All posts by Francisco P

Filters

Author:
Category:

Final film

New Normal:

This is the link to our final video, New Normal.

This film was created to emphasize the fact that everyone can wear what they want, when they want. We have added voice acting and music in the background of the video. We did this so that the video’s message was fully understood and conveyed.

The background of the video highlights the fact that color is often gender stereotyped. However, the white color emphasizes the fact that the clothing should be neutral, which is why we’ve got a male model wearing a skirt.

Voiceover aims to further emphasize that people should be themselves and that no one’s opinions should affect how they feel about themselves or prevent them from expressing themselves. The voice acting is masculine because many people judge men dressed as more feminine and call them hateful terms. Fashion stereotypes can be harmful to a person’s mental health. Men are often seen as strong, emotionless and closed-minded. Usually, if men don’t act this way, they are seen as weak and fragile. The most common derogatory names given to men who do not have the idea of ​​masculinity in the media are called “bloc”, “gay” or “considerate”. Although these words are not generally used to be offensive; The media has made these common words rude and if someone is called that, they are not good enough.

Although we have focused on men’s perspectives in our project, this does not mean that this topic does not apply to women. Women have been called “sluts”, “tramps” or even “slaves”. The media judge women for their clothing length and appearance (e.g., makeup) and label them as seen by younger audiences, susceptible to media influence and their opinions more, and will come up with ideas about What they “should” wear when they can wear what they want without fear of someone telling them they don’t look normal.

The media is the worst thing to read if you want to feel good about yourself. The media is constantly focusing on the topic of fixing yourself or making yourself look like the most famous person (usually wearing hair and makeup, and possibly plastic surgery). The media point out the “flaws” of celebrities, then influence the minds of the readers into what they consider an acceptable way of dressing and dressing.

Process

We asked ourt model to wear different outfits for the film:

  1. Normal clothes
  2. Baggy sweatshirt with jeans ( masculine)
  3. Dress
  4. Crop top alongside jeans

Screenshots from film footage

At this point of the short film, our model is dressed like this at the start. This is because we want our model to be perceived as serious and having a strong physical presence. Furthermore, this had our model juxtapose to also being feminine later on in the short film, having the two contrast against each other physically and in the clothing worn in later in the short film.

When this is edited, the green screen will be blue at this stage. The reasoning behind this is to portray the colour blue being associated with the male gender. As even when a male baby is born the only colour to portray a male baby is blue.

Pose 2

The second pose was used to slightly contrast between the poses displayed with the 1st and 3rd poses. From what you can see, the model is a lot more relaxed and not as tense as the first pose. Therefore this goes to show how in recent years gender stereotypes have changed from the past. As in both genders can now can be whoever they want to be without being judged by society. Furthermore, both genders can even swap roles as this is expected in our society today as people may feel like they were born the wrong gender.

Pose 3/4

As you can see from poses 3(dress)/4(red and black top), we had our model in more feminine and fluent poses. In addition, we had our model wear feminine clothes.

Overall, the reasoning behind having our model in these poses is because we wanted it to contrast from the masculine poses earlier displayed in the short film. In the short film you see flickers of pose 4 from the masculine pose. This was to show the juxtaposition of the stereotypes behind the male gender on being able to be free and wear/ be whatever and whoever you choose to be. As for pose 3, this was displayed at the end of the short film with our model doing different poses in the outfit of pose 3. Furthermore, we had our model do feminine poses with a smile on his face. This was to show how both genders should be able to be comfortable in being whoever they want to be even if it means wearing feminine clothes as a male and vise versa. In recent years we see things such as pride month which is amazing as people get to express their feelings without embarrassment. Also, society gets the education of not judging these people.

Images of final film

Mario Testino is a famous fashion photographer who has been nicknamed “[the] godfather of fashion photography”. He has had a very close relationship with the fashion magazine VOGUE, and He has photographed celebrities such as Kate Moss, Oprah, Serena Williams and also the late Prince of Wales with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Cambridge.

https://time.com/3840119/mario-testino-i-believe-men-have-changed/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20believe%20men%20have%20changed,wear%20and%20how%20they%20look.

Above is a link to a photography project Mario Testino done on how “Men have changed”.

Edited Images shoot 1

These first set of images displayed above is mean to portray the over exaggeration of what the stereotypical man is mean to look like. As you can see the images show a physical presence to them as the model is pointing directly to the camera. Also, the model appears to be tense in most of the images which portrays the masculine aspect to the images.

Furthermore, we added pink to some of this masculine set images in order to show juxtaposition form the colour pink being feminine alongside the poses being masculine. The outcome of this was to display that the male gender can be associated with the colour pink. Furthermore, how old stereotypes don’t have to be associated with today’s society. Meaning we can move on from old stereotypes and people can be comfortable within the genders.

Final/ favourite image

These are my favorite images because they remind me of Uncle Sammy’s propaganda that was used to call people to join the United States Army during World War I.

This is a powerful pose as it gives the viewer the impression that the model is observing and pointing at them. It shows that this problem needs to be fixed and that we need to stop expecting people to be like this or act a certain way.

Images are in black and white to represent outdated ideas that many have received from the media. The media has been the main thing for generations. The media generates opinions and many readers are influenced by what is said.

Black and white can also represent a metaphorical prison. This shows that the model is stuck in a society in which he feels out of place.

Edited images shoot 2

Editing

she used a quick Shutter speed in attempt to capture as much of the model’s movement as possible. The quick shutter speed allowed her to get a lot of images that looked similar so that she could get a range of images for the same pose and then choose the sharpest image.

To edit the images, she went onto Lightroom and changed the exposure, as the images were initially very bright, she then went and changed the levels of white and black in the image, once she had done that, she was able to change them to black and white. She kept the shadows quite prominent to highlight the fact that her model could be influencing others to express themselves and to not feel embarrassed.

Analysis

Men can wear whatever they want without fear of being judged. She asked the model to do this shoot because she knew he would be confident throughout the shoot. This is important to her because she don’t want to create a specially chosen photo session to depict people feeling good about themselves, when my model feels awkward, etc.

She separated black and white photos from the colour photos to emphasize that people are always two-faced.

Favourite Image

Editing

To capture these images, she used two solid white lights to cast shadows on the background. She liked that the lamp creates two shadows. She believed it represents the fact that everyone has personalities that we hide. It concerns Novella, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson writes about how a very respectable Dr. Jekyll doesn’t always want to be what everyone sees. This is where Mr. Hyde comes in, Hyde is the evil faction of Jekyll, he does all the things that if Jekyll were seen doing them, he wouldn’t be seen again.

She edited this image in Lightroom. She increased the black level in the photo as the light created a slight sheen on the dress. It also makes the safety pins holding the shirt together more visible.

She used a fast shutter speed to try to capture most of the movement of the model made. The image she chose has a bit of a blur around the arms; However, she felt it works well with the rest of the image. The fuzzy arm helps highlight the change in people’s perspective and the fact that more and more people are starting to accept other people for who they are.

Analysis

This is my favorite image because the model accidentally copied the iconic pose adopted by Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury doesn’t care what people think of him, that’s why I think this image is a success because our shoot was done to show that people shouldn’t care what others think about him. their appearance.

The fact that black-and-white images may show some people have very old-fashioned beliefs, such as the belief that people should limit themselves to one style of dress. The black-and-white image also depicts the model’s fear of speaking out about being trapped in a male stereotype, which is often portrayed as strong, emotionless and the backbone of her family.

The two tones of the shirt show that there is never just one explanation for something. You can always find another way if you really need it. The fact that the black and white images are rather ironic because we are a group shows that nothing in this world is truly black and white.

Photo book layout final design

Below are the images that I will be using for my photobook. All of my images were taken in Drum and Bass events that were upheld in Jersey and the UK. Some of these images where highly edited in the way that the photo has been fully manipulated. Whereas the others are pictures which have not been edited at all.

Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design with reference to the same elements of bookmaking as above.

Narrative: What is your story?

Describe in 3 words?

Drum and Bass

A sentence

Showing outsiders the drum and bass culture from an insider’s perspective.

A paragraph

As an individual who is in the culture of the drum and bass scene. I want to be able to portray the drum and bass culture to outsiders, who don’t understand the drum and bass culture. Furthermore, giving a deeper understanding on drum and bass on what it is and how this culture is even relevant.

Design: consider the following

How you want your book to feel

I want a softcover on the outside and for the book to be glossy so it looks similar to a magazine.

Paper and Ink

I want the ink and paper to be glossy so that the bright colours in my images really stand for people to view.

Format, Size and orientation

My book is going to be a small square with the dimensions of: 7 x 7 in (18cm x 18cm).

Binding and cover

I am going to want the cover to have an image of a crowd of people. This is because I want people to get an understanding on what type of book they are looking at.

Title

My title is going to be called “The Sesh”. This is because some people will understand the slang term and some won’t. For those who don’t understand it, hopefully after looking at the book they will know what it means.

Design and layout

Single full bleed images

Single images non full bleed black border

three images on one page

Editing and sequencing

I want to sequence my images how people usually end up going through a night out, from the start to the end of a night out.

Images and Text

Above is the front and back cover of my photobook. To make it, I put the title “The Sesh” in the middle bottom of the book and included my name and title on the spine. The front and back cover on my book have a full bleed spread of an image of a crowd at one of the drum and bass events. I had to zoom the image out abit in order for it to sit perfectly across the front and back cover.

Above is the finalised layout of my photo book with images of the photo shoot i had taken, with finalised images selected across a sequence. During the creation of this photo book, I have experimented with different page layouts. For example, instead of having one photo on a page, I put three images laid out with two small ones on top and a bigger picture going across the bottom of the same page. In my opinion, this final photo book layout is the best due to the way the pictures are put together on each individual page.

Above is one of the first images that was edited/ manipulated in order to make the image look hallucinogenic. This appears to be an effective edit because I was able to manipulate the picture, in a way which people would believe that’s what it would look like to consume drugs at a drum and bass event. Moreover, this image would give outsiders an idea on the atmosphere to expect at these events being; loud, bright and wavy etc…

The next edited/ manipulated image was only changed from its original colour to black and white. This image is a golden gem to me because the picture was taken in a way where the flash stayed on with the persons face with the camera having a wide aperture. Therefore, the image looks edited however it isn’t and that is amazing because even if I wanted to recreate the image I couldn’t, making it a 1 of 1. Furthermore, the image once again could give off the impression of distortion/ hallucination. Giving people a further understanding on what the experience could be like at these drum and bass events.

Finally, this is an image captured at one of the drum and bass events attended to get images. This image is strong I believe because it wasn’t edited, making the picture fall under the subclass of realism. Moreover, the image is engaging as I was able to capture the coloured smoke in the background of the image. This was effective as it made it engagging to viewers. Finally, the image being realistic is great for outsiders looking in because they are able to see an authentic image of what happens in these drum and bass events. From the atmosphere, emotions, facial expressions, clothing etc…

Above is an image that demonstrates the different types of options you can select in order to layout your pictures. This was great as I was able to move my layouts around to whatever I preferred.

The Outcome

The outcome from the photobook project is a book which reflects the culture of the drum and bass community. It shows what the potential experience of a night out to a drum and bass event could be like, from the start, to the end of the night. Moreover, the book is also meant to show “outsiders” who aren’t involved with the drum and bass community, showing what the community is about, cancelling out any stereotypes that people might assume within the drum and bass culture. For example, because of the what the music sounds like, people assume that people are aggressive at these events, causing fights between the crowd. However, as an insider to this culture, I can say that the people in the crowd are very in tuned with the music. Meaning that everyone is happy and not bothered by any pushing or shoving in the crowd. This is because, people accept that they are in a tight space which is the reason as to why pushing and shoving occurs occasionally on accident. Moreover, everyone in the crows is there for the same purpose which brings the community together as people share similar interests in music and clothing. Furthermore, the occuring themes of garments are sunglasses, bucket hats, costumes/ coordinated outfits and bumbags. Some of these garments such as sunglasses and bumbags, are mainly used so that people can carry drugs with and not have people look into there eyes for suspicion. Drugs are heavily influenced in this culture due to that fact that the audience are mainly young adults. Also, because people want to enhance their experience for a better time, memories and having moments of euphoria.

https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/9557142/c16ebd0fbd857f5b16ed60642793160214f86f16

Image Evaluation

Technical

essay

Week 15: 5 – 9 Jan
1. Literary Sources
2. Essay Question
3. Essay Plan

  1. Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
  2. Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
  3. It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
  4. Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages
  5. Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
  1. Essay question:
  2. Opening quote
  3. Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
  4. Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. Link to powerpoints and resources above about art movements and isms.
  5. Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  6. Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  7. Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
  8. Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Essay Draft

Intro: “When I got back to my classes early Monday, I tried to carry on as if my life had not just been altered forever.” (Michael Tullberg)

The area in which I am studying is the drum and base community. I will be diving deep into what happens within the subculture of the drum and base scene. For example, people enjoying the events due to it being an escape of reality, the atmosphere people are engulfed in, how intoxicated people can get within these events and how the DJ’s get involved with everyone at these events. The artists that I will be studying are Mike Brodie, Michael Tullberg and Adrian Fisk. I will be analysing specific work that these photographers have made based on subcultures, such as; Adrian Fisk’s (London Acid City), Michael Tullberg’s (Dance Floor Thunderstorm) and Mike Brodie’s (Riding the Rails).

Moreover, as an outsider to these subcultures looking in, it is appealing to me as I get to look into a whole different world in which people lived. Although I have been to drum and bass events, personally I would say as an individual I don’t have much experience in being an insider to this subculture as there are people who are involved immensely within the scene. For example, DJ’s, people working at the events, photographers, videographers and so on. However, as someone who attends these events my position between being an outsider and insider is blurred. The audience and crowd are paramount to the identity and existence of the drum and bass community.

I will be responding to this by explaining how it gives the opportunity for individuals who have no understanding of certain subcultures, to get an understanding on why people in these subcultures lived a certain way. Therefore, I believe these subcultures could even change people’s opinions on their lives, on how they decide to live their lives as they get so see other perspectives of how people live. This in turn, will provide new ideas or change perspectives of people who consider themselves outsiders. Another way in which I will be responding to their work is through photographs that I will generate based on the subculture of drum and bass. In order to make these pictures, I will have to consider the ethics of which pictures will be correct to produce, this is due to the fact that the drum and bass culture does have the side of substances being used in these events. Therefore, I will have to think of questions such as; When is it ok to take a photograph? How responsible is a photographer for the way a photograph is represented? Can Photographs hurt people? Should you always seek permission of your subjects before taking their photograph? These questions are up in the air for me as I am an outsider looking in. Meaning that people might not be comfortable with me taking pictures of them as I am not known as a photographer within the subculture.

(Source comes from https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/a-photographers-elegy-to-the-evolution-of-drum-and-bass/)

PG1: Realism is a photographic and artistic movement that emerged in the world of photography in the 1910s. My research approach focuses on documentary photography, a form of live photography, classified as realism. Realism differs from figurativism in that it includes more animistic methods applied to purely documentary works. Photojournalism focuses on establishing photography as an art form rather than a documentary medium. He focused on breaking away from commercialism and turning photography into a full-fledged manual process with the desire to achieve an aesthetic that makes photographs look like works of art, such as paintings. and drawings using various ways to manipulate images from blurred lenses, scraping negatives. and use chemicals in adarkroom. Unlike pictograms, realism is concerned with creating images that resemble what the photographer sees through the camera’s viewfinder. Realism emphasizes geometric framing and emphasizes form and form with an almost abstract aesthetic, as noted by two of the early realist photographers, Alexander Rodchenko and Jaromir Funke. These two images provide insight into how realism is incorporated into photography overall.

“A photographer’s elegy to the evolution of Drum and Bass”. Eddie Otchere was a photographer who spent a good part of the 90’s capturing the evolution of the Drum and Bass scene. The genres developed from Jungle, which then advanced to the genres of garage and grime. There is a book titled “Who Say Reload” which offers a history of the movement’s mentioned earlier. A quote that Otchere states from the book is “I hope the book reminds people of how good it felt to dance as a group of people together,” and “All races dancing together… with no judgment, just good drugs.”. In the early 90’s the rave scenes were usually held up on random fields with loads of people turning up to them. However, the scene was on a major crackdown by the government, meaning that the government started having authorities turn up to these random raves, with attentions of arresting people and shutting it down. Although authorities would turn up, the people within these subcultures often indifferent in reaction to authorities turning up as there would be reports of police turning on sirens for people to disperse, but people would just start dancing to the sirens.

In the late 90s, the raves started to move from the fields into the cities. In the early 90s the Tory government started to collapse where “Everything in the country was broken, finished and done,” remembers Otchere “As young people, we just wanted to have a good time – and we built a culture with that.” Empty spaces in the city started to get flooded as young people would show up to them, bringing sound systems and lights to dance all night. This then evolved the rave scene from once being an underground scene, which further developed it to become more mainstream giving way to clubs.

Overall, from the pictures that where taken in the book “Who Say Reload”, the pictures seem to fall in the bracket of documentary, which ash its roots in realism. This comes across with most photography that is taken for rave scenes, or in the subculture of night clubbing (also apparent with the photographers mentioned earlier). The reasoning behind this, is because images taken within this subculture are captured in the moment, meaning that the images aren’t staged/ prepared for. This is arguably the greatest way to capture an image due to the rawness of the image as the photographer couldn’t replicate the photo. Meaning no editing or changes had to be made to the image making the image as authentic as possible. Furthermore, realism in photography gave birth to photojournalism/ documentary photography because they go hand in hand with each other. This come across with most photography in the subculture of nightclubbing. This is because photographers who get images of this subculture are documenting a subculture that people wouldn’t have experienced, heard of or even understand the subculture, hence why realistic images are captured in order for outsiders to get a “real” insight on what a subculture is all about giving them a further understanding visually and contextually in documentation.

Adrian Fisk London Acid City

PG2: Adrian Fisk’s images answers my question perfectly as he portrays the “counterculture” (which he describes his subculture that he took images of) through the use of realism. This is a great way of portraying subcultures in his documentation of the rave scene in in the late 90s because people who look at the images in the book get to see the rawness of the subculture as there was “no laws, no rules, no dress code, a limitless supply of drugs and a soundtrack of pulsating Acid Techno.” As you can see from the image presented, you can see it is a realistic image from the angle of which he has taken the image from, which appears to be from about his waist facing up to the people in the image. Moreover, no one in the image is posing to the camera and people who are closest to the image close their eyes as they are surprised from the flash on the camera, further proving that the image is realistic as it wasn’t planned. Furthermore, you can see from the image how everyone is dressed in their own sense in what they feel comfortable with and people of different races are all gathered up in one closed in area to have fun till they can’t anymore. This also answers my question as you can see what this subculture represents. Which to me appears to be anyone who is wanting to have fun, uniting together no matter what race, what fashion sense or even age. This shows off the beauty of this subculture as these people could organise a fun time whenever they would like in order to have an escape from the reality of the depressing world that everyone tries to ignore.

Image analysis:

As for these set of images, I believe they answer my question pretty well because in these images I have captured the raw emotions and reactions of the people. Furthermore, in the images you can see the people in the images aren’t looking into the lens expecting the picture to be taken, meaning that the images where taken randomly meaning I got to get authentic images of the people thriving in the drum and bass environment. In the first image, you can see a range of emotions in the crowd with the different facial expressions people have from happy, to sad, to straight faces and even people doing different things with hands in the air, holding their phones up or just being neutral. As for the second image, you can see once again that there is a mixed range of emotions again. However, in this image there is a red and yellow light which is directed to two people in the image, which in my opinion makes them the focal point of the image. Although if you where to look away from the focal point you can see other people in the background of the image who are also having a good time within the environment. For the final image, I like this one the most because in the image you can see I got a picture of the DJ minding his own business, trying his best to entertain the crowd he has in front of him. Moreover, in the image you can see that there is a plastic barrier in front of the DJ which got a reflection of the crowd that he has in front of him. This stood out to me as I captured two different photo angles in one which in my opinion is amazing as the image displays the audience and the DJ in one. This is key as the energy from the crowd in this subculture is highly dependent on the energy the DJ gives off to the crowd.

Michael Tullberg DanceFloor Thunderstorm

PG3: Michael Tullberg, also answers my essay question with his images however, he has a different approach compared to Adrian Fisk and here is why. As you can see from the images represented from Michael Tullberg, he has altered his images making them abstract. For example, you can see that in one of the images there appears to be 4 of the same DJ in one image. Therefore, this image responds accordingly to my essay question because Michael Tullberg is an insider to the subculture. This means that he has decided to edit the image in a way where visual euphoria is present due to the use of substances in this subculture, which enhances the experience of the rave scene. Moreover, this also shows outsiders what the subculture represents as they could gather that drugs are used in this subculture from the image as the image is abstract due to it looking distorted, like someone who would have taken substances in order to enhance their visual experience. Overall the image is effective as Michael Tullberg includes aspects of realism, he shows outsiders what people in this subculture are actually experiencing visually through substances, giving outsiders a more in depth/ realistic approach on what it is like to be a part of this subculture.

As for my images, they also correspond to my essay question as they are showing how the drum and bass subculture is being represented from an insider and outsider’s perspective. This is because as an insider to the subculture I know as an individual what happens within these events in terms of the crowd that turns up. Therefore, with the images it could represent the insiders as in them being able to see the image for what it is, all distorted due to the use of substances. Further meaning that the insiders to this subculture could almost embody the camera lens as they get a first-hand experience of these euphoric visuals. In terms of outsiders, the images show them what it is like to be submerged within the drum and bass scene. This is because from the images being abstract, outsiders looking at the images would gather the idea that these images are made due to substances being used which would enhance the visual experience of an individual in this subculture. Moreover, the images could give an understanding to the outsiders on what the atmosphere is like within the subculture. This is because from the distorted images, outsiders looking at these images could get the understanding that these events are vibrant, loud and energetic. In addition, outsiders could understand that this would mean that people within this subculture are all about having a good time. Meaning there is no discriminating or judgement at these events as everyone is there for the same purpose leading to a community of people being brought together.

Conclusion:  In conclusion, it is transparent that Michael Tullberg alters his images in making them somewhat abstract as a method of giving outsiders an understanding of what the rave subculture is about as a community. There is an air of spontaneity within the work, it is direct and lively…just like the music. This is shown throughout many of the images he has produced, using editing as an enhancement to the images, to get across that this subculture has a heavy influence with substances being used, which is where he most likely gets his inspiration for editing his images. Here, Michael has been able to show what type of world the “rave” subculture is living due to the edits demonstrating that of a visual experience no other could even imagine. In addition, outsiders gain the understanding of this community being strongly united due to people loving the experiences they have for these events. Meaning that the community is very strong, having the people within this subculture do anything to keep it together, this has been shown with history of rave subcultures always making their way to keep the “rave” alive. My work that I will produce for my personal study will resemble most of the elements demonstrated in Michael’s work. One of which will be the way I approach my edits for my images in terms of making the look distorted or acid like. The aim in developing these images will be to highlight what the experience is like through the perspective of someone who is delved deep into this subculture of substances, visuals and everyone enjoying their life in that moment no matter what. However, I will incorporate the skills of Adrian Fisk by having some images of realism. The reasoning behind this is so that outsiders can get an authentic touch to the subculture of the drum and bass community. Moreover, outsiders will get to see genuine emotions from these images, giving them a feel on what the atmosphere is like in this community.

Bibliography: (Source comes from https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/a-photographers-elegy-to-the-evolution-of-drum-and-bass/)( https://dancefloorthunderstorm.com/) https://www.adrianfisk.com/london-acid-city

NFT’s research and analysis

What is an NFT?

NFT stands for “Non Fungible Token” which represents either a digital file/ item. The token in NFT is an object that is built onto a blockchain, non fungible means that it is unique being different and 1 of 1 to the person who makes a purchase of it.

2 Lives exhibition

The “2 Lives exhibition” is Jerseys first Art exhibition the brings together Art and Finance, due to the introductions of NFT’s. It is a project that has been put together in order to build a future of the art world, as it seems to fade away with no technological advances being put into the art world. Therefore, this will leverage NFT’s as a tool leading to the creation of new communities, opportunities and even art overall.

NFTs in art

NFTs in terms of art is revolutionary for artists in this day and age. The reasoning behind this is because artists now have a second option of being able to sell there art online to anyone who wants to buy it from around the world. Whereas, if you where to sell your art in person you would have to put it up in a exhibition or auction in order for you art to sell. Moreover, if you sell a physical piece of art, you only get the money that the customer has offered for it and thats the money you earn. As for NFT’s, when you sell your own NFT you get money from that sale and when the person who bought your art sells it, you get a fixed percentage for every-time your art continuously gets sold off. Alongside this, the NFT you make becomes a certificate of authenticity in order to cancel out people trying to make counterfeits.

NFT’s in gaming

NFT’s in terms of gaming has also revolutionised as any items you buy in your game; for example skins on Fortnite, you would be able to keep these ‘skins’ if you where to stop playing the game and you could use them again if you like. Moreover, with these skins you could sell it on the game marketplace to other players who are going to jump onto the game. Alongside being able to sell them, you could use your skins for the appearance of your digital avatar for others to look at.

NFT’s for collectionist’s

People who collect items in the real world in order to flip there items to make money, now have a whole new platform of being able to purchase NFTs to make more money in terms of collectables. This change kicked into place during the covid pandemic due to the fact that the whole world became more digital as people could online socialise via internet. Moreover, this lead to a larger increase in people around the world trusting the internet more. Therefore, in society we now appear to have more people collecting digital assets as much as physical assets which can de sold through exhibitions or other places on the secondary market giving sellers a wide range of choice in selling of collectable items.

NFT’s in virtual worlds and virtual exhibitions

Virtual worlds have been starting up in the NFT’s space such as Decentraland and somnium space. Decentraland as an example is an online world where users have to create an avatar in order to express their presence online. Moreover, you are also able to communicate wit other peoples avatars online as well from participating in concerts, art shows and even being able to build your own digital house with other people as well. This is great as friends or people in general from around the world are able to share there own sense of community, or even mix culture together which can have people from around the world gain a better understanding of different communities and how they work. This is accessible on 2d screens which is via computer. Decentraland also have another layer of connection with cryptocurrencies in order for people to be able to make purchases on the virtual land that exists, art on the walls in galleries and making these purchases can give you ownership on the virtual world, leading to people being able to give users a say on how the world should operate.

NFT’s blockchain, cryptocurrencies, coins and defi

The next revolution alongside NFT’s is by changing the way we see and use money. People in todays society don’t trust authorities, which helped in the gradual increase of people using cryptocurrencies for a substitute to physical and money kept away in a bank with the creator being a random person that no one knows of. Therefore, this means that the person who invented cryptocurrencies has no ties to the government or any authority, its a universal currency having the same value everywhere across the globe and the market is open 24 hours in a day. A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that is designed to be a medium of exchange for real money, the individual coin ownership is then stored away in a ledger existing in a form of computerised database and cryptography is used to secure transactions and records, which controls the creation of additional coins and verify the transfer of coin ownership.

How to create, buy and sell NFTs

In order to create an NFT, you will need whats called a NFT wallet and an account inside FT platforms.

A digital wallet can be used as if it was your physical wallet but just virtually. Metamask appears to be used most commonly do far keeping your NFT’s, these wallets allow you to move your digital assets within the metaverse.

NFT PLATFORMS: Opensea, Nifty Gateway, KnownOrigin, Foundation, Mintable, Rarible, Hic Et Nunc, Zora, Makersplace, VeeFriends, NBA TopShot, Crypto.com NFT, Eenjin, Superrare, Sweet, Doingud.

NFT’s environmental impact

For NFT’s to not damage the environment the use of renewable energy would be useful such as solar and wind. However, NFT’s are only a small contribution to this as the energy consumption it takes to mine a singular etherium is 0.0006, which in comparison is the same as watching a youtube video.

mining crypto takes a lot of electricity, needing big computational work by hardware. The process of mining and rewarding the miners for closing a block of the blockchain is called Proof of Work, that was the way Bitcoin was applied in 2009, until now.

In the crypto ecosystem there has been a transition from the ‘Proof of Work’ to ‘Proof os Stake’, which is a lot more environmentally friendly. This is because POS doesn’t require miners anymore, but validators. These are the people that deposit their owned crypto to validate block transactions, then the reward is given on a random basis.

In some ways, NFT’s can also be good for the environment, this is because Fashion at the moment is the 2nd most pollutive industry in the world. Therefore digital clothing could revolutionise this issue that is currently taking place across the globe.

Here is a link to a website called the 2 lives exhibition, which gives out additional information on NFT’s, Metaverse and Cryptocurrencies. https://2lives.world/

Statement of intent

What will the future of Jersey look like as a community in the metaverse?

  1. Diverse Digital Immersive
  2. The future of jersey’s community as a metaverse will be unhackneyed and evolving.
  3. The future of Jersey’s community as a metaverse will already bring all social elements that are used in todays society to the digital platform, then evolve it through knew social norms/ understandings on a digital point of view. Islanders will be able to communicate to one another whenever they would like at any given location physically in Jersey or even across the globe! I would imagine this happening on high advances of technology potentially through Virtual Reality. I feel like the metaverse will be a very free, consistent and the modern way of people communicating to one another. In addition, I fell like this would be perfect for Jersey as the community could come out of this “bubble” that Jersey has hiding it from around the world, in order to potentially get glimpses of what the real world is like.

Reflecting and Reviewing Mind Map

The concept that we decided to go through with as a group to interpret the theme of community was social differences/norms through gender. The way that we will be interpreting this concept in the film will be done by having our male model, dressed up in masculine and feminine clothing, alongside feminine and masculine posses. In addition, the male model will be infront of a green screen that will be changing between the colours of blue, purple, pink and white in that specific order. For the blue background, our model will be in male clothing performing masculine poses. This will be showcasing to the audience the everyday stereotypes of men having to wear male clothing, being stiff in order to portray what society thinks is ‘masculine’. As for the purple background, our model will be in a crop top wearing jeans which will be portraying to the audience a slow transition of men being able to wear feminine clothes, being normalised in society. Moreover, the purple background is a mix between pink and blue, which is presenting men being able to merge the two types of clothing together to develop a slow transition with men being able to wear female clothes. In terms of the pink background, our model will be wearing a dress with make up on which will be displaying how men should be able to go all the way with how they would like to look in terms of being feminine or attaining that look. Finally, for the white background we would like to have a split of our model wearing the dress and wearing the male clothing. This will be portraying how men can look like whatever they want and still be comfortable in society, with the white background being a neutral colour there is no significant meaning behind it in terms of gender. However, the white background will exhibit hope/ faith in our community as a whole being more open minded in terms of how males would like to display themselves with there looks in terms of clothing, make up and even their sexuality.

In terms of the image, we will be having a split between our model wearing mens clothing and female clothing with a white background. This will be portraying our concept of social norms/ differences in men having to follow this stereotype of not being able to wear female clothing publicly because it doesn’t look masculine. Having the split of the masculine and what is ‘non masculine’ will be showing the audience men should be comfortable with wearing female clothing and they can still be masculine, men shouldn’t have to question there masculinity just because of a piece of clothing. As for the white background, this is essential because it is a neutral background which won’t be distracting, the audience can look at the focal point of the image which is the split between the masculine and feminine clothing that is portrayed. Moreover, the white background on the image displays faith and hope in our community moving forward in the direction of men being able to wear female clothing, feeling comfortable in society as well wearing these outfits and being more comfortable with their own sexuality as well.

Overall, as a group we thought the concept of social norms/differences had to be challenged. The reasoning behind this is because, in society today we still have people who haven’t been fully educated on understanding both genders being able to be comfortable with their own sexualities, due to stereotypes like men not being or looking ‘masculine’ due to wanting to use or wear female products in society.

https://commonreader.wustl.edu/why-women-can-dress-like-men-but-not-vice-versa/. On the link provided above is a Journalist who wrote down a piece on how, ‘Why Women Can Dress Like Men But Not Vice Versa’. A women with the name of Jeannette Cooperman wrote a journal about how men cant wear women clothing, yet it works vice versa. This caught an interest to me and helped me gain some ideas on how to interpret our concept into community as she challenges the topic of men not being able to wear women clothing. For example she mentions how the issue of these stereotypes could be happening because of men potentially having to prove their masculinity at all times in order to portray their sex due to ego and social stereotypes. Moreover, she preaches about how as a society we have established that men are suppose to be perceived as strong, big and had to gallop on horseback to be a man, for what appears to be to for to long of an amount of time to where men are and will struggle to be able to wear women clothing comfortably with their own sexuality or comfortability in general. This journal helped with overall ideas for our film and final image as we could gain questions in which we could ask our audience in order to make a change in society and move it in the right direction.

Here are a set of images of Billy Porter being comfortable of wearing feminine clothing in the eye of the public in order to display his sexuality and fashion.

community and identity Mood board

The final concept that we as a group decided to work on to make a film was old social norms vs social differences in terms of gender. The reason as to why we as a group decided to to go for this concept is because we wanted to tackle the issue of genders, not being able to mix clothing for comfortability due to the judgment that this could bring to people in society. For example, if a man was to wear a skirt he would receive heavy judgement for this, with people assuming that male would be gay, gender fluid etc, where it could be just for comfort and people being more open to their sexuality. Therefore as a group we decided to make a short film on this to potentially open the minds of people in society to being more open on genders, being able to mix and match clothes for comfortability or other reasons.

How are we making the film?

In order to make the film we have planned to use the studio as our location to gather the footage we need. To the studio we will bring a stool, tripod, different clothing and a camera as these different components will be needed to make our film. Moreover, we will be having our male model positioned in front of a green screen. The reasoning as to why we are using a green screen is so that we can edit the video to change the colours of the background in order to show the transitions through the genders with the outfits we have our male model wearing. Once we have our camera set up on the tripod, the camera will be recording the whole shoot with our model moving in and out the shot in different outfits. Once we get to the editing of the film, we will be getting snap shots of the film in order to gather images to edit for the final shot for our final edits. Moreover, we will be having some dialogue being put in the film which will be covering the social stereotypes on gender and how people could be more open minded to this social issue of gender stereotypes and expectations. Finally, we also decided that we will put some little animated doodles on the film so that it isn’t boring for people watching it as they will have other things to gain their attraction.

embroidery workshop

Recently we had a workshop setup for us having to do with embroidering due to potentially using this craft for our films in our groups. What is Embroidery? We learnt that embroidery is the art of being able to decorate any fabric or other material using a needle to apply thread or a yarn. Moreover, with embroideries you can include other materials into your work such as beads, pearls or even leafs depending on what the focus of your piece is. Embroidery in terms of photography could be a great addition to add to your work due to it adding texture and more depth into your work making it look more appealing.

Colorful Embroidery on Vintage Photographs by Victoria Villasana
Victoria Villasana

The lesson was started of by us students being given a piece of paper, teaching us four different techniques being: running stitch, back stitch, couching stitch and finally the satin stitch. During this lesson we got given a small piece of material and we drew a simple shape to go over with these four different techniques for practice. In my opinion my favourite technique was the satin technique. This was because I thought it looked more appealing to be able to fill a shape out all the way, it also gave the shape that i filled in a texture which also caught my attention.

Once we got the techniques down, as a class we where told to go around the studio and cut out different materials around the room which was the People Make Jersey tapestries from the Jersey Museum. After getting our cut outs we had to bring them back to our tables and make something out fo the cut outs we attained with the embroidery skills we got taught. Also, we got told to take pictures every 5 minutes in order to make a short film of the progress made in creating our embroidery pieces.

Jersey museum analysis

On Monday June 7th, the school had arranged a trip to go to the Jersey Museum to discover an exhibition called ‘ People Make Jersey’. The exhibition showcased how immigration has influenced change in jersey from cultures, buildings and why people decided to immigrate to Jersey over the centuries. We learnt that in the 19th century that the jersey economy was boosted increasingly due to wealthy immigrants coming over. These individuals mainly came over from the UK or British colonies due to the attraction of the tax scheme, mild climate and for the way of life of living on the island. Due to these high value residents coming over to Jersey, this helped with creating local jobs and contributing to the growth of St.Helier in this time period.

After we went around the museum taking pictures of a rich merchants house, we went out on a walk through town with Stewart to take pictures of buildings and chimneys that had a lot more meaning behind them than anyone thought. For example there where buildings that have bricks which where darker than the others and the reasoning behind this was because those brick’s had been charred for a longer amount of time then the other brick’s in the process of making them. As for the yellow chimneys, we got told that they had some sort of military meaning behind them for the Jersey military in understanding which of those buildings that had the yellow chimneys where owned by the Jersey military.

anthropocene

Meaning

The meaning of anthropocene is a geological point of view in which humans have started to impact the earth’s ecosystems or even climate change that has occurred within the past years. Therefore, this word fits perfectly into photography as photographers take pictures which can be documented to show the change’s in the ecosystem on the earth in order to show the rest of the world the downfall in the ecosystems and climates changes on our planet.

Ideas (mood-board/ images)

Anthropocene
Landscapes places that have construction undergoing or getting pictures of cranes on site.forests that appears to be damaged which could be done by being abstract. Places in which there are industrial buildings that cause damage to the environment through pollution.
Portraits Someone wearing a bin as a outfit or plastics in general. Using plastics as accessories on the model. After a simple portrait being taken of a model, I could edit some landscapes onto them.
Altered LandscapesPicture of king street with the pavements being sand once edited.Picture of some flats then editing them onto a sand dune. Taking a picture of a forest changing the bright colours into colours that represent negative emotion.

Case Study

The two photographers that I feel explore anthropocene through the genre of photography that I will be choosing is Camilo Jose Vergara and Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre. Down below will be images of the photographers mentioned.

Camilo Jose Vergara Case Study

Camilo Jose Vergara was born in 1944 Santiago, Chile who was a New York based writer, photographer and documentarian.Vergara has been compared to Jacob Rills for his photographic documentation of American slums and decaying urban environments. Vergara applied the technique of rephotographing in a series of American cities, taking pictures of the same neighbourhoods from the exact same point at regular intervals over many years in order to show changes of the neighbourhoods over time. He was a sociologist with a speciality of urbanism, Vergara used this to his advantage to show the public eye the social decay happening across the world.

As you can see from the images above that Vergara has taken, there are a series of neighbourhoods that have decayed over time. This goes to show that he was a great sociologist in urbanism as you can see from the landscapes that the images of the buildings he had taken, decayed over time in the fact that they have been broken down or even abandoned. The pictures display urbanism as in the images there are buildings displayed that either got done up and look more modern, or the building has either been taken down or abandoned. These images that Vergara has taken above fit in perfectly with the topic of ANTHROPOCENE as the images displayed show how “humans have started to impact the worlds ecosystem” due to there being wasted land or space that is taking over the environment for no reason as the buildings appear to have no use to them. Moreover, this shows how humans are damaging the environment as these buildings could very well have better use to them as possible places to make it green again in order to have habitats for animals so that they can be safe and have some better environmental living than some abandoned houses and streets.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre Case Study


Marchand (b.1981) and Meffre (b.1987) live and work in Paris. Initially pursuing photography individually, they met online in 2002 and started working together with the beginning of their Detroit project in 2005. Steidl published The Ruins of Detroit in 2010. A second printing is planned for later this year. They are currently completing their Gunkanjima book, also to be published by Steidl, and they continue to work on a project documenting American theater’s that have either fallen into decay or been transformed entirely. Their work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe and has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The British Journal of Photography, Time Magazine, amongst others.

As you can see from the images displayed above from Yves and Romain took images of abandoned places which are being overgrown by the nature surrounding it. As you can see they where great in taking landscape images of abandoned places as everything in the picture is visible with use of what appears to be of natural daylight, in order to show every detail of nature taking over in these landscape images. Therefore, these images fit in perfectly with the theme of Anthropocene as you can see that humans have harmed the environment by having these wasteful abandoned buildings, occupying areas of nature like forests or fields, being overgrown by the nature around it due to these buildings being left unattended in the middle of nature having moss or vines overgrown. Therefore, this could be an impactful message to the world as people can see the damage caused to the world with wasteful buildings occupying these forests or fields as the nature growing back in these buildings is trying to take back what use to be there before the buildings where built.

Comparison

Both photographers mentioned above show the term of anthropocene as the images they have taken come across this subject showing similarities. For example, the picture that they took appear to be portrait/ landscape due to the images being of abandoned buildings that are slowly decaying throughout the years. Moreover, you can see the similarities in which the photographers had taken their pictures with the use of natural daylight and the setting’s of ISO 50, f16 and the shutter speed set at 1/500.

In terms of context behind the images they both display similarities of abandoned buildings that have no use to them as they all appear to be damaged leaving rubble behind and even just occupying areas in which could be turned to beautiful parks with trees in them or even just have the buildings knocked down in general not disturbing the environment. Moreover, both photographers present anthropocene because the images display the disturbance of the environment through humans due to the images showing abandoned buildings that are man made. This could have questions being raised to society on wether we are a lazy society or wether we don’t care about our environment in general as we just leave these buildings that are abandoned to slowly decease throughout its existence as these buildings slowly decay whilst people who walk past don’t having any feelings towards these buildings just wasting space when they could just be demolished and have use for these spaces for either society or just leave the areas alone for nature to take over and grow over these areas not causing any more harm to the environment as it already is.

Photo Shoot

Edited Images

The editing done to these images was that for the black and white ones I converted the images to black and white on photoshop and then changed around either how dark or bright a certain colour of that image was to make shadows pop out more and to create a more contrast between light and dark.

As for the coloured images, this was achieved by changing the hue and saturation on these images to make the colour I selected either really pop out or have some other colours be dimmed as they don’t have to be in the image, as shown in my images I went for the theme of red on all of my coloured images.

Compare & Contrast

The photographers work that I will be comparing and contrasting is Camilo Jose Vergara.

Differences – The differences between my photograph and Camilo’s are that mine is in black and white and his is shown natural as in he didn’t edit his image for colour. Another difference is that his images shows off more contrast between bright and dark with the shadowing in his image, whereas mine hasn’t got any shadowing as the building was flat not having any 3 dimensional structure to it to make it have exaggerated shadows. Finally, a key difference is that he appears to have people in his images where as in my image I don’t have people in it. Therefore, this could go to show that the building in my image is fully abandoned and left out to rot going to show how people in society don’t care about the waste of space being preserved by abandoned buildings in the world. Whereas, in Camilo’s image he has people roaming which goes to show the building in his image is in use, not wasting space however, there appears to be graffiti on the buildings and they seem to be dirty which goes to show how the people in society are very lazy and don’t have a car for the environment as they seem to paint over it and not keep the general streets clean.

Similarities – The similarities between my photograph and Camilo’s are that we both appeared to use natural lighting as our sources of light to capture the images we taken. Also, we have both appeared to take on a dead pan pictures of the buildings that we decided to take images of across the street form the buildings. The final similarity between the images are that both buildings appear to be dirty or damaged due to the lack of care that has been given to them, due to society in the 21st century appearing to be lazy or unconcerned for the community in general as this can lead to people loosing house’s as they just deteriorate leading to it being un-manageable for people to be living in these conditions, which can lead to people overpopulating to somewhere cheaper which what appears to be the cause of Camilo’s picture where as for mine the people have already moved out and now the building has been left wasting space.

Final Image’s

The way in which i would present my images would be by having my picture up on a wall for people to be able to walk around and feel them. Moreover, I could consider on putting materials from the images like leaves or rubble so that people who are looking at the pictures could potentially touch them to get an idea of what the image feels like as well.

Evaluation

Therefore having read the history of Eugene in the reasoning as to why he done photography, this gave me the objective of showing the people who look at my images how buildings can be left derelict for no one to care of which could have better use to them. Moreover, I believe that the economy has a big impact on buildings being derelict due to the fact that as the economy goes up in any place the prices go up and cost of living especially in Jersey where it is very expensive in terms of housing, which could cause people to move away from these homes making them derelict leading to the abandoned buildings being forgotten making them relics of the past.

Overall, I believe that I was successful in presenting my objective with my images through to the audience/ people who would see my images in an art gallery, this is because I have images of abandoned buildings that have been around for a long time including the old Jersey Brewery which could be considered as a relic of the past as it is an old building that was of great use to Jersey. However, if I was to do this project again I would change the way in which I would display my images by getting images of old buildings that are now abandoned, then I would split the images in half and put them together in order to show the drastic changes in the buildings over time.

Ansel adams case study

Ansel Adams, born on February 20th, 1902 then later died on April 22nd, 1984, was an American photographer who was well known for his landscape photography due to it being very transparent in the detail that was portrayed in his images form the landscapes being very clear. Ansel began his photography carer not even knowing but at the age of 12 he got his first camera and took pictures of the Yosemite National park which was later used to show off his photography that was first published in 1921. Ansel work was starting to mature and become at its best in 1929 and 1942 and he became more established. The 1930s were a time in which he was experimenting and being more productive with his photography, expanding his photography technically by taking close up pictures of mountains, large forms and even detailed close ups with pictures of mountains to even factories. Moreover, this was when Ansel was getting his best landscape images from landscapes to close up images of leaves and flowers. In 1952, Ansel was one of the founders of the magazine Aperture which was a journal of photography, showing of its best practitioners and newest innovations in which he was also a contributor to Arizona Highways, a photo rich magazine. In June 1955, Ansel began his annual workshop at Yosemite which they continued to 1981, attracting thousands of students. During the final 20 years of his lifetime, the 6×6 cm medium format Hasselblad was his camera of choice.

As you can see from Ansel Adams photography, the landscapes in which he has taken photographs of is very well defined to the point where you can see every single detail of the surroundings in the landscape. Moreover, in his images you can see the clear contrast in the compositions of black and white, which goes to show hoe well Ansel Adams understand the contrast between black and white as you can see from his images, making every detail stand out from textures and surfaces.