PORT*FOLIOPhotojournalism

created by

thomas thielemans

Edinburgh

Footdee

My heroesAberdeenshire

Glasgow

Cropping

[The FInaL 3]It is amazing how quiet and sheltered Footdie is despite the sea roaring on one side, the harbour clanking away on the other and the docks round the back. Through gaps in the houses one can view masts, gas meters and industrial bits andpieces but apart from that the modern world does not intrude. The wonderful thing about this small fishing village is the randomness of these buildings. They are pretty puzzling. It’s hard to tell if they’re outhouses, or holiday homes or perhaps mansions for a race of tiny seafaring people. In 1808 the entire fishing village was moved partly to accommodate harbour expansion and partly because the residents had requested it.

The village of Footdee consists of two areas of fishing cottages built in two squares. In olden days the cottages would have housed fishermen and their fisherfolk families.Though some fish families still live in the cottages, the area is no longer predominately lived in by fisherfolk.

[aIm]In the beginning I was quite struggling with my choice of subject. It is not easy to find a good subject when you are new in an unfamiliar city such as Aberdeen. Also, in the past I had done some adventurous photo work what made the choice even more difficult. Compared to Brussels there are not many photojournalistic opportunities. During the three months of my stay I have not witnessed a single protest march.After several weeks it struck me that lots of churches are converted into bars, nightclubs or even a rescue centre. This evolution interested me in such a way it seemed a perfect idea for a photojournalistic document. I started immediately with nearby converted churches: The Priory, Triple Kirks, Slains Castle, Soul, and Pearl.

Eventually only the Priory seemed to change during the night. This made me change my focus to Footdee, an area of Aberdeen, Scotland known locally as “Fittie”.

It is an old fishing village at the east end of the harbour. One can discover in Foodee a square full of houses and wooden shacks and sheds gathered round a communal green. However, even the photos that I took in Footdee did not satisfy me.In one way they also seem quite dull to me.

[SeLecTIOn]For the photos of Footdee I used the technique of Split Toning, using Gradient Map. The Gradient Map method is a split toning technique that allows you to use lots of colour combinations. For instance, one can create a very subtle split sepia tone by toning the dark tones of the photos a deep chocolate brown and the highlights a light cream. Or one can combine dark blue tones with light orange highlights. The possibilities are countless.

First I started by setting the colours – click ‘Set foreground colour’ swatch at the bottom of the toolbox. Then in the Color Picker I set the colours to Red 40, Green 70, Blue 105. I clicked ‘OK’.

Afterwards I set the ‘Set background colour’ swatch to Red 170, Green 200, Blue 200 in the Colour Picker. Again I clicked ‘OK’. Next step is to click on ‘Layer’ followed by ‘New Adjustment Layer’ followed by ‘Gradient Map’. Again Click ‘OK’.

The result is a smoothly blended gradient of the two colours I selected in the Gradient Map dialogue box. The photo looks kind of washed out. To correct this I changed the Blending Mode to Soft Light to correct this. I Set the Opacity slider to 50% for a more subtle tone. One can also experiment with the Overlay and the Hard Light blending modes for different effects. All of these will increase the image’s contrast. The Color blending mode retains the contrast of the original photo. (Gibson, 2011)

[FOOTdee]

[cROPPIng]Cropping is the process of cutting part of an image out of a picture to make

the final photograph fit within a given space. When a picture is cropped, it is not enlarged but, rather, maintains its original

dimensions. Cropping is usually utilized when a photographer wants to eliminate unnecessary or distasteful details of a panoramic picture.

When looking at panoramic pictures the 1:3 format can look interesting and attractively. The extended composition allows to include in a shot a lot of foreground such as trees, branches, etc.,

but without sacrificing a middle and distant plans. What would block our view in traditional 3:2 or a square format — here

doesn’t create problems, and on the contrary allows accentuating multiple dimensions. (Superka, 2011)

[James Nachtwey]

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[my heROeS]

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[evaLuaTIOn]

The fun part with photography is that a photograph “always” tells us a story, actually there can be multiple stories that can be associated with a photo. But it is in the mind of the photographer to “direct” or “channelize” the minds of the viewers to a particular, strong and appealing stories. And if the photographer is not successful in this endeavor than the photograph loses its distinctiveness and falls under the “normal” category.

The narrative property in a photo comes to life when the viewer can easily visualize what happened “before” the shot was taken from what is happening in the photograph (similar to narrating a story to demonstrate the flow of events). This can be successfully dem-onstrated by “including” or “excluding” certain elements into or from your photograph. (Shaw)

If I had more time I could have visited more cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh where they have similar converted churches. Also I would have spent more in Footdee to discover the area at different moments.

[WeakneSSeS] [ReSeaRch]

Digital PhotograPhy review www.dpreview.com

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liFe Magazine – Photo gallery archiveswww.life.com/archive/gallery

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MagnuM Photos www.magnumphotos.com

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MsnBlog.coM – Photo Blogphotoblog.msnbc.msn.com

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new york tiMes PhotojournalisM lens Blog lens.blogs.nytimes.com

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Panos Pictures www.panos.co.uk

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worlD Press Photoswww.worldpressphoto.org

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[edInbuRgh] a shoRt DistaNce fRom DeaN Village iN eDiNbuRgh, is the scottish NatioNal gal-leRy of moDeRN aRt aND DeaN galleRy.

the scottish NatioNal galleRy of moDeRN aRt fiRst opeNeD iN 1960 at iNVeRleith house iN eDiNbuRgh’s Royal botaNic gaRDeN. houseD iN aN imposiNg Neoclassical builDiNg, which was DesigNeD by william buRN iN 1825, it moVeD to its cuRReNt site oN belfoRD RoaD iN 1984.

it was on a rainy weekend when we made a short visit to the largest city in scotland: glasgow.the city is located on the banks of the clyde and it is the third most populous in the uk. the main shopping centres are Buchanan galleries and the saint enoch centre. glasgow is the largest and best retail centre in the uk outside of london. the city is famous for architecture designed by the glasgow school, the most notable exponent of that style being charles rennie Mackintosh. Mackintosh was a designer in the arts and crafts movement and also the main representative of art nou-veau in the uk. he designed buildings such as the glasgow school of art and the willow tearooms.

[gLaSgOW]

[abeRdeenShIRe]

three miles east of Banchory lies crathes castle. it was built over a 43 year period from 1553 – 96 by the Burnett family.the national trust for scotland owns and manages the castle and the estate. the castle is an l-shaped tower house with a modern two-storey range built to replace an 18th century wing that burnt down in 1966.

[caIRngORm mOunTaInS][caIRngORm mOunTaInS]