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.
Selection
I chose these images as they contain come potentially good shapes- To find them I cropped certain areas as you can see below.
To also relate these images to Stieglitz’s a little more, I altered the colour balance by a small amount (towards the red) for similar colours to his work. I also increased contrast to make the images more dramatic.
Repetition, Pattern, Rhythm, Reflection and Symmetry Mood Board
Mind map of ideas
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer, born in 1864, who has been said to be instrumental in making photography an accepted art form. One of the ways in which he did this, was through his photo series ‘Songs of The Sky’, from 1923 to 1934, where he explored patterns and rhythm created in the clouds. His aim for the viewer was to cause them to have the same emotional response as him, at the moment in time he took the photo, and to also display that the content of a photograph was different from its subject.
Alfred Stieglitz – Songs of The Sky –
Image Analysis
Alfred Stieglitz – Songs of the sky
This black and white photograph taken by Alfred Stieglitz, which is a part of his ‘Songs of The Sky’ series, displays a dramatic image of the sky in which the clouds are swirled around the photo, almost splitting it into two halves, a light side and a dark side. These streaks in the cloud’s curve create soft leading lines, causing your eyes to wrap around and be lead to the dark patch in the left hand of the photo. This area of the image strongly contrasts with the bright, highlighted, white clouds and the right half of the piece. In addition, the texture of this photo appears to be slightly rough and grainy, although this could be by choice or simply due to the time period in which this was taken, and the camera quality then.
You can see here that the lighting of this photograph must be natural as it is taken of the sky, and it also creates strong and dark shadows. I think that Stieglitz used a quick shutter speed here, as the clouds would have been moving, so he would need to do this in order to catch a crisp and sharp image. Also due to the fact that all of this frame is in focus, I believe that he used a small aperture, allowing for the whole of the image to be clearly seen and observed and creating a wide depth of field.
Furthermore, you can tell from the angle and the framing of this image, that Stieglitz was aiming to show a subjective point of view, creating an inclusive experience of that particular moment, like he does in his other pieces from the ‘Songs of The Sky’ series.
Stieglitz Inspired Photoshoot
Plan
Contact Sheets
For this photoshoot I used fast shutter speed to allow me to capture sharp images of the moving clouds and the patterns they create. As the light changed throughout the shoot, I had to change the ISO and the white balance with it. Where I didn’t do this you can see some of my images are over exposed, which I have crossed out in red as I won’t be editing them. Although the photographs highlighted in green are the images I will edit, as I believe they best link to the themes of repetition, patterns, rhythm, reflection and symmetry, whilst also displaying a clear and focused image.
Photoshop Development
To create images that looked similar to the work of Stieglitz, I used photoshop to convert these images into black and white, whilst also increasing the contrast and texture, and lowering the exposure with the camera raw filter. After this, I went back with the dodge and burn tool to further define the shadows and highlights.
Final Image
I think that this edited image from my photoshoot in the style of Stieglitz is my best, as the space left in the center creates an almost triangle and with it a focal point, which is framed by the surrounding clouds. I also believe that this image could link to the theme of symmetry, although both sides are not identical, if the photo were split vertically down the middle and mirrored, it would result in a very similar final image.
This image was inspired by the following photograph:
This image is of an artists called Marco Andras who explored Kaleidoscope photography.
In my image I attempted to create a similar look and feel to Marco’s image. In similarity, both our pictures are taken outside, use natural day lighting, are in black and white, have harsh shadows and dark tones and is uses both vertical and horizontal edits to create a Kaleidoscope image.
This image was also inspired and selected by my project about Alber Renger Patzsch
Step 1: Open photoshop and select the image you want to use.
Step 2: Select > All, then CTRL + C
Step 3: Go to Image > Canvas size. A window like this one should pop up:
Then, multiply the width by 2 and input what you got in the width section. After that, anchor the image to whatever side you want it to go then press “Ok”. P.S. You can change the image location through the Move tool.
Step 4: CTRL + V then move the image to wherever suits best.
Step 5: Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.
Step 6: Click on the main layer, left click and flatten the image.
Step 7: Select > All, CTRL + C Follow Step 3 but do it for the Height instead.
Step 8: Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, then CTRL + V.
Step 9: repeat Step 4 then used the duplicate and fix tool to connect the images together to create a feeling that they both go into each other.
Step 10: Go to file > save as, and save your image.
shows people walking in the street- very typical of Metzker. Double exposure creates abstract effect. black and white- typical of the time period. Could suggest the busyness of life? composition is just of people in a straight line but because of the exposure it fills the frame. The lighting is natural which helps the photo not look forced. The tone is dark.
Alfred Stieglitz –
light streaming in through the Grand Central Terminal in New York- cant see the light anymore because of buildings surrounding it. Heavy use of light. light toned considering its in black and white. Like light shining down from heaven.
For this project I explored Alfred Stieglitz’s work on patterns in the sky.
Patterns in the sky Mood Board
Mind-map of ideas
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred was an American Photographer born in 1864. He was an integral part in an acceptance of photography as an art form. He created a portfolio of pieces which focused on the pattern of things. His favorite way to capture this was by looking up and shooting patterns in the sky.
His images possessed flat, faded, contrast with bright, harsh highlights. They are also populated with pattern with little negative space.
In this image Alfred captures an astral, melancholic but also euphoric, free emotion with this image. It seems as if an artist has painted on these clouds. The flat contrast and sandpaper clouds give this image a faded, rough texture.
He has used natural light streaming in from the corners of the image to give it an astral glow. He has still managed to, even though there seems to be harsh daylight, combat this by slightly under exposing the image by deepening the blacks of the sky by using the cameras film. he has used a small aperture to gain detail in the distant cloud formations and give the image depth. Alfred might have used a slightly longer exposure to drag the clouds across the composition. He has also used a higher ISO to add a fine grain to the image.
The image also contains a pattern of the repeating clouds sweeping upwards. There is also a significant depth in tone created by the blackened sky contrasting with the white clouds. The image is also populated with little negative space.
Photo Shoot Action Plan
Who: There will be no subject in this project.
What: Cloud patterns.
Where: I will be shooting near my house and close to the coast as there tends to be more interesting cloud formations there.
When: On an overcast day
How: DSLR 50mm – 80mm lens with small aperture capability, lense hood to prevent glare and a ND filter to grab blacker skies. Walk down to coast and around my neighborhood looking up and following cloud patterns
Why: To experiment and learn more about photographing pattern.
Contact Sheets
Final Compositions
My above compositions portray the experimentation of pattern. They use deep tonal range with deep depth of field. My compositions featured similar elements to Alfreds work.
My image
Alfred’s image
Both pieces include soft sweeping pattern work. They both use de saturated deep black negative spaces with the cotton clouds contrasting in the foreground. They both Make use of natural lighting adding accents to the patterns from a certain direction. They both use a small aperture to gain detail and depth in the clouds. They both consider a longer exposure time to drag the clouds out more. Both images hold a gloomy astral emotion. Finally, one difference is Alfred uses a flat contrast and my image contains a deeper contrast.
In Photoshop I duplicated my photograph and layered it on top of the background photograph. I then changed the opacity of the image layered on top so both pictures could be seen.
This black and white photograph taken by Jaromir Funke, showcases a geometric image containing a sphere and cube object. Here Funke has used these objects to cause the light to be reflected creating sharp and interesting shadows. These shadows result in geometric and directional lines, that lead your eyes towards the focal point which I believe is the cube in the center. In addition, the texture of this piece appears to be quite smooth and delicate due to the simplicity of the shapes and materials used, and the layout.
Furthermore, I believe the lighting in this image is artificial and harsh, because of the large contrast between the shadows and the reflected light, which seems to have been positioned in order to create the geometric and sharp shadow lines. Also, I think that for this photo Funke used a small or medium aperture as everything in the image has almost the same amount of focus, for example the cube in the center is slightly more focused than the sphere. Moreover, the shutter speed used for the image appears to be fast, as it displays a sharp and clear photograph.
Here you can see Funke’s influence of pictorialism, an approach to photography that emphasizes the beauty of the subject matter, through his use of typically mundane objects and romanticising them. It can also be said that he does this in the style of an abstract and documentary photographer.
Laszlo Moholy Nagy
Laszlo Moholy Nagy
In this colour composition, by Laszlo Moholy Nagy displays geometric shapes in different colours and shades overlapping, on top of a brown background. These shapes create vertical and horizontal leading lines across the piece, drawing your eye towards the large, black parallelogram in the center, which is what I believe to be the focal point. You could describe this image as peaceful and organised, as opposed to cluttered due to the fact that Nagy has chosen to leave quite a bit of empty space around the sides of the composition. Furthermore, the texture of this piece is smooth, which could be due to the aspects of transparency of some of the shapes.
Here Nagy has foregrounded his aim to create art ‘that did not exist before us and that cannot continue after us’ and that is not just a passing fashion, through is unique and abstract style.
Comparison
These two images immediately display similarities through the use of geometric shapes in their pieces, as here, Funke has used a clear cube and a sphere to cause the light to be reflected creating sharp and interesting shadows. Furthermore, Nagy has used similar shapes as Funke in this piece, such as circles and parallelograms overlapping, resulting in the same geometric style. However ,Nagy has used colours in his piece to create strong, distinct lines and shapes, whereas Funke relies on the light and shadows to make these bold leading lines, as his image is in black and white. The Texture in both pieces appear to be smooth, as in Funke’s photograph the objects and surfaces with light reflected onto them are simplistic, just like the shapes in Nagy’s composition.
However, in Funke’s image you can see that he has chosen to take the photograph in hard lighting, allowing for dramatic shadows to be cast. Although, due to the fact that the piece from Nagy is a painting, lighting does not need to be considered, although the overall tone of the image is dark because of its earthy colours and shades.
My Reflected Images
For these reflected image edits I used Photoshop to create a kaleidoscope effect on two photographs from my Albert Renger-Patzsch project. In order to do this I:
Opened my image
Selected the image and then copied it
Changed the canvas size to either double the width or length of the original
Pasted my image
Flipped the image either horizontally or vertically
Lined it up next the the original image to create the mirrored effect
Flattened the image, then repeated steps 2 through 6 for the kaleidoscope effect
Saul Leiter (1923-2013) was an American photographer who focussed on street photography and abstract expressionism. He started out as a painter so was heavily influenced by colour, shape and using his camera to create his abstract vision of reality. Leiter was well-known for his black and white work, however in around the 1990’s his personal colour photography was discovered, it still has an impact and inspires people today.
Leiter’s work holds lots of warm saturated colours which usually come from the artificial light of cars and shop windows. Additionally, he uses a range of focal lengths to show depth in his images. I really like his style of photography and the way he captures vibrant images in low light situations, it suggests he uses a high ISO so his lens is more sensitive to light. Furthermore, Leiter’s work differs in texture in each image, for example the image in the top right holds a sharp texture as the focal point is on the rain in the foreground. However, if we look at the bottom left image Leiter has created a softer texture by blurring the photograph, possibly using a shorter aperture.
Photo shoot Plan
Who – For one of my shoots I plan on capturing images of my mum with an umbrella, taken through the car window.
What – I have an idea to photograph vivid colours from street lights, shop windows, a red umbrella and neon signs. Also, I wish to capture raindrops as the fall down my car window.
Where – For the location of my photo shoot I plan on driving around St Helier to photograph the streets of town at night. This will hopefully reflect Leiter’s street photography with the vibrant colours reflecting from shop windows and signs.
When – I plan to do this photo shoot on Monday 5th October once the sun has set. It is due to rain that evening which will allow me to capture the raindrops on my car windows and on the street pavements.
Why – The reason for my shoot is to experiment with ISO and White Balance to see how it effects the colour of images. My photographs will be inspired by Saul Leiter’s work, capturing rain on windows and people with vibrant umbrellas.
My Response – Contact Sheets
Edited Images
I edited these images on Photoshop and focused on enhancing the bold colours and high contrast. I used the ‘Vibrance’ tool to heighten the saturation of my images in order to reflect the work of Saul Leiter. Additionally, I experimented with the ‘Brightness/Contrast’ tool so I could explore different ways of drawing the observer’s attention towards my chosen focal point, using bright highlights and very dark shadows to catch their eye.
Final Images
I have chosen these 5 final images as I believe their vivid colours complement each other well. Additionally, I really like the vibrant pink tones in the first image as I believe they provide a warm temperature to the image which reflects Leiter’s work. I enhanced this by increasing the saturation and contrast of the image to allow the bold fuchsia colours to stand out more against the black shadowed pavement. My first image also holds lots of artificial light from a neon shop sign. This bold lighting reflects off the puddles and creates an abstract composition with two beams of light forming leading lines down the image. Also, I like the way this image has an unbalanced rigid texture because of the irregular dips in the pavement. My second image reflects Leiter’s ‘Red Umbrella’ work. I really like the way the image has two obscure focal points, one being the clearly focused raindrops on the window, and the other being the bold red umbrella that is blurred in the centre. I used a shorter aperture to capture this image and have payed attention to the rule of thirds in my composition as the photo could be split into 3 separate sections.
In my third and fourth images I have been inspired by Leiter’s work where he captures rain on windows. I experimented with the white balance of these images when taking them because the abstract artificial lights behind the rain made it easier to explore the different settings. The first ‘rain on window’ image has a clear focal point just below centre, which is created by the strong leading lines of water flowing down the glass. Furthermore, the warm orange and pink tones blurred behind the rain create a shallow depth of field. In the second image, the blue hues that dominate the photo produce a cold icy temperature which contrasts to Leiter’s warm cosy work. I wanted to create this contrast to experiment with different colour temperatures to see how they added or took away from my images. I really like the repetition in this image with the four fluorescent circles of light as I believe they contrast with the dark blue shadows in the image. These two images also seem have a bumpy uneven texture as the raindrops create strange 3D-like effect. I have chosen the fifth photo as one of my final images because of its obscure out of focus nature and the warm colours which are reminiscent of Leiter’s work. I really like the soft texture this image holds because of its blurred effect, I created this by switching my camera to manual focus in order to capture an unfocused photograph. I also think the clear focal point of the red umbrella draws the observer’s attention to the centre of the image, allowing them to take in every warm colour surrounding the subject.
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