Final Ethnography: Life through the Lens

            My research was on the topic of photography, more in particular studio photography. I chose this site because photography has evolved in many ways over the decades since its invention and it is an art form that is ever evolving with different visions and techniques of the photographers. With being a photographer there are techniques that will be a given but with each photographer, there are different visions which is what I wanted to study. I do mostly outdoor photography so I wanted to study the studio aspect of photography. A big part of studio photography, actually its 90% of studio photography, it makes the photograph. I wanted to learn how different types of lighting effect the photograph. I also wanted to conduct research on the techniques that are used in a studio.

            Photography is an interesting and very complex hobby and profession that requires an extensive amount of knowledge and technique to create an image that grabs the attention of others. I chose photography being there are many different forms of photography from informal selfies to family portraits to professional photo-shoots. Also there are inventions and ever evolving techniques and technologies that create a new perspective in the world of photography. As I am considered a professional photographer, being licensed in post editing and owning my own equipment, I am very knowledgeable about photography but it is still ever evolving and I am still young so there is plenty left to learn about photography. I want to research many of the different variables in photography and the different techniques that are used amongst others to create the photos that they want to achieve. Photography is everywhere, my site will be in studio, candid photography and also photography outdoors.

            I became interested in photography at a very young age. As a kid my family and I traveled a lot, so much to the point where you began to forget some of the places you went and events that happened during that trip and I began to want to document these moments. Photographers know that yes you may have your own technique but it’s a learning hobby. You can create new forms of your own photography by taking stylistic examples and techniques from other photographers. I want to discover some of the most popular techniques used and also discover techniques that aren’t that popular, if any. Also I will delve into finding different factors that influence the way someone photographs whether it be comfort, artistic efforts, where they are from, geographic location and style of photography.

            I will conduct my research by observing other photographers in many different settings and use photographers who have different goals and compare them to get the “outsider” view. Furthermore I will take many techniques and styles into consideration and compare them with my own style of photography giving the “insider” perspective of photography. Observation versus doing. There isn’t per say a way to “serve the community” but because there is a niche of people who value photography as an art and can see the efforts put into the photographs, the works of art can be displayed to the community but I don’t intend to showcase the works to the community other than to get opinions by other photographers about styles and techniques.

            Photography has a large community within society furthermore within the professional community and pop culture with millions of photos being taken every day for pleasure, showcasing and advertisements. It requires a literacy that you will learn nowhere else except for slightly in Video/Audio but there are still aspects between video and photography that persist to differ.

Photography is highly related to drawings and literature because it is a way for groups to express themselves. Photography is a way of communicating visually and requires a literacy further than just looking at the picture to be able to understand the message that is being conveyed in the photograph. Also using the settings on the camera and understanding how they work requires research, understanding and experimentation especially with some of the older or alternative methods other than digital photography. Looking into the alternative methods of photography, I can research how these methods are conducted and why they are being used or preferred compared to digital photography. Everyone looks at some sort of photography every day, therefore this research will create a greater understanding and give others a greater understanding of how much effort is being put into photographic processes.

            Photography has no single place to study, but with focusing on studio photography, I conducted my research in the classrooms/studios of Texas A&M University Commerce. There are many different forms of photography that are focus areas in the photography program. It consists of anything from studio photography to photo printing techniques which for the most part all take place in the journalism building.

Once looking for the photography building you wouldn’t be able to guess which of the buildings the photography classes are held in but once you look at the principles of photography, you would actually be able to narrow it down to a few buildings. The photography classes are held in the journalism building on the third floor. A floor with no windows which in studio photography and darkroom techniques is a must have for quality work. When you walk into the journalism building it looks as if it were any regular class hall. Once you begin to embark up the staircase you are met with a sense that you have either walked to New England and have set foot on the staircase leading down to the subway or you have just stepped foot into a bath house. The stairs are a plain grayish-brown concrete and the walls are a fresh snow white one inch by one inch tile, something you normally see in bath houses or a subway, all it was missing was graffiti. The echo of your steps against the tile provide an almost dramatic soundtrack to introduce something great.

Once you reach the third floor the appearance goes back to a “regular class hall” but the walls are littered with student work; photographs, technique tips, cameras set on shelves, cautions and sayings. Greeted with “can I help you find something” as soon as I stepped amongst the photography jungle, I could only assume that it was that obvious I had never been there before. The guy was obviously of some importance as he was manning the equipment checkout room. Bypassing their security check, I continued down the hallway that was about the length of a football field with rooms on the left and right with many doors closed and many doors open sparsely populated with students conducting their work in them. In the hallway the lights were on but there was not one of the rooms to my left or right with the overhead lights on. The only light that could be seen was deep within the rooms, they were typically dimly lit with areas of light like a secret shrine in the basement of a house. Each one of these sources of light were the different projects being artificially lit with many different kinds of lamps to give different types of lighting to the scenes that are being created. Near the end of the hallway there is a lobby area on the left that almost makes you feel like you are taking a power trip back to the early 90’s where you can see the progression of camera technology. Decorating the walls are cinematic and photographic cameras of many different time periods, and with them all looking like they haven’t been touched in years makes you wonder if they are still functional.

In the last room on the left right before the lobby area, a guy named Cooper asked for help taking some of his photos. The room was a room behind a room filled with stands called tripods for many different types of equipment. In the room where cooper was, he had set the room to look like a work studio for photography which was the scene for the photographs. With having everything set up he only required a simple push of a button. This process continued for almost an hour whereas I began to ask, what was he trying to do after taking hundreds of photos the exact same way? Cooper stated that he was trying to create a real looking scene that portrayed a distressed student who had been working very hard and he was trying to perfect this look.

After this process was done, I asked to explore the rooms and he assured it was okay. There was a door on the left wall in the room that led to a large even darker room with professional lights hanging from the ceiling, the walls painted pure black and thick curtains hanging from the ceiling to floor creating 3 different workspaces in one large dark room that spanned the whole left side of the third floor of this building. The rooms smelled like a mixture of cloth from the curtains, sitting dust over time, and a small hint of paint. In the first workspace a girl was working with a setup that reminded me of an aged advertisement. Not sure of her goal I could only assume she was creating a scene to showcase the make-up bag of juicy couture and some of their make-up. She was nice and easy to approach when asking about her work and she proceeded to ask for criticism on her work as learned by Cooper, criticism is the best way to learn what works in photography because you are presenting to viewers. The second space was empty and in the third another girl had created a scene which looked as if it was a passed veteran’s memorabilia. Pacing quickly around her work making swift adjustments, once she sensed my presence she immediately asked for my help once again just pressing the button on the camera to take the picture. I hesitantly agreed and took the photo. As I stepped back she looked at the photo then back to the scene and adjusted some of the props. As I was there to observe I wasn’t expecting much involvement but with a sense of urgency and dependence she asked if I could take the picture again. She was satisfied with the second but continued to work on the same scene. The work ethic of all the photographers gave a sense of importance to these scenes and were working with a very straightforward vision that they wanted to create. It almost seemed as if their grade depended on these projects but none of them had any correlation other than them all being created in a studio rather than outside. With many independent projects taking place and classes being held in other rooms it sounds as if you’re in a plaza of photographers, you hear the mixture of communication of photographers and their subjects and the sound of the shutters of cameras and the lamps of the lighting flashing with every click of the shutter. You also hear the pupils in silence listening to their instructors only to await their time when they can begin their own work.

Within photography you can see many different art forms ranging from stereotypical portraiture to body painted subjects to makeshift advertisements and original creations. With so many different techniques and values of different conventional and abstract photography, you can almost identify a person’s personality by the way they shoot and what they shoot. This is the way a person’s mood, feelings and vision can be expressed through photography.

I worked with photographers because they have a large variety of art styles and thought processes. When conducting my research I wanted to find if different factors influence photographic styles. In guidance of the American Anthropological Association, I will be basing my Code of Ethics. In my research because most photographers are freelance, there is no “guidance” from someone else. Availability to confer with the photographers is solely based on their schedules. I attempted to conduct my research in all different types of weather and conditions to observe thoroughly the process’ that are taken during photography. Accessing different photographers and their processes was conducted respectfully and only with the permission of there said photographers. Permissions were identified by each participant signing a consent form. I plan on observing photographers passively and undisturbed to make sure none of the processes are hindered. I will be observing as an “insider” but because of the passive observation, my position will not have any influence on my studies. To fairly observe, one of every factor of person and type of photography will be observed. Interviewers could possibly learn from the research or even notice something they do different compared to others. To ethically mind others privacy and work, all work, names, and information will be properly mined to the observed. No data was stored other than the information that is collected in interview and also what is observed.

Because of the nature of photography, working in the field can require working with others as they are usually the subjects but also does not exclude non-human animals and nature. Photographers must be aware that different cultures may not allow photographs or see it as a sign of disrespect, or that the flash of the camera and different materials may harm living organism in a sort of way. Therefore photographers must be sensitive to the cultures and environments that they are attempting to document to remain ethical in whichever sense. Working In a field of such involvement with many different rights and responsibilities, it may be inevitable for a misunderstanding, conflicts, and the need to make arduous choices will occur. Photographers are responsible for having the proper professionalism and permissions although sometimes those boundaries may be pushed to document candidly. However they are still expected to confine to a compatible form of the principles to minimize ethical hardships. These principles provide photographers with tools to engage in developing and maintaining an ethical framework for all stages of the photographic process – when making decisions prior to beginning projects, when shooting, and when reviewing and exhibiting their photographs and preserving those records.

In my research I found that staging and lighting for studio photography is a main aspect of creating good work but I found out that although the photographers have a vision, they look to others for opinions to help perfect their visions. They still keep their original ideas but take input from others to better suit the general public rather than themselves because after all, the public is who will be looking at their photographs.

After all, nothing in the research of studio photography really surprised me but what did intrigue me was the openness to interpretation and alteration by outsiders to a photographers work. Outside influence and alteration is a major part of creating the best work. It also intrigues me that since studio photography is all staged, you could create any scene with props and lighting whereas landscape photography is usually candid. I realized in my research that photography is a social skill of being able to communicate through your art to others trying to convey a message through a scene. I see studio photography much different the other aspects of photography that I am more familiar with because in studio photography you are in control of what is happening and can easily alter what is being produced in the photography by having almost if not 100% control of what is going on.