Photoshop

To create this virtual gallery I opened a blank gallery space in photoshop and each image to add separately. I opened all 4 images together and arranged them onto each wall. The two angled walls didn’t fit the image so I changed the perspective of each image. Then using the fx drop shadow I created a shadow under each image and made sure each one had the same.

Artsteps

Using Artsteps I created an empty room and opened up the same three photographs. I arranged these on the walls and sized them up since they loaded in really small. In this virtual gallery the side images looked better because in photoshop the perspective made the images look wonky. However the room I used in photoshop looks better because It has lights and a skirting board which makes the room feel more real. The room was also a little claustrophobic. I wouldn’t want it as wide as the photoshop room but somewhere in the middle which wont make the centre image look too small or big. It should frame it nicely. Maybe next time I could use Artsteps to get the perspective right and layer it on the photoshop layer.

Evaluation

Arrangements

I began this project with still-life arrangements were I used the infinity screen with a continuous studio light. The light was at an angle to the side so that the objects were well lit with shadows to create depth and variation. These was inspired by 1600 Dutch still life paintings so they included assortments of many different objects, sizes and colours.

The second photoshoot was inspired by modern still-life arrangements with one main focus and less going on. I used two pieces of card to replicate the table often holding the objects and got up close for a tighter frame.

When editing I had to rotate and crop the images especially in the second photoshoot because there was a horizontal line which was obviously not straight. I adjusted the white balance so the background was bright and clearly white.

I think I should have dulled colours and lighting to represent the aesthetic of he paintings and combined more objects into the arrangements. I would also like different levels of objects and cloths on tablesw with neutral colours and rustic wooden tables to look more like an old painting.

Singular

The singular tools were inspired by Walker Evans. They were household items in front of a plain background with simple overhead lighting to reduce shadows.

I edited these photographs in Lightroom with black and white pre-sets, exposure settings and white balance. To present them I used photoshop to over crop and add a boarder which is different to the inspiration but presents the photographs well.

I wasn’t able to raise each item like Walker Evans however with a lightbox there were no shadows. I should have photographed a wider variety of objects and not be limited to household tools. I could have found other shapes with more meaning to me like a hairbrush for example to take ownership over this project however it wouldn’t have been as much of a response to the artist.

Contact Sheet/Image Selection

For these images, I took them over a large, white piece of card whilst my Dad held up the torch. I set my camera settings to a fast shutter speed and auto ISO. The images which have been coloured green are the ones that I am going to be editing as they as the most clear and detailed.

Edits

To edit each of these photos, I cropped and rotated them and made them B&W, whilst also sometimes making adjustments to things such as exposure, texture and clarity, etc.

These are my final results:

Experimentation

I decided to try and imitate Darren Harvey-Regan’s work using my own photos, rather than Walker Evans’.

I did this by opening the images in Adobe Photoshop and using the Object Selection Tool to select the tools and remove them from their background.

I then cropped half of the tool and resized them so that they fit together.

These are my results:

Albert Reneger Paszch :

the new objectivity in photography In their main concern with portraying reality objectively, they tended to be associated with the Verists. Their works are characterized by the use of sharp angles, impartial perspectives, visual clarity, and order.

What Albert Reneger Paszch preferred to photograph :

a lot of his photographs are very nostalgic looking and give an ominous feel within his images as they are all in black and white and all create a sense of comfort as the buildings he photographs are very still as he takes still life images in the real world moments.

His photos :

Albert has a famous book named “the world is beautiful”.

his work relates to this as a lot of his work captures the natural beauty of the world and what its like in day to day life captured in a calming sense.

Still life

Still life tools

Virtual Gallery and evaluation

Evaluation:

My intentions for these photos was to produce a diverse set of photos that still followed the theme that I was asked to follow. For an example, for the still life arrangement of objects , I had a diverse set of objects yet they all connected to each other, how? well I wanted to create a mysterious/crime story with the arranged objects. The use of the hat was to show someone hiding their identity, the car to show that it can be used to flee, the class bottle like object was to show that maybe alcohol was involved, the food was to portray stolen goods, the candle was to imply that it was a dark crime and finally the animal was to show that an animal was involved in this dark crime.

For the tools I didn’t have a theme or story I wanted to show, I was inspired by Walker Evans work but I also wanted to corporate some of Darren Harvey-Regan work into my photoshoot. Like Walker Evans wanted to show was the simplicity yet beauties of common tools. I was able to show that. I took pictures of single tools, made sure that when I was editing them I was showing the details just like Walker yet I didn’t have the old look with my photos, I made them look more modern just like Darren’s by having a white and clear background instead of a black and white background like Walker.

I learnt a lot of things when it comes to practical. I learned how aperture, shutter speed and ISO is so important when taking photos. Setting them to the right setting is extremely important and is dependant on what types of photoshoots are being shoot. For an example if you want to photoshoot something that is moving, you should have a slower shutter speed. A lower shutter speed will also help create a darker scenery and having a higher shutter speed will illuminate the photo, increasing the lighting in the photo. If you are photographing a something, depending on how much or how little lighting there is, you should change the ISO. If the aperture is too low, the depth of field is low which is good for photos that are close ups but not good for photos that have need to be taken with a higher depth of field.

Theory wise, I learnt that almost everything, if not, everything has meaning when it comes to photography. When I was researching about the theory part in Still Life, I found out that in Northern European Renaissance was an idea that people love the pleasures of life, the things that make them feel important or wealthy, and yet it all means nothing because time soon passes and we die. Objects that were used to represent this was things like skulls which meant, ‘the certainty of mortality’ and burnt candles, ‘the passing of time’. Everything in photography has meaning. Although Still Life in before the 20th century meant various things, from the 20th and to 21st century, Still life is more of a reflection of an artists style and because of this Still Life paintings in the 20th century became more abstract and unrealistic images.

I learnt that most famous photographers photos expressed their views or shouted for ‘help’ using photography. For an example, Walker Evans, who was one of the photographer that we researched and had to produce photos based off of his work, was a talented photographer who expressed the effects of the depression and telling the story of the Americans in working class. His project. ‘beauties of common tools’, showed the simplicity yet hard working side of common tools. I think he did that to show people a different way of viewing working class. The working class are just like common tools, they are hard working yet they are so underappreciated. I strongly believe that, he was trying to show that with his project ‘beauties of common tools’. So I learnt photographer work always have some type of meaning, even if some have more depth than others.

Lastly, I learnt that presenting your project is very important because you provide a clear, detailed representation of what you want people to see your work as. If you don’t properly present your photos then its most likely that people won’t care for your work, but if you present your work with such creativity yet simplicity, it is more likely that people will appreciate your work and clearly see your vision.

These were the links that helped me understand more about the context of still life and links that inspired me to produce my final products.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm

https://prezi.com/broeh2z4cj4k/history-of-still-life-painting/

https://www.harveyregan.co.uk/

https://fotoform.co/walker-evans-beauties-of-the-common-tool#:~:text=Beauties%20of%20the%20Common%20Tool%3A%20a%20portfolio%20by%20Walker%20Evans,as%20the%20ordinary%20hand%20tool.

Walker Evans

about Walker Evens

Walker was an American photographer who was widely known for his farm security administration work. most of his work was done with 8 x 10 inch view camera (a large format). Evans said this about his images of tools

“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 ‘undersigned’ forms.”
Walker Evans

Walker Evans – Beauties of the common tool – 1955

Walker evens began photography in the 1920s and was very well known his black and white photos he liked to show of the shadows in his photos by using the low light technique.

to make his photos Evens decides to make an infinity background effect and uses an overhead light to make an sort of shadows that were supposed to be there disappear to focus purely just on the tools and nothing else hence why the shoot is named “the beauties of the common tool”. this allows all the texture and the details of the tools to come to light.

Daren Harvey-Regan

Beauties of the Common Tool, Rephrased II, 2013
Fibre-based handprint, mounted, wooden frame with museum glass

Harvey-Regan recreates Evens by taking tools and making them main interest of the photo but puts his own twist to it by taking apart tools and putting them backing together with a different piece. and as he was a more modern photographer he was able to have better lighting by using studio lights making the photo having no dark patches where as Evens did. this meant that Harvey-Regan was able to bring out more texture and clarity in his photos.

Comparison

the main difference between the two respected photos is the fact that the modern equipment is able to out perform the old equipment meaning its able to bring out more out of the tools giving its more texture and visual quality.

however they both have the same ideas

my person attempt

for this photo I decided to take inspiration from Harvey-Regan as i wanted to have no shadow to make the tool stand out more to show off its ruff texture.

Shutter Speed: 1/45

Aperture: 5.6

ISO Setting: 400

Good Exposure

This shutter speed gives you a great result.

Shallow Depth of Field

Your current aperture setting gives you a short or narrow depth of field. Notice how your subject is sharper than your background.

Invisible Motion

You are currently on a slow shutter speed. This will turn motion into a ghost in your photo.

This is all of the photos that I have taken so far in my study of still life. I have utilised the techniques that Still Life photographers and painters used, such as using objects like books to symbolise knowledge and wealth. The majority of the photos are singular objects where I have experimented with lighting and the positioning of the object in the frame. I used a variety of lighting to give different tones and tints to the photo and to add warmth or coldness to the picture. I also used a variety of backgrounds, such as an infinity curve and a flat background. Throughout all of the photoshoots, I kept the depth of field wide on all of the photos as I found through my study of Still Life that having every object in focus is a key element to Still Life photography. Some of these photos are a bit experimental, adding different and contrasting objects that usually would not be seen together, such as the wooden block and the painted cutlery.

Here are what I believe to be the best photos. Most of these are singular objects, with some experimental photos in there as well. There are a couple Walker Evans inspired photos in the bottom right. I have used lots of different backgrounds such as an infinity curve or just a flat white background. Not much editing was done to these photos, only slight changes to bring up the exposure of the image. I did this because the lack of colour in a photo generally gives it a very solid, still feeling.

This photo depicts what appears to be some kind of kitchen appliance like a meat grinder. It was taken using an infinity curve, which works well in this case as it looks as if there is no background at all. The photo lacks colour, which emphasises the aspects of still life as colour generally tends to bring a sense of movement, like something is going on in the photo, whereas here it is a still object. This photo was taken with a slow shutter as well, which further implies the stillness of the photo as a slow shutter means that the object cannot move. Older still life paintings used to depict flowers, books or skulls as metaphors for happiness, knowledge or death, but nothing significant derives from the kitchen appliance in this photo, which coupled with the drab colour scheme, puts further emphases on the stillness of the object.

In this photo, there is an object that appears to be some kind of flat tool which was used a very long time ago. This adds mystery to the photo immediately as it gives uncertainty to what the object actually is, where it has come from, what it does. This lack of context is prevalent in most still life photographs as still life is not about the context of the photo, but the content. Also, the object has a slight tilt, which adds another layer of uncertainty because it looks as if it will fall, but it doesn’t and remains still. The shutter on this photo was also slow, which applies further emphasis on the stillness of the object. The tool is rusted everywhere there is metal, which adds texture to the photo and also aids the photo in keeping a brown colour scheme. Although there is more colour in this photo compared to the previous one, the colours are still dull, which again depletes the photo of movement.

This photo was one of the more experimental ones out of all of the photoshoots, and it is the odd one out of all the selected photos because it features warm lighting, a few colours and has a shadow. I also wanted to include this photo because I felt that I needed to show how shadows can be used in still life. In this example, the shadow is used to stretch the object across the photo so that the frame doesn’t appear empty. The texture that appears on the wooden block also adds to the photo as it adds roughness to the otherwise smooth background. The painted cutlery also adds an interesting element as it removes the smoothness that would be on the spoon and replaces it with a gritty, unclean texture that, again, adds roughness to the smooth background.

This photo is one of the two out of the selection that is inspired by Walker Evans. It depicts a saw on a flat background. Nothing is happening in the photo, which makes it a perfect example of still life. There is no colour, the saw is only grey and black and the background is just flat white. The texture that appears on the saw gives the photo a rough feeling, but it also shows that this tool has been used a lot. This allows the viewer to question the context, despite there not being any context at all, it is just a saw on a flat background.

This photo depicts a wooden block used to hold scissors. This type of object usually appears in a classroom, which adds an element of nostalgia to the photo. Also, the texture of the wooden block, with the random splodges of paint and wear to the wood adds a worn element to the photo. Unlike the other photos taken with an infinity curve, this photo actually has a lot of colour. Despite this, the object continues to appear very still and solid. Also, the lighting is almost warm, which emphasises the brown colour of the wood and gives the photo a bit of vibrancy compared to the other ones.

This photo is the other example of a Walker Evans inspired photo. It features three paint brushes on a flat white background. In this case, the shape of the paintbrushes and the pattern that they are arranged give the photo an interesting quality. As well as this, the paintbrushes have clearly been used a lot as there is lots of remnants of dried paint on them. This also adds texture to the photo, as without it the paintbrushes would look new, which is counterintuitive to the still life photos that were taken by Walker Evans, as they tend to feature used tools with obvious marks or dents that clearly show signs of wear.

For this photoshoot I tried a few different techniques, for example I used plain backgrounds, textured backgrounds (using a cloth or cardboard), different exposure levels and lighting. However, all these photos where taken using a top down camera setup. I used common basic tools without context behind them because the photos are meant to show only the object, which are designed for functionality, not for form. The concept of ‘form follows function’ can make the object beautiful in a sense as they ae not trying to be anything else. This is why Walker Evans kept the photos very basic just like the tools he was taking photos of.

Here, 4 images of common tools are laid out over a sheet (the top image is unedited). The camera settings where all the same (f/10, exposure time 1/40, iso-100). I used a low iso so the images will be more crisp. For the editing process, I created a present and used that for all the images:

These where taken using the same setup just with a different background. The editing was using the same present as the ones above. The top images is unedited and has a purple hue due to the lighting used. I prefer more yellow and orange hues for images trying to show a nostalgic effect so I just bumped up the temperature.

Here are some of the images from the photoshoot in B/W. Walker Evans took his photos in B/W because it was still normal to have B/W photos. B/W photos also means that colour will not almost distract the image for what it is, making it seem raw and pure. It also amplifies negative space (parts of image without subject), giving a more dramatic image.

Here is an image of multiple tools placed randomly, for the editing:

I wanted to give some variety to the photos I have already edited by using inspiration from Walker Evans to show the black and white effects he used in his work.

still life –

The objects I used for this image definitely gave me the feeling of nostalgia and age, so I wanted to accentuate that by giving it a black and white feeling to it. I lowered the contrast and reduced the vibrancy by changing the shadows and highlights to give the black and white effect.

I also put a mask over the photo to make the black and white feel more retro and older. I wanted to change the warm lighting used in the original photo without using one of my cool lighted photos, so I did this by adding this mask over the photo.

For this photo, I did somewhat the same thing as the Still Life photo but instead of heightening and lowering the shadows and highlights, I found a more prominent black and white mask to go over the photo.

I did however change the clarity of the photo making it slightly higher to give the photo some definition. After adding the mask, I was playing around with the highlights and lowlights again and decided to heighten the highlights slightly just to make the photo a little bit lighter.