For my first photoshoot I am going to take pictures of my friend putting make up on since it is similar to one of Cindy Sherman photoshoots getting ready. Below is the inspiration photoshoot from Cindy Sherman.
My photoshoot isn’t going be the exactly same thing at Cindy Sherman’s photoshoot above but it will be the same back story which is her getting ready.
2rd photoshoot:
For my second photoshoot I have decided to take a photoshoot a bit similar to Cindy Sherman’s picture below. My mate is going to either pose looking at the mirror, look at the mirror and put perfume or staring at jewellery.
3nd photoshoot:
For my third photoshoot, its not related to cindy cherman but it is something that has to do with masculinity and femininity. I am going to take photoshoots of girls with things that people thing are more masculine such as a helmet or driving a motorbike.
Overall, I think my work related closely to Anthropocene as I communicated this through the use of different techniques that interested me from Edward Burtnysky and George Marazakis. Each artist inspired me differently as they were very different in how they portrayed their message. This was what I liked about both, as I could explore from different views and thought processes in order to create my response.
Edward Burtnysky
Burtnyskly explored more the infrastructure and industry side, capturing in abstract ways, which acts as a straight up message, as you don’t have to look for the message he wants to tell you, instead it there, right in front of you. His technique is very much giving you the straight up, real view, wanting you to see for what it is, in other words not sugar coating disasters that are happening all around us.
In response, I used unique perspectives to achieve this look which showed the abstract and detailed look I was going for. I visited Val De La Mere reservoir as this showed a unique contrast between natural and industrial infrastructure. From capturing different views along the reservoir gave interesting perspectives look at giving a stronger message.
George Marazakis
For this photoshoot, I enjoyed looking at Marazakis work and the unique techniques he uses which overall created an interesting ‘subtle’ message. This different, but effective way of communicating messages that overall has a big impact on our world. I found creating photos in this way showed different views engaging you in different ways. This closely links to Anthropocene because this unique way shows us humans impact on the world, allowing you to see from different angles things happening.
Stephanie Jung works as a freelance photographer, based in Germany. She Discovered her passion in photography after finishing her studies in visual communication back in 2010. Since 2012 she has been working as a freelance photographer. She Enjoys traveling the world, especially to large, vertical cities where her photography work is in its best elements. She has had many of her photos shown in various magazines and art galleries. You can see her portfolio here.
how to take photos like Stephanie Jung:
She decides her location by walking round cities and does it spontaneously, this gives her the freedom to shoot where ever she feels she wants to. She then takes multiple exposures and then uses post production techniques to enchance the colour and feel of her images. She creates layer upon layer of each image. This make the image feel like its moving along in time, instead of a single snippet of time.
Her Photos are often multiple merged images, each slightly offset from each other. Stephanie Jung does this to create a sense of movement, matched with the busy environment. This is a better way to present the busy, chaotic city life rather than using long exposure methods. I think her photos like strongly with Anthropocene as her urban photos are almost overwhelming, in addition to being completely disconnected with nature. Compare this to some of her Nature photoshoots, they more still and peaceful as there is little movement happening in the natural environment. The photo below is a good example:
Edward Burtynsky, born in 1955, is renowned for his continued investigation of the ‘indelible human signature’ of the planet, caused by are excessive destruction of the natural landscape, for resources, land, energy, dump sights and more. He is famous for his large format photographs of industrial landscapes, That show immense detail of the increasing development of industrialization. This size and detail can overwhelm the viewer with with “astonishing colour and relentless detail”, always focusing on the consequences of global consumerism. He is an advocate for environmental conservationism and his work is deeply entwined in his advocacy.
“Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.”
He has received the inaugural TED Prize in 2005, and won the Tiffany Mark award in 2012. In 2006, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2016 he received the Governor General’s Award for Visual Arts. He also holds six honorary doctorate degrees.
He has many pieces of work, but the one I will be focusing the most on is his recent Anthropocene Project. In the photos below, taken from both aerial and subterranean perspectives, and presented at a large scale, the patterns and scars of human-altered landscapes appear to form an abstracted painterly language.
Photo Analysis:
This photo found in his ‘oil’ series was taken in Pennsylvania USA, called ‘breezewood’. The photograph depicts around 5 gas stations all within seconds of driving distance between them. This photo instantly stands out to the view with bright colours from the various bill boards, trying do draw drivers in. Its almost unreal how many gas stations, shots and restaurants are all crammed into one image, along one road. It removes the power of an individual human in comparison to all the huge, globalized franchises. It shows how much we have evolved as humans from the single corner shop that would sell only the essentials to these company’s that sell everything we could ever need at our fingertips. The automobiles are the most common object in this photo, and are seen throughout the whole image, likely on purpose as Burtynsky has strong views on how cars have impacted the world as seen from this quote:
Burtynsky states, “The auto-mobile is the main basis for our modern industrial world, giving us a certain freedom and changing our world dramatically. The automobile was made possible because of the invention of the internal combustion engine and its utilization of both oil and gasoline. The raw material and the refining process contained both the idea and an interesting visual component for me.”
My plan is to relate my work with Ed Ruscha and Peter Mitchell. The main objective is to keep my images vintage and keep an old aesthetic. I will continue to take images of a variety of petrol stations like Ruscha and edit them into a typology to create difference. I will slightly edit them to make it look as if I am using an old camera however this factor may be challenging as technology as evolved and is difficult to make it look not modern. Within Mitchell, my focused objective is to take images of old buildings and compare them with modern buildings such as a modern cinema, shops, churches and old housing. With Mitchell, I will not be editing my images completely due to the fact it is not the image that is old it is the subject. This creates a contrast between the two artists as they are both obtaining an old aesthetic however in a varied way. A similarity I will be executing is the front on from far away point of view so the viewers can see the whole aspect. A large feature that is different is the time these were took and the choice of colours. I will be keeping my images in relation to Ruscha black and white and Mitchells in colour so I obtain my clear aim and succeed in my objective.
Where?
My work with Ruscha is specified as it is targeted towards petrol stations due to the carbon footprint which links to the Anthropocene. Furthermore, my plan is go around everywhere in the island to take multiple images. However, my plan with Mitchell is to focus in St. Helier as I believe it has the oldest features of every day life. However, it may be challenging to find old aesthetic factors as everything is evolving to be modern. Therefore, to make it easier and more accessible I will compare modern and vintage buildings to create variety.
Why?
In particular, I have chosen these artists in relation to the Anthropocene because I wanted to photograph the causes rather than the outcome and consequences. This is why I chose Ruscha due to the fact petrol has one of the largest carbon footprints and effect air pollution massively. So instead of completely showing the viewers the effect, I will be making viewers think deeply about every day factors people use and execute without giving it a second thought. I have chosen Mitchell to show the materials and the effect of evolving to more modern features due to building and the use of materials etc.
