Bernd and Hilla Becher

Hilla and Bernd Becher are key names in the photography typology world. Their aim was to preserve landscape especially buildings soon to be demolished. They tried to capture disappearing subjects to document the changing world and how that period of history’s landscapes stood out as it as the building of the country after WW2. They were married from 1961and travelled together in a VW campervan taking images.

They used a large format camera to take the shots however it was time consuming as it would only take one shot at a time. They took 8 different angles of each of the structures they photographed. Hilla reports being inspired by looking at biology books specifically by Karl Blossfeldt who created a book of images of dried plants on a white background for his art students to draw pencil drawings from.

Hilla and Bernd Becher aimed to recreate the style of photography with the white background and grey tones in the buildings to contrast the background. If the lighting was too bright they would wait for a cloud or another day or a different season. They wanted for it to be a grey day for less shadows and white sky in background. The Bechers put the images together in a grid pattern to show similar patterns in architecture.

They ended their photography career with the legacy of being opposed to romanticising. Make realistic images “as close to what the subject wanted to be” and inspired many to look differently at what photography could represent and be a form of documentation and art simultaneously.

Fort the last typology I thought it looked good in both black and white and colour

I made a virtual gallery to display the photos side by side and chose a dark wall to be able to see the borner better.

Comparison

What is Topographics?

New Topographics began in 1975 after the American war describing the photography style of a group of American photographers who took photos capturing human relationship between manmade and natural landscapes. The style of photography looks to present unromanticised and almost ugly depictions of the landscape to criticise the development of architecture and comment of the contextual going ons of the time such as after the war there was a spike in baby’s being born called the baby boom as fertility rates went up in many countries and numbers of people settling and having children also increased.

This style of photography often does not include humans within the photos and challenge the boundaries of beauty within landscapes. The group of eight photographers selected by William Jenkins, an art and photography critic. Each photographer produced 10 prints each and consisted of  Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott,  Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel, Jr. Along with a German couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher. The images were displayed in a small exhibition at The George Eastman House.

Robert Adams

Robert Adams was born on May 8th in 1937 in New Jersey. During his early life his family moved around often before settling in Wheat Ridge, Colorado in 1952. Growing up he had many health problems such as many allergies and asthma he also contracted polio at age 12 but was able to recover. Despite this Adams enjoyed sports hiking and walking in nature and spending time with his family. He was also a part of the boy scouts and worked in national parks and spent time reading and visiting art museums with his sister.

In 1955 Adams attended the University of Colorado but then went on to transfer to the University of Redlands and received a BA in English before attending the University of Southern California and graduated with a PhD in English language.

He first began his photography career in 1963 where he bought his first camera and began to study how to use a camera and learnt photographic technique from a photographer living in the area . in 1970 he began working full time as a photographer after the Museum of Modern Art bought 4 of his prints.

Technical

The lighting is natural daylight as the image is taken outside from what looks to be up on a hill. The photographer has framed the horizon line using the rule of thirds so that the buildings take up two thirds of the image. The mountain/hill is in the background however is more centered to still bring viewers attention to it despite it not being in the foreground.

Visual

The image is in black and white showing how Adams sees the place as boring and barren. However, there is many different variant tones of light and dark throughout. The shape of the blocky square shapes of the caravans contrast the smooth round shape of the hill/mountain and draws the viewer’s eye to the modernism of the time clashing with the environment. The mix of leading lines crossing over one another of how the road is pointing right and the caravans are pointing left shows how he sees the town as a mess and as a wrong place to be.

Contextual

Taken in the 19th century. During this time in America it was after WW2 and though America was not suffering with rebuilding the city there were many deaths of young men fighting

Conceptual

He was trying to bring truth to the idealistic misconception of the American dream and how the crisis of mental health and the poor quality of life of the civilians was being ignored by the government and was still encouraging people to move away to very rural areas. He attempted to make the people understand the nationalism propaganda they were being fed was not the truth. As well as discouraging the uglier architecture built in natural surrounding landscapes which in his opinion was ruining views and American landscapes.

Lewis Baltz

Born in Newport Beach, California on the 12th of September 1945 Lewis Baltz’ passion for photography began when he was just 11 years old with his first camera being a 35mm focusing camera. He described seeing photography as “Magic” when he first began, in an interview with David Campany. Influenced by famous artists such as Edward Weston and Wright Morris. He was most known for his works of black and white images of suburban landscapes as he tried to resist against industrialisation the false presentation of the “American Dream”. In 1975 his work was displayed in the original New Topographics exhibition mentioned previously in this post. At age 26 in 1971 he graduated from the San Francisco Art Institution after attending to avoid military service in Vietnam and had his first solo exhibition in the same year presented at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Two years later received his MFA from Claremont Graduate School. He taught photography at multiple schools including Yale and the Art Academy of Helsinki. He was motivated by American politics of the time as funding was cut from the arts by figures such as Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Baltz began creating works to criticise and bring focus to how the seeable and physical world was reflecting what was happening daily and the powers guiding them in their country as scenery began to become bland and shallow. He also explored how new technologies were being misused especially types such as security cameras and CCTV. He left America for France in 1989 and continued travelling extensively. Following this he changed his photography style from black and white to coloured stating it was a shift from looking at the past to the future as well as

My Lewis Baltz Inspired Images

Compare and contrast

There is similarities in our work for example the use of repetitive square patterns throughout. Such as the geometric angles of in Lewis Baltz work of the metal carriers and the windows in my work and the square fan on the outside of the buildings. They’re also similar in the black and white tones of them however Lewis Baltz has a more vintage purple tinge to it which could be due to the inkjet he’s used to print compared to my computer generated B&W. A difference in the images is images are mostly comprised of the man made subjects however my work has nature in the background in small proportions such as the branches in the background and though Baltz has the sky in his I don’t know if it was intended or if he just wanted a plain grey background. Another aspect which is similar is there isn’t much texture in either image as the buildings are quite flat and plain. The layout is also more or less the same with both of us using the rule of thirds with the placement of the squares being on one side of the image, mine on the left side and Baltz on the right as well as the horizontal lines across the images. Also the depth of field is similar with similar distance in the foreground to the subject.

Stephen Shore

Born October 1947 Shore is from a Jewish family who ran a handbag company living in New York. At 6 years old he was gifted his first Kodak dark room set from a family member. From there Shore was self taught and studied photography through books until age 4 when his work was bought by the Museum of Modern Art NY. At age 18 Shore began working at Andy Warhol’s studio where he’d spend his time for the next two years. Shore also had a solo exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1971. It was in the 1970’s where Stephen Shore gained his title as a major colour photographer all of his images were shot using a large format camera and used kodacolor-X giving a high colour quality. Shore eventually published his book Uncommon Places in 1982.

Technical

The lighting is natural daylight. Shore used many different types of cameras such as 35mm hand held cameras and then switched to a 4X5″ view camera and then a 8×10 format camera.

Visual

The use of capturing the red white and blue colours are to represent the american flag colours. The photo is taken at eye level to show what the day to day surroundings of an American citizen would look like. The use of different leading lines such as the pavement pointing to the mountains in the distance.

Contextual

Shore was mostly self taught however was influenced by Andy Warhol through his time working with him. The state of America of the mid 1970’s and how many were struggling with mental health along with the economic state of the country being poor with inflation and government spendings on the Vietnam war along with the 1973 Oil crisis which could be why Stephen Shore chose a petrol station as his photographic subject.

Conceptual

Stephen Shore wants to comment on the landscape of the time but also the state of America of the mid 1970’s as previously explained. The leading lines drawing the viewer to the mountains in the back conceptually means that that is what the true landscape should look like instead of the endless stretching concrete. He does this to show humanities effect on the environment.

My Stephan Shore Inspired Photos

 

Fact File

• Romanticism began in the 18th century​
• 3 key elements to romanticism in art is imagination, emotion and individualism​
• It is the contrast to rationalism and order​
• It was originally inspired by the political and economic atmosphere during 1798 with inspirations such as the French revolution evolving​
• In modern times realism has taken over from romanticism​
• Jean Jack Rousseau is the “founder” of romanticism

 

The Sublime

The Sublime is a concept which emerged in the seventeenth century and is art that’s supposed to inspire awe and wonder. It is defined as “a quality of greatness or grandeur that inspires awe and wonder.” – according to https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime#:~:text=The%20sublime%20has%20long%20been,relation%20to%20the%20natural%20landscape.

JMW Turner

• Turner is a famous English painter born April 23 1775 in London who became known as “the painter of light” for his talent of creating incredibly skilled landscape paintings able to capture light at different times of the day and in different settings using bright and vibrant colours which happened to be because of his un-diagnosed colour blindness and therefore wasn’t exaggerating the colours.​
• He began attending the Royal Academy of Art at 15 years old where he first exhibited his Fishermen at Sea oil painting in 1796.​
• Turners last words were “The Sun is God” before he died of cholera in 1851.

John Constable

Constable was an English landscaper born on June 11th 1776 in Suffolk. He was known to be the one who revolutionised the genre of landscape painting. Constable focused on painting the surroundings of his home and once write to a friend “I should paint my own places best” “painting is but another word for feeling”​

.Though in modern times his paintings are extremely valuable and popular he was never financially successful in his lifetime however his work was popular in France, and was only elected to the Royal Academy of Art at age 52. ​

He then died at age 60 in 1837 in London of coronary artery disease.

Terms and Words Associated

• Apostrophe​
• Glorification​
• Nature​
• Awareness and acceptance of emotions​
• Celebration of artistic creativity and imagination
• realism
• idealism
• enlightenment
• classism
• neo-romanticism
• symbolysm
• affinity for the natural world

Timeline of Landscape Art And Photography

The earliest known of cave art was found to be from 40,000 years ago so art has dated back to the very first humans.

A work during the bronze age around 1627, found in Santorini a Greek island preserved under volcanic ash until 1967. At this time Greece was ruled by Ottoman Empire also called the Turkish empire who was Islamic believing.

The renascence began in the 14th century Italy.

The Renaissance meaning rebirth was the first big movement to influence on landscape art. The renaissance was a movement to revive the Greek and Roman philosophical way of thinking. It encouraged people to express themselves and encouraged individuality and new ideas instead of sticking to the way things have always been done.

The Renaissance came after The Black Death killed half of Europe’s population which left business owners with little to no competition meaning the economy grew especially in Italy known as The Cultural Capitol of Europe at the time.

Ideals and attitudes towards the church and medical knowledge began to change, many began to question their authority after so many died during the black death despite appealing to god such as flogging and even following medical advise like cleansing the air by wearing masks filled with nice smelling herbs to combat miasma. This new attitude and encouragement of questioning was also expressed through art and the boundaries of what art was. Realism in art was widely developed and realistic drawings of nature and humans became popular.

During the renaissance time period artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo rose to fame. To this day biblical interpretations from Leonardo da Vinci are still famous such as The Last Supper.

After the renaissance during the 17th to 18th century was the Age Of Enlightenment where Romanticism took off with artists being inspired by the French Revolution. Society began to emphasise on emotion key artists such as JMW Turner and John Constable as mentioned before lived through this time. Many political changes were made through this era and attitudes and way of thinking changed. Science began to proceed and slavery was abolished. People began to idealise individuality and connection with nature. The Sublime began with this thought process as people began to explore beauty past religion and find a godly aspect to nature especially in the UK as the rules to religion were changing constantly due to the arguments between Catholics and protestants. Art like the dramatic style of Rococo architecture became more popular.

The earliest known landscape photograph was taken during the 19th century between 1826 and 1827 by Nicephore Niepce a Frenchman and inventor who invented the Pyréolophore an internal-combustion engine. The image was taken using a camera obscura out of the window of his estate based in Saint-Lop-de-Varenees, Burgundy, France.

Carleton E Watkins born on November 11th in 1829 New York began his career in photography at age 5 when he began his apprenticeship in a portrait studio. Throughout his photography career he became known as one of the greatest photographers of the American West

Watkins was unimpressed with the performance of his regular camera as it could not capture the entirety of the landscapes he was photographing so in 1861 Watkins hired a cabinet worker to create a massive camera so he could use mammoth sized negatives.

After Romanticism came Modernism from 1900 to 1930 before the great depression began. Modernism culture rejected many traditions and looked to fundamentally rethink the world especially after and during World War One. Many political events were taking place such as the Russian revolution and the League of Nations was formed however almost all countries had faced epic losses within the economy was declining and the population had too.

Other changes were happening too, including in America the roaring 20’s. Women’s rights and opinions on gender roles began to shift however crime was rising. Artists searched for new way to express themselves and their opinions on the world without the constraints of realism.

Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock and Vincent Van Gough all arose and are still famous to this day. Modernism art often uses very bright and vibrant colours and experimented with abstract art.

My Work

Ansel Adams born in 1902 was an American landscape photographer. Adams was a rebellious child and was pulled from school at age 12 and before finding his passion for photography in 1927, Ansel was a successful pianist and musician. Ansel Adams took photos all through he 1920s where he was a part of the Sierra Club, An organisation who’s mission is “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.”

Adams believed in “true photography” where he would use the highest resolution available and full tonal range and assisted in founding the group f/64 in 1932 in California. The group also believed in Ansel’s’ mindset surrounding photography and took images of the American landscape including mountains and lakes. Ansel Adams also partnered with Fred Archer created “The Zone System” a way of representing the different tonal gradient in a black and white picture. The Zone System is still used today

The popularity of Adams work has only increased since his death in 1984.

Technical

The lighting is natural and the type of camera used was a Large Format Camera so Ansel would’ve had to use a tripod to steady it as he would’ve needed to have a longer shutter speed to capture the landscape in such high resolution. Large Format photography consists of images within the 9 cm × 12 cm (3.5 in × 4.7 in) range or bigger. The view finder is large and Ansel would’ve needed a portable dark room as well as multiple films per image however in modern times it is possible to make large format cameras digital.

Ansel Adams sets his contrast high to dramatize the images.

Visual

Though coloured photography was available to Adams it didn’t become common until the 1960’s and would’ve been a time consuming and difficult process therefore all of his images were in black and white. There was a range of tones within Adams work as he was good at using The Zone Method himself.

This image also used leading lines to draw the eye to the dramatic sight if the mountain and add depth to the image giving it a 3D concept.

Contextual

This image was taken in the Grand Tenton National Park in Wyoming, America and was of the Tetons and the Snake River and was taken in 1942 so Ansel Adams would’ve had around 20 years experience while taking this.

Conceptual

I believe the idea behind this is to showcase the beauty of the landscapes to the American public to encourage them to want to preserve the nature through national parks ect.

Technical

The type of lighting in this piece of the peaks of the Stark mountains ios natural daylight as it was taken outdoors. The image was again taken on a Large format camera and not over or under saturated. The image is in black and white as colour photography was expensive to produce and more complicated to create.

Visual

There was many tones captured with it being black and white and may unusual shapes with natural shadows and leading lines throughout creating an interesting texture and ongoing pattern. The leading lines also add more depth of field to the image with the effect of spacious surroundings. Tones within photography was something Adams was an expert in so he knew when looking at a landscape what would make good subjects demonstrated in this image.

Contextual

Ansel had to create interesting visuals without the use of technology as it was not invented at the time and instead had to look at different angles and natural shapes to create visual allure.

Conceptual

Adams tried to capture the natural state and preserve it through photography. He worked with and in the Sierra club to create awareness and protect the national parks of America.

My responses to Ansel Adams

I tried to capture a range of tones in my images as he was so well known for. As i was photographing I still looked for vibrant scenery as colour can represent tone in black and white and he would’ve had to look for a range of light and colours when looking for things to photograph. I tried to find wide and broad landscapes to photograph the same sort he would however I do not live in america and there is no mountains so I looked for hills and sea scapes. I also tried to use rule of thirds and leading lines which are commonly found in his work.

Mirrors and Windows

The idea of mirrors and windows within photography is the metaphorical term of a window representing the photographer capturing the world in its reality around them without interfering in it. The mirror represents an expression of the photographers own feelings and ideas built into their work artificially.

Reality Vs Constructed Reality

The concept of reality versus constructed reality in photography is the idea that every image tells a story about the version of reality its portraying. This will be impacted by the framing, subject, position of the camera and composition.

Tableaux

A painting or photograph where the characters and surrounding has been arranged for dramatic effect and appear unaware of the camera.

Surrealism

Where photographers use editing or props or positions to create dreamlike and unnatural settings using imaginative composition often to represent unconscious ideas.

Studio Portraiture: A photograph of a person in a studio

Studio lighting: Any form of lighting equipment used by photographers, artificial or natural, to enhance their photography.

There are around 7 types of lighting mostly used in controlled studios such as:

Split Lighting

Split lighting is a technique used to illuminate only half the subjects face with the other half in darkness. This is achieved by having the light source at either the direct left or right of the subject 90 degrees from the direction of the face. Split lighting is used to create moody atmospheres and interesting effects.

After that I exported it into photoshop

 I edited the brightness/contrast and exposure slightly on photoshop however I did not make any other adjustments

 

Alessio Albi

Alessio Albi was born in Peurugia Italy in 1986 he was always fascinated with nature ad science and went onto get a medical degree and at first worked as a nutritionist before he started his career as a photographer at age 24. He takes extremely atmospheric and moody photos and focuses his style mostly on fashion, advertisement and portrait photography where he primarily photographs women to utilise their feminine features such as long hair to add to his creative style. He stated that he was inspired by some of the hard periods in his life but also the beauty he sees in people around him. He uses both natural and studio lighting to take his pictures and uses a range of different skills. He often has his subjects to pose with very subtle facial expressions to let the viewer interpretate the mood and emotion themselves. He also uses dramatic and bold shadows in his pieces to create texture and interesting shapes.

Alessio Albi Images

Technical

I don’t believe that this image has had much editing done to it as the colours look quite natural besides the classic magazine look of the blurred skin to make it look glowy. The lighting looks to be natural sunlight, however could be warm studio lights. Albi has used Rembrandt lighting a long with creating some unique shadows using an obscure object. There is a short depth of field (DoF) as the background is blurred and the camera is focused on her shoulder and face which are close to the lens however Albi still expresses the 3D-ness of the model by having her place her right shoulder to be visible in the photo but shrouded in shadow. The exposure time also seems to be average as there is no glare to the highlights and the image doesn’t look under exposed as the area in shadow is still visible and the photo overall is not dark. ISO is also

Visual

The colours are natural and contrast with each other as the subject has a lot of warm tones to her however the background is very plain and uses cold grey tones to it but I believe the overall tone is light as the use of sunlight looking lighting with the deep shadows creating the leading lines to enhance the eyes of the subject and have them the main focus. The texture is smooth as there is no graininess due to poor exposure or IOS and the subject of the photo is the girls glowy skin. The only repeating pattern I can see within this image is the spiralling line creating leading lines towards the eye however the pattern is not completely symmetrical and the line breaks off at the top of her cheek and bottom of her eye.

Contextual

• Albi states much of his inspiration comes from natures elements. He grew up in a family of artists and was heavily influenced by his upbringing.

Conceptual

I believe this photo is trying to convey the natural skin tone of the subject and how we as people naturally focus on the eyes of a person were looking at. I think with the subjects hair swept off of her face and how its just her with no make up or fancy clothes we see just the raw person herself and they say eyes are the window to the soul and I think Albi is trying to show how its not what matters on the outside by taking away from what society wants from her and rather the person the subject really is

Technical

This picture looks to be taken in a dance studio with the subject positioned lying on the floor, so the unnatural warm ceiling lights are shinning directly onto her face to create highlights on her cheeks, while the mirror creates the illusion of multiples of the subject. I can also infer it is a dance or drama studio of some kind as the subject looks to be wearing a costume. I believe this image has been edited as most ceiling lighting is not such warm colours and usually the intensity of the indoor electrical lighting would create more of a glare on the subjects skin then the soft highlights in the picture.

Visual

Albi uses warm tones in this image and has light tones to it. The subjects skin (I assume) is edited to be clearer such as often fashion photography is and therefore the texture is smooth however Albi has utilised the subjects hair draped behind her to add more fluidity and movement to the image. The picture looks less flat than many other portraits and looks more 3D due to the illusion of the duplicates.

Contextual

Conceptual

The image is taken so that you can only see the face and shoulders of the subject to add to the illusion without the viewer knowing straight away that a mirror is used to create it. I believe the image is supposed to be a show of Alessio Albi’s creative nature.

Loop Lighting

Loop lighting is similar to Rebrandt lighting where the aim is to have the cheek and part of the jawbone, under the eyebrow and the side of nose in shadow however, the main aim is to create a circular or loop-like shadow under one part of the nose. To achieve this you’ll want to have your light source at a higher angle to the subjects eyeline and at a 45 degree angle and move the light around and experiment making sure to not have the nose and cheek shadow connect.

Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting also known as the Rembrandt Patch is the utilising the face structure and the shadows it casts to create a triangular shape under the eye. You do this by having the light at a 45 degree angle left or right from the direction the subject is facing and from a high angle looking down towards the subject. you then experiment with how far the light is from the subject depending on the subject themselves. You can also use reflectors to point the light at where you’d like the triangle to be.

My Rembrandt Images

Once I did this I opened the image in photoshop and used the “Sharpen Tool” around the subjects eye and in the highlights of her hair to keep it more in focus. I also used the “Dodge Tool” to lighten the dark spots.

Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting is all about the shadows under the nose and creating a bat or butterfly like shape using the nose for shadows. To do this you stand the light close in front and high above the subject looking down at them. You can also use a reflector under the face to stop the chin from being in too much darkness.

 

I then used the “masking tool” in Lightroom to select the entirety of the subject and edited it to give her face more exposure

 

I then lowered the exposure on the background to give it a colder feel as I thought the shadows made it quite an eerie looking image

I then used the “masking tool and objective tool” to lighten the shadows over the eyes I repeated this on both eyes.

After that I felt that the subject looked washed out so I decided to up the temperature and vibrancy to bring back some colour

 

I also opened the edited image in Photoshop and cropped the image and used the Dodge and Burn tool to accentuate the lines of shadows.

 

 

 

Broad Lighting

Broad lighting is a lighting technique where the part of the face turned towards the camera is the brightest and most lit up section.

Short Lighting

Short lighting is a lighting technique that’s pretty much the opposite of broad lighting where the camera is focused on the darkest lit part of the face.

Back Lighting

Back lighting is the lighting technique where all the lighting is coming from behind the subject and the subject is facing away from the light source. This is the same technique used to create silhouettes.

What is identity?

Oxford dictionary states identity is “The fact of being who or what a person or thing is”.

In my opinion labelling someone’s identity as one thing is unfair as identity changes constantly. Your identity is made up of your sense of self which changes daily. How others perceive you which is different for every person in your life as well as you values and actions. Also everything you learn, your experiences and your relationship with others will change all of these factors meaning every day your identity changes. Your identity will be different from when you were younger to now and even if you disagree with me and believe identity is more about physicality like your age or looks it still proves its changing all the time. I wanted to try and capture this and so I looked to find things that consistently change all the time naturally such as the weather, time, plants growing, the sky and the sea and link it to people to represent a persons identity. I took inspiration from Artists such as Alicja Brodowicz and Cindy Sherman.

Contact Sheets

Artist Research

Alicja Brodowicz

I took inspiration from Alicja Brodowicz

Alicja Brodowicz is a photographer born in Krakow, Poland in 1977. Her passion for photography started when she began taking photos of her 4 year old daughter and it grew from there to her fine art style influenced greatly by Sally Mann who specialises in thought provoking black and white portrait photographs designed to tell the backstory of the subject, along with Anders Petersen a popular black and white portrait photographer with 30 published books and won The Arles Photography of the year award in 2003. Around 90% of Brodowicz pictures are in black and white in a very abstracted style. She started the project Visual Exercises in 2018/2019 and spent months planning. She stated she usually does not plan before photographs but had the for this conceptual project.

Conceptually, Brodowicz uses the mirror method of representing reality of her own thought process and ideas of how humanity reflects nature. This was what inspired my idea of how identity also reflects nature through change and I wanted to capture this aspect in a similar mode of photography however I personalised the images by keeping many of them in colour as I prefer to take photos in colour as I feel it adds more depth and I want to appreciate how vibrant everything is and our ability to see this.

Technical

The lighting on the tree bark I can assume is natural lighting as the image is bright and trees are usually outdoors. I could guess however that the image of the person is in a studio due to the extreme shadows. The image is in sharp focus. There is a range of tones from dark to light due to the shadows and the bright sections of the image.

Visual

The image is in black and white however there is still drastic change of tones within both images. There is obviously a lot of texture within the image also as both photos are zoomed in capturing the creases and rivets in the bark and skin. The shape is quite 3D as the texture shows how the depth of field is different depending on where you’re looking in the image.

Contextual

This image was taken as a part of her Visual Exercises project

Conceptual

I think Brodowicz has taken this image to show the strength in the subject by aligning the with the sturdiness and strength of a tree.

Cindy Sherman

I was also inspired by American photographer Cindy Sherman’s work and specifically her style of editing and her use of colour and black and white. Sherman was born in New Jersey US 1954. She began her photography journey in 1972 when she enrolled in at the State University of New York in painting before swapping her subject for photography. Her most recent work consisting of photos taken from 2010- 2023 was published with FT Weekend Magazine in 2023 originally intended to be used as an abstract wallpaper setting designed so that from a distance you can’t tell what it is however when you’re up close you can tell they’re pieces of different facial expressions.

Sherman specifically takes photos of herself but challenges this stating that you will never find the real her amongst the images as she plays roles and acts characters using props and wigs. I believe her work is to represent how unsettling the idea of a woman’s value being based off of her physical appearance. She is known to take on different identities in her photography and use the art to evade her true personality which I think corresponds to how our true identities are always hanging and don’t necessarily rely on our physical appearance as looks can be deceiving and therefore shows how others perceive you isn’t defining.

Technical

The lighting is unnatural as it looks to be taken in a studio as the lighting is even throughout all the images which is hard to replicate with natural lighting. The sticker effect adds to the depth of field as it looks closer to the camera. The image is in sharp focus. There is a range of tones within the image.

Visual

There is so colour as the image is in black and white however the shadows and highlights in the image add to the different tones. The wrinkles in the skin adds to the texture and lines in the image a long with the netting used to frame her face and the way the hair is brushed back. The image looks to be more 2D because of the style of creative editing. There isn’t any patterns I can spot in this photo.

Contextual

This image was taken as a part of her Untitled Film Stills project.

Conceptual

I think this image is used to demonstrate Sherman’s views on society’s beauty standards and she exaggerates the image to look ridiculous in order to show how unachievable the standard is. The stickers stand out to show this standard is not a part of her however they blend well in tone to express how they’ve been moulded onto her through her upbringing and society’s forced ideals.

Some other ideas I found online:

My Best Edited Images

In this photoshoot I tried to look at rain and the sky for the natural elements that change frequently, as well as grass as its growing always. To do this I used a mirror and poured water on it to replicate the look of rain. I also thought to use a mirror to try to capture the idea of self reflection which is another part of identity.

Technical

The lighting in this image is natural/daylight as the image was taken outside. I used max aperture.

The shutter speed is it doesn’t look to be over or under exposed. F/ is 6.7 and the ISO is 800. The white balance was on Auto.

Visual

I kept the colour from the original image and heightened it only slightly as I felt they were quite vibrant as they were. The tone is both light and dark I feel as the image itself was taken in a bright setting however uses dark elements such as the shadows in the grass and cool toned colours. There is a lot of texture I believe in this image as the grass adds to it as well as the smoothness of the mirror a long with the wrinkles in her jacket. The mirror also contributes by adding the 2D flat shape contrasting with the length and form (3D) of the grass. The leading line of the arm adds to the image drawing the viewers eyes up to the subjects morphed ad blurred face. There is also 3D concept within this image as the mirror on the ground gives a sense of a door way or window making the image look more 3D.

Contextual

There isn’t much surrounding knowledge or historical things to know as I took this image recently making it modern. In this image I used the mirror effect within photography meaning I built my own ideas into reality it didn’t naturally occur as I interfered by constructing reality to create surrealism within the image.

Conceptual

The meaning behind this image was to create an allusion of a window in the ground as well as capture the sky to link back to my nature within humans concept. I blurred the image to make the face distorted to have the viewer interpret it differently and to have to really look into the image and its surroundings to try to understand it based on what they know which ultimately is what identity is as its more than what you first assume at face-value.

Technical

The lighting in this image is natural/daylight as the image was taken outside. I used max aperture.

The shutter speed is it doesn’t look to be over or under exposed. F/ is 6.7 and the ISO is 800. The white balance was on Auto.

Visual

This picture is in black and white and therefore the colours are very muted. The image has quite dark tones to it as there is a lot of shadow created by the blades of grass however her eyes above the mirror look to be light as the dark grass contrasts with her fair skin. There is a lot of texture in this image as the grass adds texture as well as her hair the fabric of her jeans and jacket. There isn’t much shape involved in the image except how I asked the model to extend their left leg to create leading lines. The shape in the image isn’t even and therefore adds depth to the image as her leg is further in frame than the rest of her as well as the mirror giving a 3D concept.

Contextual

In this image I used the mirror effect within photography meaning I built my own ideas into reality it didn’t naturally occur as I interfered by constructing reality to create surrealism within the image.

Conceptual

I took this image this way to convey how peoples experiences and their environment also add to their inner identity. The mirror represents how its looking into her and I asked the subject to look scared and hide behind the mirror as well as editing it to be in black and white to give a dark uneasiness to the image possibly foreshadowing her dark history to have the viewer use their imagination when seeing this image and think for themselves about what its trying to portray the way we can’t know the reasons behind someone being the way they are and it could be down to things they have been through in life.

I tried this image in both B&W and colour as I’m not sure which one suits it better

Technical

The lighting in this image is natural/daylight as the image was taken outside. I used max aperture.

The shutter speed is it doesn’t look to be over or under exposed. F/ is 6.7 and the ISO is 800. The white balance was on Auto.

Visual

The coloured version is very light and has a range of warm and cool toned colours. the tone is light overall though there are some dark shadows within it. The water droplets as well as the models wispy hair adds texture. The image has a more 3D appearance due to the water droplets adding height to the mirror affect. The grass also adds to the 3D as it protrudes over the edge of the mirror making the mirror look like its party of the ground and it frames the image too. There isn’t many lines within the image other than the edge of the mirror and the blades of grass pointing to the models face.

Contextual

In this image I used the mirror effect within photography meaning I built my own ideas into reality it didn’t naturally occur as I interfered by constructing reality to create surrealism within the image.

Conceptual

The idea behind this image was to try and capture the idea of rain and link it back to the idea of identity changing naturally and finding things that change in nature the same as the water cycle and the weather.

Technical

The lighting is both natural and artificial as the natural light is coming in through the window but there was also lights above the subject when taking the image. the Aperture used was max. The f stop was f/6.7. The exposure time was 1/90. The ISO used was ISO-100 and the White Balance was on Auto.

Visual

The colours are natural in this image

Contextual

In this image I used the mirror effect within photography meaning I built my own ideas into reality it didn’t naturally occur as I interfered by constructing reality to create surrealism within the image. However, I also used the window method as the window is behind the subject.

Conceptual

I did this to show how your choices of reality in its natural form can impact your identity and what your ideas of your own sense of self and you might not even realise it which is why the subject is not looking at herself in the mirror and reflecting instead the subject is distracted by what’s surrounding her. I also didn’t focus on the subject themselves but on the water on the mirror instead to add to this point of loosing yourself by what’s happening around you.

My Alicja Brodowicz and Cindy Sherman Inspired Images

Other Images

In the next shoot I tried to capture the lines naturally drawn over the human body such as finger prints and veins.

I think fingerprints are a huge sign of identity as every one is is different and unique. the same way people are. Even identical twins finger prints are different showing how every individuals identity is different and unique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Femininity

Femininity for me is a feeling rather than a look or a style. For me femininity is feeling empowered and confident and aligning yourself with being a woman. Femininity is being creative and passionate and in my opinion is not defined by clothes or your physical appearance however I do believe make up or certain clothes might help you feel more feminine on the outside as well as inside. I used the symbolism of femininity of flowers throughout my photoshoots and the colour pink. I wanted to focus my photoshoot less on the physical appearance of a “girl” ad instead on the feeling of femininity and the idea of “girlhood”.

Girlhood being the sense of kinship a group of girls can bring by girls supporting other girls. The growing up with and relating to other girls going through the same things and being inspired by one another.

Another idea I had was the comparison of modern day femininity versus femininity in previous times and how social media effects peoples perception of femininity.

Environmental Portraiture

Studio Portraiture

Identity Project

Evaluation

Overall, I believe it went ok I thought the studio portraiture editing went well. I think the identity photoshoot went the best however if I could go back I would go into more detail about different aspects of femininity and masculinity but I was advised by my teacher to focus on one part of the project at once as I was feeling lost surrounding the masculinity side for photoshoot ideas. I would also try more ideas for representing identity through photos such as setting up more photoshoots in the studio with props and trying to express more personal things about the subject such as how the environment around you can effect how a person sees their identity.

I believe I was able to capture conceptually how Brodowicz uses the mirror method of representing reality of her own thought process and ideas of how humanity reflects nature and identity reflects change.

Environmental portraiture is about representing someone’s daily life or livelihood through the background or surrounding environment of a portrait image of the subject.

Examples of Environmental Work

In this photo the photographer uses natural lighting from above the subject as this photo was taken outdoors where its implied he spends a lot of his time as he is shirtless outside on the grass in between two tractors. This environment implies the subject works a job within agriculture or a farmers trade. the photo has been taken from a lower angle to accentuate the giant size of the tractors, as well as the frame cutting off half of each of the tractors to keep the subject as the main focus. We can infer the photo is un-posed as the subjects gaze looking away and he is not engaged with the camera.

August Sander

Born in 1876, Sander developed his interest in photography around 1898 when he began working in photographic firms and by 1904 he had opened his own photographic firm in Austria. He then moved to Cologne in 1909 and began to photograph the urban workers and farmers. After WW2 Sander set out to recapture the faces and document life after around 40,000 negative images were destroyed during the war so he started his project “Faces of The 20th century” also known as “Man of The 20th Century” in 1929. Sander created a catalogue with over 600 photos of the people he captured in his project. Many years later his work is still influencing photographers around the world.

In this environmental portrait you can tell a lot about the person such as the fashion of the decade, as well as this, we can guess he worked in construction as he looks to be carrying bricks. This tells us about the history of the time too as we know there was an increase in labour and construction after the destruction of the war left a lot of the cities needing to be rebuilt and repaired. The lighting is pretty dark as we can see the background is black giving the impression this was taken at night or possibly inside a construction site, such as an unfinished house. It looks like there’s lighting coming from behind the camera or the flash could be on. There isn’t much of setting due to this but because of the bricks we can interpret a lot like I’ve previously mentioned. The framing is cropped around the subject and is a three-quarter-length shot with a head on angle. The subject has a deadpanned expression and is looking at the cameras.

What Is Typology?

Typology is the study of types such as classification and categorization.

My Plan for Photoshoots

• I will first go around the school and take photos of staff and students I can find.
• I will then go to town after school and take as many photos as I can of retail workers in local shops, in the market and possibly shoppers.
• I will also take photos of my friends at school or out.

My Photos

Compare and Contrast

I believe both photos are similar as they are both taken in the subjects workplace. The lighting in both images is quite bright with Sanders looking like it was taken in the daytime possibly even outside however mine was taken under artificial lighting indoors. A difference between the works is the direction of light in Sanders is coming from the right side of the image however the light in my photo is coming from above the subject directly down. Another difference between mine and Sanders work is how they’re framed. Sander has taken his image framed as a full body image with the subject slightly to the right where as I have framed my work with a three quarter length. Sanders image looks to be posed with the subjects arm resting and the subject facing the camera with a black face gaze similarly to mine as he is posing with his arms also by having his hands in his pockets as well as his gaze is smiling and facing the camera. Each image is also taken horizontally.

Ainsworth born in 1978 is an artist from London who practices in sculpture, acting, video and 3D printing however is well-known for his striking works of urban photography. He studied and graduated in 2007 with a masters degree at London College of communication. lectures at He focuses mostly on areas of the world that are overlooked and the relationship between organic and in-organic structures excluding humans.

Some examples of his work include:

Peter Ainsworth

Peter Ainsworth

Peter Ainsworth

Frank Hallum Day

Frank Hallum Day born in 1948 who currently lives in Washington DC is a fine art photographer and the winner of many awards including the Bader prize 2006. He has taught photography as well as doing many of his own exhibitions from taking photos around the world. Hallum also worked for the US State department before he became a full time photographer.

Frank Hallum Day

Frank Hallum Day

Frank Hallum Day