Supplementary Project
1. Merging Landscapes 2. Landscape/portraits 3. Birdseye view/silhouettes
1. Merging Landscapes
Artist Analysis Susan Bowen
This shot was taken at a Brooklyn subway in New York, the shot is called Departing G at Dusk, the darkest stage of a twilight. The sky still maintains its vibrant blue which really strengthens the shots general atmosphere. This Susan Bowen piece illustrates a unrealistic landscape and creates a bizarre perplexity for me as an audience. Some sections are further in perception where others are literally up close towards the photographs lens, there isn’t any gradual descending so the distance or length of the carriages are pretty much unknown and very much unidentifiable. The variety of brown tones within the shots portray to me a dessert scenery particularly to the right of the shot where the sepia sun light is reflected on the roads and its appears soft and sandy.
Looking at the train I'm unable to distinct in which direction the train is going or coming from, I think her intention was to create a vague indistinct view of this subject; a travelling train and in some segments of the shot a dormant train with passengers leaving, there's no strong shot of the tracks to the train just seems to be gliding along. The piece is more or an artistic composition than an photograph because the blending of the different shots overrides the strength of its photographic side.
Artist Analysis Susan Bowen
This shot by Susan Bowen was taken in new York city, The shot is titled Daylo and Flags; the flags in the composition is central to the piece and without any primary knowledge the photograph already is quite informative on the where about of the photograph. The vague U.S flags within the central of the composition appears as if their moving due to the blur and overlapping of the same image, Susan creates a complex perspective for the audience. The landscape seems really unrealistic and perplex as she has conjoined different perspectives of a similar location however they are not perfectly matched to the correct angles. The general ambience within composition I think is very captivating the soft black and white filter enhances this city lifestyle within the shot. Creates a strong dreamlike feel where some sections are duplicated; the unrealism reminds me of a dream world where everything is not it correct proportion with one another and perspectives are unnatural. There's a complementing silver tone, produces a metallic feel where everything seems more burnished.
Evaluation Susan Bowen’s inspirational shots inspired me to an extent; I appreciated the combining of landscapes from different perspectives into one composition however though I am very fascinated my the perplex transition between each shot within my shots I preferred maintaining the compositions realism. I think the dream like appearance within Susan’s compositions are her most amazing and impacting factor, in my opinion it really lacks that believable transition however this is what captivates me as an viewer. Within my shots I focused I regular sceneries and after a few experiments and attempts to alter the realism in Photoshop I found that conjoining correctly worked best for my developments. My second development of the train station for me is my most successful and captivating, though I filtered black and white I think this however doesn't even loose any vibrancy, the dark tones within the shot are still sharp and impacting probably due to the slight increase in contrast. Furthermore though I focused on finding a continuation point maintaining realism I noticed within this particular train shot that however it is in fact impossible to have this form as landscape as its almost perpendicular at the meeting point which due to the diverse angles the shot was taken at. In shooting my initial photographs I on getting a variety of exposures for example my first composition was in an dark composition the location already being rather shadowy enhanced this and the vibrant colours within the trees came out very bold and impacting particularly the green.
2. Landscape/portraits
Artist Analysis Miki Takahashi Takahashi is an Japanese photographer who combines contrasting subjects into one compositions particularly portraiture. Within this composition strong relationship between the 2 distinct subjects is very fascinating as they contrast one another hugely however still blend together producing a partially believable composition; that this girls head is in fact made up of concrete planes. The white black ground really helps strengthen the subject and focuses us. Bearing in mind the photographers amazing collaboration the insignificant merge within the piece which is equally as captivating is the girls head from different perspectives been brought together. The incorporated flats shift our attention away from this but it is a very subliminally strong element to the composition which at first glance we fail to appreciate.
Artist Analysis Miki Takahashi Another very strong captivating and inspiration piece by Miki Takahashi, the subjects portrait within this shot is very graceful and she appears very gentle and elegant where the vague contrast within her; a lot more strong and bold in structure – the heavy scaffolding equipment. The subject isn’t looking at the photographer so as an audience we are unsure she’s aware of him, in both positions she seems as if she’s looking at something or thinking about something due to her gazed eyes. Likewise in this shot as the previous Miki Takahashi composition the white background really does strengthen the piece, I think Takahashi did this intentional enhance the impact of the heavy contrasting situation within that is the crates and scaffolding. Her hair add to her tender appearance as it looks very subtle in the composition which again is another feature to enhance the contrast of the heavy solid subject that is within.
Evaluation I think the greatest element about Takahashi’s pieces is the contrast within both compositions that blend together to make a compelling piece no matter how divergent. Within my own attempt Takahashi’s strong inspirations I still held unto particularly in terms of delicate and then heavy and impacting; I think it’s very affective in my attempts as I maintained the composition of the portrait as it is and then incorporated the city structure of in some cases vandalised area into the subject. The manner really isn’t a perplex as Makahashi’s but the composition within really strikes out as an unusual perspective of the piece. Particularly texture and pattern is what differentiates different pieces or subjects; my last composition the subjects plain white long sleeve t-shirt doesn't really have any major blemishes distinct pattern, it’s more of an quilt - slightly creased sheet however the skyscraper within it has a very distinct patterned set of planes as it descends into the sky. The most fascinating factor to my composition I personally felt where the views the perceptions of the different colliding shots; a subject with was taken from a front on view point then merged with a shot taken from the bottom facing up at the subject creates a strongly compelling composition. Again my last composition is a good example, it’s odd because looking straight on at his shirt at the same time is like looking straight up into the sky (the shot within); which is looking up at this structure.
3. Birdseye view/silhouettes
Artist Analysis Mario Rossi This shot by Mario Rossi captivated me as it isn't the kind of photography I see everyday at first it puzzled me as a composition but I then however came to appreciate the perplexity within it. Mario has created a joiner like piece however the composition is not of different shots it’s of one and due to this the idea isn't bringing together but it is in fact creating diversion. The fact this form of diversion is done physically to the photograph and not within it is rather interesting. Sections of peoples bodies have been cut out of frame this may at first appear to be an bad element to the composition but I think however it is actually creating the captivating element to the shot of humans appearing like tiny insects chop and altered. There is in my opinion a strong inferior portrayal of the human here due to their minuet size.
Artist Analysis Mario Rossi I am a lot more compelled and fascinated by this piece by Mario Rossi than the previous one, instead of the basic birds eye view here he merged a variety of different perspectives of people on different point of the stairs of what seems to be a museum. Its only when you closely analyse the composition that you realise that it’s very dream like and unrealistic, I mean it’s not like it’s a real composition at first glance I think Mario Rossi was really successful in balancing realism and illusion within this piece. There seems to be planes of translucency within the piece which enhances the vagueness and indistinct levels within the composition.
Evaluation Within my shots I focused on capturing the human figures from a high point of view however slightly different from Rossi I didn’t want to imitate him completely where he focuses on creating a vague translucency within the piece my intention was maintain a strong sense of the initial shot however to manipulate the perception further. The first shot I most pleased with; not only do the figures all successfully appear in distinct silhouettes I was happy that I got it within different levels so people on the ground floor of the station and a couple of people in front of me. The collage edit I composed on my pieces I hoped would manipulate to an extent the audience would still be interested in the appealing composition but however unsure of the different distinct figures, Unlike Rossi however I felt maintaining a slight visible concept of the initial shot may create a good understanding for the audience to build from; know what changes where made and complement the idea of diversity and enlargement and minimizing. The last composition has a good sense of this where some figures look elongated and other cut and trimmed, similar My first Rossi feature however moved my boxes in and out of their positions also colliding them with others; within these interlocking sections the darkness was enhanced due to the mixture. Throughout my compositions I specifically darkened the sections with human figures to make them more impacting as they are the subjects of the composition.