The second artist in which I feel their work has a strong impact on communities within the environment is Terje Abusdal as her work evolves around the different naturist environments that exist. She has realised several books such as slash & burn, Hope blinds reason and radius 500 meters.
One of Terje Abusdals projects in which she has done is called Finnslogen which translates to The Forest of the Finns. This is a large contiguous forest belt along the Norwegian Swedish border in Hedmark / Vãrmland where farm families from Finland were settled in the early 1600s. The Forest Finns were slash and burn farmers; ancient agricultural method yielded plentiful crop but they required large forest areas as the soil was quickly exhausted. This photograph project in which Terje Abusdal has done highlights the strong beliefs while also investigating what it means to be a Forrest Finn today.
Slash & burn – The Forest of the Finns – Terje Abusdal
Additionally another photography project in which Abusdal has done is called Hope Blinds Reason. I personally believe that Hope Blinds Reasons is one of her projects which stand out the most for me as they have a powerful meaning behind the photographs. Hope Blinds Reason is a visual narrative from a series of journeys made in India along the river Ganga, from its source in the Himalayas to its delta in the Bay of Bengal. It is a story about an attempt to come to terms with one of the most elementary of human experiences, love and loss. I feel that this therefore relates to the negatives and positive in which nature has and the strong influence it has on people.
Additionally I feel that the way in which the photograph has multiple different contrasts, as well as play on colours makes her photos more unique than other artists. The uses of harsh and warm lighting in her photographs adds specific detail which also creates a strong outline of the different textures.
For my personal study I have decided to link three artists work to earth and power. This will hopefully help me within my personal study with inspiration from other artist as well as developing my knowledge of this specific topic to a further extent.
Robert Adams – Robert Adams was born in New Jersey and moved to Colorado. He was a professor of English literature for several years before fully committing to his photography career in the mid 1970s. He also released multiple books such as; The New West, Summer Nights, Los Angeles Spring as well as several others. In 2009 Adams was awarded the Hasselblad foundation international award in photography. Robert Adams bought a 35mm reflex camera in 1963 and this is when he began to take pictures mostly of nature and architecture.
Personally I find Robert Adams work very aspiring due to the fact that each photograph in which he has taken is very unique in there own particular ways and has different morals behind each photograph. However they are all very similar to each other due to the minimalistic contrasts within the photos and the mutual tones used. Additionally I also feel that you can clearly see the main focus in each photograph as well as the non focus which is mainly based on the backgrounds. In my opinion I feel that the photographs which he has taken involving architecture are highly more interesting for one to look at as each building may portray a different story of who may coincide there.
Pictorialism is an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality. This occurred from the 1880s and onwards when photographers strived for photography to be art by trying to make pictures that resemble paintings. Pictorialism has several key features which consist of using substances such as Vaseline on the camera lens to create a blur effect. Additionally another key characteristic is that photographers used to scratch the negatives to manipulate their photographs. Common themes within the style are the use of soft focus, colour tinting, and visible manipulation such as composite images or the addition of brushstrokes. The pictorialism movement led to great innovation in the field of photography with a number of the photographers associated with it responsible for developing new techniques to further their artistic vision. This therefore created the foundations for later advances in colour photography and other technical processes.
Fading Away – Henry Peach Robinson
Above is a photograph taken by Henry Peach Robinson which represented pictorialism in several ways. This composite print, combining five different negatives, focuses on an intimate scene of a very sick young woman, surrounded by three family members. Robinson pioneered the composite image, which became a foundation of Pictorialism. To his contemporary audience the photograph was controversial, as many felt that photography was too literal a medium to portray such an intimate and painful scene.
Straight photography / Realism emphasizes and engages with the camera’s own technical capability to produce images sharp in focus and rich in detail. The term generally refers to photographs that are not manipulated, either in the taking of the image or by darkroom or digital processes. Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz pioneered Straight photography in New York around the 1910s which is still continuing within the current decade. Realism / straight photography continues to define contemporary photographs, while also being the foundation for many relevant others areas of photography. These consist of documentary, street photography, photojournalism and even later progressed to abstract photography. Straight photography is a process and time-based approach. It represents immediacy, the passing of time as in history, or the freezing of time as in a snapshot. In a photograph, time is described by the movements of the subject. Each photographic style adapted the approach to emphasize its own treatment of form, sensory experience, or the changes in the social and cultural environment.
Paul Strand – Bowls 1917
The photograph above was take by Paul Strand who was an American photographer and filmmaker. Although the photograph in which he has taken may come across as simple and minimalistic, it shows a clear close-up view of regular kitchen bowls that are used to study the effects of light and shadows. Paul Strand said that his “abstract” studies were a matter of clarifying “for me what I now refer to as the abstract method, which was first revealed in the paintings of Picasso, Braque, Léger and others… .”
Modernism is when photographers created sharply focused images, with emphasis on formal qualities, exploiting, rather than obscuring the camera as an essentially mechanical and technological tool. Modern Photography encompassed trends in the medium from the early 1900s through to the 1960s. The move from early photography to Modern Photography is distinguished by a departure from the language and constraints of traditional art, such as painting, and this change in attitude was mirrored by changes in practice. The invention of photography was part of the process of modernization of the means of production that too place during the industrial revolution.
Post-modernism is arose in the second half of the 20th century, and it encompasses a variety of themes. First and foremost, postmodernism builds on the themes and conceptual ideas that began during the modernist period. Postmodernism was a reaction to modernism and was highly influenced by the second world war. postmodernism refers to the state that lacks a central hierarchy and one that is complex, ambiguous and diverse. It also represented a loss in faith in human reason as well as provides a bleak prognosis of the human condition. Overall modernism and postmodernism were both movements that engaged from an analysis of events within the modern period from the perspective of the values of enlightenment.
For this project I have decided to explore the idea of earth and power and the way in which the environment has a powerful and strong impact on the earth. Additionally this will create a clear comparison between different communities which have impacts on the environment. Furthermore another idea in which I wish to explore is how different peoples power represents there personal self in multiple ways. I have chosen this topic as I feel that the different impact it has on people is very different as the impact the earth and power has on people is very different. This may be due to people being power hungry as well as the power hierarchy. So overall I’m going to explore the way the environment reflects power.
Power is often defined only in negative terms, and as a form of domination, but it can also be a positive force for individual and collective capacity to act for change. The most commonly recognized form of power, ‘power over’, has many negative associations for people, such as repression, force, coercion, discrimination, corruption, and abuse. Power is seen as a win-lose kind of relationship. Having power involves taking it from someone else, and then, using it to dominate and prevent others from gaining it.
The ISLAND IDENTITY project has produced a website and a report that has identified distinctive ‘qualities’ of island life in Jersey. ( https://islandidentity.je/report/heritage-culture-and-the-arts ). We were asked to produce a poster based on one of the following themes :
Constitution & Citizenship
Communities
International
Economy
Education & Sport
Heritage, Culture & the Arts
Environment
What makes jersey environment special and why does it matter to you?
Jersey has several unique reasons to why its special, these vary from different aspects of life jersey has to offer. One reason why Jersey is special is the weather this is due to the fact that it has several positive impacts on the environment as well as the community. The climate in which jersey has is highly suitable for the large farming industry in which jersey has. This matters to us because without our farming industry we would have to import more products from elsewhere causing an increase in pollution within the ozone layer. Alternatively another positive impact is that jersey has a wide range of historical sights. It has several coastal fortifications (bunkers) from several different periods of time such as the English Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, and Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Channel Islands.
What does it mean to be ‘Jersey’, now and in the future?
I feel that living in jersey feels very compact, one may describe jersey as claustrophobic due to the fact that we live on such a small island which is 198 km². Additionally I also feel that as we are such a small island we have a small community with several; different backgrounds which creates a strong and powerful community. Furthermore in the near future I would like to see a more diverse community. Due to the old generations there’s still a lot of stigma around having a equal and diversity community.
What can we all do to solidify a cohesive and positive Island identity?
I believe that we should all be very welcoming to all backgrounds and accepting of one another even if we come from different places as we all live on the same small Island. This will therefore lead to a decrease in island problems overall due to the fact that people will be more willing to help people with problems such as a language barrier because people will be more understanding of this. Additionally this will lead to people becoming more confident in sharing their views on the island as well as making sure there’s next to no discrimination.
Are there barriers to a positive and inclusive Island identity? (What requires a greater focus and what is being missed?)
I believe that its highly likely that there will always be multiple positive barriers to and inclusive island. These consist of things such as when it comes to different cultures, some people may have certain issues or may not be as accepting as others. This can lead to problems as it would be holding back the progress of Jersey being an accepting community. Additionally another barrier is that people from different cultures may not want to learn about jersey heritage due to the fact that they weren’t born in the island.
For this NFT project we started by researching what exactly an NFT is (non-fungible token) and then continued our research by looking at examples of NFT’s and really trying to understand what they are. We then discussed as a group what the question, ‘What will the future of Jersey look like as a community in the Metaverse?’ means and how we will go about creating a 30 second animated video to link to the question. We started by creating mind maps of what a community is and what it means to be a community. We then created mind maps and mood boards on our chosen theme; which we decided to create a film based on fashion. After we made the mood boards we created a statement of intent to decide exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. Within the group we decided on multiple different ideas which varied from using a projector to project different sort of patterns onto a model wearing plain and simple clothing to the model wearing clothes that replicate fashion trends over the years. Additionally we also spoke about how we may be able to use Photoshop or a similar software to edit over peoples original clothing, which may show that the digital world of fashion can be easily manipulated. Our last idea was to print out original photos which we have taken of our models and either collage or embroider over them to create different designs. We decided that we were going to have our model wearing clothes that best replicate fashion trends over the years. We then done a contextual study on NFT artists that link to our theme of fashion and researched NFT artist Toby Evans who focuses on digital fashion. After that we done a contextual study on the Bayeux Tapestry as it also links to the embroidery project we are also doing with Yulia, where we each made an individual embroidered piece that links to Jersey. After discussing more as a group how we were going to create the film we created a story board. We decided we’re going to start off with a wide shot and then zoom into a person wearing a 70’s inspired outfit (flares and a crop top), after that there would be an outfit change. Next, there will be another outfit change into a 80’s inspired outfit (mom jeans and a bomber jacket), then there will be a change into a 90’s inspired outfit (black dress). The clips will be shot with the model facing the camera and the clips will cut between outfits as the model walks forward towards the camera. The model will then change into a 2000’s inspired outfit (tracksuit) followed by an outfit inspired by current fashion (baggy jeans and a top). After deciding exactly how we were going to film it we brought in different pieces of clothing that we had at home to try to recreate old fashion trends. Making the outfits look as though they were from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s was one of the biggest challenges we faced as we only had our own clothes to use. We decided on which clothes best fit each year and then booked out a space in the studio so we could start filming. We started by preparing the studio for filming by setting up all the lights and getting are model in the first outfit. We decided to film on our phones so that the videos would be portrait. We had our model walk towards the camera in the first outfit as we recorded her and then repeated this in all the other outfits. We then chose our favourite clips and started by importing all the videos onto Adobe premier. We then cut each clip at specific times to make it look as though she was walking towards the camera while her outfits changed. We then decided which music to use as a group and uploaded it to the video. After the video was filmed we made a digital image from the video. We decided to edit the images we took on the day of filming in photoshop to make them more interesting. To edit the images I duplicated the image and then used the FX tool on the duplicated layer to turn off the green and blue channels on the layer. I then moved the bottom layer slightly to the left to create a 3D effect. As well as the edited photoshop image we also created a Gif. We used all of our images and copied one image after another to make it look like stop motion and create an illusion that the image is moving. We copied each image over another and created a new animation layer in order to play them one after another and create a frame. This turned out well as it achieved our aim of showing the different changes in fashion through decades by creating a gif and making it look like its one big moving image. Once all of the layers were there we included all the images we wanted to use and created a timeline to create the final gif. We also done an embroidery workshop that links to the question about community in Jersey. For the workshop we took all of the individual pieces of embroidery we have done as a group and placed them together on a big piece of fabric. We sat around the table as a group and decided whether or not we liked the positioning of the individual pieces on the larger piece of fabric. As there wasn’t enough individual pieces to fill up the fabric we had to overlap some and leave some spaces in the fabric. Once we decided that we liked the placement we all chose thread colours that we like and started stitching the pieces onto the fabric.
Above is a picture of the studio showing which lights we used in order to shoot our film. We decided to use harsh bright lights to show the full effect of what our model was wearing to portray the fashion through the decades. Additionally we also feel that our photos/film could of been better if we asked the model to stand more forward as it would of highly reduced the shadow in which is seen throughout our film and digital image. The shadow therefore takes away attention from the main focus of our film and increases the non-focus of the background. We wanted to keep our background very minimalistic however due to the shadows this adds more attention to the background of the images than what we wished to achieve.
For this NFT project we all had different roles. Editing the video was Niamh’s role. She started by importing all the videos onto Adobe premier and then cut each clip at specific times to make it look as though she was walking towards the camera while her outfits changed. We then decided which music to use as a group and uploaded it to the video. Overall I feel that the editing process was not as time consuming as expected as we all had our own things to work on within the film.
For this experiment we decided to use our photos in which we took in the studio. We are going to manipulate the photos in photoshop to create a 3D effect. We done this by duplicating the images and then used the fx tool on the duplicated layer to turn off the green and blue channels on the layer. Once we done that I moved the bottom layer slightly to the left to create this 3D effect.
Final Outcome:
Overall I feel as if this idea worked well due to the fact that we decided to present all the photos together as the final outcome. Additionally I also feel that it may be eye-catching to the viewer because the way in which the 3D effect worked. However I do think that it would have been more successful if we had the model positioned exactly the same in all 4 images.
A story board is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualising a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence.
For our group project we have decided to focus on fashion through the decades. We are going to do this by having the same model walking towards the camera several times in different outfits from different decades. We are going to use a story board to show what different ‘scenes’ we are going to include within our film.Once we have filmed the shoot we are going to use adobe premier to edit the clips together by cropping and changing each clip quickly to show the quick progression of fashion and how now its slowly developing to nfts in fashion.
