“We therefore consume images fleetingly and randomly. It takes very special pictures to grasp and hold our attention. We need to be seduced by images that outdo reality through excessiveness—as in advertising and movies” (Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler). What do you think about this quote? How do you think that our lives are changing as the speed of our interaction with photographic images grows?
When I read this, it made me think of all the commercials and advertisements that are shoved in our faces every day, whether we want to or not. After a while, it's easy to become numbed by all of these, and thus, less responsive to visual stimuli such as photographs. It becomes like background noise; we simply tune it out and look past. However, I don't think the images always need to "outdo reality through excessiveness." Sometimes it is a very simple or true picture that captures our attention. Or one that shows something excessive that is also real. Part of some of the value gained through images is knowing that something so amazing or terrible, beautiful or hideous, can actually exist in our world. With such a wide palette to draw from, I don't believe that it's always necessary to "outdo reality" when reality can be so diverse and breathtaking already.
“But the term ‘Infotainment’ also implies this: with the gradual fictionalization of even the news, the old categorical oppositions of ‘documenting’ and ‘staging’, appearance and reality gradually dissolve. They are being replaced by a variety of hybrid forms for which it will be impossible, in fact pointless, to attempt to distinguish between fact and fiction. Even the accusation that ‘Infotainment’ is guilty of continuous ‘lying’ is therefore unjustified, for it is neither ‘true’ nor ‘false’. Like advertising, movies and all other genres that adhere to the laws of fiction, it works at a level beyond these oppositions—the level of ‘hyper-reality’, where reality is ‘simulated’.” (Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler). What are your thoughts on “Infotainment” and how it affects our lives? How does it affect the way we see and understand “reality”? How does it affect photography in general?
Although I do somewhat resent the comment about the "gradual fictionalization of even the news," since actual respectable news organizations are working harder than ever to keep viewers/readers' attention with real, true information and images, I feel like the rest of this quote make sense. I don't think it's fair to say that Infotainment is lying. Just because an image is manipulated or changed doesn't make it a "lie" in certain contexts in my mind. No one watches Jurassic Park and says "man what a lie, dinosaurs haven't been brought back yet! I feel cheated!" Seriously, things that are build and meant for entertainment are more like forms of art than strict "truth," and I don't think this is always a bad thing. They aren't viewed with the expectation of seeing reality and after one is done watching, their view on actual reality probably isn't altered. However, if something is changed and altered and presented as actual news, fact or truth, then I do feel like it is a lie because active deception is taking place, which is especially bad and dangerous (not to mention forbidden) in the world of journalism. Photography in general has a lot of freedom to go in many different directions in today's digital world. Every time new options are opened for creating or evolving forms of expression, I think it's a good step forward because it brings more diverse art into existence, which is something important for self-expression and the sharing of ideas.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Night of the Living Dead
Shooting and creating this image was some of the most fun I have had with photography. I was really excited about the subject material and wanted to do a really good job recreating the movie poster. Halloween is my absolute favorite time of the year, I’m a huge horror fan and I adore George Romero’s work, so all of these things combined to get me super motivated. I feel like I could go on and on for ages about all the intricacies of this image and all of the time and work that went into creating it (far more than I’d like to admit), but I’ll try to keep it brief.
Another thing that was hard was making the movie title on the gravestone look realistic instead of like text plopped on top, and getting the lighting correct on it. I had a really hard time finding a close enough font to use as well. What I ended up doing was taking sections from the tombstone and cutting them out to fill in the letters and get the slightly ragged edges, textures and lighting. I also used a pattern overlay to emphasize the texture a bit more. I was surprised how long doing and figuring all of this out took. It seemed like such a straightforward element that I kind of wasn’t thinking about when shooting the images, but it is one of the small details that is important to the bigger picture and I really wanted to get it right.
The background is a bunch of images of people that I already had taken at previous other points in time that I used to create the looming zombies. I tried to make them darker and more blurred the further back they are, until the very front row which is visible and in focus. at a glance it is supposed to look like normal people, but I did a number of things to make them look more zombielike.
The middleground is composed of multiple different photographs from the graveyard, spliced together to create enough tombstone density to match the original. I also added in some fog to make it more moody and dreary like the original image. This was one of the last things I added to the image and I’m not 100% sure it looks realistic or good enough, but I was extremely crunched for time due to a plethora of problems and obstacles I encountered, and I ended up deciding it was more true to the original with the fog.
The zombies and the girl (who ended up being me) look more modern than the ones in the poster, which shows the difference in times of when they were made, most notably clothing and hairstyles, which I actually really like. It’s a small twist on the original to make it unique and to be reflective of the zombies and people of its own time.
Overall, this photo has probably the most editing and the most different images combined into one than I have ever made before. I feel like I began noticing a trend I’ve been taking while I was working on this one. I’ve been straying away a bit from “taking” images or shooting scenes and focusing more on “making” them and digitally editing them. I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I certainly don’t feel like it’s something negative- I’m gaining more knowledge of how to use editing programs, getting good practice and having a lot of fun working outside the box and getting creative, but I know this goes completely against how I’ll likely be spending my working career- photojournalism. I’m not even sure if that’s really my favorite style to work with, because I find great joy in creating “real" illusions and scenes and photographing the real world, but I have been having a blast on this tangent and anyway think it’s great to develop both skill sets, because the more and more I’ve been working with photography, the more I could see myself having a large variety of photo-centric careers. It’s fun to be able to alter reality and bend the images to fit my visions and I’m really glad I’m getting this experience.
Shadow Grave
This picture is my second “Night of the Living Dead" shoot-off image In this image, I don’t actually show any zombies, but instead, I imply that one is there, attacking someone, by showing just the shadows of the figures. The graveyard context and the shadows falling on a gravestone give the clue that it is indeed a zombie attack instead of one person against another. I thought it would be more mysterious and maybe even a bit more sinister if viewers couldn’t see the actual scene to know exactly what is happening. The shadows are the only way to get clues about what is going on. I like the idea of showing a scene or conveying emotion through shadows or silhouettes instead of directly through an image, so I gave this a try here.The body language of the crouching figure is supposed to look very defensive and afraid, while the zombie is meant to look imposing and terrifying.
I desaturated the ground around the grave a little bit to make it look more sickly and dead instead of healthy and green grass. I thought this was more spooky and created a little bit of a link between the black and white past (of the movie) and the modern day and real world colors too, so that you can tell the image is related but not directly from the movie.
I also changed the name on the gravestone to say “Romero” to pay a homage to him for creating such an awesome movie, which is an obvious link that any horror movie fans would catch. However, I’m not really sure if I made this look realistic and engraved enough. At the time it looked good to me, but after printing the image it didn’t look as integrated and real as I was hoping it would.
Zombies in the Graveyard
This image is part of a trio I made related to George Romero’s classic zombie movie, “Night of the Living Dead.” It is meant to be an offshoot image, not directly related to the actual movie, but pulling from its genre and themes. while visiting the graveyard and thinking about images to shoot, I thought it would be interesting to have multiple zombies of the same person, so I gave this idea a try for this picture.
This one isn’t supposed to be overly scary or threatening. I wanted the zombie to look more monotone and slightly lost or sad, and not particularly engaged towards any one target- sort of a “maybe” on what they might do when they are all alone and not pursuing their next meal. I would like to make a bigger series on that idea, actually. Showing what zombies are like in different situations and in their “off time.” What activities might they do? Would they get bored? Would some behave differently than others? But that’s a whole different can of worms.
Anyway, I desaturated the zombie to give him a more vintage, pale and deathly feeling. It didn’t look spooky enough with him in full color, and I didn’t want to desaturate the entire image either because I thought it created an interesting contrast between the pale death and the colors of the living world around him. I left the rest of the image in the colors and lighting as it was shot, but looking back I think maybe I should have upped the saturation so the contrast between the zombie and the rest of the world would be more pronounced.
Horizonscape
The idea that spawned this image was to take images of the horizon and place them together in such a way that would create stripes, so that at a quick glance it looks like maybe a painting of stripes or something similar. I did this by taking distant shots of the horizon and looping them together to get a longer, panoramic picture, and then also connecting a horizon underneath. I tried to get pictures of a few different types of horizons with different trees. I took all of the images out of the window of the car while driving on the highway through a sparcely populated farm area. Consequently, as we were driving the sun was setting, which led to a nice variety of colors and skies. I arranged them so that it gets darker going downward. At the time I was mostly interested in pictures of the sunset and those colors, but I think it would be interesting to take pictures at all different times of the day, from morning until dusk, to document the changes of the sky and lighting through the entire image. I also had wanted to get a wider variety of thick/thin lines from further and closer treelines, so getting more of these would also improve it if I worked on it more in the future.
It was meant to produce a mild illusion that becomes clearer when looked at more closely. It also was meant to play with the idea of space and landscape, because usually when you start at the treeline and look upward you expect to encounter pure sky, but instead you come across more trees coming downward.
At the start, I wanted this image to be extremely long and horizontal, but when I was putting it together it was becoming more vertical. I also realized that although I took a lot of pictures, not many of them actually worked and looked good, so I didn’t have enough to create a vastly horizontal image. However, after looking at it and thinking about it, having it vertical further distorts the expected and changes the effect created by the horizons, which I kind of liked.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Marcel Duchamp as Rose Sélavy
Marcel Duchamp as Rose Sélavy
Photographed by Man Ray
Art Directed/Retouched by Marcel Duchamp
Photographed by Man Ray
Art Directed/Retouched by Marcel Duchamp
"I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive. I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which already have an existence."
"There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it."
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Blog Post #19
Can you think of anything that:
1) should not be photographed? Why?
I don’t like applying big, blanket statements of things that should “always” be done or things that should “never” be done, because I feel like the specifics of a situation can vastly change the acceptability of certain actions. The more situations I try to think of where taking photographs would not be alright, the more variations on the situations where it becomes alright also come into my mind. However, one thing remains a constant deterrent in my mind: If someone is somewhere private or engaged in some sort of extremely private or emotional (such as at a funeral maybe) state of being and they ask you not to photograph them, I really don’t think you should. Invading people’s privacy against their wishes or pushing them when they are down seems not only dishonest, but also strikes me as just plain wrong, and I don’t think these are things I would want to do to someone.
2) cannot be photographed? Why?
Things that take place in the imagination simply cannot be photographed. They are not something concrete that can be seen through a camera, or even something that actually exists in the physical world. Additionally, things that are completely fictional (such as gryphons, for example), things that happened in the past or might happen in the future also cannot be photographed in the present because they don’t exist in the physical world at that point in time. This may seem pretty obvious, however, these types of things actually can be created or expressed through photography, just as they can be through drawing, painting, sculpting or any other artistic form of expression.
3) you do not want to photograph? Why?
It might sound general and shallow, but I have never had any interest in sports. I can appreciate an exceptional sports photo, but I really don’t care about sports in general. Sure, certain sports might catch my interest or be fun to photograph, but in general, I really have no desire to photograph sporting events. I’ve done it before and they were good learning experiences, but it’s just not my thing. I usually find ways to make them fun, or completely disconnect the activities taking place from the idea “sports” and pay attention to the forms, shapes, actions and colors happening. And I can think of plenty of exceptions to this aversion, but in general, I’d prefer not to have to deal with sports photography and wouldn’t expect myself to focus on any sporting events if left completely to my own devices.
1) should not be photographed? Why?
I don’t like applying big, blanket statements of things that should “always” be done or things that should “never” be done, because I feel like the specifics of a situation can vastly change the acceptability of certain actions. The more situations I try to think of where taking photographs would not be alright, the more variations on the situations where it becomes alright also come into my mind. However, one thing remains a constant deterrent in my mind: If someone is somewhere private or engaged in some sort of extremely private or emotional (such as at a funeral maybe) state of being and they ask you not to photograph them, I really don’t think you should. Invading people’s privacy against their wishes or pushing them when they are down seems not only dishonest, but also strikes me as just plain wrong, and I don’t think these are things I would want to do to someone.
2) cannot be photographed? Why?
Things that take place in the imagination simply cannot be photographed. They are not something concrete that can be seen through a camera, or even something that actually exists in the physical world. Additionally, things that are completely fictional (such as gryphons, for example), things that happened in the past or might happen in the future also cannot be photographed in the present because they don’t exist in the physical world at that point in time. This may seem pretty obvious, however, these types of things actually can be created or expressed through photography, just as they can be through drawing, painting, sculpting or any other artistic form of expression.
3) you do not want to photograph? Why?
It might sound general and shallow, but I have never had any interest in sports. I can appreciate an exceptional sports photo, but I really don’t care about sports in general. Sure, certain sports might catch my interest or be fun to photograph, but in general, I really have no desire to photograph sporting events. I’ve done it before and they were good learning experiences, but it’s just not my thing. I usually find ways to make them fun, or completely disconnect the activities taking place from the idea “sports” and pay attention to the forms, shapes, actions and colors happening. And I can think of plenty of exceptions to this aversion, but in general, I’d prefer not to have to deal with sports photography and wouldn’t expect myself to focus on any sporting events if left completely to my own devices.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Place Photographer- Chip Forelli
Chip Forelli's work includes a lot of contrasts between industrialization and man-made objects with natural environments. He frequently uses long shutter speeds to create distortion, haze and a soft feel in certain areas of his photographs, which usually contrasts with a still, sharp image of focus. Furthermore, a vast majority of his work is done in black and white. About this, he says: "The use of black and white heightens the graphic content and takes the experience to another level, where the image rendered purely in terms of form and tone is more of an abstraction with added dimension and depth."
As far as his reasons for photography, he said: "My goal is to suggest an emotional response to the viewer and leave enough room for interpretation. I like the images to provoke a second look with some questions not immediately answered." This is evident in many of his photos, which do not directly favor man or nature, but rather, capture the conflicts neutrally and leave it up to the viewer to decide how they feel about the image- they are not captioned or named in any way that suggests favor to one side or the other.
http://www.chipforelli.com/landscapes-1/tilted-piling-columbia-river-oregon-49_21_689.html
In this image, titled "Tilted Piling," a beautiful scene of the Columbia River in Oregon is depicted. The water looks like a reflective sheet of mirror, reflecting the trees on the distant bank. The clouds are hazy and blurred near the top, but gain shape and boldness as they enter the frame, which draws the eye into the middle, where a crooked pipe or post juts awkwardly out of the serene scene. It does not look like it belongs. I believe that it was meant to represent the conflict of man against nature.
I think this image very accurately captures the essence of this location. It emphasizes both the natural beauty and the human intervention and expansion into this area, but it does not offer any explanation as to why this is how it is or what caused it. The man-made construct interrupts the peaceful flow of the picture, yet it is not completely bold and in your face. I think it was his intention to keep the viewer guessing and imagining.
As far as his reasons for photography, he said: "My goal is to suggest an emotional response to the viewer and leave enough room for interpretation. I like the images to provoke a second look with some questions not immediately answered." This is evident in many of his photos, which do not directly favor man or nature, but rather, capture the conflicts neutrally and leave it up to the viewer to decide how they feel about the image- they are not captioned or named in any way that suggests favor to one side or the other.
http://www.chipforelli.com/landscapes-1/tilted-piling-columbia-river-oregon-49_21_689.html
In this image, titled "Tilted Piling," a beautiful scene of the Columbia River in Oregon is depicted. The water looks like a reflective sheet of mirror, reflecting the trees on the distant bank. The clouds are hazy and blurred near the top, but gain shape and boldness as they enter the frame, which draws the eye into the middle, where a crooked pipe or post juts awkwardly out of the serene scene. It does not look like it belongs. I believe that it was meant to represent the conflict of man against nature.
I think this image very accurately captures the essence of this location. It emphasizes both the natural beauty and the human intervention and expansion into this area, but it does not offer any explanation as to why this is how it is or what caused it. The man-made construct interrupts the peaceful flow of the picture, yet it is not completely bold and in your face. I think it was his intention to keep the viewer guessing and imagining.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Blog Posts #16, #17 and #18
“I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody's face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.” Duane Michals
I can only partially agree with this. Sure, there is a lot of magic to be found in seeing people in new ways. In fact, it’s one of the things I love being able to do, whether through photography or another method, however, sometimes seeing something you already know is really important too. If photography never captured what we already know, we would miss out on a lot of memories. I think there is a certain important magic in seeing something or someone we know in an image and having it transport us back in time to when the picture was taken. The magic that can be found in memory is a great power itself, and it would be a shame if this were excluded or lost.
As long as we still take risks, go on adventures and discover the unknown, there is absolutely nothing wrong with reminding ourselves of the things we already know once in awhile, lest we forget.
“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” Duane Michals
The whole concept of imagination has always been really important to me, and I do believe that sometimes the internal dialogue an image spawns can speak volumes more than the picture alone. Pictures come to life when someone adds their own details, ideas, fantasies and stories to them. In fact, I think it is probably impossible for someone to look at a photo and see absolutely nothing more than what was captured with the camera, and if this ever did happen, I would consider it to be a sort of great loss. One of the great things about photography is its ability to evoke thought and emotions from people, and it is not images alone that cause these effects, but rather, they come into existence when someone assigns their own meaning to a photograph and creates a space for it in their imagination. The world is multi-dimensional, and I believe that imagination is a much larger space than the physical world could ever take up. What a flat and boring world it would be without the intangible dimensions we add to our lives and the world around us.
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams
I find it somewhat surprising that Ansel Adams said this, because I think his work is absolutely beautiful, but I completely understand what he means. One of the first things I tried to do in photography was capture landscapes, and they have almost never turned out how I wanted them to or how I remembered them (and this still happens to me). It seems like taking landscape photos should be such a simple and natural thing, but it is a lot harder that one would imagine. I guess it is a little comforting to know that even the best share this problem- that it is not my own unique failure- but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when you find out that amazing memory of a scene you have didn’t translate into the photograph you were hoping it would.
I can only partially agree with this. Sure, there is a lot of magic to be found in seeing people in new ways. In fact, it’s one of the things I love being able to do, whether through photography or another method, however, sometimes seeing something you already know is really important too. If photography never captured what we already know, we would miss out on a lot of memories. I think there is a certain important magic in seeing something or someone we know in an image and having it transport us back in time to when the picture was taken. The magic that can be found in memory is a great power itself, and it would be a shame if this were excluded or lost.
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As long as we still take risks, go on adventures and discover the unknown, there is absolutely nothing wrong with reminding ourselves of the things we already know once in awhile, lest we forget.
“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” Duane Michals
The whole concept of imagination has always been really important to me, and I do believe that sometimes the internal dialogue an image spawns can speak volumes more than the picture alone. Pictures come to life when someone adds their own details, ideas, fantasies and stories to them. In fact, I think it is probably impossible for someone to look at a photo and see absolutely nothing more than what was captured with the camera, and if this ever did happen, I would consider it to be a sort of great loss. One of the great things about photography is its ability to evoke thought and emotions from people, and it is not images alone that cause these effects, but rather, they come into existence when someone assigns their own meaning to a photograph and creates a space for it in their imagination. The world is multi-dimensional, and I believe that imagination is a much larger space than the physical world could ever take up. What a flat and boring world it would be without the intangible dimensions we add to our lives and the world around us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams
I find it somewhat surprising that Ansel Adams said this, because I think his work is absolutely beautiful, but I completely understand what he means. One of the first things I tried to do in photography was capture landscapes, and they have almost never turned out how I wanted them to or how I remembered them (and this still happens to me). It seems like taking landscape photos should be such a simple and natural thing, but it is a lot harder that one would imagine. I guess it is a little comforting to know that even the best share this problem- that it is not my own unique failure- but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when you find out that amazing memory of a scene you have didn’t translate into the photograph you were hoping it would.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Collage- Mayhem in Hawaii (wip)
This image was inspired by my trip to Hawaii over the summer to compete in the Pokemon Trading Card Game World Championships. It takes place at the green sand beach which we visited on the first day there. That whole day was full of manic and mayhem, excitement and boisterous celebration. I wanted to create a wacky and fun image to capture the extremity of that day, which was one of my favorite memories of the trip.
It ties in with my collage of Ruby the State Champion as well because both are related to the Pokemon TCG, which has a huge role in my life. I wanted the picture to capture the beauty of the place we were at as well as the chaos of the emotions of that day.
Collage- Ruby the State Champion (wip)
This image was inspired by a dream I had last year. In the dream, my cat, Ruby, was playing in the State Championships for the Pokemon Trading Card Game (which I play competitively). She made it all the way to the finals and ended up winning the event with a Nidoking deck. No good Nidoking cards exist right now, so this was almost as ridiculous as the fact that she was playing in the first place. After collecting her trophy and prizes, I grabbed her and tried to hurry away because I was worried everyone would "realize" she was a cat and take away her win. Although in Ruby's defense, she does watch me playtest all the time and loves rolling through the cards and batting at the dice, so she's not a complete novice.
The entire dream was bizarre and entertaining, so I tried to capture this in my image. The juxtaposition of putting a human sized cat into a serious tournament setting is completely absurd... and I love it!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Blog Post #15
Collage: Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe two photographs that you might take that could be collaged together to tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.
I think an interesting combination of photographs from my life would be of me in my Halloween costumes from various years. Halloween has always been my favorite day of the year and I have not missed a year of dressing up and going Trick or Treating yet. I think this photo would be interesting because it would be such a wide array of ages and costumes and change over time.
I also like the symbolism behind the idea of wearing costumes, because on one hand it shows a projection of my taste at the time based on what costume I chose, but it is also hiding who I actually am and what I actually look like during these years. If the only frame of reference someone has of you are photos of you in costumes, this creates a very interesting impression, since they tell different things about your personality than a picture of you in your normal clothes would. As the real you changes, so too do the masks you wear in life, and on Halloween.
Some of the changes that occur over time would be obvious, such as getting taller, but others would be obscured by the costumes some years, such as hairstyle and my face. The demeanor in the pictures would also change, I can imagine ones of me as a child dressed as a zombie or a werewolf, trying to look intimidating contrasting with ones of me as characters from video games, imitating them and looking playful and comical.
I realize this is more than “two photos,” but once I got this idea in my head I couldn’t get it out and didn’t have any desire to try and think of a second less-interesting idea that wouldn’t be a real reflection of my original thoughts on the subject and would likely be less representative of me.
I think an interesting combination of photographs from my life would be of me in my Halloween costumes from various years. Halloween has always been my favorite day of the year and I have not missed a year of dressing up and going Trick or Treating yet. I think this photo would be interesting because it would be such a wide array of ages and costumes and change over time.
I also like the symbolism behind the idea of wearing costumes, because on one hand it shows a projection of my taste at the time based on what costume I chose, but it is also hiding who I actually am and what I actually look like during these years. If the only frame of reference someone has of you are photos of you in costumes, this creates a very interesting impression, since they tell different things about your personality than a picture of you in your normal clothes would. As the real you changes, so too do the masks you wear in life, and on Halloween.
Some of the changes that occur over time would be obvious, such as getting taller, but others would be obscured by the costumes some years, such as hairstyle and my face. The demeanor in the pictures would also change, I can imagine ones of me as a child dressed as a zombie or a werewolf, trying to look intimidating contrasting with ones of me as characters from video games, imitating them and looking playful and comical.
I realize this is more than “two photos,” but once I got this idea in my head I couldn’t get it out and didn’t have any desire to try and think of a second less-interesting idea that wouldn’t be a real reflection of my original thoughts on the subject and would likely be less representative of me.
Blog Post #14
Unknown vs. Familiar Space: When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?
Familiar places are sometimes harder to photograph than unknown places for me in certain ways. I am so used to always seeing the overall picture sometimes that I get caught up in trying to photograph small details or strange views on it and miss the overall essence. That being said, a familiar place would probably have closer pictures that show being more at ease and knowledgeable about the location, while a faraway place might have more sweeping wide photos showing the place as a whole, establishing shots as the photographer creates a frame of reference on the area he or she is visiting. They might gradually pull in to details as the photographer gets acclimated to the area.
When I imagine a place that has remained outside of human influence, I think of deep within the rain forest or being at the bottom of the ocean. If I were photographing a place untouched by humans, I would try to capture the wild beauty of the place without imposing my presence in the photos- try to keep them as natural and untamed as I could. Perhaps photographing strange creatures or plants that I found in a way that would make them appear even more bizarre and contrasting with familiar plants and animals. Personally, I don’t think editing the photos would be a good choice here either, because that would be adding human influence and decisions into a photograph that was meant to exclude them. Show the world as it is, not as you wish it were.
Familiar places are sometimes harder to photograph than unknown places for me in certain ways. I am so used to always seeing the overall picture sometimes that I get caught up in trying to photograph small details or strange views on it and miss the overall essence. That being said, a familiar place would probably have closer pictures that show being more at ease and knowledgeable about the location, while a faraway place might have more sweeping wide photos showing the place as a whole, establishing shots as the photographer creates a frame of reference on the area he or she is visiting. They might gradually pull in to details as the photographer gets acclimated to the area.
When I imagine a place that has remained outside of human influence, I think of deep within the rain forest or being at the bottom of the ocean. If I were photographing a place untouched by humans, I would try to capture the wild beauty of the place without imposing my presence in the photos- try to keep them as natural and untamed as I could. Perhaps photographing strange creatures or plants that I found in a way that would make them appear even more bizarre and contrasting with familiar plants and animals. Personally, I don’t think editing the photos would be a good choice here either, because that would be adding human influence and decisions into a photograph that was meant to exclude them. Show the world as it is, not as you wish it were.
Blog Post #13
Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “"New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.” http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx
Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.
I know it’s not all one way or another, but when I think about human interaction with nature and the physical land/landscapes, I have a hard time drawing a positive image in my mind. I think of deforestation, garbage floating in the ocean, oil spills, vast parking lots filling what used to be nature, logging, pollution and factories- basically negative images of things humans have done to the land flood my mind. Even clearing plots of land to build housing comes off as negative to me. Those large unnatural houses in the pictures from the New Topographics site make me feel uneasy and somewhat bitter, although I do sort of enjoy how rough and unfinished they are.
Although I do enjoy capturing the beauty in the world through photographs, I think it is equally important to capture the horror. If I were to do one of these “land art’ photos, I would try to seek out a scene of man and nature clashing in an unnatural way or show something obnoxious created by humans in an environment that doesn’t suit it (like those grandiose houses in the barren landscape) to highlight the absurdity of the situation.
Alternatively, I also like scenes of nature overcoming man-made obstacles, such as abandoned buildings with trees or weeds growing through them, ivy and roots destroying foundations of buildings, so on and so forth.
I would try to capture the conflict of man vs nature.
Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.
I know it’s not all one way or another, but when I think about human interaction with nature and the physical land/landscapes, I have a hard time drawing a positive image in my mind. I think of deforestation, garbage floating in the ocean, oil spills, vast parking lots filling what used to be nature, logging, pollution and factories- basically negative images of things humans have done to the land flood my mind. Even clearing plots of land to build housing comes off as negative to me. Those large unnatural houses in the pictures from the New Topographics site make me feel uneasy and somewhat bitter, although I do sort of enjoy how rough and unfinished they are.
Although I do enjoy capturing the beauty in the world through photographs, I think it is equally important to capture the horror. If I were to do one of these “land art’ photos, I would try to seek out a scene of man and nature clashing in an unnatural way or show something obnoxious created by humans in an environment that doesn’t suit it (like those grandiose houses in the barren landscape) to highlight the absurdity of the situation.
Alternatively, I also like scenes of nature overcoming man-made obstacles, such as abandoned buildings with trees or weeds growing through them, ivy and roots destroying foundations of buildings, so on and so forth.
I would try to capture the conflict of man vs nature.
Blog Post #12
Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?
One of the photos I remember the most from my childhood is a snapshot of my dad and I standing beside the “snowcat” we made. It is winter and the ground is covered in snow. Or rather, it was before we rolled snowballs through it, leaving patchy, twisting trails along the ground that reveal the dead grass beneath. I’m smiling broadly (actually I’m not, this is how I remember the photo and memory, but after writing this I looked up the photo and I have a strange distant half smile and I look pensive, funny how the mind plays tricks), adorned with a tacky turquoise winter coat, an obnoxious neon red-orange, blue and white striped hat, baggy purple snow pants and neon gloves that are much too big for me. I look like a colorful patchwork disaster of mismatched clothing and I don’t care at all (I still wouldn’t). I am seven and my hair is long and a transitional shade of medium blond (I started out blond and it has gotten darker and darker as I have gotten older). My dad is wearing a plaid jacket and jeans. He’s hunched down to my level and has his arm proudly around me and the snowcat between us, which has a lump of coal as a nose, two blue tokens from an old gameboard as its eyes, triangular snow ears, twig whiskers and nubby snow arms and feet. My grandparents’ house is in the background, along with several bushes and trees, including a birch tree I have always liked.
This memory is a happy island in a hard part of my life. Although the day was amazing and fun, I have a hard time completely separating it from the other events that were going on at the time. My parents had divorced recently and I wasn’t seeing my dad as much as I was used to from when we all lived together. Life got a lot more complicated than I knew how to death with yet, but that day stands out- a carefree day with my dad giving me tips and pointers on how to roll and stack the snowballs for our snowcat, just him and I.
Physically, I’ve changed a lot since then- it was 14 years ago. My hair is short and dark brown (or red if I’ve dyed it) instead of long and blondeish. I’m taller and physically mature now.
I don’t think this photograph could ever be reenacted, not only because it is physically impossible since he has since passed away, but I don’t think I would want to either- some memories are better left how they were. I feel like something would be ruined or it would be some sort of blasphemy to try and copycat this picture. However, one day when I’m much older, if I ever have children of my own, I’ll teach them the joy of making snow animals and there will probably be pictures of it.
One of the photos I remember the most from my childhood is a snapshot of my dad and I standing beside the “snowcat” we made. It is winter and the ground is covered in snow. Or rather, it was before we rolled snowballs through it, leaving patchy, twisting trails along the ground that reveal the dead grass beneath. I’m smiling broadly (actually I’m not, this is how I remember the photo and memory, but after writing this I looked up the photo and I have a strange distant half smile and I look pensive, funny how the mind plays tricks), adorned with a tacky turquoise winter coat, an obnoxious neon red-orange, blue and white striped hat, baggy purple snow pants and neon gloves that are much too big for me. I look like a colorful patchwork disaster of mismatched clothing and I don’t care at all (I still wouldn’t). I am seven and my hair is long and a transitional shade of medium blond (I started out blond and it has gotten darker and darker as I have gotten older). My dad is wearing a plaid jacket and jeans. He’s hunched down to my level and has his arm proudly around me and the snowcat between us, which has a lump of coal as a nose, two blue tokens from an old gameboard as its eyes, triangular snow ears, twig whiskers and nubby snow arms and feet. My grandparents’ house is in the background, along with several bushes and trees, including a birch tree I have always liked.
This memory is a happy island in a hard part of my life. Although the day was amazing and fun, I have a hard time completely separating it from the other events that were going on at the time. My parents had divorced recently and I wasn’t seeing my dad as much as I was used to from when we all lived together. Life got a lot more complicated than I knew how to death with yet, but that day stands out- a carefree day with my dad giving me tips and pointers on how to roll and stack the snowballs for our snowcat, just him and I.
Physically, I’ve changed a lot since then- it was 14 years ago. My hair is short and dark brown (or red if I’ve dyed it) instead of long and blondeish. I’m taller and physically mature now.
I don’t think this photograph could ever be reenacted, not only because it is physically impossible since he has since passed away, but I don’t think I would want to either- some memories are better left how they were. I feel like something would be ruined or it would be some sort of blasphemy to try and copycat this picture. However, one day when I’m much older, if I ever have children of my own, I’ll teach them the joy of making snow animals and there will probably be pictures of it.
Blog Post #11
Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.
A very important place in my past, and probably my favorite place in this world, is Up North. Growing up, Up North was a small plot of land in Oscoda on the beach of Lake Huron. The property had three small cottages- one for my grandparents (who bought it as a family gift), one for my parents and one for my aunt and uncle. The cottages were adorable, small and white paneled, each only a couple of rooms. The biggest consisted of a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room and one bedroom. I could go into great detail describing the interiors of each, but it is outdoors that most of my memories reside.
The beach was the most striking characteristic of the property, and also where I spent most of my time. The sandy grass growing around the cottages slowly transitioned into pure sand the closer it got to the beach. One of my favorite parts was a small tree that grew out of a pile of rocks right where the transition from thin grass into sand ended. It was thin and somewhat weak looking, but on the Fourth of July my dad would fasten spinning fireworks to it as part of his grand show, which was one of my favorite parts for some reason. The rocks, thin and flat, concealed an ant colony which I would frequently peep in on.
The beach itself was heartbreakingly gorgeous. The view of Lake Huron extending out far beyond the horizon, gradually darkening into a deep steely grey-blue near the horizon, always swept me away as a child. Large freighters in the distance were always a treat to behold, and it wasn’t uncommon to see sailboats and small jet skis skimming across the distant waters either. Looking to the far left down the beach revealed a patchwork of small beach houses, cottages and rental homes, and ended in a distant pier silhouetted against the lake and sky, while the far right consisted of a similar combination of buildings and a distance that has faded away in my memory. I think it led into a bigger part of the small town, but I just can’t remember clearly.
In my memory, I’m standing near the transition point of the grass and sand, in the middle of the three cottages which roughly aligned to form the shape of a “U,” the open end towards the lake. I’m looking at my beloved tree in the foreground and the lake in the distance. I’m alone and it’s probably late morning, but my parents are in our cottage behind me, my grandparents are cooking a hearty breakfast in theirs and I’m impatient to rush next door and summon my best friend from next door, Bridgette, to go swimming with me. It is the calm before the excitement of the day, swimming and adventuring, make-believe and sand castles. I am five years old and this is my paradise.
This is also the calm before the storm that was soon to sweep through the life of me and my family that separated me from this memory to which I still cling.
Today, I don’t can’t say for sure what Up North is like. My parents divorced, my father passed away (it was his parents who bought it), my Uncle (their other son) became estranged, my grandfather got sick, and the property was ultimately sold to Bridgette from next door’s family shortly before my grandfather’s death. But even before it was sold, it had been a number of years since I had been up there because life has a way of losing its simplicity as the years progress.
Last I saw of it was on a cold, gray day, unlike the endless sunny days of summer that live immortal in my memories. My mom took me up to say goodbye before the sale was finalized, and it was both exactly the same and vastly different, all at once. Physically, almost nothing had changed, but emotionally it was drenched in a deep sorrow that I know tainted my memory, because it seemed so lonely and empty when I always knew it to be vibrant and full of life.
I don’t want to remember it this way, and maybe that’s why this last visit has mostly faded away into the deep recess of my mind. I took a camera with me that day, but it never left its case, tucked away in the car.
Bridgette’s family was big and growing, and I’m sure today it is full if new life with its new family, but I can’t help but worry about what could have become of it, filled with so much rustic beauty, in the hands of an immensely wealthy family concerned with physical possessions and abundance. I’m afraid of changes and renovations they have probably made to my quaint paradise, which is no longer mine.
Selfishly, I hope they love it for how it was, for how I remember it, so it can continue to exist in a timeless state of Eden.
A very important place in my past, and probably my favorite place in this world, is Up North. Growing up, Up North was a small plot of land in Oscoda on the beach of Lake Huron. The property had three small cottages- one for my grandparents (who bought it as a family gift), one for my parents and one for my aunt and uncle. The cottages were adorable, small and white paneled, each only a couple of rooms. The biggest consisted of a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room and one bedroom. I could go into great detail describing the interiors of each, but it is outdoors that most of my memories reside.
The beach was the most striking characteristic of the property, and also where I spent most of my time. The sandy grass growing around the cottages slowly transitioned into pure sand the closer it got to the beach. One of my favorite parts was a small tree that grew out of a pile of rocks right where the transition from thin grass into sand ended. It was thin and somewhat weak looking, but on the Fourth of July my dad would fasten spinning fireworks to it as part of his grand show, which was one of my favorite parts for some reason. The rocks, thin and flat, concealed an ant colony which I would frequently peep in on.
The beach itself was heartbreakingly gorgeous. The view of Lake Huron extending out far beyond the horizon, gradually darkening into a deep steely grey-blue near the horizon, always swept me away as a child. Large freighters in the distance were always a treat to behold, and it wasn’t uncommon to see sailboats and small jet skis skimming across the distant waters either. Looking to the far left down the beach revealed a patchwork of small beach houses, cottages and rental homes, and ended in a distant pier silhouetted against the lake and sky, while the far right consisted of a similar combination of buildings and a distance that has faded away in my memory. I think it led into a bigger part of the small town, but I just can’t remember clearly.
In my memory, I’m standing near the transition point of the grass and sand, in the middle of the three cottages which roughly aligned to form the shape of a “U,” the open end towards the lake. I’m looking at my beloved tree in the foreground and the lake in the distance. I’m alone and it’s probably late morning, but my parents are in our cottage behind me, my grandparents are cooking a hearty breakfast in theirs and I’m impatient to rush next door and summon my best friend from next door, Bridgette, to go swimming with me. It is the calm before the excitement of the day, swimming and adventuring, make-believe and sand castles. I am five years old and this is my paradise.
This is also the calm before the storm that was soon to sweep through the life of me and my family that separated me from this memory to which I still cling.
Today, I don’t can’t say for sure what Up North is like. My parents divorced, my father passed away (it was his parents who bought it), my Uncle (their other son) became estranged, my grandfather got sick, and the property was ultimately sold to Bridgette from next door’s family shortly before my grandfather’s death. But even before it was sold, it had been a number of years since I had been up there because life has a way of losing its simplicity as the years progress.
Last I saw of it was on a cold, gray day, unlike the endless sunny days of summer that live immortal in my memories. My mom took me up to say goodbye before the sale was finalized, and it was both exactly the same and vastly different, all at once. Physically, almost nothing had changed, but emotionally it was drenched in a deep sorrow that I know tainted my memory, because it seemed so lonely and empty when I always knew it to be vibrant and full of life.
I don’t want to remember it this way, and maybe that’s why this last visit has mostly faded away into the deep recess of my mind. I took a camera with me that day, but it never left its case, tucked away in the car.
Bridgette’s family was big and growing, and I’m sure today it is full if new life with its new family, but I can’t help but worry about what could have become of it, filled with so much rustic beauty, in the hands of an immensely wealthy family concerned with physical possessions and abundance. I’m afraid of changes and renovations they have probably made to my quaint paradise, which is no longer mine.
Selfishly, I hope they love it for how it was, for how I remember it, so it can continue to exist in a timeless state of Eden.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Reactions to portrait sets: Ruby, Mom with Goose, Group Reflection, The Shining, Clockwork Orange
Ruby
This image got a wide variety of responses from my group members. One person found it to be eerie, while another thought it was funny and yet another didn't feel like it was intimate enough. It's hard for me to step back from this one since I love and am so close to my cat, so it was interesting to see the reactions of others. They liked the lighting on the image, but thought that the exposure could have been a little brighter. I think this could have happened because it seemed to print slightly darker than the image I saw on the computer screen, which I realized was a trend among my images.
Mom with Goose
The group described this image as "interesting," "surprising" and "slightly confusing." These are all things that I was trying to achieve with this image and I'm glad it succeeded. It was positively received for the most part, although one person thought the outlines should have been thinner. I wasn't sure what size outlines I should use for this image, so I went with thicker ones like the image I was inspired by had, but perhaps I overdid it. Someone suggested to cut out the squares out and presenting it in 3D if it were to go on display, and this was really an interesting idea to me that I had kind of played with in my head before. Like the picture of Ruby, this one printed darker than I was expecting, which made the outlines hard to see in some areas. Furthermore, I learned that my computer screen isn't set properly or something because when it printed (and was viewed on the computers in the classroom), the sky was kind of messed up in areas where a lot of editing took place. I'd like to go back and redo these parts on a different computer, since I cannot see them at all on my own.
Group Reflection
This image was described as "creepy," "intense" and "psychological." Again, these are all things I was hoping to achieve with this picture so I am glad it was perceived this way. The group's favorite parts of this image were the pose and the bright background. No suggestions were made, but if I were to work on this photo again, I would pay a lot more attention to what is going on in the background. I had to edit a pesky sweatshirt off of the chair because it bothered me, and the side of a TV off the wall, but I would really prefer to just shoot something right the first time instead of having to compensate and change it a lot later.
The Shining
This image was the most popular in the group, which kind of surprised me. I was worried that people wouldn't get that it was supposed to have weird lighting and white balance, but they really appreciated it. It was displayed in the class without its inspiration image next to it, which worried me, but someone even said that it reminded them of the original even without knowing ahead of time that is what it was from and without the direct comparison. They were surprised to learn that I made the door props myself- someone thought it was an actual door that we broke, which I was really glad about, because I was worried it didn't look realistic enough. They also liked the pose of the subject, and no crits were given, but if I were to shoot it again, I would lower the "door frame" a little bit because it was a little off from the original. This is an image I might like to make a series out of, because recreating scenes and posters from movies is a lot of fun.
A Clockwork Orange
This image also got a positive reception and the group thought it looked really close to the original. However, it did have one big problem- like the goose picture, some gray was showing around the words I edited in that I could not see on my own computer screen, This REALLY bothers me because I worked so hard on the rest of it, and something dumb and little ruined the print. It also printed darker than the one on the screen, so the face might have been a little harder to see than I had intended. This too is an image that I would like to make a series out of, because it was so much fun to shoot and edit. This was easily my favorite one to work on so far.
This image got a wide variety of responses from my group members. One person found it to be eerie, while another thought it was funny and yet another didn't feel like it was intimate enough. It's hard for me to step back from this one since I love and am so close to my cat, so it was interesting to see the reactions of others. They liked the lighting on the image, but thought that the exposure could have been a little brighter. I think this could have happened because it seemed to print slightly darker than the image I saw on the computer screen, which I realized was a trend among my images.
Mom with Goose
The group described this image as "interesting," "surprising" and "slightly confusing." These are all things that I was trying to achieve with this image and I'm glad it succeeded. It was positively received for the most part, although one person thought the outlines should have been thinner. I wasn't sure what size outlines I should use for this image, so I went with thicker ones like the image I was inspired by had, but perhaps I overdid it. Someone suggested to cut out the squares out and presenting it in 3D if it were to go on display, and this was really an interesting idea to me that I had kind of played with in my head before. Like the picture of Ruby, this one printed darker than I was expecting, which made the outlines hard to see in some areas. Furthermore, I learned that my computer screen isn't set properly or something because when it printed (and was viewed on the computers in the classroom), the sky was kind of messed up in areas where a lot of editing took place. I'd like to go back and redo these parts on a different computer, since I cannot see them at all on my own.
Group Reflection
This image was described as "creepy," "intense" and "psychological." Again, these are all things I was hoping to achieve with this picture so I am glad it was perceived this way. The group's favorite parts of this image were the pose and the bright background. No suggestions were made, but if I were to work on this photo again, I would pay a lot more attention to what is going on in the background. I had to edit a pesky sweatshirt off of the chair because it bothered me, and the side of a TV off the wall, but I would really prefer to just shoot something right the first time instead of having to compensate and change it a lot later.
The Shining
This image was the most popular in the group, which kind of surprised me. I was worried that people wouldn't get that it was supposed to have weird lighting and white balance, but they really appreciated it. It was displayed in the class without its inspiration image next to it, which worried me, but someone even said that it reminded them of the original even without knowing ahead of time that is what it was from and without the direct comparison. They were surprised to learn that I made the door props myself- someone thought it was an actual door that we broke, which I was really glad about, because I was worried it didn't look realistic enough. They also liked the pose of the subject, and no crits were given, but if I were to shoot it again, I would lower the "door frame" a little bit because it was a little off from the original. This is an image I might like to make a series out of, because recreating scenes and posters from movies is a lot of fun.
A Clockwork Orange
This image also got a positive reception and the group thought it looked really close to the original. However, it did have one big problem- like the goose picture, some gray was showing around the words I edited in that I could not see on my own computer screen, This REALLY bothers me because I worked so hard on the rest of it, and something dumb and little ruined the print. It also printed darker than the one on the screen, so the face might have been a little harder to see than I had intended. This too is an image that I would like to make a series out of, because it was so much fun to shoot and edit. This was easily my favorite one to work on so far.
Reactions to Portrait Sets: Scream, Reflected, Where the Wild Things Are
Scream
This image had a mostly positive reception, however, it was suggested that I should have tried to brighten the teeth of the subject and make them more white, which is something I had not thought about doing. The pitch black background worked well with the high contrast lighting on the subject, and the class agreed with this. Someone also commented that they liked that the eyes are obscured, which is something I like too but was worried might not go well with others.
Constructed
This image went over well with the class as a whole. People didn't seem to realize immediately what was going on with the mirrors and the heads, which was how I intended it to be, and once they did they thought it was pretty neat. The class didn't make any suggestions about how to make this one better, but in retrospect, I wish the background was a little different, either all leopard print or fading off into darkness.
Where the Wild Things Are
I decided to keep the yellow-green caste on this image to keep its creepy atmosphere, but the class seemed to think it would have looked better if it was white balanced instead. I wasn't sure about keeping the pink lens flare or not, but everyone seemed to enjoy the splash of exciting color it brought into the image. Overall it had a pretty positive reception and the class thought it was close to the original.
This image had a mostly positive reception, however, it was suggested that I should have tried to brighten the teeth of the subject and make them more white, which is something I had not thought about doing. The pitch black background worked well with the high contrast lighting on the subject, and the class agreed with this. Someone also commented that they liked that the eyes are obscured, which is something I like too but was worried might not go well with others.
Constructed
This image went over well with the class as a whole. People didn't seem to realize immediately what was going on with the mirrors and the heads, which was how I intended it to be, and once they did they thought it was pretty neat. The class didn't make any suggestions about how to make this one better, but in retrospect, I wish the background was a little different, either all leopard print or fading off into darkness.
Where the Wild Things Are
I decided to keep the yellow-green caste on this image to keep its creepy atmosphere, but the class seemed to think it would have looked better if it was white balanced instead. I wasn't sure about keeping the pink lens flare or not, but everyone seemed to enjoy the splash of exciting color it brought into the image. Overall it had a pretty positive reception and the class thought it was close to the original.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Painting Portrait- A Clockwork Orange
This image is a recreation of a movie poster for Stanley Kubrick's movie adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. This was my favorite image of the group to shoot and work on. I had a blast working to recreate the dress style, lighting, coloration, pose and props present in the original image. For the dominant image of me as Alex, I made the eyeball out of a ping pong ball, bought eyeliner and borrowed the hat and shirt from two of my friends. I had to do a lot of work editing to get the lighting and colors correct.
For the smaller image, I used a male subject instead of the female that is present in the original. I decided to do a gender reversal of the original subjects for this image as my own twist to keep it unique and different instead of just a straight up recreation. Bending traditional gender roles and placing individuals in situations in which they may appear not to belong or depicting them in a non-traditional light really interests me. It can also reveal intimate details about a subject's own gender identity in certain situations. This also serves as my gender/sexuality photograph for that reason.
I love how the image pops out of the borders, which also are not rectangular, and that one of the reasons that motivated me to use this image- not only is it edgy, interesting and a subject I enjoy, but it also gave me a chance to work with images outside of the traditional shape range.
The image of me as Alex was taken outside in midday lighting, and the smaller image was taken indoors with a combination of lamp lighting from below and florescent overhead lighting to create the correct balance of shadows and lighting (with some help from Photoshop as well).
Object Portrait
This image was inspired by Cornelia Hediger's work in her Doppelgänger series, specifically the seventh in the series which shows a woman holding a deer head in an intimate manner, with the same deer head repeating over the back of the couch she is laying on as though it is peeping in on her. The original image is segmented into six equal rectangles, but I decided to try something different and took a cubist approach to my image. I also wanted to have a non-rectangular portrait that had different shaped borders, so I left the image's top edge blocky. I was also going for a sort of magnifying glass feeling to the image, and wanted it to sort of pop out. It looks much better on a transparent background than plain white like it appears here.
It was really hard to match the backgrounds of the different images to fit together so that they are not exact, but are similar enough that they blend together and it takes a second glance to notice the size differences. I also had slightly different exposures and the coloration came out different in different images. These elements I thought were important to remain consistent so I had to compensate and correct the images a bit. I also did not leave enough border space on the edges of some of the images, so I had a lot of practice with my best friend, the patch tool, while editing the photographs to be longer and appear to contain more space than they actually do.
I was going for a strange whimsical feel to this picture because that is a very fitting theme for my mom. I wanted it to be stylized and interesting and edgy but also contain elements of her personality.
It is taken outdoors in overcast diffused lighting.
Movie Portrait- The Shining
This photograph is a recreation of a scene from Stanley Kubrick's movie adaptation of "The Shining." I wanted to closely recreate the lighting, colors and overall gritty feeling the original image has. It was a fun challenge to work this way- usually when editing photography we are editing it to look more realistic and have the correct exposures, color balance, etc., but for this photo I was degrading the original image I shot to match the inspiration.
I created my own props for this image by taking white and brown tackboard and cutting/scraping it to look like the door that got chopped down in the movie. This was a lot of fun and had me thinking outside the box for how to create a believable wooden door that wouldn't be obviously fake or cheesy.
My subject's expression is a bit more playful than the original, but this didn't bother me because it captures some of the personality of the subject and integrates it into the photograph, instead of just being a straight copy.
This was taken with indoor overhead florescent lighting.
Intimate Portrait- Ruby
This portrait is my cat, Ruby. She is the most important thing in the world to me and I wanted to involve her somehow in this photoshoot, and the intimate category seemed like the perfect opportunity. I tried a lot of different angles and poses to get something different than just a snapshot of a cat- I wanted it to be interesting and sort of a unique view than someone would usually expect or be able to see. She's very skittish and not friendly towards strangers, so getting this close to her would likely not have been possible for someone else.
It was a little bit difficult because she's a cat and has a mind of her own and did not want to cooperate with me most of the time. Getting her to look in any certain direction or hold any pose was almost impossible, so eventually I gave up on that and followed her around and captured more natural shots of her from interesting angles. This says more about her personality than a posed image would, because that's just not how she is.
The image was shot with natural morning light coming in from above through a skylight back home.
Group Portrait
This image was inspired by some of the neat stuff that Jan Van Holleben did in her series entitled "My army of monsters." I really liked the idea of creating monstrous creatures by combining multiple people in mirrors, however, this proved to be quite difficult. I didn't have large seamless mirrors available to me, so I tried to make do with two smaller ones, which was really hard to manage. I decided to take it in a slightly different direction since creating a strong illusion wasn't exactly possible with the resources available. I also tried to find a bright and interesting setting instead of a stark white sterile one to add more interest and life to my photo. It was meant to be a non-traditional take on group portrait photography as well as sort of a creepy psychological view of the subjects. It is meant to be odd and unsettling instead of just static and straight forward like some traditional portrait photography.
It was shot using indoor tungsten lighting coming from the ceiling lights.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Blog Post #10
“All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger
I’m not really sure whether I agree or disagree with this. The beginning makes a lot of sense to me. Many people do take photographs to remind them of important people and moments in their life. The rush of memories and nostalgia that can flush forward when looking at childhood photos of days gone by can be almost overwhelming sometimes and bring back long forgotten emotions and memories.
However, I’m not really sure how the amount of things someone forgets would really make a difference between a photograph and a painting. Although I will say that I think a painting leaves more room for the painter to take creative liberties than a photograph does because a photograph contains at least some amount of sheer truth- an image of something that truly existed in the real world at a distinct point in time. But a painting can come completely from the imagination of the painter. Even when it is a still life or portrait painting, the painter is making images out of nothing, creating the likeness of a subject from their own personal perspective and style.
The slate rarely ever starts as a completely blank canvas for photography, while the painter has absolute power over every aspect of his or her painting, and because of this, I think paintings are a larger reflection of their creator than photographs are in general. I guess this would inherently cover the memories that are captured, since such an all-encompassing power is held by the painter.
I’m not really sure whether I agree or disagree with this. The beginning makes a lot of sense to me. Many people do take photographs to remind them of important people and moments in their life. The rush of memories and nostalgia that can flush forward when looking at childhood photos of days gone by can be almost overwhelming sometimes and bring back long forgotten emotions and memories.
However, I’m not really sure how the amount of things someone forgets would really make a difference between a photograph and a painting. Although I will say that I think a painting leaves more room for the painter to take creative liberties than a photograph does because a photograph contains at least some amount of sheer truth- an image of something that truly existed in the real world at a distinct point in time. But a painting can come completely from the imagination of the painter. Even when it is a still life or portrait painting, the painter is making images out of nothing, creating the likeness of a subject from their own personal perspective and style.
The slate rarely ever starts as a completely blank canvas for photography, while the painter has absolute power over every aspect of his or her painting, and because of this, I think paintings are a larger reflection of their creator than photographs are in general. I guess this would inherently cover the memories that are captured, since such an all-encompassing power is held by the painter.
Blog Post #9
“You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams
To a certain extent, I feel like this is always true in every photo. Photographs cannot take themselves- every aspect of the picture is influenced by the photographer. Even in candid, landscape or un-posed photos, the angle, what is in the frame, what is excluded and the shutter speed/aperture is controlled by the photographer. However, similar to the Avedon quote, I feel like there are also two different views on this subject.
Some photographs really are “made” rather than “taken.” Highly posed and especially highly edited photos fall into this category in my mind. They change and bend reality to fit the idea of the photographer. When a photo consists of elements and techniques that would not be possible or were not present without the involvement of the photographer, I consider it to be “made,” almost like a painting.
On the other hand, some photography focuses more on capturing split moments in time, high detail and action that is present in the real world and immortalizing it in the form of a photo. This photography is more “taken” than “made” in my mind because it relies on preexisting subjects, moments that independently happen and is not constructed or edited later.
The line between “taken” and “made” can be very thin at times and completely nonexistent in others, but I still think there should be some distinction made between different methods of photography.
To a certain extent, I feel like this is always true in every photo. Photographs cannot take themselves- every aspect of the picture is influenced by the photographer. Even in candid, landscape or un-posed photos, the angle, what is in the frame, what is excluded and the shutter speed/aperture is controlled by the photographer. However, similar to the Avedon quote, I feel like there are also two different views on this subject.
Some photographs really are “made” rather than “taken.” Highly posed and especially highly edited photos fall into this category in my mind. They change and bend reality to fit the idea of the photographer. When a photo consists of elements and techniques that would not be possible or were not present without the involvement of the photographer, I consider it to be “made,” almost like a painting.
On the other hand, some photography focuses more on capturing split moments in time, high detail and action that is present in the real world and immortalizing it in the form of a photo. This photography is more “taken” than “made” in my mind because it relies on preexisting subjects, moments that independently happen and is not constructed or edited later.
The line between “taken” and “made” can be very thin at times and completely nonexistent in others, but I still think there should be some distinction made between different methods of photography.
Blog Post #8
“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.
I feel like there are two conflicting views of portrait photography that often intertwine and fight for dominance.
On one hand, portrait photography can be meant to capture the essence of the soul and personality of the subject. In this method, the portrait is meant to tell something intimate or to highlight certain aspects of the subject and display them in the form of a lasting memory. The photograph is composed and shot to be a complete reflection of the person in it.
The other approach, however, is almost the opposite. It shows the subject through the creative lens of the photographer. The photograph reflects the style, ideas and personality of the photographer just as much-if not more- than the subject.
I feel like both of these aspects are present in each portrait that is taken, although their proportions vary from photo to photo and from photographer to photographer. They coexist in a balance that helps determine what direction the photo will take.
I feel like there are two conflicting views of portrait photography that often intertwine and fight for dominance.
On one hand, portrait photography can be meant to capture the essence of the soul and personality of the subject. In this method, the portrait is meant to tell something intimate or to highlight certain aspects of the subject and display them in the form of a lasting memory. The photograph is composed and shot to be a complete reflection of the person in it.
The other approach, however, is almost the opposite. It shows the subject through the creative lens of the photographer. The photograph reflects the style, ideas and personality of the photographer just as much-if not more- than the subject.
I feel like both of these aspects are present in each portrait that is taken, although their proportions vary from photo to photo and from photographer to photographer. They coexist in a balance that helps determine what direction the photo will take.
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