Evaluation
For unit 1 I have researched lots of photographers for inspiration, such as: Cartier-Bresson, Pierre Cordier and Oliver Lang. I explored these photographers techniques and photo structures to help me develop an idea of what sort of images work for different themes. One photographer whose work I have explored is Uta Barth. I found her work whilst researching abstract photographers, her images stood out for me because I liked her use of light in almost all of her photographs. Her images influenced my second final piece as I also tried to use light as the focal point in most of my images. Another photographer I explored was Ralph Eugene Meatyard. I tried to emulate his work in the way that he uses a telephoto lens and the way he frames his natural subjects to create an abstract and unusual image of something quite mundane.
I have investigated three different themes; mobile photography, multiple images and abstraction. The starting point for my mobile photography project was researching the photographer Oliver Lang because he takes his images using his phone. He was a perfect example of a mobile photographer. I then experimented with mobile devices and taking pictures inside of school and out on the street. I liked Lang’s images but I didn’t have the confidence to take pictures of strangers in the street so instead I took pictures of textures and patterns. I then continued to develop my response to the theme during a school trip into the centre of London. I took lots of images using an ipod, I tried to make images similar to those of Oliver Lang in the way that he composes his images.
For the multiple images subject I started by making a Pinterest board to support my understanding of what multiple images means and to get inspiration for my final project. I decided to use a Lomography 4 lens camera as it contains four images of the same subject within it’s 35mm frame, yet the image in each frame will always be different due to the time lapse function of the camera. This was experimental because I couldn’t control the resulting image within the few seconds it took to complete each picture. I also made a second final piece for the multiple images which was all of one thing on my street. One of the influences for my second final piece was David Hockney. Although I used a different subject matter whilst taking my photographs I had in mind his photo montage images as a way of presenting them once complete.
Finally, abstraction was the theme that I have enjoyed doing the most. This is because you can create an abstract image from any subject, making the most common object into something mysterious and unrecognisable. I think this theme was most successful because there is such scope at abstracting an image, through chemicals, framing or use of camera functions. I have developed and sustained aspects of each photographer's work I investigated by using elements of their work throughout each of my experiments.
Over the course of the year I have experimented with a wide range of materials, techniques and processes for unit 1. They include: Cyanotypes, photograms, camera obscura, chemigrams, pinhole camera, light painting, moving images, bleach, photoshop, DSLR, ipad, ipod touch, enlarger, developer stop and fix chemicals. I refined my initial chemigrams by using photoshop to combine and overlap them with other abstract images I had created. I developed the use of chemicals when making the chemigrams by analysing the effect of each chemical when exposed to light. This gave me greater control over the end product.
The final outcome for my first personal project; mobile photography, was a selection of images taken on a school trip. I was hoping for a more cohesive set of images although I was unclear of my overall theme. Also the unpredictability of subjects and the uncertainty of what I would see made it difficult to plan in advance resulting in a group of photographs without a common link. I didn’t really enjoy this project because I couldn’t see how it was any different from standard photography and the brief was too vague. Despite this, completing this project has increased my confidence in using mobile devices, so now when I see a photo opportunity I have the confidence to capture it with the device at hand.
I made two final pieces for the multiple images project. I think they turned out quite successfully, the first final piece was one that I had planned to do from the start. It was a four shot image which showed a sequence of about two seconds. I practiced making the sequenced images first using the Andigraf app on an ipad to explore the type of result I would expect to achieve, I was happy with these results but it failed to prepare me for the more unpredictable results that the Lomo camera provided. Unfortunately there was a fault with the Lomo camera which meant that only two of the four frames were the intended image. The other two frames were taken without realising. Although this wasn’t the result I had planned, the four images on each frame were linked as they are in the same setting. I was keen to use this camera as what I wanted was to capture more than just a second in time, I wanted to see how things changed over the course of several seconds, like a snapshot of a movie.
My second final piece for this project started as a homework task where we were asked to photograph all of something in our street. My idea was to take a series of pictures of the wires radiating out of the telegraph pole, which I would then combine as a photo montage similar to David Hockney’s joiners. This didn’t really go to plan because it was the first I had tried this method and it quickly became clear that I hadn’t taken enough photographs to create the same effect. Knowing this my plan is to attempt a similar project in the future which will hopefully be more successful. I adapted my initial idea and instead cropped the pictures to a square format and arranged them in a grid. I still tried to link the wires so that they appeared to come from the centre of the piece and connect with each other. The wires also served to divide the sky further creating an abstract image and a less formal division.
My final personal project; abstraction, was in my opinion the most successful. I made two final pieces, the first being a series of glitched images. I did this by copying or deleting parts of the image code on each picture which affected the colour and content of the images. The images were taken throughout the course of this theme and used them to create a final piece. Although it was the computer that manipulated the pictures, through trial and error I began to understand how the images would be changed and deleted/added sections to suit this process. I displayed the images in a way that echoed the glitching effect with smaller pictures being interspersed with larger rectangles and squares. I believe this worked well because I chose to shoot images that were in themselves quite abstract as they were angular and high contrast and suited this process.
For my second final piece I took inspiration from the photographer Uta Barth and made some photographs which were a combination of light and dark out of focus landscapes. I decided to use 35mm colour negative film in an SLR camera because I felt that I had greater control over depth of field and shutter speed and wanted to use the same equipment that Barth used to create similar images. I wanted to display the photographs in a similar way to Wolfgang Tillmans. I particularly liked the way his photographs were displayed either symmetrically or with very straight lines and felt that this would contrast dramatically against the blurred lines and random placement of the objects within my photos. In my images I like the contrast between the very sharp circles of light and the very dark, blurred surroundings. In a way this contradicts Uta Barth's idea behind her pictures as she set out to make them "empty" with nothing catching your eye in the foreground but I see those sharp pinpoints of light as focal points in my images.
I have investigated three different themes; mobile photography, multiple images and abstraction. The starting point for my mobile photography project was researching the photographer Oliver Lang because he takes his images using his phone. He was a perfect example of a mobile photographer. I then experimented with mobile devices and taking pictures inside of school and out on the street. I liked Lang’s images but I didn’t have the confidence to take pictures of strangers in the street so instead I took pictures of textures and patterns. I then continued to develop my response to the theme during a school trip into the centre of London. I took lots of images using an ipod, I tried to make images similar to those of Oliver Lang in the way that he composes his images.
For the multiple images subject I started by making a Pinterest board to support my understanding of what multiple images means and to get inspiration for my final project. I decided to use a Lomography 4 lens camera as it contains four images of the same subject within it’s 35mm frame, yet the image in each frame will always be different due to the time lapse function of the camera. This was experimental because I couldn’t control the resulting image within the few seconds it took to complete each picture. I also made a second final piece for the multiple images which was all of one thing on my street. One of the influences for my second final piece was David Hockney. Although I used a different subject matter whilst taking my photographs I had in mind his photo montage images as a way of presenting them once complete.
Finally, abstraction was the theme that I have enjoyed doing the most. This is because you can create an abstract image from any subject, making the most common object into something mysterious and unrecognisable. I think this theme was most successful because there is such scope at abstracting an image, through chemicals, framing or use of camera functions. I have developed and sustained aspects of each photographer's work I investigated by using elements of their work throughout each of my experiments.
Over the course of the year I have experimented with a wide range of materials, techniques and processes for unit 1. They include: Cyanotypes, photograms, camera obscura, chemigrams, pinhole camera, light painting, moving images, bleach, photoshop, DSLR, ipad, ipod touch, enlarger, developer stop and fix chemicals. I refined my initial chemigrams by using photoshop to combine and overlap them with other abstract images I had created. I developed the use of chemicals when making the chemigrams by analysing the effect of each chemical when exposed to light. This gave me greater control over the end product.
The final outcome for my first personal project; mobile photography, was a selection of images taken on a school trip. I was hoping for a more cohesive set of images although I was unclear of my overall theme. Also the unpredictability of subjects and the uncertainty of what I would see made it difficult to plan in advance resulting in a group of photographs without a common link. I didn’t really enjoy this project because I couldn’t see how it was any different from standard photography and the brief was too vague. Despite this, completing this project has increased my confidence in using mobile devices, so now when I see a photo opportunity I have the confidence to capture it with the device at hand.
I made two final pieces for the multiple images project. I think they turned out quite successfully, the first final piece was one that I had planned to do from the start. It was a four shot image which showed a sequence of about two seconds. I practiced making the sequenced images first using the Andigraf app on an ipad to explore the type of result I would expect to achieve, I was happy with these results but it failed to prepare me for the more unpredictable results that the Lomo camera provided. Unfortunately there was a fault with the Lomo camera which meant that only two of the four frames were the intended image. The other two frames were taken without realising. Although this wasn’t the result I had planned, the four images on each frame were linked as they are in the same setting. I was keen to use this camera as what I wanted was to capture more than just a second in time, I wanted to see how things changed over the course of several seconds, like a snapshot of a movie.
My second final piece for this project started as a homework task where we were asked to photograph all of something in our street. My idea was to take a series of pictures of the wires radiating out of the telegraph pole, which I would then combine as a photo montage similar to David Hockney’s joiners. This didn’t really go to plan because it was the first I had tried this method and it quickly became clear that I hadn’t taken enough photographs to create the same effect. Knowing this my plan is to attempt a similar project in the future which will hopefully be more successful. I adapted my initial idea and instead cropped the pictures to a square format and arranged them in a grid. I still tried to link the wires so that they appeared to come from the centre of the piece and connect with each other. The wires also served to divide the sky further creating an abstract image and a less formal division.
My final personal project; abstraction, was in my opinion the most successful. I made two final pieces, the first being a series of glitched images. I did this by copying or deleting parts of the image code on each picture which affected the colour and content of the images. The images were taken throughout the course of this theme and used them to create a final piece. Although it was the computer that manipulated the pictures, through trial and error I began to understand how the images would be changed and deleted/added sections to suit this process. I displayed the images in a way that echoed the glitching effect with smaller pictures being interspersed with larger rectangles and squares. I believe this worked well because I chose to shoot images that were in themselves quite abstract as they were angular and high contrast and suited this process.
For my second final piece I took inspiration from the photographer Uta Barth and made some photographs which were a combination of light and dark out of focus landscapes. I decided to use 35mm colour negative film in an SLR camera because I felt that I had greater control over depth of field and shutter speed and wanted to use the same equipment that Barth used to create similar images. I wanted to display the photographs in a similar way to Wolfgang Tillmans. I particularly liked the way his photographs were displayed either symmetrically or with very straight lines and felt that this would contrast dramatically against the blurred lines and random placement of the objects within my photos. In my images I like the contrast between the very sharp circles of light and the very dark, blurred surroundings. In a way this contradicts Uta Barth's idea behind her pictures as she set out to make them "empty" with nothing catching your eye in the foreground but I see those sharp pinpoints of light as focal points in my images.