Mood board on Jaroslav Rossler’s work –

Above is a mood board which I created of images that Jaroslav Rossler produced throughout his career. I think that these images are a good representation of the abstraction of still life in different reflections/shadows of glasses/different kitchen objects. I really like how Rossler explores the darkness in is photography through different lighting and shadows as well as the colour and composition in different photos where he uses a variety of different objects which are different colours, but compliment each other well to create a vivid contrast within their colour. This makes me feel inspired within my own work because I was going to focus on the abstraction of different shadows through glassware within my work, but through exploring Russler’s work I have decided that I will also explore using different objects besides glasses to represent different kitchenware as it can create a deeper message.

Research on Jaroslav Rossler –

• Studied from 1917-20 under the photographer Frantisek Drtikol where he was a lab technician.
• By the age of 21, he began an art project with Karel Teige where he was able to create typographical layouts for magazines, this was where he was able to broaden his understanding on different photographical methods, e.g. photogram, photomontage, collage, carbon print process which was used to produce his still life’s etc.
• He experienced with isms such as Pictorialism, Cubism and Futurism, but also experimented with abstraction and Avant Garde.
• In 1925, he began working as a photographer in Prague/Paris with the magazine called ‘Pestry tyden’.
• In the 1950’s he created ‘prizmata’ (prisms) which were photos that are taken through a birefringent prism, as well as experimenting with solarisation and the Sabatier effect.

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3 Key quotes –

To gather further information on Rossler’s still life photography, I used this website for reference as well as this website. The first website provided me with an extra insight into the photographic techniques that Rossler used within his work to create his photographs within the field of advertising, and the second website was providing me with a different view towards Rossler’s work and this was from Allan Graubard, these opinions are what I will use further in my image analysis as well.

1.

“In the early 1920s he created several works which show minimal objects and forms that relish in abstraction like images”

This quote is used to discuss the early stages of Rossler’s career where he experimented a lot with different compositions of still life photography. This quote also discusses the abstract form that Rossler’s takes with his work, I really like this experimentation that I found when researching more in to his works through my mood boards.

2.

“He photographed simple objects against a backdrop of black and white cardboard paper; he gave spherical form to light through long exposures.”

This quote discusses the photographic process in which Rossler takes within his work to create the photographs that he has produced. This quote represents how it is a simple process with simple objects that he manipulates in to these complex forms through the use of long exposures. This can be seen in images where the light changes colour throughout the photos as Rossler has manipulated the colours. I really like this effect and will consider this within my photoshoots, remembering how simple and effective some objects can be due to the manipulation of camera settings.

3.

“he also used photo-grams, diagonal compositions, multiple negatives and lettering to create modern advertising.”

This quote discusses the different photographic techniques which Jaroslav Rossler uses within his work to create the images in which he does which relate towards modern advertising, which is a large area of photography he has worked within.

Image analysis –

 

I think that this image taken by Jaroslav Rossler called ‘Caron Acaiosa perfume bottle’ produced in 1929, is successful to an extent and this is because I like how there has been experimentation within the shadows that are found in the background of the image. This is because they are unusual in their shape as it has a bend within it as the lines meet one another. The shadow is also used within the photograph to highlight the bottle next to it as the shadow looks as if it is surrounding it, this can be used within modern advertising photography to highlight a certain product to the audience. Another element of this photograph take by Rossler which I like is the use of the reflections beneath the bottles, this is because they look as if they are connected to themselves below which can represent solidarity amongst women, as perfume can mainly be seen as a feminine product. If I were to give a critic of this photograph, I would say that I would look on improving the intensity of the shadows and how dark and bold they are, this is because the shadow gets lost within the background of the photo and I believe that the shadow could be more effective if the focus of the boldness of the shadow was more focussed on. This could also be focussed on within the perfume bottles as they could be used to create different shapes and the use of the liquid inside of the smaller perfume bottle on the right could be used to reflect on to the background that is being used as it can create unusual patterns. Within my own work, I will consider using different objects such as perfume bottles and the use of different shadows as well as focussing on the liquid inside of them and how it can be used to create different patterns.