Research

Knighted

-STRANGERS I KNOW-

Knighted is a photographic team based in Los Angeles. All of there work is produced on a variety of point and shoot analog cameras e.g. the Olympus MJU-ii.
I consider there work to be straight out street photography, they document there lives and the lives of those around them, the world the live in, the weird and wonderful event that transpire around them and everything in between.

Some people may at first turn their noses up at the fact point and shoot cameras are used as their only medium of documentation, saying anyone could use a point and shoot, theres no skill involved, its an easy way of getting good images and so on but to this is say bollocks!
Knighted as a team are not trying to be master photographers, their aim isn't to be remembered for there insane camera control, spending hours deliberating over one landscape, lugging around cameras the size of televisions. They simply want to show you their world, they want to capture fleeting moments, abstract snippets of their daily lives and by using a small snappy point and shoot they can do this with great ease and the images are just amazing.

Using point and shoots they images are given a raw and real aesthetic, like I said earlier they seem fleeting and of the moment but despite this they images are in no way lacking in detail. The fact theses are analog cameras allows them images to still be of high quality, with bold popping colour and vivid detail. This is further improved by the camera skills of the various photographers, although each photographer has there own different style they all uphold a standard delivering beautifully composed images, with a of the moment and real aesthetic/feeling.

Knighted also regularly produce zines, with each photographer coming out with a new small zine (roughly 20-30) every so often. But when you really see them work as a team and see the cohesive nature of these photographers is when a group zine is produced e.g. STRANGERS I KNOW.

Inside this zine you can see an extremely well considered collection of images, all produced in a similar style, area, time frame and on similar cameras. This zine also features an interesting page layout with many different styles being employed, bellow you will see: Full page spreads, full bleed images, full pages with a slight boarder, landscape images on a portrait page and two full bleed landscape images on a single portrait page. Using this collection of page layouts keeps it interesting for the reader, not saying that they would get bored with the images but just that it keeps the viewing lively and interesting.

The zines are also produced in a very low-fi way sticking to the traditional zine ethos. The are just thin photographic page and staples thats all it is they seem current, of the moment and disposable.

Sagan Lockhart 

Sagan Lockhart is a documentry/lifestyle photographer residing in Los Angeles, who began his career documenting the rap group 'Odd Future'. He would document the shows, music producing and general lifestyle or the group. The images Sagan produces are all shot on film through different mediums such as 35mm, point & shoot and disposable cameras.

Throughout his career Sagan has keep a relatively constant style as he continues to capturing the spirit, emotion, energy and spontaneity in his images.
The images Sagan creates have a raw and truthful essence within them, this is brought on and improved by the fact the images are shot on film, the odd overly grainy image, light bleed, colour bleed just enhances the effect and message behind the images.

Although he has a special eye for situational of the moment photography Sagan also produces brilliant skate photography, this began due to the connection Odd Future had with the skate scene in L.A with many of the group skating them selves and many of there close friends being professional skaters e.g. Nakel Smith (featured in the images below) who skates for Supreme. I would imagine Sagan's skill for being able to capture a moment at exactly the right point in time carries over well into skate photography as you have one chance (depending on the camera) to capture each trick at the entirely right point with perfect composition, lighting etc. I personally love the image bellow, the composition and lighting is perfect but its more than that. It manages to capture the environment perfectly not only visually but it captures the atmosphere too. the blue sky, palm trees, perfect white buildings, hanging out skating with your friends. The whole image screams L.A life. I love the way he has composed this image, its given me a few ideas for more panned out shots stepping back and not only focusing on the skater but the environment around them there for giving the image more context and atmosphere.

Although many of Sagan's images focus on the positive aspects he also looks at the grittier side of what is happening around him. This is once again improved by film and the effects it gives, the grain, enhanced tones and richer detail which is supported by his of the moment shooting.

Palace 

Palace is a British skate brand. They create high quality skate hardware and clothing. 
Like most skate companies among other things such as social media and adverts in magazines they produce skate edits to promote the products.
Palace produces some of the most interesting and individual skate edits in the scene right now. They have a nostalgic, retro feel to there videos, a real throw back to the 90's. They achieve this effect by filming there edits on old VHS cameras and adding bizarre cut scenes of old found footage, news reports, computer generated objects and various other weird/interesting stuff.  
Although the videos are made to look almost accidental and raw as if they are old VHS home video tapes with the occasional cut of random footage and the odd glitch they are put together extremely well and with meticulous detail. This being said the edits manage to balance on the line between being well produced and seeming raw and real. 

One of the main reasons I enjoy the edits besides the brilliant aesthetics is the interaction with the skaters. The videos aren't just trick after trick after trick, they feature cut scenes of just the skater talking to people, expressing how the feel, what there doing etc. 
They are more like classic 90's skate videos for example 'Baker 3' where the edits were equally about the lifestyle as well as the skating. 
This is what I will be trying to do with my zine, I want to capture the spirit of what the skate scene is about, I want to show the skaters as people, I want to portray their personalities and what they are actually like.  
The interaction the skater has with the videographers and other people in the edits translates across to photography. These videos are shot in a similar style to street/documentry he is trying to capture the atmosphere as well as what is going on in the video.

A still from the Shawn Powers: welcome to
Palace skateboards. 

 The small imperfections such as the random colour casts and the distortion that runs across the screen from time to time or even just the little flecks of dust that are present through out the video are what keeps it interesting and individual. 

Michel Burnett 

Michel is the editor at large for ‘Thrasher’ one of the world’s most prolific skate magazines. His approach to photography is gritty, showing skateboarding and skate boarders with nothing left out. Although he does a lot of great work photographing the more commercial side of skating for ‘Thrasher’ and other things. He still loves the absurdity and randomness that makes skating what it is. Photographing the wild kids at demos with mullets, the people he meets while shooting and sketchy the areas street skate takes him too. A lot of Burnett’s most famous observational photography was shot in the 90’s and early 00’s, this was a great time in skate boarding and a lot of his work has a nostalgic and reminiscent quality.

 Burnett has the ability to step back from moments and decided against getting involved but instead picking up his camera and capturing it forever 

“You have to be nerdy enough to have your camera out in moments when it’s not cool.”

A lot of Burnett’s work is done on film, especially earlier in his carrier. In the last few years he has moved toward digital but his earlier observational work was shot on film.

The composition of a lot of Burnets actual skate photography is really interesting he doesn’t just focus on the skater he thinks about his surroundings, he thinks about the people, the buildings around him, the sky not just focusing on one thing.  This style is similar the image of the wake boarder in the paddy fields shot by Daniel Deak Bardos. 

Burnett’s work really makes me think while I’m shooting, it isn’t even specific to skating. Now whenever I’m shooting or I’ve got my camera I’m looking for that moment, the chance happening that someone else might not notice or not might notice in time. Capturing those moments are what true photography is about, stepping away from the limelight so you can capture someone else’s.

Jonathan Mehring 

-Skate the world-

Jonathan Mehring is an award-winning photographer from Virginia. He became interested in photography at an early age enrolling in the Virginia state university and studying photography. He was the first member of his class to have their work publish appearing in ‘Thrasher’ and ‘Slap’ before he even graduated.  His work has taken him all over the work to over 30 countries including India, Russia and Africa.

His photography consists of a mix of style from action shots, to observational street photography, to landscapes and portraits. 

The series I am most interested in is ‘Skate the world’ a collection of trips all around the world in which Mehring and a group of skater would travel through a country or region exploring and skating. I love these collections, seeing someone skating in such unexpected place brings freshness to modern skate photography. Its’ not the usual US streets or parks, its kick flips of huge natural sandstone rocks or ollies down a stair outside a Turkish mosque. 

The images are digital but aren’t obviously edited.

The compositions of some of these images are truly phenomenal. Mehring has obviously put in great deals of thought into these images, really thinking about his surroundings and as he has traveled so much almost each image has its own interesting uniqueness. The combination of portraits, landscapes, skate and street photography keeps the collection interesting and different. 

Different collections from the series have been used in magazine articles and in exhibitions. The Series is made up of 8 collections Holy stoked, India, Utah, Vietnam, The Amazon, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and the Trans Siberian Railway.

I really like Mehring’s work, its really individual and interesting. It’s brought together lots of different styles in a great way. It doesn’t remind me of any other artist, it’s the firs time I’ve seen travel skate photography in this way. I’ve seen small articles in morocco and other places like that but never whole series devoted to skating the most unusual areas possible. 

Mehring’s work has given me lots of ideas for projects, maybe not for this assignment but in the future I want to do some similar work.