Bethan Gill - FMP
'Angels With Dirty Faces'
Skinhead - not mod, not punk, not rocker and not new romantic.
'Angels With Dirty Faces'
Skinhead - not mod, not punk, not rocker and not new romantic.
People often think negatively when they hear the word 'Skinhead' and this is a completely wrong view brought forward because of the media. The general public will think of racism but that only came in later with the 'national front' and 'right wing' skinheads. Original skinheads were all for multi race and the working class. The main styles of music for these was reggae and ska and have their own recognizable fashion. These are the skinheads I will research and explore. I am going to learn about every aspect of this culture and photograph as much as i possibly can.
''No two skinheads are the same, and although outsiders would like you to believe otherwise - especially sociologists who dream up theories based on all skinheads being alike - there isn't on type of skinhead, or two types of skinhead, or even 20. Life isn't black and white, and only the truly ignorant fail to see the countless shades of grey in between''
- George Marshall / Skinhead Nation
Brief
Research
Critically evaluate and study the work of 3 photographers from that time also looking at various video's, films and magazines. Use lots of different resources for research. Express idea's throughout giving opinions and using the correct terminology.
Develop
Finalise plans and develop series of images ready to be edited and picked out. Think of idea's for exhibition set using creativity and originality.
Produce
I will produce between 10 and 15 final images at top quality showing my strengths in photography. They will be displayed in my exhibition, framed. The aim is to be happy and proud of the final images produced.
Research
History
The word 'Skinhead' didn't come into circulation until 1969, but the kids that wore boots were seen in mod circles from as early as 1964. Skinheads seem to of developed from the mod culture. Young people started putting their suits away for nights out, including expensive shoes, changing them for boots, the bigger the boots the better for cracking heads. Kids following this scene started also getting shorter and shorter hair, going from a number '4' to '1'. A big well known group of mods were the glasgow mods, gangs had been the main part of every street-wise kid since the razor gangs of the thirties. Glasgow mods had always had the reputation for violence, they would defend their parts of the city by splitting off using gang names still used today.
Scooters remained popular with skinheads as they were with the mods.
''When we brought Desmond Dekker over, we gave him a suit, but he insisted that the bottom six inches of the trousers should be cut off.' This was when kids then started following him by rolling their trousers up at the bottom and cutting their hair off.
Football violence was a big thing back then with football hooligans traveling around the country to away games, some even just for the fighting. By the late sixties the fighting was organized and different fans came into battle regularly.
Fashion
The jeans most skinheads wore and wanted were Levi's red tags. Skins and mods both liked these because they were more expensive therefore making the more 'exclusive'. These were made with heavier denim making them last longer. They also used to buy them two sizes too big them put them on and get in the bath to make them shrink to a perfect fit! The braces were then brought into the skinhead wardrobe because the Levi's were made to sit on the hips, but people pulled them up round their waist. This then meant they needed something to hold them up.. BRACES!
Lee and Wrangler were also a popular name of skinhead jeans, especially for outside of London where Levi's weren't as easy to get hold of. Nobody wanted new looking jeans which resulted in skins using bleach to get them how they wanted. They would either dip them in to get a faded pair or splash the bleach on them to get a more unique pair.
By 1969 the final piece of clothing to make a skinhead uniform was the shirt. Anything apart from flowery patterns was accepted in the early days. The most popular brand of button down shirt was a Ben Sherman, you couldn't beat them for the perfect skinhead shirt. Ben Sherman wasn't the only make of shirt skins wore, there was many other brands like : Brutus, Jaytex and Permanent Press. Another type of shirt recognized by skinheads was the Fred Perry short sleeved tennis shirt.
Music
Once all dressed up, the dancehalls were packed with skinheads, all to hear the sounds of reggae, soul and ska. Reggae was brought into the British music scene because of the skinheads love for music. Radio stations often often dismissed the music because it inked with skinheads. Nobody wanted to help reggae and even though thousands of of people bought and listened to it, it still never charted.
Trojan was a big name in skinhead reggae, a record label created by Island Records in 1968. The only real competitor for Trojan was Pama Records. These gave skinhead reggae some of its top sounds at the height of rocksteady. Skinhead Moonstomp is a very popular reggae track from that culture.
''During the original skinhead era, black American soul artists competed with the Jamaican reggae stars for the hearts and dancing feet of skinheads.''
Every skin would get up and throw their feet around to reggae, boys dancing with boys and girls with their handbags. But once slow soul music came on at the end of the night, only the good dancers could stay up, this was mostly girls anyway and any of the lads that tried to look boss 'usually ended up on their arses'. Quite often a reggae package would tour the different towns all together which meant you could see 5 or 6 Jamaican artists all in one night.
(1968) Desmond Dekker a big artist in the skinhead scene. Photo by: Chris Walter
Music such as King Kurt were a big part of the lives of skinheads as they would use this to bounce around to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnbRZE6_DG8
Photographers
Derek Ridgers
Most of Derek's photography is shot in black and white which is an element i will take to my own, i think this is the way these kind of images should be taken as it adds a sort of dirtyness to them. They are all of people and documentary style. There are no studio shots so i won't be doing any, i don't think skinheads in a studio would be right. Ridgers did a lot of work with skinheads and other groups of the community at the time including mods and new romantics. He has all of his work up for sale on his website here..
This is a style that will be possible for me to create as i have the two female skinhead models. The contrast in this image really stands out to me and the fact that it is black and white. I like how the photographer has got the word 'skins' in the frame and how the lady in the foreground is in focus blending out to the second lady.
The image below is one of my favourites from this photographer and era. It looks like it hasn't been staged too much and simply shows their life. It kind of makes the viewer smile because they are, and are genuinely having a good time. The group of girls out together enjoying themselves. It has nearly everything in this image, the skinheads, the fashion, and the way of life.

I would also like to get some full length body shots like these two. Seeing the difference between black and white and colour i do think black and white is best. I will try both thought to compare. The framing and creativity of these images are very simple. I feel that it is the people that make these pictures, which is why i will try my hardest to put my own twist on them.
Nick Knight
Although Nick Knight does a lot of fashion magazine images he started of photographing Skinheads. His first book of photographs, skinheads, was published in 1982.
These are another two images by Larry Clark which are very similar to each other. Using the black and white and such dark harsh lighting adds to a very dramatic look, almost like the belong on stage. The lighting and colouring matches with both personalities, as they look quite rugged. Even though i wont be using any other lighting and not using a studio for my images i still like to look at what outcomes could be possible. I personally don't think my idea's are for the studio, i want them out there and natural.
The two pictures above are amazing in my opinion and exactly what i would like to achieve. It shows their boyish behavior. Left: Using the english bulldog with the bowler hat shows how proud and protective they are of their country, England is in their blood.
To me these two images look like they are modern and just made to look old by the style of the models. I dont want this as i am not going for the 'young' look. I am shooting the original generation of Skinheads, therefore they will be old. I'm looking to bring the skinhead back out in them and find out exactly how it all used to happen. I don't really like these images as much as the others as i feel they are a bit too perfect and staged. I like them looking a bit dirty as this was and era quite a while ago. The directions the photographer has given them to me doesn't look realistic and i dont think they belong here, i may be wrong and this might be the way Gavin Watson wanted to shoot them but in my eyes its a bit too modern.
- George Marshall / Skinhead Nation
Brief
Research
Critically evaluate and study the work of 3 photographers from that time also looking at various video's, films and magazines. Use lots of different resources for research. Express idea's throughout giving opinions and using the correct terminology.
Develop
Finalise plans and develop series of images ready to be edited and picked out. Think of idea's for exhibition set using creativity and originality.
Produce
I will produce between 10 and 15 final images at top quality showing my strengths in photography. They will be displayed in my exhibition, framed. The aim is to be happy and proud of the final images produced.
Research
History
The word 'Skinhead' didn't come into circulation until 1969, but the kids that wore boots were seen in mod circles from as early as 1964. Skinheads seem to of developed from the mod culture. Young people started putting their suits away for nights out, including expensive shoes, changing them for boots, the bigger the boots the better for cracking heads. Kids following this scene started also getting shorter and shorter hair, going from a number '4' to '1'. A big well known group of mods were the glasgow mods, gangs had been the main part of every street-wise kid since the razor gangs of the thirties. Glasgow mods had always had the reputation for violence, they would defend their parts of the city by splitting off using gang names still used today.
Scooters remained popular with skinheads as they were with the mods.
''When we brought Desmond Dekker over, we gave him a suit, but he insisted that the bottom six inches of the trousers should be cut off.' This was when kids then started following him by rolling their trousers up at the bottom and cutting their hair off.
Football violence was a big thing back then with football hooligans traveling around the country to away games, some even just for the fighting. By the late sixties the fighting was organized and different fans came into battle regularly.
Fashion
The jeans most skinheads wore and wanted were Levi's red tags. Skins and mods both liked these because they were more expensive therefore making the more 'exclusive'. These were made with heavier denim making them last longer. They also used to buy them two sizes too big them put them on and get in the bath to make them shrink to a perfect fit! The braces were then brought into the skinhead wardrobe because the Levi's were made to sit on the hips, but people pulled them up round their waist. This then meant they needed something to hold them up.. BRACES!
Lee and Wrangler were also a popular name of skinhead jeans, especially for outside of London where Levi's weren't as easy to get hold of. Nobody wanted new looking jeans which resulted in skins using bleach to get them how they wanted. They would either dip them in to get a faded pair or splash the bleach on them to get a more unique pair.
By 1969 the final piece of clothing to make a skinhead uniform was the shirt. Anything apart from flowery patterns was accepted in the early days. The most popular brand of button down shirt was a Ben Sherman, you couldn't beat them for the perfect skinhead shirt. Ben Sherman wasn't the only make of shirt skins wore, there was many other brands like : Brutus, Jaytex and Permanent Press. Another type of shirt recognized by skinheads was the Fred Perry short sleeved tennis shirt.
Music
Once all dressed up, the dancehalls were packed with skinheads, all to hear the sounds of reggae, soul and ska. Reggae was brought into the British music scene because of the skinheads love for music. Radio stations often often dismissed the music because it inked with skinheads. Nobody wanted to help reggae and even though thousands of of people bought and listened to it, it still never charted.
Trojan was a big name in skinhead reggae, a record label created by Island Records in 1968. The only real competitor for Trojan was Pama Records. These gave skinhead reggae some of its top sounds at the height of rocksteady. Skinhead Moonstomp is a very popular reggae track from that culture.
''During the original skinhead era, black American soul artists competed with the Jamaican reggae stars for the hearts and dancing feet of skinheads.''
Every skin would get up and throw their feet around to reggae, boys dancing with boys and girls with their handbags. But once slow soul music came on at the end of the night, only the good dancers could stay up, this was mostly girls anyway and any of the lads that tried to look boss 'usually ended up on their arses'. Quite often a reggae package would tour the different towns all together which meant you could see 5 or 6 Jamaican artists all in one night.
(1968) Desmond Dekker a big artist in the skinhead scene. Photo by: Chris Walter
Music such as King Kurt were a big part of the lives of skinheads as they would use this to bounce around to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnbRZE6_DG8
Photographers
Derek Ridgers
Most of Derek's photography is shot in black and white which is an element i will take to my own, i think this is the way these kind of images should be taken as it adds a sort of dirtyness to them. They are all of people and documentary style. There are no studio shots so i won't be doing any, i don't think skinheads in a studio would be right. Ridgers did a lot of work with skinheads and other groups of the community at the time including mods and new romantics. He has all of his work up for sale on his website here..
After seeing the flag in this image on the right, i have recognised it in a few more pictures, i am thinking that this could maybe be a part of my exhibition set. This group of images are all posed which i will do as well as the action ones. I have models that will be willing to do this and can do the action ones at the meet ups or rally.
This is a style that will be possible for me to create as i have the two female skinhead models. The contrast in this image really stands out to me and the fact that it is black and white. I like how the photographer has got the word 'skins' in the frame and how the lady in the foreground is in focus blending out to the second lady.
The image below is one of my favourites from this photographer and era. It looks like it hasn't been staged too much and simply shows their life. It kind of makes the viewer smile because they are, and are genuinely having a good time. The group of girls out together enjoying themselves. It has nearly everything in this image, the skinheads, the fashion, and the way of life.

I would also like to get some full length body shots like these two. Seeing the difference between black and white and colour i do think black and white is best. I will try both thought to compare. The framing and creativity of these images are very simple. I feel that it is the people that make these pictures, which is why i will try my hardest to put my own twist on them.
Nick Knight
Although Nick Knight does a lot of fashion magazine images he started of photographing Skinheads. His first book of photographs, skinheads, was published in 1982.
Above: I really like the simplicity of this image, it shows his dirty, rough hands used for fighting. The not so creative tattoo's across his fingers seem to tell a story. The concept of this image is very strong showing the hands as this is a part of the body used the most. Hands on their own can tell a huge story. The focal point is on the scruffy finger nails drawing the attention to them.
Below: This image has a lot going on in the foreground and background, there are people everywhere showing how busy the place is, giving the viewer a lot to look at. Nick Knight has captured this perfectly with the facial expressions in the foreground. Every little bit of this image is good to look at. It shows the personalities of everyone in there having a good time and letting their hair down (if they had any!) and doing what they do best - being themselves!
Below: This image has a lot going on in the foreground and background, there are people everywhere showing how busy the place is, giving the viewer a lot to look at. Nick Knight has captured this perfectly with the facial expressions in the foreground. Every little bit of this image is good to look at. It shows the personalities of everyone in there having a good time and letting their hair down (if they had any!) and doing what they do best - being themselves!

Larry Clark
Larry 'Darkman' Clark
Although this photographer doesn't necessarily photograph skinheads, he does do extremely great black and white portraits, as this is the kind of thing i'm doing, i have researched his work.
This an image i really enjoy. Not only because of the tattoo's and the type of man, but because of the shadow on the wall in the background. I think this could maybe be seen as a story. This guy could have two sides to him, one being the shadow and one being him. I like the looking room next to the model giving space for the shadow.These are another two images by Larry Clark which are very similar to each other. Using the black and white and such dark harsh lighting adds to a very dramatic look, almost like the belong on stage. The lighting and colouring matches with both personalities, as they look quite rugged. Even though i wont be using any other lighting and not using a studio for my images i still like to look at what outcomes could be possible. I personally don't think my idea's are for the studio, i want them out there and natural.
Gavin Watson
The two pictures above are amazing in my opinion and exactly what i would like to achieve. It shows their boyish behavior. Left: Using the english bulldog with the bowler hat shows how proud and protective they are of their country, England is in their blood.
To me these two images look like they are modern and just made to look old by the style of the models. I dont want this as i am not going for the 'young' look. I am shooting the original generation of Skinheads, therefore they will be old. I'm looking to bring the skinhead back out in them and find out exactly how it all used to happen. I don't really like these images as much as the others as i feel they are a bit too perfect and staged. I like them looking a bit dirty as this was and era quite a while ago. The directions the photographer has given them to me doesn't look realistic and i dont think they belong here, i may be wrong and this might be the way Gavin Watson wanted to shoot them but in my eyes its a bit too modern.
TV
I also watched a programme on the channel 'Yesterday' which i came across flicking through my tele called 'Teen Spirit: The Mods and The Rockers' on the 26th feb at 11am. It gave me a better insight into this lifestyle and i enjoyed watching this and taking notes on it. I found out about The Ace Cafe a 'mecca' for bikers, where they often meet up still after many years. There was one line that i particuarly liked that described the relationship between the two which came from an old mod ''if we ever left our scooter on the street it would either be stolen or kicked over by a rocker'', this made me laugh and understand these two even further.
Scanned in images
These are just some of the images i found looking through my aunties old photo box. Flicking through hundreds of photo's with my auntie and her friend was very inspiring for this project, they told a story for near enough every one. I got more of an insight into this life which is what i wanted. I picked out the pictures that i thought represented it well and scanned them in using the college scanner.
The image above is my mum on her scooter. My dad built all his own for him and my mum bringing parts from many different scoots into his own to make them exactly how he wanted.
Serious Scootering
This is a business owned by a man my mum and dad both know as they hung around together in their skinhead days. My dad took me to his shop to meet him and tell him about this project i am doing and see if there was anything he could to to help me out. Troy said that i could go and take some pictures there and he would put some things together for me. He also said he had some old pictures for me and a couple of books including the personal information from him. I have been given his phone number for when i am ready to go in again, he also gave me his business card to contact him. This then gave me the idea to pay him back for helping me out - if i am allowed i will put a few of his business cards on my exhibition set to promote him too.
Got a date to go and photograph the shop and its contents with Troy as a model also. 25th April i have planned to be there for 12.30 and he will have some stuff ready for me.
Idea's
I will get information off a few original skinheads, take a notepad and pen to my dads and get stories off him. Then to my aunties and get her view on things, and my mums. Then get a fourth view off my dads friend Troy who owns his own scooter business. I will find this very helpful as so far i only have the views of the internet, i have to broaden my resources and get out there which i will do. I also had planned to go to the St. Georges Day do that a scooter club holds every year, this is full of usually full of skinheads as my dad and his friends go but unfortunately it didn't happen this year.
Photoshop Practice
I like the grungy effect to use for some of my images in the project, making the dirt show up more and making them look more rugged. I attempted this with this image:
With this image i then turned it into black and white using the greyscale, then using high pass and adjusting the shadows and highlights then playing with the burn and dodge tool came out with an image that i loved.
Although this isn't the best picture to use because she is smiling i think it works very well and can't wait to try out with more of my images.
____________________
During the journey to college with my mum in her car we have figured out that there is one particular man that does the same route at the same time every morning on his Vespa. He goes past the docks at around 8.10. We are going to set off in time one morning with my camera out and ready and try and get the picture i want.
This is the 'Spirit of '69, A Skinhead Bible' by George Marshall.I borrowed this off a family friend which i will also be photographing, i've had a quick meeting with her to sort out the clothes and things like that, she brought me this book and a few pictures from her skinhead days that she pulled out. She is well up for helping me out during this project which is really nice to know and i am very grateful.
Development
Using Photoshop i have begun to develop a few of my images. Im looking to edit quite a lot then to pick out the final ones for printing to go in the exhibition. Ive have numbered my pictures to match up the image with the print screens of the developement, heres 'Skin 2'..
1. I first played around with the levels to get it where i wanted, then used the dodge and burn tool a lot. In the eyes especially i used dodge to give them a sort of shine which i really like.
I then went on to burn into the sky shown underneath, i made the clouds darker to then make the picture darker. Im glad i did this as i think it adds drama. I also used the burn tool on the railings as i thought they looked slightly too bright for the outcome i wanted.
Before: Top, After: Bottom. I will show them larger and write about them in my evaluation section of the project.
2. I again started off with the levels making sure i had the image looking exactly as i wanted it by this point.
I then used the dodge tool to make the boots on the left lighter as they were slightly under exposed. I also used the burn tool in the bricks. The gradient tool also came in use from the bottom of the image upwards.
Remembering the grungey technique i have learnt i then decided to give it a try on this image. Using high pass and changing the layer style to overlay then making it perfect by changing the opacity shown here..
Before: Top, After: Bottom. I will explain the image in my evaluation.
I found this scoot while driving with my mum, thought i should at least try to get a picture of it as it looked great. The imaged turned out really well i think seeing as it was took on my phone and put into instagram. I will not be using it as a final image because it was shot on my phone but it links with this project so it is something to add.
Another image i have taken from the same shoot and has a very big chance of being a final image is this:
This has had the levels played around with and some dodge and burn.
For this one i followed a youtube tutorial to get the vintage effect which i really like.
I really like this image as it came out perfect for me. It looks old and like something you'd see at the time of all this. It was shot in Darwen on a car park with some of Darwen Scooter Club. I first told them what i wanted and for them to just ride towards me in a staggared line while i photographed it. They did exactly how i wanted twice so i had a better chance of getting the picture. They came towards me and i just had to run out of the way to let them past as they got closer. I haven't seen a photograph like this yet in my research but i am not saying there isnt one. It was shot with my standard lens and in black and white. The noise was added afterwards in photoshop and abit of cropping.
I took this of a member of the family. We went round the block with me sat in the boot of our car and Ricky following me on his scooter. The motion blur was added later on photoshop as this is what i originally went out for. I was shot in colour then changed to black and white.
This started off as just a simple picture of Ricky's scoot which is what i didn't like. I had a play with it and decided that to jazz it up using photoshop to move around layers. I ended up with this result and liked it.
This was a place in Preston where I didn't originally plan to go as i didn't know of it but one of the models suggested it. Im glad we tried it out because of the outcome, I really like this one.
The image is grainy and old looking, not very sharp. This is exactly what i wanted. I needed it to look like it was from the time that all this would of happened. Shot in black and white which makes the image more dramatic. I posed the picture again with the cans of beer as a prop t add a little bit more detail to the composition. I did not want any smiling or happy faces as stereotypically they shouldn't be. I think any smiling would ruin the whole vibe of the image.
We found this wall in town down a back street, it seemed perfect for me. It was dirty, had weeds growing up it and rubbish scattered around. I knew from the moment I planned this shoot that I wanted this shot. I had seen something like it by Derek Ridgers. In editing i used quite a lot of dodge and burn as that is the look i was going for.
I brought props along including the cigarettes and cans of beer, this is something I chose when planning the shoot. The outfits were chose by me also, even though they are already in the skinhead scene I had to make sure they were as i wanted.
Overall I enjoyed taking this picture as it is a bit different. A lot more photographic than photographers in them times as they usually just shot black and white portraits and doesn't seem to be much editing.
This was shot in Darwen of a man that i'd met only two days before. He was keen for me to photograph him on his own away from the group as he wanted the image. He gave me his business card for work with an email to send them to him. This made me more nervous as I knew it needed to be right. Im happy with the way it turned out.
I left looking room, using the rule of thirds as I thought that is how the image should be shot. Black and white was definitely the best thing for this image in my eyes.
The man in the image came with his suit on as this is his usual attire for rallies. Him and the others helped me out a lot which I am very thankful for.
A close up of the name badge as I haven't shown one of these. I will not use it as a final image as there isn't much to it but thought it is worthy of going into my project.
This was taken at a wall we found down a back street that i liked the look of. It has been edited to look old and i think it works quite well. I'm not sure if i will use this image yet.
Photoshoots
Louise and Michelle: We drove around Preston one light evening stopping in any place that i wanted to take pictures at. They were both great and as they are skinheads anyway were perfect for this. They had all the clothes on that i wanted and did anything i needed. We walked for quite a while to get the images for me. As i am close to them i also felt i could tell them anything i wanted them to do and they did it, great models!
Darwen Scooter Club meet-up: I went to this meet up on a Thursday night with my auntie and her friend. They organised for me to go as i knew it would all be skinheads and scooterists, a perfect opportunity which i jumped at. It was just as good as i thought. I got a few pictures then the main woman Caz helped me out a lot. She organized there and then for everyone and more to come to one of the lads scooter shop also in Darwen on their scoots all for me to photograph. I didn't expect everyone to turn up but i was wrong. At the meet-up there was a scooterist which worked at Blackburn College teaching graphic design and photography, this was a great help! We talked for a while about my exhibition set and he gave me lots of idea's also helped out with the taking of my images by giving me some tips. Another member was a lecturer at a uni, they both came together and spoke about what i could do after college, giving me lots of options, all whilst drunk! The atmosphere was great and everyone loved have their picture taken, loads of help!
Taff's Scooter Shop: I then went back to Darwen on the saturday to see who turned up. There was at least 12 people with their scoots and more. They did everything i wanted and made me feel comfortable enough that i could give them any directions i wanted. We all met at Taff's business and went round to a car park at the back where the scoots where parked. I am so greatful for what they did for me. Caz also tried to find a rally that was happening before my FMP deadline, none was organized.
Printing
I am looking to make a small book of prints to go along side my main images in my exhibition. This will consist of a lot of the other images i have taken throughout my FMP which did not make the final cut. I will have this out for people to have a flick through if they are interested and would like to see more.
This is the final look of my exhibition set which i was very proud of.
For this one i followed a youtube tutorial to get the vintage effect which i really like.
I really like this image as it came out perfect for me. It looks old and like something you'd see at the time of all this. It was shot in Darwen on a car park with some of Darwen Scooter Club. I first told them what i wanted and for them to just ride towards me in a staggared line while i photographed it. They did exactly how i wanted twice so i had a better chance of getting the picture. They came towards me and i just had to run out of the way to let them past as they got closer. I haven't seen a photograph like this yet in my research but i am not saying there isnt one. It was shot with my standard lens and in black and white. The noise was added afterwards in photoshop and abit of cropping.
I took this of a member of the family. We went round the block with me sat in the boot of our car and Ricky following me on his scooter. The motion blur was added later on photoshop as this is what i originally went out for. I was shot in colour then changed to black and white.
This started off as just a simple picture of Ricky's scoot which is what i didn't like. I had a play with it and decided that to jazz it up using photoshop to move around layers. I ended up with this result and liked it.
This was a place in Preston where I didn't originally plan to go as i didn't know of it but one of the models suggested it. Im glad we tried it out because of the outcome, I really like this one.
The image is grainy and old looking, not very sharp. This is exactly what i wanted. I needed it to look like it was from the time that all this would of happened. Shot in black and white which makes the image more dramatic. I posed the picture again with the cans of beer as a prop t add a little bit more detail to the composition. I did not want any smiling or happy faces as stereotypically they shouldn't be. I think any smiling would ruin the whole vibe of the image.
We found this wall in town down a back street, it seemed perfect for me. It was dirty, had weeds growing up it and rubbish scattered around. I knew from the moment I planned this shoot that I wanted this shot. I had seen something like it by Derek Ridgers. In editing i used quite a lot of dodge and burn as that is the look i was going for.
I brought props along including the cigarettes and cans of beer, this is something I chose when planning the shoot. The outfits were chose by me also, even though they are already in the skinhead scene I had to make sure they were as i wanted.
Overall I enjoyed taking this picture as it is a bit different. A lot more photographic than photographers in them times as they usually just shot black and white portraits and doesn't seem to be much editing.
This was shot in Darwen of a man that i'd met only two days before. He was keen for me to photograph him on his own away from the group as he wanted the image. He gave me his business card for work with an email to send them to him. This made me more nervous as I knew it needed to be right. Im happy with the way it turned out.
I left looking room, using the rule of thirds as I thought that is how the image should be shot. Black and white was definitely the best thing for this image in my eyes.
The man in the image came with his suit on as this is his usual attire for rallies. Him and the others helped me out a lot which I am very thankful for.
A close up of the name badge as I haven't shown one of these. I will not use it as a final image as there isn't much to it but thought it is worthy of going into my project.
This was taken at a wall we found down a back street that i liked the look of. It has been edited to look old and i think it works quite well. I'm not sure if i will use this image yet.
Photoshoots
Louise and Michelle: We drove around Preston one light evening stopping in any place that i wanted to take pictures at. They were both great and as they are skinheads anyway were perfect for this. They had all the clothes on that i wanted and did anything i needed. We walked for quite a while to get the images for me. As i am close to them i also felt i could tell them anything i wanted them to do and they did it, great models!
Darwen Scooter Club meet-up: I went to this meet up on a Thursday night with my auntie and her friend. They organised for me to go as i knew it would all be skinheads and scooterists, a perfect opportunity which i jumped at. It was just as good as i thought. I got a few pictures then the main woman Caz helped me out a lot. She organized there and then for everyone and more to come to one of the lads scooter shop also in Darwen on their scoots all for me to photograph. I didn't expect everyone to turn up but i was wrong. At the meet-up there was a scooterist which worked at Blackburn College teaching graphic design and photography, this was a great help! We talked for a while about my exhibition set and he gave me lots of idea's also helped out with the taking of my images by giving me some tips. Another member was a lecturer at a uni, they both came together and spoke about what i could do after college, giving me lots of options, all whilst drunk! The atmosphere was great and everyone loved have their picture taken, loads of help!
Taff's Scooter Shop: I then went back to Darwen on the saturday to see who turned up. There was at least 12 people with their scoots and more. They did everything i wanted and made me feel comfortable enough that i could give them any directions i wanted. We all met at Taff's business and went round to a car park at the back where the scoots where parked. I am so greatful for what they did for me. Caz also tried to find a rally that was happening before my FMP deadline, none was organized.
Printing
I am looking to make a small book of prints to go along side my main images in my exhibition. This will consist of a lot of the other images i have taken throughout my FMP which did not make the final cut. I will have this out for people to have a flick through if they are interested and would like to see more.
This is the final look of my exhibition set which i was very proud of.












































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