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Analysis of Futurism Artwork

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Below are two photographs that have been made in response to the manifesto of Futurism – ‘Dynanism of a Car‘ by Luigi Russolo and ‘Dynanism of a Soccer Player’ by Umberto Boccioni.

‘Dynanism of a Car‘

Luigi Russolo, ‘Dynamism of a Car’

The colours within this work are very intense – the yellow colours make the viewer think of the headlights of a car as well as the red. This use of hot colours throughout the work adds to the feeling that the car in the painting is going at a very fast speed – which could reflect how Futurists feel about how the world should be. The use of the hard hot colours creates a contrast with the black of the de-constructed car which creates a more sleek and eye-catching design. The use of the yellows and reds have connotations to fire and the way the colour fades out in places can be seen as patterns that would be seen in a physical flame. There is no 3D effect within this photograph but there is an intense feeling of direction within it. The shape of the aero-dynamic modelled car can be seen even though it has been deconstructed and re-arranged. Russolo added to the affect of the aero-dynamic shape by horizontally stacking red arrows pointing in the direction of the car’s motion in order to give a sense of direction and movement within the photograph. ‘Dynanism of a Car‘ takes a car and de-constructs it into new entities that are then re-arranged into a new interpretation of the same car – this shows Cubist influences which was another artistic movement that de-constructs the subjects.

This piece of art by Luigi Russolo, titled ‘Dynanism of a Car‘ is a great example of the type of work produced during the movement of futurism in Italy.  Futurism is a rejection of the past and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, youth and industry.  Futurists insist that literature will not be overtaken by progress, rather, it will absorb progress in its evolution.  This art was produced in 1912 and produces an image reminiscent of chronophotography by introducing the time dimension of speed in painting.

The painting was produced in 1912 but the image seems to display a modern bat-mobile type supercar which shows the forward-thinking attitude within Futurism.  Russolo is trying to convey the idea of motion by creating the impression of soundwaves in the front of the car. Russolo would often focus on the technological innovation and the visual manifestation of motion which can clearly be seen within ‘Dynanism of a Car‘.  The picture is also  similar to physics textbook pictures illustrating the Doppler effect which supports the idea that Russolo was intending to show the compression of soundwaves through this photograph.

An illustration of the Doppler Effect

‘Dynanism of a Soccer Player‘

Boccioni uses highly contrasting colours in ‘Dynanism of a Soccer Player‘ along with extremely vibrant hues divided into sections that are reflective of rays of light – possibly coming from around the football stadium. Boccioni is focused on representing these vibrant colours and a sense of dynamics of movement within the painting rather than depicting the player. The dynamic movement feeling spread throughout the painting is done through abstract shapes of different opacity overlapping eachother – which has Cubist influences, similarly to ‘Dynanism of a Car‘.  The work is intended to show a soccer players dynamic movement through an abstract series of shapes and kaleidoscopic colours. The soccer player is dematerialized into a luminous array of colours which could be seen as the colours and lights seen in a typical football stadium in which there are seas of fans in different coloured football kits supporting the soccer players.  The only part of the soccer player that can be made out is the calf at the centre

‘Dynanism of a Soccer Player‘ was produced in 1913 by Futurist artist Umberto Boccioni who was a member of the Italian Futurists – a group of artists active around World War 1, which is a rejection of the past and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, youth and industry.  Futurists are firm believers of moving technology and life forward at a fast pace, which can often be seen through their art.  . This piece demonstrates a quote from Boccioni from 1910, he said “To paint a human figure you must not paint it; you must render the whole of its surrounding atmosphere…movement and light destroy the materiality of bodies”.

Through abstraction and sense of dynamic movement Umberto Boccioni has challenged the conventional stillness of paint on canvas in order to create something exciting and different to the viewer. The viewer is forced by Boccioni to rethink aesthetic sensations and their original perception of surrounding objects due to the chaos of abstract shapes within the painting.

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Anylsis: Manifesto on surrealism: Artist:2 ,Sophie Calle

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Sophie Calle  was Born in 1953 in Paris, Sophie Calle is a French artist who has exhibited extensively throughout the world since the late 1970s. she would describe herself as a conceptual artist,photoghroher and movie director and sometimes goes as far to say she is a detective. She has developed a practice that is instantly recognisable. Calle’s work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constraints, and evokes the French literary movement of the 1960s known as oulipo.  Her distinct narrative and frequent combination of images wihtin a text. exhibit of her projects she uses in order to capture a chapter of system references and is said to ‘echoes where Calle often blurs the boundaries between the intimate and the public, reality and fiction, art and life.’ Since the 70’s she has merged in the unveiling of what is reality and her own controlled chance of reality how allocated reality is to herself.  Her deceptions of human vulnerability, and examines identity and intimacy recognises the ability to investigate in private lives.She now teaches as professor of ilm and photography in Switzerland and has lectured in many schools across the state.

Calle’s views the ending of a suffering relationship a point of glee and unconfined positivity. The worse the break up the better the art, through experiencing pain you allow yourself to start calculating how best to exploit it. she has a Frame of work called Exquisite Pain, it contains a period of images and grief experienced over many years. She wanted to point out how she associated every bad relationship with the society around her and the way in which the untouched box was her tough harsh memories or the relationship and when she was ready to deal with it she exploited her harmful past thoughts into art.Her work contains love letters, air tickets and remembered conversations from her and her past relationships, her work shows an evolution taking the observer through 92 days leading up to her being abandonment and then the recovery after the break-up itself. she took a physical trip in order to show the physicality of leaving her boyfriend behind. she made complicated relationships of where to travel. This was relevant as she was left for someone else while he was away on holiday. She wants to portray her methods of getting over ‘shock’ by recounting her misery with everyone she meets, and how this emotion gradually diminishes. the words seen over herself in the above image are from the all the taped words of the gloomy and outpouring relationships she had with friends and strangers. It was said. ‘For the Paris exhibition on which the book is based, she had the texts embroidered on to large wall hangings, which were placed next to her photographs and her assorted bits of break-up memorabilia (images of the clothes she was wearing on that day, the red telephone he called her on to say she was no longer the one’

I believe I can use her influences of her work through the way she conceptual words to be formed into images of herself, her reality it her pain and yet how she exploits it to others in order to get feedback fo her situation. I think this is fascinating as you get opinions of yourself from strangers. This to me shows her aims of surrealism as this is a clearly coal from of feeling projected to the physicality of someone themselves.

Her work links to surrealism through the disposition of of objects feelings and people. Her main purpose is the way in which people feel emotions between people. I find it interesting how she started through the aim of using tapes to then link to more abstract thoughts of using objects to link to the history and past of people. this from of reality,politics and her main manifesto inspiration of surrealism really contributes to making such simplicity yet beauty In the new contemporary arts. Within this set of images she want sot relate objects to people and form a sense of identity through this. This to me has an almost typological reference to it. The images convey the personality of a person yet without showing who they are directly themselves. Although her worksheet would not say is done in order to signify a suggestion of self help, it does through the narrative create a less hysterical and more detached as the weeks pass is a soothing demonstration of how misery fades. Her stories of how stories of peoples distress are captivating and beautifully shown through the writing written across themselves.The project from being merely contrived and pretentious, or an exercise in self-indulgence. She has said that “Anybody who stopped to ask me why I was crying, I would tell them,” she says. “My friends were all asking about the exotic trip that I had been on, but all I wanted to talk about was the end of my relationship. Sometimes I would be crying alone in a bar and someone would ask me what was wrong, and I’d explain to them, and I’d get talking.” her work has such a clear narrative yet still has access to so many relevant and successful themes throughout. I will definitely experiment within hertechniwues of using text, tapes and possible objects in order to connote a feeling and story that has happened to a person. The could be further indulged to me possible using a family member. Her aspect of reality is also connected to my work already and I think this is relevant as it allows myself to bend the truth as no ones reality is similar.

when comparing the artists her work has such a strong juxtaposition to my previous artist Rits, as her work is not meant to be seen as a romanticism of the world we live in and echoed as a dream, but a subsided from the reality of words covering us and explaining what our identity is said to be. Both artists however use the use of projections throughout their work, both be it is completely different styles and circumstances but both in order to connote a story wether that is just beauty or an emotional narrative such as Calle. I think he combination of these two very separate artists will result in an interesting manifesto which will then lead me to a interesting shoot.

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Manifesto Research

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A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, government or an artistic movement.  The word manifesto is derived from the Italian word ‘manifesto’, which is derived from the Latin ‘manifestum’, meaning clear or conspicuous. A political manifesto  A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or promotes a new idea with intentions for carrying out changes the author believes should be made.  In particular, political and artistic manifestos can be interesting.

Political Manifesto

A famous political manifesto is ‘What Is To Be Done?’ by Vladimir Lenin, published in 1901. It is a political pamphlet written by Lenin, who is a Russian revolutionary who said that the article represented “a skeleton plan to be developed in greater detail in a pamphlet now in preparation for print”. The title ‘What Is To Be Done?’ by the novel of the same name by a 19th century Russian revolutionist  Nikolai Chernyshevsky. In this political manifesto, Lenin argues that the working class will not become political simply by fighting economic battles with employers over situations such as wages and working hours. In order to convert the working class to Marxism (the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which were later developed by their followers to form the basis of communism), Lenin insists that Marxists should form a political party of dedicated revolutionaries to spread the ideas among the workers. The main points in the political manifesto are:

  • Lenin confronts the Economist trend in Russian Social Democracy
  • Lenin states that workers will not spontaneously become Marxists just by fighting battles over wages, rather they need to form a political party to publicise their ideas – he says that to understand politics you must understand all of society, which the workers need to learn to do.
  • Lenin speaks about the wave of strikes in late 19th Century Russia and says “the history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own efforts, is able to develop only trade-union consciousness”.

Below, I have included an extract of the political pamphlet in order to show an insight to the language used, the vision and metaphors.

Artistic Manifesto

A very good example of an artistic manifesto is the Futurism manifesto which was written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and published in the French Newspaper ‘Le Figaro’ in 1909. In the Futurism manifesto, Marinette expresses Futurism as a rejection of the past and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, youth and industry. The Futurism movement places action over sentiment.  Futurists insist that literature will not be overtaken by progress, rather, it will absorb progress in its evolution. Man is reacting against the potentially overwhelming strength of progress. Below, I have written out the founding manifesto of Futurism for both research and comparison purposes:

  1. We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness.
  2. Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry.
  3. Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer’s stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap.
  4. We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.
  5. We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth, along the circle of its orbit.
  6. The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.
  7. Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man.
  8. We stand on the last promontory of the centuries!… Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed.
  9. We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman.
  10. We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice.
  11. We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chested locomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like the hooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; and the sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.

Similarities and Differences

Some of the similarities between the political manifesto, ‘What Is To Be Done?’, and the artistic manifesto of Futurism are:

  • They both aim to make it heard what they believe in
  • They both state what it is that they are going to be doing.
  • They both have key points and beliefs from the author
  • They both give a deep insight to the mind of the author/show how they feel about society or their situation.

Some of the differences between the political manifesto, ‘What Is To Be Done?’, and the artistic manifesto of Futurism are:

  • Political manifesto’s aim to persuade the reader of their views, whereas artistic manifestos state their views as they are for them and not for those that disagree.
  • Political manifesto’s point out points of injustice in society and attempt to give the reader something to believe in through claiming to change this injustice, whereas artistic manifestos focuses on the individual and what they want to be/who they could become through the manifesto.
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BREAKING THE RULES – RULE OF MANIPULATION

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Image by Paola Paredes

Alice Wielinga – North Korea: A Life Between Propaganda And Reality, 2013-2014

EIGHT 'RULES' OF PHOTOGRAPHY THAT ARE WORTH BREAKING
A photographers work is often manipulated by a set of rules that have been drilled into the mind when learning how to use a camera. These rules are often followed through in photojournalism when it comes to documenting scenes, places and events. The rule forbids a photographer to manipulate an image digitally as it is often believed that a good photographer can take the perfect photo in the moment. However, manipulation can be looked at in different ways. When looking at a photograph which has been produced to record a series of events or a culture for example, it is a usual standard for the audience taking in the image to trust that the photographer has not staged or changed the scene in any way. However there is always an underlying pressure for a photographer to create an image that looks perfect or in a sense aesthetically pleasing for an audience to like and accept it. If the underlying statement for a set images has a political message, producing an image to have an impact and to be thought provoking towards an audience is almost impossible without having some control over the image you produce other than the chance of coming across a scene at the right place and time. 
Manipulating an image can be done during the process of taking the picture and editing or even by changing the caption. This can give the opposite connotations of what the original image had and can move the audiences viewpoint or focus on a photograph. For example, a news story will usually be accompanied by an image. If the editor was to change the headline of the image it can either change the image to be positive or negative; changing how someone can perceive a photograph.

PAOLA PAREDES Paola Paredes created a body of work through redeveloping the visual representation of a set of images from Jean-Martin Charcot's 'evidence' of 'hysteric' women through digital technology, handmade collages and stitching, turning his imagery into animations. 'Transforming this once static archive into one now dynamic and contemporary'. 'These experimental pieces seek to increase awareness of a time when the field of medicine subjected women to abhorrent treatment'.
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research: Comparison of manifesto, animal farm and surrealism Andre Breton

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what is a manifesto? a manifesto is. verbal declaration of intentions, motives,views and issuer, this could be seen within creativity making  a creative video of art, or either a political party and a governmental movement. It is derived from the meaning of clear and conspicuous. This to my mind means my manifesto has to have clear cut conventions and portray a clear and genuine state of mind. There are many art movements that contextually produces a variety of opinions and aims.

political manifesto: The political manifesto that I have researched into is ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell’ Animal farm is a paradigm-changing novel written by the democratic socialist and observer writer George Orwell is a satire aimed at undermining Stalin and, as crucially, the admiration in which he was held by many in the British intelligentsia. The story is led by two pigs napoleon and snowball, they have the intentions to take over major farm with the act of revolution in order to run so in a new name of equality. Napolean is seen to drive away Snowball and strive through abandoning their previous pans of social improvement. He starts to work other animals to dust and is soon seen to be a direct carbon copy of that of the farmer. The key phrase of the book is when it is displaced that “all animals are equal” , “but some are more equal than others” . This story It highlights the morals of byword for how Stalinism worked and was practised. And due to this manifesto it snuffed the political chances of the British communist party of being a large political force.

It is interesting because although animal farm was not written in the form of a normal political manifesto,but a novella short story. Yet it was still written in order to compare the ideals expressed in the novellas compared with the fundamentals of communist manifesto written by Karl Marx. The story reflects a period during Stalin era in Russia. Many of marx’s ideas can be found in Orwells character, this is because Orwell had an influence wihtin Marx’s text. Karl Marxs manifesto Is said to be ‘worlds most influential political manifesto ever created’. this has been said as it argues:the lower classes are under pressure of their owners and that the lower class can be able to achieve their goals to overcome their problems by the formation of unions or riots. It also states the capitalism should be overthrown because communision is the only way for equality among the people. In the third section of the Communist Manifesto, “Socialist and Communist Literature,” the authors discuss the differences of communism and other socioeconomic systems. In their conclusion, “Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Opposition Parties,”The Communist Manifesto is divided into a preamble and four sections.  the main issues wihtin the manifesto was: In capitalism, the industrial working class, or proletariat, engage in class struggle against the owners of the means of production, the bourgaeaie As before, this struggle will end in a revolution that restructures society, or the “common ruin of the contending classes” HIs views on political issues to summerssise where how if poor pope;le keep being treated and overpower by the corrupt and Conservative party,they will rebell in order to abolish the class system. he believed the idea of equality and founded Communism,yet his theories were seen distorted by those in high class powers making no real change to those who needed it.

now the comparison of animal farm and Karls manifesto is evident. and clear seen below:

RUSSIAN   REVOLUTION 

1) Oppressed by the Russian Empire before the Russian Revolution
2) Karl Marx was widely recognized by his knowledge and philosophies3) Marx wrote the “Communist Manifesto” which recorded his principals and theories of abolishing the class system.
4) Marx’s “Communist Manifest” is convinced to be what Communism is based on. The idea of equality motivated Stalin and Lenin to start the Russian Revolution, which overpowered the Russian Empire.
5) However Karl Marx did not live to see the Russian Revolution that took place in 1917. He was then buried in Highgate Cemetery, North London. 
6) After the Russian Revolution, Karl Marx’s theories were distorted by Stalin, the Soviet dictator. He manipulated the people of the Soviet Union with violence and cruelty. 

Picture

ANIMAL FARM

1) Oppressed by Mr Jones before the rebellion of the animals on Maor Farm
2) Old Major was a ‘highly respected’ boar by all the animals in the farm. 
3) Old Major expressed his initial idea  for all animals to rule and live freely through his speech in the ‘big barn’ 
4) Animalism convinced the animals that they are being oppressed by humans, and roared with their “wildest excitement”  Major’s speech then inspired Snowball and Napoleon to initiate the rebellion against Mr Jones.
5) Old Major died ‘three nights later’  without having the chance to witness the animal’s revolution. The animals buried his body at ‘the foot of the orchard’
6) After the animal’s revolution against Mr Jones, Napoleon took charge of the Animal Farm. He abandoned the initial ideas that Old Major proposed, and corrupt the principles of Animalism. 

Now this was the most influential political manifesto ever to be created, yet was still abolished and twisted due to governmental powers guaranteeing a set of rules and yet not being compliant. This to me purposes the overall ideal that political manifestos are what the people want to be done yet are not taken into action. I believe when comparing to my more creative art manifesto this will be the large difference; that being the outcome and if the manifesto becomes a reality.

artistic manifesto: As I myself view art as my passion dn would hope to see a future career wihtin it, I personally believe artistic manifestos should be held to the same level of important as those of political manifestos. When researching two features of contextual art movements instantly stood out and these were, surrealism and futurism.The manifesto of surrealism is was written in 1924 by Andre Breton, and comatained 5 main aims and contextual ideas wihtin so. This consisted of:

  • how  not to be bored in company
  • how to make speeches
  • how to write false novels
  • how to catch the eye of a woman on the street
  • against death

He believed that belief in life is the most precious aspect of life itself, by which is meant for real life. He lived people were inveterate dreamers who were disconnected by operating of fate and how no matter his efforts he has been consented to labour. he images surrealism  to be a man who ‘remains in this respect a new-born babe, and as for the consent of his moral conscience, I admit that he does very well without it. If he retains any degree of lucidity, he can do no more than turn to his childhood, which ruined as it has been by his teachers’ pains, seems to him nonetheless full of charm.’Breton is said to say’ Dear imagination, what I love most about you, is your unforgiving nature.’

this artist has four main reasons to which he operates and why he created his manifesto, 1, within the bounds in which they operate dreams continuously show a sign of order. Memory arrogates and it is important to ignore these transitions. We must have many dreams, a series of dreams and represent ourselves through a dream itself. Secondly being awake should be considered a phenomenon. Not one  he has said’Not only does the mind display, in this state, a strange tendency towards disorientation (a tale of lapses and errors of all sorts the secret of which is beginning to be revealed) but what is more it seems that when the mind is functioning normally it does no more than respond to suggestions which come to it from the depths of that night to which I commend it.’ Thirdly, our spirit of those who dreams is content with that which happens to him. you need to live, fly and love to your herts content. If you die you do not know what will happen,re you certain to wake among the dead? we haven name we should be led. And lastly if someone fails it is because they have led to accept an impoverished idea of expiation. mystery and moment should be in san and make a future resolution. ]The artists then makes many poems about his work which I will further look into with future analysis.

comparison:

The differences to me between a political and artist manifesto is the way in which the intentions are written and carried about, On the political side they are said to point out injustice and make a claim to help change and create a new world. Whereas art is an exploration of who we all are,Not just negative but who we want to be and how we should go about doing so. It is written more so as a conceptual brainstorm of our imagination of the people who we would like to see ourselves as. To my mind, art is about changing yourself and not the opinions of others around yours to me I feel is less corrupt and more likely be be accomplished, rather than the broken promises of the political manifestos. However I will still in a similar way to those of political manifesto ideals but I will carry on the surrealism promises that I have been previously discussing.

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Mandy Barker

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Mandy Barker is an international award-winning photographer whose work involving marine plastic debris has received global recognition. Working with scientists she aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans whilst highlighting the harmful affect on marine life and ultimately ourselves. Her work has received global recognition and has been published in over 25 countries.

Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals

Enough plastic has been manufactured since the end of the Second World War to coat the entire earth in plastic wrap. No part of the planet is free of plastic waste; the total amount of plastic produced since 1950 is around 5 billion tons (close to the weight of the entire human population at this moment). This amount is very likely to reach 30 billion tons by the end of the century.

Presented as microscopic samples, objects of marine plastic debris mimic Thompson’s early scientific discoveries of plankton. Barker’s series is conveyed through an antique-like science book—mimicking the past while reflecting on the current situation regarding organisms’ intake of plastic. The book subtly includes the original writing, descriptions, and figures recorded by Thompson in his research memoirs from 1830, entitled Imperfectly Known Animals.

The work examines the degradation and contamination of plastic particles in the natural environment through the lens of scientific discovery, while also looking at the organisms when they were free from plastic (and when we, as humans, were free of plastic as well). The images, shot in an enveloping black space, evoke the deep oceans beneath.

Installation drawer -An original antique specimen drawer highlights the connection with plastic, showing images of plankton ingesting plastic particles with research book spreads. Microscope slides and test tubes show samples of plastic particles recovered from oceans around the world, with micro beads collected from toothpaste and facial scrubs.

https://mandy-barker.com/project.php?gallNo=9

https://www.lensculture.com/mandy-barker?modal=project-314878

Indefinite by Mandy Barker Blurb:

https://www.lensculture.com/mandy-barker?modal_type=project&modal_project_id=47517&modal=project-47517

‘Discarded debris found along the shore and having existed for varying amounts of time in the sea collectively convey a message about the marine environment. The images combine visual beauty with the message of pollution and the time it takes them to biodegrade in the sea. The book shows the series of 10 images representing an intuitive collection of objects as they were presented, on the shore, unwashed and unaltered and aiming to reveal a beauty not otherwise noticed. The form and shape of the objects take on the imaginative appearance of sea creatures, created from the very materials that prove fatal for the creatures themselves. Enveloping black space evokes a deep sea, presenting the emerging objects as creatures from beneath, whilst at the same time serving as a metaphor to the unknown depths of this vast global problem of pollution. The captions state only the number of years it takes each material to decompose, thus revealing a narrative in time, and ending with the indeterminate and Indefinite material polystyrene.’

The aim of my work is to create a visually attractive image that initially draws the viewer in, and then shocks them with the caption and facts of what the work represents. It is intended that this contradiction between beauty and information will combine to make people question, for example, how their food packaging, computer, or shoe ended up in the middle of the ocean. If photography has the power to encourage people to act, to move them emotionally, or at the very least make them take notice, then this must surely be a vital element to stimulate debate, and ultimately, change. If I didn’t believe my work did any of these things then I wouldn’t be motivated to continue.

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/mandy-barker-penalty

The series “Penalty” aims to create awareness about the problem of marine plastic pollution accumulating in world oceans. By using a single plastic object (a football), these photos aim to represent the issue on a global scale.

Each football was collected from beaches or oceans around the world and is captioned with the country or area where it was recovered.

The diverse range of 769 collected footballs is represented both by individual countries and overall collections made in particular areas of the world. A collection of 228 by one person shows an individual undertaking, the collaboration of nearly 90 members of the public around the world have helped to represent the project on a global scale.

Soup by Mandy Barker

SOUP is a description given to plastic debris suspended in the sea, and with particular reference to the mass accumulation that exists in an area of The North Pacific Ocean known as the Garbage Patch. This book shows the11 series of images which aim to engage with, and stimulate an emotional response in the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction and social awareness. The sequence reveals a narrative concerning oceanic plastics from initial attraction and attempted ingestion, to the ultimate death of sea creatures, representing the disturbing statistics that dispersed plastics have no boundaries. Captions record the plastic ‘ingredients’ in each image providing the viewer with the realisation and facts of what exists in the sea. The book also shows a selection of sketchbook spreads representing the thought process behind selected images. All the plastics photographed have been salvaged from beaches around the world and represent a global collection of debris that has existed for varying amounts of time in the world’s oceans.

“The aim of my work is to engage with and stimulate an emotional response in the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction along with the subsequent message of awareness. The research process is a vital part of my development as the images I make are based on scientific fact, essential to the integrity of my work. The impact of marine plastic is an area I have documented for more than 9 years and am committed to pursuing
through visual interpretation, and in collaboration with science I hope it will ultimately lead to positive action in tackling this increasing environmental problem, which is currently of global
concern”.

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breaking the rules of reality:possibilty, dependecy and circumstances

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After much research I believe personally that reality is the form of three situations, possibility, dependency and circumstances within action.

Possibility to me is the chance of reality. Reality is not a given or something you are able to predict. Such as being older than someone does not stop the younger person from dying first. These harsh truths show the possibility of we do not know what effects, illness or situations we will come through during our life. Possibility is also a large part of chance, chance is something uncontrollable, and no one can know what the chance of something happening is. Because of this I think it would be interesting to capture some scenarios that capture how everything in life is a risk and matter of timing. this could be a balloon before it burst or perhaps the weather before a storm or even adding my concept of political emotions showing a narrative of something getting evicted or possible literally falling down. When I researched It come up within many fast shutter speed shots in order to cpature the action a apiece has. However I could focus on the side of nature and the beauty nature holds, And the chance something incredible would happen in nature, this could be a sun set or rise, people having twins and many occasions that would not be expected to happen in peoples realities. 

This has forever been an ongoing concept, because of this I believe using achieve pictures and editing them in such a way to demonstrates the circumstance of reality would be incredibly interesting.Dependency is the relationships people have within each other and how their actions cause a dependent reaction which causes the reality. This is a sense of action and reaction. dependency also has strong implementations of a weight. This weight could be the cause of emotional trauma, political instances or a literal weight and harsh imapct. This is a clear demonstration of the balancing of nature and the relationship of trust. I could use this narrative to track people and one person calling and showing clear demonstrations of trust and someone being dependent. however I could enlarge this through a large political instance of who everyone in the world is infact dependent on eeach other. We as a society cannot and will not be able to functions without eachers, as they help with medicine ,housing, money, economy but most importantly we need ot look after other. I think a large ignorance of dependency and a fault at our core is ignorance. How the western world ignorances the cries of those in need in the south and east.

circumstances. This is the godly benefit of being born in a circumstance better than others. Circumstance is also the determinate of where you are when and how this could lead onto the causation of what happens to you. No one has the ability to control who their family is or where stye are born and raised. Because of this many negative an unhappy relationships are formed,this could be caused but he environment people are in or they way in which people treat them.  Circumstances comes into the attitude of nature and fire very well into political landscape as it is an area governmentally controlled differently as you would like. Because of this many people, including some people in my family feel as though this is where they are not meant to be, Is this fate or a disappointing circumstance of action.

plan for shoot:

I want to create a alternate reality. To do so I will create an atmosphere that does not really exists, and capture actions that only happened for a s second and not what people would usually focus upon. tThe editing will be highly conceptual and forms ways in which is unconventional to portray the landscape itself. I will use my idea of circumstances by taking images where I was raised,This is my home, which I did not have a choice over but luckily the circumstances was not negative. However I think dependency goes hand in hand in capturing a reality of a place.  trust and dependency is usually something seen within people, however I think I could relate this t landscape and nature and also further expand this to the power if nature of man itself. lastly I want to capture possibility and capturing rare photos us using fast shutter speed and such. This will be very different from my family shoot, however still based in my family home, but will relate more to political landscapes through these conceptual ideas and editing processes.

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Photographer Research

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 ‘TTP’ by Hayahisa Tomiyasu

Hayahisa Tomiyasu was born in 1982 Kanagawa, Japan. After studying photography at Tokyo Polytechnic University, he moved to Leipzig, Germany to study under Peter Piller. He currently lives between Leipzig and Zurich, where he now teaches.

Winner of MACK’s First Book Award : http://www.firstbookaward.com/2018/

Between these pictures, it’s difficult to place the table in time and space. The pictures aren’t ordered chronologically or by people or activity, but there is a rhythm to them that appears in the small references between pictures – short series that play off one another. Time passes too, but this is marked only by the randomly changing seasons and light of day; slightly longer shadows, browner and fewer leaves on the trees, melting snow, puddles that appear and evaporate. The table is a strange place, there are no pictures outside of the frame just person after person, table after table. The restricted view of Tomiyasu’s lens and the variety of people and their generic European fashion makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly where the table is. The table is a secluded world, one that attracts but doesn’t hold people.

In 2011 Hayahisa Tomiyasu started photographing a ping pong table located in a public athletic field across from his dorm in Leipzig, Germany for a series titled TTP. Tomiyasu had first noted the location after observing a white tailed fox perched near the legs of the table, and after waiting several days for the animal to return, he began to photograph the other life forms that congregated or paused near the outdoor game. Rather than spotting the fox, he captured families and daydreamers using the area as a bench or even a bed. I think it’s very interesting how this whole thing occurred from a something that was almost a  coincidence; if not for the fox, Tomiyasu would probably have never thought of photographing that exact tennis bench.

“At the time I had been living in a student doom in Leipzig and it was possible to photograph from window the table tennis table, how people from different countries use it in their way,” Tomiyasu had said in an interview. “And it could be the message of this work that the place could be everywhere.”

Although the whole concept happened out of pure coincidence, I still want to take inspiration from Tomiyasu’s work and have it influence my project; I like how he explores linear story telling in his images. The setting doesn’t change in his photographs but the subjects and models do. They tell their own story in their own way, those stories intrigues the audience as they provide very little and the rest is completely up to the imagination of the viewer. I like the mystery and minimalism that Hayahisa Tomiyasu has established in his work and want to include elements of that in my photography.

Sources:

https://petapixel.com/2018/04/04/photos-of-the-daily-life-of-a-public-ping-pong-table-in-germany/

https://rocket04.jeron.je/access?OQ9IAAH3UTPU3XJJVW684LAAGDF1Q0HV

‘Bench’ by Yevgeniy Kotenko

Similarly to the work produced by Hayahisa Tomiyasu, Tevgeniy Kotenko created a similar collection of photographs observing a bench from the comfort and safety of his home.

Starting in 2007, Kotenko began to shoot a local park bench outside the window of his parent’s fourth-floor kitchen window in Kiev. Sandwiched between a children’s playground and a walking path, the area proved to be a hotspot of colorful characters. Alcoholics, families, and lovers all congregate on the exact same bench during different times of the day, and when observed with Kotenko’s patient eye an almost Shakespearean drama begins to emerge over a decade of photo.

“I wasn’t thinking of making a series or a project,” shares Kotenko, “I didn’t select any particular time frame or set of situations to capture. Not until 2012 did my friends tell me that I should put together an exhibition of these photos.”

The  Ukrainian photographer Eugene Kotenko, has photographed the same bench for years, each shot is a little secret stolen from its subjects’s lives. We see the bench painted of blue and then not, covered by snow in winter, with some green around in spring and under the sun in summer, surrounded by yellow leaves in autumn, near the bin and then far, etc… but the real subject is never the bench, it’s the people who live that place. For this reason we are intrigued, for the intimate and social portrait than each photograph reveals.

There are some strong differences between  the photographs taken by Hayahisa Tomiyasu and the ones taken by Tevgeniy Kotenko. Although they both essentially photograph the same thing (people and a public object) their approaches are very different. Photographs taken by Tomiyasu are all taken from the exact same angle; the only thing that really changes is the people and the things they bring with them. On the contrast, Kotenko focuses a lot more on the subjects at hand; he clearly shows the changes that occur to the surrounding and the bench. He shows the physical changes and includes a lot more of the surrounding to give context to his photographs. This doesn’t break the mysterious illusion of not knowing why the subjects is there or what it’s doing but it adds comfort to the photographs.

Sources:

https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/20/dramatas-urbanae-photographers-10-year-study-of-a-single-public-bench/

http://blog.grainedephotographe.com/yevgeniy-kotenko-photo-on-the-bench-banc-public/

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Rules Of Technicality – Henrik Malmström

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Photographer Research

Finnish photographer Henrik Malmström (born in the year 1983) currently lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His work is often the result of the interaction with his immediate surroundings. In 2010 he self-published  his first book of photographs.

 In the same year he moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he developed and completed his two projects “A Minor Wrongdoing” and “Life is One Live it Well” by 2014. He is the co-founder and curator of the Müllkellergalerie, an art gallery located in a garbage room in Hamburg, Germany. In 2015 he co-founded the online platform ‘Vaciarte’, this that deals with arts and politics in city of  Buenos Aires.

The book I want to focus on is, Henrik Malmström’s  A Minor Wrongdoing, it records night-time street life in an area of Hamburg known for its criminality. The photos are taken with very high ISO making them appear grainy and low quality – almost like they were taken with a surveillance camera. The area is infamous for its gentrification ( it is the process of renovating and improving a  district so that it conforms to middle-class taste, most of the time forcing residents of the lower class area to evict the district). Many areas of St. Helier are undergoing gentrification so I think it will be very interesting to look into this topic and document the changes that happen.

Malmström chose to photograph a spot from his window. He was able to document and record from the safety of his home; in a sense it was like spying on the subjects. The 
neighbourhood of St. Georg in Hamburg is where Malmström chose to photograph his subjects; this area has recently undergone strict laws that were put in place top ban the street-based prostitution. His subjects tend to be women and their interactions with their clients; hence the name, ‘a minor wrongdoing’.

For my first shoot, I want to pick a visible spot on the street and photograph the bypassers in the night. I intend to use high ISO and a tripod to achieve successful photographs working in the style of Henrik Malmström. Much like Malmström, I will take the photos from my windows and the safety of my home.

 Further Links for referencing:

Henrik Malmström

A Minor Wrongdoing

Ode to Surveillance

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The Rule of Technicality – Henrik Malmstrom

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Henrik Malmstrom is a Finnish photographer currently living and working in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Malmstrom self-published his first book in 2010, titled ‘On Borrowed Time‘.  He is the co-founder and curator of the Müllkellergalerie which is a premium art gallery located in a garbage room in Hamburg, Germany.  Malmstrom has won over 15 awards since 2008 as well as being shortlisted for the best photobook of the year in 2016.

I think that Malmstrom has a very interesting approach in his book ‘A Minor Wrongdoing‘ in which he photographs subjects at night with a very high ISO to create grainy and underexposed photographs.  In this book Malmstrom would photograph people that he saw from the window of his living room using a cheap digital camera. He would create the effect of a surveillance camera by setting the ISO abnormally high.  The book that came from this replicates a messy police report archive with the grainy monochromatic photographs creating a sense of abstraction due to their unconventional appearances. The photographs in this book were taken between 2011-2014, Malmstrom’s synopsis of ‘A Minor Wrongdoing’ says that the project records “the last remains 
of street life in an urban area that is currently undergoing
fierce gentrification after recent official law enforcement
against street-based prostitution”.

I think that Malmstrom’s defiance of the rule of technicality is very interesting and unique as it creates a composition that most photographers would not even attempt to make.  Whilst having an abstract and unconventional aesthetic in this project, Malmstrom has managed to make this work still look good whilst breaking the rules of technicality. I plan on taking inspiration from Malmstrom’s work when exploring breaking the rule of technicality as I think I can successfully combine documentary/street photography along with this style to create something that I would not usually attempt.

Analysis

In this photograph, Malmstrom has used natural lighting, or the lack of it, in order to create a very grainy and grey photograph which replicates the effect of a surveillance camera. Within this photograph there is not a wide tonal range due to the grey and surveillance nature of the photograph which creates an almost old-fashioned effect within the photograph. The photograph is not a very high contrast either due to the dark setting that Malmstrom is going for, but the low contrast works for the style of photograph. Malmstrom will have used a shutter speed of around 1/50 – 1/100 with a very high ISO of 1600 or 3200 as the idea of this project was to capture grainy photographs of people in the dark. Technical quality was not a key aim of this photograph, which can be seen, as Malmstrom aimed to create these technically incorrect photographs. The high ISO allows for the grainy texture to be created which adds a lot of character to the photographs and adds to the dark and mysterious setting.

There is no colour in this photograph – only black and white. This black and white theme further conveys the theme of surveillance and discretion within the photographs. The mixture of the high ISO grainy photograph with the black and white effect means that the tones are also very dark and mysterious – these dark tones make the setting have a sinister and secretive vibe meaning there could be more to what meets the eye with this subject. The grainy texture makes the photograph seem as if it was printed poorly – which again breaks the technical rules of photography, but this grainy texture fits in to further push the idea that this is a mysterious photograph. The eye is immediately drawn to the cigarette being lit in the subjects mouth as it sparks to be the whitest part of the photograph, contrasting from the regular grey tones without. This white spark illuminates the side of the subjects face to give a slight sense of the subjects identity without giving too much away, leaving more mystery in the photograph. The subject is also placed along one of the vertical lines of the rule of thirds – this may be intentional but also may not be, either way it makes the photograph more aesthetically pleasing for the viewer. There is not much of a 3D setting to the photograph due to the dark and grey tones with little shadowing.

This photograph was taken from Malmstrom’s book ‘A Minor Wrongdoing‘ in which he photographs subjects at night with a very high ISO to create grainy and underexposed photographs.  All of the subjects within the book were photographs from Malmstrom’s living room window which adds to the sense of mysteriousness and surveillance.  On the final outcome of the book in which this photograph was placed, it replicated a messy police report archive which shows that the surveillance theme conveyed throughout the photographs is intentional.

I think that through this photograph and the other photograph from his book  ‘A Minor Wrongdoing‘, Malmstrom is trying to question whether the technicalities and conventions of photography and society that we are supposed to conform to really matter in the grand scheme of things.  I think this because Malmstrom is photographing unaware subjects whilst they are in their own world, not worrying about conforming to society’s standards or trying to impress people.  Through doing this Malmstrom is showing what people are really like when they are not around and so how we should be all the time.  Malmstrom further presses this idea by not sticking to the normal conventions of photography through grainy, low contrast photographs caught with an abnormally high ISO.