What is Rural Photography

“the diverse portion of the nation’s land area not densely populated or intensively developed, and not set aside for preservation in a natural state“

Rural photography is a landscape style of photography that focuses on the natural world including little to know man made objects and human intervention.

Ansel Adams

Adams was an American photographer, painter and environmentalist who worked during the 1900s. He was born on the 20th of February in 1902 in California and died on the 22nd of April 1984 making him 82 years of age when he died. Adams was a pioneer of landscape photography during the twentieth century he also painted. Ansel Adams shot black and white landscape images primarily in national parks in the US. This is why his images are famously rural and the landscape was untouched by humans. Ansel’s mother was very unsupportive of her son as she spent all her time worrying about how to make ends meet since the Adams family fortune collapsed. Ansel’s farther however was very supportive of his son. At a young age an earthquake struck San Francisco where Adams lived at the time. the quake cause Ansel to fall badly breaking his nose which left permanent damage and scaring. This as well as natural shyness caused difficulty for Adams to fit in at school. Due to this as well as Ansel supposedly being dyslexic he was home schooled by his father Charlie Adams and his aunt. this solitary childhood lead to Adams finding his love of nature which is what sparked his interest in photographing the natural world.

Image Analysis

Firstly this image is in black and white, this is likely due to the lack of technology for the general population to own cameras capable of producing coloured images. However the photographer Ansel Adams still managed to create an image that makes it easy for a viewer to determine the colours that would have been seem. This could be due to the heavy contrast between the shadowed and lit places. additionally the sunrays penetrating the clouds gives a certain contrast and glow to the background of the image. In this image I noticed the repetition of he patterns in the rocks in the foreground at a glance however when i look close into the image I notice all the randomised different shapes and features. This image has an obvious symmetry. This can be seen in the background where there are similar size mountains on either side of a valley that is the the exact centre of the photograph. the sun rays as well as the shadows being projected on the rocks shows that the sun light is coming from the top right of the image. this indicates that this photo was taken in the mid afternoon or mid morning where the sun is about half way between the horizon and the peak of its orbit. The could in the mountains give the image an ominous feeling, they also show how big the mountains are which i believe truly portrays the immensity of nature and how small we are in relation to it. After looking at this image i get the felling that the rocks are like a maze that needs to be passed before we can reach the mountains and climb to the top which gives me the impression that even in nature we have to work hard to climb to the top.

Comparison between one two images from Kensuke Koike and Claude Cahun

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This is by blog post for my photography mock exam. For this mock my focus was to explore my identity through my families heritage on Jersey. I explored information into my ancestors back to my great grandparents on my mums side who were farmers before during and after the German occupation.

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These are my best images from my Photoshoots

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Now that I have finished selecting and developing my images I am going to import them into Adobe Photoshop where I am going to experiment using Kensuke Koike’s style with my own images. Kensuke Koike is one of the photographers I selected for inspiration in this project as I really like his method of taking two people and combining them together. i feel that this links in with my theme as two people coming together and combining their lives is how families are built.

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Method 1

Firstly, I ensured my models face was central in the image. this was vital to ensure that the editing would be symmetrical.

Next I made the image black and white to fin in with Kensuke Koike’s style

This is where I began transforming the image. I used the elliptical marquee tool to create a circle 200pxls smaller each time starting at 2100pxls. I rotated each circle 20 degrees clockwise each time.

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My image next to Kensuke Koike’s

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Method 2

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To create this image in the style of Kensuke Koike I first made the image black and white in order to properly capture the style. i then duplicated the background and imported an image of a night sky and placed it behind my background copy. I used the elliptical marquee tool to move the faces of my models revealing the background image.

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I intend to experiment using printed images and a scalpel as this is how Kensuke Koike creates his images.

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These pictures are some I created using the old fission method of prints and cutting them using a Stanley knife to cut and paste my images in different arrangements. This is how Kensuke Koike creates his images. I re-digitalised these images. I imported them into Lightroom in order to crop them and edit the tones to give a more old fashioned look.

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I have done some editing in the style of Claude Cahun’s multi-exposure shots.

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These are the images I took inspiration from when creating my multi exposure shots.

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Comparison to reference artist

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I took inspiration from Kensuke Koike’s photographs in order to create images of a similar style. The image on the right is one of Kensuke Koike’s photographs and the image on the left is an image I created using the same style as inspired by Kensuke Koike. I think I managed to create an image that highly resembles Kensuke Koike’s work. However to improve my work next time u would ensure that my image has a focal point as Koike’s does. I believe that although I am happy with my work it would improve my final outcome.

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Evaluation

This is my final evaluation of my photography mock exam 2022

Overall, I believe that this mock exam has gone well. I have worked hard to complete all the tasks required and completed each one to the best of my ability in the time provided. However my work does have room for improvement in some areas.

What Went Well ?

Firstly, the photographs I took for this project linked in well to my theme and worked well with the style of Kensuke Koike and Claude Cahun. I was greatly inspired by Claude Cahun and the time she worked which is the reason I decided to link my work to history. Additionally during my development and editing process I feel I captured the style of my reference artists and matched their intent the have in their work in mine. I think that my edits using the old fashioned method was a success even though the quality was not to the highest standard I feel that the idea worked out and that the physical copies in addition to the digital copies gives some variety to my project. In addition to evaluating Kensuke Koike I also evaluated Claude Cahun of which i think relates closely to my project. My edits in the style of Claude Cahun i feel went well however I felt more inspired by Koike’s work as i get the impression of combination and mixing people and lives which is largely what my project was based on.

What could be improved ?

My pictures could have been of a higher quality however due to the images being of old photographs and the original quality being low it would be impassive to make them HD. I also feel as though I could have taken more photos in order to give my images more variety. i feel as though my images that i manipulated using the old fashioned method could have been neater and reassembled better. I feel like even though my edits in the style of Claude Cahun went well i could have created more edits in her style.

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My Final Images

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My best Images

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Claude Cahun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Cahun

https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/art-2/claude-cahun-jerseys-queer-anti-nazi-freedom-fighter/

Claude Cahun’s real name is Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, she was born in the 25th of October in 1894 and died 8th of December 1954. she was a French surrealist photographer, sculptor and writer. Cahun is best known for her self portraits which are highly staged, they are generally only headshots from the shoulder up. Her shots always removed all gender indicators such as hair by shaving her head and eyebrows. A great belief of Cahun was gender neutrality meaning people should not have a specific gender rather a neutral gender that suits the needs of the moment. During WWII Cahan and her step sister Marcel Moore settled in Jersey during the Germans occupation of the island. The two became activists against wars. They worked exclusively creating anti German flyers and pamphlets. they would go on to spread these throughout the island placing them in specific locations to ensure they got the attention of the people and more importantly the Germans. they would attend German military events all dressed up and place their flyers in the pockets of German solider, on seats and in cigarette boxes to ensure they Germans saw them. Lastly they would crumple their papers into a ball and throw them into cars and windows. “Masculine? Feminine?” she wrote in her book “Aveux non Avenus,” published in English as “Disavowals.” “It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.” – New York Times

Image Analysis

This image was taken by Claude Cahun in the early 1900. It uses multi exposure to create an image where the model was photographed twice and layered over one another to give the effect of multiple people. Due to the image being in black and white the colour pallet is very small. However there is a high contrast between the model’s heads which have been made to look very pale and the darker background.

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Kensuke Koike

https://www.kensukekoike.com/

Kensuke Koike is a Japanese visual artist who’s photographs relate to Cahun’s with the idea of uncertainty in identity. Koike creates his work by cutting, ripping, jumbling, disassembling then reassembling photographs. This gives the impression of mixed identity and undecided identity. Koike takes images and uses them to create photographs with their own lives and meanings with no relation to the stories of the previous images. During an interview on Instagram Koike said “Everything I touch is transformed therefore I think of myself as an alchemist.” i think this is a really powerful statement as it seems to be very accurate to his style of work and presents him not as a photographer but as a editor. Koike is not known for his photographs in fact he doesn’t even take them but rather takes other peoples photographs and edits them for his final pieces.

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Image Analysis

This Image was created by Kensuke Koike however like all of his pieces of work the photograph was not taken by him but rather found by him online and manipulated. This image is one of Kensuke Koike’s more complex creations. Koike created this image using a physical copy of the image and editing and manipulating it by cutting as sticking the image back together rather than using photoshop or other editing software. As the images is on black and white the contrast is quite low between each section of the image.

Statement of intent

My intentions for the controlled condition are to explore the theme of identity using my heritage to discover how it has shaped who I am today. As I am on the theme of heritage I am going to explore my ancestry on jersey going back to my great grandad on my mums side. I am going to base my posts on a family tree. This links well into my reference photographers, It links to Claude Cahun because she worked during the first and second world wars in jersey which is where my great grandfather worked his farm during WWII and the German Occupation along side his wife while raising three kids. It also links to my other reference photographer Kensuke Koike. His Photography represents how two people from two different upbringings are brought together to continue a family. I intend to take pictures of old photographs I have of my ancestors to allow me to edit and manipulate them. I will create images in the style of Kensuke Koike. i will create some using printed pictures and using a knife to keep to the old fashion techniques of Kensuke Koike.

What is Identity?

“the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”

A persons identity reviles around the question “Who am I?”. Every person goes through the difficult challenge at some point in their lives of answering this vital and important question of which has no correct answer and no two answers the same. Our identity is shaped and crafted throughout our life’s by the people we surround ourselves with and the experiences we have. An identity never stops changing and growing at any point in a persons life, new experiences change who a person is at all points in throughout their life.

People can overly concern themselves with the impression they make can have a much harder time figuring out who they are whereas people who don’t care usually have a much easier time discovering who they are.

The largest part of a persons identity in modern society is sexuality and gender. Many people have a hard time discovering who they are as they are yet to discover their sexuality and once they figure it out nowadays even though much more acceptable than in the 20th century society still makes it every difficult for a person to reveal them true selves.

Lighting

We used three primary lighting setups during our photoshoot. Theses include; Butterfly lighting, Rembrandt lighting and side lighting.

Butterfly lighting

This image was taking using the butterfly lighting style. For this lighting a single light is used. it is positions directly in front of the model and high up at about a 45 degree angle however the height can vary depending on the model. This lighting position is called butterfly light. this is because it creates a shadow under the models nose that resembles a butterfly. This also makes the style easily recognisable.

Rembrandt lighting

This image was taken using the Rembrandt light. For this style the light is set up to the side of the model at roughly a 45 degree angle horizontally and a 45 degree angle vertically however this varies depending on the model. The defining aspect of a Rembrandt image is the triangle that can be seen under the eye opposite the light.

Side Light

This image was taken using side light. For this set up the light is positioned at 90 degrees of the model. This setup is similar to Rembrandt lighting however the biggest difference is the absence of the triangle which can be seen under one eye in a Rembrandt image. sometimes when using side light the photographer will use another much dimmer light in order to project light to the other side of the models face to more clearly show their eyes. This is called a Fill light as it fills the shadowed side of the face.

Experimentation

Diamond Cameo

Diamond cameos were created in the mid 1860s. four small oval images were placed adjacent to each other in a diamond shape. this is what gave the style its unique name.

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My Diamond Cameos

I created some of my own diamond cameo shots in photoshop using some of my own images. I used a series of tools in order to create my diamond cameos, these include the elliptical marquee tool and the crop tool. I made one cameo in black and white to represent and recreate the original style however I also created one cameo in colour in order to modernise the technique

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Multiple exposures

Multi-exposure has been used in photography since the early 1900s. I has been so popular due to is simplicity and its confusing yet calm effect. these are some multi exposure images I found online.

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Multiple exposure images are created by layering multiple images of the same origin onto of each other and blending the images using tools either in the camera or on adobe photoshop.

these are some multi exposure images i created using the opacity feature in adobe photoshop.

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Juxtaposition

“the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect” Juxtaposition is when two or more images of completely different theme and origin are placed next to each other however the images have small similarities within them which create subtle links between the photographs

These are some of my attempts of Juxtaposition

I used adobe Lightroom classing to compare my images in order to find images that I think work best juxtaposed

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Louis Daguerre France (18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851)

“Louis Daguerre, in full Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, (born November 18, 1787, Cormeilles, near Paris, France—died July 10, 1851, Bry-sur-Marne), French painter and physicist who invented the first practical process of photography, known as the daguerreotype.”

“The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history of photography. Named after the inventor, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, each daguerreotype is a unique image on a silvered copper plate. … The daguerreotype is accurate, detailed and sharp.”

Henry William Fox-Talbot (1800 – 1877)

Fox Talbot went on to develop the three primary elements of photography: developing, fixing, and printing. He made the revolutionary discovery that images did not need extremely long exposure times to create a visible image. however when using short exposure times Fox-Talbot could not see the image therefore he discovered how to make the image visible using chemicals. He called this the ‘calotype’ and patented the process in 1841.

Lighting

There are many types of lighting in studio photography. some of these include: key light, Fill Light, Hair Light, Separation Light, Kicker, Background light, Camera Mounted Flash, Rembrandt Lighting, Loop Lighting, Butterfly Lighting.

My Studio Portraits

My best Images

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For my first time using Lightroom classic i first uploaded the images i had taken in the studio during out first photoshoot.

Then I went through each image and deciding whether i would pick or reject it. I would press “P” to pick an image I liked and was a good image and I pressed “X” to reject an image that was not up to standard.

After selecting the images that i liked i went through and developed each one by editing multiple aspects including; contrast, exposure, clarity and vibrance.

My Final Images

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My best Images

Contact Sheet

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Paulette Tavormina

Paulette Tavormina lives and works in New York City. Amidst the bustle that defines the city, she can often be found at one of the city’s many farmers markets searching for the perfectly imperfect flora that characterize her photographs. Her arrangements often recall the sumptuous detail of seventeenth century Old Master still life painters and serve as intensely personal interpretations of timeless, universal stories. With a painterly perspective reminiscent of Francisco de Zurbarán, Adriaen Coorte and Giovanna Garzoni, Tavormina creates worldly still lives.

Paulette Tavormina image analysis

My Final Vanitas Images

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My Best Images

Walker Evans

Walker Evans Image Analysis

This is an image by walker evens. it has been taken in the photographers style which he is recognised for in many of his photoshoots. This image has been taken from above in a birds eye view style. this captures the shape and shade of the image very well. the ground shadow of the object has been minimised by raising the object off of the surface by placing smaller objects such as small balls off tape underneath. This image is centred in the photo which ensured it is the only object of interest in the photo. This photo has either been taken in black and white or transformed into grayscale during the editing process of the image. This could have been to enhance the contrast in the image as back and white shows more difference in shade to colour images.

My Object based photoshoot

MY FINAL IMAGES

For this image the studio was set up with a white infinity curve to give the impression of an infinite white room. We had two flashing LED studio lights set up on either side of the objects at a roughly 45 degree angle. This setup eliminated shadow. The is because the one light shines on the other lights shadow so it doesn’t show. the camera was on a tripod to eliminate shake and blurring. When editing this image I lifted the contrast to bring more depth to the photo and create a more cast colour pallet.

On this image I used the same set up however we deactivated one of the lights. This resulted in us getting a more ominous effect due to the darker shades, larger shadows and higher contrast. In Lightroom Classic I brought the exposure and highlights down to prevent the reflection on the shiny surfaces overwhelming the image. This also increased the contrast between the now darkened background and the lighter areas of the objects.

This image has a old rustic look which suits the objects within the image as they are from the second world war. This was achieved by moving the lights to get more influential shadows and stronger reflections which I think makes the image look as though it is in water. In Lightroom classic I added more contrast to make the colours pop out over the white background. I also increased the presence to make the textures of the objects clear and show the items age.