I made contact sheets on Photoshop, and digitally marked any photos, with a circle those I wanted to keep and use, with a cross those I would definitely not use and delete, with a ? if I may come back to them later on in the project, I also left the rest blank and will save them for another time.
Here are the photos I will keep and use in my photo montages.
The definition of photomontage is cutting, rearranging, overlapping and gluing parts of different photographs to make one new picture. Sometimes it is digitally edited, normally using Adobe Photoshop, instead of physically being cut apart in order to make the final image neater and to make the transition between the different images smoother.
Many would credit the first known example of photomontage to Oscar Gustave Rejlander, with his ”The Two Ways of Life,” shown above. Quickly, many other artists would paste pictures together in this same style, later evolving from physically cutting and pasting to superimposing the images digitally, and the term ‘photomontage’ was created.
Modern 20th century examples of artists using photomontage include Martha Rosler, an American artist who tends to focus on the everyday life experience and women’s perspectives in her photomontages, as well as the recurring themes of war and human conflict. She used images from popular mass-market magazines as well as official documentation images from various wars, for example the Vietnam War, to create her final images.
Hannah Hoch was a German photographer born in 1889. She has been referred to as one of the ‘originators of photomontage’. Hoch’s work often appeared to support feminism and encouraged the liberation of women during the weimar republic.
She was the last member of the Berlin Dada group to remain in Germany during the third Reich. She bought and lived in a small garden house in Berlin-Heiligensee, a remote area on the outskirts of Berlin.
She married businessman, Kurt Matthies, in 1938 and divorced him in 1944. She suffered from the Nazi censorship of art with her work deemed as “degenerate art”, which made it even more difficult for her to show her works.
Visual
Black and white photos contrast with the colour background. Represents Hoch’s attitude towards the weimar republic at the time and the difference between the treatment of men and women. Most of the images are sharp and grainy adding to the overall effect of this image.
Technical
grainy / low light adds to the meaning of this photomontage. There is a low contrast on the B&W photos with low highlights. There is a hint of natural light with the orange/yellow tint on the colour photos.
Contexual
Höch was a feminist during the weimar republic so this photomontage has a lot to say about women’s right during a tough period in German history. It is also likely that it wasn’t seen until late after the war due to the nazi censorship that restricted her work.
Conceptual
This was only one of many montages Höch created that support women during a time where there appeared to be no hope for women’s rights and equality. Höch received criticism from the nazi party and many politicians during her time and was even banned from exhibiting during the Nazi reign.
Once you have been instructed on how to use the lighting studio safely and respectfully, you will be able to use the studio during lesson times or in study periods. You must book the facility in advance via one of your teachers JAC / MM / MVT.
You must always leave the studio in a clean and tidy, safe manner. All equipment must be switched off and packed away. Any damage must be reported and logged.
Portrait Studio Shoot
Types of lighting available
Still Life Photography and using the product table / copy stand
Still-life Studio Shoot:
Each group of two students work on one station each ie. Continuous Light and Flash Lights and swap halfway through
You can choose to photograph each object individually or group together several objects for a more complex still life arrangements.
Technical stuff
Continuous Lights – photograph objects three dimensionally
Camera setting: Manual Mode
ISO: 100
White Balance: Daylight
Aperture: F/16
Shutter: 0.5 sec to 0.8 sec (depending on reflection of each object)
Lights in room must be switched off to avoid reflections
Continuous Lights – portrait
Camera setting: Manual Mode
ISO: 100
White Balance: Daylight Shutter Speed 1/125 sec Aperture f/16
Flash Lights – photograph images, documents, books, newspapers, etc or portraits
Camera setting: Manual Mode
ISO: 100
White Balance: Daylight
Aperture: F/16
Shutter: 1/125-1/200 (depending on reflection of each object)
Flash heads set to power output: 2.0
Use pilot light for focusing
Hannah Höch was a famous German DADA artist and is highly recognised as being one of the originators of photomontage during the Weimar period (1918-1933 where Jews, liberals, socialists and others were blamed for undermining war efforts).
She combined text and images from modern media to criticise social constructs for women, popular culture and the failings of the Weimar republic.
Photo analysis:
The collage is built using a photograph from the newspaper of the German president at the time, Friedrich Ebert (pictured on the left) and his Minister of Defense, Gustav Noske (pictured on the right). The two men are wearing their bathing suits in the images and are placed out of context to depict them as foolish.
She placed these figures on top of an embroidery-style background with images of a woman surrounded by flowers and butterflies. She demeans these high-authority figures by placing them on this background, depicting them foolishly. The message sent through this montage is powerful; Höch is criticising the government. In her montage, there’s a lack of colour, Höch puts the figures in a surrealist environment as a way of ridiculing them for avoiding political and financial issues facing the German population at the time.