Word Based Theme
For this new project, I went back to my old projects called 'Portraiture' and 'Structure'. I scrolled through and made a list of words that came to mind when I looked through them. From these words I picked out 3 that stood out to me. I intend to portray how social media can make you distant from the real world. |
1st Strand: Portraits and Memories
My idea behind 'Portraits and Memories' is to capture people in time doing activities they love/ with loved ones. I aim to photograph my subjects in a blurred aesthetic. This would represent how people have many memories but as time goes on, their memories fade away stuck in time. I got this idea from one of my previous assignments; I had linked my work to Bill Jacobson.
1st Photographer Link: Miaz Brothers
The siblings Roberto and Renato Miaz, the Miaz Brothers, turn portraiture on its head with their large-scale, spray paint-on-canvas paintings, whose subjects are presented out-of-focus.
“We look to provide a visual experience that activates our awareness, that compels the viewer to recognize and re-establish the limits of his or her own perception,”. Their “Antimatter” series references to their atomized, ghostly renderings of subjects. The brothers honed their approach to portraiture through ten years of experimentation and travel, presenting their work in unconventional spaces like nightclubs and corporate buildings. |
My Contact Sheet:
2nd Photographer Link: Clarisse D'archimoles
D'archimoles is a French artist based in London. She studied Set Design for Performance at Central Saint Martins followed by a postgraduate course in Photography. From re-staging personal snapshots to anonymous photographic portraits and historical photography, Clarisse takes satisfaction living within the fiction she is creating. Throughout the years, her work has been enthusiastically received with exhibitions and awards in the UK and internationally.
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My Response:
Analysis:
As I was looking at my final images, I realised how time can change your largest organ on your body, the skin. I observed how people can have slight changes as well as large ones. Different features such as eyes, smile lines and hair looked different. I really enjoyed this project as I got to also show the people I photographed the final result and experience their reactions. Re-creating the old photos was a fun and enriching experience that I would to try again. In photoshop, I mostly just changed the background colour and shirt colour to match the images better.
As I was looking at my final images, I realised how time can change your largest organ on your body, the skin. I observed how people can have slight changes as well as large ones. Different features such as eyes, smile lines and hair looked different. I really enjoyed this project as I got to also show the people I photographed the final result and experience their reactions. Re-creating the old photos was a fun and enriching experience that I would to try again. In photoshop, I mostly just changed the background colour and shirt colour to match the images better.
2nd Strand: Bodies and Abstraction
The purpose of these photos are to express how all types of different bodies are perfect just as they are, imperfections included and all. At the end of the day we are all human and the way we are made cannot be controlled, although we can change it, many people simply don't want to and that's okay. I think in todays society, we are slowly normalising 'un-perfect bodies and fat belly' even though it is normal.
1st Photographer Link: Julie Adams
Adams first picked up a camera at 13 years old. She is now one of Australia's leading fashion and portraiture photographers.Her first project was for the fashion pages of The Independent 'UK'. Since that day she has worked with high end publications such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. She has photographed people like Rebel Wilson, Joel Edgerton, Sofia Loren and others.
Adams created the 'This is Me' book. This was a series of work that began by her asking women to come into her beachside studios and be photographed in their swimsuits.
The idea was to celebrate the female body, individuality and self-love.
None of the images captured hade been retouched; they're raw, real and relatable.
It captures the strength of women and reminds us of the power of coming together to stand up for something we believe in.
Adams first picked up a camera at 13 years old. She is now one of Australia's leading fashion and portraiture photographers.Her first project was for the fashion pages of The Independent 'UK'. Since that day she has worked with high end publications such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. She has photographed people like Rebel Wilson, Joel Edgerton, Sofia Loren and others.
Adams created the 'This is Me' book. This was a series of work that began by her asking women to come into her beachside studios and be photographed in their swimsuits.
The idea was to celebrate the female body, individuality and self-love.
None of the images captured hade been retouched; they're raw, real and relatable.
It captures the strength of women and reminds us of the power of coming together to stand up for something we believe in.
My Contact Sheet:
Many males at ages 15-19 are bothered by how young/ old they look or if they have facial hair or not. I think its important for society to remember that people can become self-conscious of their looks and words can be really damaging at such a young age. No person should be mocked for something they cannot change overnight. Gabriel, 17. I wanted to show how not all teenage males have untextured skin with no facial hair; skin naturally ages at different paces and this includes hair, texture, wrinkles and acne. |
Cenelia, mid 60's.
Milena, early 40s.
Mauricio, mid 30s.
Laura, 17.
Lucy, late 60s.
2nd Photographer Link: Bobby Neel Addams
-Addams is an American Artist born in Black Mountain, North Carolina and now lives in New York.
-His photographs have appeared in several books published by Re/search. including 'The Industrial Culture Handbook' and 'Modern Primitives'. - His project 'Family Tree', involved photographing family members individually and combining their portraits into one. He calls this technique 'Photo-surgery'. -Adams photographs show the differences and similarities between youth and old age, emphasising facial features altered by time. |
My Response:
Analysis:
rThis project was quite similar to 'Clarisse D'Archimoles' work as they both used photographs from the past contrasting with photos from the present. However with Adams work, I found that you can see more in depth how people change slightly or drastically over time. Most of my subjects changed slightly however the slight changes make all the difference in their appearance. I got to study and observe people more in depth; while photoshopping the images together I noticed all the small details, including how makeup styles changed, hair, ageing skin and even clothing.
rThis project was quite similar to 'Clarisse D'Archimoles' work as they both used photographs from the past contrasting with photos from the present. However with Adams work, I found that you can see more in depth how people change slightly or drastically over time. Most of my subjects changed slightly however the slight changes make all the difference in their appearance. I got to study and observe people more in depth; while photoshopping the images together I noticed all the small details, including how makeup styles changed, hair, ageing skin and even clothing.
3rd Strand: Negative Space
In 'Negative Space', I wanted to show how England can be an open area. As crowded and packed as it may be, the country can also be vacant and quiet. A secondary idea is to just capture open space in London.
1st Photographer Link: Nico Gooden
'My name's Nico and for over a decade I was a London-based urban and street photographer hired by many global brands including Adidas, Peugeot, Amazon and FTSE100 companies. I now live in Sherborne, Dorset and still commute regularly to London for shoots. For him, negative space is equaly as important as is positive space in overall composition. It's about finding the right balance. In his London street photography collection, he often seeks to create compositions by maximising the use of negative space resulting in seemingly more minimal, less cluttered images. His photos highlights details of architecture around London and is all shot in square format. This reduces everything to the bare minimum and results in a set of photographs that are easy to absorb. The use of negative space is always on his mind in the street photography that he shoots are London. |
My Contact Sheet:
2nd Photographer Link: Simon Phipps
The term Brutalism was derived from the French ‘Béton brut’, or raw concrete, was a term coined for the futurist architecture being created by Le Corbusier and others like him. From this label the term Brutalism was created as a way to classify this style of architecture.The expression became associated with a movement emerging in postwar British architectural offices. The architecture itself is characterised by the large size of the buildings and the use of raw unfinished concrete.
Simon Phipps provides a unique perspective and portrays Brutalist architecture in a sensitive, realistic and distinctive manner. He has spent the last 15 years photographing and documenting Brutalist and buildings in the UK, creating a survey of photographic images that demonstrate the breadth of this contentious architectural style. |
My Response:
Negative Space
The area left around the main focus. For example, the blank space, no matter what the colour is, that brings your attention to say the building on the right side.
I think that I could've done better with the photo in terms of angles. I could have angled the camera higher up making the building look more powerful while still having 2/3rds of the image as negative space.
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I really like this photo because I know that there is plenty of negative space as well as the different tones that compliment the building. Its easy to focus your eyes on the building and it achieves the look I was going for.
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In this image, it would've looked much better if I had taken it without the buildings in the background, and that the black buildng in front would've been completely dark. That way I could've increased the brightness in my photo and achieved my negative space. The negative space would've been the area where the buildings in the back are and the small white gaps in the buildings near the top.
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I feel like this is a good image in general, however there isn't much negative space, only the small space at the top. I think that if I had stood more further away and I had took it a different angle, I would have gotten more negative space in, make my photo stand out even more.
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Shape
Perspective
Exhibitions
During the summer holidays, I went to visit at least two art/photography exhibitions and documented them. They were quite interesting to me and made me think
more about photography. The exhibitions I visited expanded my knowledge on more artists and their work; why they took their photos and present it the way it is.
more about photography. The exhibitions I visited expanded my knowledge on more artists and their work; why they took their photos and present it the way it is.
The London Open 2022 -Whitechapel Gallery
'What makes London's art scene so vibrant? What are the concerns of the next generation of artists and their insights in challenging times? This triennial exhibition showcases the most dynamic talent from across the capital. Discover new work reflecting on topics ranging from the personal to the collective, the catharic to the poetic, the political to the environmental. Running since 1923,
Nan Goldin
'In the Bathroom' (1991) Cibachrome Print |
Zanele Muholi
'Bibemfontein' (2019) Gelatin Silver Print |
How to Win at Photography -The Photographers Gallery
This exhibition was about the relationship between photography and play. Spectators are suppose to focus on the game-like aspects of visual culture. The exhibition was spread out across four floors, it draws unexpected connections between the history of photography and contemporary practices of image-making both with and within computers games; the purpose is to investigate different notions of image play.
Game Travel - Playing Tourist
Screenshotting - literally instructing a computer to take an image of what's on the screen, has become commonplace within video game culture. Players now explore online environments like tourists, mapping them out and collecting souvenirs of their journeys with virtual cameras. Often disregarding the games intended goals, they choose to visually document what they encounter. Artists and photographers focus their attention on the specific properties of the digital image, modify the original code or create new tools to decontrast these spaces. Rather than playing a video game, artists play with the video game, introducing a different kind of engagement. Here image-making becomes a form of meta play, like a game within a game.
Joan Pamboukes The series "Videogame Colour Fields (2006)" takes as its starting point games like 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Kill Zone' which glorify violence. Her photos radiate a sense of calm and harmony that contrasts with the brutal context that they're drawn from. Pamboukes ultimately makes a conscious stand against the replication of violence and misogyny. |
Tabor Rocks
In the work, 'Rocks' (2011), Rocks singles out 198 stones, created using the cutting-edge computer graphics of that time. Rendered in 3D, the rocks appear both imaginary and realistic, abstract and naturalist. |
Justin Berry
This artist creates hyper realistic images of the virtual landscapes found in popular video games such as 'Call of Duty; Black Ops' and 'Medal of Honor'. He is fascinated by the environments he encounters instead of the games narratives. |
Gameplay - How To Win at Photography
Photography is a fundamental part of today's video game culture. Not only does it drive forward the photorealistic development of digital imaging; it offers 'open worlds', vast environments that can be explored and documented by virtual photographers. Even as play, photography can be political. Quantifiable values such as views, likes, shares, followers and reposts have now been actively promoting the gamification of visual culture for over a decade.
John Yuyi
In the age of social media, the value of an image is determined by the number of likes and shares it gets; the attention the images get are given into measurable units. Yuyi gives visual expression to this trend by affixing relevant icons to her skin as temporary tattoos. The artist temporarily pastes logos onto her skin before posting her self-portraits on Instagram as promotion. Here the body becomes the vehicle of media attention on social networks. At the same time, she also demonstrates how our bodies are occupied by these very platforms. They have an influence on how we present and perceive ourselves; and determine the value that we give to ourselves. |
Constant Dullaart
In his 2014 online performance 'High Retention, Slow Delivery', Dullard purchased 2.5million fake Instagram followers. He distributed these among selected artists, curators and figures in the art world until they all reached 100,000 followers. Attempting to reset the social value that is generated on the platform using metrics that quantify attention, Dullard's assembled 'army' shows how these artificial systems of value can be subverted, reclaimed and manipulated.
The work became a prescient warning of the role that similar orchestrations would play in affecting public opinion in the 2016 US elections and the Brexit referendum. It also reveals the hidden workforce tied to the system of validation on social media platforms.
In his 2014 online performance 'High Retention, Slow Delivery', Dullard purchased 2.5million fake Instagram followers. He distributed these among selected artists, curators and figures in the art world until they all reached 100,000 followers. Attempting to reset the social value that is generated on the platform using metrics that quantify attention, Dullard's assembled 'army' shows how these artificial systems of value can be subverted, reclaimed and manipulated.
The work became a prescient warning of the role that similar orchestrations would play in affecting public opinion in the 2016 US elections and the Brexit referendum. It also reveals the hidden workforce tied to the system of validation on social media platforms.
Replay - Re-stage, Re-enact, Re-create
By re-photographing, re-enacting or re-contextualising an image, artists can change its original meaning. The replica photograph plays with notions of memory, history, authorship and truth. It can expose images as constructions, bringing to light their underlying power structures. By re-enacting historical events, alternative meanings are introduced and subsequently shared through social media platforms. As games become more 'realistic' and reality takes an increasingly gamified turn, the very notions of 'original' and 'copy' are blurred. image play can become a tactic used to challenge truth and fiction, reality and representation.
Jon Haddock Haddock reinterprets both historical and fictional events in the style of a video games. In this selection from his series 'Isometric Screenshots' (2000), the artist depicts scenes from popular movies like 'Mary Poppins' and 'Twelve Angry Men'. Although the iconography may be ludicrous, the effects on the viewer are from from it. The conflation of footage is both jarring and illuminating. It suggests the power of media and video games, consisting in turning lived reality into something that has been called a media event, spectacle and a simulacrum. |
Roc Herms Herms appropriates and hijacks artist Ai Weiwei's 'Study of Perspective'. Herms replicates Ai Weiwei's work within the virtual world of San Andreas. Using a first-person view and the in-view game camera, the artist raises his middle finger against a variety of backgrounds including government buildings, car parks, billboards and even factories. Herms artistic gesture prompts the questions: did he do it for the lulz? If so, who is laughing now? |
Lorna Ruth Galloway Lorna creates artworks situated between the analogue and digital, lived life and simulation. She takes screenshots of petrol stations located in the world of 'Grand Theft Auto V'. She uses a photo-editing software to create halftone separations for each screenshot. The resulting images are then urned into charcoal silk screens. The series refers to the tradition of photographic reproduction in printmaking. Additionally to the polluting effects of both carbon and fossil fuels reminds us that 'the medium is the message'. |
Camera Play - Playing with the Apparatus
The camera is generally understood as a photographers tool. However artists have challenged both the rules and the ways in which the apparatus 'sees' the world. By playing with the camera, photographers bring to light the ideologies informing the production, circulation and consumption of images. By deliberately misusing, modifying, challenging and reinventing the camera, new ways of seeing the emerge. Artists have also looked to play with the tools of virtual reality. Computer games are now equipped with powerful photo modes that combine a simulated camera with a versatile editing software.
Christopher Graves Graves combines a DIY punk attitude with a playful approach to photography to improve the original 'Game Boy Camera' from 1998. To expand the 'poor image-making machine', the 'photographs' were displayed in 2-bit resolution in four shades of grey. Graves upgraded the original camera with a lens adapter attached to a 'Game Boy Advance', featuring a Pentax 110 lens mount, a wooden grip, ion rechargeable battery and a dedicated shutter button. Graves' impossible project is an anachronistic device both vintage and futuristic. |
Dries Depoorter and Max Pinckers
'Trophy Camera v0.9' (2017) is a camera powered by artificial intelligence. It is programmed to only take 'winning photos'. The camera is trained with machine-learning algorithms and a data set of images that were awarded the World Press Photo of the Year.
Its software compares the live image with the archive from which it has learned to define a winning picture. If the match is 90% or above, the image is saved on the dedicated website trophy camera; anything less is instantly deleted. |
Ria Patricia Roder This artist creates her motifs by capturing images with a scanner. The artist also scans fragments of images she has already scanned and printed. The analogue arrangement allows for a narrative quality to emerge. A narrative quality emerges solely from the analogue arrangement and dynamic relationship between razor-sharp and out-of-focus elements. Roder's 'scanograms' are an experiment with a medium that has similarities with the conventional photo camera, namely the presence of a lens and the process of exposure, yet also enables other form of imaging. |
John Hilliard In the 1960's and 1970's, photography was increasingly viewed as the product of an automated process. The English artist set up his 35mm camera in front of a mirror and shot the same image 70 times, changing the aperture and exposure time for each photo. Although the photographers hand can be seen in some frames, Hilliard's involvement seems to be restricted to operating the shutter release. We may play with the camera all we like, exhausting the limits of what it can do, but as Hilliard suggests, there is no getting around the question of whether photography can ever do anything except record its own condition. |
Role Play - Playing with Identity
From photographic portraits to selfies, video game avatars to cinema stars, role-playing has been one of the few constants in the ever-changing history of representation. The construction and reconstruction of identity is, for some, a full time job on social media. Our pictorial alter egos embody the idea of success, beauty and wealth. Far from being neutral or objective, visual culture actively constructs the subjects. Artists have always challenged normative notions of sex, gender, ethnicity and class.
Danielle Udogaranya
Even if avatars give the impression of projecting very different identities, the range of virtual proxy characters can be quickly exhausted. Danielle addresses the inadequacy of available options to represent certain groups. She designs avatars for people whose appearances and skin colours are often not considered when a game is being developed or are only acknowledged in the form of stereotyped templates.
For the video game 'The Sims 4', she designed avatars with different skin tones. These include options for applying make-up and different hairstyles, which operate outside the realm of racialised and racist ideas. Danielle's project draws attention to the discrimination that continues to exist in virtual spaces. Her work plays an active role in making representation more diverse.
Even if avatars give the impression of projecting very different identities, the range of virtual proxy characters can be quickly exhausted. Danielle addresses the inadequacy of available options to represent certain groups. She designs avatars for people whose appearances and skin colours are often not considered when a game is being developed or are only acknowledged in the form of stereotyped templates.
For the video game 'The Sims 4', she designed avatars with different skin tones. These include options for applying make-up and different hairstyles, which operate outside the realm of racialised and racist ideas. Danielle's project draws attention to the discrimination that continues to exist in virtual spaces. Her work plays an active role in making representation more diverse.
Claude Cahun Claude undermines the social gaze by deliberately blurring the binary boundaries between the sexes with her perforative self-portraits. The depicted personae cannot be clearly read as female or male. Whether with the help of a barbell or by using accentuated lips, Cahun exposes gender as a constructed, socio-cultural masquerade. Her photos were taken at a time when homophobia was prevalent, making the images seem all the more significant today. They also point to an early anticipation of playing with one's identity that can now be explored and expressed more fluidly. |
Aneta Grzeszykowska
How is the 'female' body imagined? With full lips and shapely breasts?
Anita confronts us with these questions, instantly bringing us face to face with our normative definition of gender, often linked to physical features. The 'Selfie' series consists of simulated body parts made of pigskin, with Anita using her own body as a model.
She controls how her body is represented by sculpting the different forms herself, at times deforming it or even giving it a grotesque appearance.
How is the 'female' body imagined? With full lips and shapely breasts?
Anita confronts us with these questions, instantly bringing us face to face with our normative definition of gender, often linked to physical features. The 'Selfie' series consists of simulated body parts made of pigskin, with Anita using her own body as a model.
She controls how her body is represented by sculpting the different forms herself, at times deforming it or even giving it a grotesque appearance.
Cindy Sherman Cindy forges a kaleidoscope of different female identities. In her self-portraits, she slips into different personalities and roles, capturing entire stories in single images. The images degenerate into cliches of felinity whose one-dimensionality Sherman exposes and scrutinises Her work reads like a catalogue of female stereotypes that demonstrates the construction and appropriation of identity through media. |
Further Development
of 1st Strand:
Photographer Link: Curtis Mann
For my first development I want to use ideas from 'Bodies and Abstraction' and 'Portraits and Memories'. I particularly enjoyed doing the first project as I got to talk to different people and find out more about them, as well as looking at different bodies and how everyone is different in their own ways. I took inspiration from an artist called Curtis Mann, in his photos he bleaches parts of the picture using cotton buds, clear nail varnish, colour film photographs and water. His final pieces inspired me to create my own. With my photographs I wanted to show how our community and society can make us want to erase certain parts of ourselves as we may sometimes feel like 'outcasts' in our own world. |
My Response:
Analysis:
For my first task, I took inspiration from Curtis Mann. My idea was that the burns of the bleach represented the idea of losing yourself to social media; how certain parts of a memory can fade away or disappear completely. I used old photographs with people whom I had memories with. Using bleach, I tried to cover areas which I felt were important in the photograph, while leaving other areas unattended. In this way I tried to recreate how losing certain parts of a memory can completely alter what the
memory even looks like.
For my first task, I took inspiration from Curtis Mann. My idea was that the burns of the bleach represented the idea of losing yourself to social media; how certain parts of a memory can fade away or disappear completely. I used old photographs with people whom I had memories with. Using bleach, I tried to cover areas which I felt were important in the photograph, while leaving other areas unattended. In this way I tried to recreate how losing certain parts of a memory can completely alter what the
memory even looks like.
Photographer Link: David Ariel Szauder
David is inspired by the parallels between human memory and computer memory. "Our brains store away images to retrieve them later, like files stored away on a hard drive. But when we go back and try to re-access those memories, we may find them to be corrupted in some way glitched, if you will." When we see a photo were able to remember the details, but only for a short period. Long term we start to lose parts of the details. |
Unedited photos:
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Process of the glitched images:
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Glitched edited photos:
Analysis: For this task, I had to glitch my photos in different ways by using photoshop. I tried out different techniques and found that the first two methods were the best. My intention was to be somewhat similar to the artist. David Szauder is inspired by the parallels between human memory and computer memory. His pictures represent us losing sections of our memories by the laws of nature. I took peoples portraits from either a close up to a half body shot. I made sure my images were clear and correctly exposed, and that my subjects were centered. To do better I think that I could photograph people at an office or sitting in a cafe instead a plain white background. I also think that I could have added more lighting so my images could be better quality.
Photographer Link: Jenny Salville
Jenny Salville focused her studies in “imperfections” of flesh, with all of its societal implications and taboos. She was able to observe a plastic surgeon at work. Studying the reconstruction of human flesh was formative in her perception of the body. Her time with the surgeon fueled her examination into the infinite ways that flesh is transformed and disfigured. She explored medical pathologies, viewed cadavers in the morgue, examined animals and meat, mothers with their children and individuals whose bodies challenge gender norms. |
Contact Sheet: 1st Response
Analysis:
My intention was to show different areas of the face squashed against glass, something along the lines of freedom and imperfections. I think that the subject I chose to photograph suited my intentions quite well. I found that the composition quite well too as my subjects face was photographed quite close up and personal. I think that I managed my exposure levels well. I like the way that the glass changes the face shape and really makes you look further at the subjects face. In Photoshop I added contrast and lowered the exposure so that her features were more defined. If I were to improve I would try this out with different people and similar poses, maybe focus more close up on different areas of the face. Next time I will consider another artist to further improve my response.
My intention was to show different areas of the face squashed against glass, something along the lines of freedom and imperfections. I think that the subject I chose to photograph suited my intentions quite well. I found that the composition quite well too as my subjects face was photographed quite close up and personal. I think that I managed my exposure levels well. I like the way that the glass changes the face shape and really makes you look further at the subjects face. In Photoshop I added contrast and lowered the exposure so that her features were more defined. If I were to improve I would try this out with different people and similar poses, maybe focus more close up on different areas of the face. Next time I will consider another artist to further improve my response.
2nd Response: I also made a second response to Jenny Salville but this time I used skin colour tights instead of a glass screen to distort the face. However, I like my first response more than this one as it was much easier to control and change how the face looks. The tights were difficult to work with. If I were to try this again, I would use tape or rubber bands and wrap it around the face.
Analysis: For this response I tried a different method to distort and change the face shape. I think that I did a good job of changing it as in some of the pictures my subjects face looks wider or longer than it should be. To further improve, I would find more artist inspirations and manipulate the material on my models face differently to see what works best. I think if I were to improve this series of images I would try to use more lighting, a plain shirt and research more poses and how to use the tights in a better way. In my opinion, this wasn't one of my best responses however it has helped me learn what works best and what doesn't.
3rd Response: I decided to do a 3rd response as I thought I could do better than my 2nd response. For this one I had my model wear black gloves, we used a shirt as a black backdrop and turned off the lights. We then used one light and placed it in front of my models face so that only the face would be lit up. I really enjoyed this response as I felt it was a better try and it also distorted the face in a similar type of way to Jenny Saville's work.
Analysis: For this final response on Jenny Salville, I used a black background and told my subject to wear black gloves. We then used one light infront of her face with all other lights off. She then moved her face with the gloves and I started to shoot the pictures. They came out really nice and I enjoyed taking them. In Photoshop I used the brush tool and darkened the border of the pictures so they image looked better and more defined. For this last development, I wanted to use the gloves to control the face. I think my composition helped to support my response as the face was entered so it made it the main focus. I avoided camera shake by holding the camera steady To further improve these pictures I could maybe try to use a different coloured background with matching gloves and attempt to do the same shoot. I think that doing this would give the photo a different feel.
Photographer Link: Lisa Frances
While looking for photographers that I could take inspiration from, I came across this picture by a small time photographer called Lisa Frances Cunnane. I found this photo she took and was really interested by it. I decided to use this picture as inspiration to further develop my work a I liked the way that she put her subjects face against a very see through material. |
Contact Sheet:
Analysis: From this photoshoot inspired by Lisa Frances I decided to move on from the face to the body as a whole. I tried to combine abstraction
in a different type of way with a sheet. In this way I would still be covering the skin but a little differently. In the last four pictures, I was really happy with how the photos came out and I think that the composition and lighting worked out well for me. My intention was to create a sort of portrait but obstructing it. My images support this idea as you can clearly see the girls facial features but not entirely. If I were to do this photoshoot again I would try using a different material on the face and see which ones work the best. I could experiment with different variations of colour, as well as black and white.
in a different type of way with a sheet. In this way I would still be covering the skin but a little differently. In the last four pictures, I was really happy with how the photos came out and I think that the composition and lighting worked out well for me. My intention was to create a sort of portrait but obstructing it. My images support this idea as you can clearly see the girls facial features but not entirely. If I were to do this photoshoot again I would try using a different material on the face and see which ones work the best. I could experiment with different variations of colour, as well as black and white.
Photographer Link: Martha Graham 'Lamentation'
Throughout her teens, Graham studied dance in Los Angeles. In 1926, she established her own dance company in New York City and developed an innovative, non-traditional technique that spoke to more taboo forms of movement and emotional expression. Despite the fact that many early critics described her dances as “ugly,” Graham’s genius caught on and became very respected over time. Her advances in dance are considered, by many, to be an important achievement in America’s cultural history. The Graham technique is a highly regarded form of movement taught by dance institutions across the world. She kept dancing well into her 70s and even choreographed until her death in 1991. |
Contact Sheet:
1st Response:
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I liked this project and how you could really explore movement and freedom, but also being trapped in a way. It was exciting to shoot and I would like to try this again, but this time using a blank material instead of patterned. I feel as though I definitely could have shorted this better. For the three photos below, I couldn't get my lens to focus however I am still very happy with the outcome as I think these look better. I like how the photos are slightly out of focus and it gives a different feel to the image. In a way, it sort of says that you can go in-between the lines where the fake and real blur. |
2nd Response: I decided to respond a second time as I found that the patterns are distracting from what I was trying to show. Instead of showing the shapes that were created with the sheet, the patterns on the sheet I used drawed more attention. In my 2nd response I use a plain white sheet and try again in the same location. I think these photos turned out better.
Analysis: In my response, I used a patterned material, placed it on my subject and shot these pictures in The Tanks, Tate Modern. My intention was to respond to Martha Graham by draping the material onto my subject and making them try out different poses similar to Graham. My photographs link to my theme as they explore one's identity and trying to find yourself as a person. Here I feel as though my subject is exploring a form of expressionism. I really liked my choice of location as all the walls had a brick look. In my second response, I used a white sheet in the same location as I thought that the patterned material was distracting. We went to shoot at the same place and took some pictures. I made sure my subject was in focus and controlled my aperture. If I was to try again, next time I will make sure my images are less grainy. I will also try out more poses with my chosen subject.
Photographer Link: Nicholas Alan Cope
Cope-Arnold is a studio based in Los Angeles. Its comprised of Nicholas Alan Cope and Dustin Edward Arnold. They combine photography and fashion design to create 'Vedas', a series of haunting images in the human form of sculpted garments. They take inspiration from the black and white portraiture of the legendary Irving Penn, and so ‘Vedas’ deals with the perception of geometry, light, texture, and form.
The pair designed a collection of structured veils and mesh cloaks, the garments are pulled taut across anonymous heads and in others, material drapes loosely to the floor. The resulting monochrome photographs achieve an aesthetic that is dramatic and eerie. |
My Response:
Analysis:
For my response to Nicholas, I tried to recreate some of his photos by using a white duvet cover and some lighting. My subject pulled the sheet down to create some definition and then I used a phone light to see what angles worked best with the sheet. I found that from the side and a high diagonal angle works the best. My composition helped me frame my main focus properly, I think that placing my subjects head at the bottom corner of my frame was a good choice and really makes me feel that I connect with how the artist took his pictures. I think next time, to further improve, I could try more poses and angles so that I can have more variety in my photographs. I will also try to consider the work of another photographer so I can have different insights. Next time I will also prioritise my shutter speed and use a tripod so I can get better quality images.
For my response to Nicholas, I tried to recreate some of his photos by using a white duvet cover and some lighting. My subject pulled the sheet down to create some definition and then I used a phone light to see what angles worked best with the sheet. I found that from the side and a high diagonal angle works the best. My composition helped me frame my main focus properly, I think that placing my subjects head at the bottom corner of my frame was a good choice and really makes me feel that I connect with how the artist took his pictures. I think next time, to further improve, I could try more poses and angles so that I can have more variety in my photographs. I will also try to consider the work of another photographer so I can have different insights. Next time I will also prioritise my shutter speed and use a tripod so I can get better quality images.
Photographer Link: Tigran Tsitoghdzyan
Tigran is a New York City-based visual artist. He was born in Armenia in 1976. By the age of ten, over hundred of Tigran's childhood paintings were chosen to be displayed in a solo exhibition in Armenia which thereafter traveled to the US, Russia, Japan and Spain. As a young man, he left home for Europe to continue his artistic studies in Switzerland, earning a BFA and MFA in painting. He is known for his oil paintings which often evoke the illusion of photography. He uses these complex images to make us look not only at ourselves, but also at social media and its influence on empathy, intimacy and relationships. Tigran says he creates his works of art to expose, “the identity of contemporary man in the era of cultural globalization, technological revolution and biological distortion”. |
Contact Sheet:
My Response:
Analysis: For this task, I overlayed the smiling face onto the face that was covered but their hands. In the other images, I used different peoples hands on one person; further pushing myself to understand how Tigran made his work. I found these simple to do; next time I would love to try and do more hands covering the face so that my images can look more interesting and evoke. more feelings from the viewer.
Photographer Link: Kensuke Koike and Flora Borsi
Kensuke Koike was born in 1980, Japan. He creates unique artwork by manipulating vintage, photographic material. His approach revolves around the idea of using the assets found within an image to create a contemporary visual with a new narrative.
Kensuke's practice is centred around a philosophy of 'no more, no less'. He introduces a performative element by exhibiting both the processes and final works, which is important to understand both the humour and reverence with which he creates his vision. His artwork has been exhibited globally at museums and exhibitions such a The Photographers Gallery in London and Postmasters Gallery in New York. As well as countries like Milan, Tokyo, Japan, China and Paris. |
Flora is a fine art photographer, she uses exquisite photo manipulation to create surreal images that are thematically focused on identity, relationships, emotions and dreams. Her immaculate technique and subtle, conceptual ideas create beautiful evocations of universal emotions, from lust and desire to despair and loss. She captures the complex strength and fragility of the human psyche all at once. Her work often features the female body and she plays with hiding and revealing the eyes or face to leave only the feminine form, exploring questions of female representation and the relationship between body and self.
Flora has exhibited internationally in Europe, the USA, France and has a solo show at the Lanoue Gallery in Boston. Her artwork was the face of Adobe Photoshop in 2014 and she has made the corporate identity for Adobe's Creative Cloud in 2019. |
Contact Sheet:
2nd Response: This is my second shoot of people, with these images I wanted to try out the same method I used for my first set of pictures however instead of blending two copies of the same person together, I want to blend two different people together to see how that would look. My idea is something along the lines of how everyone is the same person under all the fat, muscles, skin and tissue. I wanted to show that by choosing two different people and blending them together. (contact sheet>) |
Analysis: Flora was one of my favourite artists to try and recreate. Her photos are very inspiring and I was able to try my own idea and put my own twist on it. I used the 'Liquify' Tool on Photoshop mostly to do my editing and I think they turned out quite cool. It took some trial and error to see what worked and what didn't but in the end I really liked my end results.
Photographer Link: Oliver Blohm
Blohm is a Berlin-based photographer, focusing mainly on portraits and experimental photography. From a small village close to the Baltic Sea, he discovered photography in his late teens, which soon became more than a hobby. For his 'Impossible Project', he took portraits of people on polaroids and then develops them using a microwave to create these effects. As a result there are unique faults in the film such as interesting textures, shapes, and burns into the film. |
Process:
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My Response:
Final Pieces: