Concept: To capture any objects of a particular colour that stand out to me.
Lighting: I will walk around the area at night time so will have to rely on artificial light
Location: The area by my house
Camera Settings: Flash to expose the colour in objects. A larger aperture to allow in more light as it will be dark, however this will depend on whether the subject I am capturing is being lit up by artificial lights such as lamp posts.
The term psychogeography was invented by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955. Inspired by the French nineteenth century poet and writer Charles Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur – an urban wanderer – Debord suggested playful and inventive ways of navigating the urban environment in order to examine its architecture and spaces.
“the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.” – Guy Debord
As a founding member of the avant-garde movement Situationist International, an international movement of artists, writers and poets who aimed to break down the barriers between culture and everyday life, Debord wanted a revolutionary approach to architecture that was less functional and more open to exploration. The reimagining of the city proposed by psychogeography has its roots in dadaism and surrealism, art movements which explored ways of unleashing the subconscious imagination.
One of psychogeography’s principle means was the derive, or drift, defined by the situationists as the ‘technique of locomotion without a goal’, in which ‘one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there’. The dérive acted as something of a model for the ‘playful creation’ of all human relationships.
Psychogeography gained popularity in the 1990s when artists, writers and filmmakers such as Iain Sinclair and Patrick Keiller began using the idea to create works based on exploring locations by walking.
Patrick Keiller’s 1994 documentary, ‘London’ consists of many simplistic shots that acknowledge the often unnoticed scenes of London.
Behind the Lens
This exhibition featured the works of Carinthia West, Mike McCartney and Rupert Truman. The exhibition explores Britain in the 1960s-70s when Rock and Roll made its revolutionary impact on music.
Carinthia West is a photographer and journalist, whose credits include Marie-Claire, Harper’s and Queen, Harper’s Bazaar, Tatler, the LA Weekly, The Independent, The Telegraph, Saga and US magazines, covering travel, lifestyle, humour and (her least favourite subject!) the celebrity interview. She has been friends with some of the 20th century’s greatest names from music, film and society. Anjelica Huston, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Ronnie Wood, Robin Williams, Paul Getty Jnr, Neil Young, Helen Mirren, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, James Taylor, King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan, are just a few of those she photographed at both casual and private, intimate and poignant moments in their lives.
Mike McCartney was born in Liverpool 1944, he is a British performing artist and rock photographer and the younger brother of Paul McCartney. He attended the Liverpool Institute two years behind his brother. He was a photographer during his entire musical career, and has continued with photography since then. Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein nicknamed him “Flash Harry” in the early 1960s because he was always taking pictures with a flash gun. He has published books of photographs that he took of The Beatles backstage and on tour, and he recently brought out a limited edition book of photographs he took spontaneously backstage at Live8. In 2005, McCartney exhibited a collection of photographs that he had taken in the 1960s, called “Mike McCartney’s Liverpool Life”, both in Liverpool and other venues, such as The Provincial Museum of Alberta. In addition, an exhibition book was published of the collection.
British photographer Rupert Truman began working with Storm Thorgerson in the late 80’s shooting most of the studios output. When Storm died in 2013 he left the StormStudios to Rupert Truman, Peter Curzon and Dan Abott. They have collectively created album covers for some of the most celebrated bands such as Pink Floyd, Biffy Clyro, Muse, Pendulum and The Steve Miller Band to name a few.
My favourite image from this exhibition depicts Mick Jagger on Malibu Beach in 1976. The image is a black and white cropped headshot. Although simplistic, this image appeals to me as it appears relatable in that Carinthia West captures casual moments when spending time with her friends. The freedom of capturing with little time to compose or adjust settings gives the image a feeling of spontaneity. The image is also one of Carinthia’s favourite shots as a result of nostalgia:
“Not only does Mick look incredibly relaxed, but the day-old growth reminds me that he had probably been up all night, jamming with other musicians at Ronnie Wood’s Malibu Beach house. I took this shot in the early morning after one of these sessions. See if you can spot the diamond flashing in his smile.”
My least favourite image from this exhibition is the album cover of Biffy Clyro’s Opposites, produced by Rupert Truman. The reason I do not like this image as much as the others is due to the combination of reality and simulation, I cannot tell what is real in the image and what is fake. After researching the process, it becomes more clear. The cover is supposed to depict the oldest living tree in the world, located in Chile. Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil said: “I loved the original image of the tree, and I got thinking about how strong the roots must be, and how strong my band is”. They decided to include variations in the different albums by having two different locations with different objects hanging upon them: one to represent the interconnections of things – tree of life, positive – and one to represent the disconnectedness – tree of death, negative. So, mirrors which reflect, and scissors which sever. Biffy Clyro suggested the bones, to make a third variation. The tree had to be man made and taken to Iceland or it wouldn’t be the same tree on both albums. The hanging objects are central – many cultures have them – often called votive or wishing trees, intended to warn visitors of sacred ground or as offerings to appease the gods.
Pop Icons
The next exhibition we visited reflected on the Pop Icons of the 20th Century through British & American Pop Art, exhibiting artworks by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Robert Indiana, Tom Wesselmann, Eduardo Paolozzi, Patrick Caulfield and Allen Jones.
Emerging in the mid 1950’s in Britain and late 1950’s in America, Pop Art reached its peak in the 1960’s and went on to become the most recognisable art form of the 20th century. It began as a revolt against the dominant approaches to art and culture and traditional views on what art should be
Young artists felt that what they were taught at art school and what they saw in museums did not have anything to do with their lives or the things they saw around them every day. Instead they turned to sources such as Hollywood movies, advertising, product packaging, pop music and comic books for their imagery.
Although they were inspired by similar subject matter, British Pop Art is often seen as distinctive from the American version. Early pop art in Britain was fuelled by American popular culture viewed from a distance, while the American artists were inspired by what they saw and experienced living within that culture. In the United States, pop style was a return to representational art (art that depicted the visual world in a recognisable way) and the use of hard edges and distinct forms after the painterly looseness of abstract expressionism. By using impersonal, mundane imagery, pop artists also wanted to move away from the emphasis on personal feelings and personal symbolism that characterised abstract expressionism.
One of my favourite pieces from this exhibition was created by Andy Warhol. One thing I like about his work is his ability to choose the right colours depending on who he is portraying. Liza Minnelli was a friend of Warhol’s, even going on to create a collection of his works worth over $40 million. Her short black bangs, large dark eyes outlined with heavy makeup, and full lips painted a dark red stood out in the print even before they were transferred to silkscreen, which would simplify them even further.
One of my least favourite pieces is this portrait of Lily Langtry, produced by Peter Blake. As I was not familiar with the history of Lily Langtry, the meaning behind the image became less significant to me. However, after researching, I am now more interested.
Emilie Charlotte Langtry, nicknamed “The Jersey Lily“, was a British-American socialite, actress and producer in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Born on the island of Jersey, she was known for her looks and personality which attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses, and she was celebrated as a young woman of great beauty and charm. She was the subject of widespread public and media interest.
Being Human
The final exhibition showcases Feminism and represents the artwork of local female artists.
I liked this piece made from black stoneware, porcelain, iron fillings, glaze, stains and reclaimed ebony due to the meaning behind every feature. The idea for the piece originated from cave paintings and the innate desire to record one’s existence.
The 3 vessels represent 3 women in Pippa’s family, inlaid with symbols of love, life and loss. Above them, hangs a shower of hundreds of tiny ceramic fragments, marked unintentionally with the fingerprints of the artist as they pinched off pieces of clay.
The piece is heavily influenced by Barrow’s upbringing in South Africa, but also aims to represent the common human experience, in particular the limitations and expectations experienced by women of all ages and cultures.
One of my least favourite pieces was this one that looks to be either a biro, pencil or charcoal drawing. I am less interested in this piece as I have seen works like it before, even producing almost identical works myself in my GCSE Fine Art exam. This shows a lack of individuality, however the inspiration may explain the meaning behind it. Both drawings depict two hands pointing in opposite directions. This symbolises the inability for us as humans to co-operate with each other.
Using an image I took in my Lilia Luganskaia shoot, I increased the saturation of the blue in the eyes as well as brightening their exposure. This helps to make them stand out as features on the face, in contrast with the dark hair elsewhere in the image. This also fits with the statement that “eyes are the windows to the soul”.
Next, I used the frequency separation technique to smooth out the textures in the skin, I did not want this to be too extreme as this would create a false perception making the person seem unrecognizable.
The technique involves creating multiple layers of an image, before healing and blurring areas of the skin that you do not want to appear.
Edits:
Edits:
I stuck with similar shots when editing my images to resemble Roni Horn’s work. I cropped in the shots to not show the entire head.
I raised the brightness and added a cold temperature to the coloured images to bring out the pink tones in the skin.
How well have ideas developed? I have found it easy to find inspiration in photographers that use colour, as well as linking the topic to religious concepts such as the 7 Deadly Sins.
Are ideas explored and selective appropriate to intentions? I have explored my ideas directly by responding to artists with the same ideas.
Are they reviewed and refined? No, I am still considering ideas as I research. For example, after researching the psychological side of emotions, I decided that I want to look into Freud and the psychoanalysis theory in more detail.
How many responses/ shoots? I have completed 1 official shoot and have been taking pictures of things I find interesting when on the go. It becomes more personal when I capture the colour and emotions that surround me in my own life.
Command of camera skills/ photographic techniques and processes: My images have mainly required me to change exposure, especially for the images taken at night time as they were originally too dark.
Understanding of composition/ considering quality of light: I have experimented with different lighting by capturing colour both in daylight and night light.
What are the overall quality of the images? I think I could re-visit the areas shown in my images, for example the phone box could be more exposed or I could show more reflections of the phone like I did so in one image.
How do they respond to research? I have used my research into colour theory in selecting what to photograph. It has aided me in the choice of clothing that I will ask a subject to wear in order to portray the mood I want e.g. pink jacket in shoot to show the love between an owner and their dog.
How do they relate to artists references? In my photoshoot, I have taken direct inspiration choosing to capture a similar subject of a dog to portray the same emotion that the artist had portrayed – love.
How do you interpret the exam theme? My interpretation of the exam theme was the variation of emotion that people show yet there is similarity in that there are behaviours that everyone can recognise reflect a certain emotion.
At this stage, I believe my work is at Level 3 as I have not yet published my research or shown links in my photographic responses.
Concept: I will capture the various changes in facial expression, some emotions may be more obvious than others.
Props: I will experiment with the use of a spray bottle to get the same water droplet effect that is seen in Roni Horn’s ‘You Are The Weather’.
Lighting: Natural lighting, The weather will affect the mood of those pictured.
Camera Settings: Adaptable to whatever the weather conditions are. I will use a large aperture to gain a shallow depth of field and will crop the images so that only the head region is visible in the image.
In my first photo shoot, I am taking inspiration from Lilia Luganskaia’s dog image.
Concept: I will capture the relationship between my friend and their dog in a range of individual portraits as well as portraits featuring the two.
Lighting: Natural Lighting
Props: I want the subject to wear something pink as it symbolizes love.
Location: Household where they live, Beach nearby
Camera Settings: Camera settings will need to be adjusted to suit the weather and lighting on the day, I want my images to feel warm and soft. I want to show the happiness of the friendship between the dog and its owner so will choose to slightly overexpose my images. For close-up portraits, I will use flash as it makes the small details of colour stand out e.g. eye colour, pink clothing, hair/fur colour
‘Investigation of Love’ is an exploration on the abstract notion of love, determining whether photographic evidence is enough to prove the presence of love. The project was inspired by an application for a Dutch residence permit. The couple were required to share photographs of the places they visited together and things they did; objects form a story within the relationship, items they gave each other, purchased, found, or stole together. An anonymous immigration officer assessed the evidence to determine whether Russian-born Lilia Luganskaia was allowed to stay in the Netherlands with her lover.
“We fell in love and lived happily ever after’ wasn’t a satisfying answer for the grave looking officers at the Immigration Department”, Luganskaia told GUP. “They said: if you love him, you better prove it”, she added.
The collection of 514 personal objects is handled as evidence and has been photographed in a clean, catalogued environment and is displayed in the same way as a family photo album . It includes a set of dessert forks purchased at the Texel island flea market, postcards, the furniture which the couple bought together, books which they recommended to each other, letters from friends and relatives and even a dog.
The project asks whether several pictures of a couple justify love? And if not, how many more images would it take to do so? Is it at all possible to depict an emotional bond with photography? What other objects can prove love as well as the book does?
Image Analysis
The style of the image is very minimalistic due to its use as evidence. It prefers to remain conceptual, suggesting the idea of love through symbolism. The dog is the focus of the image, being placed in the centre on a wooden podium to represent its importance in telling the narrative of the couple’s relationship.
The dog featured in the series could be seen as a symbol of loyalty, between the couple as well as towards the dog that they care for in a parental manner. It says so much about their relationship in that they have obviously been together a long time, long enough to adopt a pet together, however the name of the dog is not given showing that there is still some aspects of their relationship that would rather stay private as intimate connections to each other.
Seen in the image is a lot of the colour ‘White’, in the background and in the fur of the dog. White is often seen as a representation of innocence suggesting that the love they share is pure.
The environment in the image appears to be well lit suggesting that artificial lighting was used.