Black Star photographic agency has been committed to mentoring both its photographers and its clients.

Black Star Rising is an attempt to e

xtend this ethos

of teaching — and caring — to a broader audience

PHOTOJOURNALISM

Today, the profession of photojournalism as we know it is threatened by technological transformation, by the rise of video, by fragmentation of the media. It’s under fire from a suspicious public – watchdog bloggers, cable and radio pundits, and other critics who question the profession’s credibility and authority to bring us an accurate picture of the world.

Below is a picture of the e-book i looked at which has been produced by Black Star Rising. after looking through it i decided to make bullet points on the text i read below are the main things which i thought would help me understand the role of a photojournalism photographer and the struggle they face with new technology and ethics.

http://rising.blackstar.com/photojournalism-technology-and-ethics-whats-right-and-wrong-today

• pictures must always tell the truth.
• photojournalists have never been govenered by formal ethical standards.
• altering photographs is unethical, Associated Press states

"Electronic imaging raises new questions . . . but the answers

all come from old values . . . Only the established norms of

standard photo printing methods such as burning, dodging,

toning and cropping are acceptable. Retouching is limited to

removal of normal scratches and dust spots . . . Color adjustment

should always be minimal".

• staging photographs is unethical
• credibility is essential, audiences need to believe they can trust in what they see and read.

MAGNUM

ABOUT MAGNUM

"Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about

what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to

transcribe it visually." -Henri Cartier-Bresson

Paris. 1957. Magnum meeting. ©Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos is a photographic co-operative of great diversity and distinction owned by its photographer-members. With powerful individual vision, Magnum photographers chronicle the world and interpret its peoples, events, issues and personalities. Through its four editorial offices in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, and a network of fifteen sub-agents, Magnum Photos provides photographs to the press, publishers, advertising, television, galleries and museums across the world.

The Magnum Photos library is a living archive updated daily with new work from across the globe. The library houses all the work produced by Magnum photographers and some special collections by non-members. There are approximately one million photographs in both print and transparency in the physical library, with 350,000 images available online.

Within the library, most of the major world events and personalities from the Spanish Civil War to the present day are covered. There are constantly updated profiles on most countries of the world, covering industry, society and people, places of interest, politics and news events, disasters and conflict. The Magnum Photos library reflects all aspects of life throughout the world and the unparalleled sense of vision, imagination and brilliance of the greatest collective of documentary photographers. In short, when you picture an iconic image, but can't think who took it or where it can be found, it probably came from Magnum.

above information taken from the Magnum website: http://agency.magnumphotos.com

PAUL GRAHAM

Paul Graham (UK, 1956) belongs to group of photographers born in the 1950’s, who form the last generation to engage with photographic practise before it became part of the contemporary art world. Whilst later image makers would approach the medium as ‘artists using photography’, this grouping - which includes Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Rineke Djikstra, Thomas Struth and Philip-Lorca DiCorcia - committed themselves to the medium at a time when it not an artistic strategy, but an expresssion of a visual consciousness of our world.

Paul Graham's Work

just a few of the images i liked from Paul Graham's body of work.

ABOVE IMAGES TAKEN FROM PAUL GRAHAMS ARCHIVE, BEYOND CARING 1984-85

http://www.paulgrahamarchive.com/beyondcaring.html

Graham was among the first photographers to unite contemporary colour practise with the classic genre of 'social documentary'. Photographers such as Martin Parr made the switch to colour soon after, and a new school of British Photography evolved with the subsequent colour work of Richard Billingham, Tom Wood, Paul Seawright, Anna Fox, Simon Norfolk, Nick Waplington.

PAUL SEAWRIGHT

SECTARIAN MURDERS

below are some of the images from Paul Seawright's website. i wanted to show this in my research as this was one of my influences along with Mark Power. The presentation of his work (picture and caption) is a very powerful way of informing the viewer and this is how i intend on presenting my final images based on World War II and East Lancashire.

Sectarian Murder revisited the sites of Sectarian attacks during the 1970's close to where Seawright grew up in Belfast. The texts are from newspaper reports at the time and document the murders of innocent civilians, killed for their percieved religion.

above information taken from seawright's website: http://www.paulseawright.info/sectarian.html

FILM PHOTOGRAPHY-

After talking with my tutors i decied to go out and re-shot some of the locations i also decided to take my film camera with me intead as this was initially what photojournalism photographers use and some still prefer to use.

contact sheet

all images taken using a Minolta Dynax 404si, using ilford 400 black and white fim and processed in the darkroom by myself.

PHOTOJOURNALISM PRINCIPLES & MORAL ISSUES

Photojournalism is an area of photography dedicated to taking accurate shots of current events. The basic mission of a photojournalist is to take pictures to accompany a news story (whether it is broadcast or published in a newspaper). However, truly great photojournalism pictures should tell the story BEFORE the text or broadcaster does.

Photojournalism pictures attempt to capture the viewer’s attention and emotion to entice him to continue listening to or reading about the story. Think of newspaper covers with large, dramatic shots of the latest current event: these pictures reflect the articles’ titles while adding a dynamic edge to story by visually communicating the pathos of the event.

Photojournalists and Ethics

A key aspect of photojournalism is to present accurate pictures that don’t compromise the integrity of the actual situation.

He is bound by ethics to photograph events exactly as they happen and as they present themselves in reality. To move an item or re-stage an event after the fact is a violation of the viewers’ trust in the photographer.

Consequently, altering pictures with computer software is considered taboo among serious photojournalists and news organizations. This code of ethics is one of the central features of photojournalism that distinguishes it from other areas of photography.

Careers in photojournalism can be destroyed by even a hint of photo manipulation. For this reason, many photojournalists prefer to use traditional film rather than digital cameras. Although digital cameras allow photojournalists to review photos immediately in the field, digital images are easier to manipulate than film negatives.

photojournalism requires an understanding of how to truthfully tell a story in a visual medium

Photojournalism Examples

The best photojournalistic pictures inspire the emotion of the scene within the viewer. Some of the more recent examples of photojournalism have been the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Iraqi War.

Good examples of photojournalism engage viewers and make them want to read the accompanying story. Perhaps the most powerful examples of photojournalism in recent memory were the images taken of the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.

Images of the hijacked planes slamming into the towers shocked people worldwide. For many, these images continue to linger in and haunt the memory long after the words in the news articles have been forgotten. Such examples of photojournalism convey the power and responsibilities of the professional photojournalist.

above information taken from

http://www.photography.com/articles/types-of-photography/photojournalism/

WAR ARTISTS & BILL BRANDT

During the Second World War, the British government took a more structured approach to collecting official war art than it had during the First World War.

The Ministry of Information set up the War Artists' Scheme (W.A.S) in 1939. It was devised by Sir Kenneth Clark, the then Director of the National Gallery and the dominant figure of the British art world.

The Ministry's War Artists Advisory Committee (W.A.A.C) administered the scheme. Headed by Clark, its brief was 'to draw up a list of artists qualified to record the war at home and abroad, to advise on the selection of artists on this list for war purposes and on the arrangements for their employment'.

Before the end of 1939, the committee had a budget of £5,000. It had also assigned prominent artists to the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry. The Committee employed 30 full-time artists at any one time. Specific commissions were given to another 100 artists and the work of a further 200 artists was also bought. Other artists worked unofficially.

The Blitz was a source of inspiration for many artists. John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Carel Weight, Evelyn Dunbar and Laura Knight were among artists commissioned to record the effects of the Blitz and the war effort on the home front.

BILL BRANDT

Brandt was a versatile photographer and worked within many different genres, one of those being photojournalism/documentary. some of the work he documented was "The English at Home" "A Day in the Life..." and "A Night in London."

During world war II he recorded the Blitz in london. below are some of his photographs.

Inside the basement of a shop in the West End, Bill Brandt photographed this woman receiving medical attention. The basement had become a makeshift shelter for people seeking cover from the Blitz. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements for the public to use. At least one trained nurse and sometimes doctors were installed at medical posts in the official London Underground public shelters. The local Air Raid Precautions warden also features in this photo. Each shelter also had a shelter warden.

Bill Brandt photographed this couple as they sheltered from the Blitz in a bookshop basement in Bloomsbury. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements to the public.

This wine merchant's cellar in the East End became a makeshift shelter for people during the Blitz. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements to the public. Bill Brandt took this photo of a group of orthodox Jews reading scripture together, as if in the synagogue or classroom.

Some of Brandts Landscape work from the Blitz has a strong Chiaroscuro affect using stark contrasts between light and dark.

above information taken from: http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/

BERT HARDY

In 1938 Hardy became one of the first photographers to use a Leica 35mm camera. After working as a freelance photographer he was recruited by Tom Hopkinson, the editor of Picture Post. Hardy became famous for his photographs of the Blitz and in 1942 was drafted into an army photographic unit.

CONTACT SHEET - Digital

Below are the contact sheets from my shoots. included are original and edited versions.

FAY GODWIN

Fay Godwin’s black and white landscapes were, and indeed still are, haunting and brooding in the main. Printed dark and with lots of contrast, she has practically never once cropped her negatives, choosing to construct her images purely through the groundglass screen of her Hasselblad.

Influenced by Bill Brandt and Paul Strand, she looks for the narrative in her landscapes, choosing to record man’s relationship with the environment. She’s made it her niche.

“I’ve always been interested in our relationship with the land. There is so much of great beauty and historical interest"

http://www.ephotozine.com

after looking into Godwin's photos I wanted to try and achieve a similar effect using black and white high contrast and also thought this would help with achieving the aged effect I wanted to relate my pictures back to the war.

images taken from google images.

MARK POWER

as part of my research i looked at Mark Powers website. the link below is from some of his work which has influenced the way i decided to photogrpah and also how i intend on presenting my work as well.

http://www.markpower.co.uk/projects/THE-SHIPPING-FORECAST

some of the images i found inspiring for the work of mark power:

To date Power has published five monographs: The Shipping Forecast (1996), a poetic response to the esoteric language of daily maritime weather reports; Superstructure (2000), a documentation of the construction of London's Millennium Dome; The Treasury Project (2002), about the restoration of a nineteenth-century historical monument: 26 Different Endings (2007), which documents those landscapes unlucky enough to fall just off the edge of the London A-Z, a map which could be said to define the boundaries of the British capital; and The Sound of Two Songs (2010), the culmination of his five year project set in contemporary Poland.