Monthly Archives: March 2019

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WHO WHERE THE BOYLE FAMILY?

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Who is part of the Boyle Family?

The Boyle Family is a group of collaborative artists who are now based in London. The main contributes to the Boyle family were Mark Boyle and Joan Hills. Mark Boyle was born in 1934 in Glasgow working along side Joan Hills who was born in 1931 in Edinburgh, both now live in London with their two children Sebastian and Georgia Boyle. Mark and Joan met in April 1957 in Harrogate, Yorkshire. At the point in Mark Boyle’s life he originally considered himself as a poet soon to be influenced by Joan Hills painting and began experimenting which proved to have triggered the love for visual art. Mark Boyle continued to praise Joan Hill as being the biggest influence to all his work saying she was  “she was gentle, brave and immensely resourceful” in an interview.

Where Mark and Joan’s studio was at a specific point during their life was often where they lived, this created a natural feeling of family and friends when investing time into their studio. It became important to them to  include family whenever their was a big show going on they always tried to incorporate family and friends help into the creation of the show. From early on, Mark and Joan both encouraged their children, Sebastian and Georgia to go around the studio doing bits here and there leading to getting much more deeply involved later on:  going on working trips, expeditions, helping to finalize and hang exhibitions.

When first creating the image, most images went under Mark Boyle’s name, this was due to the them being much more focused on the work and being ore unconcerned with fighting the stereotypes that artists were solo and usually male- the print was labels never mattered to them. As the became wildly know  and at the same time the artistic stereotype began to broaden, they became to present their work by ‘Mark Boyle and Joan Hills’. As they grew Sebastian and Georgia continued their work and entitled there work produced by the ‘Boyle Family’ this continued till 1985. In 2005 May time, Mark Boyle passed away and the  Boyle Family continues to work and exhibit internationally, and to progress the execution of their best known work, the huge global World Series. When producing image, the Boyle Family’s idea is not have a focused subject but aims to make art that does not exclude anything as a potential subject. Over the time this has included things like: earth, air, fire and water, animals, vegetables, minerals, insects, water creatures  etc.

A01 Develop ideas (research)

Peter Blake

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Self-Portrait with Badges 1961

Peter Blake’s work reflects his fascination with all popular culture, and the beauty to be found in everyday objects and surroundings. Many of his works feature found printed materials such as photographs, comic strips or advertising texts, combined with bold geometric patterns and the use of primary colours. The works perfectly capture the ethos of the sixties, but are also contemporary. There is also a strain of sentimentality and nostalgia running throughout his work, with particular focus towards childhood innocence and reminiscence. Blake is renowned for his connection with the music industry, having produced iconic album covers for the Beatles, Paul Weller, The Who, and Oasis.

Analysis

This self-portrait by the then 29-year-old Blake became an instant pop art classic. Having clinched the 1961 junior John Moores painting prize, it was featured in the Sunday Times’ first colour supplement and in Ken Russell’s documentary Pop Goes the Easel.

It’s an ironic riff on Thomas Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy, its blue silk outfit replaced by denim, a fabric rich in social history. Blake’s 501s were a coveted rarity at the time, though Elvis (as depicted on the magazine Blake carries) had by then abandoned work wear in favour of tasseled satin.

The titular badges are not limited to sew-on patches celebrating American culture. Everything here is a prop recalling the symbolic attributes of portraiture. But, as stand-ins for identity, it’s all as paper thin as the magazine he’s holding.

Balding and sad-eyed, Blake seems prematurely aged. His suburban plot is both a far cry from the great plains of the American dream and Gainsborough’s 18th-century landscapes. In fact, the other art-historical shadow here is Watteau’s superlatively lonely clown, Pierrot.

My response

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Daniel Antune

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Mood Board of Daniel Antune’s Work

Daniel Antunes

Daniel Antunes is a self taught photographer mostly known for his black and white street photography. He was born in Portugal and began his photography education at a young age but only really began to develop and present his work two years ago.

by Daniel Antunes

There is natural lighting from the outside as well as the lighting from the chandeliers. Light from the chandelier is also being reflected off the top of the piano and the floor. There’s a lot of contrast in the image as you can see with the really dark tones next to the light shades. There’s not a gradient because of the high contrast. The focal point is the reflective surface because it immediately draws the eye. There’s no colour in the image because it’s a black and white which Antunes’ is more known for. I would say the image has a smooth and shiny texture to it because of the shiny smooth floor and piano. I would say there’s quite a bit of depth to the image because you can see across the room and the trees outside. The image is composed so you can see the ceiling reflecting on the piano and so you can see the whole room including the ceiling upright and upside down. I think the leasing lines are the door ways and the outline of the piano.

Contextual info-

Daniel Antunes was born in Portugal . The place in the photo is the Queluz National Palace in Portugal built in the 18th century. People often compare it to Versailles.

A02 Explore and Experiment

Photoshoot 1 – Edits

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Within these edits I wanted to recreate the double exposure technique that Gina Socrates used in her photo shoot of capturing Jersey Sea wall. Doing this technique will allow to showcase the before and after of the sea wall, presenting the Journey of the sea wall in Jersey, plus showing a part of Jersey’s journey through the second world war. I decided to create three double exposures, using different images, to create different effects and present different formal elements.

To prepare the images, before combining them, adjusted the levels and curves, in order to have the textures of the walls to stand out (presenting the clear formal element of texture and shape). I then adjusted the hue and saturation in order to make the images black and white, which made a clear contrast in tonal regions. At first I experimented with changing the hue, in order to present the modern image of the wall to have a different look to the ‘older’ image to create a clear contrast and meet the aim of this photoshoot. However, I did not believe that this suited the effect I was trying to present and decided to turn the images back to black and white. Once I had all my images ready I opened up a new document, and placed both images onto the document. Using the transformation tool (ctrl + t), I adjusted the size of both images ensuring they fit onto the page. Then the image on the top layer, I turned down the opacity of the layer in order to reveal the layer underneath it. I then flatten the two layers and adjusted the levels again to ensure that the photographs had similar tonal contrast. I repeated this step with all the images until I received the outcomes I wanted.

My first edit has been the most successful as I believe that it clearly meets my artistic aim of present old vs new of the Jersey wall, presenting its Journey from the second world war. Moreover, I believe the two images used work together and create an overall visually stimulating photograph. The image shows successful photography techniques; for example the formal elements of texture, space and shape, clear focal points and depth of field, it also uses lines to help guide the viewers eyes around the image. This image has been the most successful edit from this process.
In my next edit I used two contrasting images, a macro image and wide angle image in order to show the contrast of the walls during the war and after the war. The two images fit nicely together and makes a visually pleasing image. Moreover, the formal element of texture and space which makes the image interesting to look at. Due to the two images being levelled differently, leads to the overall image being high in contrast, making the whole photograph as a whole look ascetically pleasing. Although, I like the way this image came out I believe that it is too busy and therefore not as successful as the first edit.
I believe that this edit is my least successful image from this process, but still wanted to showcase it in order to show the development process and my critical picking of images. The two images used do not work together, and makes an overall awkward looking image. Both images look similar and the effect is not as good with these two images. The space near the back of the image, also makes the image awkward looking and less pleasing to look at. Moreover, one of the images is a bit blurry, which shows a lack on camera control, however I used this to try and convey an old camera taking an image, but the effect did not work in my favour.
  • Images Used
  • To Create
  • My Double
  • Exposure

Comparison :

  • My Image
  • Gina Socrates

To compare my image to Gina Socrates there are multiple similarities and differences, but both present the same idea and contextual factors. One of the similarities is that we have both captured the same subject but have both taken different approaches in order to do so. I looked at macro images and focused on different areas of the wall which would showcase different formal elements. However, Socrates looks at the build up of the wall from a wider angle. In contrast, my images are presented in black and white as I wanted the texture and lines (detail) of the wall to clearly be presented to my viewers, however Socrates presents her images in colour with a hint of yellow/orange which also presents the texture of her subject. Personally, I believe that the black and white looks much better as it presents a more visually pleasing image overall, however, Socrates work is still successful. Another similarity is that we both took our photographs with the same aim, but both came out with different outcomes. We both used a double exposure effect in order to present the journey of Jersey’s seawall during the second world war, however she managed to do hers by changing the camera settings whereas mine where created using photoshop. Her blend of images is a lot smoother and the images fit nicely together, mine also do this but only slightly have areas where the two images do not fit (these are very small and therefore hard to notice. Moreover, my images are much sharper, presenting the formal elements much stronger creating a more powerful overall image, where as Socrates work are much weaker but still showcase a powerful image. My image is quite busy and lacks space, however Socrates work has more space and emptiness allowing time for the viewers to take in the message of her work. Overall, I believe that mine and socrates work share many similarities but showcase our preferred artistic style within the image. I also think that we have both come out with similar outcomes and therefore showing the success of my photoshoot and final images from the section of the project.

A01 Develop ideas (research), A02 Explore and Experiment

Adams – Face of Half Dome Monolith – Analysis

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My favorite image of Adams is “Face of Half Dome”. The reason for this is because it is a sharp image that has a large amount of detail within it.

Technical

This image was taken on film in black and white originally. He also used a very high f-stop meaning that the image is sharp throughout. He also used a deep dark red filter.

Visual

The monolith is the main focus of the photo but there are other things like the ledge on the bottom right section of the photo and in the bottom left of the photo has detail showing the snow and the tree.

Contextual

Adams went to the spot where the photo was taken, first when he was 14 and then 11 years later, he want back to take this photo. When taking the photo he had his camera on a large tripod and had to take it on a two day hike to get to the spot.

Conceptual

The concept that Adams was aiming for and the point that he was trying to make to the viewer was that the American national parks are something that has undergone some change and he wanted to preserve the image before they changed beyond the point of no return. He also wanted to show the views with a level or Romanticism meaning that he would exaggerate the beauty and the views that he saw the ways that he did this is using colour filters and using very high focal lengths.

A01 Develop ideas (research), A02 Explore and Experiment, A03 Record (photographs), A04 Personal Responses / Final Outcomes

Le Hocq:Experiment 1

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My Concept + Photo Shoot

I wanted to focus on Le Hocq beach as I lived nearby and I wanted to be able to take pictures throughout the day. I wanted to capture the journey in which the sun, clouds, water takes on a typical day in Winter. I was lucky to have enough that the weather was good and the sky was clear, but that did mean I had to ensure my pictures weren’t over exposed due the harshness of the sun, this was difficult. I started taking pictures at 1 pm and took pictures every hour until 7 pm. I held my camera for the post part but for several photos I put my camera on the wall. The picture below aren’t of every hour but are the best to represent the movement of the sun and change in brightness. I aimed to create a timeline for an afternoon at the beach, to show the true beauty of one of my favourite beaches in Jersey.

trees 2pm
trees 4pm
trees 5pm
trees 7pm
front 4pm

Analysis

Overall I found my first experiment to be reasonably successful. If I were to do it again I would have used a tripod and kept it in the same place for the duration of the shoot in order to have more emphasis on the change in just one particular part of the beach, but this is useful to know for my next photo shoot. I feel like my photos are pretty self explanatory, as they are just a timeline of Le Hocq beach, I used a medium to large lens for my photos as I wanted to focus in on specific parts of the beach but also capture the full atmosphere. I edited my photos in Photoshop by lowering the brightness, increasing contrast and lowering the exposure for the pictures I took earlier in the day. These pictures are personal to me as they are the view I having being seeing for the last 8 years, day in day out, so for me it’s nothing special in day light, but when the sun goes down it creates a different scene for me, something familiar yet exciting. I wanted to empathize how repetitive views don’t always have to be boring, the weather changes, the sun position changes, the sky is never the same, clouds are always moving, they change shape, the sun is always moving.

A02 Explore and Experiment

First photo shoot planning

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My first photo shoot will be based on cars, and partially the scenery around them. I will most likely edit them afterwards to look like grainy 90’s photos, this will give all the photos a common theme which will help them fit together more as an exhibition. The coursness might also help distract the eye from imperfections in the photos. I will also take some inspiration from Easton Chang (a photographer I have previously researched) in the form of using colour very sparingly in these photos. If

A02 Explore and Experiment, A03 Record (photographs), Uncategorized

Editing and Developing: 2

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Chosen Photograph:

  • Chosen Photograph

Above shows my chosen image to edit and experiment with, I have chosen this photograph as it was one of my most clear image and I feel that my subject is positioned well in the frame and there is good eye contact and facial expressions with the camera. The lighting is also good for in this photograph there is no need for too much adjusting of the brightness in this photograph which is why I have chosen to edit this photograph.

My aims while editing this photograph is to create a yellow tint in the background of the photograph to replicate the yellow background of the original poster as I feel this will really help the photograph to become better and enhance it.

Editing Process:

  • Editing 1

I began by adjusting the brightness and contrast so that I have a good base for adding on the filters for the colours.

  • Editing 2
  • Editing 3

For the next two steps I experimented, adjusted and edited the strengths of the yellow and red colour tones coming through in the photograph. I did this so that there were already tints coming through and to make it easier to place the yellow warming on top.

  • Editing 4

Here I selected the whole background area surrounding my subject, when adding on the warming and yellow filter I didn’t want them to mess and alter the colours and tones of the subject in the image, I wanted to try and keep the red and the blue of her shirt and head band so I selected al the way around her body and around the frame of the photograph to have a specific place to add the filters.

  • Editing 5

After adding on the filters I experimented with cropping the photograph down so that the subject fills more or less of the frame and see where it sits best as I did not want too much unnecessary blank space above her head.

Final Outcome:

This shows the final outcome for how I edited the photograph, I used the warming filter (81) as it had more yellow tones in which I felt worked well with the original photograph and also worked with this recreation. I feel this photoshoot and editing was a success and that it generated an accurate outcome I am happy with that I feel works well.

  • Final Outcome
A02 Explore and Experiment, A03 Record (photographs)

Recreation 2 // Rosie the Riveter | 40’s

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Background:

“We Can Do It!” is an American World War II wartime poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost female worker morale. It was seen little during the war and was rediscovered early 1980’s and was widely reproduced, often called “We Can Do It!” but also called “Rosie the Riveter” after the iconic figure of a strong female war production worker. The image was used to promote feminism and other political issues begining in the 1980’s, it was incorporated in 2008 into campaign materials for several American politicians. Compared to all this during the war time the image was strictly internal to Westinghouse, displayed only during February 1943, and was not for recruitment but to exhort already-hired women to work harder. People have seized upon the uplifting attitude and message to remake it into many forms including self empowerment, campaign promotion and advertising.

I am choosing to recreate this specific poster to indicate the changes in this era of the 40’s as I feel it has that showing of development and progress and is a widely known poster, it represents how woman were being treated at the time and suggests towards how they were being advertised as they now took on ‘mans work’. I feel that it is a good example to show how women began to be portrayed when men weren’t there and then that it got picked back up during a strong female movement.

Plan:

For this photoshoot I will be taking the image in the studio to give me the best lighting for recreating these AD’s I will use two different subjects one in each of the images.  I am going to be dressing the subject in clothing that is almost exact or close to what the subject in the original image is wearing.

For the second recreation seen below I will adjust the persons hair and find clothes and props best suited to the photograph. The aim of this photoshoot is to create an accurate recreation of the photograph below and try to show and explain some of my inspirations coming from Cindy Sherman.

Second Recreation:


  • Rosie the Riveter | 40’s

Above shows the Poster I was recreating, for this recreation I took the photographs in the studio as this enabled me to have a plain background as to edit the image on and the poster itself also has a plain background. I dressed my subject the same or similar as the figure in the original and took the time to get her to pose in the same manner.

  • Contact Sheet of Outcomes

Above shows the contact sheet of my outcomes from the photoshoot, some of the photographs came out a little dark however I should be able to edit these images and fix that in Photoshop.

I feel I have tried to show my inspirations coming from Cindy Sherman through the work by having my subject en body the person in the original ad and begin to represent herself in that way.

Unedited Best Outcomes:

Below shows what I think to be my best outcomes before I am editing the images to enhance them more and edit them to be more like the recreation. These are the four I think are the best however I will only experiment with editing one or two of them.

  • Best Outcomes
A01 Develop ideas (research)

The Boyle Family

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Boyle Family is a group of collaborative artists based in London. Mark Boyle and Joan Hills met in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1957, Joan a single mother who had left her art and architecture studies to bring up her son and Mark was serving in the army. Within months they were collaborating, initially exhibiting their work under Boyle’s name until their work became widely known and they exhibited as Mark Boyle and Joan Hills. When their children, Sebastian born in 1962 and Georgia born in 1963, began to collaborate with them from the late 1970s onwards, the group became established as Boyle Family.

Boyle Family is best known for the earth studies: three-dimensional casts of the surface of the earth which record and document random sites with great accuracy. These works combine real material from the site (stones, dust, twigs etc) with paint and resins, preserving the form of the ground to make unique one-off pieces that suggest and offer new interpretations of the environment.

Their project ‘Journey to the Surface of the Earth’ was launched in 1968 – 69. After being blindfolded, they threw darts at a world map, in order to pinpoint 1,000 areas of the earth’s surface to duplicate. On travelling to a selected site, the Boyles would throw a T-square in the air to select a random area to replicate.

Image result for boyle family
The Boyle Family

Visual:

In this image done by the Boyle Family you can clearly see what is the side of the road and part of the pavement next to it. At first glance there’s not much to the image, but with closer inspection you can see all kinds of details and history within the part of the floor they decided to take. You can see every individual texture on the surface, the cracks on the pavement and the light hitting the bumpy surface of the road.

Technical:

The lighting coming from the left side of this image seems a bit artificial, as if coming off of a street light since it’s only lighting up that part of the image and, from what I see, nothing else. As this image is actually a painting replicated from a photo that the Boyles took, it’s hard to asses the technical factors of it but what I can say is that, to take this image which they painted from, it looks like they might have used a long-lensed camera to get that close-up, focused effect in the image.