Photographic Seeing Process Book

German Palomeque WS 2016_2017 Photographic Seeing Prof. Katrin Thomas

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Alphabet 1: Color Assignment 1 From A to Z, finding letters in different places around the city to create 2 sets of alphabets.

This was one of my favourite assignments, because when I was trying to find these 52 pictures, I started to observe my surroundings in a different way and by that I was able to find something interesting to photograph. In other words, this exercise of being constantly looking for images, opened my eyes and helped me to find photos where I wasn´t expecting to find something attractive to photograph.

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Alphabet 2: B&W I also made people curious while taking some photos in places where nothing special was going on, except the letter that I was looking for.

It was a really personal assignment, where you can see a lot into the personality of the photographer, depending of where you are looking at, or the moment of the day when the photo was taken or even in the mood you had in that particular moment.

When we analyzed the pictures of different classmates, we could see some of them were really practical and you could appreciate simplicity in the shapes.

In other classmates' photos of the letters, we could see abstracts shapes and more complexity on their alphabet.

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A sunny morning Assignment 2 Sunny morning in Berlin, let's shoot.

This assignment was about finding shapes, textures, interesting contrasts and shades during 2 hours of shooting around Kreuzberg.

We went on by selecting the ones which work well with each other and compared them in the group.

Personally, I really liked this kind of light for shooting, especially here in Berlin. Even though it was almost midday, the sun was not that bright and it gave a really nice color range.

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Representation Assignment 3 Every student proposes one theme, which is to be photographed.

Just spontaneously we were asked to write down a couple of words or a sentence that we imagine. Eventually, we took 11 photos representing this theme or phrase.

I chose to display them in a Polaroid format, because it reflects the spontaneous spirit of the work assignment.

The objective used for this book is a 50mm lens.

This presents quite a nice challenge, because I believe that this objective encouraged me to frame and move until I got exactly the result necessary.

1. Colorful snowy playground

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2. Unusual geometry

3. A leaf on a sidewalk lit by a narrow streek of sunlight

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4. Motion, somebody in a rush.

5. A human body in a hug, red light

Blur. Warm colors, tension

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6. A happy coincidence

7. Everyday tech

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8. People looking at their phone

9. Fading memories

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10. Movement and stillnes

11. Planned action

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Lichtenberg Assignment 4 Photographing my neighbourhood My goal here was to represent the essence of the neighborhood,

Lichtenberg, located in East Berlin, is a pretty quiet area where not

resulting in 20 photos showing the mood of this place, the

too many young people live. In this series, I photographed the

architecture and the residents' lifestyle.

neighbourhood in winter time. It changes the vibe of the area.

Taking three portraits here proved some difficulty due to the language

It's freezing, changing the behaviour of people on their everyday

barrier I experienced here, being a foreigner in a less international

strolls. I saw ladies going out for shopping with their baby carriage,

part of the capital city.

an old lady walking her dog in a quick manner, some lost scarf wrapped around a sculpture's neck.

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Homelands Assignment 5 Holidays and memories I developed this assortment during Christmas break, remaining in a

Even though I was not at home with my family, by spending time with

country that seemed put on pause, while many people chose to flee

my girlfriend's family, I could create new memories and experiences

home or to warmer countries.

many similarities, like sharing time together, cooking meals and sitting

I travelled to SonnenbĂźhl, my girlfriend's chosen place of residence.

down, the whole table sharing a laugh. Something new and to

It is a rural area, giving me a chance to relax from the hassle city life.

remember was the card game we played all night long, making the

I catched moments, expressing what home means to me. It was

experience full because it brought all of closer together in a way.

important to relate to the memories that we have of a place and how

The assignment required photos of personal items that are related to

those memories are related to the present.

our childhood or objects meaning a lot to us, combining these pictures

To me, home represents my comfort zone, a space in which I feel fully

with the previous ones.

protected and content.

It´s about unique details that you have in your home and making it unique to you.

Remember the smells of the herbs and spices from when your mum or dad cooked that one dish you had every week when you were a kid? It is all those little things, the warmth of the kitchen, the boiling pots and hugs of them when you helped out cooking, that make those memories.

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Object Assignment 6 Get an object, focus on it.

Last assignment. We were supposed to go to a Fleamarket or

This was definitely awkward for me, because putting a grandma

a similar place where you can find odd stuff and small things for the

underwear over your pants is nothing usual. Even more though, people

house, i.e. decorations, magazines or clothes.

were staring at me.

The idea was to explore and find something that sticks out.

In conclusion, I think that it is part of the challenge of a photographer

The chosen item was to be put in front of different

to do something out of the ordinary, stepping out of the line and

backgrounds, affecting various reactions to it.

thereby having the possibility to create something that might result in

I chose to walk around the Turkish market set by a river in Kreuzberg.

misunderstanding but get people to pay attention to it.

Even though this market had various strange things for sale, it was a while until I found a special offer on some Granny's underwear, and somehow this was just what I was looking for.

Eventually, I decided to begin documenting my journey with this odd thing, taking a photo on the bridge when I left the market.

More to the point, it was a self portrait using a remote control and tripod.

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Extras Imitation and free shooting Those two here on the right side, are part of the assignment where we had to choose a photo from a well known photographer and then try to shape an idea after it.

I tried to use a photo from Robert Mapplethorpe but I didn´t get a good approach. I needed better lighting to be able to shoot in a higher speed around 1/500 while I shooted using 1/60.

Also, as we discussed in class, this photo is not easy to make by your own, I should have let someone else take the photo.

For last, another detail that I didn´t have in mind was that he was going out of the water in contrast to mine that I was kind of diving.

The rest of the following images are just some pictures that I took during this semester while doing this subject, that I want to include in this procces book.

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