Year 13 Photography so far

This image is of the London Eye and Parliament, this image works as the whole background of the image is dark tones such as greys and blacks. Whereas the foreground of the image, the landmarks, are lighter tones making them stand out in the image. This draws the eye to the image and lets the viewer look at all the different tones presented within the image. 

This image has high sense of chiaroscuro due to the strong white colour next to the darker tones. This image is a good response to Vera Lutter, as through her work she looks at a lot of strong building structures. The strong vertical lines in the image gives a sense of strength and order to the image. Along with it being a low angle image, making the building appear larger than it is, also giving of a sense of strength.

Here are some images from my year 13 photography book, I am looking at inner emotions and thoughts this year in photography.

This image works well as a response to Vera Lutter’s image on Battersea Power Station, due to the similarities as both images use line and rhythm. The lines in the image are all quire sharp and precise, showing strength and order in the image. The grid shown throughout this image shows order, due to the clarity and accuracy of the lines. I like this image due to the difference in tones throughout the image. 

This image is quite bright to the left hand side, and dark to the right. There are many different tones next to each other within the image. This creates a high contrast in the image, as the darker right side, makes the brighter sections stand out more within the image. The eye is first drawn to the brighter areas of the image, on the left side. It then travels down the houses and to the darker sections of the image. I believe that creates a successful image and the viewers eye is travelling through the whole image, and taking the aspects in. 

I believe this image is a successful response to Vera Lutter. This is due to the fact that the image works well in negative, due to the sky being completely black, enhancing the surrealistic feel of the image. The juxtaposition of black and white in the background of the image complement each other well, as it allows what is in the foreground to stand out more by emboldening it. The structures in the image stand out due to their grey tone, against the black and white of the background.

I then did a review on my shoot:

The aim of my photoshot was to experiment in the style of Vera Lutter. This means I was trying to show my photographs of landscaped in negative. To do this I edited the pictures using Photoshop by first using the brightness, contrast and levels to make the colours stand out the best they can, showing high contrasts of tones. I then would click the image tab, adjustments, and then black and white. I then played with the colour levels of black and white, making some sections of the photograph darker in order to create a higher juxtaposition. This created a strong sense of chiaroscuro in the images, much like Vera Lutters. I then inverted the image by clicking command and I, and adjusted the contrast if it was needed. I believe I fulfilled my aim, as I took photos of landscape and proceeded to present them in a negative fashion, much like Lutter. I believe I edited the images well, and they were a good response to Vera Lutters. I found it challenging to find buildings, which had lots of different tones to photograph. As the image became inverted and black and white the tones are shown through whites and black, so finding things with lots of tones to photograph proved to be harder than I thought. If I were to do the shoot again I would look at camera obscurity and make a pinhole camera and try to photograph the images that way.

I then did a response to Christian Sampson which looked at anorexia

This is the review I wrote on that shoot:
My aim of this shoot was to show emotion using a projector and body language. I wanted to make my shoot shocking and have a lasting impression on my audience, so to do this I decided to have the subject without a top on and focusing on her back. This has more of a shocking factor then if the subject was clothed, as this way you can clearly see the muscles and bones and a stronger impact is made through the images, in my opinion. However, another strong idea was to have the subject in over-sized clothes to show the weight loss, however I felt, in order to create a stronger impact and really get my message across the subject should not wear a top. To complete this shot I used a projector and had the subject stand in front of a plain, blank screen. Then to edit the pictures, I would take away some of the vibrance and colour within the images in order to make the pictures, slightly more darker and serious. The only lighting from the shoot came from the projector for maximum impact, the darkness surrounding her represents how she feels trapped and how her mental illness is putting her mind in a dark place. The projector molds the nutrition facts around her body, suffocating her and really playing on the feeling of a mental illness causing someone to feel trapped and isolated. I believe these photos came out well, and portrayed my message clearly and shows the state of mind a mental illness has on people using atmospheric through lighting and body language.

I then looked at the work of J Wells and Kara Walker and created a response shoot to that:

Here is the review I wrote about that shoot:

When taking these photos, light was a very important aspect; I had to make sure the lighting was correct in order to create a backlighting effect. In this shoot I used two professional umbrella lights behind a white sheet. The two lights behind the sheet creates a backlighting effect, this way a person becomes like a silhouette and you can’t see their facial expressions clearly. I played around with having the subject in front and behind the sheet, and having one person in front and people behind, looking at the difference in the silhouette. I also experimented with having the subject underneath the sheet, however these did not work out as well as I had hoped. An important element in this shoot was light. In order to get the light exactly light the room had to be completely dark, with the only light coming from the umbrellas. To do this I blacked out the windows by putting black card over them, I then closed the curtains. I then closed the door to the room and covered anything that caused light. This way the only light source in the room was the umbrellas. To edit these photographs I used Abode Photoshop, I used the levels tool to intensify both the dark and light areas of the image. This created a more of a silhouette look. I think this shoot works well in response to Kara Walker and J Wells, as I used the element of light and black and white, which is featured in both artists. I think the photographs of the subject being behind the sheet work better, as they are more aesthetically pleasing and give a stronger sense of emotion. I also tried printing some of the images on acetate and layering them together. Also to develop this shoot, I will use some of the negative edits to develop the images in the dark room. To develop this shoot further, I am going to look at showing emotion without the using the face further. To do this I will take portrait images and then using different tools blur out the face in a manner that will represent emotions and inner feelings still.

This is how layering some of the images on acetate turned out:

For this image, I used the magnetic lasso tool to go around the subjects face, once that was highlighted I selected the black pen and coloured in her face. This was the body seems emotionless as there is nothing special about her body language and we cannot see any facial features.

I then developed this shoot to show no emotion at all:

I then did a development shoot looking at taking away the emotion in an image:

To create this image, I used Abode Photoshop, using the clone tool I picked up the edges of skin around features such as the mouth and eyes. And used that to cover up the features. This was hard as due to the lighting her face was all different shades therefore making it hard to pick up one skin tone and have it match well.

For this image I used the black pen and scribbled out over the face, this way you are unable to see any features enough to extract her emotions from them.

For this image I again used the clone tool, I tried to make the skin as even as possible by due to the lighting change it was hard. I believe this image works well at not showing emotion as all the key features of the face are hidden.

This is the review I wrote on this shoot:

In this development shoot I was experimenting with making the images turn emotionless in Photoshop. As in Kara Walker and J Well’s image it is all about portraying the emotion through body language, I wondered what if there was nothing special about the body language and the facial expression was blank. As it is near impossible to wipe expression from someone I decided to use Photoshop to take out the key features that show expression in the face. Such as the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, nose, and lips. I did this by either using the clone tool or drawing them out. Using the clone tool has an effective look on the image, however was hard to use do to the different areas of skin being different colours. To improve this shoot I would make sure all of the lighting levels are even. I am going to do a physical editing of this shoot and experiment with erasing the emotion physically, with scratching the image out.

I then did physical edits:

For this edit, I again used a scalpel and went around the face of the girl, completely cutting it out. To do this I also used a cutting mat for safety reasons. I think this idea works well as it erases all emotion in the image, as her body position is neutral and you cant see her facial expression. However as I have cut her face out, it can imply the feeling of emptiness as we can see through the girls face. 

I used a scalpel to remove the top, colour layer on the print, so it was left with white where her face was. I think this edit works well as it erases all aspects of emotion in the face as it also takes the colour away from it. It was hard to make the face completely white as the ink smudges onto the white as I was scratching it off.

To do this edit I used acrylic black paint and covered the girls face. I think the ink worked better than the acrylic as I found the acrylic hard to work with and place the way I wanted it. 

To do this image I printed the portrait image onto photographic paper, I then used ink and in a spiral motion, I covered her face in the ink. I like this image, as the ink was easy to use and have the way I wanted it to look. 

To do this image, I used scissors to scratch the face out; this makes the expression not impossible to see, but very hard. I like this edit as you can really see the texture of the scratches on her face.

I am now looking at photographer Gillian Wearing who looks at emotion through the use of wording and signs. I am creating a series of photos for this shoot, these are the six I already have: 

For this image, we were outside on a public street, the subject chose to write ‘I like coke zero J’ He then proceeded to hold up the sign, not smiling, looking dead into the camera. As it was around 8 o’clock it was dark outside, so due to the flash he is the main focus and center of the image. The facial expression he holds is almost solemn, it’s very emotionless, along with his upright body language. So what we learn about him in solely through the sign saying ‘I like coke zero J’ the focus of the image is on the sign, as I wanted the eye to be more drawn to the sign then the person. This image is called 'Jordi'

This image was taken against a plain white wall in a library, the guy chose to write out his girlfriend’s name and pose with the sign, looking to the side slightly. In this image the sign is the center point of the image and in focus, while the rest of the image is slightly out of focus. This is because I wanted most of the attention to be drawn to the sign and not the person. This image is 'Delman.' 

In this image, we see someone sitting on a wall outside holding a sign saying ‘Will the EU ever collapse?’. When I asked him to write down anything he wanted on a sign his first question was ‘can it be to do with politics?’ Which shows straight away from the sign he is very interested in politics and the EU’s state. The guy in the image is smiling slightly and looking at the camera, showing he has confidence. As it is dark outside the flash lights only the subject on the image, making him stand out from the dark background. This image is called 'Omar'

This image was taken in a coffee shop and when I asked the girl to write anything down, she asked if it could be relating to her boyfriend, if she could write “2 years”. Her concern was, that to others, would not understand her sign. I told her to write what she wanted to and not worry what others would think. She then proceeded to write #2Years and took the image. The image is a shallow depth of field as she is the only thing in focus in image; the background is slightly out of focus. This image is 'Fareena'

This image is 'Scales' the picture was taking against a white wall in a public library; the sign reads ‘Yes I am gay get over it’. The guy is standing with his right side slightly forward and looking dead into the camera with a slight pout. This shows the guys confidence with himself. As the wall is plain the eye is drawn instantly to the subject of the image. 

This photograph was taken in a coffee shop, and when asking the girl to take a photo the first thing she said was “don’t ask me why I have a dinosaur on my face” so when she went to write the sign, that is what she wrote down. When taking the image she first was looking dead at the camera, she then turned her head saying “no take another to get the dinosaur in, it’ll make more sense then” She then turned her head to the side slightly and smiles slightly, while holding the sign just below her face. This image is 'Dee' 

I have started making a montage of the image (as seen below), but I have however left room in that montage to add at least 6 more images. As in my series I want to feature at least a dozen photographs.

This is the start of the review I am writing for this shoot:

I believe this shoot worked well, as it shows an insight to peoples emotions, but only enough for them to show you what they want you to know. I believe the downside of this shoot is that all the subjects know me. As I tried to ask strangers on the street to join in my project, however people became unwilling once I told them they would have to write one of their thoughts down. I believe this is to do with the minds self-conscious. People do not want to be judged by others, even if they did not know them. That is why I feel this shoot did not work as well as I would like, as all the subjects know me they had a filter on what to write down. I could tell this as when I asked people to write something down on the sign, a lot of subjects went to write something straight away, however then hesitated. They then would sit there and think about what to write for a while, they would also tend to ask me and people around them. This is to do with self-conscious; we do not want people to judge, so therefore turn to them to help when we feel self conscious with what to write ourselves. After telling people they could not ask for help they asked what other people had previously written for an example. This again shows how people do not want to step out of their comfort zone if others are not doing the same. A few subjects asked if their friends could leave and not watch them take the photo, as they wanted to express their feelings without feeling embarrassed and watched. I also let people pick the colour of their pen, just so I could get the most out of their personality as possible in one sign. Everyone I asked to photograph requested to see the images after taking them, some people asked for their image to be retaken. This emphasises how people worry about what others would think of them and want to make sure they look nice before others see the image. I believe taking these photos showed a lot about peoples inner emotions and thoughts due to how they reacted when asked to write down anything and take a picture with it. Whereas strangers would feel like they have nothing to prove to the photographer and had the security of writing down anything and only have the photographer see it, and they would never see them again. As they would not have the filter that people I knew and are friends with had. Unfortunately I failed to find many willing strangers. If I was to re-do this shoot in order to improve it I would try and get more willing strangers on board.

In order to develop this shoot I will try writing the things over the people face, I will take a photo of people and ask how they were feeling when I took the image. I will then show this through physical editing by writing the emotion over the image.