Evaluation

Overall, this project was a very fun and insightful experience. Majority of my pictures were based around the theme of memento mori, which we learnt about and wrote a section about in one of our blog posts.

I think my most successful area was the editing part as in my opinion majority of the photos turned out nicer and more vibrant. I think I was also very successful in the studio still life images as they all turned out unique and special with the colours being blended with one another.

I believe that i need to work on making my photos more coherent with each other, and maybe trying more styles in the phots rather than sticking to one. Having a variety of different styles would give me more options on my final pieces.

My best image

I chose this picture as my best image as I think the texture really captivates the viewer, and makes it look more realistic. I also like how fitting it was with the memento mori theme I was attempting for my images, since the skull and title of the book are both reminders of death.

Link to gallery: https://www.artsteps.com/view/63623519ddd4806749e13922

What is photomontage?

A photomontage is a collage constructed from 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 Haussman , Hannah Hoch, 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, which is closely related to Surrrealism.

Dadaism was a movement with explicitly political overtones – a reaction to the senseless slaughter of the trenches of WWI. 

some examples of photomontages:

My photomontage edits

My photomontage finals

Mary Ellen Bartley

Mary Ellen Bartley is a New York based contemporary still life photographer. Often choosing books as her subject in majority of he work, Bartley is capable of capturing varied textures and colors in her pieces.

In her latest project, a series titled 7 Things Again and Again, she chose 7 common items form within her home that she felt represented her time during quarantine. The selected items were: toilet paper, a half-full bottle of rubbing alcohol, a notebook, a mug, a ceramic bowl, a muted yellow bar of soap, and a glass cube. She would arrange said objects in different ways every day throughout the 30 days of April.

Some examples of her work:

My photo shoot

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What is new objectivity?

The New Objectivity emerged as a style in Germany in the 1920s as a challenge to Expressionism. This refers to art in which the image of reality is distorted in order to make it expressive of the artist’s inner feelings or ideas.

As its name suggests, it offered a return to unsentimental reality and a focus on the objective world, as opposed to the more abstract, romantic, or idealistic tendencies of expressionism.

Albert Renger-Patzsch

Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg, Germany, and began making photographs by age twelve. In the early 1920s he worked as a press photographer for the Chicago Tribune before becoming a freelancer and, in 1925, publishing a book called Das Chorgestühl von Kappenberg (The Choir Stalls of Cappenberg). He had his first museum exhibition in Lübeck in 1927.

A second book followed in 1928 called Die Welt ist schön (The World is Beautiful). This was his best-known book, and is made up of a collection of one hundred of his photographs.

In its sharply focused and matter-of-fact style, his work exemplifies the aesthetic of the New Objectivity. Renger-Patzsch believed that the value of photography was in its ability to reproduce the texture of reality, and to represent the essence of an object.

Some examples of his work

Karl Blossfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer and sculptor. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things. He was inspired, by nature and the ways in which plants grow. He believed that “the plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure.”

Among his contacts at the Berlin Arts and Crafts School was Heinz Warneke. From 1923, he was professor at the Vereinigte Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst (United State Schools for Fine and Applied Art) in Berlin, Germany. He died aged 67.

Some examples of his work

Single object photoshoot

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Formalism

Formalism describes the position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form (in other words the way it is made and it’s visual aspects) rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world.

formal and visual elements

Light – how the light source, which can be natural or artificial, is positioned in relation to your subject.

Line – anything that stretches between two points in your photo. 

Repetition – using repeating shapes or a repetitive pattern inside the frame as part of the composition.

Shape – Shape is generally considered two-dimensional, while Form is three-dimensional.

Space – the direction the subject of the photograph is moving in, or even just looking in.

Texture – the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object’s surface.

Value/ tone – the lightness or darkness of an object.

colour – dominant colors are the warm colors, e.g. red, yellow, and orange, and cooler colors are the receding colors, e.g. blue, green and purple.

Composition – how a photographer arranges visual elements within their frame.

These elements are often used to describe and analyse photos

Example

Here we are aple to see the image in the middle being analysed around the outside. Some points made were:

• Lots of contrast
• Darker tones
• Repetition of circles
• Curved lines
• The center being the area of focus

Some other analysis concepts can be fond on the sheet below.

Technical includes; lighting, aperture, shutter speed, IOS and white balance. These are all things that are able to be adjusted by the photographer.

The visual area includes; colour, tone, texture, shape, form, pattern, line and space. These are all aspects that can be seen by the viewer.

Contextual includes; adding value or context as well a general knowledge about the image.

Conceptual includes; meaning, reasoning, thought, notion etc behind the work.

In photography there are many type of lighting techniques that make your pictures stand out or add detail to them. These techniques are often use to highlight areas of your photograph for a greater effect on the outcome, but can also be used in multiple other ways too.

Flat light

flat light is when you have your light source at the front of your subject, making your subject well lit without any shadows showing.

This isn’t a technique highly sort after since showing shadows is important to bring your subject to life, however, it is good for hiding textures and imperfections in an image.

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Broad light

With broad light, the face of your subject is at an angle with the most well-lit side of the face is closest to the camera and the shadow on the back side of the face. This type of light can make a face look fuller so it’s ideal for those with very narrow faces.

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Short light

Short light is the opposite of broad light in the fact that the face is at an angle and the shadow falls on the side of the face closest to the camera. This type of light works well to a thinner a face.

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Split light

Split lighting is another type of side lighting, you can easily recognize split lighting in an image by half of the subject being lit and the other half in the shadows.

With a face specifically, you’ll see the shadow line straight down the middle of the forehead, nose, and chin.

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Backlight

Backlight is the light behind your subject. This is commonly seen in photos from golden hour, when the sun is low in the horizon and starting to set. This can be done by purposely having a light in the background or using natural lighting.

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