Field Trip Compare/Contrast Research-
When we took our field trip to New York City for this class, it was hard to avoid writing about Cindy Sherman's work after seeing her exhibit on the sixth floor of the Museum of Modern Art. Her work was so unique and compelling, and the fact that she is the model in all of her works I think conveys more emotion to the viewer because it in a way shows how much she had to go through in order to capture that photograph. I really enjoyed viewing it, and it was hard to pick two pieces to compare, but in the end I came up with these two. I will mostly be contrasting them but I will still connect them in some ways.
"Retrospective," Untitled #137-
This first work of Cindy Sherman's that I have chosen is a relatively disturbing one. She portrays herself in such a way so that it looks as if she is very frazzled, almost as if she was just beaten or abused. It gives a very unsettling vibe, and it totally differs from the second image in that respect because she is dressed up in a very nice, clean cut manner. I also think the fact that she is staring at you in the first photograph, while she is looking away in the other. The photograph is a 70.5" x 47.75" chromogenic color print, so it is of very great size. She is sitting in a very simple portrait style, which in my opinion contributes to the emotional side of the photograph because if there was too much else to distract the viewer with we would not get that feeling.
"Retrospective," Untitled #137
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Photographer Research Presentation
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Project 2 Assessment-
1. From a technical aspect I learned a few things throughout the completion of the panorama project. I think the main one was how to properly use a tripod. As the day went on, and afterwords during post production, I realized that if the level of the tripod was just slightly off then the entire project could end up being ruined. Not only that, but being outside for an entire day in the city, dealing with strong shadows and highlights, I learned how to control exposure among other things fairly well.
2. When I was first assigned the project I immediately knew I wanted to go to the city because there were so many options for picture taking and creative inspirations. My first idea for a panorama was to stand on a street corner and get a shot going down each intersection. I felt that this idea would be very interesting to look at and could potentially become a very nice project. However, after testing the waters when I got there and taking pictures on a few street corners, I realized that with all of the hustle and bustle of cars and people constantly moving through, that a picture like that probably would not work for a panorama that looks like one image. So, my next idea ended up becoming my final project, and that was to get a mixture of Central Park and a city skyline into one image. In my opinion, the work came out quite nicely, and I am happy with the decisions I made.
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Project 3 Assessment-
1. I think the primary things learned in going through the process of project 3 was lighting in pictures and Photoshop post production. Because Austin and I used a Barbie doll as opposed to a real person as our model to replicate "The Girl With the Pearl Earring," we had to focus very heavily on the highlights and shadows so that they would match the actual image. After the completion of the taking of the photographs though, we had to go into Photoshop and do a very great amount of retouching. The reason for this is because the doll did not have very humanly qualities like the girl in the painting, so we had to change that. Not only this, but we also had to go in and add small details that we could not accomplish due to using a doll.
2. Our creative process was relatively simple. We originally thought of course that we would use Austin as the model simply because she is a girl, but then shortly after we realized that if we used a doll we would not have to deal with the hassle that comes with a person. Some of those hassles or problems being moving by accident from picture to picture, as well as simply complaining throughout the process. So, to make it easier on ourselves (or so we thought), we decided on Barbie as our model. Overall this decision was a successful one, however the Barbie does move sometimes because it is plastic, and it was hard to get the exact position of her head correct. Not only this, but her facial expressions always are the same, so they did not match that of the painting. In my opinion that was the only real setback of the completion of the project.
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Project 4 Assessment-
1. As I took pictures of the final assignment I think the main things I learned revolved again around lighting and post production. A lot of the lighting aspect was also white balance because the exposure in the rooms I took the photographs in was extremely poor. The lights were dark and very yellow looking, cause me to increase my camera skills, and eventually my Photoshop skills as well. I did a lot of work in the curves and levels adjustments in Photoshop, among other things before actually bringing the photograph into Photoshop. Overall however I feel that after all of the other assignments throughout the semester I pretty much fully understood what I needed to be doing with the camera and to make my photographs come out as well as they could.
2. My original idea was to essentially take picture of random people in random setting and hope to get decent pictures of them at random states of emotion. However, over time and doing a lot of experimenting, I realized that getting any kind of good emotions out of people while snapping at random would be very hard. So, my next idea was to take photographs of my friends while just hanging out and being themselves, because I figured that is when I would get my best results. After taking many pictures in different places and settings, I came up with in my opinion a very successful final product. I think the reason is because my friends simply acted as themselves and I captured them in some very nice pictures.
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Project 1 Comments/Criticisms- (because I was unable to comment on others, something kept messing up with my computer/internet so I am just posting it here)
For Austin:
In my opinion, the strongest image is the one that has the one small piece of broccoli singled out in its basket. The reason for this is because in such a limited category or topic of just exploring the produce section at a grocery store, it is able to give the composition life. I think overall the best quality of the images as a group are the colors. They are all very strong, vibrant, and contrasting/complementing. I think you could have done more with composition however, similar to the broccoli picture. Whether it be play more with the depth of field, similar to the asparagus image, or do something else to certain pictures, I just think some could have been stronger in that respect.
For Albert:
The images overall work well together and are strong. The depth of field in almost all of them is very nice, as well as the color and exposure. I think you did a good job overall with those things. However, although I know it has to be a particular group of things in one place, I still think you could have explored more because you were already were restricted to campus. I think if you just took pictures around campus as opposed to just in one small spot it could have made the images stronger and more diverse as a group, while still acting as a solid group.
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When we took our field trip to New York City for this class, it was hard to avoid writing about Cindy Sherman's work after seeing her exhibit on the sixth floor of the Museum of Modern Art. Her work was so unique and compelling, and the fact that she is the model in all of her works I think conveys more emotion to the viewer because it in a way shows how much she had to go through in order to capture that photograph. I really enjoyed viewing it, and it was hard to pick two pieces to compare, but in the end I came up with these two. I will mostly be contrasting them but I will still connect them in some ways.
"Retrospective," Untitled #137-
This first work of Cindy Sherman's that I have chosen is a relatively disturbing one. She portrays herself in such a way so that it looks as if she is very frazzled, almost as if she was just beaten or abused. It gives a very unsettling vibe, and it totally differs from the second image in that respect because she is dressed up in a very nice, clean cut manner. I also think the fact that she is staring at you in the first photograph, while she is looking away in the other. The photograph is a 70.5" x 47.75" chromogenic color print, so it is of very great size. She is sitting in a very simple portrait style, which in my opinion contributes to the emotional side of the photograph because if there was too much else to distract the viewer with we would not get that feeling.
Untitled Film Still #21, 1978
This next work by Cindy Sherman I find very interesting and fun to look at. I think what I like the most about it is the interesting composition and scale, along with the depth of field. The upper part of the woman (her) is put in the shallow part of the picture in focus, while large skyscrapers are in the background. It almost makes it seem as though she is as big as the buildings, and I simply think it is a nice picture to look at. This picture is a 7.5" x 9.5" gelatin silver print, so it is a much smaller, and in a way less overbearing image than the first. I think as far as photographic elements go, such as depth of field, composition, etc. this image was stronger, but both fully get across what she was trying to accomplish.
This next work by Cindy Sherman I find very interesting and fun to look at. I think what I like the most about it is the interesting composition and scale, along with the depth of field. The upper part of the woman (her) is put in the shallow part of the picture in focus, while large skyscrapers are in the background. It almost makes it seem as though she is as big as the buildings, and I simply think it is a nice picture to look at. This picture is a 7.5" x 9.5" gelatin silver print, so it is a much smaller, and in a way less overbearing image than the first. I think as far as photographic elements go, such as depth of field, composition, etc. this image was stronger, but both fully get across what she was trying to accomplish.
"Retrospective," Untitled #137
Untitled Film Still #21, 1978
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Photographer Research Presentation
----------
Project 2 Assessment-
1. From a technical aspect I learned a few things throughout the completion of the panorama project. I think the main one was how to properly use a tripod. As the day went on, and afterwords during post production, I realized that if the level of the tripod was just slightly off then the entire project could end up being ruined. Not only that, but being outside for an entire day in the city, dealing with strong shadows and highlights, I learned how to control exposure among other things fairly well.
2. When I was first assigned the project I immediately knew I wanted to go to the city because there were so many options for picture taking and creative inspirations. My first idea for a panorama was to stand on a street corner and get a shot going down each intersection. I felt that this idea would be very interesting to look at and could potentially become a very nice project. However, after testing the waters when I got there and taking pictures on a few street corners, I realized that with all of the hustle and bustle of cars and people constantly moving through, that a picture like that probably would not work for a panorama that looks like one image. So, my next idea ended up becoming my final project, and that was to get a mixture of Central Park and a city skyline into one image. In my opinion, the work came out quite nicely, and I am happy with the decisions I made.
-----------
Project 3 Assessment-
1. I think the primary things learned in going through the process of project 3 was lighting in pictures and Photoshop post production. Because Austin and I used a Barbie doll as opposed to a real person as our model to replicate "The Girl With the Pearl Earring," we had to focus very heavily on the highlights and shadows so that they would match the actual image. After the completion of the taking of the photographs though, we had to go into Photoshop and do a very great amount of retouching. The reason for this is because the doll did not have very humanly qualities like the girl in the painting, so we had to change that. Not only this, but we also had to go in and add small details that we could not accomplish due to using a doll.
2. Our creative process was relatively simple. We originally thought of course that we would use Austin as the model simply because she is a girl, but then shortly after we realized that if we used a doll we would not have to deal with the hassle that comes with a person. Some of those hassles or problems being moving by accident from picture to picture, as well as simply complaining throughout the process. So, to make it easier on ourselves (or so we thought), we decided on Barbie as our model. Overall this decision was a successful one, however the Barbie does move sometimes because it is plastic, and it was hard to get the exact position of her head correct. Not only this, but her facial expressions always are the same, so they did not match that of the painting. In my opinion that was the only real setback of the completion of the project.
-----------
Project 4 Assessment-
1. As I took pictures of the final assignment I think the main things I learned revolved again around lighting and post production. A lot of the lighting aspect was also white balance because the exposure in the rooms I took the photographs in was extremely poor. The lights were dark and very yellow looking, cause me to increase my camera skills, and eventually my Photoshop skills as well. I did a lot of work in the curves and levels adjustments in Photoshop, among other things before actually bringing the photograph into Photoshop. Overall however I feel that after all of the other assignments throughout the semester I pretty much fully understood what I needed to be doing with the camera and to make my photographs come out as well as they could.
2. My original idea was to essentially take picture of random people in random setting and hope to get decent pictures of them at random states of emotion. However, over time and doing a lot of experimenting, I realized that getting any kind of good emotions out of people while snapping at random would be very hard. So, my next idea was to take photographs of my friends while just hanging out and being themselves, because I figured that is when I would get my best results. After taking many pictures in different places and settings, I came up with in my opinion a very successful final product. I think the reason is because my friends simply acted as themselves and I captured them in some very nice pictures.
-----------
Project 1 Comments/Criticisms- (because I was unable to comment on others, something kept messing up with my computer/internet so I am just posting it here)
For Austin:
In my opinion, the strongest image is the one that has the one small piece of broccoli singled out in its basket. The reason for this is because in such a limited category or topic of just exploring the produce section at a grocery store, it is able to give the composition life. I think overall the best quality of the images as a group are the colors. They are all very strong, vibrant, and contrasting/complementing. I think you could have done more with composition however, similar to the broccoli picture. Whether it be play more with the depth of field, similar to the asparagus image, or do something else to certain pictures, I just think some could have been stronger in that respect.
For Albert:
The images overall work well together and are strong. The depth of field in almost all of them is very nice, as well as the color and exposure. I think you did a good job overall with those things. However, although I know it has to be a particular group of things in one place, I still think you could have explored more because you were already were restricted to campus. I think if you just took pictures around campus as opposed to just in one small spot it could have made the images stronger and more diverse as a group, while still acting as a solid group.
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My project for proposal will focus on the idea of representing people in very different aspects of everyday life by researching the works of Brian Soko (http://www.street-photographers.com/author/brian). My goal is to complete a series of 3-5 prints of somewhat similar sized mounted on gaterboard. In order to fulfill the requirements of this project to the best of my abilities while still paralleling Soko’s works I will focus on trying to take pictures of people in interesting settings and states of emotion. I feel his works represent everyday life but they put a weird twist on it by representing different emotions. He is not a very popular photographer, so my research will mostly be based on the photographs and other information I can find about him online.
My
work plan includes this timeline:
I
will set aside 6 hours per week to shoot: April 1-14
Postproduction
will occur: April 15-20
Printing
or final presentation: April 21-26
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What I take from the reading about Charles Baudelaire, "The Modern Public and Photography" is that Baudelaire felt that photography should not just be considered things that simply show a picture of a certain time or thing that happened, but rather it should be more sentimental. What I mean by that is that a photograph should have some sort of emotional meaning behind it, depicting a certain memory or emotion.
The second reading, about Marius De Zayas, "Photography and Photography and Artistic-Photography" seemed to talk about De Zayas feelings' about the new photography movement. The primary idea that De Zayas believed in was that photography could help society in a way to raise awareness; which makes perfect sense because people often overlook things in life that should not be overlooked. And with the power of a very moving photograph, it may get people to stop and think about these certain things.
The third reading, by Lev Manovich called "The Paradoxes of Digital Photography" talks about the many different abilities that we have through technology. These primarily include the ability to change photographs and other things alike on the computer very simply with little to no explanation. Many different styles and other things can be applied to images now through modern technology, and it is truly amazing when one stops to think about the many things we can do on the computer and to edit an image. This piece does a good job of talking about that and making people realize the many things we can do.
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David Hockney-
These three images all have unique panorama qualities that make them different from one another, but equally interesting. The first image displays a more wide range of vision than the other two images. It takes pieces from different photographs and expands the peripherals of the image so the viewer can see more of what the photographer was seeing. He creates almost an extreme wide screen affect while giving different perspectives to the viewer. The second image focuses a little bit more on perspectives than creating a wide viewing range. When you look at the image quickly it seems like a relatively simple panorama of two young girls sitting next to each other, but when you examine it more closely you see there is a lot more to that. Hockney creates odd illusions that make the image extremely intriguing, and that really make the viewer think. It is evident after spending time viewing it that he took numerous pictures of the two girls from all sorts of angles, depths, and heights, to get multiple angles to patch together a very interesting panorama. The final picture I viewed more as a collage that actually tried to portray just one image as opposed to multiple pieces from different images put together. Because there are no gaps between the smaller images within the image, you can sort of see the rectangular forms that touch each other, giving it the collage look. Personally this one is my least favorite because I think it is very interesting when multiple perspectives are put into one image, however I still think it was very successful in what it was trying to succeed.
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Martin Parr is a photographer born in Epsom, Surrey, Britain in 1952. Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic after being inspired by his grandfather to pursue photography. Parr's photography seems to be a depiction of everyday life, and seems to capture reality very nicely in a modern world where everything is so glamorized. What I take from Parr's photography is that it helps people realize the almost grotesque truth about modern society and how it really is. With everyone so caught up in the media and everything that comes along with it, Parr's photography perfectly brings us back to our own harsh realities.
One particular piece of Martin Parr's that seems to stand out is the depiction of a tourist taking a photograph with a large pyramid in the background. While the photograph is simply humorous in content, there are many other beautiful qualities that come with the image. The composition is what creates the humor, depicting what would be thought of as a typical tourist taking a picture of something. But then it is qualities like lighting and especially color that really make this photograph stand out. The contrast of the bright blue sky, the bright pink shirt of the tourist, and the green of the grass on the dull gray pyramid is really nice. The lights and shadows also make the picture beautiful, having certain parts of the tourist highlighted while other parts are dark. This is extremely evident on the pyramid with one side looking almost white, while the other side looks almost black.
http://www.scribd.com/api_user_11797_cassiko/d/6826663-Martin-Parrs-Biography
http://www.martinparr.com/MartinParrCV.pdf
http://www.picassomio.com/martin-parr.html
http://www.scribd.com/api_user_11797_cassiko/d/6826663-Martin-Parrs-Biography
http://www.martinparr.com/MartinParrCV.pdf
http://www.picassomio.com/martin-parr.html
