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.”
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.
Maizi, Runcorn by Craig Easton
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) .
Cari Pierce, 16, Llanfairfechan, North Wales (Cari wrote in her native Welsh language)
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
Carry on experimenting with mirrors how I first started the task.
Use mirrors to create illusions.
Use mirrors to create social outlooks on what the image means.
Incorporating circles into my images with the work of john Baldessari and circle mirrors (maybe pop art).
To take this project in my own direction on the theme of variation and similarity I want to develop the idea of beauty ideals and views on perfection in the modern world. The idea that there is one view of perfection that people should conform to and aspire to reach rather than accepting that everyone is unique and different. I am going to look into reflections considering the artist reference of Erwin Blumenfeld and and reality and editing in the media. I want to start by conducting a simple portrait photo shoot so I can experiment with editing ideas and develop the concept further. I also want to look into celebrity culture and the new age of the influencer and how they can often create unrealistic expectations for looks and lifestyle. I have also thought about researching some theorists such as Kant and Plato and looking at their ideas on beauty, comparing them to modern ideas.
For the final set of edits I’ve made I used the previous set and then used various images from the shoots I’ve done and overlayed them on top of the original images to add even more detail and definition to my images.
For my exam, I have come up with multiple ideas with what I am going to investigate for the title ‘Variation and Similarity.’ I am interested in exploring repetition, as I have done a few shoots and experimentations to do with this; for example, the doors and windows shoot I did that was inspired by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I would maybe use some of these images and create a grid format from some of my best images of my doors and windows shoot. However, I don’t want to base my exam just on this, as my shoot inspired by the Becher’s was only a mini shoot/experiment to see if I liked this style to portray the exam title, (although, this could be an aspect of my exam). I like the idea of repetition because this could be interpreted in many different ways. Some examples of what I could capture for this title is things like: shadows and lighting, reflections, architectural structures (like doors and windows,) sunlight, colour, water, nature, landscapes and seascapes.
Another main idea of mine is light vs shadows/darkness. I like this concept as I would be showing the repetition of light rays (e.g. from the sun) and shadows. I would have to take a couple of shoots at around 5:30pm, when there is a golden hour of sunlight. However, I could also photograph shoots early in the morning, when there is sunrise at around 6am. I like the idea of basing my project around the Sun; it is a bold factor in everyday life. In Jersey, we are the sunniest island within the Channel Islands, which I think I could research further to make my project more contextual and relevant. Moreover, I like the idea of shadows as this can be incorporated in many different ways; along with light.
The binary opposite of light is darkness. I think putting these two together for my exam would work successfully as I would be showing the variation of lights and tones – from light tones to darker tones (shadows). I think exploring light can be creative and I can plan many different and varied shoots that portray light – using sunlight for outdoor shoots and other lights for indoor shoots.
I would make a specific plan on things I would want to capture. To experiment with this first, I might do a mini shoot that explores the sun and shadows on nature, for example, the sea, fields, beaches and landscape views.
Additionally, I am keen to explore another typology approach; this time, I would choose to photograph 1 interesting, unique object/building that is based near around where I live, and go back to that same spot a couple of times, (around 10 times) at the same time each day, (about 5:30pm – when there is a bold stroke of sun). I need to make sure that this object I am choosing to photograph on a regular basis is either being hit by sun rays or where there are shadows reflected on the object. I am doing this because I think that this is a unique idea that portrays the development of something specific; the object would look slightly different each time I visit it, which fits into the theme variation, as well as similarity because I am choosing to capture the same object, just on different days. From this, after a few days (maybe about 6 – 7) I would choose 2 or 3 best images from this developing shoot and include them in my project – so that I am exploring light and shadows within one specific object and how this can change over time.
These 2 shoots that I have come up with to start off my exam photo-shoots may be successful, in which I will use the images in my final outcome.
On top of this, I like the idea of illuminance; this is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area. I would like to explore the effects of light in general, not just the natural light caused by the Sun. Artificial light can create amazing photography, and I think this is a shoot I would like to experiment with. To do this, I would use a dark room and get a torch or spotlight and place it on a range of objects, or a model. To make this more intriguing, I could use different coloured filters and place them in front of the light to create a more creative, coloured series of images. If this shoot is successful, I may have to base my project around the idea of illuminance and darkness; this can be more of a general approach, so that I can use photos created by the use of artificial light as well as the earth’s natural resource of sunlight.
Mood-board of images that portray my inspirations
Overall, I think my main photography exam is going to be based on the title light vs darkness. This way, I can explore more creative ways of photographing objects/models in light as I can use artificial light and stage my photos more. With the noun ‘darkness’, this can again, be explored in more interesting concepts, as I can use shadows as a starting point for my photos on this side of the project. Yet, I can also photograph objects/models that I can create a darkness onto by adjusting the camera settings (the ISO etc). I think this would work better as I can compare two opposites that have a broader title. The variance of objects I use within my shoots links to the ‘variation’ aspect of the exam title, whereas my images will have a similarity in that they all share illuminance and darkness, (linking to the ‘similarity’ aspect of the exam title). My project will communicate how light and darkness can create similar moods – light can communicate happiness or uplifting vibes and darkness can communicate eeriness or uncertainty.
For my cut images is used a black background on a standard 8×10 landscape base, I then chose various images and cut them from the original images using the magic wand tool to create a tear like effect and then I moved them across to the black landscape base and resized them to fit to corners and areas so that other cuts could be moved across.
This is the raw image from my photo-shoot at Jersey zoo in which I planned to photograph the butterflies due to the fact that they were a common element within photo montage artwork which I have looked at in my research. I believe this is because they are an example of nature’s beauty and when added to a piece their prints and patterns give for a very aesthetically pleasing effect. I then removed the surroundings from the original image using Photoshop as this would allow me to work freely with the butterfly as a subject.I then decided to create a pattern of the butterfly and enhanced the colours within its wings.To go with this I chose this minimal architectural piece of imagery from the photo shoot in which I recorded a set of 171 postcards that relate to my theme of the world being connected due to overpopulation and capitalism. Then using double exposures I layered the butterfly pattern upon the cropped image of the architectural postcard. I did this above the grass in the top half of the image and also cut out parts of the pattern where it overlapped the building as having the pattern completely overlaid didn’t look rightDespite thinking that the previous part of my process made for a successful outcome I simply thought a pink sky would make for a nicer contrast against the green grass, hence I selected the sky and altered the saturation to a pink tone. And overall I believed that as this was it stood as a successful piece which didn’t need any more alterations, visually I believe the composition of the piece is well put together and in terms of the photograph I believe that it mainly is for aesthetics but shows the most subtle links of beauty between different places. This piece is one which I will definitely use as a final piece.
Idea 1: I have considered taking photos of peoples skin it is something everyone has in common but can also be so different, from imperfections such as spots and berth marks to skin colour I could even look into different ages and how skin changes over time.
idea 2: Reflections, opposites, using mirrors to frame parts of the body, angle and perspective, world inside the mirror, alternate reality/ fantasy.
idea 3: How people dress to express themselves and show their individuality, introvert/ extrovert.
