The 1930’s is the interwar period – an era often overlooked in favour of the vibrancy of the roaring ’20s, the make-do-and-mend attitude of the 40’s and the subsequent grandiosity of Christian Dior’s New Look of 1947. The Wall Street Crash in 1929 started a fundamental change to how people lived their lives, with no money to spend companies started researching cheaper methods of manufacturing clothes and cheaper fabrics were being created to replace the decadent fabrics of the 20’s. There was a return to lay-like glamour in the 30’s. Dresses were designed to show off curves of women, they accentuated the waist but not in an extreme was like the corset wearing years of previous decades. There was a business like influence with two piece outfits being worn.
Plan:
For this recreation I will be taking a famous ad from the 1930’s to recreate, I am planning to do it in the studio to have a plain background for me to edit back into and deal with. I will have my model sit at a table and chair and recreate the pose of the original model. I will attempt to have a good recreation of clothes and stance of the of the original model.
Eight Recreation:
Vogue Cover Poster | US July 1939
Above shows the famous ad that I will be recreating from the 1930’s this specific ad was produced in 1939 photographed by Horst P. Horst, and features the fashion model Muriel Maxwell in an all-American color palette.
Contact Sheets of Outcomes
Above shows my contact sheet of outcomes from the photoshoot. I feel some of my images turned out quite successful, I had some issues with the height of the stool and the table in comparison to each other however I feel the images still worked well and have the potential to work and be edited to look like a good recreation.
Unedited Best Outcomes:
I feel these two photographs are my best outcomes from the photoshoot, I feel the first photograph has a good angle and positioning to see the subject in the frame however I feel the second has good lighting to be able to go through and edit the photograph and generate a good recreation, however I feel the angle for the second image doesn’t have as good and angle compared to the first.
Feminist art is art by artists created consciously in light of developments in feminist art theory in the early 1970’s. Though hard to pinpoint it’s thought Linda Nochlin’s essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? first sparked debate when published in 1971, she explored the social and economic factors that had prevented talented women from achieving the same status as their male counterparts.
Building on that idea were parts of John Berger’s book Ways of Seeing in 1972, which, among other things, explored differences in representation of men and women, Berger concluded ‘Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’, essentially saying Western art was replicating the unequal relationships already embedded in society.
The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, 1974-79 (from the collection of Brooklyn Museum)
As what’s known occasionally as the first wave feminist art, women artist began to create work that dealt with the feminine experience, they began to explore vaginal imagery, menstrual blood, body art, conceptual films and using techniques previously dismissed as ‘women’s work’ such as embroidery.
One of the most Iconic works of this time is Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party (shown above). The installation shows 39 place settings arranged along a triangular table for various mythical and historical women. The piece functioned as a symbolic history of women in western civilization. Below shows a test place setting that the artist created for author Virginia Woolf.
Virginia Woolf test plate for The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago
The progress made by previous generations of feminist artists as meant that many contemporary creatives working in the 21st century no longer feel the responsibility to identify as ‘women artists’ or openly address a women’s perspective in their work. Rather many artists produce work that is focused on their individual concerns as opposed to a general feminist message.
This can be seen in the work of artists like Tracy Emin or Cindy Sherman, whose self-portraits take on the role of iconic stereotypes and questions the male gaze. While Sherman doesn’t identify as a feminist artist herself, her practice grew from and is connected to the first and second generation of feminist artists.
My work I feel can take on some of these ideas especially relating to Cindy Sherman, ideas of not forceful feminism anymore however just slightly pointing out and bringing out photographs to get people to notice things and look at things differently in terms of feminism and females in relation to males. Cindy Sherman has been my biggest influence throughout the project for me personally as I try to generate ideas from looking at the way she works and generated images that allowed people to generate their own ideas.
after finalising ideas and refining them, this is my final inspirations, drawing from my artists and showing how I’m going to move forward and explore various ideas and ways of editing and displaying before coming out withy final images and presentation.
The aim of these edits was to replicate some of the famous propaganda which was used during the second world war, which had an impact on Jersey’s journey through this time period. I will also be experimenting with the images in the style of Kruger, and will also be creating some propaganda of my own which has taken inspiration from all the artists I have researched. These edits should show my ability to use photoshop to create, posters, where image and text are combined to create a powerful and meaningful final outcome. I want to experiment with colour, drop shadows, blur, pixilation and the use of moving images (GIF).
In my first edit I decided to replicate the ‘we can do it!’ propaganda which was used to motivate people to join the army and win the war. This edit is an example of tableaux photography as the image and text are used to tell a story and inform us on what we should be doing. In order to accomplish this edit, I started off by levelling the image for dramatic effect. I then used the quick selection tool to outline and cut out my model onto a separate layer, layer via cut. Then I created a new layer and moved it underneath the layer with my model on it, using the paint bucket tool I made the background a mustard yellow colour (like the original propaganda). I then wanted to showcase the pictures time frame, so I decided to add in my own noise, by going into filter and pixilate and experimenting with the different blurs to create the nose on my model. I then created a new layer and drew out the navy blue speech bubble to which the words will then be placed on. I then added the text using the text tool, the font was a standard bold and the colour is white. To make the bubble and text send out I added drop shadows to them, in the fx panel. I believe that this edit is very successful as it is a clear replication of the original image, moreover it shows my ability to critically make decisions and has shown further understanding of my photoshop skills.
In my next edit I decided to recreate the image with Lord Kitchener. This image was much harder to replicate as the steps involved where more complex, needless to say I managed to replicate it, but it is not as strong as the replication of the we can do it. To start off this edit I loaded up the image I wanted to use and levelled it for effect. I then cut out my model using the quick selection tool and layer via cut. I then deleted the background. In the original image the Lord seems like it is a drawing so I attempted to make my model a drawing. To do this I made the image black and white, and duplicated the layer by pressing ctrl +j. On the new layer I inverted my model, ctrl + I . Then I changed the blending mode to colour add, and added a Gaussian blur which made my model seem like he has been drawn. I then moved him to the middle of the page and made him smaller using the transformation tool, ctrl + t. I then simply added a background, a parcel paper colour, and added all the text, in the same colours as the original image, which created the final outcome. Although this edit is not as successful, I have been able to experiment with different tools and features of photoshop in order to create an outcome.
GIF:
A GIF is a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images.
In order to further explore the idea of replicating the more well known pieces of propaganda, I decided to make gif’s of my model’s moving into the famous stance. I made this decision as it almost modernises this idea of what propaganda is, and showcases how photography can be used to develop into using moving images. I wanted to keep both gifs simplistic and so I only levelled all of the images, and added in the text. I did not change the background colour or the blurs or the drawing. I made this decision as I wanted to emphasis how these posters still contain a lot of meaning even when you strip off some of the features, moreover it showcases the impact the images have on us in todays society. I am very pleased with how the two gifs turned out and believe they showcase the same meanings and showcase the journey of propaganda which influenced the journey of Jersey through WW2.
Images used to achieve this outcome:
Images used to achieve this outcome:
Barbara Kruger Inspired:
For my next two edits, I wanted to create propaganda which followed the style of Kruger’s work. One of the main elements of her work was the image was kept in black and white, and she would use boxes and the text to present colour, which meant the words had a more powerful meaning and impact. To achieve the edits below, I simply levelled them to adjust the dramatic effect. I then used the rectangular marquee tool to create the rectangles, which are filled with colour (this was done on different layers). I then adjusted the angle of the red boxes using the transformation tool, ctrl +t. I then added in the text using basic fonts and simplistic colours. Finally, I added drop shadows to make the boxes and words stand out. I think that these edits follow the style of Kruger accurately as they address something relevant in that times society, in this case it addresses joining the war. The top image in my eyes is the more successful one, as the image itself is successful due to the camera skills and settings. Moreover, I prefer the use of slanted words as it makes the poster more eye catching. Needless to say, they are both strong images as they have strong links with the artist, showcase my confidence in using different camera settings and show my ability to use the different tools in photoshop.
Comparison:
My Image
Kruger’s Image
In comparison, my final outcome holds a lot of similarities with Kruger’s work, but also showcase differences due to our own artistic style. One similarity is that we have both used men as out models and subjects, due to the target audience mainly being aimed at men, which allows the message to have more clarity and meaning. Moreover, both models are seen. covering their mouth, which showcases the idea that they should stay quiet, no questions and do exactly what the posters are telling them to do. Another similarity is that both images are presented in black and white, which allows the subject to more subtle and have the text stand out. As well as having the image show more tone throughout the piece. A major difference is that Kruger’s work presents more of a vintage vibe due to the noise which is being presented on the subject, which has been done through adjusting the ISO higher. Where as my image is more ‘modern’ as noise is not being created, however both effects work nicely to help convey meaning. Another difference is the text being used, Kruger’s text is talking about opening up about your sexuality, which was relevant at that time, but does not have strong links to WW2. I decided to create text which will convey meaning to the time period of WW2, where solider recruitment was high, which impacted Jersey’s journey through the second world war. Needless to say, my image took inspiration from Kruger’s colour scheme as I felt the colours worked to help draw attention to certain words, for emphasis, and overall worked well to help convey the representations being presented. Another key difference is the lighting, although we have both used artificial lighting, Kruger has used 1 point lighting to create a chiaroscuro effect. Where as, I used 2 point lighting to light up all of my models face, to create a wider depth of field, it also allows the whole face to be emphasised. As you can tell both images share a lot of similarities and the difference are due to our of photographic taste and preference.
Further Experimentations:
Then using the different techniques acquired from the remaking of propaganda and Kruger’s work I then used my creativity to caption and edit my images to create propaganda. When creating them I considered, font style, colour schemes, positioning of texts and how the image and text come together to create a meaning. The photographs themselves showcase photography techniques such as chiaroscuro which contrasts light and shadow, depth of field, formal elements and focus point. The images below clearly demonstrate these techniques. When editing all the images I started off by levelling them and adjusting the curves for dramatic effect. For the first image I then turned it black and white by adjusting the saturation slider, ctrl + U, and then added the text. The second image I made my image seem like a drawing by making it seem like the second piece of propaganda I created, by adjusting blending modes and adding a gaussian blur. The final image was kept in colour and had text added. In my opinion I like the way all of these edits have turned out, but critically speaking the image below is the most successful, as I believe the photograph (techniques and overall looks) and text work well together and produces the most powerful and persuading meaning, thus creating a successful piece of propaganda.
Displaying Idea:
As I was creating these edits, I knew that I wanted to use them as a final piece but I was not sure how. It wasn’t until I was scrolling through Pinterest when I sore some propaganda from WW2 being displayed on a pin board, which sparked my idea to display my propaganda on a pin board. I believe that this idea showcases contextual factors, as it was a way of actually displaying the propaganda during the second world war, which will showcase part of Jersey’s Journey through the second world war. Moreover, It is a nice way to display all of the outcomes, as it is ascetically pleasing and all the images work together to create an overall powerful effect, and remind people about the impact propaganda has on people’s lives during the second world war.
Below is an image displaying how I would arrange the images on a cork board. I used a background image off a cork board (taken from google) and placed it on a new document on photoshop. I then added all of my propaganda onto the page, adjusting their size (ctrl + t). I then randomly placed them around the board, with them overlapping one another, creating a messy but ascetically pleasing effect.
Evaluation:
To evaluate these edits, I believe that I have produced strong outcomes which showcase my ability to critically decide on images, my competence in using different photoshop tools and my exploration to different ideas to present these images. I have been able to clearly replicate some of the more ‘famous’ propaganda, which showcases my ability of tableaux photography. I then transformed these edits into GIFs, which shows my ability to further explore an idea and showcase a different form and style of presenting a set of images. I then successfully created my own work which have been inspired by Kruger. The images showcase my ability to take inspiration but add my own artistic style to create an overall successful image. Afterwards, I then created my own propaganda using the different techniques, given by the artists, and different photoshop tools in order to create powerful propaganda. Then looking at displaying my works allows me to see how all the images work well together and present a strong final image, which impacts viewers on how propaganda played a massive role in Jersey during the second world war, which reinforces to project itself. In my opinion these edits are some of strongest so far, making this idea worth while and the most successful.
Drew was inspired to create the series “Still Life /Australiana (2003-2009)” after visiting a museum in Germany that exhibited paintings of dead animals. When she returned to Australia and was surrounded by roadkill, she was immediately reminded of the paintings and began working on the series. “You sort of grow up with roadkill in Australia, and people—me included—try desperately to ignore it,” said Drew. “[Doing the series] seemed like a way to translate the situation of animals dying as a consequence of our dominance of the environment.”
“It became a way for the community to acknowledge death and to give some sort of importance to a life rather than just having it get run over by a car, get squashed, and then disregarded,” said Drew.
For my own purposes, i’m taking the idea of how roadkill is disregarding the circle of life. How people initially run over a clueless life then leave it on the side of the road. Drew’s whole idea is to capture her found roadkill in environments we’re more accustomed to rather than the animals norm. I solely just want to capture the animal in its ever-lasting last moments, focusing on their bodies reaction and the roots of their injuries.
For my final images I have decided on the following layout:
This layout remains the same throughout this photo-shoot. The following are the images I will use in each of these panels, along with the final layouts:
These final images are created to represent the process of the object, from its original state to its final state, after being exposed to different factors, such as fire, heat and time. By taking inspiration from both vanitas art and the use of triptychs, I have produced a way to show the process (journey) of the objects through these stages, ultimately showing the fragility of perfection, and how easily it can be destroyed.
Below I have analysed a selection of images from my final choices in order to give a better understanding of the thought process behind choosing them, why I edited them, and what I will use them to represent in my final display:
I have chosen the above image as one of my final images, as I feel it is one of the more successful finals from the editing process. I have edited the saturation and contrast of the image, in order to create a slightly unrealistic and bold colour scheme for the image, which I feel helps to show the contrast between all of the shapes in the background, creating a more cartoon like, unrealistic appearance. I feel that by creating this effect, the viewer can see the subject as falling through a completely different scene, which is made more realistic and possible by the concept that the scene may be fictional and not real. Therefore, the image seems more likely to the viewer, and therefore they are able to concentrate on the image more easily. As well as the background saturation and contrast being edited, I added a white outline to the subject and a “hole” below the subject. The white outline is used in order to separate the subject from the background, and to create the effect that the subject is a sticker, which has been added to the incorrect background. I decided that this was more effective than using a ripped paper effect, as it is cleaner and sharper, and more easily differentiates between the subjects outline and the background while still maintaining the shape of the subject, and unlike the ripped paper effect, this outline does not create a large amount of white space, which distracts from image itself. In total, I have used this image to create the effect that the subject is falling through the image, into the hole blow. I have made it as obvious as possible that the subject does not belong in the image, by creating a “sticker” effect, and heightening the contrast in colour between the subject and the background. This way, the message that the subject has been placed on the “Wrong Journey” or “Wrong Path” is made clear, and follows with the exam title “Journeys & Pathways”.
The above 2 images are additions to the first, and will be displayed with the first image as they follow the same concept and appearance, but using different backgrounds and subject poses. I have decided to display these 3 images, as i feel that they give a wide variation of the different backgrounds and subjects, which will help to emphasize the different journeys and pathways that the subject has been placed in that are incorrect and wrong (thus continuity is shown through the different images, much like a story-board).
I have chosen the above image as a final image, as I feel that it is one of the best outcomes from the photo-shoot involving the use of 3 panels, and the representation of a decaying flower, with each panel representing a different stage in the decay. To create the above image, I made use of the editing process, and either lowered of heightened the saturation and contrast in order to give the effect that the flower was loosing its colour, and therefore the decline of the flower can also be emphasized not only through its physical appearance in terms of shape, but also the different colors between the panels. By editing the background so that all backgrounds present as the same shade of black, I am able to draw all of the viewers attention to the foreground containing the subject, and in addition, when displaying the work the 3 frames backgrounds will merge into 1, showing the connection between the 3 panels (as they all represent the same flowers 1 lifetime) while also separating the panels in order to show different stages of the same life. In total, this image is used to represent the journey of a fragile object (a flower) through its life, representing each stage of its decline through a single image (which help to emphasize the shortness and fragility of life and health) from the beginning of the flowers life (its healthiest) to the end (as it dies). This concept follows the Journeys & Pathways title, as it follows the objects journey through life, health and death.
The above images are also examples of images that I have chosen as my final outcomes. The concept behind this photo-shoot was to recreate archival images using the same subjects and locations in order to show the development of the subject and the environment over the course of time between the 2 images. I feel like the above images are the best examples of recreating the original images, as I feel that the subject and the environment are posed correctly to mimic the original image, and the editing process I went through in order to make the new image seem slightly more worn (and similar to the original) has allowed for the similarities between the images to be seen not only in the subject and environment, but also in the colour and style of the photograph. I feel like this image is a good example of showing the journey of life, from beginning through to the present, as it displays the similarities and differences between the 2 time periods effectively, and through the use of only 2 images, allowing the viewer to get an inside look in on the subjects life, while still only being restricted to 2 images, leaving questions unanswered such as the identity of the subject, along with what event led up to their present life, and how their journey has effected who they are as a person in the present.
After deciding on the final 3 images for each of the final pieces, I used Photoshop to fit the images together, and edit them in order to present them as their final displays. All final images for my 3rd photo-shoot make use of 3 (or in some cases 4) images, inspired by triptych art display, and the overall meaning and presentation of the images is inspired by the vanities movement in art.
In order to emphasise the deterioration of the flowers as they wilted in more than a very blatant visual way, I also adjusted the saturation of each panel. As the flower continued to decay, I further decreased the saturation of the image, dulling the colour of the petals, which links with the fact the flower is journeying from its colourful prime, to its wilting and decaying form.
The editing process also involved tightening/lowering the contrast of the image in order to reduce/increase the contrast between the colours in the image, which in turn either draws attention to the different shapes within the flower (making each shape sharp and crisp) or dulls the lines between the shapes (emphasising the flatness and dullness of the flower as it wilts).
In order to make sure the 3 panels looked as similar (in terms of location) as possible, I made sure that the background of all of the images was the same colour (using the paint tool in Photoshop). This way, the backgrounds of the panels seem to merge together, whereas the foreground (subjects) are still separated. This process allows for the final image to feel more like the journey of a single object, as it is processed from one stage to the next, while still maintaining that each panel depicts a very different stage in the journey.
The final image can be seen blow, and makes use of 3 images in panels (a triptych) to show the different stages on the journey of a flower from its prime, through its life, to it’s resulting, decayed ending.
The other final images from this photo-shoot also followed the same process (saturation, contrast, brightness and editing of the background) and the results of these can be seen below:
Above are all of the final outcomes for this photo-shoot, all of which make use of multiple panels in order to display the journey of each object.
For my third photoshoot I have decided to take inspiration from the use of triptychs, and from my original mind map idea of documenting how objects change over time (their journey through their existence/usage). In order to do this, I decided to use objects that have a relatively short lifespan (such as flowers or ice cubes) and so their decay/the changes they experience through their “life” can be easily documented and the differences are more obvious and natural than, for example, physically changing the appearance of a human subject to show progress and change.
The following contact sheets are the results of my photo-shoots in which I documented the progress of various objects through their natural “lifetime”:
The above shoot captured my first subject, an ice cube, as it melted in a studio setting:
Key: Red E: Over/under exposed – Green E: Slightly over/under exposed – Red S: Subject incorrectly placed – Green F: Slightly out of focus – Red F: out of focus – Green tick: In final selection – Red Cross: rejected – Green “?”: Possible final
The above contact sheets show my second photoshoot, depicting the wilting/dying of a flower in a studio setting:
Key: Red E: Over/under exposed – Green E: Slightly over/under exposed – Red S: Subject incorrectly placed – Green F: Slightly out of focus – Red F: out of focus – Green tick: In final selection – Red Cross: rejected – Green “?”: Possible final
My 3rd shoot is much like my second, except I experimented with different subjects (flowers) in order to experiment how the colour gradient, size and shape would effect the final image:
Key: Red E: Over/under exposed – Green E: Slightly over/under exposed – Red S: Subject incorrectly placed – Green F: Slightly out of focus – Red F: out of focus – Green tick: In final selection – Red Cross: rejected – Green “?”: Possible final
The above photo-shoot is an example of a deterioration that occurs unnaturally (setting paper on fire) and shows the journey of the paper through the different stages of its physical form/shape before it becomes ash. On a more metaphorical level it represents how quickly something can deteriorate, from perfection to literal “rubble” due to adverse conditions:
Key: Red E: Over/under exposed – Green E: Slightly over/under exposed – Red S: Subject incorrectly placed – Green F: Slightly out of focus – Red F: out of focus – Green tick: In final selection – Red Cross: rejected – Green “?”: Possible final
Above shows the photograph I have chosen to edit and develop, I have chosen this image as I believe it is one of my better photographs with the lighting being slightly darker which is what I intended for the photograph and also I feel my subject is well positioned in the frame.
Editing Process:
Editing 1
To begin I started by adjusting the brightness and contrast of the photograph, I lowered the brightness instead of raising it as the original ad is quite dark and that is the tone of light I am aiming for.
Editing 2
Next I went through and placed a noise filter of the image to create the effect of what the original ad looked like with it not being a completely clear and crisp image and I feel this is what I can do to add that effect.
Editing 3
Lastly I added a warming filter across my photo to bring out the warmer and yellow tones in the photograph and to not have so many of the cold tones throughout the photograph.
Final Outcome:
This shows my final outcome after I have been through my editing process, overall I am happy with my photograph and how it turned out, I feel it replicates the original ad well and I have been able to generate a response to the ad and the ideas of how ads are changing and showing a way in which women are presented.
