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AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Homework

Albert Renger-Patzsch Project: The World Is Beautiful (New Objectivity) (in progress)

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Introduction to Albert Renger-Patzsch:

Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer who took a liking to the New Objectivity ways of photographing, and helped to develop the movement with his own work. New objectivity focused a lot on taking photographs in a bold, documentary like manner, showing the subjects in a simple yet striking form. Renger took a forward approach to photography, using his camera almost like an eye, simply photographing what was seen in the way that an individual would see it. Albert’s photography matched the movement of New Objectivity well, and through the use of black and white tone contrast, his work drew attention to the new way of photographing subjects the way that they were seen in everyday life. Albert focused on subjects that could be found in everyday life, making his photographs more relatable to the viewer. He often focused on nature, taking close up photographs of plants and flowers, showing the details of nature in a simple yet eye catching manner. A lot of his photographs take advantage of natural shadows and patterns, exaggerating them by editing the colour to grey-scale.

Introduction to New Objectivity:

Renger-Patzsch focused a lot of his work around the “New Objectivity” expression of photography, which gained popularity during the 1920’s as a reaction against expressionism. New Objectivity focused on depicting subjects of photographs in a more scientific, documentary style manner. Photographs taken during the surge of New Objectivity often maintained sharp focus on an obvious and well framed subject, and depicted the subject how it was seen with the human eye, rather than distorting or abstracting it. As a whole, New Objectivity presented photographs as precise, literal, and scientific in appearance, which greatly contrasted it’s predecessor, Expressionism.

Exploration of the formal elements:

Albert Renger-Patzsch experimented a lot with lighting, shadows, form, lines and texture. His photographs often take advantage of the contrasting tones in gray scale; using the contrasting colours to emphasize the details of the images. Renger also experimented a lot with texture, using close ups to emphasize the texture of the subjects he used, while positioning his lighting to highlight the contrasting textures that can be found on a single image. The final images that Albert produced were sharp and bold, and the dark and light colours that he edited into the images helped to emphasize this bold photography. The position and settings of Albert’s camera were also important in creating his photographs. Albert made use of the zoom feature of his camera, taking close ups of plant life and everyday objects to show their details. A lot of Albert’s subjects include more harsh objects, such as thorn covered plants or telephone wires, and the way he positioned his camera helped to frame the image in a bold way, drawing the viewer’s attention directly to the center of the photograph. This technique helped to add to the harshness of the photographs he took, along with the use of harsh subject matters. The combination of gray scale, closeups and bold subjects helped Albert create an overall eye catching and striking style that matched the wave of New Objectivity.

Further Analysis:

Renger-Patzsch looks for the details in his subject, zooming into the more complex areas and drawing attention to the complexities of everyday objects. Albert focuses a lot on industrial hardware, including cranes, machines and factory spaces, and draws attention to the detail found there. This often helps to add to the objectivity of Renger-Patzsch’s work, as it allows for the viewer to see these machines as they would usually see them with their own eyes, but allows them to concentrate more on the details that they would normally miss. Examples of where Renger-Patzsch has payed extra attention to the detail present in the frame of his photographs can be seen below.

My Response:

After analyzing his work, I have taken inspiration from Albert Renger-Patzsch, and will be using his style of photography to create a photo shoot of my own, keeping in mind his use of camera settings, subjects, and his frame of mind in reference to New Objectivity. Below are the contact sheets I have produced after taking photographs inspires by Renger-Patzsch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Response Analysis:

As can be seen in the above photo-shoot, I have focused on aligning my photography with the New Objectivity movement that influenced Renger-Patzsch with his own work. I have focused on using subjects including both nature and machinery, where I have been able to mimic the style of Renger-Patzsch. I feel that, by taking very front facing photographs of subjects, that are not altered or abstracted, I have been able to capture the style of the New Objectivity movement in my images.

———-individual (x3)———

In order to allow my photo- shoot the appear to have taken inspiration from Renger-Patzsch, I decided that editing the images would be the best way to emphasis the shape and contrast of the images. Renger-Patzsch often used grey-scale when editing his images, in order to draw attention to the subject of the image, rather than the color, and to present the subjects in an even more scientific, almost clinical way. In order to mimic this effect, I have selected the images that I feel are the most relevant, and have edited them to mimic the colour pallet of Renger-Patzsch’s work. The products can be seen below:

 

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas

Keld Helmer Petersen Threshold Experimentation

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Experimenting with the idea of threshold adjustment to create pieces with extreme contrast and maximal blacks and whites. I decided to focus on the idea of cameras for my original inspiration for the photos due to their complex looks and various opportunities for black and white adjustments.

Here are the photos pre and post edit

Here are the final edits

I really like the almost cartoonish effect I have achieved with each photo having its own unique characteristics.

I took a photo through a lens of an outdoor environment and really liked the idea of the lens flipping the image.

Here is a glass triangular prism resting on top of a semi circular prism in a mirror. I chose to adjust the threshold to a point so that it only realistically gives an outline of the shapes.

Up close of a camera lens, using depth of field and threshold adjustment to create a defined effect.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 1 Abstract

Week 4 Homework Photoshoot – Uta Barth

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I have produced a photoshoot using some of the camera a skills that I have developed on during the first few weeks. After taking time to learn and practice skills such as depth of field, exposure and focus, I have incorporated these skills into my shoot, and have take inspiration from my chosen artist, Uta Barth, in order to produce a photoshoot that uses abstraction, as well as the other camera skills.

Uta Barth

Uta Barth is a contemporary photographer living and working in America, who focuses her photography on separating the subjects used in the photograph, from the photograph itself by using a mixture of blurred images, and bright light in her photographs, allowing the colours of her image to blend into one another, further distorting the image and creating an abstract effect. Barth often takes a minimalist approach to her work, using subjects such as walls, windows and bland natural scenes, in order to draw more attention to the light and colours used in her work. Barths work incorporates a mixture of minimalism and abstraction, and she combines this with a bright but simple colour theme to draw attention to the fact that her work goes against what many people consider to be good art.

I have chosen Barth to be my inspiration, as I believe that her work makes good use of colour, light and interesting subject matters, while also taking a minimalist approach to a lot of her photos, making them more unique, and allowing them to stand out.

My Response:

For my photoshoot, I took inspiration from Barth when it came to the type of subjects I used, and the lighting I used. For my camera settings, I made use of the manual focus, making sure that the image I was taking was out of focus to create the same effect as Barth. As well as this, I experimented with the exposure of my photos, in order to mimic the bright light used in Uta Barths work.

The following is a contact sheet containing images from my photoshoot:

These are the photos that I was able to take after taking inspiration from Barth, and using the same techniques and processes as her. I made sure to focus on making sure the lighting resembled Uta’s work, and changed my camera settings to do so.

The above image is a good example of the different camera settings and techniques I used. For this image, I adjusted the manual focus of my camera so that the background was completely out of focus. I then adjusted the ISO setting to a high number (1600). By doing this, I was able to maximize the amount of light that the camera allowed, and because of this the image I took was extremely bright and light, which mimics the work of Uta Barth. By using this combination of out of focus images, with a high ISO setting, I was able to create images similar to that of Barth.

The following images are those that I have decided are the best from my photo shoot:

All of these images use the skills I developed after analysing the work of Uta Barth, including manually putting the camera out of focus, and adjusting the ISO setting to a higher number so that the images included the most light possible. All of these images used an ISO ranging from 3200 to 6400, and I manually adjusted the focus so that the subjects were as out of focus as possible.

I tried to take most images of naturally lighter spaces, as well of adjusting the ISO, these places included outside, and out of windows, to mimic the very light effect that Barth’s images give.

The subject of the above image is the corner of a window, and I zoomed the camera in so that I was only framing the top corner, abstracting the window. A lot of Barths work centres around using subjects such as windows that produce natural light, to maximise the amount of light in the image.

Barth sometimes uses subjects in her work that remain in focus, while throwing the background out of focus to draw maximum attention to the abstracted subject. The first image is my own, while the second is Barth’s, from which I took inspiration. This technique makes the image interesting, as it provides the viewer with a point to focus on, while also allowing them to remain curious about what is in the background.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation, Component 2 ESA, Homework, Unit 1 Abstract

Ralph Meatyard Mood board/Inspiration

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I will be using this mood board in order to inspire and give me ideas for the upcoming homework, responding to Ralph Meatyard’s work. His work, is highly dramatic and produces only black and white imagery. It is simplistic and often up to the audiences interpretation, therefore when I do my own photo shoot, i will be focusing on capturing very minimalist photos that also show drama and mystery.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation, Homework, Unit 1 Abstract

Week 5 | Homework | Final Photoshoot | Abstract | Colour and Texture

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Start Date : Wednesday 3rd October
Completion Date : Wednesday 10th October

Ernst Haas – water and reflections

Haas pioneered colour photography and is also famous for his images of movement using long shutter speeds. He photographed water throughout his career, fascinated by its ability to reflect light and its dynamic movement. He crops the subject to increase the sense of abstraction.

Aaron Siskind – natural and urban surfaces

Siskind was interested in surfaces and textures, both from the natural world but also the urban environment. He gets in close to his subjects and fills the frame with detail. There is always a strong sense of design and all over interest for the viewer.

Alfred Stieglitz – patterns in the sky

These pictures were an attempt to demonstrate how “to hold a moment, how to record something so completely, that all who see [the picture of it] will relive an equivalent of what has been expressed.” The ‘Equivalents’, as they are known, aim to create a sensation in the viewer similar to that experienced by the photographer. Is this possible, do you think?

Nick Albertson – repeated forms

These images explore the idea of repetition, rhythm, line, shape, texture and pattern. They are all created with everyday objects which are transformed through careful arrangement and photography. The edge to edge compositions help concentrate our eyes on the formal properties of the objects. Contrast is important. Sometimes we need to consult the title before we’re sure about exactly what we are looking at.
Some examples of student work:
AO1 Develop Ideas, Uncategorized

Camera skills

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Camera Skills

Auto Focus

Auto focus is the best time saver of the camera and is found in most cameras. Initially the auto focus helps clear up the quality of the images we take. It often uses a computers to run miniature motor that focuses the lens for you. Focusing is the lens means moving in and out until the sharpness of photo is at the highest level possible. Depending on the distance of the object you are trying to focus on, will affect the distance in the lens from the film to present a clear photograph.

Manual focus

As well as having an auto focus setting on your camera you have a manual setting for focusing images.  On the side of your lens there will me a switch labelled ‘’AF-MF’’ short for Auto focus and Manual focus. When you wish to use manual focus switch to manual on the camera. The main advantage over auto focus is the speed of the manual focus . All manual focus lenses have a gauge depicting the DOF at small aperture and the on the focus ring, the focal distance is depicted in metres

Image result for auto focus

White Balance

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the “color temperature” of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance

Image result for white balance camera

Shutter speed

Shutter speed is the length of time your camera shutter is open, exposing light onto the camera sensor. Essentially, it’s how long your camera spends taking a photo. This has a few important effects in how your images will appear. When you use a long shutter speed, you end up exposing your sensor for a significant period of time. The first big effect of shutter speed is motion blur. If your shutter speed is long, moving subjects in your photo will appear blurred along the direction of motion. Shutter speeds are typically measured in fractions of a second, when they are under a second. For example 1/4 means a quarter of a second, while 1/250 means one two-hundred-and-fiftieth of a second (or four milliseconds).

Image result for shutter speed

Using Focus-points

Focus points are often shown as small squares when you look through the camera and is seen on the viewing screen. When you got to take a photo and lightly press down on the shutter button to focus on your image, the focus pint you are using will light up. A focus point can be virtually anything ranging from a person, to a building etc. other way in which will help with focusing on your image is also considering blurs, size colour, shape.

Image result for Focus-points camera

IOS

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. The IOS controls the expose by using software in the camera to make it extra sensitive to light. A high ISO such as ISO 1,600 will produce a brighter picture than a lower ISO such as ISO 100. The drawback to increasing the ISO is that it makes the picture noisier.  Digital noise is apparent when a photo looks grainy.

camera iso setting on lcd screen

Depth of field

A camera can only focus its lens at a single point, but there will be an area that stretches in front of and behind this focus point that still appears sharp. This zone is known as the depth of field. It’s not a fixed distance, it changes in size and can be described as either ‘shallow’ (where only a narrow zone appears sharp) or deep (where more of the picture appears sharp) Because depth of field has an impact on both the aesthetic and technical quality of a picture. Sometimes you’ll want to use an extensive depth of field in order to keep everything sharp. A classic example is when you’re photographing a landscape, where generally the most desirable outcome is to capture detail from the foreground to the horizon.

Image result for depth of field camera

Aperture

‘The opening of the lens’ The aperture is a small set of blades in the lens that controls how much light will enter the camera.  The blades create a octagonal shape that can be widened or closed down to a small hole. If you shoot with the aperture wide open, then more light is allowed into the camera than if the aperture is closed down to only allow a tiny hole of light to enter the camera

Image result for aperture camera

AO1 Develop Ideas, Unit 1 Abstract

Albert Renger-Patzsch

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Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer highly associated with The Objectivity

Image result for Albert Renger-Patzsch

Born in 1897 Wurzburg and died in 1966. He lived and worked in Essen and Wamel, Germany. Renger-Patzsch was an inspiring photographer, because he branched away from the sentimentality and idealism of a previous generation.  In the 1920s, Neue Sachlichkeit (New objectivity) was produced in a German art, architecture and literature. Albert applied these ideas and attitudes towards certain things to his own work, and used these thoughts to adapt his camera to produce a true reflection of the world. In 1924 Albert Renger-Patzsch began his professional career as a photographer by producing the photographs for the first two books in a series named Die Welt der Pflanze  (The World of plants).Although his work went uncredited.  After being credited in the next book for his photographs he became an independent photographer and realised and exhibited his own photos for the first time. In 1928, Renger-Patzsch produced his most famous book titled ‘Die Welt ist Schon’ meaning The World is Beautiful. As well as producing his most famous year, Renger-Patzsch moved from Bad Harzburg to Essen and in the Folkwang Archives he set up a dark room and studio to exhibit his own work and produce images.

Image result for Albert Renger-Patzsch

The objectivity

The  new objectivity  or ‘Neue Sachlichkeit’ in German was a new style that rose in the 1920s it was something different that not many people had ever experienced before this is because it challenged the idea of expressionism. The ideas in the name, it opened the world, opened the idea of more abstract, romantic and idealistic tendencies of Expressionism, and is mostly associate with portraits

Image result for Albert Renger-Patzsch

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation

Week 5 | Class Challenges | Selecting, editing and presenting abstract ideas

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By now you should have generated plenty of images in response to abstract and formalist themes…

Man Ray Lampshade 1938

 

The Formal Elements

  • Line (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, thick, thin etc)
  • Shape
  • Form
  • Texture
  • Pattern
  • Colour

Ensure that you are incorporating the formal elements in your decision making process at all stages of the process…

Task 1

Exploring high contrast images with Keld Helmer-Petersen

 

Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer who was inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch, the experiments at The Bauhaus in Germany and by Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at the Art Institute of Chicago. He achieved fame for his colour photographs but he also published several books of black and white images that explore dramatic contrasts of tone. In some, we are only presented with images that are black and white. All mid tones have been removed. He created and found these images, using both cameras and flat bed scanners to achieve the effects he was looking for. These books are beautifully designed and encourage us to consider the space around the image and the accompanying text as integral to the meaning of the work.

Click on the images for more…

 

 

  • Choose 4 x images of your own to work with
  • Edit the images using the THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT in Adobe Photoshop
  • Add a “stroke” to the final image
  • Present your final images in a grid of 4 x square format

 

Original Image
Threshold Adjustment in Photoshop
Adjusting the threshold level slider
Cropping the image
Rotate the image if necessary
Finished image

  • Create a blog post that includes your experiments, including original images, edits and final outcomes
  • Include key information about Keld Helmer-Petersen
  • Add annotations to describe and explain your process
  • Critically evaluate your outcomes
  • Print your final design A4 to Photography Printer

Task 2

  • this task is designed to encourage you to explore Adobe Photoshop further and select areas of an image to reveal / conceal
  • You will begin to use LAYERS and LAYER MASKS
  • You will also use the 2 x OPACITY sliders

METHOD

  1. Open an image in Adobe Photoshop
  2. Add a new layer from the LAYER PANEL > SOLID COLOUR
  3. Reduce the opacity in the LAYER PANEL to reveal your image
  4. Click on the LAYER MASK (white box) in your LAYER PANEL
  5. Choose the brush tool from the TOOLBOX
  6. Adjust the size of the brush using the {} keys
  7. Check / adjust  the opacity level of your brush (top bar)
  8. Click on various areas of the image to create circular “holes”
  9. Using the opacity slider in the LAYER PANEL, bring the level up to 100%
  10. You have a completed image. Flatten the layers, save and upload.
  • Explore ways you can extend this basic idea
  • Create a blog post entitled “Conceal / Reveal”
  • Describe and explain your process and include visual evidence
  • Critically evaluate your process

Remember to use the model :

TECHNICAL -VISUAL-CONCEPTUAL-CONTEXTUAL

here are some helpful examples for you to work from…

Picture

Extension

Now you must carefully select from your images, including homework photo assignments to decide what you will present as a Final Outcome (AO4). You must look at a range of presentation methods, and show in a range of blog posts that you can…

  • sequence images
  • create diptychs (pairs) and triptychs (sets of 3 images)
  • design a grid of 9 x images (square format)
  • explore circular shaped images
  • juxtapose contrasting images

Deadline for final selection of printed images = Monday 15th October

Follow the 10 Step Process for each unit to ensure you tackle all Assessment Objectives thoroughly :

  1. Moodboard (AO1)
  2. Mindmap of ideas (AO1)
  3. Artist Reference / Case Study (AO1)
  4. Action Plan (AO3)
  5. Photoshoots + contact sheets (AO3)
  6. Image Selection (AO2)
  7. Image Editing/ manipulation (AO2)
  8. Presentation of final outcomes (AO4)
  9. Compare and contrast (AO1)
  10. Evaluate and Critique (AO1+AO4)
AO1 Develop Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, Homework, Unit 1 Abstract

Albert Renger-Patzsch – information and contact sheets

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Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer born on June 22nd, 1897, and was associated with the New Objectivity.
Renger-Patzsch experimented with photography as a teenager. After serving in World War I, he studied chemistry at Dresden Technical College. In 1920 he became director of the picture archive at the Folkwang publishing house in Hagen.
In 1925 Renger-Patzsch began to pursue photography as a full-time career as a freelance documentary and press photographer. He rejected both Pictorialism, which was in imitation of painting, and the experimentation of photographers who relied on startling techniques. In his photographs, he recorded the exact, detailed appearance of objects, reflecting his early pursuit of science. He felt that the underlying structure of his subjects did not require any enhancement by the photographer. In his book Die Welt ist schön, he showed images from both nature and industry, all treated in his clear, transparent style. Such images were closely related to the paintings of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement of painters, who created detached and literal renderings of reality that were so extreme that they produced an eerie effect.
In the early 1930s, Renger-Patzsch taught photography. From the 1940s until his death in 1966, he focused on his own projects, working as a freelance photographer and publishing his photographs. His later subjects included natural landscapes, industrial landscapes, trees, and stones.

The New Objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub who used it as the title of an art exhibition staged in 1925 to showcase artists who were working in a post-expressionist spirit. As these artists—who included Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, and Jeanne Mammen—rejected the self-involvement and romantic longings of the expressionists, Weimar intellectuals in general made a call to arms for public collaboration, engagement, and rejection of romantic idealism.
Although principally describing a tendency in German painting, the term took a life of its own and came to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it. Rather than some goal of philosophical objectivity, it was meant to imply a turn towards practical engagement with the world—an all-business attitude, understood by Germans as intrinsically American.
The movement essentially ended in 1933 with the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis to power.

Albert Renger-Patzsch

This is my favourite photography by Albert Renger-Patzsch. It shows a snake coiled up with an intense stare. I love the details on each individual scale of the snake is visible and clear for us to see, and the dark tone of the picture gives the snake more of a menacing look. The contrasting light and darks of the image makes it look dramatic, and the fact that it’s been cropped to only view its head makes us focus in the detail of its expression and it’s pose.

To produce pictures inspired by his work, I’ll be taking 150+ pictures of objects which might relate to nature, or anything that’s been man made. To copy his effect, after I take my images i’ll be editing them to have a black and white tone, and cropping them to focus on the small details, and to give them as much as a dramatic effect as possible.