Exam idea Exam theme: growth and evolution
Matt Wisniewski Matt Wisniewski, famous for his appropriated images, uses found images off the internet, usually of models in front of simple backgrounds and landscape images, to an entirely new image. A lot of his work is experiment based, he works with what he thinks fits best and sometimes creates multiple collages Furtur couture collection
using similar parts of an image to see what works the best. His inspiration comes from all around as he uses other people’s images to create his collages.
Untitled
The monochrome palette of this collage creates great focus on the woman’s face. The darker background and the dark rocky landscape picture helps to create an eerie affect, making the woman look almost ghost-like. The contrasting of the rocks against her skin and the white of the hair help to create the illusion of streaks of black in her hair and highlight the features of her face. By using this technique the artist has created an image with is visually stunning. The two images look almost natural, as if they were taken exactly like that. This creates a more realistic, albeit phtoshop-ped, image. The sharp contrast of black and white at the top of the image instantly acts as the main focal point in the image.
Bohnchang Koo Visual artist link for my collage.
Skin
Overall, I am fairly pleased with my initial portrait pictures because I considered the lighting and composition and made sure the images were strong, clear visual effect on the viewer. However, I am slightly disappointed with my landscape images as they were not as strong and looked slightly subdued in some. I wanted the landscape images to portray the old and new life among the city and the evolution of the city. I was able to correct the lighting and clarity slight using Photoshop to make the images more sharper and aesthetically pleasing. I was very pleased with the initial images from my idea 2 of the exam prep because I felt these images were clear and bright as I really considered the lighting and composition. I felt the images captured the true nature of the buildings, capturing the old, worn out feel to it and also the new touch of modern to it with the fresh coat of paint to keep it up to date with the growing city. Unfortunately, my idea 1 images were ones I was not pleased with, this is because the images were not developed enough and did not fully portray what the theme was asking or what I wanted the audience to feel. I struggled at first with developing my initial images and didn’t really have a sense of direction, however after really thinking about what I liked photographing I realised I liked landscapes and so I settled down with that in mind. I think the idea of using the initial photographs to do separate developments worked well because I was able to experiment in different ways than if I had just used them together. I think the idea of collaging on of my initial images worked well because I played on the word ‘growth’ and made the picture grow and also the metal bars showed the evolution of the old building sin the street. I also added another one of my initial images on the side of the collage making it look as if it was part of the original image playing on the evolution of the city.
However, I think if I had done a couple more collages of my initial landscape images and portraits and incorporating them both together it would have created a set of images which would have created a new angle to the collage. Nevertheless, given the time we had I think I think my experimentations were quite successful. I also used a number of different techniques for this exam, such as screen printing and collage making, I think my outcomes were fairly successful from the limited time that we had. I feel I pushed myself a lot more this year, trying different methods of development to see which would work best and which would look the most aesthetically pleasing. I think Matt Wisniewski’s work inspired me greatly, his ability to combine two completely different images together and make them almost blend together. Although I did not use his method exactly it gave me a kick start to how I could develop my images because incorporating portrait and landscape images worked really well for him. Sitton’s work also had a huge impact on my exam prep work, his series titled ‘twisted’ really inspired me in my work because of the meaning behind his work. This helped me in understanding his work and it enabled me to incorporate this into my work and portray the evolving city, the rotated circles acting as a sort of dial with more circles appearing due to the evolving city. However, I did not leave these images in full colour, instead I removed the colour and used selective colourisation to create a vintage feel to the images because of the buildings I pictured, which were old and would have been taken in black and white, whereas now images are in colour. The slight colour representing the building moving from an older time to the new, modern era.
I think overall, my final outcomes really portrayed my experimentations throughout my project and they really worked well alongside the theme of the project. I think they really represented what I was thinking throughout the project and they came a cross very creative and unique. I think all of my work has a certain softness about it, making it very distinctive and visually pleasing. I think if I had more time I would create another set of images for my first idea as these images were quite disappointing. I would also use other materials to have a broader range of outcomes and ideas. I think if I had more time on this project, I would first add onto my first idea and use another idea from the same artist, Katie Thompson, from the series called ‘mirrors’ which photographs the models distorted reflection in broken pieces of a mirror. I develop this by taking the images again but in a forested area, with the mirrors in the same position and photograph the model again. After processing these images, I would then merge the two sets together with some parts of the image containing forest and some just a plain white background. I would further develop these images by printing them onto acetate and printing leaves onto the acetate or rub dirt into he images to create a more earthy feel to the images to fit into my theme, of ‘growth and evolution of the city’, and the re-photograph them over a light box.
I think one artist who would inspire me would be Stephen Gill , who places found objects, around the area he is photographing, behind the camera lense and creates an image which is complex and looks as if he has placed the object on top of an image and then rephotographed it. His series ‘Hackney Flowers’ is really inspirational to me as it incorporates nature and everyday life.