Category Archives: AO4 Present Ideas

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Identity

January 10, 2019 Nathan H Leave a comment

Identity – In psychology, identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group). Categorizing identity can be positive or destructive. A psychological identity relates to self-image (one’s mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality -Wikipedia

Gender Identity – Gender identity is the personal sense of one’s own gender. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth, or can differ from it. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a person’s social identity in relation to other members of society. – Wikipedia

Cultural Identity – Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. -Wikipedia

Social Identity – Social identity is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. -Wikipedia

Geographical Identity – An individual or group’s sense of attachment to the country, region, city, or village in which they live. The key characteristics with which a particular country, region, city, or village is associated. -Oxford Reference

Political Identity – Political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify. -Wikipedia

Lack of / Loss of Identity – Loss of identity may follow all sorts of change; changes in the workplace, loss of a job or profession, loss of a role that once defined us, as a child, as a parent, as a spouse. This leaves a gap, an abyss, an empty space. Such loss of identity can result in increased levels of generalised anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, a loss of self-confidence, social anxiety, isolation, chronic loneliness, all of which threaten our ability to connect with other people. -https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellor-articles/i-dont-know-who-i-am-anymore-losing-my-identity

My initial instinct thoughts about identity and place are very varied. Personally, I am being drawn to lack of/loss of identity, due to the nature of being able to heavily experiment with props and photoshop. I feel that I would be able to express clear view points about loosing an identity through my photography. Moreover, I am also liking the idea of social identity as I would be able to explore more serious topics which are relevant to todays society. Although this would provide many opportunity’s, I feel I would be able to produce a stronger outcome and more in-depth if I went down the loss of identity root.

Loss of Identity:

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

My attempt at photo montages

January 10, 2019 Lucy L Leave a comment

After looking at the work of Peter Kennard, I was inspired to also make montages that express my opinions and views on political matters that are currently happening in the world.

This photo montage about Brexit. In the background I put an image of anti-brexit protesters, and covered it with an image of Theresa May, a faded EU flag and newspaper headlines. The fact that the protesters are being covered by the other layers, symbolises how their views are being neglected and not particularly cared about. The faded EU flag is symbolic in showing how, little by little, Britain is no longer fully part of the European Union and continues to make plans to leave. The particular image of May that I chose, displays her looking rather confused and not particularly sure in what shes doing as this represents that fact that some people view her as not being a good enough leader to take Britain out of the EU on successful terms as the the UK’s economy and social stability may be effected by the decision for Britain to leave the EU. The newspaper headings contrast hugely with the expression on May’s face, as 2 of them show quotes where she sounds like a strong, and capable leader. This contrast represents the fact that many people are divided on whether or not Brexit is a positive thing or not. The third newspaper headline is a negative one showing the other side of the argument.

For this next photo montage I wanted to do something more creative and fun. For this montage I used an image i took of someone sitting down, and i also used a picture I took of the same model’s arm. I duplicated the arm several times and changed the colours. I then used a galaxy background from google. There is no specific underlying concept within this image, but i think its a very interesting montage just because it looks very unusual and unrealistic.

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

Identity and Place

January 10, 2019 Eleanor G 1 Comment

In psychology, identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group). A psychological identity relates to self-image (one’s mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality.

For this topic of interest, identity and place of a person is to be explored. They can be explored through the ideas of gender identity, cultural identity, social identity, geographical identity, political identity
lack of, loss of identity.

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

Photo Montage – Response

January 9, 2019 Eleanor G Leave a comment

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Photo montage case study- Peter Kennard

January 9, 2019 Lucy L Leave a comment

Peter Kennard

Peter Kennard is an artist who was born and is based in London, who create photo montages. He is especially known for being involved in the Anti-Vietnam war movement and for being in favor of Nuclear Disarmament. Most of his photo montages are based on his political views and also on problems in society.

Mood board

Analysing

Context

This photo montage was first seen in the Guardian on the 13th November, 1989.

Visual

In this image, we can see two hands shaking through a wall. Where but the hands are joined. The wall appears to be breaking.

Technical

This montages was created by placing prints and ink on card.

Conceptual

This is one of my favorite montages by Kennard as it conveys a very happy feeling. This image was published 4 days after the Berlin Wall began falling. Both the hands shaking from each side is symbolic in showing how West and East Germany were finally going to be united again. I believe that this shows that Kennard feels that’s it was a good thing that they were no longer going to be separated as he portrays their connection with a handshake, which is a peaceful and positive connection between two people.

Analysing

Context

This montage was published in the socialist challenge on the 31st December 1977.

Visual

In this photo, we can see a close up image of a man who’s mouth is being covered with piece of fabric what has the soviet Russian flag on it. The fabric gag is being held by 2 hands, but the body or face of the person isn’t seen.

Technical

This montages was printed onto card

Conceptual

During the time this montage was made, Russia and the entire USSR was under the rule of a communist government. During this time a lot of people’s thoughts and feelings were suppressed due to heavy government restrictions on freedom of speech. This is shown through the montage very literally, and the gag with the soviet flag on it is seen as stopping the man from talking.

AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Photo Montage: Antonio Mora

January 9, 2019 Jazmin G Leave a comment

To cut the subject from the background I used the quick selection tool

To make the selection softer I used the refine edge option and drew around the edges using the brush

I applied the layer mask to remove the background

I selected layer 0 (subject) and changed the blending mode to lighten

The subject is faded into the background

To cut out the rest of the mountain image, I applied the same mask on layer 2

I unlinked the two images in layer 2 and selected the mountain image and pressed ctrl T so I could move the image to a suitable area

To remove the fade, I selected layer 0 and made a copy of it

I then changed the blending mode of this layer from lighten to normal

I selected the layer mask and made sure that the foreground colour was black. I then pressed Alt + backspace to hide everything on the normal blend mode layer

I selected the brush tool and made sure the hardness was 0% to have a soft brush. I painted with white to bring the normal image back

I created a new adjustment layer and selected curves. This created contrast

Evaluation

To replicate Antonio Mora’s photo manipulation, I blended the subject and an image of nature to create a surreal artwork on Photoshop. I have merged two images together using various tools such as the blending mode, applying masks on layers, image adjustments and levels. I wanted to use the same technique of blending two images seamlessly to create an illusion for the viewer. This process has resulted in a portrait that consists of the natural and unnatural world. Antonio works with images he finds through the internet and fuses them together with his photo manipulation techniques. I captured images of my subject using my camera and found a landscape image of a mountain online. I got this image from a photographer called Jonathan Bean. Before capturing images of the subject I told her to wear a shirt that exposed her shoulders so it would be easier to select the subject with the quick selection tool on Photoshop. The person in the image was born in Gran Canaria, an island that has a variety of landscapes in a small space of rugged rock formations in the interior. In the North there is a fertile coastal landscape, in the South there are gentle dunes and a rocky coastline in the West. I decided to contrast the subject with a different environment by using an image of a snowy mountain range instead of sand dunes. This creates a sense of lost cultural identity. Since most of his double exposures are in black and white, I have applied the black and white adjustment onto my own so the two images blend better together since they are both tonal. I have also adjusted the contrast so the highlights and shadows can be bold. Although most of Antonio’s double exposures hide most of the subject’s face, I decided to only cover the hair to create a sharp outline of her head through the peaks of the mountain range.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Michael Dickinson – Photo Montage

January 8, 2019 Eleanor G Leave a comment

Photographer Reference

Michael Dickinson

Micheal Dickinson isn’t for the faint hearted. This artist creates photo montages that deal insensitively to world politics and disasters. His work depicts dark scenes which offend and uncivilly reflect work crisis or extreme politics.

I became interested in his work due to his style of having no limits or boundaries- has no line to cross. He unveils taboo topics and makes them worthy of talking about. For example: in one of his compositions he has placed 3 malnourished children in a market place, the idea of this sounds cruel but it does have a message and in this instance its about how readily available resources are yet they never reach the ones in need most.

Analysis

VISUAL

This composition is of 3 malnourished children, surrounded by a ‘market place’ – this actually all made up of food magazine photographs. In the background there are cafe signs with ‘Hungry Man’ branding, this contradicts and juxtaposes the idea of these starving children.

TECHNICAL

In order to create this image, Dickinson has digitally manipulated individual images then layered them to create a readable image. These images started off as magazine adverts and articles then were removed from their origin, placed into another and manipulated to still make sense.

CONTEXT

‘Historically, photo montage has been used for powerful political expression and outrage. But that was then. Back in history. When Hitler walked the streets, and the world was a terrible, terrible place. Now it’s far more complicated. We need some courtesy. Some restraint. We need affirmative images. Positive things. Not offensive depictions that no one cares about in the slightest.’

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait