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.
After completing two photographic shoots so far for my Variation and Similarity project, based around the diversity of nature and zooming in on the sublime detail, I have decided to review and reflect my current work:
How well have ideas developed?
I believe my ideas have developed to a good extent after completing thorough research of photographers, contextual studies and artists before-hand. This research has enabled me to have a clear focal point of zooming in on the four categories of nature I have chosen: water, natural forms, trees and cloudscapes.
Are they sustained and focused?
Creating a 4 shoot photo plan early on in the project has really helped me to photograph what I want in a sustained way. It has given me basic guidelines to follow so I am not taking photographs randomly and unpurposefully.
Are they reviewed and refined?
Giving myself four categories to focus on photographing has helped refine my project, as nature is such a broad spectrum with so many aspects I could look at.
How many responses/ shoots?
I have so far only completed two photographic shoots, but have spent time editing and experimenting so I will end up with the highest quality images possible. I intend to complete at least two more shoots, with additional images if I am unhappy with my edited collection and feel I require more to strengthen my work.
Understanding of composition/ considering quality of light
I have completed my first photo shoot in the day time where the light is prime so I could gain the best photographs of trees and bark patterns. My shoot location was in an area of shade due to the large collection of trees, meaning I had to use the optimum amount of light so my photos wouldn’t turn out too underexposed. I completed my second shoot of natural forms early morning as the sun was beginning to rise, and there was sources of natural light I was able to use to highlight the colours and patterns up close of my photographic subjects of flowers and plants.
What are the overall quality of the images?
I am photographing using a Canon 1300d, a camera that produces good quality images. I have experimented with using a range of camera settings, like landscape and close up, white balance and ISO.
How do I respond to research?
I have conducted research on contextual studies of abstract photography, photo-realism, the sublime, and fine art. This gave me a good pedestal to base my work off and begin photographing from. Looking at and photographing nature so up-close often leads to abstract images focusing on the patterns and colours rather than the form as a whole.
How do I relate to artists references?
I have been studying a wide variety of artists and photographers, from Hiroshi Sugimoto who I will base my 4th shoot of water on, to Karl Blossfeldt and Charles Jones, who have inspired my second shoot around natural forms. My large source of photographers who I have researched online have enabled me to look at the different ways people have responded to nature in. Instead of taking inspiration from just one artist, I intend to take source from multiple so I get the best final products possible.
How have I interpreted the exam theme?
From the specification title of ‘Variation and similarity’, I have interpreted this within the natural world to zoom in on the environment closely and look at the miscellany of nature and the intricate detail within the sublime e.g. weather patterns, plants. I have looked at mundane things that are passed off as being uninteresting e.g. trees, and have tried to photograph and emphasize the beauty and spiritual nature they hold.
I currently estimate my work to be around a level 3/4 due to having a smaller collection of primary source images, but by the end of my project when I have completed all my shoots I hope to be around a high level 5/6.
After recently going to two exhibitions, the CCA Gallery and Public and Private, I was inspired through the works of the photographers regarding their pop art, graphics, album art, documentary photography and paintings. Looking back at the galleries I really liked how each artist’s work varied from the next, with each possessing their own unique perspective and style. The first gallery I visited was the CCA Gallery, exhibiting the works of Mike McCartney, Rupert Truman, and Carinthia West. Some examples from the gallery can be seen below:
Rupert Truman:
Storm Thorgerson founded StormStudios in the early 1990s where he worked as part of a creative team that included photographer Rupert Truman, who worked with him shooting 99% of the studio’s output. Storm Thorgeson sadly passed away in 2013 but the Studio remains busy today creating ‘normal but’ designs and Rupert Truman has given us access to many works from the studio, including iconic props such as the heads used in the 10cc album, Tenology, that will be included in our exhibition ‘The Eye Of The Storm‘ (Thursday 6th – Sunday 30th July 2017). Rupert Truman is one of the leading photographers in the country and has shot images of bands from Pink Floyd to Muse. We’re delighted to announce that Rupert will be at For Arts Sake gallery Sunday 23rd July from 12-3pm talking about his art and signing copies of his book. In our interview with Rupert Truman he talks to us about his work, his time with Storm Thorgerson and the future for StormStudios.
Carinthia West:
Throughout her career as a model, actress and journalist, Carinthia West, 59, has always had her camera by her side, capturing carefree moments for her bulging scrapbooks. She remembers her great-grandmother being a keen photographer, and received her first camera – ‘a plastic thing; when you wound on the film it got caught in the sprockets’ – at the age of nine. But it was when she was given her Canon EF, a 35mm single-lens reflex camera, in the early 1970s, that she began experimenting with film and exposures while taking shots of her friends. West’s first exhibition, Hanging Out, has come about almost by chance. As a tribute to her parents, General Sir Michael and Lady West, last year she started organising a show of their extensive art collection – ranging from a Lowry, which her mother bought direct from the artist, to a Lichtenstein – at the Quay Arts Centre, a gallery that her parents had helped found and build in the Isle of Wight in 1975.
Mike McCartney:
Mike McGear is actually Paul McCartney’s brother; he changed his name in the mid-’60s shortly after the Beatles become famous, not wishing to be perceived as riding Paul’s coattails. He was a member of the Scaffold, who recorded some fairly successful comedy rock releases in the late ’60s (their “Thank U Very Much” and “Lily Pink” singles were big British hits). In 1974, he recorded a solo album with plenty of help from Paul, who wrote or co-wrote almost all the songs and sang backup; fellow Wings Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, and Jimmy McCullough also play and sing. The album, which unsurprisingly recalled Wings, attracted some critical notice, but sold poorly.
After visiting the CCA Gallery we headed over to the Public and Private gallery, they were currently holding an exhibition based around ‘Pop Icons of the 20th Century – British & American Pop Art’. 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. Some of the artists who have the work exhibited are Andy Warhol, Sir Peter Blake and Patrick Caulfield. Some of their work can be seen below:
Andy Warhol:
Andy Warhol, original name Andrew Warhola, (born August 6, 1928, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died February 22, 1987, New York), American artist and filmmaker, an initiator and leading exponent of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s whose mass-produced art apotheosized the supposed banality of the commercial culture of the United States. An adroit self-publicist, he projected a concept of the artist as an impersonal, even vacuous, figure who is nevertheless a successful celebrity, businessman, and social climber. The son of Ruthenian (Rusyn) immigrants from what is now eastern Slovakia, Warhol graduated in 1949 from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, (now Carnegie Mellon University), Pittsburgh, with a degree in pictorial design. He then went to New York City, where he worked as a commercial illustrator for about a decade. Warhol began painting in the late 1950s and received sudden notoriety in 1962, when he exhibited paintings of Campbell’s soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, and wooden replicas of Brillo soap pad boxes. By 1963 he was mass-producing these purposely banal images of consumer goods by means of photographic silkscreen prints, and he then began printing endless variations of portraits of celebrities in garish colours. The silkscreen technique was ideally suited to Warhol, for the repeated image was reduced to an insipid and dehumanized cultural icon that reflected both the supposed emptiness of American material culture and the artist’s emotional noninvolvement with the practice of his art. Warhol’s work placed him in the forefront of the emerging Pop art movement in America.
Sir Peter Blake:
Peter Blake was born in Kent and studied first at the Gravesend Technical College School of Art before continuing his studies between 1953 and 1956 at the Royal College of Art in London. At the RCA Peter Blake was at the forefront of British Pop, studying alongside Patrick Caulfield, David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Derek Boshier and Peter Phillips amongst others. He was awarded the Leverhulme Research Award in 1956, to study popular art. Between 1956 and 1957 he made an extended journey to Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Holland and Belgium), and in 1961 was awarded the first Junior Prize from the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition. In 1964 he was appointed a lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London and at the Walthamstow School of Art. In 1975 he was a founder member of the group of artists called The Brotherhood of Ruralists, and from 1994 to 1996 he was Associate Artist at the National Gallery in London. Blake became a Royal Academician in 1981, was awarded a CBE in 1983 and was knighted in 2002 for services to art. There have been multiple retrospectives of his work in Britain, with the most significant including those in 1983 at the Tate and in 2008 at Tate Liverpool. In February 2005, the Sir Peter Blake Music Art Gallery, located at the University of Leeds was opened by the artist with a permanent display of 20 examples of Blake’s album sleeve cover art, including the only public display of a signed print of the iconic Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
Patrick Caulfield:
Patrick Joseph Caulfield, British artist (born Jan. 29, 1936, London, Eng.—died Sept. 29, 2005, London), was a member of the “New Generation” of 1960s British Pop and abstract artists. Caulfield’s bold paintings incorporated everyday objects in still lifes and ordinary domestic interiors and were defined by strong graphic design, black outlines, and bright, saturated colours. He later introduced elements of trompe l’oeil and photorealism into his painting. He also worked in other mediums, including graphic prints, tapestry, theatrical set design, and screen-print book illustrations. Caulfield was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987 and shared the Jerwood Painting Prize in 1995. He was made CBE in 1996.
After my initial experimentation with images, using color to respond to John Baldessari, I decided to create another response in which I would become more practical with my ideas and actually cut out parts of the image itself. To do this I would need to use a small circular object which I could proceed to cut around as an outline for the areas of photo I wanted to take out. Using a Stanley knife and a small cup I traced the outline and cut around the outskirts of the edge trying to be as neat as possible, after cutting out wanted areas on all of the photos I went onto experiment with their presentation, linking areas and using the off-cuts to put back onto the photos. Once I had create four different layouts I photographed them against a black piece of card so that more definition could be created. Overall I decided to do this because I wanted to become more practical like Baldessari who would go out of his way to make certain scenes happen, and so by me creating a response like this it would allow me to be in control of the image taken completely, warping it so that it links into my intended outcome. Here are the final developed cut-outs of the photos taken and their various experimentation’s:
For my first edit I decided I wanted to make use of the parts cut out, this is because I loved the idea of placing parts of an environment that would not typically be seen in any other location elsewhere. I chose to use the circles as a theme because of how their repetition linked into Baldessari’s work that centered around figures and form, and so by placing things in usual ways presented aestheticism for the viewer who is drawn to how the locations don’t fit into where they are placed.
For this image I wanted to layout the basis for branching various ideas for designs off on, this could consist of various linking techniques towards each circle and where they could start and end. I selected the areas with the photo which I thought captured the essential patterns and textures seen such as trees, card, sky and fields. These three different areas of the environment make up the piece and so by taking a section of it out impacts the outcome much more than it initially did.
Firstly for this image I decided to link together each circle to one another, giving each three links with the exception of the middle one having five in order to connect it to every other one. The idea behind this was to essentially link together each of the different sections of the landscape together and present the piece with an abstract and unusual object within, making the viewer think about how each area impacts the next.
Finally for this last experiment I tried to randomize how the layout of the cut-outs experimentation look completely. To do this I randomly linked together various circles making sure that two circles had a link to the border of the photo. I tried to make sure the path of the links was completely uncoordinated leaving me to cross over various paths to make a form with no actual structure in the photograph.
Overall I found that my experimentation using the four images went well due to it pushing me to create more edits outside of software, making me more practical with my photographs whilst involving me more with the actual process and outcome of each piece. I chose to use this image as the experiment because of how I thought it presented the most diverse textures and patterns within a landscape found in most of my photos.
In my project I still feel as though I need to develop the concept and meaning behind my images in more depth. I started my project exploring ideas related to nature and beauty as it is something that interests me personally. My first idea for the project Variation and Similarity was to look at repetition in nature and planned to explore that in my first shoot. I then backed this up with research into photographers. As I’ve continued in my project I found that I wanted to add another concept to the project to make my images have more of a story behind them and to feel more conceptual. I think that exploring the use of videos in my work has developed my work well as it gives my project another element.
Are they sustained and focused?
I think that my blog posts are sustained and focused so far, exploring and researching different photographers styles and the concepts behind their work to inspire me. I still feel as though I need to explore more photographers to find a definite concept behind my project. My blog posts are not as focused as I want them to be and can only become sustained when I find another concept. I also want t add my photographers analysis to understand in more depth how various photographers take their image, and also analyse how they display their work i.e in a photo book.
Are they reviewed and refined?
I think that my blog posts are reviewed and refined as I explore the concepts and meanings behind how the photographers take images the way they do and why they do it. I also explain why I chose those photographers to look and and how they link to my project. For my photo shoots I think that I review my work well by analysing my images technically and conceptually and also evaluating the shoots, stating what I could work on and develop further in my project. To make my work more reviewed and refined I could explain more throughout my project what I am doing, and evaluate each week how my ideas are developing.
How many responses/ shoots?
I have done two shoot of my own so far where i have and gone to natural areas. In the first shoot I visited St Catherine’s woods and looked at repetition in pattern and shapes in nature to start generating ideas for my project. I also took some inspiration from Rinko Kawauchi in some of the images looking at light and exposure. I think that the images from this shoot were successful at starting off my project and leading me into my second shoot. For the next shoot I visited Queens Valley Reservoir and looked at the beauty in nature and took videos of aspects I found interesting in the landscape. For this i wanted to capture the movement in nature that wasn’t portrayed in a still image i.e the movement of water, the wind blowing leaves. I think that both these shoots were successful, but i still want to push my work to develop it further. I have also done responses to photographers in class such as John Baldessari, inspired by his book ‘Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line’, representing Baldessari’s interest in language and games as structures. I also created a response to typologies at the start of my project, taking inspiration from Hilla and Bernd Becher and Andy Warhol to start generating ideas.
Command of camera skills/ photographic techniques and processes Understanding of composition/ considering quality of light
In my photo shoots I have tried to focus on light and negative space, inspired by Rinko Kawauchi. I feel as though my work is inspired by her, but doesn’t directly interpret her work which is something I wanted to do. In all my images so far I have consider the composition of the natural objects and how the patterns are portrayed. For example, some of the images in my first shoot i made the patterns fill the entire frame as I thought it made the image most effective and the markings stand out more. So far when I have gone out to take images the lighting has been over cast and cloudy, in my future shoots I plan to go at different times of day like early in the morning or later in the afternoon towards dusk. This way I could play with the lighting more and experiment with different exposures.
What are the overall quality of the images?
I think that the overall quality of the images are good and I feel as though they continue on from my last project where I looked at a natural area as well. This means I have a good understanding of photographing natural objects and landscapes. I have tried to make interesting compositions ie. making the shapes symmetrical or using the rule of thirds. I think so far that my images are taken well technically but not conceptual enough meaning that they aren’t the best they can be. Moving forward I plan to do shoots towards a particular concept to refine my work.
How do they respond to research andrelate to artists references?
My shoots respond to the research I have done on different art movements, like the romantic era looking at sublime, pastoral and picturesque in the 19th century. They also respond to the research on abstraction as I’ve focused on negative space and bold colours within the natural landscape. My earlier responses respond to typologies ie. Hilla and Bernd Becher where I photographed different versions of the same object to create series of images. My videos are responses to my research into video art and performance art, as well as the work of Edward Muybridge who was important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and in motion-picture projection. I did my own interpretation of this, looking at nature and movement.
How do they interpret exam theme?
My images and videos so far interpret the exam theme as they were inspired by looking at similarities and variations in nature. From this point I developed my idea to explore beauty within the natural landscape. Also looking at fragility and femininity when photographing. In my photo shoots I have focused on emphasisng the light in the images, looking at negative space and exposure to create the right appearance.
Kanghee Kim is currently 27. She was born in Korea but moved to New York with her family when she was 14. At that time, there was a need for more nurses in the USA, and her mother was helping to fill that gap – but their lawyer missed a deadline. Kim was never able to secure a citizenship. Eventually, she was protected under the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy, but her status has made leaving the country too much of a risk. She states: “I really miss Korea, especially over the last few years. Korea is the motherland. Whenever I see photos or hear about it I feel a bit torn.” Kim only got into photography in her final year of studying painting. It was this time that smartphones and cameras (technology) were improving; she was frustrated by how much space and materials were needed to paint. “I love walking around and being outside. Approaching photography as a painting was solving that problem” – Kim states.
Image of her book “Golden Hour”
“Golden Hour“is Kim’s second book to be published by Same Paper, (who are based in China). Its carefully-assembled pictures are taken during the magic of the “golden hour” – the moment immediately before sunrise or sunset. This is part of her ongoing body of work, “Street Errands”. Most of Kim’s images are taken in New York, California, Colorado, and Hawaii, the furthest place she could go within the states. “When I first went to California, I was pretty shocked. The sky felt so close to me. I saw palm trees for the first time, I’d only ever seen them on the internet.” says Kim. She was inspired to work with images of the sky, after visiting the West Coast. By using photoshop to manipulate and edit her images, Kim feels that she can escape, creating a “new space that feels almost like travelling to an unknown place. When I’m working on these images, it feels very therapeutic. I’m so focused I don’t think about my problems”. Making these surreal images has also been a way for Kim to appreciate what she can do within her current situation. “I used to get bored of doing the same things in the same surroundings, so finding the moments that I really like and layering them helped me to not be so pessimistic or self-pitying.”
Mood-board of Kangehee Kim’s images from her photo-book “Golden Hour”
Image Analysis
Golden Hour by KangHee Kim
This image taken by Kim is a very surrealist type of image. The way that she is focusing in on the effects of the sun during the ‘golden hour’ in the US creates this dream-like series of images. This image in particular, is portraying how sunlight creates this huge effect of beauty onto a normal scene. I like how Kim has used an editing technique process; she has manipulated the side of a bus stop (along with its shadow it creates) and placed a beautiful image of the blue sea, contrasted with the bright orange blossomed sky. She has also used a technique to make sea waves appear as if they are on the pavement. She has done this because she wanted to show that although she misses her place of birth, (Korea,) she has interpreted her current home place (the United States) to be as beautiful as her original home-town, Korea. She is implying that she loves to see a beauty in everything, and using the sun as a main focus point helps create this aspect of dream-like subject matters – this street she has photographed to incorporate images of the sea and sun would have been a plain, standard image but her surrealism artist traits has made her work much more outstanding and unique. I also like how she has made the orange sun that is being reflected on the windows of the top of the building a lot more vivid and bold; although the sun may have been reflected on these windows, it would’ve been no where near as pretty as she has edited it out to be. She really wanted to make sure each and every image in her “Golden Hour” photo-book is showing bold features of the sun and the sunlights beauty. This makes her work have an attractive aesthetic, with an orange, welcoming cover and a warming golden typography. The colours in this image are really standing out – I also like how in the top right corner of this photo, you can see a bold colour of sky blue. Her touch of surrealism has really made me intrigued into her work, and has made me realise that the sun is such an amazing factor to base a photographic piece of work on.
Kim’s work of the ‘golden hour’ links to the exam title ‘variation and similarity’ because she has made every image take an approach that pinpoints the sun as its reason of beauty and boldness – they are all similar due to the fact that they are brightly coloured and consider eat sun within some part of its photo. Yet, each image is varied from the other, as she uses different settings, as well as people, to create her creative series of photos. I have chosen this artist as one of my artist references because I am keen to follow the route of light and shadows as my exam project. I want to contrast these 2 aspects of everyday life to show how different and the different effects they create; as Kim has shown in her project, light creates a very warming, happy aesthetic, which I could want to incorporate into my work that explores light. Kanghee Kim has been a great influence into my inspiration to photograph light, as I am intrigued to do a few shoots on the effects of sunlight on different scenery. However, (as I stated in my specification,) I want to explore light as a whole – not just sunlight. This may mean I will have to capture some shoots in a studio or a dark room in my house, and use artificial sources of light, such as lamps, lighters, torches etc.
For this photo shoot i decided to explore shooting videos to portray nature as i wanted to show the movement which isn’t shown in a still image. I particularly wanted to show the flow of water in a stream or lake and thought that a reservoir would be a good place to shoot as it has different aspects of nature surrounding the water i.e. plants, trees, and animals that i could capture in video. I was also interested in recording the sounds in the landscape. As I walked around the area I took videos and pictures of aspects of the landscape that I found interesting and beautiful. I also took inspiration from abstract art in this shoot, trying to focus on lines and shapes in the landscape.
Videos
One aspect I like about creating videos of what I was originally photographing is that the different shots change after each other, comparing each angle to the one before. I also like how in each video there are different sounds of the surrounding wildlife because I am in different areas. I wanted to emphasise the fragility, beauty and existence of the plants and water and think I did that effectively. I like how in some of the shots you can tell that I am holding the camera up because of the movement giving the video a more personal effect, emphasising how I have just noticed these aspects of nature on a walk.
Images
I took photos as well as videos on this shoot so I could compare to see which was most effective. I also wanted to experiment with these images by manipulating the colours and tones within them to see if they make a more interesting image. I first started experimenting with shutter speed as I wanted to see how the images would look when I photographed moving water and the reflection of a tree. I thought that this would create an interesting series of images of the same subject of nature.
I like these images displayed together as it shows the different effects created by the faster and slower shutter speeds. The first image I chose to display was the third shutter speed I experimented with. I like this image as it still shows the details of the branches and the shapes of the leaves, but has a blurred effect from the movement of water. I don’t think that it’s bios that this image is a reflection in water and makes the reader questions what the image is of. The second image I chose to display shows less of the details in the branches and has a more exposed appearance, making the image brighter. The shares of the branches are still noticeable against the white water, but it still contrasts to the first image which is darker. If i wanted to edit these images further i could manipulate the tone and underlying colours in these images so that they could contrast even more i.e. i could edit one to be a cool tone and emphasise the warm tones in another. The third image I displayed is the slowest shutter speed I used and is the mot exposed. I also like this image as it creates a emphasised blurred effect that contrasts to the other two images, making it even harder for the audience to see what the image is of. I think that this series of images really reflects the fragility of nature through the soft blurred lines of the slow shutter speed that making the plants seem more transparent and other worldly.
In future shoot where i want to experiment with shutter speed i could use a tripod to see the effect o the water of the camera being even more still. I could also experiment with different aspects of the landscape that aren’t moving, and physically move my camera to created blurred effect.
I like these two images of elections of plants o the water as they contrast with my images from my experiment with shutter speed as they are much more detailed as they were taken with a faster shutter speed. This allow for the different directions of the ones and shapes of the branches to be noticeable. In the first image I wanted to include the tree with flowers as I thought this reflected ideologies of beauty and thought that the shape it created in the reflection was interesting. One aspect I don’t like about this image is the composition as I think that they is too many details that are over powering. I think that the combination of the flowers on the tree and the reflection is effective, but I think that the reflection in the top left of the image makes it too chaotic. If i wanted to use this image as a final outcome, I could edit out the reflection in theta left to make a more atheistically pleasing image.
The second image is he more abstract image and is harder to identify as a reflection than the first image.This is my favourite image out of the two as its composition isn’t too overpowering with the negative space at the top of the image which is then continue in the pattern of the reflection. I also like how the plant is distorted through the ripples in the water as creates stretched blurred shapes which makes a more interesting image.
I also focused flowers and plant in this shoot by themselves and in water. I chose the first image above of the whit flowers as I liked how the background was out of focus with the flower in the foreground being in focus. This makes the colours the background blend together, making the areas where the sky is more brighter. One reason I took this image is the spider web which is hanging from one flower to another on the branch. I also like the round shapes on the flowers that emphasise stereotypically feminine shapes.
I displayed the second image looking through plants to show moving water. This was one of the angles I used in my video. I wanted to display it as an image as well as i thought i could compare the two. I think that the video is more effective as it showing the fast moving water in the background which isn’t shown in the still image. Also the movement of the plants in the wind shows them more naturally. I liked the composition of this angle as the surrounding plants and leaves frame the image and make it seem as though you’re looking down through the plants. I think that the plants in the foreground being blurred is effective, with the water being in focus, as it turns the audiences attention to the bright water. I also like how the plants go across the frame in different direction as it creates a more detailed, intricate composition and how the pattern made by the ripples of the water contrasts to the pattern made by the plants.
I included the third image as it reminded me of an image I took in my first photoshoot with the same type of plants in water. This image is completely different to the first as it shows the reflection of the trees above the water. I like how the shapes and branches of the trees are still noticeable even in the reflection and make the composition of the image much more interesting than the first. I also like how there are a few brown plants in the right side of my image, adding to a range of different colours in the image.
This is another image where i experimented with shutter speed. I found that this image reminds me of the photographer Andrew S. Gray’s work who explores abstract landscape photography by moving his camera when taking pictures. He says that ‘The looseness and ability to play without being tied by the light or weather affecting the scene you’d normally be shooting is the style’s appeal to me, also the chance of creating a scene that was not necessarily there’. I think that this concept is seen in my image as the detail of the branches in the right side of the image are still noticeable, but are blurred enough with the trees in the top on the image to create an image of ‘something thats not necessarily there’. I also like the composition in this image as it’s split into three sections of different colours, reflecting ideologies of abstract art. I want to experiment with this camera technique more i future photoshoots as I think it’s effective. I will look more into the work of Andrew S. Gray.
Examples of his work:
Evaluation
Overall I think this shoot went well in exploring the movement of nature and the sounds in the surrounding area. I think that shooting videos was good way to show plants ad water naturally. For this project I still feel as though I don’t have a developed concept so I will continue to research different artists and art movements to inspire me and give me ideas. I also want to explore more with shutter speed and the movement in nature linking to fragility in nature and draw more inspirations from abstract art.
For this shoot I wanted to focus my attention around the textures and patterns found within the abstraction and isolation of photographing a single plant. Having previously looked at the works of Karl Blossfeldt I became inspired through the simplicity of his style but effectiveness regarding the plants hidden beauty from their structure and aestheticism. What I wanted to capture in this shoot was how patterns and textures can be found wherever you go in Jersey whilst looking at the wildlife, and that one such instance, in this case plants, can’t be viewed by the everyday eye but instead needs to be viewed from a closer and unusual perspective in order to properly see how the plants truly looks. I wanted to achieve an aesthetic looks like Blossfeldt’s, using a monochrome filter that exaggerates the shades of the plant, contrasting it from the surrounding environment. Some of his work can be seen below:
Once I had looked at some of his work I decided to go onto make a mind-map for my shoot. By doing this I hope to make my shoot a lot more easy for me to complete, this is because by using a mind-map it would allow me to more effectively identify what I should photograph when in the are, stopping me from taking images that would maybe distance myself from my aims. Here are some examples of my ideas regarding the new shoot:
Once I had completed my mind-map I decided to go ahead with the shoot, my main focus for the area are around the coastal areas of Jersey which have the biggest variety of plants to photograph. Using my mind-map as my primary source of inspiration I decided to take 100-200 images regarding textures and patterns. Here are my results:
Once I had completed the shoot I decided to go onto select ten images I thought best reflected the overall intention of the shoot. By doing this it would allow for me to whittle the results down to only five which could then be used to analysed in more detail and find the photo that best overall represented the entire shoot and my thought process. Here are the selection of ten images that I thought both visually and contextuall reflected the shoot:
After I had chosen the ten images I thought were most effective I then moved onto selecting the pieces that I thought summed up the shoot well. To do this I will be analysing the five that I found to be both visually and contextually appealing to me and the viewers, this would include looking at the visual, technical and conceptual aspects of the piece in order to select the image that best sums up the overall shoot. Here are my decisions:
I chose this image because I loved the textured pattern created by the branches of the tree growing out, for me this resembled a spider web where a general formation can be seen from what the branches have created, however there is a randomness overall as each branch has no sense of direction. I found that the thickness of certain branches brought together the overall piece, this is because of how they provide a sense of aestheticism within due to smaller black lines dart out of the sides of think thicker pieces. For me this is particularly effective from how the backdrop is white and so creates silhouettes of the outreaching branches, really abstracting the tree and highlighting the patterns created from it. Overall I found this image related well to the topic of patterns and textures due to it presenting the top of the trees through a perspective not usually regarded. providing the viewer with an insight into the patterns branches make across the landscape.
What I really liked about this photograph was the use of motion blur to capture the lillies and the reflection of the water. By capturing the brightly coloured lillies against a mainly dark surface of water I found that it created an unusual texture as by incorporating both on a sunny day it removed the impression of water, instead replacing it with a mirror of what overlooks the pond. The motion blur for me also added a sense of movement within the piece due to how it distorts the water surface replacing it with a pattern of blues and blacks blended together making it look almost like a convas. Overall I found that this piece went well with the topic of textures and patterns due to how the blur smoothened the waters surface whilst using the lillies as patches of vibrant circles to highlight what is reality.
For me I selected this image because of how the forms created by the wood come up from the ground as if they were an alien species, these little wooden formations jot up from the group and spread out as they lead further back in land. This pattern they create for me really provided a great contrast due to the variety of different colours which can be seen defining the shapes through things such as grass, moss and water. I found that the black border which surrounded the piece really added to the overall effect due to ow it almost boxes in how the image is represented, making the viewer question what is beyond the patterned field of wooden spires. Overall I found this piece represented the topic well due to the odd spire like structures dotting out of the ground in random patterns, for me this was a good representation of natures patterns and how they can range from normal to unnatural.
The reason I selected this image was because of the use of repitition present throughout the photo. I found this image to be effective due to how it portrays a common pattern often seen in nature through many of the same plants seen side by side often next to walkways, and so capturing it using a composition that boxes this symmetrical and repetative pattern in really abstracts it from its surrounding environment as it gives the viewer a more upfront and personal confrontation to a common pattern seen in your everyday life. Overall I found that the piece is effective in presenting viewers with an everyday view into the patterns and textures you can find almost anywhere you are.
Like one of the images above what I liked about it was the use of motion blur to create a textured pattern between both the water and lillies. I really liked the random pattern created by the lillies onto of the water which reflects the lillies below the surface, by doing this the water creates the imapression of two layers of lillies on top of each other. I didn’t however find this photo to be overall that effective due to how the lillies for me take up too much of the surface leaving little for the waters surface to be portrayed properly. Overall however I found it did relate to the topic of textures and patterns due to how the double layer of lillies represented the repetition found in nature.
After my shoot and analysing five of the images it allowed me to come to a conclusion regarding the best outcome from the entire shoot. Here is my final decision for the photograph that best sums up my aims from the shoot:
Final Image:
When looking over this image I found that it put across a great sense of aestheticism with the blacks of the waters surface and the blues complimenting the vibrant lillies which are dotted around the photograph. I really liked the underlying lillies below the surface as I thought they added some depth to the overall image with the reflection of the trees overcasting the lillies added to the contrast of the image. In regard to the topic title of textures and patterns I found that the photo related well to the title due to how the pattern of the lillies dotted around the surface with the surface of the water becoming blurred from motion which as a result added texture to the surrounding area.
In 1881 Blossfeldt began his studies as an apprentice at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung, Germany, where he studied sculpture and iron casting. He then moved to Berlin to study at the School of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum). In 1890 Blossfeldt received a scholarship to study in Rome under Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design. Along with several other assistants, Blossfeldt created and photographed casts of botanical specimens in and around Rome. He continued to work with Meurer through 1896 and traveled beyond Italy to North Africa and Greece to collect specimens. Beginning in 1898 Blossfeldt taught design at the School of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule), and in 1930 he became professor emeritus. There he established a plant photography archive that he used to teach his students about design and patterns found in nature.
Blossfeldt had no formal training as a photographer and used homemade cameras that he outfitted with lenses capable of magnifying his subjects up to 30 times their natural size. The use of magnification resulted in images of extreme detail and clarity. With the precision of a botanist, Blossfeldt photographed the natural world for scientific and pedagogical purposes and inadvertently became a modern artist. His work was considered the forerunner to Neue Sachlichkeit photography, which favoured sharply focused documentarian images. In 1926, when Blossfeldt was already in his 60s, his work was exhibited to the public for the first time at Berlin’s avant-garde Galerie Nierendorf.The works exhibited there were published in the book Urformen der Kunst (1928; Art Forms in Nature [2003]). The first of his three photo books (the other two were Wundergarten der Natur, 1932; and Wunder in der Natur, 1942, the last published posthumously), it was enormously successful and remains one of the most-significant photo books of the 20th century.
I was particularly inspired by how the textures and patterns created by these natural forms really highlighted minute details that could not usually be seen by the everyday eye. Some examples of his work can be seen below:
After looking at Blossfeldt’s work I decided to go onto analyse one of his images, here I would be looking at technical, visual and conceptual aspects of the photo. By doing this it would allow me to have a better understanding of how he goes about composing his imagery, and the composition he uses to do so. The image I have chosen to analyse is called Hordeum distichum and is part of his fine art series looking at textures and patterns within the structures of plants:
Visual: Visually the piece is extremely aesthetic, using contrast and a symmetrical appearance to highlight the various shadows and depth of the plant. By capturing the plant up close on a macro scale it essentially brings together the whole photo as it fills in a space that otherwise would be blank with symmetrical lines, using a high contrast to highlight the identity of the plant which seemingly unfolds from itself using predominantly darker shades to fill up any space which would contain negative space. The image itself has been taken on a closer level so that the viewer can become more personal with the plant, as seeing it up close presents the viewer with a perspective that might not have been traditionally provided for them. Because of this the photograph seems to make the plant into something completely different to its original appearance, as by singling one bud head out it casts a light onto it that maybe is not accessible when viewing them en mass.
Technical: The photo itself has been taken in black and white, using a black sheet of paper as a backdrop which highlights the structure of the plant, adding a sinister and symmetrical feel to the entire piece. Blossfeldt has made sure to capture only the head of the bud so that it may be presented in a overall symmetrical manner which leaves the end result more aesthetic for the viewers, as using an increased contrast making the different shades pop due to it greatly exaggerating the change in shade so that things like black are emphasized. When taking the image the shutter speed would have been relatively normal due to Blossfeldt not needing to capture any moving object due to the photo being taken in studio conditions, which as a result gives off a beautiful result which perfectly presents the head of the plant in a way not previously done before. Texture and pattern making up the majority of the piece as the photograph breaks up the plant so that it becomes more abstract, creating shapes that could not be previously seen due to a greater scope needed to see it.
Conceptual: Conceptually Blossfeldt can be seen taking this image in reference to fine arts, using a simple but effective camera angle and subject to produce a piece that is extremely aesthetic to the eye, emphasizing the shades so that they perfectly contrast each other and define the overall result of the photograph. The piece plays part in a series of photographs of bud which at the time were taken so that his students could use them to produce biology based work that could be used in class, however his passion for this kind of photograph led him to create more of the typographic styled method.
John Baldessari (born June 17, 1931) is an American conceptual artist living and working in Santa Monica and Venice. Baldessari was initially a painter with his early major works being canvas paintings that were empty but for painted statements coming from contemporary art theory. Baldessari’s work ‘Painting for Kubler’ presented the viewer with theoretical intructions on how to view it as well as the importance of the context within his previous works. referenced art historian George Kubler’s book ‘The Shape of Time: Remarks on the History of Things’.
In 1970 Baldessari and some friends burnt all of his paintings created over 13 years to create a new piece, titled ‘The Cremation Project’ and baked the ashes from the paintings into cookies then placed them into an urn leading to an art installation consisting of a bronze commemorative plaque with the destroyed paintings’ birth and death dates, as well as a recipe for making the cookies. Through this project Baldessari drew a connection between atistic practice and the human life cycle.
Baldessari began to experiment with bringing texts and photo into his canvases and then later began to work in printmaking, film, video, sculpture and photography in the 1970’s. His work shows the narrative potential of images and often incorporates language within his art. His art has been featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions in the US and Europe and has influenced artists such as Cindy Sherman.
Many of Baldessari’s works are sequences showing attempts to accomplish an arbitrary goal – an example of this is Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (1973) in which Baldessari attempts to do exactly as the title describes and then photographed the results. This project is an early-example of post-conceptual art. Another example of Baldessari’s work that links to post-conceptual art is when he used circular adhesive dots to cover up the faces of subjects which led to him being known as ‘the guy who puts dots over peoples faces’ – the inspiration for this work came from the brightly coloured price-stickers seen on sale items. As part of an experiment coming under the title ‘Play’ I responded to Baldessari’s post-conceptual work; this experiment drew inspiration from both ‘Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line’ and his work with brightly coloured dots as I attempted to capture three balls in a straight line as Baldessari did. I used the idea of throwing balls in the air to bring in inspiration from Baldessari’s work with brightly coloured dots by throwing a bright yellow dodgeball into the air to contrast with the dark grey sky in the background – this created the same effect as Baldessari’s work by creating an abstract composition that has high contrast between colours and backgrounds.
“Cutting Ribbon, Man In Wheelchair, Paintings (Version
On his work with placing colourful retail stickers over photographs, Baldessari says “I just got so tired of looking at these faces… If you can’t see their face, you’re going to look at how they’re dressed, maybe their stance, their surroundings” which supports the view that Baldessari’s motivations behind this work was to force the viewer to view the photograph or subject in an unconventional way, a feature often attributed with post-conceptualism. When asked why Baldessari only leaves the mundane parts of the photograph, as the face is the most interesting part, Baldessari responds “I think you really sort of dig beneath the surface and you can see what that photograph is really about, what’s going on”
Post conceptualism is an art theory that builds upon the legacy of conceptual art in contemporary art, where the concepts involved take a bit more priority over the traditional concern for aesthetics. The term first came into art through the influence of Baldessari in the 1970’s through his work Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line. The movement focused on the idea behind the art and questioned the traditional role of the object.
