Creating paintings and creating photographs are two different processes. Often a painting presents what was truly seen at that moment in time but a photograph can be manipulated to show people what they want to see. My decision to appropriate old paintings of different meanings into current photographic pieces made it difficult as I would not have all the features of the artwork, such as the location, or the items of clothing. My ability to use the things that I have would be my advantage to creating identical pieces to the artists but I learnt that I did not need to ‘copy’ their work. Resembling the important meanings that these artists used like the photographers who appropriated them allowed me insight into using the same meanings but with current conventions.
Category Archives: Externally Set Assignment AS
Filters
Displaying My Final Images
I displayed my photos in frames to resemble fancy paintings that hang up on walls. I believed this would give my images the appearance of more status. The frames also made the images themselves feel more historical demonstrating their secrets and meaning.
Final Image Choices
I chose these two images as they are representative of two styles of paintings, Vanitas/Still Life and Portraits.
The Portrait image resembles Gwen John’s work from the model to the choice of clothing. This allows it to share meaning with the original piece of art whilst also gaining more meaning from the secrets behind the more modern subject. The light hits the subject’s face creating a subtle shadow that doesn’t destroy the image with harshness. The model stares intensely directly at the viewer allowing a link between their two lives, creating a more personal feel.
The Vanitas image holds a dark atmosphere in both visual and conceptual terms. It accurately represents the meaning of inevitability of death by the choice of items in the image, from the skull to the lit candle to the books, all common features of the vanita style. Although I took this image with a simple background, it still appears interesting by allowing the viewer different items with different stories to analyse.
Vanitas Edits
I applied filters to all these images to make the orange tones in the skull, candle and books stand out more. I reduced the exposure to make the background darker, and to emphasise the shadows on the skull.
Dan Bannino/Vanitas Response
Photoshoot Plan:
Concept: Vanitas Paintings use certain objects to represent the inevitability of death
Lighting: Dark setting with a spotlight on the objects
Props: Skull, Candle, Feather, Books, Coins, Jewellery, Sage
Location: Simple black background to put the focus on the objects in the foreground
Camera Skills: Quick shutter speed to capture the flame without blurring it
Dan Bannino | Vanitas
Someone described Banino’s work as “Pop-Renaissance” or “Pop-Baroque”, mixing popular culture and Old Masters. He has gained international recognition with his photos and has been published internationally in a variety of magazines including National Geographic, The Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan and many others.
His work resembles the style of famous Vanitas paintings.
The two images above are examples of Vanitas Paintings by Pieter Claesz.
Image Analysis:
The image uses little lighting except one spotlight that hits the objects, this guarantees the viewers attention will be on these objects.
I believe the photographer would have used a quick shutter speed to take this image as there is a cloud of smoke that appears still above the candle
The arrangement of the items in this image help tell the story of the person who owns them.
Dan Bannino’s ‘Niche of Wonders’ dedicates personal collections of items intended to reveal something about how their owner saw the world. His inspiration came from the historical items people owned in the renaissance era.
This provides the vanitas style without the meaning of death, however is personal to owner and reveals mysteries about them.
Tom Hunter | Edits
I applied the filter to all my images to give them the same temperature effect as Gwen John’s self portrait has. I chose these as I felt the shadows in the images don’t take the attention away from the subject in the centre.
Tom Hunter Response
Photoshoot Plan:
Concept: The self portrait of Gwen John shows her isolation and struggle for recognition in a career dominated by men.
Location: I will position my model near a window with a clear background
Lighting: Natural Lighting from the side to create the similar soft effect and light shadow on one half of the face.
Camera Settings: Just clear focus on the subject
Props: I chose my model as I thought they looked similar to Gwen John. They will wear a shirt, tie and necklace backwards and ring earings. They will hold a grey cardigan over their arm.
This image is the inspiration behind my images. It is titled ‘Self-Portrait’ By Gwen John.
I decided not to use any of the images that had too many shadows in them.
Tom Hunter & Various Artists
^Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth
Tom Hunter is an artist using photography and film, living and working in East London. He is Professor of Photography at the London College of Communications, University of the Arts, London, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of East London. Tom has earned several awards during his career, his latest in 2016, the Rose Award for Photography at the Royal Academy, London.
^ Ophelia by John Millais
^The Geographer by Johannes Vermeer
Many of Tom’s series show he is inspired by famous artists such as Johannes Vermeer and John Millais, He even takes inspiration from Biblical Tableaux paintings.
Image Analysis:
-In Johannes Vermeer Painting titled ‘Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window’ the open window is on one level intended to represent “the woman’s longing to extend her domestic sphere” beyond the constraints of her home and society, while the fruit “is a symbol of extramarital relations.” The letter that she holds is a love letter either planning or continuing her illicit relationship. Tom Hunter re-imagines this image in current times showing a woman reading a possession order that tells her she has to leave her home.
-Hunter uses natural lighting to hit the side of the woman’s face allowing for emphasis of her emotional state.
-The ISO that Tom uses appears to be low as the image is mainly darker in tone. This is used as an advantage to give focus to where the light hits, the woman and the baby.
Richard Tuschman and Edward Hopper | Edits
Like Tuschman, I was more inspired by Hopper’s Style to create my own work. Similarly, I used one subject in my photos to share the same meaning of isolation. In my photos, you can never see the eyes of the subject. This is supposed to deny the viewer from seeing the ‘windows to the soul’ and adds mystery to how the subject feels. I added the filter to reduce the warm temperature that was in the original images.
This image titled ‘Jo Sketching At Good Harbor Beach’ by Edward Hopper was probably my biggest inspiration for these images as I liked how the viewer was denied access to the eyes of the subject. It was also the reason I chose to feature a hat in my photos.