An Investigation into the progression of youth subculture through the medium of photography.

Introduction; “Hoodies, Louts and scum”; Just three of the words in which the media chooses to describe the teenage subculture. The Independent news website has gathered statistics portraying how in the past year over half of news coverage on teenage boys were about crime; the bias of mediation represents how people are pulled into believing all teenagers everywhere are scum as all they do is cause violence.

Due to the amount of negative coverage the media creates on the youth subculture portrays how this topic of discussion is relevant in today’s society. Joining the stereotypes, the photographs produced in these shoot will convey the progression of different subcultures of youth- from mods and skinheads to hoodies and skaters.

The work of Gavin Watson shows a range of youth subcultures from the skinhead era of 1960s-70s to modern day sub-cultures. This ideas act as an inspirational starting point for the personal project because Watson has shown a range of photographs capturing the movement of fashion.

Historical and contextual studyPinhole camera; This is a camera without a lens with a tiny aperture. It is a small hole on one side of a box with subsequently creates an inverted image on the other side of the box- the camera obscura effect- this term was how the term “camera” was invented, meaning “dark room”. The oldest found description of pinhole photography is found in a book from 1856 by David Brewster, who defined this style of photography as “a camera without lenses, and with only a pin-hole”.

It has been estimated that around the year of 1822 the photographic process of heliography was invented by Josephy Nicepphore Niepce, this was the technique in which he used to make the earliest known photograph which has survived. This was the process of engraving producing images directly onto a stone then copied by photographic means. This technique was a way to capture nature; this therefore can be argued to be one of the first forms of documentary photography, capturing a scene directly from nature with a camera. It was then washed in lavender oil which resulted in a permanent image.

The “view camera” was originally developed between the years of 1840s-1850s and is a large format camera where the lens forms an inverted image on a screen directly at the subject.A view camera which became nicknamed as the “mammoth camera” (due to its substantial weight of 640kg) is clearly a camera which isn’t easily portable which would have had an effect on the use because it would be hard to set up for a movement. George R Lawerance built this camera in 1899, with the purpose of taking photos of the “Alton Limited” train. This meant that it could be set up and kept there, the photographer wouldn’t have been able to move it- a way of documenting this train.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the box camera became increasing popular by the public, a more mobile camera that wasn’t dependent on a tripod. It was a cardboard or plastic box with a lens at one end of the box and film at the other. The box camera originally came loaded with film and when the film was full, the individual would have to take the camera to the market, getting them developed and then refilled and so forth. This was the start of the digital photography of development. The introduction of this camera became used by many of different people as it didn’t take long to set up and it was easy for them to carry around and capture moments they wished to.

Kodak were the company who developed the box camera but were also the ones who first developed the first commercial colour process in the year 1935. When individuals used colour film, they would take the photos then have to send the photos off to Kodak to be processed.

One of the earliest documentary photographers was archaeologist John Beasly Greene who travelled to Nubia in the early 1850s with the intentions to capture the ruins. Then during the years of 1861-1865 documentary photographers were pulled in by the American Civil War in order to frame “living memories” and records the battle. Greene died at the age of 24 but still left a high number of photographs presenting his work of both architecture and documentary- keeping them both clearly separated. The first style of documentary photography with Greene created was during an exhibition within Egypt- the place where he one: spent the majority of his photography working life at and two: his place of death. He used documentary photography in order to document the different landscapes, sculptures and inscriptions. The following year, Greene went back to Egypt to document photos in upper Egypt at the site of the temple built by Ramses the third and was able to document with a friend who was an architect the encryptions within the temple.

Photographer research:An early example of this work is Gavin Watson who grew up on a council estate in High Wycombe. In his early teens, his first camera he bought was a Hanimex. He captured punk and skinhead era through the use of black and white photography that was published in a book in 1994. When Watson began taking photos, he himself was a Skinhead that shows how his perspective of the subjects he used in his work was at a more personal level. Even though Watson is still taking photos today, he is now using a more digital form of photography. Yet for the pictures, which are relevant to my shoots and project, he has used more of a film style of photography. It is suggested that his earlier work would have been used by a box camera- a camera that was highly popular and used by the majority of photographers during this era. Watson then progressed his work shown in the book “Skins and Punks” published in 2008. Then Watson furthered his photography when working on a Dr Martens campaign and another project with the singer “Plan B”. Watson’s work is highly influenced by the work of Terry Richardson.

(The left image is by Richardson and the right image is by Watson)

(Image on the left) this is first example I have chosen to display watsons work because I believe it is clear in showing his early pieces of work displaying the youth skin head era. This image is really interesting and clear that the camera he has used is e earlier style because elf the quality, as the subjects are rather sharp yet appear to be running down the street, you as the audience can tell that the camera used wasn’t an old view camera because it doesn’t appear to be a staged shot, these cameras were unable to capture documentary images as they took too long to set up, by the time the photographer was ready to take the picture the scene he wanted would have passed. This is a really interesting image because it shows the reckless side of youth, the, running along the side of the road would be distracting for the in coming vehicles- therefore being troublesome. Furthermore this image also shown the collective identity and group culture of teenagers because they are running as a group and the second subject appears to be looking back and Watson, this suggests these subjects were friends of Watson, they are running yet at the same time making sure he is still with them. Another point of this image which I find intriguing is the idea that these subjects all look rather similar- this displays the collective identity even further because is shows how they have the same values as each and dress the same as part of their culture.

(Image on the right) this image further shows the newer version of a camera because of the crowded location, Watson wouldn’t have been able to get the older camera set up and in the space gaining the same tight and claustrophobic atmosphere. This effect has a symbolic view for the audience because it shows even though stereotypically teenagers are considered as secluded but at the same time this image suggests they are constantly surrounded by people who just do not acknowledge them- perhaps suggesting the theory that they are misunderstood and people are scared of them. Another way that this image is interesting is the rebellion of the action this subject is doing, nowadays this would be considered illegal and also disrespectful, to be smoking in a small place such as a train.

Don McCulin Don McCulins photography started when he served in the RAF where he worked as a photographers assistant although he failed the theory test which was needed to become a photographer in the RAF. Proving himself as a photojournalist, McCulin has managed to documents actors from the poverty in western London to the wars in Africa. His first lot of earnings from the RAF was supposedly spent on his very first camera which enabled the start of experimentation of documentary photography. Below are two examples of his work…

(Image on the right) this image doesn’t signify youth exactly but it clearly represents the style of Don McCulins work quite clearly. This is because this photo shoot was taken on the frontline of a war ridden country and he has managed to capture the raw form of pain that the locals would have been feeling. Even though my project isn't on war, I could be able to use this in order to influence me and take a portrait of this form of a stereotypical teenager then through editing making it appear gritty and dark.

(Image on the right) this image is interesting in showing the destructive Side of youth because of the broken glass scattered everywhere in the floor showing the destruction of youth. When researching Don McCulins work, this is another photo (similar to the first image) taken through a war and this subject is a lady who is throwing a grenade off a holiday inn balcony. This photo further shows the documentary style of photography that Don McCulin uses in order to create a raw insight of a certain event. Furthermore this image links with the “critical moment” documentary photographers use when taking a photo. This is because if McCulin was to of taken this image a moment later, the subject would have been in a different position and wouldn't show the destruction that individuals can cause. Therefore I can use this image to influence my work when using documentary photography because it shows me when I plan to shoot, I should stay in one place, perhaps on a street corner looking down my viewfinder waiting for a moment that is clearly representative of youth.

Relevance of photographer research:Gavin Watson

This image was taken by Gavin Watson. This image has had an inspiration on me because I find the colouring contrast helps convey a really interesting image. This is because the dark colouring of the boots contrasting with the grey pavement make the boots stand out much more clearer. This can be helpful when taking an image experimenting with youth because it shows a suggestive stereotype that teenagers like to stand out and also it shows individuality. As spoken briefly about above, Watson more recently has worked in connection with the company of Dr. Martens, this relates with his older work such as this image displayed here because it shows the

progression of fashion- how items of clothing such as shoes were associated with skinheads here but then more recently the meaning/ style has changed- they are now associated with ‘indie kids’. This is my image which I believe is rather similar to the work of Gavin Watson because of the similar use of style. Whilst editing this photo, I used Noise in order to make a more grainy and film like feel to it. This way I found it worked better in showing the skinhead punk era which I intended. Furthermore this shows how Gavin Watson has inspired my work because it helped show me that in order to show a personality of a subject, the audience do not need to see the subjects face, parts of the subject including their shoes can work just as well. Furthermore, when taking this image, I did use to same subject position as the one shown in Watsons photo however as I was taking it at college I took it by a wall and grass and I found the surroundings didn't look very good so adding my own twist on the photo it resulted in this.

Don McCulin.

I have used this image again of Don McCulin because I believe it links better with my work than other images of his. As spoken about before with McCulins work, it isn't exactly youth displayed but it has helped influence me through the techniques of documentary that was used to create similar styled images of destruction. Additionally, as it is clear, I wouldn't be taking photos of people holding grenades or in a war zone, or on a film camera either, however the style of this image is really interesting because it is gritty and clearly shows the critical moment of documentary photography.

This my photo which I have chosen that is similar to the work of Don McCulin because I believe it links in really well. Even though it is clearly not a war scene and it isn't of someone holding a grenade I believe that this image shows the similar style of destruction. Furthermore, this images differs for McCulins work because I got my subjects to stand here, however this was because I would find it very hard to have access to people who actually cause destruction for fun- I had to recreate it similarly. The critical moment which is displayed in McCulins work is displayed through the fire. When taking this photo, I stood behind my subjects waiting for the flames to be ‘right’. By having the fire right I mean by having a high flame flowing to the side in wind. Furthermore much like the McCulin photo, I wanted to show an identity of my subject but not have there face either in it or very clear- using the style of coats I think this has worked rather well. Another way that I think it is clear McCulins work has had an influence on my work is through the editing. When researching McCulins (as explained above), he used an old style camera, but not a view camera, this was because it wouldn't have been easy to use a big view camera when taking photos in a style of documentary because it would had taken him too long to set it up. However the camera he did use lacked colour and also formed a grainy effect. In order to do this, I done this shoot late in the evening so it wasn't pitch black but was dark enough to use a high ISO giving a grainy noise on top on the image. I also experimented with black and white editing yet found it didn't work very well because the fire was unclear as it is over exposed, however I did lower the saturation of the colours to gain a similar effect to the image taken by McCulin.

The future: If I were able to/ have get access to, I would like to continue my studies of youth and documentary yet in different countries- displaying the different cultures which have an impact of different styles of youth. Furthermore, in the future I wish to experiment with not just different places, but also different cameras. This is because I believe it could be a really interesting approach to form different series of images on youth using different camera techniques- for example in one country using one style of camera in order to gain a different style of documentary photography. But also in the more recent future, I believe it would be really interesting for me to experiment documentary photography with youth without the time frame of deadlines- therefore meaning me being able to go out to London or my local town just to take photos for fun, not having to have a certain number of shoots done by a certain date, this way I believe I would be able to gain a higher inside of youth rather than staging certain shoots.

Conclusion…The further into documentary photography I research, the more I come across which inspires me and influences me to try new techniques. For example, when I originally set out to do this project, I thought the documentary style of photography would be too hard and not accessible and that I would only be able to capture the ‘dark’ and negative stereotypes of youth. Yet now, I have learnt that when using documentary photography, it doesn't matter when I do it- the time- there will always be a critical moment which I would be able to use in my photography work. There will always be youths around- it's just finding the spot. My final aim for this project in photography A level is to achieve a full series of photographs which all coincide with each other- with the running theme of the stereotypes and non stereotypes of youth.

Bibliography:Date accessed (20-11-16) Gavin Watson Archive [http://www.gavinwatsonarchive.com/about/]Date Accessed (25-11-16) Shoot- Gavin Watson[http://www.shootgroup.com/photographers/gavin-watson/more-info/]Date Accessed (25-11-16) Terry Richardson Offical Website (written by Terry Richardson)http://www.terryrichardson.com/archive/#/vintage/2/4Date Accessed (26-11-16) Written in 2014 Gavin Watson| Skins and Punks<< Chasing Lighthttp://blog.ricecracker.net/2013/06/05/gavin-watson-skins-and-punks/https://donmccullin.com/don-mccullin/Date Accessed (27-11-16) Don McCullin|Hamiltonshttp://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/artists/29-don-mccullin/overview/Date Accessed (27-11-16) James Hyman Gallery http://www.jameshymangallery.com/artists/13995/john-beasley-greene