I started by looking through my best shots (green) and final edits (purple)
Then I selected some pictures that I thought would look good together
I used the survey view button to see them all together
I got rid of some images and added more that I thought would look good with the other ones I had. I’m doing this because I want to create a final montage that looks like a constellation. The pictures will be different sizes and carefully placed around each other to tell a story.
I then did the same thing with my portraits.
Final Prints
I picked this image because I think the colours are nice and vibrant and the angle is interesting.
I added this image because I just like how it looks using the flash and the angle.
I like the composition in this image and the colours. It looks old and simple and I think it fits the theme quite well.
I thought this edit went well with the other edits and I like how it stands out because it’s the only one in black and white.
I like how vibrant the colours are in this edit and the way the objects are framed. I also like how the light hits from the right side.
I decided to add this picture because I like how the light comes from the window and I also like the angle, I think it looks nice.
I really like the colours in this one edit because they stand out. I picked this image because the objects in it are old and they represent life at Hamptonne back in the 15th century.
I added this image because It’s simple and I like how it looks.
I picked this edit because I like the colours and I think it looks nice. I like how the door is in the middle which makes the photograph look somewhat symmetrical.
These are my final images for my constellation. I picked them because I thought they went well together and could tell a story about what Hamptonne was like. I also tried to balance it out between the interiors, exteriors and objects.
The colours looks nice and I like the way she’s looking in the distance and how the sun is hitting her face.
I like this picture because I think the way she’s holding the basket and the apple look interesting to the viewer. I also like the way the light hits her face from the window and how you can see the little details on her clothes.
I picked this edit because she is in her natural environment and I just like they way she’s posed and doing her thing.
I think these picture go well together because they show what life was like at Hamptonne.
I picked this one because it’s in the style of Walker Evans and the only one that turned out okay.
I like the colours in this edit because they’re vibrant and I also like how the details stand out.
I picked this image because I really like that it shows my model’s interest in music and a bit of their personality. I think the way the lighting is hitting their face and the guitar looks interesting.
I think the high angle makes the image look more interesting and I like the way they’re looking in the distance smiling.
I like both of these pictures together and I think they can tell something about the person.
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.
Picked Images
After selecting the images that i liked i went through and developed each one by editing multiple aspects including; contrast, exposure, clarity and vibrance.
this is a still life of a jersey milk bottle that has been edited to appear blue.
this is the same still life of a jersey milk bottle but it has been eddit3ed to appear purple.
the shadows have been increased on this image to make it appear more dramatic and the highlights have been increased to show the light reflection of of the milk bottle and bell.
this still life has been edited to bring out the shine in the metallic surface of the syringe and the darker tones of the brass bell. the grainy photograph underneath gives the whole image a vintage tone.
Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final image may appear as a seamless physical print
Max-O–Matic
MAX-O-MATIC
Max-o-matic (Máximo Tuja). Buenos Aires, 1975. Artist and image maker. Since 2002 he lives and works in Barcelona, creating an imaginary world from torn pieces of the real one.
His work has been exhibited in galleries in Barcelona, London, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Rome, Lima or México DF, to name just some. He has worked with brands such as Nike, Wired Magazine, Spotify, Newsweek, New York Times, Electronic Arts or Universal Pictures making his signature collage work for commercial and editorial projects.
MY ATTEMPTS AT PHOTOMONTAGE
I especially struggled with photomontage and found it very difficult to create a clean image that I liked- I was massively inspired by Max-O-Matic but overall it is not obvious in my attempts.
My favourite of the three is the last one as the colour scheme and small details in natural of the photos I used reminded me of various paintings by Gustav Klimt. I also really enjoyed playing around with religious imagery such as the stained glass window images alongside nature such as flowers as I believe it created an interesting juxtaposition.
For my digital photomontages I used the pictures I took in the studio of different objects we got from Jersey Heritage, as well as the images I took on my trip to Hamptonne of the the good wife. I edited them using photoshop.
original image
original image
final edit
I edited these pictures in lightroom then did the photomontage in photoshop. I started by tracing the outline of my model using the magnetic lasso tool then making a new layer via copy in order to cut her out. I did this process again and inverted it before making a new layer because I wanted to get the background. I dragged the first copy I made on to the object image and placed where I wanted her to be, then I turned the opacity down and erased the bits that where on top of the object. This is so that it looks like she’s behind it and not on it. At the end I took the background copy that with her cut out and placed it on top of everything.
My Final Edits
This was my first edit and I like it because to me it looks like she’s running away and hiding. That’s why she is smaller and far away from her outline
this two images remind me somehow of John Stezaker’s work because he also uses black and white photograph and puts one on top of the other. I like the way they turned out because they are simple and I think they’re interesting.
I hate this one I don’t even know what I was trying to do and its just looks bad. the line in the middle is like too clean? and the chicken instead of the apple looks out of place. And I know that’s the point but I hate it
For my hand made photomontages I used the pictures I took in the studio and the images I took on my trip to Hamptonne of the the good wife. I edited them by hand using scissors and glue.
original image
original image
original image
final edit
For this edit, I placed the object picture upside down to make it look more interesting and visible. I then cut out the model from the black and white picture, using a craft knife and a mat, and placed it on top. I took the other portrait and cut it through the middle using a pair of scissors to give it a sharper look. I carefully positioned it so that the face lines up with the face from the black and white image.
My Final Edits
I like the contrast of the black and white picture and the colourful one with the model. I think it looks interesting how she’s looking down (and she looks quite sad because there is no colour)
I printed the same picture twice (colour and black and white) and ripped the black and white and then placed it on top of the colourful image. I like how it turned out because it’s simple.
For this edit I printed out the same image twice (one in colour and one in black and white) and then I cut them strips. I used a weaving technique to get that effect. I don’t like the way tit looks and it was very time consuming.
I hate this one I don’t even know what I was trying to do and its just looks bad. the line in the middle is like too clean? and the chicken instead of the apple looks out of place. And I know that’s the point but I hate it
Throughout its long history, still life has taken many forms, from the decorative frescoes of antiquity to the high art of the Renaissance. Traditionally, a still life is a collection of inanimate objects arranged as the subject of a composition. Nowadays, a still life can be anything from your latest Instagram latte art to a vase of tulips styled like a Dutch Golden Age painting.
Walker Evans
“The Beauty of the Common Tool”
Walker Evans was an American photographer best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting workers and architecture in the South-eastern states. In 1936 he travelled with the writer James Agee to illustrate an article on tenant farm families for Fortune magazine; the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men came out of this collaboration.
Walker Evans took up photography in 1928 around the time he was living in Ossining, New York. He was mainly influenced by Eugene Atget and August Sander. Atget was French photography who was known for being a pioneer of documentary photography, even though most of his work was published after his death he was still an inspiration to many photographers. Sander was a German portrait and documentary photographer
Darren Harvey-Regan
In 1955, Fortune magazine published, ‘Beauties of the Common Tool’, a portfolio by Walker Evans featuring pictures of ordinary hand-made tools, such as a ratchet wrench and a pair of scissors. After seeing this Harvey-Regan constructed a montage of Evans’s images to make new forms. He sourced matching tools, cut them in half and re-joined various halves together, with the resulting physical objects being photographed to create his final work. The montaged tools become both beautiful and bizarre objects, in which a ratchet wrench is combined with a pair of pliers and Mason’s trowel joined with a pair of scissors.
“It’s a means of transposing material into other material, adding new meaning or thoughts in the process. I think photographing materials is a way to consider the means of creating meaning, and it’s a tactile process with which I feel involved. Touching and moving and making is my engagement with the world and my art”.
“The Beauty of the Common Tool”
Walker Evans influenced Darren Harvey-Regan after he saw Evans portfolio in Fortune magazine. Harvey-Regan took inspiration from Evans and made mortgages of his simple tools. Most of Darren’s photos had white or light grey backgrounds which contrasted with the rusted dark greys of the tools, whereas Walker had a range of dark and light backgrounds in his work, the darker backgrounds could have been used in some of the tools had more of a shine to them that others so that a harsh white background didn’t clash.
Both Walker Evans and Darren Harvey-Regan photographed their tools with little to no shadows, this allows views to have all their focus on the tools and nothing distracting in the background.
Studio Work
We had gone into the studio to take photos of different Jersey heritage items and some from Hamptonne. We had one station that had a camera that was positioned at the birds-eye view, another with a plain white background and one with a pink a yellow background. While at each station we adjusted the ISO and shutter speed so that we could get different lighting, we also would change if the main light was on or off while in the studio. We would also change our spotlights, we would turn one of them off so that we could get a more proponent shadow.
Editing
These are some of the photos from the studio in contact sheets, we took photos of different items with different lighting so that we could figure out what would look best on each of the stations. The photos with the plain white background with blue/greyish tint whereas the one with the birds-eye view had a more yellow tint to them. The photos with the yellow and pink background came out more dull than the other two and with no bright colours. The white background photos came out looking more sophisticated and aesthetic than the others because the lighting was better and the background didn’t distract or take away from the objects. If the camera angle was right you could see the reflection of the objects which made it more interesting and it seemed like it was on the water.
The photo below had a blue tint before editing due to ISO, we changed it so we could see the different effects it had on the photos. Some came out more blue and purple while others came out with a yellow tint. In the photo underneath I have decreased the exposure and contrast as well as increased the highlights and shadows. I wanted the chipped paint and rusted metal on the box to be bolder so I also increased the texture.
In this second photo, I have changed it to black and white as I thought the objects would look better than if they were in colour, I think the really bright white sits nicely on top of the darker metal. I wanted the shadows to be prominent so I increased the shadows and increased the contest so that the hey would be darker against the light grey background.
Final Photos
Below I have put six of my final images as I think that they all are aesthetic and is cohesive, the editing also compliments the objects in each photo. In the top right photo, I like the dark pink tint that the photo has, I also really like how the white bottle and the two boxes are framed with the metal box behind it. I also really like how you can see the different textures of the metal box and the different shadings from the positioning of the box. In the bottom left photo, I like how the darker violin contrasts with the lighter background which makes it pop and stand out. Another thing that stands out is the marks on the violin, due to the different shading in the wood gives the photo a more rustic look.
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.
