Walker Evans took inspiration from “French Cultural Heroes,” his goal being to authentically document the intricate details and delicacies of regular aspects of life. His 1955 portfolio, “Beauties of the Common Tool,” set out to explore the beauty in the regularity of tools, and the power to create or destroy that comes with them. The images he created were the opposite of idealised; showing each bump, dent, and scratch in the metal and the wear and tear from use – contrasting the conventional concept of creating something clean, beautiful, and easy on the eyes. Evans also toyed with the concept of a photograph becoming an object in itself, which was a key motivation for his style of work.
Darren Harvey-Regan, a more modern photographer, took great influence from Evans’ work, carefully manufacturing each element of the composition, lighting, exposure, and subjects within his images. Some of his pieces are a photo collage of more than one object, which could be considered to be a surrealistic photograph, however, Harvey-Regan considers it to be “phrasing” as opposed to anything else.
I aim to do a small-scale photoshoot at home with tools I have around my home, using the worn concrete flooring of my garage and brick driveway as a background to add more texture. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing with these images, but I might be able to use them in a later project.
Mary is an American artist who explores the tactile and formal elements of everyday objects, and works to create different set up with simple objects. She creates interesting photos with simplicity and shadows.
For my shoot I took her ides of using basic objects and basic backgrounds and created a smile scene.
using photoshop I was able to experiment with different tools it has to offer to create an interesting image. With the first image I have layers another image on top of another and cut it in half so that I have 2 images joined in one image. i have done this by opening 2 separate images in photoshop, then using Ctrl+A, which selects the whole image and pressed Ctrl+C to copy the single image, then in a different window where the other image is opened in i have used Ctrl+V to paste the image on top of the other which also creates another layer. These layers can be seen on the right side of the screen. these layers can also be joined together by dragging one on top of the other, or a layer can also be moved depending where on the plan of the image it is supposed to go, next to the layer if the eye icon is pressed that controls if the layer is visible or not , this helps to work on a single layer only if the others are not visible. to work on a specific layer it has to be selected first , where it will be a lighter grey then the others. by using the crop tool on the left hand side I have cropped the top layer of one image.
By using similar skills as above, repeating the layering process I have layered one image on top of the other without cropping it like I did with the image above, instead I used Ctrl+T which transforms the image and allows me to shrink it and change its size , this also allows to change the perspective of it and has other options when it comes to transforming the image size, angle etc. These options are shown when I right click with the mouse on the image after using Ctrl+T. I didn’t use these options when creating this image however I am now aware of the options and know how to use them, and where to find them in the future. another new thing I did with this image is having another one opened and in its window using the lasso tool, found on the left hand side of the screen, to create a circle around the car and this selected it where I was able to copy it directly to the overall image.
For this image I used 3 different images which I have worked on one by one and because the images were layered with rectangular marquee tool or rectangle tool found on the bottom left, I was able to select a shape, which were rectangles, and to draw then on different parts of the screen which when I pressed enter created a “hole” in the image but the layer from underneath was visible, which was the same image however in a different colour. on top of it I layered a final image which I have also cut out rectangles in however because this layer was on top of the previous 2 , this meant both of then showed through.
When it came the last image I have used all the techniques that i have mentioned when it came to layering an image on top of another , using cutting and rectangle tool to create a background and on the top layer I have use a custom pattern tool which was an option when I clicked on the rectangle tool I was using previously , then I drew shapes in the image , this process is relatively the same as the above one except I have customised the shapes I was drawing.
The technique of photomontaging is creating a collage constructed from multiple photographs.
Historically, the technique has been used to make political statements and gained popularity in the early 20th century (World War 1-World War 2).
Artists such as Raoul Hausmann , Hannah Hoch and John Heartfield employed cut-n-paste techniques as a form of propaganda – as did Soviet artists like Aleksander Rodchenko and El Lissitsky
Photomontage has its roots in Dadaism, a ridiculing and nonsensical style of art created in response to the savagery and insensitivity of the First World War, which is closely related to Surrealism, as it often questioned the conventions of Western art at the time.
Photomontaging uses techniques such as Tearing / Scrunching / Folding / Sticking / Stitching / Sewing / Weaving / Making Holes / Burning / Singeing / Overlapping
Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany, photomontage and collage with watercolour, 1919-1920
John Heartfield
John Stezaker
El Lissitsky
Aleksander Rodchenko
Pop Art developments (USA and UK 1950s-)
Mostly targeted political concerns such as consumerism, gender roles and war through the use of exaggerated expressionism.
I created two galleries to present my images. I used the transform tool in photoshoot fir my edits/photos into frames in a white space gallery. After selecting my photo using CTRL and T, I selected the distort option which allowed me to place the image perfectly in the space, even at an angle.
My Galleries
A gallery presenting all of my digital edits I created for this projectAnother gallery I created for the photos I took in the style of Mary Ellen Bartley
in this photo I captured an image of books and ripped the boarder off, them I printed a photo of mannequins out that I captured in the art department and used a Stanley knife to cut out of the objects
I then stuck the image of the books and the mannequins together and stuck the singular mannequin that I cut out further away creating layers within the collage
I then added texture for the collage by using red tape to create a red boarder the the second image. I also used a red marker pen to draw around where I cut out the image of the mannequin to add a sense or shadowing.
in this collage I printed two of the same photos off, however, one was in black and white and one was in colour and cut them all in equal slices and stuck them on black card.
I did the same thing in this collage however, aligned the two coloured photos up on different sides and sewed the coloured image together to make it look like it is being held together by the stithing.
Mary Ellen Bartley is an American photographer famous for her creativity and ingenuity when it comes to her ability to photograph ordinary objects. Her project ‘7 Things Again and Again‘ is a prime example of this.
This project arose from Bartley’s desire to not allow her photography to stagnate as a result of the limitations that the Covid-19 lockdown placed her under. She chose 7 random objects from her household which in themselves, would have made for quite boring compositions, but because of Bartley’s intention to photograph them over and over, she was required to change the arrangement of the objects every time – and the results demonstrate clearly her ability to orchestrate her vision.
Later on in the project, she moved to more tactile elements, involving her printing her previous photos before retaking, using lighting to create various interesting effects.
Here are some of the methods used and examples of them –
1. The Stack
2. Using light and paper / tracing paper to create shadows and silhouettes
3. Print out initial images and re- appropriate / cut-n-paste
4. White / monochrome
5. Splicing two images together – use either printouts or Photoshop
6. Conceal and reveal – light and shade
My Response
These images are the sum of 2 photoshoots – as the first ones I thought were not good enough so I reattempted.
I think some of these are quite good, but the first set were definitely rushed with not much forethought and this is evident. The second set are really the only ones that respond clearly to the artist’s work.
Here are my edits –
I positioned half of one image on top of another in photoshop to create this disjointed effect
Below are some manual edits I created using some of the above techniques –
Mary Ellen Bartley is known for her photographs exploring the tactile and formal qualities of the printed book, and its potential for abstraction.
Bartleys photo shoot was during covid after she had to get the last flight back to New York after being in Italy. Her photos consisted of every day household objects which she changed the position of every day.
