Covert & Obscured
Rebelious War
Fog
With the obvious
Perspective
Distortion Blured
Of the mind
Photo manipulation Pixelated
Rain
Images
weather conditions
Shadow
Silhouettes
Conflict Gaming
Over-exposed
Sunny
Identity
Over exposed
Virtual Identity
Storm
Internet Self-Identity
Night
Afternoon
Covert and Obscured Mind
Mirror
Glass
Time of day
Day
Dance
Shadow
Reflections
Mask
Eyes
Mid day
Morning symetry Dawn
Film mask
Theatre Water
Analysis Erwin Blumenfeld has completed a piece that reflects an ethereal sense, this I believe portrays the exam title ‘covert and obscured’ very well. I found this piece aesthetically pleasing because it combines two subject matters implicitly, to create one focal point. This highlights the portrait of what appears to be a women. I notice the form of the person and how she has been position to echo the vertical structure of the photo, to oppose this however is the horizontal line, this has been implemented with strong vibrance to balance the composition. This piece by Blumenfeld is a heavy, as opposed to an intricate, collaboration of objects. I would say however, that they have been layered effectively, this is shown through the hands defining the top of the red cross, working together in a light form of harmony. But that is as far as it goes in the way of intricacy. I think this image is visually striking because its foreground has been made blurry and its background has been made bold. The background is also coming through to the front, this breaks down the distinction between the two, by doing so the composition becomes more of a mix and is defined less by foreground, middleground and background, it does this however whilst still staying balanced. I can see that Blumenfeld has opted to use bold colours in this piece. This works well and effectively with the blur, also included. This is because it merges the colours but is also able to keep the individual shapes and figures distinct from each other. I notice that that the shapes used are standard, geometric shapes, this along with the boldness creates a sense of simplicity as it is a more direct approach to the visual elements. This image was first shown during 1945. In the same year WW2 had ended, during the war the red cross was a well known symbol for hospitals. It also played an important role in the interim years between the end of the war and the implementation of the NHS. This photo may have been, likewise important as a promotion or advertising image for that organization. The evidence of this is seen in the colours and the model used, is a Women;a common misconception at the time that women are nurses. After studying Erwin Blumenfeld I have come round, to enjoy his work, it has grown on me. So much so that I hope to utilize and develop the ideas put forward by him. He will be a key source of inspiration for my first idea. I will take the style portrayed in this particular piece and implement it into my own work changing it subtly, and making it my own.
Evaluation
These are my first and second set of photographs for my first idea. I am happy with the outcome of my initial and developmental photos because I believe I have captured the obscure section of the brief by effectively using a blur tool, I have turned a negative into a positive in a way. The composition was taken into some consideration whilst taking my initial, however I have thought about it strongly during the development, this is by choosing the shapes carefully and combining them with the individual images which they work best with. I do, however see points for improvement in some of my images. Most notably the exposure. Where most have a calm lighting with a slight hue, some have a strong, protruding background. This is almost an invasion of the foreground and the subject matter. Although after revising them I have come to like them, a serendipity. My second set work in a similar way to my first. I have chosen to keep some of the same main visual and technical features, the shapes and blur. I have however changed what I believe to be the main feature; colour. I have inversed the colours from my first set of black on white to white on black. By doing this I hoped to achieve a distinct difference in the boldness of the shapes and their colours My first idea found a little difficulty taking off as the original plan did not come to fruition. This meant a backup had to be made reasonably quickly, this scarified some care and consideration. This did not come to be a problem whilst shooting as I had a clear plan by then, I also believe I worked well with what I had; with hindsight this was more than enough to work off. I think the idea of blurred images collaborated with different shapes, colours and burns works nicely. This is because it highlights the sense of obscurity, it throws the viewers eye off and creates a slight ethereal sense. My second set found some difficulty in trying to make it unique and distinct from the first as it follows the same ideas. I believe I was able to pull it off well through colour and a slight tweak of composition. For my second set I used a bolder set of colours and more simplistic shapes, I think this would have a greater effect on the focal point and create more dominant areas within the composition of each photo. I hope a viewer would notice this feature when comparing both sets as it has become the main feature for me. I have taken into careful consideration the work of Erwin Blumenfeld when completing my first idea, I have taken and adapted some features to fit my style. For example I have taken the idea of the shapes in the background, and then brought them to the front burning them in, I have gotten rid of the idea that the shapes symbolize something important, this was a key aspect of the Blumenfelds photo that I noticed. Blumenfelds work proved to be very helpful for my first
Rut Blees Luxemburg Rut Blees Luxemburg creates a sense of stillness but captures this within a very ‘loud’ scenery. This in turn creates an obscurity in priorities, portraying the exam theme. This piece by Luxemburg is soft, this goes against expectation of the location, I think the reflection on the water contributes to this softness and adds to the surrealistic atmosphere. I think the visual impact of this piece is increased dramatically through the reflections and also the building just off the middle of the image almost composed of entire light. I also believe these two features tie in very well with the exam title, ‘Covert and Obscured’. I notice Luxemburg uses a wide range of colours in this piece, the brighter colours running along the middle of the composition and the muted colours along the top. However the dominant colour I see more of, is blue. Blue could have been used to portray a sense of tranquility, I also see that this has been paired with still waters, I think this strengthens the sense of stillness. Also the reflection of the water I see balances the composition, as the bright colours would otherwise hold the middle only and create a dominant area. There is still however a clear distinction between city landscape and sky which I find interesting.
When looking at this piece I am not overwhelmed by symbolism. However I see elements of peace within a busy city and the need to relax. Unfortunately I do not see elements of other artists I know of and I cannot date it back to an earlier point in time. This may have been done on purpose to portray modernism in an expanding world. After looking at Rut Lee Luxemburg I hope he will be a key source of inspiration. I would like to look more into his idea of reflections in detail and maybe take that element into the exam.
Exam Evaluation The start to my exam was very slow. My original ideas did not meet expectation, this led me to re-think the whole idea to what it is now. I believe the initial and second set for idea 1 turned out very well, better than what I anticipated. I believe the techniques used for the initial and development of idea 1 made the Covert and Obscure title very clear, through a more physical approach. This was by blurring the subject matter and placing shapes in front of the subject matter to slightly impede the viewers vision. Photographing idea 1 was a new experience as I had never looked at portraiture before. The idea went well and I would like to believe that the photos produced were of very good standards. Looking over my exam photos I feel mixed reactions, some have very strong composition and are good, whereas other are weaker. I was however able to get rid of the weaker ones and only use to best out of the collection, so the photos put forward I believe are all successful. I also tried to get a range of ideas, as well as photos to support the outcomes. These ideas followed the artists I had researched beforehand, I have tried to capture photos that would best suit the individual idea. I chose to continue on with the ideas presented in ‘idea1’ and ‘idea 2’. However I have changed some of the main features that that there is a clear distinction between the two. I have come away from portraiture and instead looked at combining the blur and shapes with close ups of buildings and tall structures. Idea 2 however is less defined, my exam outcomes focus on the same idea and similar locations. However I have chosen to change the time of day and in turn lighting and technical qualities of the images. I realize this is a more subtle approach to change but I think I have achieved my initial intentions for this part of the exam outcomes. I chose to look at Erwin Blumenfeld, Rut Blees Luxemburg and Nicholas Kennedy Sitton. I think these three artists have inspired and helped me very effectively to such a point where my exam photos would not be what they are now without. I found the key features in all their work the most intriguing. In Blumenfelds work I found the shapes most interesting, in Kennedy Sitton’s work I enjoyed the twisted circles most interesting and then the reflections in Luxemburgs work. I have tried to apply these features in the editing techniques used as well as initial photographs. I believe I have implemented them well, altering them in ways that I can, to make the work my own. The exam I would say went well. Completion of work was less than I had hoped for, with only 20 outcomes instead of 25-30 but execution of ideas worked well, I had minimal problems trying to achieve the ideas. All aspects of the exam flowed into each other and were easy to control. If I had more time during the exam I could have been able to complete more outcomes, but I believe 20 is an adequate amount. If I had more time on the project itself I would have been able to find more artists to research so that I could do more experimentation, prep and ideas.