DPP: Exercise 3: Histogram

The brief here is to shoot and present a series of photos in which we display and comment on histograms.  The exercise is intended not "as an in-depth analysis" but to familiarize oneself with "the most basic characteristics of an image."  In preparation I did a bit of research and reading on histograms, which I report on in a separate post here.

The exercise calls specifically for low, average, and high contrast images, each shot at normal exposure, plus one stop up and down for each, for a total of nine exposures.  I decided to shoot these while also shooting for Exercise 2, about which you can read more here.

We are asked to comment on the relationship between the exposure and the data in the histogram, noting especially highlight and shadow clipping.  I used exposure compensation to meet the requirement for multiple exposures (the RX100 does not feature auto-bracketing) which, as you can see, resulted in differing shutter speeds. I may wish to experiment with actual f-stops and see if it produces different results.  My guess is that it will not.

What is a histogram?

I reproduce here the opening paragraphs of Yannis Ioannidis's 2003 The History of Histograms (abridged) for useful information on etymology, early usage, and definition.  The full article is available as a PDF download, but outside the paragraphs here may be of little interest to photographers or a nonspecialist audience.

The word `histogram' is of Greek origin, as it is a composite of the words `isto-s'  (= `mast', also means `web' but this is not relevant to this discussion) and `gram-ma'  (= `something written'). Hence, it should be interpreted as a form of writing consisting of `masts', i.e., long shapes vertically standing, or something similar. It is not, however, a word that was originally used in the Greek language.  The term `histogram' was coined by the famous statistician Karl Pearson to refer to a "common form of graphical representation". In the Oxford English Dictionary quotes from "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London" Series A, Vol. CLXXXVI, (1895) p. 399, it is mentioned that "[The word `histogram' was] introduced by the writer in his lectures on statistics as a term for a common form of graphical representation, i.e., by columns marking as areas the frequency corresponding to the range of their base."  Stigler identifies the lectures as the 1892 lectures on the geometry of statistics [69].

Review: Caruana & Fox, Behind the Image: Research in Photography, Chapter 4: Compiling Your Research, 2012

Research materials need to be compiled in such a way that they are user friendly, so that you, as well as other interested researchers, can make the best use of them. 

Each photographer will have a different method or system for compiling their research. There is no right or wrong way – you need to find the approach that works best for you. The way you choose to store or catalogue your research does not have to look pretty, but it does need to be accessible enough to inform your work; it will require some additional effort to organize and structure your research materials. If your research is in a manageable order it will be easier to create a clear and organized project. p 109

This is a rather thin chapter in which the authors suggest using physical or digital notebooks in which to record research, everything from the odd musing to actual data collection.  For those keeping physical notebooks and other material records, the idea of preservation through long-term storage is to be considered, and for keepers of digital data suitable backups.  (The authors fail to mention digital redundancy.)

Another case study from Caruana’s career is showcased, though no specific information is presented on how the research for her clown project was recorded and collated in journals or blogs.  The chapter concludes with a blogging exercise in which the reader is asked to create a blog and do a one-week research project in order to become familiar with blogging and “how much research you can gather in one week.”  This looks like another exercise created specifically for the book, and not something that a classroom teacher would suggest, nor particularly suited to practicing the chapter contents.  How do you practice compilation and archiving except on an ongoing or completed project?

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DPP: Exercise 2: Your Own Workflow (time unlimited)

Exercise 2 requires developing a workflow for a project unlimited in time. Exercise 3 requires nine specific images intended for examining histograms.  I plan to complete these two exercises in one shoot.

I have since May been photographing within a 2-block / 3-station radius of my home on Sheikh Zayed Road.  The intention has been to capture everyday objects in an everyday documentary / vernacular style. This ongoing project includes over 375 flagged images among a total collection of over 700.  Most have been collected in the area immediately around my residence.  Areas farther away are less well represented.  It is in one of these I shot for my last exercise, and it is to this area I will return for this. The subject will be the Dubai Trade Centre Hotel Apartments.  I have bicycled around the apartments and seen what might make some interesting images.

Review: Caruana & Fox, Behind the Image: Research in Photography, Chapter 3: Practice as Research, 2012

Practising photography – taking photographs – is a primary part of the research process. It is easy to just shoot photographs and not record what you do, yet if you stop for a moment and consider the significance of how you are photographing – when, where, why, with which tools and what assistance – it all starts to become part of an interesting research story.  p61

The main idea here is that image making is not the final act in the process of photography, but an ongoing practice informed by other types of activity, what the authors refer to as research - reading, viewing images, listening to and participating in discussions.  Photographers are encouraged to go out early in the planning stages and start capturing preliminary images.  These become objects on which to reflect and develop.

I was interested to see how they would flesh this out, but the chapter turns into a collection of lists that don’t seem to have much to do with the process of research.

First up is a discussion on the differences in studio and the street shooting, followed by brief descriptions of photographic types (landscape, documentary, fashion, art), as well as paragraphs on editing, post production, and reflection.  An evaluation form covering many of the steps in the Proposal outlined in chapter 1 is included as handy reference and is perhaps the chapter’s best feature, which concludes with another interesting activity only loosely related to the theme or content of the chapter, that of recreating a classic photo.

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Review: Janah, Sunil, Photographing India, Oxford University Press, 2013

One thing that comes through clearly while reading Indian photographer Sunil Janah's autobiography is that he had a great life. He recorded India’s independence and its growth as a new nation state. His circle of friends and acquaintances included some of the country's brightest minds. He traveled widely (especially among many of the non-aligned and socialist nations), and he did all this while supporting himself as a photographer (a job well below the standards of India's aspiring bourgeoisie).

He was by training, and perhaps temperament, an academic, working towards a Master’s degree in English literature at the Presidency College of Calcutta when he was recruited to the Communist Party and became, for lack of any competition, the Party's official photographer. A boyhood pastime turned into several years of passionate practice dedicated to social justice and Indian independence, leading over the course of 40 years to a career and recognition as one of India’s most noted image makers.

Review: Caruana & Fox, Behind the Image: Research in Photography, Chapter 2: Developing Ideas through Research, 2012

The chapter opens with the suggestion that Google and the internet are not the only means of conducting research.  “Libraries are extraordinary places,” the authors enthuse, perhaps for those who have never been to one.  Other suggested real life sources are specialist libraries, archives, museums, galleries, lectures, and meetings of photography clubs/circles/societies.  For those that have never encountered the internet, advice is provided on managing bookmarks and using such tools as blogs and social media.

Two case studies are presented.  Sally Verrall makes art installations which result in photographs of the work.  Her process requires research of the space in which her work will be installed, including measurements of the available space and line drawings to calculate from where to photograph to produce desired effects.

Neeta Madahar made a series of photos exploring female youth and glamour based on a 1935 series.  The newer series required her to work in collaboration with her models, set designers and make-up artists.  All the images were collaborative and negotiated.

The chapter concludes with the kind of exercise I see often in English language textbooks, an activity that in itself looks interesting but is not really tied to the pedagogical aims of the course.  The authors suggest visiting a garage sale or flea market to purchase some old snapshots, then sequence them to tell a story, AFTER WHICH you can do some research on the photos to check the truth against your own story.

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