Keld Helmer – Petersen was a Danish photographer who received worldwide recognition for his coloured photographs. He also published several books full of black and white images where all the mid – tones had been removed.
Photographs captured by Keld Helmer – Peterson
MY RESPONSE
I firstly selected four images from my previous photoshoot inspired by Albert Renger – Patzsch’s ‘The World is Beautiful‘. I then opened Photoshop and experimented with the threshold tool in order to remove all the mid – tones and leave only black and white in the images. In my first photograph, I also experimented with the cropping tool so I could make the image smaller, and so I could get rid of parts of the image that I didn’t like. In the third picture, the threshold tool emphasised the shadows which were present in the bottom left of the image, and created a whole new area of black colour. The same happened in the second photograph, with the shadows casted by the dials on the oven being accented.
A mood board can be defined as an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept.
Below is a mood board to display the theme of ‘Looking and Seeing’.
Ideas
Uta Barth
Uta Barth is a German-American photographer, born in 1958, who is known for her unique outlook on the style of her experimental photography. This is as she states, that her aim is to allow the audience to have freedom with their perception, and the thoughts it produces, instead of being passive to what the photographer wants you to see and feel. Barth does this by experimenting with focus and aperture, taking photos that are mainly blurry.
Saul Leiter
Saul Leiter was an American photographer and painter, born in 1923, known for being a contributor to early colour photography, whilst he documented the streets, architecture and people of New York, usually in dreary weather. Leiter used long lenses to compress space, taking pictures from unique perspectives, using negative space and large out of focus areas.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Ralph Eugene Meatyard was an American photographer, born in 1925, known for his experimental use of exposure in his photographs. Working as an optician, Meatyard was able to see how others perceptions of the world were varied, which is clearly translated in his work, especially in his series ‘Out of Focus’. This selection of abstract photos showcased black and white images of undistinguishable blobs, breaking down the conventional rules of photography. In addition, in his series ‘Zen Twigs’, Meatyard created images that displayed a blurred photograph containing one thin twig in focus which sliced through the image, foregrounding Meatyard’s precision when it comes to aperture.
Image Analysis
Ralph Eugene Meatyard – ‘Zen Twigs’ – 1960
This black and white image by Ralph Eugene Meatyard, which is part of his ‘Zen Twigs’ series, showcases one single twig placed in the centre of the photograph. This placement leaves a lot of empty space for the eye to wonder, at the same time this space allows for a prodiminantly light piece. In addition, this twig acts as a leading line, to attract your attention to the extremely out of focus landscape behind it, which appears to be coastal.
Similar to Meatyard’s other photographs from this series, this image has been taken with a large aperture, resulting in a blurred background and focused foreground. Also, it is clear that this photo was taken with a fast shutter speed, due to the sharp and precisely focused foreground. Furthermore, the lighting of this photograph appears to be natural, as you can make out that it is a coastline landscape in the background and it is overcast allowing for the twig to cast no shadows, causing an image with little intensity.
Moreover, from his dramatic experimentation with focus, you can tell that Meatyard’s profession as an optician has strongly influenced the nature of his photography, as it appears that he is trying to see commonplace scenes from a different perspective. Also, this piece signifies his fascination with Zen as it displays such a peaceful and solitary image.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard Inspired Photoshoots
Contact Sheets
For my first photoshoot in Meatyard’s style, I set out on taking a series of close up photographs of twigs and plants, similar to his ‘Zen Twigs series’. For this I used the Aperture Priority setting on my camera to get the most blurry background possible.
For my second photoshoot, aimed to take pictures of people walking in hard natural lighting, creating silhouettes, to replicate Meatyard’s ‘Out of Focus’ series. For this I planned on switching my camera settings to manual focus, allowing me to control the level of blurriness and distortion.
Favourite Edited Images
Final Image
I picked this photograph from my second photoshoot as my best image because, I believe that it best replicates Meatyard’s style of photography through focal experimentation. Also, I think the shapes created by the people walking are the most interesting, from this shoot especially, as they almost appear alien like. Furthermore, the lighting of this image works best as it has caused the figures to be silhouetted, allowing for a strong and dramatic contrast with the light background.
Evaluation
On reflection, I believe that I have successfully taken a series of images that clearly display that I have experimented with focus and aperture settings, and shown an understanding of Meatyard’s style and expression through this technique.
In addition, I think that my second photoshoot produced more interesting images than my first, however my first photoshoot included a wider variety of images and shapes.
In order to make my photos better, next time I would aim to take pictures of a larger number of people wearing dark clothing for better quality images and more variety. Also, for the twig photoshoot I would try and go to a more wooded area to allow for variety of shapes and patterns.
Keld Helmer-Petersen is one of the most influential Danish photographers in the 20th Century. He was an international pioneer in colour photography and was a central figure in not only Danish but also European modernist photography. His career spanned 70 years and he had strong interest in modern architecture, industrial areas and structures. He was very prolific and continuously experimented and challenged the many possibilities of the photographic image.
He experimented intensely with various photographic techniques, such as camera-less images or photograms which were created in the darkroom. He created pure abstract image creations ongoingly from 1949, but especially in the 1970s and 1980s.
Process– I chose four of my images that I liked the most and edited them on Photoshop in the same style as him. I went onto Image> Adjustments>Threshold. I then adjusted the threshold as to how I wanted it. I wanted the a mix of completely dark tones and white tones without any mid tones to get the same contrast as Keld gets in his images.
Evaluation- personally I like how how the top two images turned out because by turning the photo completely black and white you can see all the small details on the trees and branches that you couldn’t in colour and it really defines the shape of the trees as it contrasts from the white .
I like how the bottom two turned out but not as much as the first because there’s still some uneven mid tones around the photos and it doesn’t create that sharp effect of black and white next to each other.
– Keld Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer who gained international recognition in the 1940’s and 1950’s for his abstract colour photographs. – His career lasted 70 years and he had strong interest in modern architecture, industrial areas and structures, which he would edit to be quite heavily contrasted, using strong black and white tones. – He was very prolific and continuously experimented with different angles and perspectives.
All Keld Helmer-Petersen’s photos.
– As you can see he takes harsh black and white tonal images and increase the contrast in Photoshop.
Process
– First i chose 4 images i liked and opened them in Photoshop. – Then, go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold. – Adjust the threshold level slider, to how you want it. – Crop the images to whatever size you want or 1000px x 1000px. And you can also rotate it in needed. – Then you save the finished image.
Original Photos – (Before)
Edited Photos – (After)
My edited photos.
Evaluation
– I like the outcome, as they look simplistic but include every detail needed. – The images are very geometric and include lots of parallel lines, which creates leading lines pointing to the sky. – The top 2 images have curves, where as the bottom 2 are heavily consistent of straight lines. – However, i don’t like how some of the black isn’t filled all the way, which creates a “patchy” look. As you can see in the bottom left photo, and the top right.
Original Photo
Evaluation
– I edited the image in Photoshop to create this effect. I like it as it makes you focus on the interesting parts, and subtracts the boring pieces. – First, I made a plain black layer. Then I created 6 circles, and 6 of the same images and made the image a mask for the circle, and I did that 6 times. then positioned the circles where I want to see the image through the black layer.
Keld Helmer-Peterson was a Danish photographer. He produced some of the influential work of the 20th century. Most of Helmer-Petersons work consists of two colours, black and white. These to colours are in contrast and create very abstract shapes. In the late 20th century he became interested in figurative shapes found in objects and architecture. In Helmer-Peterson a lot of very dark and very light tones can be seen with the white tones in the background and the black tones in the foreground. These tones also create a stark silhouette against the background that makes his images seem flat. He also uses lots of lines in his, these are quite abstract and give his images a strange composition.
Response
In my response i tried to use photographs that contained quite abstract lines and shapes. I edited them to give a flat look that Helmer-Peterson captured in his work. Using photoshop to edit my images gave them the harsh, flat feel that Helmer-Peterson would create when editing his images.
These resources are designed to encourage you to explore your use of the camera and it’s functions. The more you experiment and discover, the more control you will have and this will lead to more creative outcomes…
CAMERA CRAFT – exploring exposure settings
ISO – experiment with different ISO values to enhance your exposures…be wary of “noise” in your images with high ISO
White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the “color temperature” of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light.
Choose from a range of camera skills that you have learned in Week 3 and 4 and 5 to complete a new photo-shoot…
We want to see that you can explore and extend your handling of
colour (try limiting your palette of colours to : primary colours, colour harmonies, contrasting or complimentary colours if possible)
texture and surface quality (aim for contrasts : rough v smooth etc)
Show that you can adapt and control both ISO and White Balance (WB)…and even use it creatively too
exposure control
Red box shows exposure meter – the centre indicates a balanced exposure
Follow the highlighted sections of The 10 Step Process and create a blog post that clearly articulates your process and tackles these Assessment Objectives thoroughly :
Mood-board, definition and introduction (AO1)
Mind-map of ideas (AO1)
Artist References / Case Studies (must include image analysis) (AO1)
Photo-shoot Action Plan (AO3)
Multiple Photoshoots + contact sheets (AO3)
Image Selection, sub selection, review and refine ideas (AO2)
Abstract photography takes place when a photographer focuses in on a part of a natural scene, isolating it from the background. By zeroing in on the color, texture, line, shape, geometry, symmetry, or reflection of a scene, it warps our perception of the real world and familiar objects, making it look unique.
An image i found on Google, when i searched for “Abstract Photography”. (not taken by me)
Saul Leiter
– Saul Leiter was an American artist and early pioneer of color photography. His interest began in his late teens. – Leiter’s first exhibition of color photography was held in the 1950s at the Artist’s Club, a meeting place for many of the Abstract artists of that time. – At the age of 23, he left theology school and moved to New York, which is where most of his photos were taken.
All Saul Leiter’s images.
I like Saul Leiter’s images as the use unique viberent colours in a city environment, which normally consists of grey and white buildings, instead of red green and yellow. He uses a high aperture to blur half of the image to create a focus on the main object in the image.
My ideas
– Fill up a bucket of water, and spray paint and mix it round. Then take photos of the patterns. – Play a colourful video on my laptop and shoot the images through different glasses, eg, wine glasses and perfume bottles.
My Abstract Photos
How i did it First, i opened up a video on my laptop with a colourful video playing, then i put a glass in front of the screen and took photos through the glass. I made sure the room was dark and the lights were off, to get a nice ambient effect.
Explanation I like the outcome of these abstract photos, as they have a lot of vibrant colours, which is visually appealing. They display a lot of unique shapes and patterns, as the glass distorted the appearance due to the curves and texture on the glass. The colours compliment each other, which makes them stand out. The photos are over exposed, which makes them more abstract as its harder to tell what the image is of. The highlights compliment the shadows, although the black point is higher making the black more dominant, therefore bringing out the colours more
My Out Of Focus Photos
Explanation I changed my camera to manual focus and put it to the most blurry setting, and took photos of different objects in front of the screen, and through the glass, using the same method as the abstract images. I edited the images to circles in Photoshop to make it different and look nice.
For this project I explored the different ways in which aperture and focus can be experimented to create unconventional and abstract images.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Ralph was an American Photographer born in 1925 whose work was focused on disassociating with mainstream photography by creating unconventional abstract images. The projects in Ralph’s portfolio I will look at are ones where he experiments with focus and depth of field in order to broaden expressionism in photography.
In this photograph Ralph has tampered with the focus. He has made the image out of focus to create abstract silhouettes. He has also created a large tonal range by shooting the subjects in black and white. The subjects also bulge from the negative background as the composure consists of simplistic white background with repeating simplistic positive figures in the foreground.
In this image Ralph experiments with aperture. He focuses on the centre of the twig making the immediate foreground and the background out of focus. He does this by using a wide aperture. The angle at which he has framed the twig has created the out of focus foreground to lead the eye down the twig into the point that is in focus which gives the image a lot of depth and creates a satisfying abstract composition.
Saul Leiter
An American pioneer in photography in the early 50s. He specialised in experimenting with compositions to do with street photography. I will look at his work where he explores focus and depth of field
In this image Saul dabbles with both the focus and the aperture in this image. The out of focus exposure gives this image an energy and insinuates movement in the composition. The Large aperture has placed focus on the centre subject of what saul was trying the capture and leads the eye straight to it. This also makes the subjects look as if they are frozen in time as everyone around them is in chaotic movement.
Ossi Saarinen
Another Photographer that has experimented with depth of Field is Ossi Saarinen. In this composition he frames the fox by using a large aperture and focusing on the fox in the background and using the leaves in the foreground as a kind of vignetting. This gives the image a great depth of field and accentuates the subject.
Contact Sheets
Experimental Aperture Compositions
When composing these images I used a large aperture of f/1.4. I took inspiration from Meatyard and shot up close to some twigs and adjusted focus to accentuate different parts of the twig. I shot at an angle that would create a simplistic negative white background to contrast the twigs in the foreground. I also shot these images with a low ISO to create a gloomy feel. I then experimented with having my subject stand in various positions so I could create a great depth of field by using a large aperture.
Experimental Focus Compositions
When composing these images I took inspiration from Meatyard by intentionally shooting my images out of focus. This creates a promiscuous abstract feel. I edited the photos with a lot of contrast to help distinguish the blurry silhouettes from the background. In some of the images my intention was to make the subject somewhat noticeable however, in others I was aiming for an extremely abstruse composition where the subject is barely recognizable.
In the photo below I have scrunched up a piece of paper. I placed the paper on a black background to show contrast from dark to bright. I have also got a contrast between blue and red in the image and edited the colours to be more vibrant using an editing software.
In the photo below i have edited out the artificial light from the room we completed the photo shoot in. I also turned the mage into black and white and made the shadows and dark colours more dramatic and deeper.
I have edited the image below to have half colour and half black and white to represent the contrast between light and dark, black and white and day and night. I firstly took one image and made a copy of it, then i edited one to have colour and the other to be black and white. Then I used an editing software to split the image and piece it back together perfectly so that there was one side with each.
The image below is of a paper plane in front of a black background being lifted up by a string. I have converted the image to black and white and made the shadows and dark colours deeper and the lighter colours lighter. I then edited out the string that held the plane out from the image.
Formal Elements (Image Above)
The lightest part of the image is to the right (red) side. The background is black and there are some shadows in the contours of the paper. There are two clashing colours of blue to the left and red to the right.
There are random and scrunched up lines throughout the photo. There are also curvy and ripped edges.
The paper reminds me of a rock as it is random and has different surfaces.
The paper is very central in the photo and to either side of the image we can see the glow from the paper.
The texture and surface seems to be very random and contoured which creates some slight shadows. The surfaces in the image a varied and range from random and ripped to flat and straight.
The image ranges from very light and bright colours to dark and lifeless tones.
