FMP by Mikey - Secondary

Secondary Research

Ethical & Environmental

Specialist Practice

Conceptual

Contextual & Historical

Library Books

Secondary Research

Ethical & Environmental

with Health & Safety Considerations

In my genre of photography, there are some key ethical considerations that I have taken into account. With street photography, there are legal boundaries and personal ethics that I adhere to.

The Metropolitan Police state this: Freedom to photograph and film

"Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel."

Due to this understanding, I know that it is my right to photograph in public, and I have the law on my side, as long as it is not private property.

Ethics are more complicated, in that it can be up to interpretation and personal beliefs. I deeply considered this during the planning and research phase of my project, which is partly why my final work is characterised as not having clear faces. I wanted my subjects to be relatively anonymous and abstracted by their surroundings, for artistic and ethical purposes.

For me, I do not think it is in my code of ethics to photograph:

Those who clearly do not want to be
People who ask me to stop
Homeless people
Vulnerable people
Children, without permission of the parents

Within my primary research, I conducted a survey that has further informed my understanding of ethical practices in street photography. This survey helped on quell my concerns that people may find my work controversial or unethical. Based on the responses, I can confirm everyone who was surveyed thinks that there are "no moral issues, unless requested to stop" with the style of photography my project resides in.

The questions on ethics I surveyed:

The responses:

After our class discussion, I was enlightened to further ethical & environmental concerns that I had not yet considered. I especially found the reminder to check if the place I am photographing is publically owned to be helpful.

Environmentally, I do not believe there to be any distinct impacts that my project will have. I mostly used public transport or walking during my shooting trips, and the majority of this time was spent locally. The only impact I may have had on the environment is flying to and from Berlin. However, I believe this to not be substantial or avoidable.

In future projects, I will similarly consider my impact on the environment.

Ethical Considerations from Class

Below is my comment ↓

I have also considered the health & safety protocols of my project.

I will not shoot alone in unfamiliar cities or abroad.
If shooting alone, I will let someone know where I am.
I will always be aware of my surroundings.
I have equipment insurance and travel insurance for when I go abroad, and throughout my project.

Specialist Practice

through Location Recces

I have developed my practical research through the numerous location recce shoots I have completed. These being in Birmingham, London, Plymouth & Exeter. I visited and shot these cities at least once before my final shoots. This research allowed me to gain knowledge of specific areas I wanted to photograph again. Due to restrictive circumstances, I was not able to revisit Manchester or Berlin.

The Practice Shoots can be found in:

Birmingham

London

Plymouth

Exeter

Conceptual

Sonder is described by Wiktionary as being:

"Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2012, whose project, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, aims to come up with new words for emotions that currently lack words. Inspired by German sonder [special] and French sonder [to probe]."

Their definition of sonder is:

"The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it."

Koenig's original blog post from 2012, posted onto the social networking website Tumblr.

The updated definition from the official book, published in 2021, "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows".

My conceptual findings on sonder developed into my Final Research Essay.

Contextual & Historical

To produce successful street photography, I feel that understanding the origins and context of the discipline is crucial. It has allowed me to learn from the masters and have tangible improvement in my craft. I have done this by reading books and articles on street photography, and diving deeper into the most relevant or prominent figures in the genre.

My independent explorations into influential photographers can be found in Artist Research.

The New Street Photographer’s Manifesto

Tanya Nagar

Nagar, T. (2017). The New Street Photographer’s Manifesto.

Lewes: Ilex Press.

Street

Photography

Now

Sophie Howarth &

Stephen McLaren

Howarth, S. and McLaren, S. (2010). Street Photography Now.

London: Thames & Hudson.

Library Books

I conducted research in the library and online by investigating different photography books.

At the beginning of my research, these books have really helped me to start thinking critically about street photography, artists I want to research further, and techniques that I want to investigate in my practical work.

These are the most notable examples of what I have found and what has informed my research:

William Klein: ABC

William Klein & David Campany

This street photography book cataloguing Klein's work features bold graphics by David Campany. This graphic design is very inspirational to me and I would like to implement it in my work going forward.

Klein, W. and Campany, D. (2013). William Klein: ABC.

New York: Abrams.