An exploration of the photographic typology within the context of editorial communication
Introduction
This report summarises a collaborative and experimental project that attempts to challenge traditional methods of photojournalism and literal representation of editorial communication. Ideas have been developed through collaboration with a company that operates within the financial sector and produces regular editorial content and macroeconomic analysis. However, the methods developed within this project could apply to any type of editorial communication within any industry.
As the project developed, additional professionals working within the fields of graphic design and performing arts were approached to join the collaboration and made the final outcome of the project possible.
Research
This project was informed by the research and practical work that I completed in the first two units of a Masters Degree in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography. I continued to build on this research discovering and analysing more examples of the photographic typology method and its use within art and photojournalism. The following examples challenged the working definition that I established in the first unit and inspired new ideas.
A photographic typology is a single photograph, or more commonly a body of photographic work that shares a high level of consistency. This consistency is usually found within the subjects, environment, photographic process, and presentation or direction of the subject. The creation of a typology is likely to be employed for one of two intentions: to enable objective comparison of subjects that share similar visual characteristics, or to create a relationship between subjects that share no obvious visual relationship.
Eadweard Muybridge | Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
Muybridge, a pioneer of motion picture projection was hired in 1872 by a businessman and race-horse owner who had taken a position on a popular debate that questioned whether all four feet of a horse were ever off the ground at the same time. The following sequence (Fig.1) was created using an array of twelve cameras, triggered one after another, with a set of strings, photographing a galloping horse. These individual photographs were then combined to create one of the earliest forms of a motion picture. His efforts did appear to prove the businessman right, but the process hadn’t been perfected. Fig. 1 is a typology constructed from that sequence of images. Presenting the photographs in this form enables comparison of motion over time, a purpose that I hadn’t identified in my first related research assignment.
Jeff Brows |Typology
Fig. 2 is a sequence of photographs of a vehicle (presumably on fire) shot from similar vantage points. There isn’t a clear progression in this sequence of images, but there appears to be a horizontal grouping of images based on slightly different vantage points. This is interesting because I believe it again challenges the definition — adding an additional level of complexity via this form of grouping makes it difficult to read and extract the intention in the composition.
Taryn Simon | A Cold Hole
In the following example, Taryn Simon combines a sequence of images capturing the process of a person taking a cold water plunge in a recent interactive exhibition. Again this typology enables comparison but also communicates a sequence of events over time adding an additional layer of information.
Initial experimentation
We began by identifying content that we could start to work with. Up to this point the company had used more traditional journalistic photography to represent editorial communication.
We started to develop some initial ideas for cover images, attempting to move away from the industry standard and towards something that would be more visually interesting, and that could help to better communicate the essence of the content.
Working with the design agency Browns we distilled our collective ideas down to the following four routes. The first was inspired by the work of John Baldessari. The second incorporated archived photography, and the third and fourth routes would use objects to represent content and ideas.
We believed that using objects to represent content would invite the audience to make the connection between the title and the image, and in the act of doing so, would enhance their interpretation of the content it represents. This playful audience interaction could add an additional layer of information to the image/caption relationship in place of a literal interpretation.
To test the concept we began to experiment with the company’s monthly roundup. There is a section within the communication that highlights statistics that provide supporting evidence behind the fund manager’s macroeconomic views, and portfolio related news. We used found photographed objects to visually represent each statistic and placed them within a grid.
The roundup was well received by users of the website who posted positive feedback in the comments section at the bottom of the related page. We continued to experiment with a number of other communications and considered the possibility of using objects to represent an investment journey with different levels of risk and volatility. Funds are graded from one to seven by the fund manager, level one being the least volatile, and funds with a risk profile of seven being the most volatile. To begin, we gave a name to each of the seven levels of risk: defensive, cautious, balanced, moderate, bold, adventurous, and very adventurous. We then started to look for objects that we felt represented these different attitudes to risk and constructed mood-boards for each. We used these mood-boards to put together a set of images from found photography.
The next phase was to get the objects photographed. We worked with the Browns to find a photographer who we felt would be a good fit for the project. The objects were photographed in a studio on a neutral backdrop, under the same lighting setup with a key-light slightly to the left of the object, creating a shadow to the right. We felt that a shadow was needed so that the images felt grounded to a surface, and this subtle consistency of the shadow created a visual link between the images.
Retrospect
Despite achieving what we had set out to do and being very happy with the result, we didn’t feel that we had yet stepped outside of our comfort zone with this project. At this point, we returned to the research and began to consider time, the element that I had failed to identify when constructing a definition of the photographic typology during the first two units. We again put together a number of mood-boards, but this time we challenged each other throughout the process to come up with new ideas and to avoid being led by a predetermined outcome. When reviewing the boards we were able to group the majority of our references under the following themes: verberation, motion, and terrain.
From this work, we identified the strongest ideas and began to search for video clips that we could use to construct a set of animated mood-boards.
From the animated mood boards, we felt that dance was the strongest as there is no right or wrong; we didn’t want to suggest that one risk level was better than another. Dance is something everyone can relate to in some way and different types of dance have a variety of complexity and intensity that we could use to represent the risk and volatility scale. Greater intensity and complexity evoke feelings of anxiety, excitement, and fear. Minimal intensity and complexity evoke calm, relaxed, and peaceful feelings.
We shared the work with Browns who were very excited about the project and began to help us find a choreographer who could both construct and perform a variety of dance styles. After reviewing a number of showreels, we felt that Stephanie Bergie would be a good fit and she was equally as enthusiastic about the project. She worked on some initial ideas attempting to create individual dances that reflected the names we had given to the different risk levels, filmed them in her studio and sent them over to us.
After reviewing the initial test clips we felt there was too much variation in each dance and that it was too difficult to compare them. We suggested that she attempt to create a single dance from elements of the inial choreography, and apply different levels of intensity and complexity while maintaining enough variation. We also asked Stephanie to film each dance in the same location and with a fixed camera position that would be closer to how we intend to shoot, this would also make it easier for us to compare. After receiving our feedback Stephanie refined each dance and sent over the second iteration.
As highlighted in the research from Unit 1, when attempting to use the method of a typology to visually compare variations within a subject, it is important to remove all the visual noise and to have a consistent environment and process.
We needed the same neutral background, same dancer, same clothing, starting and end position, and timing of the dance. Browns booked a studio in Holborn for the shoot and we worked with David Stewart to film each variation of the dance and ensure visual consistency.
Conclusion
We believe that this typology, when used in context will subtly help people outside the industry to understand what investing in products with different levels of risk and volatility would be like. In addition, we feel that the work is aesthetically rewarding and enjoyable to watch, and that this in itself would appeal to a wide audience and potentially enhance engagement with other related content.
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Fig 1. Muybridge, E (1878) Sallie Gardner at a Gallop. [online image]. Available at: <https://framenoir.com/framework/garage-magazine-no-15/> [Accessed 2 August 2019].
Fig 2. Brouws, J (1995) Typologies. [online image]. Available at: <https://www.artsy.net/artwork/jeff-brouws-october-21-needles-california-portfolio> [Accessed 2 August 2019].
Fig 3. Simon, T (2018) A Cold Hole. [online image]. Available at: <https://framenoir.com/framework/garage-magazine-no-15/> [Accessed 2 August 2019].
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