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 South-eastern states. In 1936 he travelled with the writer James Agee to illustrate an article on tenant farm families for Fortune magazine; the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men came out of this collaboration.

walker Evans was a known photographer for taking pictures of tools and self portraits, his photographs were all black and white, reasoning for this is because Walker said “colour tends to corrupt photography and absolute colour corrupts it absolutely.”, I personally believe that the black and while effect makes the photo look more old old fashioned and more realistic almost as if the photograph is ancient.

Darren Harvey-Regan

Darren Harvey-Regan is a graduate of the Royal College of Art. His work has appeared in exhibitions and publications internationally and is part of the permanent photography collection at the V & A Museum, London.

Melding photograph and sculpture, Darren Harvey-Regan (b.1974, England) works in the liminal space where flat representation ends, and three-dimensional object begins. And with the photographic medium straddling object and representation simultaneously, such a place seems an astute location for Harvey-Regan to examine where the two meet. Perplexing, and at times humorous, his photographs act as the subject of his scrutiny but importantly also as the tool that he uses to carry out his procedure, constantly attempting to free himself from the constraints of photographic representation.

Harvey’s work is very similar to Evans work but Harvey’s has more colour and more life to the photo which makes the photograph stand out so much more. His work doesn’t look identical to Evans ad the warm shades of the background, Harvey also uses very different and strange shaped tools which changes the photos whole point of view.

Walker evans

Darren Harvey-Regan

In this image above I have picked out my best three images from my photoshoot and edited them.

Below are the before and afters of my best images from when they were edited in lightroom.

I’ve attempted to experiment with different temperatures to see which one would suit the images best, I preferably like the warmer toned image in the middle instead of the colder toned one as it is much nicer to look at. My worst image is probably the last one because of the blue card background and how it has been positioned.

Best Image

I have used a range of different artificial lights, this includes a tungsten light that was placed under the objects to give a warm glowing affect to the objects.

I thought carefully about the arrangement of my objects so that the image turned out looking interesting. I’ve placed some objects behind and in front of each other to try and create depth, I have also placed a block behind the objects to seclude the objects in that one spot and make them the main focus point.

I have experimented with the different tones in lightroom to add more warmth to the image and give it a more nostalgic, soft feeling, I had also done this to make the image more appealing to the eyes.

Before Vs After editing

In all of these images I increased the texture and clarity to sharpen the objects and background, so the objects are more in focus and the detail is precise.

These particular images are all unedited but I really like how in the warmer tone images the background looks really glossy rather than textured, so we can therefore see the reflection of the objects. But as we can see on the left hand side, in the cooler toned photos, the cloth which is used as a backdrop is textured to show the objects in a clearer perspective to focus on them.

Walker Evans

Beauties of the common tool is a portfolio by Walker Evans, commissioned by Fortune Magazine and originally published in 1955.

‘Among low-priced, factory-produced goos, none is so appealing to the senses as the ordinary hand tool. Hence, a hardware store is a kind of offbeat museum show for the man who responds to good, clear ‘undesigned’ forms.’ – Walker Evans.

Who was 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, documenting workers and architecture in the South-eastern states. In 1936, he travelled with the writer James Agee to illustrate an article on tenant farm families for Fortune magazine. The book ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’ came out of this collaboration.

Walker Evans would produce his photographs in black and white, with a black frame around them. The tools would also be resting on a white background, so the tools would stand out more and look much bolder. This white background also creates negative space in his photographs, which causes all the viewers attention to be directly on the single tool, as there is nothing else to distract from it.

Darren Harvey-Regan

Darren Harvey-Regan was a photographer, who was interested in the concept that photographs do not exist just to show things, but are physical things that become objects themselves. The Ravestijn Gallery presented his work. Harvey-Regan finds photography that photographs objects, whilst in itself being an object, interesting as a concept.

‘It’s a means of transposing material into other material, adding new meaning or thoughts in the process. I think photographing materials is a way to consider the means of creating meaning, and it’s a tactile process with which I feel involved. Touching and moving and making are my engagement with the world and my art.’ -Darren Harvey-Regan.

Who inspired Darren Harvey-Regan?

In 1955, Fortune magazine published, ‘Beauties of the Common Tool’, a portfolio by Walker Evans featuring pictures of ordinary hand-made tools, such as a ratchet wrench and a pair of scissors. This inspired Harvey-Regan, so he first constructed a montage of Evans’s images to make new forms. He then sourced matching tools, cut them in half and re-joined various halves together, with the resulting physical objects being photographed to create his final work. The montaged tools become both beautiful and bizarre objects, in which a ratchet wrench is combined with a pair of pliers and a Mason’s trowel joined with a pair of scissors.

Harvey’s Work

The exhibition includes ‘The Halt’ which is when a real axe pins the photograph to the wall, and ‘When is an image Not an image’, in which a trompe l’oeil effect occurs. It is an image comprised of surfaces and shadows, which is mounted on a block, two sides of which have a 45 degree outward bevel, meaning they are easily viewed, whilst the positioning of a spot-light on an adjacent wall creates a shadow on the remaining sides, completing the work’s ‘frame’.

Harvey-Regan refers to the works as ‘phrasings’, which is different versions of a visual question or proposition. He further elaborates: “If you take, ‘what happens if’…” as the beginning of the exhibition’s question, then the works explore how that question ends, by using the elements of the photographic material, the image, and the original object and shuffling these three around, giving different emphasis to each, in which each has a different phrasing”.

Formalism is the formal and visual elements of a photograph. what these Elements consist of is the line, shape, balance, repetition and rhythm inside a photograph.

Examples:

These images all contain one or more of these elements, either through line, repetition or shape.

The other basic elements to Photography that also make up the visual and formal elements consist of:

Lines – Lines In photography can alternate in their appearances. This can be shown through either straight or curved, vertical or horizontal, Man-made or organic to nature.

Lines can also be orientated in different ways to make a photograph more diverse, Lines often help to connect points in an image and almost every image has them.

Examples:

(oriented lines)

(Lines in nature)

(man-made lines)

Shape – Shapes, formed by lines and shadow, are the visible makeup characteristics of an object within an image. Shapes in a photograph can be made up of familiar or unfamiliar shapes such as a circle or a merge of different ones.

Defined by their value through the following elements Texture, Brightness/Darkness, Pattern can define what becomes a shape in a photograph. Shapes are a key feature in photographs as its one of the first elements you visualise.

examples:

(Familiar – Diamond shape)

(Unfamiliar – newly created shape)

Form – Form is the differentiation from shape as it portrays 3D elements rather than the 2D elements shape portrays. Form is the shape and structure of something in a photograph.

Similar to shape, form can be put into 2 categories of natural and unnatural. Geometric forms are the familiar, such as cubes, pyramids, cylinders. Whilst Organic forms are the unfamiliar, created out an amalgamation of more than one. Form, yet again like shape is almost everywhere in an image.

Examples:

(Geometric – the familiar, the form of the human body)

(Organic – the unfamiliar, shown by the form of this spitfire – shadow helps to define it.)

Texture – By definition, Texture is the visual or tactile surface characteristics and appearances of something. By using what we describe as textures in real life (e.g. rough, smooth, soft, wet) we can do the same for texture.

Similar to form, texture can be shown by 3D appearances, tonality and variations. Texture in photographs can appear in scenic photos such as buildings or trees. Texture can change however there is always factors that leave them up for perception.

Texture is not only limited by objects, but also facial features on people.

(Texture – shown through an old wall)

Colour – Colour in photography are made up of the hue and saturation and brightness of an image. It falls into 3 properties: Hue ( the colour), Value (the balance of white to black) and Saturation (the intensity or purity of a colour).

Colours in photography can be seen through light, made artificially or naturally. Colour is also present in all images other than grayscale photographs. Colour helps set the tone of an image and can visually express the emotions behind the picture.

(Vibrant Hue and Saturation portray this image in a positive light)

(Natural lighting – created through the sun setting)

Size – Size in photography is the physical magnitude or proportionate dimensions of an object. Size varies in a photograph based on how its scoped, this is because size can become an optical illusion in a picture via shot-angle. By seeing something familiar sized (like a person) it can scope to us the size of the scene.

Smaller sized objects (like flowers) can be sized up by photography making the viewer able to pay attention and appreciate the smaller things in life, both figuratively and literally.

(By having a person in the shot, it puts to scope the size of the F-22 Raptor)

(By closely sizing down the shot, things not usually seen are shown in more detail)

Depth – Depth in photography, also made up of shape, space and form, is recreated through the size and depth of the surroundings of the image.

In relation to size, depth is created through the space of photograph. Visual indicators in depth can convey where the viewer must look, this can be shown by blurred areas or certain perspectives on a subject/object in the photograph.

Depth can also depend on the texture of an image, with different gradients of texture creating it.

(depth – long depth of field textures the images surroundings)

(Low depth of field helps create a deeper focus on the subject of the image)

I started by looking at how different presets effect the photo. Presets are pre made sets of edits almost like a filter. Using them can be very beneficial as it allows for many edits to be put on one photo very quickly, it also allows for similar lighting and style of editing on a set of images or a singular shot. I used pre made presets as I hadn’t yet tried editing the shot myself, if I had I could have made my edits into a custom preset.

I then wanted to remove the small scuffs and marks from the background. To do this I used the spot heal tool on Lightroom and if something didn’t look right I would then correct it by moving the selection replace patch.

The final edit (as pictured above) doesn’t have a huge contrast in look than the before (the left picture above) but as you start to look at the shot in detail you can notice the small improvements like: there is no longer scuffs distracting and leading the view away from the objects, there is less yellowing on the icing set highlighting the details in the box while keeping the used look, the bottle is a brighter cream colour, truer to real life.

I was then curious as to how a black and white version might look as it is a great way of making photos feel more nostalgic and feel older. I used the black and white option in Lightroom and then compared the original shot and the black and white version. While I like the black and white version I then felt some of the lighting and colouring needed changing. To do this I increased the contrast to add to the definition of objects, I then furthered this by using the sharpening tool as well. By decreasing the highlights and increasing the shadows it allowed for more tone in the image making a successful black and white image.

The next step was to remove all the scuffs on the violin as well as the yellowing sticker on the neck of the violin. I did this by using the spot heal tool to camouflage the replaced part with the actual parts of the photo.

This is the before and after of the finished edit, I noticed the black parts of the background showing though takes away from the overall appearance of the photo as it quite distracting to the eye and takes the focus away from the subject in the photo.

To amend the previously mentioned background showing I used the spot heal tool to attempt to cover up the black sections without cutting the box out of the photo as I think it adds depth and great lines in the shot. However it didn’t quite work as the spot healed background didn’t completely match the rest of the shot making the photo look messy.

Photoshop Editing of the same shot

Although I have already edited this shot in Lightroom I felt photoshop could have a better effect on redoing the background.

I started by selecting the edge of the box and moving it towards the mug. This allows me to remove additional blank space while still keeping the different depths in the photo.

I then chose to crop the image, keeping the edge of the box in so it still added to the photo, drawing the viewers eye into the image with an additional leading line from an object that isn’t in direct, front on view in the shot. I also chose to crop the height and the side of the shot to keep it equal and make the shot feel more personal. This helps tell a story within the photo as it’s not just emphasising the objects as if it was it wouldn’t be over lapping or have some of the object cut out of the frame.

My last couple of alterations for this shot included, using the spot heal and clone tools to fill in scuff and remove marks on the image overall particularly on the violin. The editing actually made this photo look complete as before it looked very unfinished. I love how the shadows are only enhanced by editing adding, to the tone of the image. As this is a still life image, I focused on composing a story within the photo, to benefit this during the editing I fixed the background and left little room to be distracted when looking at the photo. Shape plays a big part in this image, making sure I used different shapes, some with smooth curving lines that lead around the image making it feel soft and almost safe like nostalgia does. To harsher more abrupt lines pointing to other elements in the photo. In general there is a smooth appearance to the objects, after editing and removing the scuffs, as our memory tends to manipulate smaller factors and seeing how scuffed something really is can make the photo look unappealing and take away from the image as a whole. Warm colours are focused on as the image as a whole and by using the ‘hue’ slider within photoshop I very slightly warmed the image while keeping the cool toned things like the metal tankard looking realistic. Depth within the image is always important during still life photos, to make sure the image didn’t appear flat I staggered the objects, I also took into consideration the size of each object putting the smaller ones at the front pulling the viewer to the back of the photo.

For this shot I felt it was rather flat as an image on the whole. before editing. To improve this I adjusted the hue to balance the image before then changing the image to black and white.

After making then image black and white I noticed that the bottle on the left had beleneded intot he background, to alter this I used the dodge and burn tool

Before After

For this last shot I chose to turn the shot black and white to add different tonal elements and by also removing some of the blemishes on the sheet of paper used as a background adds a smoothness to the overall look of the final photo. I did this editing in Lightroom as I didn’t feel it needed further editing in photoshop and instead I wanted to look at the colouring and lighting of the shot which Lightroom is great for.

Formalism is the visual aspects of a photo, that considers everything, such as light, designs, textures, and the general composition of the photo. A formalist photo will usually be more about the content rather than the context. They usually include still objects, arranged in either a chaotic or simple pattern, and utilise the shadows that the objects cast. This can be done in black and white, as when the colour is removed from the photo, the objects appear more still.

This is a photo by Alexander Rodchenko, an early 1900s photographer from Russia. The photo, which is in black and white, depicts a stack of mechanical objects. This gives the photo a very rigid, still feel, because the objects are metal and have a hard and solid texture. Also, the teeth on the gears form a pattern of lines that is visually appealing, and is the highlight of the shot. The use of lighting to cast deep shadows and to create contrast between the grooves also emphasises the pattern and adds a unique and mesmerising quality to the photo. Also, because of the height of the objects and the downwards angle that the camera is facing, it is easy for the viewers eyes to get lost in the pattern. This is a common trait that appears in other formalist photos too.

This is a photo of the Shuckov Radio Tower, also in Russia. Immediately what strikes the viewer is the pattern that the tower forms. This is also very easy to get lost in and is quite mesmerising too. The photo is also in black and white, which may not have been a choice considering when this photo was taken, but still the lack of colours makes the photo easier to look at and makes it easier to focus on the subject of the photo. The use of the shadows that follow the perimeter of the shot also make it feel like the photo has been taken from a void, a place covered in darkness.

This is another photo from Alexander Rodchenko. It depicts the intricate pattern of lines that appears on a building somewhere in Russia. Once again, this pattern is visually appealing. The picture also feels big, because the building stretches out of frame. However, in this photo, a lamp post is depicted as the subject of the photo. The lamp post juts out in the photo because it is dissimilar to the main line pattern that appears on the building. This brings an interesting quality to the photo, and could be linked to ‘wabi-sabi’, finding beauty in imperfection.

Overview

There are many similar features that are utilised in the photos shown here. All feature a complex, easy to look at, mesmerising pattern that takes up the majority of the shot. All are taken in black and white and even though it is not by choice, it makes the photos feel empty and still, devoid of emotion. There is more focus on what the content of the photo is and how it looks, rather than the context of the photo, where it was taken, what emotions the viewer feels. Each photo gives a high level of stillness, there is no movement. Nothing really is out of place, even when there is an object that doesn’t fit the criteria of the pattern around it. In general, formalism is the expression of still, a moment in time, not the time before or after, but in the moment.

The visual Elements/The formal elements :

There are seven basic elements of photographic art: line, shape, form, texture, color, size, and depth. As a photographic artist, your knowledge and awareness of these different elements can be vital to the success of your composition and help convey the meaning of your photograph.

Line, the most fundamental of these, is the topic of this first part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Line Photography :

Types of Lines

Lines are either straight, curved, or a combination of the two. Lines can be solid, dashed or interrupted, implied, or psychological. They can be vertical, horizontal, or somewhere in-between.

Straight lines often show up in manmade objects. Curved lines can be manmade but are often organic in nature. Solid lines are common in scenes.

Lines in photographs often connect points inside the image. Sometimes lines enter the image from a point beyond the frame or exit the image to a point beyond the frame.

Shapes :

When a line, or more than one line, closes or connects, a shape is formed. This is the topic of this next part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Definition:

The Merriam-Webster definition of “shape” that we are concerned with as photographic artists is:

1. the visible makeup characteristic of a particular item or kind of item.
2. spatial form or contour
3. a standard or universally recognized spatial form

Characteristics of Shapes

Shapes are two-dimensional. They can be measured by overall height and width. Shapes can be the outline of an object—familiar or unfamiliar.

Sometimes a familiar shape can transform into an unfamiliar or unrecognizable shape based on the viewpoint of the photographer. While the shape of a standard lightbulb is recognizable and constant from the horizontal viewpoint, viewing it from directly overhead or below shows a nondescript circle.

Types of Shapes

There are two basic types of shapes: geometric (or regular) and organic. We all know geometric shapes—circle, square, triangle, dodecahedron, and so on. We are also familiar with organic shapes—the outline of a bird, elephant, flower, tree, etc. Fluids can create organic shapes that cannot be permanently defined—the shape of a cloud or a rain puddle, for instance.

Form :

What separates form from shape? Form takes shape from the two-dimensional and brings it into the three-dimensional. And, speaking of form, it is the next part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

What separates form from shape? Form takes shape from the two-dimensional and brings it into the three-dimensional. And, speaking of form, it is the next part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Characteristics of Form

Form is three-dimensional. Form has overall height, width, and depth.

Types of Form

Just as with shapes, there are two basic types of form—geometric (or regular) and organic.

Geometric forms are the familiar sphere, cube, cone, cylinder, and so on. We are also, of course, familiar with organic forms—they are the objects that surround us in our three-dimensional world.

Like shapes, forms can be simple or infinitely complex.

And, again, like shapes, forms create positive and negative space. In a photograph, positive space is basically that which is occupied by forms; negative space is what remains.

Texture :

In photography, texture can be felt with both the fingers (the print) and virtually (with the viewer’s eye). Texture is the next part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Definition:

The Merriam-Webster definition of “texture” that we, as photographic artists, are concerned with is:

the visual or tactile surface characteristics and appearance of something

Characteristics of Texture

Texture in “real life” can be, basically, smooth or rough. We can use other descriptors as well: slimy, wet, hard, soft, bumpy, shiny, etc.

Texture in the photograph is similar to form in that it is revealed by variations in tonality and presented in two dimensions.

Types of Texture

In a photograph, smooth objects might have reflections or specular highlights. Rough objects might have aggressive areas of light and shadow without reflections.

Colour :

We will be adding a splash of colour in this part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Definition:

The Merriam-Webster definition of “color” that we, as photographic artists, are concerned with is:

 a phenomenon of light (such as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects

 the aspect of the appearance of objects and light sources that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation for objects and hue, brightness, and saturation for light.

also : a specific combination of hue, saturation, and lightness or brightness

 a colour other than and as contrasted with black, white, or grey

Characteristics of Color

Light itself has no perceived color. But, send light through a prism or a drop of water and we can see that it is comprised of a literal rainbow of colors.

Colour has three properties: hue, value, and saturation.

Hue is simply the description of the color (e.g., blue, red, yellow, etc.).

Value is the relative brightness or darkness of a color.

Saturation is the intensity or purity of a colour. The purest colour is a hue with no white, black, or grey added to it.

Types of Color

Separate the different colours of the rainbow and we can see these varied colours elicit different emotional responses—some based on genetic response, others based on cultural programming. Red can mean danger, blue symbolizes calm, yellow is happy, black is mournful, white is innocent, and purple can symbolize wealth.

Size :

Size, the most elusive of these, is the topic of this sixth part of our Elements of a Photograph series.

Definition:

The Merriam-Webster definition of “size” that we, as photographic artists, are concerned about is:

physical magnitude, extent, or bulk : relative or proportionate dimensions.

Characteristics of Size

In the world of two-dimensional art such as drawing and painting, “space” is an art element. In photography, the space is already rendered before the camera, so we look at how both size and depth are reproduced, created, and recognized in the photograph.

Size in a photograph is relative and can be an illusion.

Types of Size

Large, medium, or small. (NOT short, tall, grande, and venti. Please.)

The camera, lens, and print can render large objects small, or small objects large. Even objects familiar to our eyes can be rendered relatively large in a photograph, while things we know to be enormous are rendered small. Thanks to the Apollo astronauts, we can fit our entire planet onto a small photographic print. We can also print a photograph the size of a highway billboard or a single grain of sand. We can even use a 1:1 macro lens to reproduce objects at “life-size.”

Depth :

Depth, one of the most compelling elements, is the topic of this final part in our Elements of a Photograph series.

Definition:

The Merriam-Webster definition of “depth” that we, as photographic artists, are concerned about is:

in the world of two-dimensional art, such as drawing and painting, “space” is an art element. In photography, the space is already rendered before the camera, so we look at how size and depth are reproduced, created, and recognized in the photograph.

Characteristics of Depth

We already discussed depth when adding the concept of depth to shape to create form. Here we will discuss the depth of a scene—relating it to size, and adding the element of space.

Types of Depth

Unless you are photographing perpendicular to a blank and smooth wall, your image will have depth. How well the depth is rendered is dependent on the objects in the frame, your choice of composition, and your perspective in relation to the objects in the frame. Most images have a foreground, middle ground, and background. The stronger the delineation between those successive “grounds,” the stronger the sense of depth in your image.

Final Thoughts

Knowledge of the elements of art is not, by itself, the key to creating better photographs. But a familiarity with how these elements appear in the world that surrounds your camera and lens gives you a higher level of consciousness about what you are framing. That, in turn, can help you adjust your composition and even express your image more deliberately by using the tools that these elements provide.

what is still life?

usually still life can be described as an arrangement of objects usually including fruits, flowers and then normally some sort of silverware/glassware.

 still life originally started during the early 1600’s predominately in Dutch and European paintings. 

Something that has majorly effected and impacted still life was colonialism because it meant that they could have new and exotic objects that normally they would not be able to access.

Something you often spot in still life paintings would be skulls, fruit, flowers, hourglasses and candles. You often have skulls because they suggest things such as death similar with hourglasses suggesting time and maybe lack there of. Then fruit and flowers contrast with that because they can suggest things like new life. However certain flowers actually can mean different things for example poppies represent sleep or death and yet daisies represent innocence and rose love and seduction.

Image analysis- Richard Kuiper

In this image you are drawn to the fruit in the middle of the photo as it is the lightest part of the image so the dark objects around it are almost framing it.

When using the rule of thirds you can see that the image is sitting along the top left on the lines.

​I think the composition of the fruit basket makes it look like a very chaotic photo as it is just piled on top on the table with other objects underneath with actually giving the image more levels and depth. 

Image analysis ​

 This was an image analysis did in class where we were looking at both the technical aspects and the visual aspects.

We were focusing on the visual and technical aspects of the image so things like the focus on the camera and how everything is in focus.

We looked at the rule of thirds and how the darker parts of the image would be centring/surrounding the middle.

We also had to look at the image and figure out it we thought it was natural lighting or lighting done with tools like ring lights.

Biography

The types of subjects he preferred to photograph:

The types of subjects he preferred to photograph. The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc. Renger-Patzsch work is very abstract and mainly focused on similar patterns being repeated.

Neue Sachlichkeit:The New Objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. 

The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc.

How does Renger-Patzsch’s work fit with the concerns of artists associated with this movement? The types of subjects he preferred to photograph. The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc. His famous book ‘The World is Beautful’

Historical context

There are numerous reasons why some photographers in the 1920s (along with other artists) began to represent the world with “objective, sober eyes”:

• a response to the chaos of the First World War and a rejection of the culture leading up to it
• a rejection of the emotional and spiritual concerns of Expressionism and an interest in the rational and political
• a response to rapid industrialisation in Europe and America
• a response to the particular qualities of the camera and a move away from painterly effects like soft focus

Photo Analysis: