Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world.

This photo is an example of formalism, it has a large, focused depth of field, the photo is taken in natural light as the photo has then been edited into black and white it highlights the light parts and shadows making them stand out more. The tone of the photo goes from dark to light which implies that the photo would have been taken around late morning or early evening i can gather this information because of the angle of the shadows, the buildings on either side of the photo adds the element of a frame within a frame as the centre of the photo has no buildings in the centre. The top of the buildings is what draws the audience to the photograph as it is the lightest part of the photograph.

Visual language

Visual language in photography is a photograph which tells a story. The visual language shown on a photography work implies a pictorial communication media in telling a story or a particular event. The presence of a sequence of portraits seri is sometimes important to explain the things happening.

This photograph is a visual language photo as when the consumer of the photo looks at it they begin to think of a story behind it and question the intentions behind the photo and why it was taken, the lightest points on the photo draws you in as they are the high points on the photo, the girls facial expression in my opinion implies a lot about the photo. The photo shows the texture of the body as you see the veins on the arm and the texture of the rough looking skin. The lighting highlights certain aspects of the photo such as the ribcage and the creases on the hand.

Walker Evans

Walker Evans began to photograph in the late 1920s, making snapshots during a European trip. Upon his return to New York, he published his first images in 1930. During the Great Depression, Evans began to photograph for the Resettlement Administration, later known as the Farm Security Administration (FSA), documenting workers and architecture in the Southeastern states.

Darren Harvey-Regan

Harvey-Regan was known for entwining image and object together, his work was inspired by Walker Evans as he montaged together Walkers tools before recreating the objects, he bought the tools and deconstructed them and then reconstructing them.

Harvey-Regan’s work is eye catching because at the first glance you can see it as a normal tool but when you look at it in depth you can see the reconstructed tool and how the two tools seamlessly, he has also eliminated all shadows making the photo look sharp and well put together.

What is it ?

Studio lights are any form of lighting equipment used by photographers, often when working in a photography studio, to enhance their photography. Most professional photographers have different light kits they use depending on the situation they find themselves shooting in.

Flash lighting

Flash or strobe lighting, on the other hand, is intermittent light.  When you fire the shutter, the flash fires, quickly lighting up your subject and then turning itself off.  Flash lighting can be a simple speed light, like the one pictured above, or a more powerful strobe. Flashing lights minimises shadows.

Continuous lighting

Continuous lighting in photography occurs when you turn the studio lights on, they stay on – like a video light or a flashlight. You can power your studio lighting up or down, based on what you need, but they produce What You See Is What You Get lighting, continuous lighting will allow you to photograph simultaneously.

Still life is a genre of photography, still life derives from the Dutch word stilleven, it is inspired by 17th century paintings of inanimate objects grouped together to create a photograph similar to a still life painting.

Still-life photography’s origins reside in the early 20th century. Art photographers emerged such as Baron Adolf de Meyer. It started as it coined in the 17th century when paintings of objects enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe.

still life timeline

Still life genre began with Netherlandish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries developed as an art genre from the earliest centuries during the Egyptian and Roman periods. The history of the object can be tracked in many still life’s, from fruits, vegetables, skulls, and goblets. The definition of still life is something without life and without movement.

Still Life paintings in ancient Egyptian tombs consisted of common foods and objects, although they held deeper meanings than being mere tombstone decorations. The still life depictions were in honor of the dead and their usage in the afterlife. For example, a bowl of food would be included so that the person would have something to eat in the afterlife.

What is Vanitas?

A vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death.

Vanitas is latin for vanity. Vanitas was created because t was thought that vanity encapsulated the idea behind Vanitas paintings, as they were created to remind individuals that their beauty and material possessions did not exclude them from their inescapable mortality.

WHAT IS MEMENTO MORI?

MEMENTO MORI is a symbolic or artistic trope reminding the inevitability of death, it is a latin phrase that translates to “remember that you must die”. The phrase has its origins in ancient Rome, where it is believed that slaves accompanying generals on victory parades whispered the words as a reminder of their commander’s mortality, to prevent them from being consumed by hubris (excessive pride and self-confidence). The concept has become a familiar trope in the visual arts from the medieval period to the present. An example of Memento Mori would be a portrait with or of a skull it may also be accompanied with a timer to symbolise that time is running out and that you will die.

WHAT KIND OF METAPHORS AND SYMBOLS ARE USED IN STILL LIFE AND WHY?

1. Fruit: Varying Symbolism In Still Life Paintings

2. Skulls: The Certainty Of Mortality 

3. Candles: The Passing Of Time

4. Flowers: Symbols Of Life And Growth 

5. Seashells: Birth, Purity, And Fertility 

6. Mirrors: The Soul In Reflection

7. Insects: Transformation And Decay 

8. Musical Instruments: Beauty And Transience 

9. Dead Animals: Contradiction And The Hunt 

10. Silver And Gold: Luxury In Still Life Paintings

Paulette Tavormina

Paulette Tavormina is a fine art photographer.She was born in 1949 in New York. Tavormina took a class in black and white photography and dark room technique, she specialises in historical Indian pottery and jewellery She uses food as a prop to her photography she focuses on still life photography.

Depth of field

Depth of field is how much your image focuses s the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.

Shutter speed is the speed at which the cameras shutter closes at, you can either get a fast or slow shutter speed, a fast shutter speed causes a shorter exposure-the amount of light taken in through the camera, a slow shutter speed gives a longer exposure.

What is photography?

Where did it all start?

Photography all started in 1822 when it was invented but it was only in 1826 whenJoseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first photo even though it got lost it still holds the title for the oldest photo.

Photography is the art of light and how the use of light can form an image you are able to create it with recording light, digitally with a sensor or chemically (on film which gets chemically developed).

Photography is highly mobile as you can take a photo at any time and at any place,

They can move over in time and have different meanings and concepts behind each photo.

With photography it is unpredictable, and you will never know the outcome of a photo until you take it, each photo tells a different story, and each story is also different as each person has a different perception of the image. In photography no two photos are the same.

A photo is instantly there, it can be difficult to understand causing it to be mysterious. You are able to give a photo a story by accompanying it with other photos or describing the photo whilst photographers may give background information about the photo, they are still giving the audience the creative freedom on how they view the photograph, there for you as the audience are able to take charge of the photograph.

Every photo capture someone’s attention for a reason because they relate to it, find it mysterious, are intrigued by it or you simply just like it. You look at an image more than once and each time you look at it more in depth and each time you pick up on the smaller details of the photograph. What a photo captures has the capability to mean something else as the meanings behind photos can be complicated. Photography is used to take advantage of the gift the world has given us; you are able to learn photography and the concepts behind it quickly but it’s mastering the art of photography may take up to a lifetime to learn.

Each photo is taken through the eyes of the photographer there for you see their concept of the world or topic they are taking photographs of, there for some people may find lightning destructive and powerful but other may find it majestical so those photographers may have two very different looking photos due to their opinion on the subject.

Photography can be seen as a form as art due to how you are able to manipulate photos into how the photographer wants the audience to view them. The purpose of photography is to communicate and document moments in time.

Yves Klein

This photo uses David Campany’s quote “photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel.” as you as the consumer of the photograph can’t understand why someone would photograph someone jumping off a building but at the same time its fascinating as to why is the man jumping, the photo is able to show a lot of emotion as to how the person might interpret the photo it also conceals how the photo was made and why the photo was made.

you can only find out how and why the image was made if you research it as the photo doesn’t tell the story behind it, the photo it’s self tells a different story.

In Lightroom Classic it gives you the opportunity to filter through, rate and colour code you imported photos.

Lightroom uses Previews of your photos not the actual photo file its self.

The filing system makes light room less cluttered and easier to find your work.

The photos I like I have flagged them by selecting the photo and pressing p.

To discard the photos I don’t like so I know not to use them I have put black crossed flag on them and it comes up as grey

To colour code my photos i selected the photos in a simple traffic light code in order of photos i like, find okay and photos I don’t mind i did this by selecting the photo then pressing the square on the bottom right hand side and selecting the colour.

I also rate my photos by how much I like them so I know what photos to use.

You are also able to make a folder in collections which you are able to put all the photos of one project into a file so you arent habing to look through thousands of photos to find one project.

you do this by pressing the plus button on the left hand sign of the screen, you then drag the photos into the file.

Q1: What is the etymology (origin & history) of the word photography?

Writing with light.
Capturing light.
Painting with light.
Filming light.

Q2: What year was the first photograph made in camera?


1826 (Joseph Nicéphore Niépce)

Q3: When did the first photograph of a human appear?

1838 (Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre)

Q4: Who made the first ‘selfie’

Robert Cornelius (1839)

Q5: When did the first colour photograph appear?

1861 James clerk Maxwell

Q6: What do we mean by the word genre?

A style or category of art

Q7: What do we mean by the genre of still-life?

An image that shows inanimate objects from the natural or man-made world.

Q8: What was the main purpose of the Pictorialist movement?

To affirm photography as an art form

Q9: How do we describe the term documentary photography?

Capture images that truthfully portray people, places and events.

Staging images for maximum effect.

Provide in-depth information about a subject over a long period time.

Q10: What is exposure in photography?

The amount of light that reaches your camera’s sensor.

Q11: What controls exposure on your camera?

Aperture, shutter speed, ISO.

Q12: What control on our camera records moving objects?

Shutter

Q13: How do we explain depth of field?

How much of your image is in focus.

Q14: What factors affect Depth of Field?

Sensitivity to light, shutter speed and lens focal length.

Q15: What is composition in photography?

The arrangement of visual elements within the frame.

Q16: What is your understanding of aesthetics in art?

Concerned with the nature of beauty and taste.

It is subjective and in the eye of the beholder.

Aesthetic qualities refer to the way and artwork looks and feels.

Making a critical judgement based on observation and understanding.

Q17: What are contextual studies in photography?

To provide historial, cultural and theoterical understanding of images.

Q18: How many images are captured on average every day worldwide?

4.7 billion

Q19: Which portrait is the most reproduced in the world?

The Queen (Elizabeth II)