Category Archives: AS EXAM 2017

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Expanding Ideas // Zoe Leonard

Foundations such as the WWF federation aim to salvage nature and its resources to not only cater for a growing population but also to maintain the beauty of nature.

After opening each image into Adobe Photoshop, I experimented with tweaking the colours slightly to test whether to improve the vibrancy of the image, or enhance the melancholy and sombre mood  of the flowers. Eventually, I opted for a black and white approach for this project as I believe to follow the work of both Karl Blossfedlt and Zoe Leonard, sewing black and white images together would comply with their style whilst attaining my own stance upon the two. Personally, the black and white saturation allows the focus of the image to remain on the detail and craftsmanship of the artificial flower and leaves.

Texture on Water Inspired by and In The Style of Adrienne Adams

I felt it important to incorporate Adrienne Adam’s style of texture on water after focusing on the reflections side which required a smoother texture.  Now however I  am emphasising more motion based textures of the water.  This I believe shows the structure of the movement of water rather than water itself, it shows what water does as it is surrounded in its natural environment of wind, objects and depth of water, factors influencing the structure of water.  I particularly like how the structure of water changes, adapts and is determined by its natural environment but also the idea of how essential it is in supporting life.  The structure of water is in a sense a structure of life and so this fascinates me particularly.  Adrienne Adams used gentle texture to show the structure of water as something as subtle and therefore considered as taken for granted as a structure of life.  I wanted to emphasise the structure as being a bit more independent and also influential too.  I achieved this by ensuring the framing to be centred towards the actual object I want the viewer to focus on most.  Whereas before I took the camera and shot the photograph from a distance using the zoom heavily, I wanted to show the textures as sharper and have a stronger depth through aperture and so now shot with a macro setting, far closer up.  I think I made the right choice here, as I believe I showed the structure of water as playing a more significant role within its natural environment than Adrienne Adams.  I wanted to capture this because water is essentially a vital part of our world and its structure also is one of the structures that ensures life on Earth survives.  I am happy with how my shoot went overall because I explored different structures of water and how its influenced and influences other objects through its own structure, particularly clear to us through its range of textures.

Best Images

 

Reflections Inspired by and in the style of Adrienne Adams

I chose to pursue this because I felt strongly that I wanted to incorporate Adrienne Adams style of reflections on water but alter it slightly to focus more on dark-light contrasts rather than colour.    I achieved this by taking my photographs in a light foggy environment, this made the reflections less sharp and blend more fluently into the environment.  However I exaggerated the contrast slightly to bolden and add depth and strength to the shadowed reflections.  This put strong emphasis onto the structure as it portrayed the dominating shadows as strong and bulky.  This is interesting to me because I feel that I created the strong structures of rocks successfully, but to compliment this with alternative and more delicate features slightly less strong structures.  This for me worked well as I could put into perspective the similarities of contrast between the big and small structures showing them both to be strong no matter what their size.  I believe I am happy with how this shoot went, including a range of shots between close up macro effects, to show the intricate details of each natural structure and how the role it plays in its environment and also the bigger structures that more so impact their surroundings rather than what they contribute to them.   I find interesting how the delicate textures prove to give way to a sharper tone of reflection, allowing us to see the structure of the rocks or object far more clearer.   

Best Images

Close ups:

Distance Shots

Adrienne Adams Response

This theme of reflection fits well I believe into the idea of structure because it incorporates structure of the water and structure of the reflection in quite a romanticised way.  For example the strong tonal frequency of the blue reflections present a varied and slightly random appearing pattern reflected from the object above.  I wanted to focus more on the structure of the reflection as a separate structure  itself, focusing less so on the object in which the reflection came from.  I achieved this by choosing to take the photograph in a foggy environment with clear water, allowing me to increase the contrast to ensure the water is presented in a strong tone of white and this way I could allow the viewer to focus on the reflection itself.  I added a slight blue filter to the photograph and this way I could give the photograph a more “watery” effect.  Rather than take the photograph on a macro setting I stood further back and decide to zoom in.  I found I preferred this as it gave me a better proportions, allowing the reflections to appear bigger in the photograph but also giving me the opportunity to include more of the reflections and various other objects in the frame itself.  This type of structure is interesting to me because in a sense it shows  a slightly abstract visual pattern, a style I found particularly interesting in my last landscape project.  A slightly abstract structure to me shows my original fascination form the start of this project of how a structure despite perhaps not appearing clear as to its role and significance, still has one and we can capture its beauty and with this, appreciate its natural structure of itself, uninterrupted by anything else.

 

Vanitas Art

Vanitas is a category of symbolic works of art, especially those associated with the still life paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries

Image result for vanitas art

Image result for vanitas art

Image result for vanitas art

PHOTOGRAPHY

The incorporation of modern elements such as the Saran wrap, plastic, sugar packages etc, as well as the use of photography itself add an additional layer of nostalgia and irony when viewed within the historical framework of Vanitas painting. Both the decomposition of the natural (rotting fruit and wilting flowers) and the break down of the man-made objects, reference the physical body, life’s impermanence and the inevitability of death.

This idea of contrast between life and death implies a very deep and sincere meaning to photographs, a method that would be hard to recreate yet very effective if done so to a good standard. I shall try replicate this technique into some of my work in order to conquer this juxtaposition.

Shells in their natural environment

After taking photographs of shells in a studio, I wanted to explore how their structure appears within the context of their natural environment, and how significant the role  of this particular objects structure plays within the other structures on the beach.  Instead of taking photographs of specifically shells, I broadened my search as to more types of structure, for example: sand, seaweed and rocks.  I wanted to take the opportunity to explore other structures  as by doing this, I could compare the structure of a rock to a shell say for example.  Initially, I was considering going for a black and white theme as I had previously looked at this in my earlier blog posts on Andreas Feininger and felt somewhat attached to that idea of maintaining that so we could compare the structures of these shells directly from the studio, straight onto the beach.  However as I was offering an alternative in the change of location, I wanted to emphasise this idea of an alternative shoot by choosing to stay in colour. By doing this I have presented how natural structure appears in its normal environment and I felt it necessary to keep this authenticity.  I believe my shoot was successful in terms of achieving the idea of authentic natural structure.  However I felt that it was hard to directly replicate of how some of the studio photographs were taken on a beach.

 

Best Images

I have selected these as my best images because I wanted to provide a sense of context aside from my artist inspirations as to how I feel about the structures found in the shells’ natural environment from my earlier blog posts.  This context tome shows the sheer range of structures found in this particular environment.  What strikes me personally, is how each element of an object makes up its structure, and with this how each object makes a bigger structure of say a rock or a mound of seaweed, and in turn creates a bigger structure which is the environment itself.  The sense of scale is huge, and for me shows how structure has no limitations, linking with the theme of abstraction in structure.  In some photographs I took my photograph incorporating this idea,  others I wanted to continue with my alternative shots to my studio based work.  I believe I have shown the structure successfully in each of my photographs, as I emphasized the focus on what role within nature each object plays.  For me this is of particular importance because there is such diversity within nature that wasn’t there when I was in the studio, and that I believe it is important to consider how each individual structure within a photograph is beautiful to itself in its own particular way.  This is another reason in which I chose to take photographs in color with bright sun light warming the colors.  In the past I have focused on the significance of structure in a potentially hostile and harsh environment.  However now I chose to explore slightly more of a romanticized approach to structure.  I have shown how each structure in this environment isn’t domineering but rather each structure works with other structures in a fairer, more approachable manner, using each other’s structure to create one bigger, main structure of the environment itself.  Therefore through this I believe I have captured the importance of structure as part of a wider and bigger structure.

Inverted Shell and Plant Structure Photographs

Here I wanted to experiment with how I can use the invert tool on Photoshop to create a slightly different viewpoint of structure.  As I am exploring of how natural structure is free in its shapes and forms and is unclear to us  sometimes of what it’s role in its job as the structure is, I felt it necessary to act in a similar manner and take this idea of freedom that bit further to show the structure as even more ambiguous.  I believe by creating the effect of the colours being inverted, the structure (through the use of texture seen through various elements to the object) now potentially is seen as having a different level of significance.  I particularly like how the inverted colours allows us to see further into the actual depths of the object further showing a very intricate design as to its structure, with elements of the outside areas appearing to be slightly less clear offering us an alternative as to an insight into the structure of these natural objects.

Best Images

Human x Nature

Portraiture of women with flowers is a very effective technique which exploits the elegance of both model and flower. The vibrancy of the flowers coincides with the gentle nature of the model.

An idea sparked to combine both humans and nature in a controlled photo-shoot to get a broader range of natural structures. Previously, I’ve attempted to display the destructive nature of the human race upon other elements of the natural environment but I’d prefer to maintain a more positive tone and shed light upon the positive aspects that humans do in order to aid nature. In this photo-shoot I’ve tried to capture humans, who are fundamentally at the top of the food chain, join forces with nature which is represented by flowers. The close proximity of the relationship will be portrayed through close-up portraits of a delicate flower and an elegant and gentle model.

Although short in terms of quantity, I believe these images are very strong. Both the model and flower are very complimentary of one another in this photo-shoot which establishes the close relationship between human and nature as they coincide with one another.

Once cropped, the rule of thirds is valid as primarily, the face and the flower are both in the centre of the nine-squared grid. The focus of the image is directly on the face of the model which allows the emission of the image’s colours. The vibrancy of the pink flower, the model’s brown eyes, pink lips and blonde hair contribute to form an organised array of colour. There is clear examples of linear in the photograph as the model’s strap, collarbones, hair parting, the flower’s stem and jawline give a portrayal of structure, coinciding with the rule of thirds scheme. The flash lighting in a dark, yet controlled setting helps bring out crucial elements of the two objects in question as the model;s crisp facial definition is exposed, as well as the petals of the flower.

The stem of the flower divides up the model’s face and leaves a shadow upon the upper sector of the face. The top of the flower reaches the same height as the model, portraying the two species as the same height and essentially promoting natural equality. I’ve attempted to show the close relationship between the sincere humans who comprehend the deficit of mankind upon the natural environment and try to alter the inconsiderate humans ways, with the beauty of the natural world and try to demonstrate why the considerate humans among us attempt to save it.