Practitioners end user context exploration

For my final major project I have considered to make a photobook, documenting B&B's. As we are a few weeks in I have also considered maybe making a moving image of the outside environment, during maybe my stay at a B&B. To develop my ideas on what to create for my final piece I have researched into some practitioners end user context. I chose to look into the photographers that have interested me and suit my project to see what they have created.

Martin Parr

Martin Parr is one of my main inspirations for collecting research about the end user context. This is because he has produced a variety of photobooks that convey many topics and themes and has given me ideas about layout and use of text. Martin Parr has a huge photobook collection that has been exhibited at the 'Tate Modern' and has inspired many others when creating a photobook. Martin Parr has used many different photographic approaches when creating the books, including self portraits, vivid editing and some landscape imagery. All of Martin's photobooks are very different, conveying a variety of messages and ideas about the theme and concept of that particular project. I feel inspired through the layout of his books in particular 'Val Williams' becuase of the way he has used text throughot the book to simply explain his project.

Martin Parr took part in an interview and explained why he feels passionately about the use of photobooks.

"I firmly believe that the photo book is still an underestimated asset in the cultural history of photography. Speaking as a photographer it is the one vehicle for photography that has influenced, not just me, but many photographers in a very big way."

Simon Roberts

Simon Robert's project 'we English' has strongly inspired me throughout the project so far, through the theme of Englishness. I have decieded to research into his photobook that he created for this project because I believe that this will help me with idea development for my end user context. From researching into his photobook I feel that the layout of his images have given me strong suggestions about how to display my photos. For example I like the way he has used a double page to display his landscape images becuase this is a difficult approach to use but it works really well with his project.

Anna Fox

Within this project I have been inspired by Anna Fox's project 'Resort 1', which documents an iconic Butlin's resort in Bognor Regis. The layout of her photobook for this project has guided me on how to layout my photographs and shows text, which is an approach that I am going to consider. The layout of Anna's images are very simple but effective, with some text of what image is being shown. For some of Anna's images she lays them across a double page like Simon roberts, however she alines them to the left of the page, leaving a thick boarder on the right page. I feel like this layout approach works best for her project because it creates a vivid focal point and creates more of an objective view for the audience to identify. Lastly, Anna has added a detailed essay about the holiday desination, which I like because it can leave the audience with a vivid image of what the resort is like.

Jackie Nickerson

Jackie Nickerson is another photographer that I have chosen to research because of the simply, yet effective layout she uses within her photobook. Her project that has inspired me is 'Faith' becuase of the beautifully soft lighting used, which I believe creates such a delicate atmosphere. The layout of Jackie's photobook wonderfully thought out because she has looked into displaying similar colours and framings of portraits together. This photobook has definatley influenced my idea development when planning the layout of my book. Overall, I like the simpleness of how she diplayed her image because I feel that project theme can come across with just showing the images, rather than adding a detailed explanation.

Phillip Toledano

Phillip Toledano's work has been a huge inspiration when developing my project. I believe looking at his end user context has helped me to review my work and think about what layout and design would suit my theme. Phillip's project that has helped me with identifying my project theme properly is 'Bankrupt'. This is the project that shows a rage of abandoned offices and creates the idea of humn traces within this environment. I like the front page of the book because it's a srtiking image that gives the audience an insight before they have viewed the other images. His photobook simply shows a range of his images captured within this project and I beileve that this works really well because then the audience can view the whole image and can understand the concept of human identity.

#FinalMajorProject