8) Artist Research: Sophie Green - 11/2/18

In relation to the community living at Greenbank View, I decided to look at Sophie Green's series 'GYPSY GOLD', which focuses on the lives of horses and Travellers spanning from Cumbria to Ireland. She mainly took her photographs at horse fairs, where "horses are traded, girls search for husbands and family and friends from far and wide reunite" - Green's website.

Here are a few of my favourite photographs from the series, which inspire me in various ways for my own project.

She displays the images on her website in the form of diptics, which I think works really well. I really like the above images because they focus in on the small details within the horse fairs. I love the contrast of the vivid pink and blue colours, and the closed in focus of the shots highlights where her focus is instinctively drawn in. This is a technique I'd like to try with my own project, because there are lots of hidden, beautiful details within and around the homes of the van dwellers at Greenbank View that I would like to illuminate.

I also like how with the use of the diptics she can display both an environmental portrait and documentary shots, with her pairing a similar colour palette to complement the two photographs together. It also gives a wider outlook to the whole horse fair by showing different point of interest. The use of natural light and shadow within the above images is also something that draws me in, giving an organic and real feeling to the photographs.

Green also effortlessly focuses in on defining parts of Travellers culture, for instance in the above diptic she crops in on individuals hairstyles to show their style and identity within the culture. As I said with the first set of diptics, she focuses in on the small details within the horse fairs, which I think tell much more of a story than wider documentary shots.

Overall I feel I can take away various techniques from Green's series, and although it doesn't relate to my project in terms of subject, it has inspired me with different ways to shoot. For instance photographing the smaller details of the environment, and using the light to my advantage to make my series look natural and organic. The rectangular format also inspires me to experiment shooting with the Mamiya RZ 67, because I feel this sometimes better frames the environment better than the square format of the Hasselblad.

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