This picture that Stephan Shore took shows the difference of man made and natural settings. In this photograph, there are lots of bright colours, red, white and blue. These colours symbol the American flag and shows that the picture is all about America. This picture has also got several petrol stations which could resemble the amount of cars used in the country. This is significant as during the industrial revolution which spread from Britain to America in the late 19th century, cars became extremely popular. This was a major thing across the world because it was such an extortionary thing to be made. However, in this day cars are what are destroying our planet and people try to use different transport instead of cars because of the pollution. Stephan Shore tried to express the idea that in the industrial part of the photograph is what is destroying the natural land in the background of the photograph.
New topographic photography was a technique that was predominantly black and white landscape images which were being taken as if it was being surveyed from afar. New topographic was a term made by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers. This included Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz and they all had a general name to describe them all as one because their photography had a similar banal aesthetic, they were mostly black and white images of urban landscapes. However Stephan Shore was the only topographical photographer who took his images in colour.
The new Topographic was a reflection of the increasingly suburbanised world around them and a reaction of the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated of the natural and the elemental.
Exposure Bracketing is where a sequence of pictures with different exposures are taken, these are then blended together to create a photo with a much higher dynamic range. It makes all the details of the photograph stand out so that you can create the exact image you had in your head. Exposure Bracketing is beneficial for landscape photography because it accentuates the dark darks and the light lights. Exposure bracketing it useful for this because in one photograph it isn’t possible to get both light and dark exposures at one time.
For exposure bracketing you should always have at least two photographs that are the exact same image but with a different level of exposure. A tripod would be good to use to get stable images that are all the same to ensure that exposure bracketing is easy to do.
For this, I went onto photoshop and selected “Merge to HDR pro” to enable me to select the 3 photos I was using. I then merged these together to create a very detailed picture where all the colours were extremely vibrant and detailed. This can also be done in Adobe Light room to merge the photos together.
Exposure Bracketing links back to Ansel Adams, this is because he also had complete control of the exposure.
Ansel Adams was a photography born in San Francisco in 1902. During the 20th century. In April 1902, there was a big earthquake in San Francisco that caused the death of around 3,000 people. Ansel Adams broke his nose during this earthquake and caused his face to be disfigured, this caused him to be extremely shy in school because he was insecure about his injury. His dad moved him schools several times however Adams was never happy or settled which then meant his dad home-schooled him so that he could be comfortable in his own home. Adams was really into music and he loved to play the piano, however as the years went on he realised he would never become a professional musician. For his 14th birthday he received a camera called a box brownie which he was extremely pleased with. He first visited Yosemite National Park when he was 14 and he admired the views of all the mountains and the cliffs. He started to take photos of the views and he would climb cliffs to get a perfect picture from a high point. He had visuals of what he wanted the photographs to look like however he never achieved these pictures until he used a red lens and increase the shutter speed, after doing this he created his perfect picture and was extremely satisfied. Him and his friend, Fred Archer created something called the zone system :
Which splits the full range from black to white into 11 separate zones. This helped him in his photography because he would determine where each zone fits into his image.
In 1927, Adams became the trip photographer for the Sierra club which protected the wildlife and the nature of the Sierra Nevada and is now the biggest and oldest environmental organisation in the united states. After this, his role in the Sierra Club rapidly got more important and he started organising hikes and talks about the Sierra Nevada and his first photographs and writings became published on the clubs bulletin. He started to become very involved in the political side of the Clubs activities and was suggesting proposals for improving parks and wilderness areas and became a representative for the National Yosemite Park.
Later on in his life he was known best for his landscape photography and was often known as the “Father of landscape photography”. He took most of his landscape photography in Yosemite National Park because he was extremely moved by the experience he had when he visited the place for the first time. Adams photography is unique because of the realist style he uses to portray Yosemite National Park as it appears, whether as other landscape photographers use a pictorialist style to create an artistic image.
I really like Ansel Adams photography because it is very eerie and dark however it is also beautiful and graceful in its own way. This clearly links to the romanticism sublime because it is a very intriguing picture with several different aspects of beauty however the darkness makes the viewers feel nervous and anxious as there is no clear story of what is happening in the picture. To link to enlightenment, we can see that the picture is intended to be a picture that is negative because of the dull colours and the tone of colour on the trees and the mountains, this is contradicting as this picture is of a place he used to visit when he was young and it means something to Ansel Adams and it brings him joy and happiness when he is there because of the nostalgic feeling he gets.
Edward Weston
Edward Weston was an American photographer in the early to mid-20th century, he was best known for his careful composed, sharply focussed images of natural forms and landscapes. On his 16th birthday he was gifted a camera, this influenced him to start taking photos. Weston once said, take a picture of something ordinary, and make it extraordinary.
Romanticism is a movement in art and literature that organised in the late 18th century emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity and the primacy of an individual.
Romanticism came about as a response to the disillusionment with the enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French revolution. In romance art, nature has been a big part of the movement because of its uncontrollable power, unpredictability and the potential catastrophic extremes.
Romanticism is the attitude, ideals and feelings which are romantic rather than realistic. Romanticism is the celebration of an individual and the glorification of nature.
What is the Romantic Sublime ?
The sublime is both beautiful and terrifying in its power or potential darkness. Artists explored the sublime in depth through art using paintings and drawings of the imagination, however they could often turn into nightmares. Natural landscapes were mighty and nice to look at and people admired the aesthetics but they were always dangerous.
Humans respect nature and admire the natural land that has been made and we also feel connected to nature, which some people think it is through our historic past. But we also destroy nature for example by cutting down trees and polluting the air, we as humans, do not take enough care for the beautiful world we live in and we take it for advantage which therefore ruins what nature gives us. This could be an argument whether humans have enough respect for the nature that it deserves or whether we take it for granted.
Include Edmund Burke was known from the sublime “the strongest passion” he took an extreme liking to romance and belittled the idea of beautiful. Edmund Burke’s theory about romanticism was that he claimed it was merely an instance of prettiness.
John Constable
Who is John Constable ?
John Constable was a very famous English landscape photographer in the early 19th century. He was best known for his paintings of the English countryside, especially paintings of the River Stour which was an area that soon after became known as “Constable Country”.
John Constables art was known for having natural appearances
Landscape is all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal. Landscape commonly involves daylight photography of natural features. It is a broad genre that includes many different styles and techniques.
16th Century
Landscape emerged as a genre in Western culture during the Renaissance (A period of time in between the medieval and modern times) in the 16th century.
Albrecht altdofer – 16th century
Add details of how Landscape developed as a genre from:
After the fall of the roman empire, the tradition of depicting pure landscapes declined, this meant landscapes changed, and they were only seen as purposeful and meaningful if they were a setting for religious and figural scenes. This continued until the 16th century until photographers began to view landscapes as their own subjects.
– 16th Century during the renaissance,
– through to 17th century when classical landscape evolved
– and through to 18th/19th century when it became more popular. Add images from relevant artists to break it up.
There is everything you need for this in this link
Butterfly lighting is when there is a shadow on the face just below the nose shaped like a butterfly. It is a technique used by many photographers to achieve a very elegant and sophisticated image.
As you can see in this image, Butterfly lighting is achieved by placing the studio light above the photographers head pointing down toward the subject which is the model in this case. The reflector needs to be below the models face to allow the light to reflect upwards to which will create a more defined shadow underneath the nose.
My butterfly lighting portraits
Rembrandt lighting
Rembrandt lighting is where there is a triangle of light seen below the eye. Photographers use this lighting because it creates a dramatic yet natural image.
As you can see from the image above, to achieve Rembrandt lighting the studio light needs to be at one side of the model in this case the right side and the reflector needs to be facing the model at an angle on the opposite side. The model must also be facing the studio light slightly to achieve the triangle under the eye.
My Rembrandt lighting portraits
I reall
Chiaroscuro Lighting
Chiaroscuro lighting is a high-contrast lighting technique that utilises a low-key lighting setup to achieve contrast between the model and the dark background. Photographers use chiaroscuro lighting to highlight the model and create depth to the background.
As you can see in the image above, to achieve the chiaroscuro lighting the subject needs to be facing straight in front of the camera and there neds to be a fill light on the right of the subject and a key-light to the right of the subject.
My chiaroscuro lighting pictures
I really like how the chiaroscuro pictures came out. I like how the model in the picture is highlighted and the background is extremely dark. However if I was to do it again I would aim to make the models face slightly brighter to really create the contrast between the highlights and the shadows.
For this photoshop idea,I decided to cut out my original picture into different shapes and lay them out on a black background. I used the polygonal lasso tool to cut out shapes of this photo.
I then placed them in different positions to create a circle shape. I really like how the image turned out because it infers that some people are too scared to reveal wo they really are because of different culture wars. They may feel like they don’t fit in anywhere because they are different to the stereotypical “normal” person.
I decided to recreate my photoshop edit because I figured there was too much going on all at once so I created a more simple but affective image.
For this image, I decided to put the photograph of the girl behind the layer on top. I made the layer on top pink with the paint bucket tool because I thought that it would be creative to make it the stereotypical colour for girls. I then used the polygonal lasso tool to start cutting out different shapes on the pink layer on top. Once I had made a shape, I selected layer via cut to allow me to remove the shape to see the different features of the girl in the picture behind. I repeated this step to create this image. Personally, I really like how this final image came out because its tells a story of people being too scared to come out with who they really are and they hide behind a façade they put up so people cant see in.
If I were to do it again I would create a similar image however I would add a drop shadow to create an illusion of the different parts of the face trying to come out of the shapes.
For these photographs, I was inspired by a stylistic artist called Adele. Adele is a UK-based photographer from surrey, her work examines how society, influence and power interact with identity. Her work explores the ever-shifting and fluid boundaries between who we feel we are in any one moment and the parts of ourselves that we feel we need to change or hide from others in order to feel a sense of safety and belonging.
This is a picture of her work
2nd Identity Edit
For this photoshop edit, I decided to use a picture of me putting lip gloss on in the mirror. I used the quick selection tool to select only my lips and the lip gloss. After I had carefully selected the parts I wanted, I made the background black and white and levelled the background to make the lips pop out even more. I then decided to use the blending and smudging tool on the outline of my lips so that the line wasn’t too harsh.
My reasoning behind this image, is to show that most girls feel as though they cannot leave the house with makeup on. The black background shows how some girls feel dull and ugly without makeup. The pop of colour of the lip gloss shows that girls really come out their shell when they have makeup on. Makeup is a really good thing because it extenuates a girls natural beauty, however on the other hand a girl should not feel as though she has to wear it to make her look pretty because everyone is pretty in their own way.
For this idea I was inspired by Cindy Sherman
This is one of many photographs of Cindy Sherman’s photographs. I was particularly intrigued by this photograph because as you can see she is wearing a lot of makeup, though the reasonings for our photographs are different, I wanted to have my own take on the idea of makeup. She uses this makeup to identify herself as a movie character which also means that she is wearing the makeup to hide her original identity which is why I have chosen to do my photoshop edit.
For these photographs, I decided to create the idea that woman can have masculine traits and still be feminine. As you can see the photos of the girls backs show that a woman’s back can come across as very woman-like and elegant, however just because a woman wears baggy clothes or men’s clothes, it does not mean they do not have the elegant woman-like.
Cindy Sherman is an American artist who created self-portraits in different contexts to portray the different stereotypes of woman. She was extremely interested in experimenting in different identities. She would create different images with props that she has deliberately chosen to resembles movie characters. She continued to create different photographs to show the diversity of different people and different human stereotypes.
Cindy Sherman’s artwork encourages people to reflect on how society moulds and imposes gender onto people. Cindy Sherman’s artwork is interpreted as feminist as her artwork raises questions about the objectification of woman and how men see them.
