For my photo selection instead of using all 10 final edits I have done, I decided to weed out a couple of images I didn’t think would work on the presentation. I thought that numbers 8 and 10 wouldn’t work so well with the other images I chose to use, as they are darker in more areas than the rest are in the majority.
So for my final presentation I have decided to use Edits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9.
English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and in motion-picture projection.Muybridge’s experiments in photographing motion began in 1872, when Leland Stanford hired him to prove that during a particular moment in a trotting horse’s gait, all four legs are off the ground simultaneously. His first efforts were unsuccessful because his cameras cameras shutter speed wasn’t quick enough. In 1877 he returned to California and resumed his experiments in motion photography, using a battery from 12 to 24 cameras and a special shutter he developed that gave an exposure of 2/1000 of a second. This arrangement gave satisfactory results and proved Stanford’s contention.
Muybridge’s most important photographic study of motion was during 1884 to 1887 under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania. These consisted of photographs of various activities of human figures, clothed and naked, which were to form a visual collection of human movements for the use of artists and scientists. Many of these photographs were published in 1887 in the portfolio Animal Locomotion: An Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements. Muybridge continued to publish his work until 1900, when he retired to his birthplace.
I belive through my past research It has become evident that my 4 primary principles of interest for my specification are, opulence, beauty, haiku and visceral. However, All of these successfully go under the subjectivity of the wonder of artistry. These all create attributes for exquisiteness into the world around us, and perhaps to see a new wonderment within ourselves. I belive I want my narrative construct of my book to have this movement of what I and others belive to see and have beauty within the world and ourselves, weather that be people or the world around us. I believe using the element of haiku and luminance to create more abstract versions of beauty. My book will also have an interesting narrative construct to each image and have a clear purpose. I not only want to present beauty, but with the twist of presenting it in a more abstract and fine art influenced manner. I will not only be doing more research into what it means to myself as an individual, what also what beauty means to others and comparing and contrasting them to demonstrate the beauty in everything. I belive with the combination of my shoots surrounding that of fine art, chaos in the media, natural beauty within a landscape, luminance and more abstract looks of a-landscape, this could combine to my project hypothesis, asking what extent do we ignore/ or should we see beauty in the world, what is our ignorance to our surroundings. To help with this, I will not only complete my own research of asking to others what they belive to be beautiful. But will research and respond within my own photography and experiments with further abstract editing processes to the images. I Have also started reading a book called’ philosophy of the arts’ and a more specific concentration of the book where it discuss the contents of art, pleasure and understanding this effect of a feeling that a piece of art and photo can give us a new understanding, love and effect of a feeling.
The book itself first starts off with discussing the effect of why we should value a piece of art. It is evident that many of my interests in art come under the influence of atheistic theory, as this is an attempt to formulate a theory of art that explains value , rather than to define what is is or determine its social function. What we seek most form art is enjoyment, just this simplicity of finding a piece in a favourable judgment, yet what is this difference from enjoyment to beauty. David Hume created the idea that that standard of taste is it agreeableness. This is then a further consciousness “to seek the real beauty, or the real deformity, is a fruitfulness an enquiry, as to seek the real sweet or real bitter’ however this aesthetic taste of what is considered beauty is a wide diversity of opinions about art that we find in the world is confirmation of this fact.
Due to my first idea being based on the fact of using fine art to develop social perceptions of media influence on are daily lives, so how we see the world based off moral fear and the chaotic causes of fake news. I belive it could be interesting to still involve this into my project. As art, as said previously, is the factor to see an aesthetic theory which is agreeable, it has to have a personal connection and reality to be considered as art but not as an unrealistic presence. So, Perhaps if my narrative construct was to focus on beauty, but not just the obvious beauty, but beauty seen within the hardships of the world, the chaos of real deformity and yet still to be considered as art, perhaps this is the most powerful way which I could show beauty. It creates the construct of social realism, and so does not separate the audience from what they belive is the reality that they see. This too even connects with the philosophy of HAIKU, as that originates from finding the beauty within the minimal, so in these terms, could be even within the pain of reality. So perhaps my specification should be: finding the beauty using the aesthetic theory of the haiku, within the chaotic media and the beauty into the everyday.
I have chosen to look into the work of Erwin Blumenfeld after seeing his photographs incorporating mirrors, I was interested in woking with reflection in this project because of the link it has to variation and similarity, the idea of perspective, opposites and repetition. After researching him more I have found more parallel with his work and my ideas, for example his work with fashion photography where he experimented with shadows, multiple exposures and colours which for his time were all very new and experimental. I am also interested in the fashion industry at the time that he was taking photos and the concept of the ‘perfect’ or ideal model we can see in all his work. This idea if currently being challenged within the fashion industry and I am interested in showing the contrast between his work and more modern versions.
I want to conduct a variety of photoshoots influenced by his work, one using mirrors and reflections, these photos will be very minimal showing variety of perspectives using the mirror concept helping to frame specific sections of my model. The second will be using colour, I hope to experiment using colour films over lights in the studio to create shadow and repartition in shapes. After this I will reflect on my work and see if I want to respond to any of his other work.
This video shows a variety of the moving images that Erwin Blumenfeld produced throughout his career. I am particularly interested in the work he made using mirrors and repetition of an image. In one of the videos we see a women with bright hair smoking and looking in the mirror, this is an interesting still due to the use of colour connection with the blue tones in her makeup matching the posters on the wall. as the video goes on the model starts to make different movements to her reflection and eventually passes the cigarette through the ‘mirror’ before both the reflection and the ‘real’ girl turn to face the camera. This creates and interesting concept questioning reality and perception.
This concept reminded me of something similar I had seen on Instagram, where MLMA creates and posts images and videos which can be linked very heavily to surrealism and the idea of reality and fantasy. A lot of her work comments on the modern society and the generation of social media in a comedic way. She edits images of herself with eccentric makeup and outfits to create imaginative pieces of art often focused on the ideals of beauty. I find the contrast between MLMA and Blumenfeld’s work very interesting due to the time and culture differences and would like to see how I could use both their works simultaneously as inspiration for my own work.
Erwin Blumenfeld, born in 1897 in Berlin is a photographer who emigrated to the united states in 1941. In America he became a successful fashion photographer working for Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and also doing freelance work. Dadaism and surrealism had strong influences in his personal work using laboratory work, distortion, multiple exposure, solarisation and photo montage.
Dadaism: Artistic movement which peaked from 1916-1922 (conceding with world war 1) around the idea of the meaninglessness of the modern world.
Surrealism: Influenced by Dada, an avant-garde movement in the 20th century which developed the idea of the unconscious mind, displayed in work through irrational juxtaposition.
He was given his first camera in 1907 by his uncle after surviving an operation on his appendix and immediately started experimenting with light and shadows. In 1913 his father has a breakdown leaving the family with no money, Erwin can no longer study and takes up a apprenticeship at a women’s wear manufacturer. He also spent a year serving in the german army until the end of the war in 1918. Whilst running a leather goods shop in Amsterdam in 1921 he starts taking photos of his clients which he develops in a darkroom at the back of the shop. His work was first publish in the french Vogue in 1938 after being recommended by Cecil Beaton who admired his work. He had an obsession with photographing ‘beautiful’ women reflecting the beauty standards at this time, most of the models in his work have a similar look, pale skin, red lips, thin frame and blonde curly hair usually styled tide up.
“Photography is so easy a medium to use, the box camera, a roll of film, a snap – a picture! Photography, the art, is so immensely difficult because it is so easy to get a picture of sorts. One must work hard to smuggle anything into a photograph other than record keeping.”
Erwin Blumenfeld
Craig Easton is a Scottish photographer who, through his works, explores identity and the sense of place.
Within the documentary tradition his work often combines expansive landscapes with intimate portraits. He often contextualizes his photographs by offering the protagonists of his portraits the possibility of expressing their own voice through handwriting that he incorporates into the final images.
He received the Cutty Sark Award for World Travel Photographer of the Year 2012/13, and most recently the Landscape award at Travel Photographer Award of the Year 2016/17.
The project ‘Sixteen’ is a collaboration project with 16 photographers from around the UK, with the leader as Craig Easton. The main object of the project is to give a voice to the younger generation, to let them speak about their dreams, fears, ambitions and hopes for the future. With the project the photographers hope to photograph a range of different upbringings, social backgrounds, ethnicity, gender and locations.
The idea of the project came in 2014 when Scotland was holding a Referendum for Independence from the UK, this was the first and only time ever that sixteen were given the right to vote in a government vote in the history of the UK. Craig went and photographed young people who’s birthday was on the day of the referendum ( September 18th, 2014) .
As the project developed he went and photographed sixteen years around the areas of Liverpool and North Wales from a cross-section of society. The images range from the Traveler community to recent refugees from Iran and Syria, he asked the participants to write their own testimony on the fears that they where facing to give them the change to speak openly without a filter. Craigs approach of presenting the handwritten texts alongside the photographs was adapted by the entire group of 15 photographers working on “Sixteen.” But many of them are exploring other methods audio, video of giving these young people a voice in addition to the texts.
SPECIFICATION: Write a specification with 2-3 ideas about what you are planning to do; how, who, when, where and why? Use images to illustrate your ideas
