This photoshoot was inspired by Walker Evans and Darren Harvey Regan. We were experimenting with singular tools at first like Evans did, as he successfully portrays the significance of them through capturing one tool at a time. This is effective as it signals to the viewer the importance of the tool, and overall how useful they are in everyday life. In order to make these photos look productive, I ensured I had perfected the lighting set up and background, by going to the studio and capturing my photos from a birds eye view. Then I used my own imagination with no inspiration and took photos of multiple tools together which allows the viewers focal point to flow through each object in the image. I ensured to keep my background plain and neutral so the importance of the tools are still prominent.

Walker Evans – Beauty of the Common Tool – 1955.

Walker Evans was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work documenting The Great Depression. He was born on November 3rd, 1905, and passed away April 10th, 1975. His most characteristic images show American still life through outdoor advertising, the beginning of its automobile culture and domestic interiors.

Evans captured simple and flat, man-made objects with little shadowing to show the significance of the objects and valuing them. This adds a dark, old and almost scary feel to his images. Additionally, he doesn’t use much colour in his work, it is mainly based on shadows which helps create the common dull theme. He captures photos with a narrow depth of field to keep the viewers eye focused on the tools in his images, which prevents distraction.

My interpretation of Formalism:

Darren Harvey Regan –

Darren Harvey Regan is a photographer born in 1974, in Exeter. He was interested in the idea that photographs do not just exist to show things, but are physical things that become objects themselves. Regan was heavily inspired by Walker Evans after his portfolio “Beauty of the Common Tool” was released in 1955. Regan took inspiration from this, and began capturing valuable, man-made tools to signify the importance of them in day-to-day life. I believe Regan’s work is unique to other photographers, as he merged 2 tools together for creativity. He merged a wrench with a pair of pliers, and a Mason’s trowel with a pair of scissors. This was effective for the viewer because it is more intriguing than one tool in an image. It also makes us question what the relation is between the two tools and why the artist captured them together.

With this specific image, Regan successfully shows the value of the tool in his image by using a white background with no shadow. This also contrasts to Evan’s work as he often corporates shadows to show the depth of the tools. This could represent the fact he has modernised his photos.

Today we opened up Adobe Lightroom and created a new collection called “Tools”. I then selected all my photos of tools that I took in yesterdays lesson, and ranked them based on how good they are and how accurate they are to the inspired artist’s. This gives us a good idea on which images we would like to use in the future on projects etc. The images that are ranked green are my best photos, they are the ones I like the most and will definitely use in projects etc. The yellow images are the ones that I could potentially still use, however improvements could be made. For example, most of my yellow images do not have good angles, or are slightly blurry. The photos that I ranked red are ones I will not be using in my projects.

In photography, I use a DLSR Canon camera to take photos, because it ensures they all have good quality and there are various different ways I can adjust my images. This camera is extremely beneficial for photography as it allows me to change the shutter speed, ISO and aperture.

• The shutter speed is the length of time from the moment the shutter opens and this then allows light into the camera. A fast shutter speed will create a short exposure, whereas as a slower shutter speed will create a long exposure. This is because the shutter is open for a longer period of time which allows more light into the camera.
• The aperture is the opening of the lens’s diagram through which light passes through. Having a smaller aperture creates a sharper image.
• The ISO ( International standard organization) is an image sensitivity in a numerical value. Having a higher ISO can lower the quality of your photo and degrade is which will cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy”.

We used this app to begin experimenting with different apertures, shutter speeds and ISO, which was helpful because it allowed us to decide which ones look best for each specific photo. We then could apply these skills to when we actually use the cameras, which saves time and we could identify which ones would benefit the photos most.

Aperture

Aperture controls the size of the lens opening which allows light into your camera.

Opening the lens more or having a low f-stop number (e.g. f/1.4) blurs the background/foreground around your subject. This is known as a shallow depth of field.

Keeping the lens more closed or having a high f-stop number (e.g. f/16) keeps the photo sharp throughout. This is known as a wide depth of field.

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed is the amount of time the shutter is open to expose the image sensor to light.

Slow shutter speeds expose more light to the image sensor so still objects will have more detail and moving objects will appear to have more motion/be blurry.

Faster shutter speeds means less light is exposed to the image sensor and moving objects appear more still.

ISO

The ISO of a camera selects how much light the image sensor detects.

Too much light on a sunny day can cause overexposed shots so a lower ISO would be preferred.

Too little light in a shady room or day can cause grainy images.

The general rule is to use the lowest ISO possible to get the most detail possible.

Exposure Meter

 The Exposure Meter is your final check before you snap a shot. It shows you how well your aperture, ISO and shutter speed are working together. It is used as a guide to show exposure.

There are seven basic elements to photographic art in formalism. Formalism is that photographers have to impose order, bring structure to what they photograph. ” A photograph without structure is like a sentence without grammar.”

These formal and visual elements (such as line, shape, repetition, rhythm, balance etc.) are shared with other works of art. But photographs also have a specific grammar – flatness, frame, time, focus etc. 

The seven basic elements of formalism are:

Line – line is one of the most important elements considered in photography, as they guide the eye around the image. improper arrangement of lines can take away the strength of the subject matter of the photo. 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.

Shape – shape in photography is the 2D appearance of objects captured by the camera. Shape can be highly influenced by the lighting of your photo: by taking a photo where the shape is emphasised, place the lighting either directly in front or behind the object. There are two basic types of shapes: geometric (or regular) and organic.

Form – form refers to when shape takes on 3D. Form is created by shadows and highlights on an object in the photograph. Form is very important, because without the 3d effect, most images can look flat and dull.

Texture – texture in photography refers to the visual quality of the surface of an object, revealed through a variety of colour, tone and depth. texture brings life and vibrancy to images which would otherwise appear uninspiring and perhaps boring.

Colour – colour is one of the main compositions a photographer can use in their images, as other elements such as tone and mood are dependent on it. How a photographer combines various colours in their work has an influence on how the viewer looks at the image, and how they evoke emotion.

Size – size in photography is the term given to describe the height and width of an image, although it can be manipulated by the camera. Larger camera sensors gather more light, which is excellent for low light photography.

Depth – simply, depth of field in photography is how much your image is in focus. It is the photographers job to tell a story through their images, so how the image is focused is important for the photographer to consider. If an object is close to the camera and is in focus, the photographer is telling the viewer where to look.

Examples of Formalism:

These images are great examples of formalism in photography, as they portray abstract reality by eliminating social and spatial context. This means the viewer is able to focus on only the object in the image and will not get distracted by the background.

Formalism Poster:

Q1. Where and when did still life originate?

• The early 1600s from Dutch and Northern European paintings

Q2. What does colonialism mean?

• Control by one power over a dependent area or people

Q3. How did colonialism impact the still life?

• It introduced new materials and techniques.

Q4. what do you see in early still life paintings?

• Variety of foods, flowers and occasionally skulls.

Q5. What could they symbolize?

• They could symbolize wealth and power in some cases and others maybe death, and lack of time which is shown in the paintings with skulls and or hourglasses.

Still Life Mood Board:

What is Still Life in photography?

Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. It gives you the opportunity to experiment with light, materials, textures and subjects in a controlled setting.

The term ‘still life’ comes from the Dutch word ‘still-even’ and is popular genre in photography, which captures many inanimate objects. It originated from Dutch colonialism where the Dutch would take objects such as fruit from other countries, and photograph them to show their wealth and value. Often, the most common objects captured in still life is fruit or flowers, as they portray wealth and success.

Introduction to Still Life:

The term ‘still life’ comes from the Dutch word ‘still-even’ and is popular genre in photography, which captures many inanimate objects. It originated from Dutch colonialism where the Dutch would take objects such as fruit from other countries, and photograph them to show their wealth and value. Often, the most common objects captured in still life is fruit or flowers, as they portray wealth and success. Still Life photography is useful because it gives modern day photographers an insight of photography from several years ago, and allows them to recreate and expand on others work. Many still life photographers include objects such as fruits, flowers and jewellery or skulls in their work, as it adds an ancient effect. Additionally, most still life photographers use dark lighting and backgrounds to take their photos, which makes the images look eerie and creepy.

Still Life Mind map of ideas:

Objects:

• Pearls
• Gold
• Flowers
• Jewellery
• Can place lots of small objects together to create one big object

Fruits:

• Fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges can be placed on a black cloth to give a still life effect, usually in abnormal arrangements
• Both new and old fruits can be placed in the same image to show a sequence of aging, this adds a sense of realism.

Nature:

• Nature is often incorporated into still life photography, through the use of different leaves/ flowers etc
• Leaf arrangement
• Variety of colours, shapes and sizes in plants

Background:

• Most photographers use a dark background, sometimes a black cloth to emphasise the darkness. This prevents the viewer from being distracted by the objects.

Some examples of still life photography and research behind them:

Paulette Tavormina:

Paulette Tavormina is an American still-life photographer who was born and works in New York. She is best known for her series, Natura Morta, which is inspired by 17th century Dutch and Spanish painters. Her interest in photography grew in the 1900s, and has progressed ever since.

Olivia Parker:

Olivia Parker is a Manchester based, American still-life photographer. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1941. Parker began her career as a painter, but quickly turned her attention to photography by creating photographic assemblages of natural objects.

Still Life Image Analysis:

Here is a still life image that I have chosen to analyse. I chose this photo because it has lots of different objects in it, rather than just a few of the same thing. This makes it eye-catching for the viewer, and leaves them questioning the objects in the image. In this photo, the lighting is natural, therefore it is quite bright. This differs from other photographers still life work because a common theme in this genre is dark and dull lighting, which sets a mysterious mood throughout. This is interesting because clearly the photographer wants to highlight an eerie theme in the photo.

The black cloth that the objects are placed on also looks very old and creased, which adds to the mystery and seems as if the photographer has tried to make the photo look ancient. This is effective because it inspires modern day photographers and shows them what ancient photography was like.

The artist has also used common objects in this image such as fruits, skulls and nature. These three combined immediately set an intimidating and eerie mood to the photo, and can make the viewer quite uncomfortable. The angle that this photograph was taken at is also unnatural. This is because all of the objects are arranged in a specific way, where they are all slightly tilted to the side rather than being straight on from the camera. Overall, I think I could create similar images to these photographers by going to the studio, using a dark background and dim lighting to capture an irregular arrangement of a variety of objects.