Jaroslav Rossler

Jaroslav Rossler was born in Czechia, in 1902. A great example of photography in the eyes of “The Formal Elements” is Rossler’s work as he finds the beauty in the simplicity of objects. At 21 years old he started his journey in photography. Creating typographic layout for magazines was a big part of his career. Jaroslav Rossler’s work was heavily influenced by futurism and cubism, this lead him into creating his art of abstract photography.

My Inspiration from Jaroslav Rossler

I took inspiration from Rossler’s work to approach the theme of “The Formal Elements”. I did this by taking a photoshoot of different pieces of paper at different angles and backgrounds to capture the sharp crisp edges of the paper as well as the contrasting deep shadows.

(these are found in my “Paper paper paper” blog)

My Best Photo Out of the Photoshoot Before And After Photoshop

Using The Formal Elements To Analyse My Work

Light – The lighting in this image is artificial by our phone torches whilst the rest of the room is blacked out to create the best shadow effect. The light falls from the top right of the image onto the crinkles of the paper and the background. The lighting is also quite harsh on most of the image as we can see the contrast between the deep under shadow and the highlights of the paper ball.

Line – The lines created by the creases/folds and crinkles in the ball of paper are all very thin and most are straight. Curves and thick lines do occur in the bigger folds in the paper ball. The outlining of the main under shadow of the paper ball is directed to the left indicating that the lighting is coming from the top right hand corner of the image.

Repetition – There is no repetition found in this image

Shape – The only main shape that can be seen straight away is the bottom shadow as it is outlined and one colour, black.

Space – Simple but effective with a wide background and a solid foreground. Quite empty and pain space without the paper ball being there.

Texture – This paper ball is a rough surface to feel and look at with the edges being sharp and pointy.

Value/Tone – The tonal range from light to dark is strong in depth in nearly every part of the image. The most effective contrasting light to dark area of the image is where the under shadow is. The lightest area of the image would be the tips of the paper where the light hits first as well as the bottom of the image where no shadow is formed. The image has a monochrome appearance where the light and dark balance each other out due to the contrast between the shadows.

Colour – In the image we can see that it has been changed to pure black and white. The balance between the colours black and white is even.

Composition – The focal point of the image is the paper and it ignores the rule of thirds as the paper ball is central.

I created this gallery image using adobe Photoshop. Firstly I had to find a blank gallery image on the internet and download it. Next i opened the image on Photoshop and dragged the images i chose onto the gallery one by one. I resized and aligned the images on the far wall first so that they are all the same size and have the same distance gap in between all of them. I next put the last image on the left wall and distorted it so that the angles of the top and bottom of the image were similar to that of the ceiling and floor. Finally, I edited the images to all have some shadow and depth so that they look real.

I chose the images in the gallery because i was attempting to put together a gallery focused around color and light. All of the images either have a wide variety of vibrant colors or warm candle light in them. I like the gallery method of displaying our images because it shows what the images would look like in the real world and helps you decide if the images you used are as good as they look close up as they are from a distance. The gallery method has helped me see that the images I have chosen are not actually my best.

my black and white images

i selected these 6 images and grouped them together as they are all of natural forms. All of these photographs are black and white and all have deep and different tones. I selected these photos because of the small details in each picture.

In the first image i specifically like the water droplets and the sharpness of photo, i particularly like the way the natural sunlight reflects off of the droplets.

The second photograph of the icy leaves was taken on a cold morning, i like the layer of ice that coats the leaf making it abnormal to any picture of a normal leaf. The layers of leaves crate contrast and depth and the further down the leaves you look, the deeper the tones of grey get. I like the contrast between the white ice and the dark shadows that were created by the natural sunlight.

What i like about the third picture is the different sizes of each pettle of the flower, each one has a different shadow or highlight created by the light from the sun.

My fourth image is different from all the others, it isn’t a close up of a certain object, it is a wide image with repetition of trees. I like the way the bright sunlight bursts through the gaps in the branches and reflects off the lens.

I like my fifth photo is a silhouette, the leaf strongly contrasts against the clouds in the sky and the viewers attention is drawn to the shape of the leaf.

The sixth image has a strong focus on the main part of the image, it immediately draws your attention to the branch and states it is the only and most important thing in the photograph. I especially like the detail of the branch and the contrast between black and whites in the unfocused background.

my colour images

I selected these 3 images as my final photographs and grouped them together as they are all filled with a range of bright and bold colours. The unusual shapes in these images catch the viewers eye compared to some of my other images.

My favourite image is the first picture from my surface and colour photo shoot, it is cool toned and i like the different shades of blues, purples and greens and how they blend and mix together, they are very vibrant and eye-catching . The second image is similar to the first, they are both photos of ice and both rich with colour.

What i like about the third image is the folds and creases in the paper, i used artificial lighting to make some creases darker than others, i reflected green and red lighting onto the paper so the cool tones of green contrast against the warm reds. The highlights are bold and sharp compared to the soft shadows created by folds in the paper, stopping some light hitting parts of the material.