SECONDARY AND PRIMARY RESEARCH
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
This
name is a colloquial misnomer which is more pedantically called "photomacrography". For the best
effects it is recommended that an SLR camera with a small
sensor is used as it can capture smaller objects that a larger full frame 35 mm
sensor camera. The 1:1 ratio of the a small subject fills the sensor of a
small sensor camera. My Canon EOS 500D camera will produce better images
than the professional Canon 5D/Mark III. A dedicated fixed macro lens is
necessary.
Emmett
Photography "The Essential Guide to Macro Photography Lighting Options" http:/ /blog.emmett-photography.com/2013/04/macro-photography-lighting-options.html
Peter
Emmett explores how to achieve success in lighting macro images,
demonstrating how ambient and on-camera flash is unsuccessful, and explaining
that accurate is essential to achieve success. Emmett offers the
suggestion of moving further away from the subject, but shows how this defeats
the purpose of the intensity of the positive space in the image. Emmett
demonstrates several effective ways of capturing light in macro images, as
below:
1. daylight
can be effective;
2. a
reflector can help to bring light into a macro image;
3. lighting
from above can also be effective.
Emmett notes that off-camera presents so many options
that consideration needs to be taken of:
•
the size of the flash head/s and use of soft boxes
•
the strength of the light to avoid over-exposing the
subject, so keeping some texture
•
Inverse Square Law as there is a small distance from
the lens to the subject and if the light is moved the same distance away e.g. 2
cm and you move it 2 cm further away only a quarter of the light falls on the
subject.
•
the angle of the light source, which should be tested
to achieve the desired effect
•
the use of manual setting of the flash light rather
than ETTL as there is more control
•
Filters can be used to modify the light for creative
purposes
•
using a dedicated macro flash light, which will be
very useful as it attaches directly to the lens, and it has two lights (see
below) that can be adjusted to enhance creativity, as well as having even
coverage.
93_flash_canon_mr14_frente.jpg
Recommended by Emmett
PHOTOGRAPHERS WHOSE WORK I LIKE
Mike Moats
This
is a beautiful image of a rusty car's door handle. The colours are
beautiful with the chrome handle reflecting the oranges and greens of the car
door and the leaves wound around the handle. It is balanced by the line
of the door opening and there is interest throughout the image.
Composition
is important in the construction of my images and the composition of the image
below is aesthetically pleasing with its diagonal composition.
"Photo Tip:
Macro photography is really successful when the image has a main point of
interest and that point or subject is composed well
within the frame. Choose a simple background so it doesn’t compete with the main subject for a viewer’s
attention."
 |
| Mike Moats |
The
image below by Peter Martin has a shallow Depth of Field (achieved by using a
wide aperture) and may be effective for my Body Landscape images. I will
experiment with both large and small apertures before deciding on the
most effective technique for my project.
The
image below by Paul Sutherland paints an ethereal landscape of bright colours.
It has a shallow Depth of Field with the focus on the eye.
Body Landscape
The
image below seems very like a landscape to me - there is a valley with a deep
fissure, texture is provided by the hair and skin, and the navel ring and its
shadow gives the impression of daylight falling on it (as well as the shadow on
the skin). This is a beautiful image of the kind I aspire to achieve.
It was taken with a Canon EF 50mm f/4.5 lens which only
provides a 1:2 ratio, and my images should be 1:1 giving a smaller area of
body landscape.
JO SPENCE, PHOTOGRAPHER
Spence's early documentary work was ground breaking:
she was part of a feminist movement - her work has a sense of gritty reality,
providing the guidelines for her later phototherapy series.
In the image of Rosie Martin (below) with whom Spence
collaborated Spence shows how others bind Martin by the negative terms that
have been thrown at her in relation to her sexual orientation. She
exposes their bias in a dramatic way, demonstrating that all they see is her
sexual orientation, nothing of her, the woman. This is an angry image,
reflecting the just anger of women.
Jo Spence coined the term "phototherapy"
after a diagnosis of breast cancer led directly to a series of
self-portraits, in which she portrayed the myriad of emotions she experienced.
She wanted this work to become part of therapy to help others with breast
cancer cope with their emotions.
"In 1984, alongside Rosy Martin, Spence developed
‘Photo-Therapy’,
adopting techniques from co-counselling. The considerable achievement of
Photo-Therapy was to invert the traditional relationship between the
photographer and the subject. If historically the subject had little control over
their own representation, Photo-Therapy shifts this dynamic. The subject was
able to act out personal narratives and claim agency for their own
biography."
Roland Barthes (1993), a
venerated semiologist and critic, focuses on advertising images because
they have intention and Spence has intention in her documentary work
"her early work articulated a desire to create photographs that run
counter to the idealised imagery offered by advertising" (website)
Jo Spence's self portrait below provides
metonyms. In photographing herself through a mirror we see an almost
multi-faceted Jo: her back explodes the metonym of a historical and ubiquitous
boudoir view, shooting outside the boudoir as the background contains
racks of plates, indicating her combined metonymic female roles of bedroom and
kitchen. The two windows in the frame have connotations of the world
looking at her - the "looked at" woman, but it is difficult for us to
construe the myth of Jo Spence as the sexually provocative and available woman
from this image. She does not portray herself for male sexual
gratification, but she does have “connote to-be-looked-at-ness” (Mulvey
1999 p.333) in a very different way from how Mulvey sees women being presented
in the media. Spence's front view in the mirror portrays a very fearful
and worried middle-aged woman whose hands appear to be clasped in a prayer-like
way. They do not clasp over her breasts in a protective manner - she
exposes them, and her disease, as she places her breasts in the frame in the
left third, drawing the viewer's eyes into the mirror view. On her face is
imprinted her fears which the viewer empathises with.
This is a powerful image and the use of black and
white does fulfill its promise of adding gravitas to the image. The
subsequent greyness of the image adds to the greyness in her life as a
consequence of the diagnosed disease.
Following the diagnosis of breast cancer,
"Much of her subsequent work was a response to
her treatment by the medical establishment and her attempt to navigate its
authority through alternative therapies. Work such as ‘Cancer Shock’
(1982) and ‘The
Picture of
Health?’ (1982-86) present Spence’s concerns through photo
narrative, montage and performative
re-staging of personal trauma."
Spence is portraying her life from both a feminist and
a personal perspective, rather than from "a male spectator
perspective" - she give us a "female spectator perspective"
(Stacey 1999). It is easy to understand how this work would be
therapeutic for women suffering from breast cancer who were facing the same
fears Spence did.
Jo Spence in Spare Rib http://www.jospence.org/biography.htmlib
Spence's work is widely published in both photographic
and feminist journals, including Spare Rib.
 |
| An Image from her book "Jo Spence Beyond the perfect Image, Photography, Subjectivity, Antoginism" |
Spence's re-performance of her pre-operation state is
arresting in its directness in the image above. Its traditional rule of thirds composition
leads the eye through the three sections of her body: breasts, the surgical
cross above her left breast, and her face with its uncertainty and fear.
The lighting is significant as it is focused on the left breast where the
cancer is attacking her body. It is the most important consideration in
her life at that time and needs to be highlighted. The light of the left
and right sides of her face have connotations of both her hope and fear of
success in the operation as she places her trust and her life out of her own
hands - the only autonomy she has in this situation is the decision to comply
with the operation. Her foray into alternative therapies allows her to
regain some autonomy in this situation.
Liz Wells considers a Freudian
perspective, arguing that photographs could take the place of dreams
in therapeutic Freudian psychoanalysis as parts of the photograph could be
regarded as “an indicator of malaise” (Wells, 2003). The images that I
hope to produce could be used in a psychotherapeutic approach. Victims of
sexual abuse have a distorted mirror image of themselves as they see themselves
reflected through the eyes of their abuser. In phototherapy the aim is to
have people "see differently" (Martin & Spence 2003 p.406).
Martin & Spence tried to change the perception of 'victim' in women
who experienced difficulties within the family dynamic, but in sexual abuse the
young person needs to be recognised as a blameless victim, rather than
accepting blame for the actions of the abuser.
Why is it important to take these series of images?
It is to enable a victim of sexual abuse to reappraise their own body and
begin to change the negative associations and memories it has for them, in
order that they can make informed decisions and develop healthy relationships.
Susan Sontag (2003 p.61) argues:
“Most people in this society have the idea that to
take a picture is to say, among other things: ‘this is worth
photographing.’ ” (Sontag 2003 (p.61).
Sexual abuse victims need to regain a sense of agency
over their own bodies and if they can photograph their own bodies, as Kelly
says “a woman who uses herself in a photograph is being narcissistic.
… They are reclaiming back what is theirs, a right to self-defined sexuality.”
and narcissism is a necessary step in this process. Using the
images I produce the phototherapist can lead to similar fragment self portraits
being taken. These images may "offer us the possibility to objectify
and see a separate part of oneself which can then be reintegrated back into the
overall subjetivity or core self ... photographs can act as 'transitional
objects' towards another reality." (Martin and Spence 2003 p.408)
In my project I hope to produce images that will be
therapeutic for victims of sexual abuse, so while phototherapy is a new concept
for me it is not a new concept, although I would argue that this is a new
approach. Spence's work as an informed and political agent in the world
of politicalized art through her documentary photography is inspiring - I wish
I had known her. Her phototherapy will be helpful in many situations,
including my work.
BODY DYSMORPHIA
RESEARCH
World Psychiatry reports the first description of Body
Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a psychiatric disorder, more than one hundred years
ago. Some patients are also diagnosed with a
delusional disorder. BDD is defined as a
somatic disorder and is treated chemically, although it is also treated with
psychosocial methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
“Patients with BDD
believe they look ugly or deformed. … They are often associated with fears of
rejection and feelings of low self-esteem, shame, embarrassment, unworthiness,
and being unlovable. Insight is usually poor, and nearly half of patients are
delusional.”
The belief is that this condition begins in childhood and
the effects have a deleterious impact on the lives of those who experience
it. People rarely disclose the symptoms,
so it is thought to be under-diagnosed.
The recent upsurge in cosmetic surgery might be explained by BDD.
In the case of A, she believed that she was ugly inside and
outside. Her sexual abuser had told her
this many times and her own feelings about what had happened to her reinforced
this impression. He told her that only
dirty old men would want her because she was so ugly.
“If you have BDD, you experience concerns about your
appearance that cause you significant anxiety and have a disruptive effect on
your life.”
A’s BDD had a disruptive effect on her life as she could not
bear her family to touch her, and when a boy became interested in her she found
it very difficult to allow him touch her, which he found very strange. She felt compelled to tell him about the
abuse and even though he was patient with her, and she wanted to be like other
girls she could not behave like they did and allow intimacy. She knew what was “normal” behaviour for her
teenage friends and wanted to be able to like them, but her negative cognitive
beliefs about her body stopped her.
Cognitive therapy, which aims to alter both thought patterns
and behaviours or Solution Focused Therapy, which aims to help the patient,
will also help other young people in the same position to change how they view
their bodies, and improve their interactions with others, and to be able to
engage in intimate relationships.
Research on Micro Photography
Advice from Huub de Waard
“Adding a set of extension tubes
with a total length 0f 60 mm to a 60 mm macro lens will give maximally a
magnification of (60+60) ÷ 60 = 2.
By
adding a teleconverter, an even greater magnification can be achieved.
Application of a 2x teleconverter produces a maximum magnification of 4 and 2
stops loss in light intensity. Adding more glass means a drop in quality
and quantity of light transmission, the extent of which depends on the quality
of the particular teleconverter you’re using.”
“Light
is lost when using macro lenses, extension tubes and teleconverters. As
magnification increases, depth of field decreases rapidly. Due to loss of light
and depth of field considerations, it is advisable to use a ring flash or twin
flash when shooting micros.”
“Ant
on red leaflet. Magnification 8, f/9, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec. Canon 7D,
Canon macro lens MP-E 65mm f/2.8, Canon macro Twin Lite Flash MT-E 24EX and Canon
2x teleconverter.”
“Common
cuckoo wasp standing on a small flower petal. Magnification 4,
f/14, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec. Canon 7D, Canon macro lens MP-E 65mm f/2.8 and
Canon macro Twin Lite Flash MT-E 24EX.”
“Lester
Wareham , Jul 21, 2007; 08:48 a.m.
Just
put some extension tubes on your 100/2.8, 65mm of extension will get you to
about 2.2:1 and should be better quality.
If you want to get in really close and have the skill and budget the
MP-E 65mm is the thing but get used to the 100mm macro first.”
Aaron Muderick , Jul 21, 2007; 08:56 p.m.
I
routinely reverse couple my f/2 35mm to my 100mm Macro lens and get excellent
results.
The
quality of images can be very good. It is not 'empty magnification' by any
means.
Sometimes
I add some extension tubes to the 100mm in addition to the reversed lens when I
really need to go 'all the way'.
http://photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00Lwsm
The image below by Suren Marvelyan is astonishing and does provide the detail that I want to achieve. The iris looks as if it is 3D and is quite beautiful. However, the whole frame is not aesthetically pleasing as the right side has a very distracting light reflection, probably from the flash light. I am going to attempt to take shots like this with this level of detail.
The image below by Suren Marvelyan is astonishing and does provide the detail that I want to achieve. The iris looks as if it is 3D and is quite beautiful. However, the whole frame is not aesthetically pleasing as the right side has a very distracting light reflection, probably from the flash light. I am going to attempt to take shots like this with this level of detail.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
World Psychiatry reports the first description of Body
Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a psychiatric disorder, more than one hundred years
ago. Some patients are also diagnosed with a
delusional disorder. BDD is defined as a
somatic disorder and is treated chemically, although it is also treated with
psychosocial methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
“Patients with BDD
believe they look ugly or deformed. … They are often associated with fears of
rejection and feelings of low self-esteem, shame, embarrassment, unworthiness,
and being unlovable. Insight is usually poor, and nearly half of patients are
delusional.”
The belief is that this condition begins in childhood and
the effects have a deleterious impact on the lives of those who experience
it. People rarely disclose the symptoms,
so it is thought to be under-diagnosed.
The recent upsurge in cosmetic surgery might be explained by BDD.
In the case of A, she believed that she was ugly inside and
outside. Her sexual abuser had told her
this many times and her own feelings about what had happened to her reinforced
this impression. He told her that only
dirty old men would want her because she was so ugly.
“If you have BDD, you experience concerns about your
appearance that cause you significant anxiety and have a disruptive effect on
your life.”
A’s BDD had a disruptive effect on her life as she could not
bear her family to touch her, and when a boy became interested in her she found
it very difficult to allow him touch her, which he found very strange. She felt compelled to tell him about the abuse
and even though he was patient with her, and she wanted to be like other girls
she could not behave like they did and allow intimacy. She knew what was “normal” behaviour for her
teenage friends and wanted to be able to like them, but her negative cognitive
beliefs about her body stopped her.
Cognitive therapy, which aims to alter both thought patterns
and behaviours or Solution Focused Therapy, which aims to help the patient will
help other young people in the same position to change how they view their
bodies, and improve their interactions with others, and to engage in intimate
relationships, but primarily to regain agency over their bodies.
A primary research questionnaire has been devised to discover how women feel about their bodies.
QUESTIONNAIRE
I am a final year Photography Student doing a project
on how women feel about their bodies.
Please answer this questionnaire to help with my research.
Q.1 Do you
have a favourite part of your body? If
so, what part?
Q.2 If so,
is it your own belief, or has anyone influenced you to think this?
Q.3 Is there a
part of your body you don’t like? If so,
what part?
Q.4 If so, is it
your own belief, or has anyone influenced to think this?
Q.5 Do either positive or negative feelings
about your body affect your behaviour, e.g.?
(a) Do
you enhance any part of your body?
(b) Do
you disguise any part of your body?
Q.5 If you could
change any part of your body what would you do?
Q.6 Is there a
celebrity that you would like to look like?
Thank you for
completing this questionnaire. Myra
Boyle
RESULTS OF PRIMARY RESEARCH (QUESTIONNAIRE)
RESULTS OF PRIMARY RESEARCH
There were 14 respondents, between the ages of 20 and 70
years. While this project is aimed at
working with young girls it could be extended to women of all ages.
QUESTIONNAIRE
I am a final year Photography Student doing a project
on how women feel about their bodies.
Please answer this questionnaire to help with my research.
Q.1 Do you
have a favourite part of your body?
If so, what part? Yes: 11 No: 3
Q.2 If so,
is it your own belief, or has anyone
influenced you to
think this? Own: 12 Others:
2
Q.3 Is there a
part of your body you don’t like?
If so, what part? Yes: 13 No: 1
Q.4 If so, is it
your own belief, or has anyone
influenced to think this? Own: 10 Others:
4
Q.5 Do either positive or negative feelings
about
your body affect your behaviour,
e.g.?
(a) Do
you enhance any part of your body? Yes: 10 No: 4
(b) Do
you disguise any part of your body? Yes: 12 No: 2
Q.6 If you could
change any part of your body
what would you do? Yes: 11 No: 3
Q.7 Is there a
celebrity that you would like
to look like? Yes: 4 No: 10
ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES FROM QUESTIONNAIRE
Evidence indicates that >80% of the sample group of 14 women had a favourite body part, but <20% had been influence to believe this. Similar findings were found for women who had a body part they didn't like, but there was an increase in the respondents being influenced by others >20%. One notable
result was that <30% wanted to look like a celebrity.
result was that <30% wanted to look like a celebrity.
Personal Contact – Telephone Interview
An inquiry was made of Steve at the Photography Department
in Victoria Hospital, Blackpool and he was very helpful. They photograph 1:1 with a Macro lens, as I
have been doing, without getting the micro images that I am looking for.
For the micro work at the cellular level they used to use a
microscope and photograph the results, but now they use an electronic
microscope which attaches directly to their computer system, and this is much
more effective. He
suspects that they are very costly, but suggested I look on
EBay, although he did say they were tricky to get the hang of, so this might
not be a good option.
Although my research into a reversing ring for the 100 mm
Macro lens showed that Canon do not make one in this size, Steve suggested I
try a global search as someone might make it.
However, this proved fruitless, so my next step was to price the Canon MP-E 65mm and discovered it varies from £640 on EBay to £1099
on Amazon. Had I done this research
first I would have bought this lens rather than the 100 mm Macro lens.
CALUMET
HIRING PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT
MANCHESTER, 0161 274 0500
I hired a Canon macro lens MP-E 65mm
f/2.8, from the Manchester store, when I will be able to hire it for two days
for £69 (less 20% with my student card).
This lens will give me up to 5x magnification, which should give me the
artistic body landscape images that I want to achieve.
References
Barthes R,
(1993), Mythologies, LONDON, Vintage Books
Boffin T. and Fraser J. (Eds.), Stolen
Glances: Lesbians take Photographs, Pandora Press, 1991, pp. 103. Figure 11: Rosie Martin, Unwind the lies that
bind, 1988 (image made with Jo Spence).
Mulvey L
(1993) Visual Pleasure and narrative cinema. Pub. in
Evans J
& Hall S (1993), Visual Culture: the reader, LONDON, Sage Publications
Ltd, in assn with The Open University
Kelly, A. (2003). Self Image: Personal Is Political. Pub.
in L. Wells (Ed.), the photography reader (pp. 410-416). LONDON,
England: Routledge.
Kuhn, A. (1991). REMEMBRANCE The
child I never was. In J. a. Spence (Ed.), Family Snaps. LONDON, England:
Virago.
Kuhn, A. (2003). REMEMBRANCE The
child I never was. In W. L. (Ed.), the photography reader (pp. 395-401).
LONDON: ROUTLEDGE.
Martin, R. & Spence, J. Psychic Realism as a
healing art pub in Wells, L. (Ed.), the photography
reader (pp. 395-401). LONDON: ROUTLEDGE.
Spence, J. "Jo Spence Beyond the perfect Image,
Photography, Subjectivity, Antoginism "
Stacey
J, (1993), Desperately
seeking difference. Pub. in
Evans J
& Hall S (1993), Visual Culture: the reader, LONDON, Sage Publications
Ltd, in assn with The Open University
Internet
references
Body Dysmorphia http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/body-dysmorphic-disorder/#.UoX3pqUquf0 and also at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1414653/
Macro Photography at
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/microphotography-tips-and-information-23075 and
http://static.environmentalgraffiti.com/sites/default/files/images/Eye26.jpg
Macro Photography at
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/microphotography-tips-and-information-23075 and
http://static.environmentalgraffiti.com/sites/default/files/images/Eye26.jpg
Micro Photography at
Jo Spence
Cassiaglia, M. Jo Spence’s
Phototherapy
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