THE PROCESS IMAGE 1:

This image was taken at TATE modern in London, a space filled with abstract and modern day art. I particularly loved this exhibition as the space where the art was exhibited in was flooded with natural light. Combining this with the crisp and clean white backdrop allowed me to capture some truly beautiful images that showed of the subtleties in each image. The space was also very large and open which allowed me to maneuver my camera without the disturbance of other people or pieces of art.

This was in my opinion one of the most successful images from this photo shoot, therefore making it into my final selection. I reflected up on many different photo shoots from the last couple of months in order to make my selection, even going through images which i have previously discarded as i have learned throughout the past couple of months that almost any image can be transformed through simple editing and cropping, Image 1 i thought initially was too simplistic and quite frankly boring, yet i have discovered that minimalism is a very real and valid form of photography therefore i reconsidered the image. After reviewing the image, i found that it actually holds many different aspects and qualities, like the interesting creasing of the fabric and the contrasting textures of the wall and the floor.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF IMAGE 1:

TECHNICAL: For this photo shoot I approached each image in the same way, setting my focus to auto as each piece of art work was fairly big and i did not focus in on small details therefore setting it to manual would be totally useless. I kept my exposure throughout the photo shoot at 400 as each large, white hall was filled with natural light, the bright white walls added to extra light bouncing into the camera. I kept it at a stable level as i wanted to prevent the images becoming overexposed. I switched on my white auto balance setting as again the white walls created problems with the colors of the art work becoming washed out and dull. I set the shutter speed 1/60 as i wanted to create very clean and crisp images that show all aspects of the art work.

VISUAL: One of the most notable aspects of this image i find are the shadows created by the large creases in the draping fabric, the intensity of the shadow increasing the further down the fabric that the eye travels. All aspects of this image are crisp and clean, the high shutter speed to which i set my camera meant that the image is sharp. There is contrast in texture all around in the image, from the rough surface of the fabric, the smooth and matte white wall, to the glossy grey-black floor. The rule of 1/4 applies to this image as most of the subject is contains in the first 1/2 and 1/3 of the image. There is also a sense of repetition in the image through the even creases that go down the fabric sheets and the 3 sticks that mirror each other. Although the image is already bright, a lot of the light is hitting it from the top right hand corner, creating a slightly deeper shadow on the left side of the sheet. The colors in this image are very simple, consisting of a slightly blue toned white, a grey-black and caramel beige. There are many sharp lines which cut through the image such as the separation between the wall and floor, but also the 3 sticks which prop up the fabric which gives the image some geometry and symmetry.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF IMAGE 2:

TECHNICAL: For this photo shoot I approached each image in the same way, setting my focus to auto as each piece of art work was fairly big and i did not focus in on small details therefore setting it to manual would be totally useless. I kept my exposure throughout the photo shoot at 400 as each large, white hall was filled with natural light, the bright white walls added to extra light bouncing into the camera. I kept it at a stable level as i wanted to prevent the images becoming overexposed. I switched on my white auto balance setting as again the white walls created problems with the colors of the art work becoming washed out and dull. I set the shutter speed 1/60 as i wanted to create very clean and crisp images that show all aspects of the art work.

VISUAL: This image overall is very busy and overwhelming with the density and contrast in shape, texture and color. Firstly there is a sharp contrast with the texture in the image, with  the white, glossy floor and the ragged and varying fabric of the sculptures. Although being very different, create harmony as an image. The light hitting directly above from the image creates depth and shadow which is cast onto the floor, creating a sort of subtle reflection. The larger the shape, the more dramatic and deep the shadows become. There is a lot of repetition in this image, not only through the editing and mirroring the image, but also the varying round shapes of the sculptures that fill up the image. The small white line creating a border around the sculpture in a way breaks the harmony and separates the image from the chaos of the sculpture and the smoothness of the floor.

CONCEPTUAL:  Magdalena Abakanowicz began sewing three-dimensional objects with sacking, stockings, rags and rope in the 1970s.

These cocoon-like objects reflect Abakanowicz’s interest in biological systems, organic matter and regeneration, topics she discussed with scientists in her native Poland. In response to a commission to represent Poland at the Venice Biennale in 1979, she made hundreds of soft sculptures of varying shapes and sizes, ‘rounded like bellies, or elongated like mummies,’ as she described them. Abakanowicz collected old mattresses, clothing and sacks to create this ‘invented anatomy’ of forms and installed eight hundred in Venice under the title Embryology.

CONTEXTUAL:  Made at a time of political tension between the Soviet Union and Poland, Abakanowicz has said the work ‘could be understood as a cry from behind the Iron Curtain’. She had come to prominence in the 1960s with a series of large woven sculptures called Abakans. At the time, the Polish state would not allow her to buy or rent a studio, so she made them on a loom in a friend’s basement, using sisal from discarded ropes. Without a large space in which to work she would often see her pieces in their entirety for the first time only when they were installed in exhibitions.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS IMAGE 3:

TECHNICAL: For this photo shoot I attempted as much as possible to recreate Meatyard’s “zen sticks” series. I particularly focused on exposure settings, focus control, and depth of field. The photograph below was taken of a dead tree, of the branches facing upwards towards the sky. Meatyard’s images are all very dark and dramatic therefore I chose to do my photo shoot during the evening, on a stormy, grey day. I increased the exposure to 800 in order to capture the branches in a dark setting yet still have some highlights and shadows. The dark night, and mid-range ISO setting meant that the image contracted a lot of motion blur, the effect which i was aiming to get.

VISUAL: It resembles the work of Meatyard in many ways. The dark evening also meant that the resolution of the images decreased and became more grainy. The branches of the tree were also quite far up meaning i had to decrease the depth of field and zoom in, again compromising the quality of the image. The grainy texture of the image I feel adds to the overall aesthetic of Meatyard’s work: old and worn. The differences in motion blur also create a focal point in the image, with the central branch being less blurred than the outermost parts of the image. The image is also quite underexposed which further adds to the dramatic and intense tone, giving it almost a Gothic aura. There is a very apparent sense of space in the photo as the lack of branches in the top left hand corner of the image freeing up space. There is also a lack of light in this image due to both the time of day the image was taken and the lack of exposure adjustments made on the image during editing as i wanted to retain the dark theme.

CONTEXTUAL: Ralph Eugene Meatyard (1925–1972) lived in Lexington, Kentucky, where he made his living as an optician while creating an impressive and enigmatic body of photographs. Meatyard’s creative circle included mystics and poets, such as Thomas Merton and Guy Davenport, as well as the photographers Cranston Ritchie and Van Deren Coke, who were mentors and fellow members of the Lexington Camera Club. Meatyard’s work spanned many genres and experimented with new means of expression, from dreamlike portraits—often set in abandoned places—to multiple exposures, motion-blur, and other methods of photographic abstraction. He also collaborated with his friend Wendell Berry on the 1971 book The Unforeseen Wilderness, for which Meatyard contributed photographs of Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. Meatyard’s final series, The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater, are cryptic double portraits of friends and family members wearing masks and enacting symbolic dramas.

CONCEPTUAL: Meatyard stated in a lecture to the Louisville Photographic Society, he was involved in working on no fewer than 12 “methods, series, subjects.” Among them were what he called “photographs made under the influence of Zen,” shown here with the title “Zen Twigs.” While the images are very minimalist, they deal with growth and decay, is impressive, they are familiar enough to be looked over lightly. A particularly beautiful one (untitled, like much of Meatyard’s work) shows a young trunk sprouting — or seeming to sprout — a branch that curls around it in a wiry loop, the whole almost a visual haiku. The simplistic tonal range of the image is effective in portraying the theme of deterioration and degeneration. Meatyard has clearly used a very narrow field o view, with a singular branch being in focus and the rest of the backdrop is extremely blurry. The images are in a mid-range of exposure, not too overexposed or underexposed. The light grey tones from the backdrop of the photo, highlight they unsophisticated, dead branch. The upwards growth of the branches, have strong and dark lines which cut through the sea of blurriness. The image also contains various shades of white, black, and grey, all working together to create a harmonious image. The contrast between the blurry backdrop and the foreground give the image a real sense of depth and space.