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AS Photography Exam Title Guidance : “Structure”

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AS Photog Exam: w/c Monday 24th April

  • Groups C & D: Monday 24th & Thursday 27th April
  • (Wednesday NO EXAM)
  • Groups A & E: Tuesday 25th & Friday 28th April

Read this carefully and think how you can design a thorough unit of investigation that explores your chosen theme, topic or subject matter…

structure
ˈstrʌktʃə/
noun
  1. 1.
    the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.
    “the two sentences have equivalent structures”
    synonyms: construction, form, formation, shape, composition, fabric, anatomy, make-up, constitution; More
  2. 2.
    a building or other object constructed from several parts.
    “the station is a magnificent structure and should not be demolished”
    synonyms: building, edifice, construction, erection, pile, complex, assembly

    “a vast Gothic structure with strange ornamental spirelets”
verb
  1. 1.
    construct or arrange according to a plan; give a pattern or organization to.
    “services must be structured so as to avoid pitfalls”
    synonyms: arrange, organize, order, design, shape, give structure to, assemble, construct, build, put together

    “the programme is structured around periods of residential study”

<<<CHOOSE 1 STARTING POINT ONLY>>>

Use mindmaps and moodboards to start…

You should aim to complete at least 1 Photo-shoot per week

Structure

  1. Erin O’Keefe often photographs objects propped up in a corner. Her work explores the visual ambiguities of shadow, space, shape, colour and reflection. Originally an architect, her photographs are of real structures without using digital manipulation such as Photoshop. Many other photographers have experimented with constructed spaces and reflections, such as Florence Henri, Robert Smithson, Owen Kydd, David Haxton, Thomas Demand, Paul Strand etc

Florence Henri
Composition Nature Morte, 1929
photograph

2. Robert Frank shocked his adopted country when he published his groundbreaking book The Americans in 1957. Rather than seeing the cosy Middle America personified in later TV cartoons like The Flintstones, he revealed the raw push and shove of a society that was at odds with itself. Other photographers such as Nan Goldin, Jeff Wall, Chris Killip and Sophie Calle have also been compelled to expose the real structures in society and ‘Tell it like it is’.

Robert Frank
Canal Street – New Orleans, 1955
photograph

3. Stories can be told in a single frame, three frames, or, as in films, millions of frames. Narrative structures can be linear, such as with Duane Michals’ sequences, or non-linear such as Paul Graham’s A Shimmer of Possibility and Wolfgang Tillmans’ If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters. Photographers, filmmakers and animators find unique ways to structure the narratives in their work.

Duane Michals
Alice’s Mirror
photograph

Bill Owens
Untitled from ‘Suburbia’
photograph

4. Photographers have been fascinated by the structure of natural forms from the earliest days of the medium. Karl Blossfeldt found a monumental presence in simple seedheads. Edward Weston revealed beauty in the forms of peppers and shells. Robert
Mapplethorpe, Ori Gersht, Todd McClelland and Olivia Parker have also focused on natural forms in different ways, demonstrating personal responses to light and texture.

RM
Honesty
photograph

Here are some other suggestions that may stimulate your imagination  / Starting points for photo-assignments
• Pine cones, pineapples, grapevines, hops, ivy, bindweed
• Scrapyards, building sites, cranes, restoration yards, derelict ruins
• Crystals, molecules, geology, fossils, footprints, tracks
• Stadiums, orchestras, rock concerts, floodlights, staircases
• Motorways, railways, runways, dockyards
• Flowers, plants, trees, fungi, algae, feathers, scales, shells
• Nests of weaver birds, wasps and bees, termite mounds, baskets
• Circuit boards, pipework, telephone poles, towers, pylons, skyscrapers
• Shop displays, escalators, bars, libraries, theatres and cinemas
• Gardens, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, beaches
• Dolls, mannequins, puppets, cuddly toys, Lego

Assessment Objectives

You should provide evidence that fulfils the four Assessment Objectives:

AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
AO2 Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
AO4 Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

Your preparatory studies should show evidence of:

• your development and control of visual literacy and the formal elements (tone,
texture, colour, line, form and structure)
• an exploration of techniques and media
• investigations showing engagement with appropriate primary and
secondary sources
• the development of your thoughts, decisions and ideas based on the theme
• critical review and reflection

Good luck and make sure you ask for guidance at any stage of the process…remember to play to your strengths and approach this unit in a similar way to your coursework units !!!

 

Analysis, Research

Panoramic Photographers

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Brad Templeton

Image result for brad templeton panorama

I like this photograph because of it’s light blue hues from the water and encircling it is the dark Forrest area around the side going off into the distance.  This is interesting to me because it appears like a sort of container to the beauty of the lake in which it is holding.  This is significant as the blue water is portrayed as almost quite precious as the photographer appears to have enhanced the vibrance, contrast and brightness.  The fact the hills in the background go far in the distance is also significant as it shows how the importance it is of preserving the lake.  I believe this is successful because it adds strength to the current wooded area that we can see close up.  I also like this photograph because of how the photograph is so calming due to it’s open space and brightened sky and land colors.

Image result for brad templeton panorama

This photograph fascinates as the large depth of field caused by the high aperture adds to a strong city line.  I also like how the photographer has strengthened this by enhancing the contrast again to strongly separate between the sky and Earth.  With these strong dark tones of the city, contrasting with the brightened blue hue of the sky, it almost appears as if the city is a dirty place and the sky i somewhat pure and clean.  This is therefore sending the message to me that we can’t let the dangers of the city’s pollution affect our natural environment.  This is emphasized by the fact the photograph is slightly overexposed adding to the theme of a harsh environment.

Will Pearson

Image result for will pearson photography panorama

I love this photograph because of it’s romanticized composition that create a panorama that to me, is very beautiful.  For example, the sunset, overlooking the sky, lighting up everywhere is beautiful, especially with the orange glow radiating off to the surrounding sky and reflected by the buildings.  To enhance this, a warming filter can be added to the photograph on Photoshop to exaggerate the mood further.  I also like the angle of which the photograph has been taken from.  For example: the fact we are high up, looking face on at the sun in the distance, with the city below  literally heightens the specialty of of the photograph in the sense that we and only a few other buildings are high up to enjoy the view with most of the city unable to.

Image result for will pearson photography panorama

Finally, this photograph to me is interesting because of the fact its taken on a slow shutter speed, giving the colors subtlety and in this sense puts together a photograph of beautiful elegance.  This stands out to me because often a city is known to be very rushed and busy.  Interestingly, this photograph shows to me that if we stand back and admire the city and stop rushing around, there is lots of beauty within it.  However what I also like is how the photograph has still captured the light of the city showing that it is still alive and still breathing, not taking anything away from it.  It has done this by taking a photograph with little light but an extremely slow shutter speed and high aperture to still have that sense of busyness of a city.

Analysis, Experimentation, Research

Abstract Joiner Photography (David hockney) + Responses

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I was heavily inspired by David Hockney’s Joiner works and I wanted to produce my own responses.

Image result for david hockney joiner

I love this photograph because to me personally you strongly get a sense that it is collage-like.  I especially like how different layers have been adjusted through size, settings and position.  This way, with a number of these different layers you can create a puzzle that comes systematically together as one photograph.  David Hockney’s view of his joiners being a narrative is as if the viewer was moving around in the location.  This is linked to my panorama work as it too holds a very similar principle.  However with this, I felt inspired by it as the range of misfitting layers and other components coming together, to me shows of how whatever the camera is photographing isn’t perfect but with this it causes beauty and interesting aspects.

For this set of experimentation I simply copied the same photograph 12 times.  I then deselected the eye icon to look at the current layer.  Then I selected area and clicked on select, then inverse and then deleted the remaining elements of the photograph leaving my selected area.  I then repeated the procedure for the next one leaving out a certain desired area singled out.  After carrying this procedure on for another 10 times.  From this, with all the eyes selected, I adjusted the position and size of each selected are from each layer giving a basis for the finished design.  Then I flattened the image and slightly changed a few dimensions.  Finally I opened the photograph onto a new layer with the same dimensions and cropped to my liking.

I chose to develop David Hockney’s own style and apply it to my work because I believe that his work is particularly focused on Abstract work with developing a strong sense of surrealism.  For example the photographs appears quite abstract themselves in the sense that the bright, and dramatic tones of light and shadow alongside the striking contrasts appear slightly exaggerated and unreal.  Interestingly the Collage style Joiner edits enhance this abstraction as various layers imposed on top of each other creating interesting shapes that individually don’t work together, but on viewing the whole photograph, these various layers of various sizes and shapes appear very abstract.  This very surreal in the sense that unexpected juxtapositions are included consistently.  This links to my theme well because it shows that, tiny details which may not fit together, once you step back and admire the creation even if every minor detail isn’t perfectly aligned is beautiful in it’s own way.

Response 1

Response 2

Response 3

 

Analysis, Research

Typologies – Bernd and Hilla Becher

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Image result for bernd and hilla becher typologies photography

 

Image result for bernd and hilla becher typologies photography

 

Image result for bernd and hilla becher typologies photography

Bernd and Hilla Becher were German photography teachers at The Dusseldorf Kunstakademie.  Their contributions to typologies have influenced photographers in photographing batches of similar styles of photographs in a collection including Andreas Gurskv.  These photographs are very systematic in the sense that compositions such as framing, angles, lighting and backdrops.  Each industrial feature was photographed from 8 different angles, carefully measured out each time.  Most of these plants photographed cease to exist, so these are now historical records of a time when Europe suffered political conflict for power through industry and mass mobilization.