Texture and surfaces are the feel, the patterns and structure of the face of an object. Most objects all have different textures to them, some are a lot more intricate than others a and some are very plain.
Using cameras we are able to see the texture of a surface up close and in ways that we would be unable to with the human eye.
Shoot Plan
WHERE: I have a light box which i can use to get even lighting all around the image, this will help me to be able to control the shadows and the highlights therefore controlling the overall tone. Therefore I can do it anywhere in my house.
WHAT: I am going to be creating my own series inspired by Vjeko Sager’s ‘Antimatter’ series. It features raised and lowered sections of cut out paper.I want my series to have meaning and have some sort of story to each creation which will make it more interesting.
HOW: I am going to use either thick paper or white card as the card might fold better. I will cut slices in the paper so I can fold bits to create a sort of architectural look structure. I will use my lightbox for even lighting and take the photo from straight above. I will just use the kit lens as it has the widest focal length which will be helpful as there is not much room in the lightbox.
WHEN: I can do it at anytime as the lightbox has its own light.
Contact Sheet
I am happy with my photoshoot. I used my lightbox so I could easily control the lighting and shadows, it allowed me to also get soft shadows rather than harsh lighting. I flagged the images I were good so I could filter out all the other images so I could just edit the good ones. I wasn’t to bothered about the colours as I could change the white balance in lightroom and I would make the images black and white anyway.
Edit Process
Edits
Evaluation / Compare
This was my best outcome because it most accurately resembles the style of Vjeko Sager. This photo that I took looks more like an architectural structure than a sliced up piece of paper. It also capture light and tone well. The other images also capture light and tone but this image looks the best. There is a nice equal balance between the shadows and the highlights. However, to make my images look less like paper and more like a structure, sharper cleaner lines would need to be cut and possibly a different lighting set up. Overall, I am happy with these outcomes, they look good and resemble the style of Sage and explore light and tone.
Case Study
VJeko Sager is a current contemporary artist who experiments with an architectural style. He is also a philosopher, educator and curator. In this series called ‘Antimatter’ he creates shapes by cutting paper to raise levels and lower levels. He likes to push the boundaries of what we think we know. He doesn’t take simple solutions as answers and believes that society has become numb to the complexity of reality. His work has achieved awards and has been exhibited all over the world. Because of his philosophy and style of work, he has been described as an architect of the mind.
Analysis
Visual
Looking at this image it doesn’t look like cut paper at first glance. To me it looks like cracks in the ground and like something is trying to break through from beneath. When I look at this image there is not much depth, it shows some depth by taking what was a completely 2d looking image and adding depth to make it look 3d by cutting pieces of the paper to make structures. This image is also very minimal, not a lot is happening and from a distance it almost looks like a blank page, I like the simplicity behind the image and then the thought out placement of the ‘cracks’.
Technical
In this image, the light and tone has been explored by cutting the paper and lifting or pushing down bits. By doing this, shadows are created. Tone is about the values of light and dark that make up an image, in this image the is a vignette meaning there are dark areas around the image and in the corners, this suggests that a light was point straight down. I think an on camera flash may have been used as you can often get a vignette when using a camera flash, also the fact that there are no shadows from where the camera would have been. Overall, the image is very bright in tone and has a lot more white and highlights rather than dark areas. It obviously lacks colour so the image is made interesting by the use of the shadows.
Concept / Context
Vjeko Sager likes to push the boundaries of knowability. Tis image is part of a series called ‘Antimatter’ they look like things are breaking through the surface. With this image I like the placement of the ‘cracks’ on the page as it looks like cracks from roots or perhaps a mole. The way there are big cracks make it look like where something started then went back under and tried again further up. Sager also believes that culture is being numbed of how complex reality really is, this may be why he has made this series as he has taken paper which is usually always overlooked for what we think it is but then he creates it into something we had never even considered.
Exploring Light and Tone
Tone in the context of art is the light and dark or highlights and shadows values in a scenario that render a realistic object. Exploring light and tone is about the shadows cast from positioning lights or objects in different positions. Looking at this mood board, the artists and photographers are playing with the light and dark to create interesting compositions. They are abstract because they are photographing real things, in this case the paper but it doesn’t look like anything we naturally see.
Shoot Plan
WHERE: I am going to go for a walk around the lanes near my house looking for patterns or interesting form in trees, flowers or building. I will also look for things in my house that may look different or a combination of things that look similar or interesting.
WHAT: This shoot is about trying to find interesting formations, or patterns in either natural forms or man made, like in the example I analysed there can be similarities in both. I am trying to find things that may usually be overlooked that can show a different perspective or show something that wouldn’t usually be explored in detail.
HOW: The only thing I will need on this shoot will be my camera with the kit lens as it can get a wider shot. I will also bring my 50mm 1.8 lens if i want to get a bit tighter in, or possibly get some more macro shots. I will primarily use a small aperture to get everything in focus and a fast shutter speed to have everything sharp. For indoor shots, I may use artificial light.
WHEN: Some point on an overcast day when there is plenty of light because it means of the day will be best because it will give a even soft light instead of harsh light like on a bright sunny day.
SHOOT 1: Contact Sheet
I walked around my yard and looked for patterns, I like the splits and knots in the wood sleepers. I also looked for man made formations. The Flagged photos are the good ones, the unflagged pictures are not wanted and the stared images are ones I have edited and exported.
SHOOT 1: Edits
SHOOT 2: Contact Sheet
This time I walked around the lanes near my house, I was still looking for patterns in both nature and man produced. First I went through all the photos and pressed P on the keyboard to flag the good photos, this would eliminate the out of focus images or porley framed ones. Next I went through and started to make edits, I could then copy the settings and paste them on the flagged images. Once I had made micro adjustments to the photos I stared the ones I liked so I could then only bring up the ones I wanted and then export the stared ones.
SHOOT 2: Edits
Edit Process
Evaluation / Compare
CASE STUDY
Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German Photographer born in Würzburg 1897. He began making photographs from the age of 12. He worked as a press photographer in the early 1920’s before becoming a freelance photographer and publishing a book in 1925. 2 years later he had his first Museum Exhibition and the following year in 1928 he published a second and most well known book called ‘Die Welt ist schön’ translated as ‘the World is beautiful’. This book included many photos of industrial structures, machinery and natural forms in an upclose or different perspective. His work could be considered early forms of ‘Macro photography’. He liked to capture the closer details of natural objects or things that would have otherwise been overlooked.
Patzsch was involved with a movement known as the ‘New Objectivity’ which was a German Art movement in the 1920’s which was a reaction against expressionism. Patzsch believed that photography could be used to ‘reproduce the texture of reality’ and portray the form and essence of an object. Whereas expressionism was about exploring the inner emotion, the movement of ‘The New Objectivity’ was about exploring the finer. details and hidden qualities of reality and trying to bring them to life with the use of photography.
ANALYSIS
Organic Vs Geometric/Natural vs Man Made:
The image on the left is man made whereas the image on the right is organic / natural. The left image is a cog or sprocket of some description, probably from a factory being used in industrial machinery. The left image is from a fungus which of course growns naturally in the wild. They both look quite similar in some ways but one was created for a specific purpose with its spines created to function turn other cogs, and the other is natural with its lines playing a part in its survival.
Rhythm
These two objects have a circular rhythm. They do not end as their pattern goes around in a circular motion. The leads my eyes around and around the image drawing my eyes to the centre of the image.
Pattern / Shape
These two images both share similar qualities in shape. They have both have a centre with symmetrical lines coming into the middle from every direction. They have infinate sides of symmetry so are symmetrical anyway you look at it
Repetition
Like the rhythm, the objects are both very repetitive. However, in the right image we can see the repetition as the lines run around the middle of the fungus as it goes from shadow to light to shadow etc. However, we can’t really see the whole cog but there are more than one in the picture that is a form of repetition. It could be representing the large scale of production that these would have been made
Depth
The left image shows a lot more depth than the image on the right. Because of the 3d placement of the objects and the low down angle we can see through the image and see perspective, compared to the right image of the fungus which does not show much depth. Because the photo was taken straight on everything is in focus and the image is very flat.
Tone / Light
This right image of the Fungus doesn’t show much dynamic range between the light and dark parts of the image. Nothing is blown out and there are no crushed blacks. The repetitive pattern of the lines on the fungus play with your eyes because there are shadows in the gaps and the top of the lines are bright. The left image of the cog is quite dark, there are not many light parts, but again the lower pit sections in between the spines are in shadow whereas the spines are light.
Framing/cropping
Each image is framed to focus in on something. The picture of the fungus is framed to make it symmetrical and focus on the middle, compared to the other picture where it is framed to focus on the cog with the white writing on it but also encompase the other ones in the background.
