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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 !!!

 

Experimentation

Abstract Dispersions

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Here I simply did a dispersion effect to create an effect making these photograph appear somewhat disintegrating into the air.  Firstly I copied my planet like circle which I cut out onto a new white layer.  I then duplicated this layer.  With the original layer I clicked on filter and liquify.  From here I smudged the edges of my photograph.  After this, I added a clip layer mask onto the original layer. and using the brush tool with varying pressures and sizes selected the areas I wanted dispersed.

Here I felt inspired by the fact that often Global Warming is destroying the Earth.  I believe I have captured how the slow process of the global warming is affecting our planet.  I wanted to create these images with a direct link to abstraction through the fact I have heavily liquefied the pano-spheres  and stretched them.  This is a sharp contrast to the my previous pano spheres in the sense that before I explored an abstraction that showed a normal, ordered functioning and neat appearing planet like object.  However now I have shown the opposite, a world in tatters.  This stretching of areas of the photograph has created an effect that appears very surreal in the sense the Earth is being blown up appearing slightly scary.  I like this because its abstract qualities is opposite to this but I believe works nicely because the delicacy of the dispersed particles with varying strengths appears very unreal creating an effect of which the Earth is crumbling away in our atmosphere before our eyes and that life is continuing without people raising an eyebrow.  I feel I am hinting at what could happen if people continue to live this way, destroying our beautiful planet.

 

Experimentation

Geometric Abstraction +Responses

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Victoria Siemer

Is a photographer focusing on photo manipulation using Photoshop.  Her inspirations come from various other artists since she had no formal photography training, she paid attention to others styles, for example street photographer Dave Krugman.  Her works often include a dramatic  environment with strong levels of symmetry, proving a contrast to the wild and abstract locations she is shooting in.  This part of her work is called “Geometric Reflection”.  Here include some examples of her work:

Image result for victoria siemer Image result for victoria siemer

Image result for victoria siemer Image result for victoria siemer

My own responses

I chose to experiment with this as it linked in with the theme of abstract photography and the fact I felt inspired by Victoria Siemer.   The definition for Geometric Abstraction is “Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. ” .  For my ideas I simply copied the layer of my photograph by pressing ctrl+J.  I then selected an area of a shape using a marquee tool and rotated it to my desired angle.  After this, I used the rubber tool to remove areas I didn’t want to capture a sense of reflection whereas in others I didn’t and simply left them rotated.

I believe this fits well into my theme of abstract and surrealism in photography because these pieces of work emphasis the abstract with the interesting shapes that look quite abnormal.   I believe I have done this successfully because they almost appear quite surreal that the abstraction within the photograph looks as if it is part of the photograph.  Here I have particularity focused on textures as they enhance many of the abstract shapes within the photograph and in some, color too because this exaggerates the abstraction so far that it appears surreal.  I personally enjoy observing the beauty of fine, particular details within a setting and by doing this, I feel inspired to isolate various parts and make them appear surreal.  This therefore poses the idea to you of how a very normal looking viewpoint in day to day life, I use for surprising and strange elements that shouldn’t fit in but do, to express how to others how I can see the world through interesting shapes, colors and textures.

Experimentation, Recording

Photo Safari – Abstract Shapes

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I went on a Photo-Safari around focusing particularly on shapes and patterns that I could photograph.  I chose to go on a day with quite harsh sun light to enhance the shadows and give warmth to the photograph.  I took this shoot to explore the the abstraction within objects that we pass by, see and use with with from a day to day basis.  I was heavily inspired by these patterns below:

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