What is Romanticism ?

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.

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17th Century

Classical landscape emerged as a genre :

Nicolas poussin – 17th century

Pierre -henri de valenciennes – 18th century

Theodore Rousseau – 19th century

Ansel Adams – 20th century

Butterfly Lighting

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.

I really like Cindy

What is masculinity?

Masculinity involves attitudes and behaviours that signify and validate maleness.

4 types of masculinity:

Hegemonic – Men power over woman

Complicit – Not physically strong but shows traits of hegemonic masculinity

Marginalized – Racial identity other than white, or poor men.

Subordinate masculinities – Men who do not fit in with the hegemonic masculinity and therefore are treated as lower on the gender hierarchy

Different stereotypes of masculinity :

Self sufficiency – Men should figure out things by themselves without help of others

Acting Tough – Men should always defend their reputation and be willing to use physical aggression to do so

Physical Attractiveness – A man should be physically attractive but do it effortlessly

Men are stereotypically seen as big and strong, they are seen to protect their family and to make money to support their family. However not all men are like this, these days men can be perceived in lots of different ways.

Femininity also called womanliness is a set of attributes, behaviours and roles that generally associate with woman and girls. Some behaviours that are considered feminine are influenced by both cultural and biological factors.

Some factors of femininity are :

• Gracefulness
• Gentlness
• Empathy
• Humility
• Sensitivity

These are all stereotypical factors of femininity, however some woman will not show these characteristics because not every woman is the same and they may feel different about different situations to to others. Woman are stereotyped to be seen as more weak than boys and are seen to be more gentle and understanding instead of taking control of a situation.

Around 1950, woman were told they had to stay at home and do the cleaning, cooking and to look after the kids whilst the husband went to work and earned the money for the family. Woman were also objectified and seen as a males property rather than a human being. This is not acceptable now and woman should not be told they have to stay at home to do those things, woman are now able to go to work and also earn money to support the family.

Nowadays, there are many woman who don’t feel as though they fit into the category of the stereotypical woman and feel as though they have to transgender because they feel more comfortable in a males body. There has been a lot of discussion lately about transgender people all over the world because those who feel they want to transgender want to be accepted as how they are and what they feel is right for them.

Identity

Identity is the characteristics that determine who or what you are. It is how you define who you are and also how others define you. When you figure out your identity you can form strong, meaningful connections with others and also helps you to communicate with people. It is important to recognise how you identify to be able to love yourself and to be confident and learn to accept who you are.

Social Identity

The 8 social identities are :

• Ability
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Sexual Orientation
• Socioeconomic status

Social identity is how people categorize themselves into a social group and how the perceive themselves in relation to society and the options of different social groups. Social identity influences how people see themselves and how they interact with others.

Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is the distinct identities of people or groups in cultural or subcultural categories and social groups. It gives people identification with a sense of belonging with a certain group of people based on the different cultural categories including nationality, ethnicity, race, gender and religion. People express their cultural identity through clothes, food, festivals, music and art.

Geographical Identity

Geographical identity is when a person or group of people feel a sense of attachment to a country, region or the village in which they live in.

Identity politics

Identity politics is a form of art that focuses on exploring the concept of identity. It is almost always personal and allows them to express their experiences, emotions and beliefs. It can also be a way to explore different social and cultural issues that relate to :

• Race
• Religion
• Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Social background
• Caste
• Social class

Culture Wars

Culture wars are a type of cultural conflict between two or more social groups who struggle to politically express their feelings or what they believe in. In 1980s culture wars flared up and there was a rising movement of conversations that American society had lost its way. The main problem of these culture wars was there was a decline of cultural and moral values instead of economic or political issues.

Identity Art:

An early example of identity in art is Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits who wanted to express her Mexican culture through art as well as the larger social and cultural issues. Her work challenged the traditional of woman in art which she created the idea that woman are portrayed as passive and decorative objects.

This is one of Frida Kahlo’s Artwork.

Identity art evolved throughout the 20th century and we saw Cindy Sherman use gender roles and stereotypes of men and woman and how they are portrayed so differently.

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.

The 20th and 21st centuries have been seen for artists and photographers to use political identity to portray there authentic life. Political identity is a huge part of our life today as we see it everywhere, whether its through artwork or other ways. This is beneficial for them to express their feelings of their identity to

gender identity / cultural identity / social identity / geographical identity / political identity / lack of / loss of identity / stereotypes / prejudices etc.