Repetition, pattern, rhythm reflection and symmetry
Tag Archives: symmetry
REPETITION, PATTERN, RHYTHM REFLECTION AND SYMMETRY – KALEIDOSCOPE
Process
I imported an image I thought would look interesting in a reflected manner into photoshop. I chose an image of a church window with two rising parallel pillars either side of it.
I then used “ctrl + T” to enable free transform. I then rotated my image by 60 degrees by changing the angle in the top hotbar.
I then moved my image to the edge of the canvas to isolate an isosceles triangle. Once happy with the triangle I made it a seperate layer.
I then enlarged the canvas by 400%.
I then flipped the isosceles triangle on a vertical axis and lined it up with the original one to make an equilateral triangle.
I then flattened the layers and rotated the equilateral triangle around the same anchor point by 60 degrees. I then repeated this step to make a hexagon. I then filled in the rest of the image with the hexagons.
REPETITION, PATTERN, RHYTHM REFLECTION AND SYMMETRY
Alfred Stieglitz 
Harry Callahan
I decided in picking these two photographers to contrast and compare their work pieces as both photographers use textures, repetition and patterns in an enchanting way.
Alfred Stieglitz creates patterns and repetition when in the talking of his photos as the clouds create weird patterns and some of the patterns are repeated in the sky creating an abstract look to the clouds.
Whereas, Harry Callahan similarly experiments with these patterns and repetition in his pictures with the abstract pictures he takes of grass and repetition in the photos he has taking of trees being lined up next to each other.
Alfred’s picture on the left contains natural lighting which gives different shades into the patterns of the clouds in the sky making some of the clouds darker and lighter than other sin different regions. Visually, Alfred’s picture is appeared to seem very 2D (flat) as their isn’t much highlight’s of light in the clouds in order for them to appear to be 3D or even clouds moreover, their is a lot of patterns in this picture visually as you can see similar cloud shapes as it appears to be one big cloud with light trying to brake through different segments of the cloud. His purpose and meaning of taking these type of pictures of clouds was that it became an art form for him to take this pictures of the sky and photography quite quickly became an obsession for Alfred as he enjoyed his art form of taking pictures.
Harrys picture on the right was taken from the source of natural light with what appears to be a wide angle aperture being used in taking this picture, this enhances the shadowing and contrast in this image from light to dark tones demonstrating the differences from what appears to be wheat and grass in the picture. Visually the image is contrasted to be 3D as you due to the shadowing giving life to the surface in the picture also, their is repetition in this as you can see their is grass scattered about in the picture giving it a very earthly/ naturalistic appeal to the picture. The context of how Harry would go about in taking his pictures, was that he would just get out of bed and take numerous pictures of things that he thought interested him, this comes across in his picture in my opinion as the picture doesn’t seem to be panned but more of a ‘in the moment’ taken picture.
REPETITION, PATTERN, RHYTHM REFLECTION AND SYMMETRY- 1
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Ernst Haas
Both of this artists uses reflections in their images which creates an original and symmetrical image. Ernst Haas use the reflection of the water which gives a quite a natural way to the image.He also uses colors in his images . You can find the images in your daily life . We can notice in the reflection of the water that there are buildings so it’s quite visible. Its dynamic movement He crops the subject to increase the sense of abstraction. Alvin Langdon Coburn’s images are very symmetrical . We can notice a lots of triangles which forms.The reflections that he uses are those of the mirror which creates a repetition . We can notice some type of cristals he uses for his images.
REPETITION, PATTERN, RHYTHM REFLECTION AND SYMMETRY-2
Today we learn how to repeat a image on Photoshop. I choose this old image of a building that i like because of the architecture I thought it really was interesting . It looks like it’s reflected by the water but I just copy and paste it next and over to the original photograph. I had to select the image , copy it , increased the canvas size , paste the original picture in the white space , transform it flip it horizontally or vertically and then flattened the image.Repeat it three times.
repetition, pattern, rhythm, reflection and symmetry photoshop
To start with I selected my image and copied it. I then increased the canvas size to double the width and length of the original. I pasted my image and flipped it vertically and lined it up so that it was even to my original image. I then selected both images together and flipped them horizontally, creating the mirrored effect.
Repetition, Pattern, Rhythm Reflection And Symmetry – Image Comparison
Comparison – Harry Callahan & Nick Albertson
Harry Callahan, ‘Detroit’, 1941 
Nick Albertson, ‘Red Tape’, 2012
I have chosen to compare a natural form image by Harry Callahan to an abstract image by Nick Albertson. Harry Callahan was an American photographer who was well-known for both his colour and black & white photographs. His work focuses on repetition, patterns and textures while also containing a high contrast between shadows and highlights. Nick Albertson is an American visual artist who uses mundane utilitarian objects to create abstract structural forms, photographing them using repetition, light and shadow.
There are many similarities between these two images, one being both photographers capture of vertical lines. Harry Callahan photographs the straight leading lines of pond reeds which reflect off the waters surface, creating a highly textured image with movement and rhythm. Additionally, Nick Albertson captures his vertical lines in the thick red tape, which stretch a uniform pattern from the top to the bottom of the image. These orderly lines create an abstract atmosphere in the image as the placing of the subjects are systematic and rigid, which contrasts with the obvious movement in Callahan’s work. There is also immense amounts of repetition in both images as the leading vertical lines echo throughout the photographs. Moreover, both images hold a sharp texture as they appear to have pointed edges and harsh lighting.
However, there are also many differences within these images. For example, Callahan’s photograph is of a natural form in its organic environment, whereas Albertson has captured a man-made form in an abstract ambiguous way. Furthermore, Callahan photographs his images in black & white whereas Albertson has bright saturation. The dominant colour red that Albertson captures creates a bold eye catching image and its vibrancy draws attention from the observer. Contrastingly, Callahan’s black and white image holds dark shadows which contrast greatly with the bright white highlights reflecting from the water. This creates a mysterious, enigmatic atmosphere within the photo as the shadowed reeds look silhouette-like against the water. In addition, these images are taken with very different lighting. Callahan uses natural light to capture his image as he is photographing the environment presently, without disturbing or changing it. However, Albertson uses harsh studio lighting in order to capture the everyday object in an abstract way. This artificial lighting choice adds to the unnaturalness and ambiguity of the image and shows how the composition of any mundane object, depending on perspective, can change how people identify it.
repetition, pattern, rhythm, reflection and symmetry
Both of these photographs are devoid of any colour and shot in black and white, making them appear old and dated. Additionally, they both are very abstract in nature, with Coburn photographing glass, crystalline shapes with the use of kaleidoscopic contraption, and Stieglitz photographing the patterns that he sees in the clouds above him. However, there are some major differences between the two images. For example, Coburn’s photograph consists of harsh, straight lines which run across the entirety of the image, with the leading, geometrical shapes drawing the viewer’s eye into the centre of the image. On the other hand, Stieglitz’s composition is made up of soft, organic, and curved lines which show the natural direction the wind in the sky. It is a much more relaxing photograph to look at, because it is pure and real, unlike Coburn’s image which had to be manhandled and manipulated in order to achieve. Technically, the lighting in both of the photographs are similar, with each of them being lit in a low light. However, it is clear that Stieglitz’s image was taken using a natural light source as the photograph is of the sky, and Coburn’s lighting was most likely artificial in order for him to ensure that the reflections were placed precisely where he wanted them to be. Also, in Stieglitz’s photograph, there appears to be a lot more empty and negative space compared to Coburn’s, whose subject takes up the entire frame.
Repetition, Pattern, Rhythm Reflection and Symmetry – Reflected Image
Creating Reflections & Symmetry
In today’s lesson we experimented with Photoshop by creating a reflected image. First, I increased the canvas size of my image so I could copy and paste it next to the original photograph. Next, I used the ‘transform’ tool to flip the copied image horizontally so it gave the impression of the woman standing back to back with another. Additionally, I pasted the original image again to experiment with the opacity of the photograph and to create an echoed effect on the image. I copied this more opaque image and flipped it on the opposite side. Lastly, I flattened the image so all the layers became one. I really like how this abstract image came out as I believe it shows movement and rhythm, as if the woman is walking backwards into the other.
Reflection and symmetry
Using Photoshop to create symmetry
To edit this image, I copied and pasted the image onto a canvas that was double the size of the original image. I then used the transform setting to flip the image vertically to create a reflection-like affect, I flattened the image after each layer-copy aswell. I used a monochromatic filter to accentuate the shades of light and dark.
Experimenting with layers
To edit this image, I repeated the same process in the first image to create the mirror affect, however for this image I copied and pasted the original layer back onto itself and lowered the opacity to create a ghost-like affect. I then used the eraser tool at a low harshness and opacity in order to remove extra sections of the image I wanted to remove, such as the added border of the copied layers. I adjusted the colours and curves of the image to give the photograph a cool-toned blue hue.