What is formalism?

Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form- the way it is made and it visual aspects- rather than its relation to the visible world.

In the lesson we were split into groups of 2 or 3 and each group was given a photo to annotate. The group I was in were told to write down all of the visual elements in the photo. Whether it was the colours or the point of view of the photo. Also if there were any patterns in the photo.

We pointed out the patterns of the building and how the photo was taken from a birds eye view. Also how there are dark colours and the photo was grainy because of it being taken at night and there being no natural lighting.

Different visual elements:

• Light: What is the lighting like in the photo? what can you see and not see, due to the lighting?
• Line: Are there objects in the photo that look or act like lines? Maybe create a separation with different parts of the photo.
• Repetition: Are there any repeated patterns, objects etc in the photo.
• Shape: What different shapes are there in the photo? are they geometric or organic shapes?
• Space: Is there any depth to the photo or does it look shallow? Does the photo look flat?
• Texture: Are there any textures to the photograph? What would it feel like if you touched the surface of the photo?
• Tone: Are there dark or light tones in the photograph? Which bit of the image is the darkest and which is the lightest?
• Colour: What different colours can you see in the photograph? Does this have and affect on how you see the image? Does it make the image seem dark or happy?
• Composition: Does the image look balanced or unbalanced? How are the things in the image arranged?

FIRST PHOTOSHOOT

BEST SHOTS

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EDITING:

Edits I made (using Lightroom):

Result –

Evaluation:

In conclusion, I really liked how it turned out; I think the contrast between the lights and darks work very well together and adds a sense of depth and shape to the image. There are also lots of different textures and shapes which is what makes the picture different from just a simple image. The colours all work well together without them blending into each other too much.

SECOND PHOTOSHOOT

BEST SHOTS

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EDITING

The edits I made (using photoshop):

Result:

Comparison (left edited, right original):

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Evaluation:

Overall, I really like how it turned out, I think that making the background lighter and making the objects in the image really took it to the next level. What I really liked about the original picture was the depth of field and the focus only being on the clip in the background, causing the objects in the foreground to be blurred out, which was what I wanted to enhance I the edit and really show off. I think I did that successfully and it added more depth and life to the picture.

PHOTOSHOOT

BEST SHOTS

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EDITING

The edits I made:

Result:

Comparison (left edited, right original):

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Evaluation:

Overall, I really like how to edit turned out, I think it adds the pop the image needed. The original had a lot of potential with the array of colours inside the lenses compared to the simple white background which is what I wanted to use to my advantage and make them stand out even more. What was once a simple picture of a single object now holds a lot more power and effectiveness

Still life printed objects

To create this image I cut on photo in half and put it on each side of the main image to give the effect that the book is almost floating.

To create this piece I used some old beach images as tghe background and then I stuck 2 contrasting pairs of shoes diagonally to each other.

For this image I tore strips of news paper and stuck them on a white card, then I edited one statues head onto another to create the head as the most vocal part of the image. Lastly I embodied into the statue to give it a more surreal effect.

To create this image I cut two images into strips and merged them together to create only one final piece.

I personally feel that these physical pieces came out quite well, I like the mix of colours included and the simplicity of some of the images. Next time I would ideally like to make the final presentations less messy and more precise as I do feel that the neatness of an final image has a great impact on the final result. I would be intereged to try this method and again and see how I can improve next time.

What is focal length?

The focal length of a lens is determined when the lens is focused at infinity. Lens focal length tells us the angle of view—how much of the scene will be captured—and the magnification—how large individual elements will be. The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the higher the magnification.

What are the four types of focal length?

• Wide length – for landscape, architecture
• Standard – for street, travel and portrait
• Short telephoto – for street photography and portraits
• Medium telephoto – for sports, wildlife and action

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Mary Ellen Bartley is an American artist well known for her photographs that explore the tactile and formal qualities of the printed book and its potential for abstraction. Her work has been widely exhibited across the world for example at the yancey Richardson Gallery in New York and The Drawing Room and Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York. Bartley’s work has also been featured in several exhibitions exploring themes of the book and objects caught in transition from the analog to the digital realm.

During the period of lockdown due to COVID Mary decided to make a project where she took a picture of the same objects every day for a month. These objects consist of a book, sponge, mug, milk bottle, a glass cube and a small dish, everyday she manage to take a different picture with a different meaning, for example she would change the lighting and the order of the objects with only using natural light t6he whole time. She did this project to help show the beauty in everyday objects that would usually be ignored or abandoned.

These are the pictures i created inspired by her

What is it?

A photomontage is known to be a collage created by cutting and gluing other photographs to create a new image. It allows artists and photographers to express their work in a different, more visually pleasing form. If they have similar pictures not exactly the same that they would like to display together a photomontage allows them to do that, you can also be really creative with it by ripping and cutting and using superimposition. Superimposition: to impose, place, or set over, above, or on something else.

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History of photomontages

It was first used as a technique by the Dadaists, (Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century) in 1915 in their protests against the First World War. It was later adopted by the surrealists who exploited the possibilities photomontage offered by using free association to bring together widely disparate images, to reflect the workings of the unconscious mind.

When did photomontages become popular?

Throughout the 1970s and ’80s postmodernist era photomontage techniques became popular as a form of pastiche or political protest, as seen in the work of British artist and designer Linder, while today, photomontage techniques are continuously updated by contemporary artists in surprising and unexpected ways.

What is the difference between collages and photomontages?

A collage is a composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface; a montage is a single composition created by juxtaposing a series of pieces of paper, photos or other media to create an artistic image.

About her:

Mary Ellen Bartley is a photographer who is known for her tactile and formal qualities of abstract images. Her work focuses on geometry shapes and simple colours to create a painterly style image. She created a range of image throughout lock down called ‘7 Things Again and Again’ whereby she used the same objects and took a picture of them everyday changing their positions slightly each time.

Some examples:

Her work:

Some of my examples:

Overall I am happy with how these image turned out and think the simple, natural colours go well together with the hint of silver adding somethings to draw the viewer in.