Keld Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer, known for his unique experimentation with black and white images, using not only just a camera, but also flat bed scanners, in order to create dramatically contrasting photographs.
My Images
Before
In order to make my own Keld Helmer-Petersen edited images, I chose to use these four photos from my Albert Renger-Patzsch photoshoot. This is as I believe they would best display a strong contrast between black and white, through bold shapes.
After
To make these edits in the style of Petersen, I used the threshold tool on Photoshop allowing for a clear divide between light and dark, and creating a black and white image. Once I had edited each photograph, I then placed all 4 images on a white A4 background, creating a grid image.
To complete your understanding of The Formal Elements we must look at some more creative possibilities before we move onto selecting final images for the Abstract Unit.
Classwork Blog Post 1
Choose 2 artists from the selection below
Compare and contrast their work by analysing 1 key image from each artist
Ensure you discuss aspects of Technical – Visual – Conceptual – Contextual
Classwork Blog Post 2
Construct a kaleidoscopic / reflected image in Adobe Photoshop from just one image as a starting point…
The task will encourage you to make use of a range of useful methods including layer copy, transform, cropping and other adjustments
Your blog post must show your process and final outcome(s)
Examples of kaleidoscopic / reflected images
Homework (due Thurs 15th October)
Design, plan and execute a photoshoot that responds to one or more of the artists below…remember to create a contact sheet and then select 5-10 of your best images and show clearly in a new blog post…
Paul Strand
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Laszlo Maholy Nagy
Jaromir Funke – the play of light
Funke’s images interest me because he seems very experimental in his approach. He is fascinated by the patterns of shadows caused by the play of light on a variety of objects. This results in abstract compositions where the shapes of the various objects overlap and intersect.
Harry Callahan – natural forms
I love the way Harry Callahan is able to see patterns, textures and repetition. His images have just enough information. He knows just where to place the edges, to leave out unnecessary details, so that we are able to focus on the main idea. He has a fantastic sense of design.
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.
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?
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.
Ray Metzker ‘Pictus Interruptus’
Metzker is known for his unconventional street photographs. More abstract than either Cartier-Bresson and Meyerowitz, Metzker exploits and exaggerates the properties of still photography – odd framing, multiple exposures, deep contrast, and, in this series, the interruption of various objects placed between the lens and the ‘subject’. Metzker seems to want to deliberately disorientate the viewer and question the indexical relationship between photography and the world.
It becomes clearer…that I am looking for the unknown which in fact disturbs, is foreign in subject but hauntingly right for the picture, the workings of which seem inexplicable, at the very least, a surprise. — Ray Metzker
Follow the 10 Step Process and create multiple blog posts for each unit to ensure you tackle all Assessment Objectives thoroughly :
Mood-board, definition and introduction (AO1)
Mind-map of ideas (AO1)
Artist References / Case Studies (must include image analysis) (AO1)
Photo-shoot Action Plan (AO3)
Multiple Photoshoots + contact sheets (AO3)
Image Selection, sub selection, review and refine ideas (AO2)
Albert Renger – Patzsch was a German photographer whose photography was cool, detached photos forming a photographic component of the New Objectivity.
In 1925 Albert starting his career in photography as a full-time photographer as a freelance documentary and press photographer. He rejected Pictorialism and experimentation photography who relied on startling technique. In his photographs, he recorded the exact detailed appearance of objects reflecting his early career in science. He felt that the underlying structure of his subjects did not require any enhancement by the photographer. In his book “The World Is Beautiful” he took pictures of architectural and nature to show his clear transparent style of photography.
Alberts photography is black and white which shows the era in which he was taking photos in. Even though the pictures are simplistic being black and white, it can still make an amazing photo as the shadows are enhanced in the pictures making them stand out from the objects moreover, it gives people a focus point on the pictures he has taken as there are no colours involved.
Looking at his pictures, it makes someone think that even the most unattended things in the world that people don’t really pay attention to, can be a mesmerizing photo if you take a focused picture on that object. This is shown in one of his published pieces called “The World Is Beautiful”.
Contact Sheet
Edited Work
Evaluation
I have succeeded in the craft of taking pictures like Albert Renger – Patzsch because, I have taken pictures in which I edited on making them black and white moreover, the scenery in which I choose where man made and they where repetitive for example, the picture I took with a big layout of bricks that are cemented together.
Looking over my pictures, I can see that their are patterns within my pictures and the arrangement of the certain objects in the Frame. Adding onto this, with the contrast of black and white both elements stand out from each other creating an appealing contrast visually.
