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Case Study, Externally Set Assignment AS

Giorgio Morandi

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Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting apparently simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, bowls, flowers and landscapes.

Although he painted generic household objects, critics noted how his representation of these objects conveyed a sense of Morandi’s personality, monastic habits, and Bolognese environment. His tightly unified body of work would be influential for its close study of unremarkable elements of daily life, imbuing them with implications of deeper significance by emphasizing their painterly beauty and simplicity. He represents himself through his paintings and the objects he displayed which links which links to my theme that conventional objects can represent the history of a person.

With his attention to technique and painstaking precision, Morandi extended the legacy of Italian painting into the 20th century, but gave it new relevance with his minimalist style and non-narrative focus. The sparse palette, clean lines, and careful brushstroke of Morandi’s still lifes are unmistakably modern and his attention to technique and the physicality of the painted surface connected later painters with the grand traditions of the still life and landscape genres.

The image on the right  depicts a display of five domestic objects arranged on a flat table surface: a bottle, a jar and three porcelain bowls of various sizes. The objects are arranged in two horizontal rows, with the three smallest objects situated at the front of the composition and the bottle and a taller bowl at the back. In this work, Morandi uses a muted colour palette that ranges from light and medium grey to cream white, beige, pale yellow and mauve. The ball-shaped container in the front row at the lower left corner of the painting has a top section with yellow grooves and a bottom section with white grooves. The cup in the centre of the composition has a red brim and the bowl on the right side has purple grooves. Still Life is inscribed with the artist’s signature at the bottom right of the canvas.

Morandi kept a supply of vases, bottles and jars in his studio, which he used as models for many of his still life paintings in a variety of arrangements. In a letter dated 7 July 1953 the artist wrote that there were ‘several variants of the present work and the same objects also appear in other pictures’

 

The image above is an oil painting. The canvas is divided into two horizontal segments; the upper half painted pale olive green, the lower, lavender-grey. Three objects – a white vase, a short round container and a conical-topped bottle – rest on the surface. They are arranged close together, one in front of the other, and appear to merge. A sense of spatial depth is introduced through a shadow of the objects, represented by dense strokes of darker paint, that appears on the right-hand side of the composition.

Morandi's studio at Via Fondazza

Morandi painted these familiar objects in his bedroom studio at Via Fondazza in Bologna through almost the whole of his career, only shifting to a rural house, at Grizzana, in 1960. Many of the still lifesof the last four years of his life were made there, alongside paintings of the landscape, and achieve an ethereal quality in which formal similarities are found across the two genres.

The Metaphysical painting(Pittura Metafisica) phase in Morandi’s work lasted from 1918 to 1922.

Metaphysical art:  a style of painting developed by the Italian artists Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà. The movement began in 1911 with de Chirico, whose dreamlike works with sharp contrasts of light and shadow often had a vaguely threatening, mysterious quality

This was to be his last major stylistic shift; thereafter, he focused increasingly on subtle gradations of hue, tone, and objects arranged in a unifying atmospheric haze, establishing the direction his art was to take for the rest of his life.

I decided to chose the artist Giorgio Morandi to take inspiration from when taking still life pictures of objects as his style and arrangements in his paintings are what i want to recreate in my photos with conventional objects. He uses a collection or objects with simple backgrounds and neutral colours to create a simplistic yet detailed paintings.

 

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

Secrets, Codes and Conventions – First Shoot

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Planning

Task – Take 150-200 photos exploring the theme of tunnels/caves under the key work ‘secrets’

Props – I will mainly be using only the tunnel/cave and its contents as the subjects but there may be people that feature in the photographs.

Camera Settings – Due to the extremely dark nature of the tunnel I will have to use flash in most of my photographs in order to illuminate the subjects enough. I will be using this with an ISO of 100 and a shutter speed of 1/40.

Lighting – I will be using strong torches, flash from the camera or natural daylight in order to capture my photographs.

Location – Jersey War Tunnels

Context – I am looking at the theme of exploration which includes caves and tunnels for my AS level externally set assignment.

Concept – I hope to take photographs of secrets within these tunnels that would not usually be seen whilst taking inspiration from both Robbie Shone and Gregory Berg.

My Response

Contact Sheet

My Edits/Top 5

My Favourite Photograph

In this photograph I used flash lighting in order to illuminate the dark tunnel. The use of flash helped to bring out the highlights in the photograph but also create contrasting shadows within the photograph. A deep depth of field was used to capture this photograph as the whole of the photograph is in focus even the subjects in the far background. A shutter speed of 1/40 was used along with an ISO of 100 which allowed the photograph to best the best quality that it possibly could be.

I used a black and white filter for this photograph as I felt that it brought out the shadows and contrast within the photograph more. It is also more suitable for the theme of mystery and exploration. There is a very wide tonal range within this photograph which creates a more dramatic and interesting image. The texture of the dirt and rust on the subjects can be seen which makes the photograph seem more contextual and shows how forgotten the subjects are. It is quite a 3D photograph and there is a clear distinction between subjects in the foreground and the background.

This photograph was taken inside one of the tunnels that was made by the Nazi’s during the occupation of Jersey. This particular tunnel was intended to be used as a munitions storage and never reached the finished stage. This photograph shows the ruined state that the tunnel was left in and the railway system that they would use to transport materials.

From this set of photographs I am trying to look at the unexplored areas of Jersey that people would not usually see. This photograph contains old secrets of Jersey that have remained untouched and it shows that there are many of these secrets around the island that people are not aware of.

AO2 Explore Ideas, Case Study, Externally Set Assignment AS

Mari Mahr

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The work of Mari Mahr is deeply personal and autobiographical, yet addresses universal human concerns regarding where it is that each of us come from, and where it is that we each belong.

Her work has been exhibited worldwide including at the Serpentine, London and is held in numerous important collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London

I chose Mari Mahr as a photographer to research as many of her images contain a variety of objects: clocks, birds, fish, books, picture frames, eyes, stars, buildings etc. This could link to the theme of conventions as they seem to be relatively domestic objects suggesting the life of a family or community.

Mari Mahr constructs her photographs from artefacts of her past life and that of her family. She was born in Chile, grew up in Hungary and moved to London in 1972. Her father was an architect but died when she was twenty four. Her mother was a translator; work that brought her into contact with Che Guevara and Pablo Neruda. These diverse origins are represented in her work by an equally diverse selection of objects

This series Between oursleves: ‘My Daughter, My Darling’… and ‘Time for Sorow’ all use the same stage and the same backdrop within their seires; the only variations being in the lighting and in what is displayed. This simplicity is her strength, for she needs little to tell her stories; leaves for the time of year, but also for her memories. Her photographs are therefore both imitations of remembrances and completely artificial. This is clear in her use of old photographs. A story is told as if it were a myth or nursery rhyme combining a landscape and objects that carry a symbolic meaning

NEW PLACES – NEW CODES (2000)

“These are based upon recollections – sometimes vague and sometimes quite specific from that miraculous time when as a child I was trying so hard to make sense of all the people and all the things around me.”” So, existing in a kind of limbo, these images of mine might be seen as reality re-considered – things that I might or should have said at the time.”

SYMBOLS OF OURSELVES (2002)

“All through the ages and in all cultures there have been effigies made to represent us – sometimes for religious reasons, sometimes for commerce and sometimes just for play. My house is full of them.”

“I see these faces around me not as specific representations of particular people, but representing all people. This generic quality has made them especially suited to their being cast as characters with universal significance in some of my previous works.”

“These portraits are a tribute to this international ensemble that surrounds me.”

Here is Mari Mahr’s website and a link to one of her series that links into my interpretation:

AO2 Explore Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

Still Life Photography

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Genre: Conceptual / Installation Photography

Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. It is the application of photography to the still life artistic style.

This genre gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition compared to other photographic genres, such as landscape or portrait photography. Lighting and framing are important aspects of still life photography composition.

Still life images can be just about anything that doesn’t move. The definition of a still life is an inanimate object but other subjects are loosely termed as still life as well. These include flowers, food, etc. They are life forms but they don’t move. Because the subjects are smaller, lighting coverage is less and alternatively less power is need.

This goes back to a bit of photography history. In the early days of photography, exposures were pretty long, which made it ideal to take shots of inanimate objects. Of course, as technology improved and time wore on, still life photography is still incredibly popular because of product shots. Whether it’s for magazines, catalogues or websites, product shots and still life anything is very much in-demand.

The still life has always been a key tool for experimentation and development for the artist and photography adopted this tradition as well. Still Life Photography has its roots all the way back to Henry Fox Talbot (member of parliament, scientist, inventor and a pioneer of photography). Many of the early practitioners of still life photography adapted Fox’s examples and mixed them with traditional painting models. Most of this was in trying to get photography accepted as a serious art form. For example, many of the early Roger Fenton works involved typical subjects of fruit, themes of abundance and victorian style lighting.

Examples of Henry Fox Talbot’s Photography:

Still life became distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 16th century. Still-life paintings also often are in the interior of ancient Egyptian tombs. It was believed that food objects and other items depicted there would, in the afterlife, become real and available for use by the deceased. Ancient Greek vase paintings also demonstrate great skill in depicting everyday objects and animals.

As photography matured into the twentieth century, photographers such as Edward Weston incorporated still life photography in experimentation with organic forms and connections in nature.

Examples of Ed Weston’s work:

Lighting’s always important in photography, but perhaps it’s even more so when still life is concerned. The pros normally rely on either a light box or a soft box to shoot their still lifes because it provides even light on the subject matter. Even lighting makes for better, more attractive images.

In landscape photography, there isn’t much we can learn about how to set up and control light. We generally have to work with what is there and about the only control we have is the time of day. In portrait photography, we have all the lighting options: main light, fill light, background light e.t.c, but we are restricted on the amount of time we can take. If we tweak and adjust too long, our subject will get tired of waiting and leave.

As in the composition arrangement, one of the main benefits of the still life photography lighting setup is that we can take as long as we want. We can tweak and fiddle until it is perfect.

Analysis, AO1 Develop Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

Photoshoot-1

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For my first photoshoot I decided to go to the Jersey War Tunnels to look into the history side of photography and to see if any conventional objects where displayed from the past. Many of the displays were settings e.g. dining rooms and kitchens, linking into the theme of conventions and secrets.

In 2001, a permanent exhibit called “Captive Island” was unveiled in the tunnel complex, detailing everyday life for civilians in Jersey before, during and after the occupation of Jersey.

As restrictions and shortages increased, daily life for islanders became more difficult. The image below show the recreation of a Jersey home during the occupation gives an insight into the make do and mend mentality that kept residents going throughout these dark years.

I decided to display these images as a set of three as they present the recreation of a Jersey home from different angles. My favourite image out of the three is the third one as its the most natural looking one and doesn’t look like a artificial set. I also prefer this composition to the others as it has a main focus (the chair) and still represents the atmosphere of the room from a closer perspective. It focuses on the details of the objects in the corner rather than the room as a whole, like the details of the chair and the patterns within the image (the wallpaper etc) showing the historic side. The warm colours of the chair and fireplace contrast with the cold colours in the wallpaper creating an interesting juxtaposition, the blue colours emphasising the main focus of the image which is the furniture. The lighting in this image is artificial and is too harsh on the right side of the wallpaper, to fix this I will edit the image further to creating an aesthetically pleasing image that looks natural. The overall concept of the image is to represent daily life for islanders during the occupation and the idea that history and memories can be represented though conventional objects.

Picture below taken from https://www.jerseywartunnels.com/history-stories/spreading-the-news/

For those who listened to their hidden wireless sets in secret, repeating any thing they had heard was dangerous.  Words could be whispered in open spaces where there was no risk of being overheard, but some people went a step further in their efforts to spread the latest news, putting themselves at great risk of imprisonment and probable deportation.

A local schoolmaster was able to note down BBC news bulletins and type out a summary, making copies on an old duplicating machine. If the news concerned Allied positions overseas, he would trace a map from a school atlas and make copies of that too, ready for distribution to a favoured, trusted few.

Below I have displayed some conventional objects that would be found around a home in the occupation.

In the final months of Liberation, Islanders became desperate. Food shortages were acute and with no knowledge of when the war would end, the Island entered its darkest times.

A farmer's widow

One day during the Occupation, a farmer’s widow living in the country went to her shed to collect potatoes for a family meal, but was startled by an intruder. A thin, dirty man appeared out of the gloom, and looked at her imploringly, miming the act of eating - for he was starving. One of the many enslaved workers, he was clad in ragged clothes, topped with an old army overcoat.

Feeling slightly nervous, she shouted at him and indicated with hand gestures that he should stay in the shed whilst she went to fetch a piece of bread - all that she could spare. When she returned, he uttered thanks in his own language, whilst stuffing the food hungrily in his mouth.

With compassion she watched him eat, then with words he did not understand, and gestures, made it clear that he should go, fearful the Germans would discover her helping him.

A few days later the man returned and knocked on her door. Again she gave him a little food, and he smiled at her. She was once again afraid - if discovered she would be in serious trouble. She indicated that he should leave, but he stood his ground, carefully removing a needle he had concealed in his coat collar. Grinning, he gave it to her - the only possession he had.

Although these images do not contain people it is easy to imagine families using these conventional objects and living in settings like the recreation of the living room. The fact their is no evidence of people in these photographs adds to the effect of the image like the objects have been abandoned.

9 May 1945. After five years of occupation, British forces arrived to free the Channel Islands. Scenes of happiness and relief characterised this most wonderful of days, which is still marked by a public holiday and celebrations today.

Doing a photoshoot at the War Tunnels has made me realised how the stories of those who lived around that time link a lot more into the themes secrets and conventions than i originally thought. For example, those who listened to secret wireless sets were in danger if they repeated what they heard and could only do so discretely, but some people went a step further in their efforts to spread the latest news, putting themselves at great risk of imprisonment and probable deportation. Linking to the theme of secrets as people were willing to risk their lives to spread information to others that they had discovered in secret. It also links to the theme conventions as I got to see many everyday objects that were used in homes and how  many have history and stories behind them that may not be obvious at first. Also how islanders became desperate as food shortages were acute and with no knowledge of when the war would end and how they were deprived of conventions they were normal to them before.

Analysis, AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

Secrets, Codes and Conventions – Emmanuel Tecles

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Image result for emmanuel tecles

Image result for emmanuel tecles

Emmanuel Tecles is a French self-taught photographer who has a taste for mysterious, enigmatic and dark atmospheres. Tecles looks at exploration and takes inspiration from the author Tim Burton. The exploration photography that Tecles does brings to the foreground aesthetic contrasts, shadows and their opposites. Tecles says that he has always been attracted by notions of traces, memories and it is by pushing doors of abandoned buildings that he discovered nostalgic atmospheres. The places that Tecles photographs link to history and architecture. The inspiration that I will take from Tecles work is the idea to look as exploration and the lost secrets that exploration can reveal, such as forgotten buildings/land.

My Favourite Photograph

Image result for emmanuel tecles

In this photograph it appears that Tecles used natural light from the derelict building in order to cast light upon the destroyed subject. This creates an unusual environment as there is plenty of light which has friendly connotations but it is shone upon a ruined building which has connotations with being unfriendly. A shutter speed of 1/30-1/60 will have been used to capture this photograph along with an ISO of 100-200, by using these settings it allowed Tecles to capture a high resolution image with minimum grain whilst allowing plenty of light to enter the lens.

There are lots of earthly tones being used in this photograph which reflects the idea that the building is slowly being reclaimed by nature and the land is being returned to its original state. There is quite a wide tonal range in this photograph which creates contrast between the lights and darks and nature and urban. There is a 3D effect to this photograph due to the positioning of the furniture and the use of light in the background.

This photograph is one of the many photographs in which Tecles looks at destruction of urban environments, exploration and architecture. Tecles will often look at creating nostalgic scenes from these abandoned buildings which creates an aesthetically pleasing but strange photograph as he attempts to bring the history that was once the architecture in the photograph into it. Tecles also hints at natural reclamation of land by nature as the photograph shows the building falling apart and the natural light eventually leaking into the room.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Case Study, Externally Set Assignment AS

Secrets, Codes and Conventions – Gregory Berg

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Gregory Berg

Image result for gregory berg

Image result for gregory berg photography

Gregory Berg is a New York-based photographer and urban explorer that photographs parts of the subway that most people never want to see. Throughout New York City there are dozens of closed stations and platforms, some of which are decaying very quickly. Berg says “I find abandoned subway stations of maps, jump into active platforms and walk the live tracks, avoiding the 3rd rail and moving trains” which shows just how dedicated his to his photography. Some of the photographs that Berg takes shows colours and textures that are almost of a dystopian underworld that no one ever sees.

I have chosen to look at Berg as I hope to take inspiration from his work when looking at exploration. I will show the urban exploration side of his work in my photographs and hope that my photographs convey the same secrets of explored areas as Berg’s work does.

My Favourite Photograph

Image result for gregory berg photography

This photograph is taken with the dim light leaking into the abandoned subway station, this creates an ominous environment and so creates mystery within the photograph. A shutter speed of 1/30 or less will have been used with an ISO of 200 or 400 as a low shutter speed would be needed to allow enough light to enter the lens from the dimly lit area. There is quite a cold tone to this photograph which emphasises the fact that the area is abandoned and ruined. There is a deep depth of field in this photograph which allows the whole of the photograph to be kept in focus so that the long pathway can be seen.

There is not much colour in this photograph – the only colour that really stands out is the blue light reflecting off of the walls. This pushes the ominous environment that the photograph portrays and at the same time creates contrast with the shadows. The photograph has quite a dark tone in it as there are not many light tones/highlights, this creates an uneasy feeling within the photograph. There is a 3D effect to this photograph as the pathway travels so far from the foreground to the background.

This photograph was taken as part of Berg’s exploration of underground exploration of Brooklyn in New York. To me, this photograph shows how wasteful humans are as they can have something as massive and intricate as this subway station and simply brush it to the side and then forget about it. Berg is trying to show that even if it is forgotten about and run down, it’s still an amazing place to visit.

AO1 Develop Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS, Knowledge and Understanding

analysis of short film

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This slow movie was Made by Deren with her husband, cinematographer Alexander Hammid, Meshes of the Afternoon established the independent avant-garde movement in film in the United States, which is known as the New American Cinema. It directly inspired early works by Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage, and other major experimental filmmakers. Beautifully shot by Hammid, a leading documentary filmmaker and cameraman in Europe (where he used the surname Hackenschmied) before he moved to New York, the film makes new and startling use of such standard cinematic devices as montage editing and matte shots.

Technical visual conceptual:

This short film was a non narrative piece and an exmaple of ‘trance film’ towards the end of the film there were continuous jump cuts with a birds eye view presenting a power over the protagonist women herself,furthermore theses cuts created a repetition in order to from the narrative moving from the end and back to the beginning of the narrative.in which a protagonist appears in a dreamlike state, and where the camera conveys his or her subjective focus.This was done in order to connote a sense of death and fear within the women symbolized through the black figure.The figure itself has an  interesting concept to it as it had a strong resemblance to that of a symbolic figure of death or the grim reaper which is attuned to her unconscious mind and caught in a web of dream events that spill over into reality.Additionally the mirror portrays a loss of identity and also a reflection of the women’s biggest fear being seen within herself,this also successful combines secrets codes and conventions as it reflects an act of behavior and a conventional secret she is hiding from herself and perhaps.Furthermore you can see the womens struggle and an atmophere of danger when she was coming up the stairs due ot the cameras wuick turning and editing in order to express an abrupt movement .Historically this film was made in the early 1940’s so at the time was innovative and a ispired many film makers with the advancement of editing and special effects,

There are also continuous  themes of surrealism which is an avant grade movement in art and literature and was created from the potential of unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images. surrealistic cinema is a modernist approach and criticism,

Externally Set Assignment AS

Maha Malluh Artist Research

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MAHA MALLUH

Maha Malluh is an experimental artist from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In her work she explores the issues and challenges that come with the modern world in which we live, some particularly relevant to her personal/regional culture.

Related image
Maha Malluh

Amongst Malluh’s large portfolio of work there is the experimentation and exploration into photograms. A photogram is ”an early turn of the century photographic technique invented by Fox Talbot, which captures a photographic image without the use of a camera, by exposing photo-sensitive paper directly to a light source. The arrangement of objects interrupting the passage of light determines the photogram’s appearance.”

In her series of works using the photogram technique, Malluh explores ”how objects define us” and humans and also to ”tell the story of the little things in life which are priceless and give us joy.” Aside of this Malluh’s photogram works also present the changes that have occurred within her culture over recent decades and how traditional things are becoming modernised. A quote from Malluh herself in which she refers to this topic is that ”When an object can no longer operate as was originally intended, a new function through adaptice re-use can be the only way to preserve the heritage of its significance”

Here are some examples of the photogram work which Malluh has executed…

Maha Malluh’s Work
Maha Malluh’s Work
Maha Malluh’s Work
Maha Malluh’s Work

Visually I believe that within this collection of work the strong contrast between the white subjects and the black backgrounds gives the images a haunting feeling but really vividly shows the message and idea that Malluh wishes to present.

Also here is a link to a YouTube video in which Malluh’s development and life as an artist is explored…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkrmtoRuqoQ

 

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What are Conventions

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Definition – A convention is defined as a way in which something is usually done. It also is said to be an agreement between states covering particular matters, especially one less formal than a treaty.

The idea of conventions within photography can be portrayed in many ways. For example, real life conventions can be photographed like shaking someones hand when greeting them. Or the idea of taking the actual photograph in  a certain way could also be a convention of photography.

Synonyms – Practice, norm, tradition, habit, social expectations

Examples – Holding door open, shaking someones hand.

Types Of Conventions – Form, story and genre conventions.

Form conventions are the certain ways we expect types of codes to be arranged. For instance an audience expects to have a title of the film at the beginning and then credits at the end.

Story conventions are common narrative structures and understandings that are common in story telling media products.

Genre conventions point to the common use of tropes, characters, settings or themes in a particular type of medium. Genre conventions are closely linked with audience expectations. Genre conventions can be formal or thematic.

This mood board depicts the standardized conventional photography in the way it shows every day expectations and portrays a sense of normality. I believe that it could be more interesting to focus in on defying the conventions of photography or possibly photographing things which go against the expected conventions.