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Resource, Task

The Formal Elements – Paper

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In class this week we experimented with abstract photography by using our phones to photograph paper in different ways. I was inspired by photographers such as Martin Creed, who took a photo of some A4 paper crumpled into a ball to connote the disappointment of things not going to plan.

work illustration
Martin Creed | Work No.88

I was inspired by Creed’s impreciseness of subject and I wanted to create images without an exact form so they could be ambiguous to the observer. Nevertheless, I also wanted to photograph the different shapes and structures paper could make. I did this by ripping, folding, crumpling and bending the paper to create a range of images that symbolized different things.

Contact Sheets

Paper Experimentation

I really enjoyed the ambiguity of this image I took, I believe it shows the paper in an abstract way so it is hard to tell whether it’s paper at all. I took this close up shot of some crumpled up paper in hopes to create an image to represent ice, glaciers and icebergs. I believe I achieved this through my use of harsh lighting to create dramatic highlights with some mid-tone shadows. I edited this image on photoshop by increasing the exposure to give a brighter impression, and by sharpening the edges to reflect the crisp white colour palette of the photo. Similarly, I increased the contrast of the image to intensify the rough texture and acute lines of the paper.

In this image, I bended and squished the paper to create a photo with more curved lines instead of bold harsh ones. I believe this produces a smoother, more flowing texture. However, the sudden bursts of irregular shadows create dramatic moments throughout the image. Secondly, I have edited this image to be monochrome to experiment with tone and colour. I believe the low saturation of the photo creates a gloomy, dull atmosphere in the image. I have also zoomed in on the paper in this photo to further the theme of ambiguity, I purposefully took this shot with no black empty space to draw focus to the centre swirl of the image. Personally, I think this photo of plain paper looks almost flower-like, with large curved petals surrounding a swirl, similar to a rose.

Final Photo Analysis

Light: My image has been lit by a strong artificial light coming from the bottom left which creates harsh shadows on the right. My dark, unlit background enhances the folds of paper and I have amplified this by increasing the contrast of the image.
Line & Shape: There are very strong straight lines in this photo that create a sharp shape throughout the image. The folds of paper look almost like book pages and the juxtaposition between the dark and light lines catch the observer’s eye.
Repetition: This image holds lots of lineal repetition with parallel lines and reflection of light. The shafts of artificial light hitting the left of the image create a dramatic rhythm. Additionally, the sharp creases of paper that repeat throughout the image draw the observer’s eyes up along the photo from one corner to the other.
Space: The space of the image is quite shallow and narrow, this is because I was close to the subject. I made sure the observer couldn’t see any other objects in the background of the image by limiting the space shown above and using a black sheet of paper to cover any unwanted distractions.
Texture: My image has a rigid texture, produced by the sharp edges of the folded paper. The points of the paper also create a jagged, rough texture.
Value/Tone: The image contains a wide range of tones going from very dark to very light. In the background, the dark black emptiness contrasts with the bright white highlights. In addition, there is a subtle blue hue in the bottom right shadow, possibly created by the blue undertones in the other phone torch I used to light the subject. The image has low saturation and vibrancy because I believe it intensifies the paper’s already muted colours.
Composition: The diagonal lines of the image and the close-up shot create a sense of drama. Also, the long folds draw the observer’s attention to just above the middle of the image, where the paper is most in focus. I created this affect by having a large depth of field so the top and bottom of the image was out of focus, and the one crease in the middle was a clear focal point.

Task

Formal Elements

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How a simple plain A4 sheet of paper and be transformed into digital art, using formal elements.

In this photo is scrunched up the paper into a ball shape, and then placed it on a black background and used a low exposure to blend the shadows on the ball into the background, which creates a higher contrast and brings the shadows out more.

I edited it black and white, to remove a yellow hint from the artificial light in the room.

The camera is positioned close to the subject to add more definition and to improve the image quality.

I ripped a hole in the centre of the piece of paper then put it on top of a black piece of card, to make it seem that the hole is deep.

The shadows add more detail as there is artificial light to the right of the hole. I pulled the tears up to create more depth and definition, as it increases the shadows as the light is at the same level as the subject.

I used a piece of rolled up paper to frame the paper ball, by putting my camera at one end of the tube, and the ball at the other end. This focuses your eye on to the ball at the end of the tube.

This image has a lot of different emotion as there are curved lines, then sharper straight lines on the ball itself. The paper that I used to frame the ball softens the image, which is contrasted by the randomised, chaotic shadows on the paper ball.

I creased up a sheet of paper and added two lights on the left and right, I used two phones and used the screen light on full brightness with two different colour pictures to create a coloured glow. The shadows show every small crease in the image, which adds more detail and definition.

The clash between the two colours creates unique shadows. It works well as red and blue as they aren’t complimentary colours.

I randomly scrunched up a ball shaped object and lit it up with two phones. It created a random cast of shadows, and a nice depth with the red illuminated paper in front of the blue illuminated paper. It seems like the blue light is inside the subject but it is not, this created a layered effect, which i didn’t plan, but worked out well.

The random shape of the subject adds a unique effect as it can’t really be replicated.

The image is underexposed and has a high black point to create a gloomy effect.

Independent, Reading, Task

Paper Paper Paper

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In this image I shot pieces of folded, crumpled and ripped paper.

I shot this image using harsh, unnatural, flash lighting. The light is positioned closely above and to the right of the paper which creates extreme shadows and opposing bright white elements in the composition. This gives the image a lot of contrast and tonal range. I also de-saturated the image to accentuate the negative background and the highlights.

I used a large aperture to make the paper stand out from the background. I used a low ISO to prevent grain and to prevent my image from being blown out sue to the unnatural light. The image has a satisfying repetition of horizontal lines created by the way I folded the paper. I also used pieces of ripped and crumpled paper to frame my image. This framing also gives the image some nice depth of field as it adds layering to the composition. The ripped and crumpled paper used to frame my image has also given the image a horizontal line of symmetry.