A photo montage is a series of individual photographs, collectively of one subject, arranged together to create a single image. Sometimes a photomontage can move and include video.
A photo montage can contain any number of photos. There is no limit to the amount of time it takes to create this series of images. There is also no limit to the variety of locations the photographer can use to make the photos. To be practical in the execution of a photo montage, some limitation is advisable.
For my photo montage, I took images based on the war and which were taken during that time, and then I also took my own images which are of German bunkers and places which were used during the war. To make my photo montages I took my images and paired them up depending on their similarities, and then cut certain pieces out, stuck them together and even burned one of them. Below are my results.
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For this montage I took two images, one which was taken during the war in a tunnel and one which I took when I went to Battery Moltke. I then took the image from the war, cut out the middle where the hallway continues and matched it up to the recent image so they look like one hallway.
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For this image above, I found a picture taken during the war of the French castle ruins close to Battery Moltke, another where there were a crowd of people around a car, and one which I took of a Nazi symbol. I cut out the people in the crowd image and stuck them among the ruins picture to make them appear as if they were there looking at towards the archway and the bunker in the background. I then cut out a hole where the archway was and put the Nazi sign there. To finish it off I burnt holes into the images where the faces of the people were, and where the Nazi sign was so that they lost their identity as they would have when they were taken over during the war.
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to make this image a took an image of my own, which was a square hole in the wall of the hallways we visited at Battery Molke, and took an image from the archive of a German soldier with a black dog. I cut out the space where the hole would have been in my image and stuck the older image behind it, as if we are looking back into the past through this German-made hole.
In this blog post I will be experimenting with radical changes with some of my favorite images. I will be experimenting with tones and contrasts in order to make some images black and white.
Here I put the image into black and white and I increased the contrast because I thought that the different colours on the guns could really stand out next to each other. I increased the whites and highlights in order to make the brighter colours even more prominent.Final imageFor this image I did something similar to my previous image. In this image I increased the contrast and shadows, and I also decreased the exposure. I dd this because my image has lots of walls facing different ways and by increasing the contrast you are able to see a variety of different tones in the photo. The darkness also symbolises how the occupation was a dark time for both the soldiers and the islanders, so i wanted a sort of aura of tragedy surrounding the images of the fortifications.To edit this image I majorly increased the contrast because the image was quite bright, and I also decreased the exposure to make the image seem even darker. I did this because I wanted to show how the foot prints of the German soldiers are in the past and also to make the concept of the occupation feel sadder.
Cropping is important in photography because, it can create various meanings when you crop the images in certain ways.
In the photo above, I have selected the part of the image I wanted to use.
I have decided to crop the image like this so it only focuses on the eagle and swastika, if i wanted I could further crop so that you wouldn’t be able to see the pipe above it however, I liked that in the image so I decided to keep it in.
On the 18th June 2019 we visited Batter Lothrigen, at Norimont, which was a battle artillery battery during the second world war. The site was named after SMS Lothrigen, and was built by Organisation Todt (a Nazi organisation who specialized in building such fortification). The main guns located at this site were 3 15cm SK L/45 naval guns which were elevated on concreate and looked out towards the ocean, stopping anybody leaving or entering the island (more information about this weapon). Once liberation was declared the weaponry where thrown over the edge of a cliff at Les Lands, luckily they managed to retrieve and save the weapons and have restored them to the right location on the site.
We had a guided tour around the site, with the tour guide explaining in detail what each bunker and place was used for during this time period. Some key information that I picked up, was that the site was mainly used for storing weapons and ammunition, the land was owned by the De Gruchy family who decided to preserve the bunkers and allow it to be constant reminder of that time in history. In addition, the bunkers are spread out in proxemics but are still close enough to have cabled communication connect to each bunker. The guide also had a small collection of archive images of these Bunker’s from when he was a child and used to explore them, which allowed us to see how the archaeology has not majorly changed over time. We spent a lot of time capturing the artillery site from the outside exploring different techniques and angles, but also got the opportunity to go inside one of the bunkers and understand what life was like to work down there and understand how the insides have been preserved. Due to the bunker’s being a tourist attraction on the island, it lead to the bunker being more user friendly, with dummies acting out the use of each room and health and safety coming first. This was good as it allowed a proper feeling and representation of the different uses of the bunker to be shown, however it lacked the historical feeling as the outsides had. The bunker was some what dark and cold and was split into 2 floors, they are designed in a spider shape with a central area and many rooms coming off the side of the center area.
Planning:
When capturing my images outside I set my camera to the setting AV, which allowed me to put more focus into adjusting my aperture. The day was light which meant I used a low aperture and a quick shutter speed to capture these images. I explored with depth of field by using a manual focus and I had a low ISO which ranged between 100-800. When capturing the inside of the bunker I used a much higher aperture due to the lack of natural lighting as well as as higher ISO of 3200, with a quick shutter speed.
Lightroom Selections:
Edit 1 – FlagingEdit 2 – Star RatingEdit 3 – Color Rating
Color Edits:
For my color edits I decided to explore and experiment with the different developing tools within light room. I always made the white balance setting to ‘as shut’, but adjusted the clarity, shadows, blacks, whites etc to enable the best possible outcome for my imagery. I wanted to ensure that the structure of the foregrounds where clear, making them the clear focus point, and the background slightly lighter to allow the image to nicely blend off. I really like the way in which these images have turned out due to the different photographic technique such as framing, as well as the clarity of the structures of the images.
Black and White Edits:
For my black and white experimentation, I started off by turning the image black and white and then did the adjusting of the setting to ensure my time was used effectively. I adjusted the same settings as the color edits, but on occasions I had to move the sliders closer to either end of the setting scales to allow the images to seem more dramatic and interesting for the viewers. I also experimented with cropping my images to explore how cropping can change the moods and values of an image. I made these decisions to have the images black and white as I believe they would help to present a decay of the war, which also helps to add an old fashion feel to the imagery. I am very happy with the way in which these edits have turned, this is due to clear tonal contrasts presented, the cropping used and the overall images itself.
Conclusion:
To conclude I am very happy with the final images produced within this photo shoot. I have successfully managed to use light room to make a selection of images, and been able to use the develop section of the application to manipulate my images to allow the imagery to be more effective and begin to showcase the aftermath of the war. In addition, I have a variety of exploration of black and white images, showing tonal contrast and colored images, exploring how the bunkers have been abounded and how nature has grown around them (Showcasing how Jersey is taking back the island, metaphorical). I have also been able to explore the power of cropping images and how it can change the meaning and mood of an image.
One of the tasks we have been set before the summer break is to create a zene out of the images we have taken so far. In this post I will be showcasing the layout and the main content of the zene; as going through the entire zene would be long-winded and boring. Therefore I am going to review 8 of the 16 total pages instead.
I have focused on editing the photos in a modern way, as it blends the relics of the past with the present. I have also tried to lay out the zene in chronological order, in terms of the story of the war.
As my front cover I have chosen an edited image of a war memorial. I think it encompasses the entire zene quite well as its a look back at the war. I started the zene with pictures of guns and artillery, which symbolises the physical conflict and violence of the war.The next part of the zene contains images more focused on bunkers and the fortifications as a whole.The next section contains images more focused on liberation, the end of the war.The back cover is a very bright and colourful photo which symbolises happier and better life after the war. A kind of stereotypical ‘happy ending’.
When at Batterie Lothringen I found that the sky in that day was very dramatic with large clouds that have breaks in them and have light shining through them, for this reason I made an effort to get large amounts of sky in most of my images and took most outside. Also the lighting inside of the museum wasn’t very good.
Here are the unedited images that I thought could be taken to editing.
After selecting these images I then used colours to select further some final images.
The green images are the ones that I Believe that I could take into editing as they have good composition and potential.
The title of my zine will be “bunker” as this will represent the literal meaning of the area of study in this booklet. Visually it is also a fitting word for the title as it is a 6 letter word and it fits well into the measurements of the page.
WHY I CHOSE THESE IMAGES:
Half of the images which I will be using to make my zines will be inverted to create a contrast between the blue lighting and the bright orange. The symbolism for this juxtaposition is the conflict of the war, two sides conflicting each other, just like the calm blue and fiery orange. Two sides going against each other. The other half of my zine will include very simple, highly contrasted black and white images, these represent the reality of the war, grim and bleak.
METHOD:
In terms of creating the booklet, or zine, I will be using Photoshop as this is the easiest way to create a booklet and navigate through the pages quickly and effectively. It also makes it easier to place the images and add text on the top of it if this is something which I find necessary. I have also had previous knowledge in working with inDesign therefore making this process a lot easier for myself. The easiest and often most effective way to create zines is to have a full bleed on the edges of the booklet, meaning that the image goes edge to edge of the page, therefore the image goes across a whole double spread of the booklet allowing landscape images to be seen in full view.
A photo zine is a self-published, often handmade collection of photographs laid out in a magazine style. It can include written text and illustrations as well as photos. They are designed to display and share photo stories. A photo zine can be a single, one-off publication.
These are some layout ideas I have for my own zine:
Zine’s have many different layouts such as landscape or portrait, different sizes like A5 to A3. This is also similar with the photos that are in the zine. Images can range in size, some may take up two pages and some are spread out through the pages. Some zines have rhythm/sequence, such as text that relates to the image or colours relating to certain images. The visual concept of the zines varies depending on what the artist’s work is about. Not all zines just have images only in, some zines also had text printed along side the image, which compliments or tells you about the photo beside it.
Zines originated in the United States during the 1930’s. A zine is a magazine which is a small, self-publication of your original work where appropriate text and images can be added, depending on what you want to publish,. They are normally printed via a photocopier, meaning that they are pretty cheap and strait forward to produce. Many photographers have created zines and have had them published around society, some even being a series and collectible items. After looking at many different types of zines, created by different photographers, I began to get ideas of how I wanted to lay out images within my zine. Here are some visual representations of what I looked at and what inspired me;
The layout of a zine can differ, some can be landscape or portrait, along with big in different sizes, like A5 or newspaper size. This is similar with the photos that are inside, the images can range in size, some may bleed over two pages, or some pay just cover the corner of one side of the page. Some of the zines had a rhythm/sequence, one I looked as had images in alphabetical order, so the image related to the letter, creating a sequence. The visual concept of the zines can change as well, depending on what the artist is focusing on, some of them related back to the war, whereas some related to different identities. Not all zines just have images only in, a majority of zines also had text printed along side the image, giving a background or maybe writing down the meaning of this page/image.
A Sentence Showing the stillness of a once kinetic site of war
Paragraph The once rife with ammunition coasts of Jersey currently sat undisturbed will be presented in a way reflecting how still and silent these concrete structures are surrendered. However, I will also show how remains have been disturbed by either nature or humans. Graffiti and rubbish disordering historical moments impacting forthcoming generations and them missing out in immersing themselves in the material of war.
