Experimental Photography Through the surface -‐ familiar faces
Jessie Nunn
Brief The photographers gallery is currently under going refurbishment and is due to open to the public in february 2013. As a part of the launch, the gallery will host an exhibiEon Etled ‘The photographer as an object’. As a medium, photography has tradiEonally been used to document and capture moments in Eme. The aim of the photograph as an object is to showcase photographs that explore the physical qualiEes of the printed photograph. This then disEncEons between photographs and art to choose from one of the following themes and couple with a subject. In this project, you can experiment with both tradiEonal and digital techniques to create new and exciEng imagery. These are: • Digital manipulaEon using photoshop combining different photographs to create original and unusual imagery • Turn your prints into kaleidoscope imagery through using photoshop • Photomontage-‐ print photographs, cut secEons and combine with imagery and typography from newspapers and magazines • Light box experiments-‐ print out mulEple photographs, photocopy onto acetate, layer on the light box and re-‐photograph. • ProjecEon-‐ select imagery and project in the white studio. Project onto the white wall, fabric or project mulEple photographs.
ArEst Analysis-‐ John Stezaker For this project I have chosen John Stezaker to get inspiraEon from as I personally think his style and technique fits into my brief of experimental photography perfectly. The image above is an example of his work called marriage 1, which was created in 2006; In Stezaker’s collages he appropriates images from sources such as book, magazines and postcards and use them to create a brand new image however posiEons the images to create a unique portrait. Portrayed in the images above you can see that Stezaker has carefully combined 2 readymade photographs to create one composite image of a man and a woman which are a married couple which shows why Stezaker called his image ‘Marriage 1’. I believe that Stezaker was trying to contrast ‘historical genre’ and ‘IdenEty’ of both the female and the male, symbolising the unity of 2 people when they get married. He could also be suggesEng the own personaliEes and individualiEes of both the 2 people in the image and not just labeled as a married couple. Looking at the image it makes me feel emoEons such as happy because it gives me a sense of love and harmony due to the fact that both the male and female are closely joined as one and work as a team as one in there marriage which shows love and trust within a relaEonship. The mood of the piece is also portrayed in the sense of happiness as in the majority of the photographs are of the ‘married’ couple smiling and looking straight into the camera as if they are in a dreamy effect of love. When looking at the photographs a majority of quesEons and thoughts come to mind of why did Stezaker use ‘readymade’ photographs and not take his own? also it makes me think about my own future of what my future love/ lovers will be like and also makes me think about married couples of what everyday life must be like being in a married couple. The image ‘Marriage 1’ is shown to be in a dull and desaturated tones and muted colours of black and white and also a hint of sepia which shows how old some of the images are from the sources of books and magazines. Stezaker exhibits his photographs work as collages so that the viewer can see that the images are originally found and have been re-‐appropriated. This immediately shows of the tones of combined contrasts of light and dark and also showing different shadows of the face.
IniEal photographs
Developmental photographs
EvaluaEon My original intenEon for taking my first set of photographs was to explore the sense of experimental photography as the photograph as an object and using the theme of through the surface and familiar faces. I mainly wanted to focus on a key word od idenEty because I believe that it would relate with the theme of familiar faces, each person has there own idenEty and own personaliEes etc, so I thought it would be wise to bring that into my project. To do this I wanted to capture portraits of my family members with related to the theme ‘familiar faces’ and then using inspiraEon from my chosen arEst John Stezaker, I used ‘readymade’ photographs which were vintage and old to re-‐photograph so I could layer them on my portraits to give a sense of idenEty. EvaluaEng back towards my photographs, I believe I have successfully used my photoshop skills to combined 2 single photographs into one using the elements of light exposure and contrast to create a bold black and white tone showing shadows which gives a sense of mystery. Therefore I believe that I have achieved through the process of my first set of iniEal photographs and I feel that I have learnt about using a more variety of skills in photoshop and using it independently using the use of tone and shades and also that you can capture ‘readymade’ photos and make it your own and that’s why I achieved in this project EvaluaEng and looking through my photographs the technical and visiual qualiEes are preferably strong due to the light exposure and range of contrast that I portrayed in the images and due to this it looks as if the portrait is coming through the ‘readymade’ images to give a sense of idenEty which I was trying to portray. Focusing on my first set of formal elements I believe that I could have improved my skills on composiEon of the model and shot the portraits from different angles to make it look more different and bazar. I mainly captured the images straight on however the model in different angles because I mainly wanted to make it quiet basic so I could overlay the ‘readymade’ images. Personally I think the visual impact of my photographs will impact on the viewers and they will feel confused to why I have overlayed the ‘readymade’ photos over my portraits and I think it will raise quesEons. Overall I personally believe I have achieved the level and standard of my photographs because I strongly think that I have created images that describe the theme well and I think that the idea of combinding my portraits and ‘readymade’ photos was a good idea and worked well with each other to create a brand new image to the range of contrast.
Idea 2 The brief= The photographers gallery is currently under going refurbishment and is due to open to the public in february 2013. As a part of the launch, the gallery will host an exhibiEon Etled ‘The photographer as an object’. As a medium, photography has tradiEonally been used to document and capture moments in Eme. The aim of the photograph as an object is to showcase photographs that explore the physical qualiEes of the printed photograph. This then disEncEons between photographs and art to choose from one of the following themes and couple with a subject. In this project, you can experiment with both tradiEonal and digital techniques to create new and exciEng imagery. These are: • Digital manipulaEon using photoshop combining different photographs to create original and unusual imagery • Turn your prints into kaleidoscope imagery through using photoshop • Photomontage-‐ print photographs, cut secEons and combine with imagery and typography from newspapers and magazines • Light box experiments-‐ print out mulEple photographs, photocopy onto acetate, layer on the light box and re-‐ photograph. • ProjecEon-‐ select imagery and project in the white studio. Project onto the white wall, fabric or project mulEple photographs.
For my 2nd set of iniEal photographs I am going to be focusing on experimenEng with photoshop and combinding Two photos and making them one. In idea where I used old photos and ‘ready made’ photographs I am now going to be using images of different landscapes to combined into portraits to give sense of imaginaEon and new idenEty.
ArEst Analysis-‐ Dan Moun]ord For my Idea 2 I have chosen Dan Moun]ord to get inspiraEon from as I personally think that his style and technique fits into my brief of experimental photography perfectly. The images on this page is examples of his work which show portraits combinding landscapes together to create one whole image. Looking at these images makes me feel like as if I am looking at memories of where the model or where Dan Moun]ord has been and it feels as if I am in there life story of everyday life. I personally like how the different tones and shades of black and white have been portrayed because I think that I gives the image a more calm and relaxing effect of dreams. I also like how Dan Moun]ord has used different ranges of landscapes within his images whether it’s a calm place such as a beach or a busy culture land mark. I believe that I could definitely use his style of work to influence me because it relates to my idea 1 of overlaying photographs together.
IniEal photographs
Developmental photographs
EvaluaEon for idea 2 For Idea 2 I wanted to sEll focus on the theme of ‘idenEty and the idea of overlaying images together however I got more inspiraEon from an arEst called Dan Moun]ord as he creates portraits however overlays landscape and portraits together. So from idea 2 I have decided to combined my new self-‐portraits with landscape pictures that are personal to me of where me and my family members have been on holiday. I wanted to create the sense of a life story and what I am thinking about in each picture relaEng back to my my idenEty and my memories and my childhood. Overall I wanted to create a life story and the sense of imaginaEon linking to the key word of idenEty as each person has there own individual memories and imaginaEons, so that’s what I wanted the viewer to see my memories and where I have been. Personally I think that the technical and visual effects were very strong on focusing onto my face and also hiding my face with my landscape photographs by suing bold tones which created a strong contrast between them both. On the other hand I find my photography in the terms of quality of my formal elements of composiEon, colour, tones and textures are strong because I think I have improved and thought more about the composiEon of the close-‐ups which relate well with the landscape images with fits perfectly in my brief and it also makes it look more bazar.
Final outcomes
EvaluaEon for final project On the whole I am very pleased with the iniEal photographs for my project because of effecEve and bold contrast of the black and white tones in each image and I have really carefully tried not to go over the top with the brightness and contrast together, however I strongly believe that I didn’t do this and I created some strong visual impact on the viewer and I also believe the the way I have used photoshop and overlayed the images together work well to combined into one image successful worked and I could see myself using this technique in future projects. On the other hand I am a bit disappointed with the composiEon in some of the portraiture photographs of my family members because I feel that they were too flat and also they was to basic angles for the expectaEon. However I was able to correct this in my idea 2 because I believe I captured the model in a different style to capture the models features. Overall I am pleased with the effecEve and good quality of my images. I think that I knew what I wanted to capture for both idea 1 and 2 however I struggled a bit on ideas of developmental photographs because I was to push myself and be creaEve and go out of my comfort zone and push boundaries and experiment with different materials. I personally think this because I thought using projecEon and overlaying text was a bit safe and I need to push myself into different boundaries however I believe I achieved this in some stages of my developmental photographs such as placing my photographs into water and overlaying flowers on them, so I used different techniques and also materials. I really tried to push myself and go out the boundaries to push myself the next level and I personally believe I have done this. I think that what has inspired me the most about john stezaker was how he combined ready made images together and created one new image, I also thought the ability to make his imagery tell a story of marriage, independence, and idenEty work well to translate to the viewer and displayed different emoEons of what you through about it. I mainly focused on the piece ‘marriage 1’ because that piece really inspired me to combined two images together because I thought the technique worked well together also the vintage effect. On the other hand I personally thought that Dan Moun]ord related to my work more than john Stezaker because even though John Stezaker combined two images together, Dan Moun]ord combined and made the landscape the portrait together. I think Dan Moun]ord influenced me to not just use portraits and use landscapes and pushed me to go try something new and personally it think it pull off well.
I think that on the whole, my final outcomes really reflected what I was trying to portray and I really pushed boundaries on the level of experimentaEon of collaging and also using water because I have never used this type of technique before. During my project I was trying to figure what I could do for my final outcomes and it was constantly on my mind however I believe that I successfully portrayed the brief within my images and developmental photographs. I think that my skills of experimenEng with different materials and techniques is slowly progressing and I think that my photoshop skills are on a high level. Overall I think that if had more Eme to develop this project the next step that I would want to explore is the combinaEon of using sEtching, text, and over laying objects as one whole image perhaps comparing the different tones and shades would have related well with each other and the different elements could have improved my grade. I think that the arEsts I could have also chosen that inspired me was Ma_ Wisniewskl and Pakayla Biehn who was both similar arEst to Dan Moun]ord however the would combined landscapes to make a siloute of a person. I think that I could have used the to get more inspiraEon because I got have got more ideas and inspiraEons for my developmental and final outcomes.