Covert and Obscured Tayla Palmer
Brief Concealed within any artefact or work of art is the hand of its creator and each object leaves precious clues to his or her iden=ty and inten=ons. On a po?ery vessel you may find their fingerprint frozen in =me by the transforma=on of the fired clay. A carved scrimshaw walrus tusk may have a sailors or ships name etched into its surface. A fine cabinet may have exquisite copperplate handwri=ng on a secret label at the back of a concealed drawer. These hidden pieces of evidence can excite the imagina=on and mentally transport the discoverer to distant =mes and exo=c loca=ons. Pain=ngs allow in=mate communica=on with the ar=st as brushstrokes can form a complex surface of individual marks and decisions. These subliminal messages some=mes only become accessible when standing within arms length of the actual work. Concealed within every piece there are two stories; the first is the one the ar=st wants you to perceive, the other conceals elements of personality and iden=ty that are more difficult to access. The human condi=on is the one that loves a mystery, and art that hides a secret, either inten=onally or uninten=onally, will keep its audience perpetually enthralled. Large museums and galleries will occasionally hold retrospec=ve exhibi=on documen=ng an ar=sts career. Viewing a single collec=on gives a great insight into the ar=sts personal journey and can be a fascina=ng experience. Urban and rural loca=ons can provide a refuge for ar=sts who wish to avoid the distrac=on of social interac=on. Ironically, large metropolitan ci=es oMen offer more effec=ve anonymity. Graffi= ar=sts use the vast tracts of bland architecture and concrete to demonstrate their aesthe=c skills and express poli=cal views. • Underwater, fog, smoke, dense forests, night • shadows, reflec=ons, silhoue?es, photograms • Treasure, archaeological digs, metal detec=ng, tracking • ‘hide and seek’, ‘pass the parcel’, crosswords, mazes • Tarpaulins, drains, tunnels, badger se?s, crevices • Road works, the underground, skips • Torn posters and wallpaper, demoli=on, derelict buildings • Thrillers, theatres, graveyards, catacombs • Under the bed, carpet, duvet or coat • Masks, makeup, costume • Lockets, love le?ers, talisman.
Ar=st Analysis
Alex Lucka
Marcel Van Der Vlught
To take my first set of photographs for the exam I chose two photographers which were very similar; Alex Lucka and Marcel Van Der Vlugt. I think the message both of the photographer is trying to get across is hidden iden=ty with heavy makeup and objects to cover the features of the face shows that the real face of the models are being covered up slightly, it could be things that the models are insecure about or just want to hide away and not be recognized. I think the photographers were influenced heavily by the society we live in at the moment; so many people are insecure about themselves nowadays for no apparent reason. ‘Nobody's Perfect’ isn't used enough. So I think both photographers have covered parts of the face with different materials to show that nobody is perfect and you shouldn't’t be scared to be who you are. When looking at these photographs and also others that they have taken I feel the point they're trying to get across has been shown clearly and I'm really interested to give my own view by taking my own photographs for this exam. I am inspired to take my own photographs similar to these two photographers because of a person view because people shouldn’t be afraid to be different and dress how they want look like they want have there hair how they want etc. I am going to do my own interpreta=on to these photographers for my first idea.
Marccel Van Der Vlugt
Alex Lucka
Alex Lucka and Marcel Van Der Vlugt
Ini=al Photographs
Douglas Gordon and Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter Douglas Gordon This is an ar=st who removes the eyes of the model one way or another either digitally or by hand. This photograph has removed the eyes by hand by physically burning them out with causes a good effect and efficiently would be more effec=ve than through photoshop.
This is an ar=st who paints on photographs quite thickly, some suits the photograph and some does not for example there is so much paint on the photograph that you cant make out what is underneath; but it looks like a landscape of an overgrown field so ask yourself why is there red paint covering most of the photograph.
Evalua=on My original inten=on when taking these first set of photographs was to re-‐enact the way Alex Lucka and Marcel Van Der Vlugt. I wanted to explore abstract ways by placing odd objects onto a face, because you wouldn't normally find citrus fruits and ice cream toppings on somebodies face. I also wanted to explore different types of makeup and see what peoples reac=ons were to the art of the makeup. I wanted to take these photographs to show nothing is ‘normal’ there is no such thing, you are free to be whoever you want to be and know one can tell you different. I think I achieved roving my point because of the way I portrayed the models and the way I did the makeup. Looking at the visual quali=es of my photographs I can say I feel that I have taken them with good quality and focus, I think the way I took my photographs was a whole lot be?er than I have before because I thought about the ligh=ng this =me properly, none of the photographs are dark unless I have edited them to look darker than others. In some of the photographs including the one with gli?er and heavy eye makeup I have focused the main parts of the photographs and not the whole image to made an effect that they are the main focus. When thinking about composi=on most o my photographs are portrait and face on bus some are at a slight angle I done this because the ar=st I was looking at uses portrait so I just wanted to include a few angles of my own, I made most of the photographs back and white because I feel they have a be?er effect but then I also let some in colour and just added contrast because the colours are bright colours and not just dull colours, they really catch your eye. The textures I have used on the face are flat and smooth and also 3D and some were wet, when using the chocolate sauce I had to apply the sauce and quickly take the photograph because it was running down the face. I think when people will view my photographs they will think mystery and be very intrigued because it’s the models face hidden by an iden=ty with things covering the face. I think it will raise ques=ons such as, ‘Why are they covered?’ ‘Does each model have their own insecurity about themselves?’ and more. I feel I achieved the level of symbolism I felt I wanted to in my photographs because my inten=on was to show the viewers how everybody is different from each other and everyone has their own iden=ty. I think the viewer will be able to understand the point I wanted to get across because I have used heavy makeup and objects you wouldn't’t normally put on someone's face to show that they are different from everybody else to show they're not scared to be different.
Eolo Perfido
These are three examples of Eolo Perfidos work, I have studied this ar=st before and have chose it again because I think it is a very good example of a portrait photographer Perfido uses the shadows in the ligh=ng to create an effect of innocence within the model.
Set 2 photographs
Ar=st Analysis-‐Igor Savenchenko I have chosen Igor Savenchenko to base my exam photographs on because the theme covert and obscured links with the photographer very well. I think it is a good link because in the photographs that Igor Savenchenko has taken the faces are ‘hidden’ or cropped. Igor savenchenko also makes the photographs grainy; they look like they have been taken on a film camera and not a digital camera because of the texture of the photographs. To me the photographs are very aesthe=cally pleasing even though the focal point is cropped out, I find this very interes=ng and that’s why I want to base my exam photographs on this photographer. When taking the photographs I will try and find two or three loca=ons and see which one I prefer and can then develop onto taking more for the set and maybe even enough to make a blurb book. I think the message the photographer is trying to get across to the audience is that you don’t need the facial features (main focal point) in a photograph to tell a story; I also think it could mean that these people have past away and are now all memories have disappeared. Igor Savenchenko has influenced me because I feel I can make other parts of a photograph more important than others to make the audience really think about whats behind the photograph and why I take it.
John Baldessari ‘Baldessari is famous for using text and layering images – reworking old, found photos, newspaper and magazine cucngs, and images to create new humorous works that challenge the viewer.’
Some=mes with John Baldessari’s work he uses humor, he also doesn’t just do 2D layering work he also does 3d sculptures and landscapes; but I decided to look at his 2D work because I found the contrast between the black and white and the colour very effec=ve and wanted to see how I could experiment with the block colours. I am going to do many experiments including more detailed types than others just like Baldessari has done, just simple coloured circles and then put more effort into making the shapes of the models. By covering the models faces it takes their iden=ty away from them and makes them anonymous I feel the photographer has done this to bring more focus to his edi=ng than the actual models. I have chose this photographer because in my exam I wanted to make the models anonymous and focus more on my work and the edi=ng I have done.
Exam photos
Final project evalua=on When told that the exam project was ‘Covert and Obscured’ I gathered all my ideas together and came up with five ini=al ideas and chose three out of the five. My first idea was to do with the photographers Alex Lucka and Marcel Van Du Vlught which are portrait ar=sts that apply obscured objects onto the models faces. I found this idea really interes=ng and intriguing, so I wanted to experiment and explore in my own way. I then got three different models of all different ages and got food products and different materials including lemons, chocolate sauce and gli?er etc. In my previous photo shoots most of them are on loca=on and this =me for my first set of ini=al I chose to do them in a studio with plain white backdrops. My second ideal for ini=al photographs was also in a studio but this =me in a black studio because I didn’t want to make them look to similar to each other (idea 1 and 2). I got my model to wear natural makeup so I could then get good shadows on the face with the different ligh=ng, the photographs I took were very simple but I think were effec=ve in a way that it creates mystery within the photographs. I think my first ini=al set of photographs were not as successful as the second set, I think this is because I prefer the black studio rather than the white I think it is so much more effec=ve. I think overall idea one and two were both good quality photographs and I think I could improve the developmental ones that I have edited on photo shop in idea one but overall am happy with my ini=al photographs. I think the photographers that I chose to study and include in my photographs were suitable for my photographs that I took because they all linked to the photographs that I took. All the photographers work inspired me especially John Baldessari because I loved the the contrast between the colours and the black and white. I chose Eolo Perfido as well because I have used him before and love the ligh=ng and shadows he uses. I think In idea 1 and 2 I could have pushed my crea=ve side a bit more but in the exam photographs I feel I really did push myself to achieve a crea=ve fun set of photographs to put into a blurb book. My experiments in my exam photographs really did link well with the ar=st and I tried to make them my own and I feel I made them my own an quite unique, because I didn’t just use a plain black backdrop I used an actual photograph that I had taken.
I feel my final outcomes from my exam were varied in the 8 hours in total I made roughly 25 outcomes to put in a blurb book, I felt some were more effec=ve and of be?er quality so I chose to make some of my favourite ones bigger and over two pages and then my least favourite photograph I have s=ll included it and just made it smaller than the rest of the photographs. If I had more =me on this project and exam I would have made more outcomes and had more of a range of coloured outcomes and also would have done more my hand like more pain=ng and I would have included some s=tching an collage and layering more.