Over the weekend I took to reading some books to gather some creative influences for my project. I took a look at John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing'. 'Ways of Seeing' was a 1972 BBC four-part television series of 30 minute films. The series and book criticised western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about hidden ideologies in visual images. The book itself has contributed to feminist readings of popular culture, through essays that focus particularly on women in advertisements and oil paintings. After reading the book, I chose one page which i felt was the most relevant to my personal study.
Although this page does not have a direct link to my study title, however, the second paragraph about how people just see things and take them for granted - people are oblivious to the beauty that is right in front of their face. I personally feel as though people have become so accustomed to using many different means of transport, that they can't see the design and work that goes into every car. The effort it takes to make a car cut so elegantly through the wind at high speed; how a car is able to stay, glued to the ground as it corners at 70mph +.
As well as reading 'Ways of Seeing' by John Berger, I looked at a book about Robert Doisneau. His photography really inspires me as his photos are extremely casual and don't look faked or set up. When I got the book, I was not expecting there to be many pictures related to my proposal. However, when I started looking through, I noticed a number of different photos that linked to my theme.
The photo below 'Tati's Bike' 1949, is a wonderful capture. The image draws the audience towards both man and the bike due to the fact that the whole photo is in focus, and no elements are in soft focus. Doisneau manages to capture the shocked expression on the mans face, as if the photographer has just caught him taking apart someones bicycle. This photo has also made me more wanting to look at photos in other mediums (not just cars, which have been the main focus so far, and explore bikes, trains planes etc.).
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