Pinhole Photography - Justin Quinnel

Justin Quinnels Website 

Pinhole photographer Justin Quinnel has some interesting techniques of taking pictures with all different objects that he makes into pinhole cameras. I may want to look at his website later in my project to help with ideas.

Task 5 - Adam Pizurny

Adam Pizurny’s set of images that experiments with people becoming the landscape is really interesting. I’d love to incorporate his idea into my final result.

Task 5: presenting multiple viewpoints: presentation and innovation

The brief is to take pictures of a landscape but I’ve seen a photographer called ‘Adam Pizurny’ that uses body parts to look like a landscape. He puts the silhouettes of people onto the photographs and in the end they look like hill’s or dark roads. The set of images are all black and white which I really like; I think works really well as it enhances shadows and makes the people in the image look more realistic. After attaching pictures to my Pintrest board ‘patchwork & fragmented images’ I’d like to present the different landscapes of the body in multiple lines as it will give it a flow as if it were an outside landscape. I think this will be more effective than a David Hockney’s style of photomontage as it will need to be clear for an audience to eventually see it for what it is. For the silhouettes of the people I’d quite like to use embroidery. 

Task 5 Research - David Hockney

David Hockney uses the technique of taking lots of photos of the same things from loads of different heights and angles. At first glance they almost look like paintings because the technique of distorting is quite unusual. This image in particular is an example of how landscapes can look different but still familiar even if they have a strong style. The piece being made from lots of close ups makes me think that Hockney wants his audience to look closer at their surroundings. This piece works so well for that reason and shooting the pictures from so close up allows the artist to have maximum detail into the landscape. My favourite part of the piece is the contrast between the sky which looks really smooth and the rough stones and rubbish at the side of the road. The road its self is shown in a way which makes you feel like you’re laying in the road. Hockney may have created this by lying in the road himself for this part of his work.

Task 5 - Pintrest Brainstorm

I have made a scrapbook type thing on the website Pintrest full of my ideas and research for my mini landscape project! It’s a great resource to use as I can add to it over time and go back to the project if I want to. 

Link: http://uk.pinterest.com/rubymillard/patchwork-fragmented-images/ 

Task 5 is about creating a longer experience of landscape….

Transition project tasks - Book Borrowing And Buying

The first book I have chosen to look at is a digital guide to photography. It tells you what lenses are suitable for certain subject arias, what lighting you will need and helps with ideas for a range of different projects. The book also has something about editing pictures on Photoshop on pretty much every page. This is quite an important area of photography for me to look at, as I prefer to add effects to pictures when I physically am taking them; it may be good for me to attempt some other methods on Photoshop. Overall it’s a great thing for me to have a look at as it will help me develop my skills in the subject.

The second book I have chosen to look at is ‘The Electric Image – Chris Kitze’. I picked it up purely because of its name. I’m usually a fan of film and black and white photography so I decided to look at something that was its opposite. The book itself is really well made; its bound with white thread and the outer cover is hard shiny card. When you look inside it greats you with pages of transparent paper covered in computer code, which I really like because it’s stylized. The images themselves remind me of light trail photography. They have the same colors and flow, it’s as if the trails came to life and created a city together.

Examples: 

Transition project tasks - Innovative photography techniques

Panoramic photography has been around for a while but some photographers have started to explore full rotation panoramic into a circular shape. It can make pictures look like they are from a different part of the universe or like you’ve fallen upside down off a chair and remember the whole journey. There known as ‘Little Planets’ or ‘Tiny Planets’ and I think that’s a perfect description of them. Its one of my favorite techniques that I’ve seen because it takes time to closely look at it and appreciate it for what it is.

Examples: 

These are images that I have found from doing a basic Google search as I’ve struggled to find a photographer that’s had a project exclusively using this technique. My favorite is the last picture of the beach because on one side is a road and on the other the sea. Over the ‘Tiny Planet’ is a plain that I think is brilliant and really makes it look as if the ground holds its self.

Transistion project tasks - Popular Photography Techniques

High-speed photography records fast moving objects and can show an audience things that aren’t normally visible to the naked eye. Photographers will shorten the shutter speed and use a flash to achieve the images.  People have shot apples being smashed and documented how they burst apart, water balloons have been popped with pins and animals shaking there wet fur dry. I think it’s quite a popular thing to do because the results can be striking. Sports photographers use high-speed photography for fast pace motor races. Scientists use it to look at gravitational effects and surface tension. High-speed photography is used by a wide range of artists to show things in a different and rarely explored form. 

Example:

Photographer Perou went to Mukuru, Nairobi to help photograph the charity Oxfam’s water and sanitation project. A group of volunteers set up a make shift studio in a village and threw water up in the air over the children that lived there. I think the set of images make a serious situation quite joyful and it’s as if it has given then children a break from reality for a while. It might numb the reality for people living in western countries such as the US, Sweden, France and the UK; but it gives the charity a positive outlook, which will attract people and encourage them to donate. Pictures of happy children make the charity look like they are improving the lives of the families, which they are.

The pictures themselves are full of energy. They have been captured at high speed in order to retain the natural movement of the water and the children simultaneously. The blue color choice of the background may represent clean water and be to be bold and to attract people. 

More information about the shoot: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/blogs/2013/08/a-day-with-perou

Transition project tasks - Where Photography Began And Who Started It

Photography began in the 1800’s with camera obscura and the observation that some things are visibly altered when they become exposed to light. Scientist Anna Atkins first used photograms to record natural objects. Photograms are images produced without a camera; objects are put onto photosensitive paper and are exposed to light. The paper is developed and the objects shadows appear to be left behind.

Camera Obscura is a darkened chamber where the real image of an object is received through a small opening or lens and focused in natural color onto another surface rather than recorded on film. It’s the first type of camera to be made. Thomas Wedgwood was the first person to put the two together and document his results even though his attempt was unsuccessful. In the 1820’s Nicéphore Niépce was successful with the method. At that point in history the paper had to be exposed for a number of days so the early pictures were quite vague. Nicéphore Niépce had an associate called Louis Daguerre who developed daguerreotypy in 1839. Daguerreotypy is when a picture is made on a silver surface sensitized with iodine and developed by exposure to mercury vapor. This was the first photographic process which was well known by the general public. It was faster than the first attempt Nicéphore Niépce made as it only took minutes of exposure for the camera to produce a clear image. It was put out commercially in 1839, which is the year that practical photography is thought to have begun. 

Transition project tasks - Cambridge In Colour

Transition project tasks - Landscape

Russ Barnes titled this picture ‘Blushes’ this may be because of the poppies blooming to make the landscape look as if its blushing. This picture stood out to me because of its strong read tones against the soft white flowers and sky. It makes me think of remembrance day obviously because poppies are the main symbol. The picture comes from a gallery called our land, which also makes me think of families in WW1 and WW2 saying our men; in present day people still use the flower as symbol to remember there loved ones that are in the army. 

Transition project tasks - Fashion pt.2

Photographer Jay Brooks has a personal photography project called ‘Here Come The Teds’. Some of the pictures were taken in a studio whilst others were taken at a pub. They fiture first, second and third generation teddy boys dancing and drinking together. Out of the ones I have shown my favorite pictures are the candid ones of dancing, I think that they strongly show the friendships between the ted communities and have an authenticity that you can’t recreate easily. Most of them have faded stick and poke tattoos which most of them would have done when they were younger, scratched rings and heavy chains attatched to their suits.

All of these things put together are what makes me admire the shoot. Even the simple studio shots are full of character; by looking at the people in them you can see there past and what life style they live. I think this is exactly what Chris Opels shoot was missing for me to like it.

 My favorite picture is the fourth with a man on someone’s shoulders. I think the low angle makes it look like someone’s passed out on the floor and is hazily looking up. The younger persons wrist also has a number of event bands on it and the souls of his shoes are dirty; the expressions on their faces are genuinely happy and I think this is something you can't fake. 

Transition project tasks - Fashion pt.1

Chris Opel and stylist Siobhan Witter collaborated to make a series of pictures titled ‘Young Blood’. I think that this picture is meant to be a modern twist on a punk living in London. The overall composition of the picture is fine, having it in black and white flattens the shadows beneath the bridge quite nicely; but I’m not keen on the model choice or how the model is positioned. First of all the middle finger is usually shown as a sign of rebellion but in this picture makes the model look like a poser and it doesn’t feel natural. Scrunching up the face isn’t authentic either; it’s to posed and neat. Where’s the spit? Or the old makeup in the creases of her eyes? The clothing has punk ish elements to it for example studs on the models t-shirt, but they look as if they were already on the top when it was brought. I’m not sure if this picture annoys me because I like authenticity or if I’m unappreciative of fashion photography. I chose this picture because I wanted to give my opinion on subcultures being stereotyped and badly recreated for money. This picture isn’t passionate enough. If you want to have a fashion shoot on punks shave the models hair don’t ruff it up a little bit. The best thing to do would to find an actual punk to photograph or one to assist you in the shoot. 

Transition project tasks - Walter Hugo

This picture of actor Eddie Redmayne is one of Walter Hugo’s glass-plate 'Positives'. It is from a series of one off portraits of ‘leading London creative taken as part of the ongoing series Reflecting the Bright Lights: Capturing a Moment with Silver Nitrate’. I really like the technique and the material that the photographer has used as it makes the picture look like it’s from another time which adds a sense of mystery to it.

Walter Hugo’s choice of model I think is quite clever, Eddie Redmayne has quite an authentic British look; with his clean crisp white shirt and black blazer makes him look like a business man that works in London, but then the top button of his shirt being undone makes him more relaxed as if he could be going out to a cocktail bar.

I love the fact that the light is coming from the right hand side and is making the model slightly squint. The shadow it creates on the left hand side is really soft and turns the edge of his face into a silhouette that blends into his hair.

The models face being sharper than the background makes him the main focuses point but because the styles quite strong it encourages the audience to look closer at the rest of the image. The background looks as if it has been placed into a tray of water or some sort of solution. This may have been created during the developing process.

The image flows quite well as it is portrait rather than landscape, I think its because the models face is quite thin and his shoulders are in inline with the border; it almost elongates his whole body making it slimmer. This creates quite an interesting perspective. The picture has been taken from eye level so if it were to be hung in a gallery it may look as if someone is looking through a window. They are developed onto pieces of glass so they could be hung with light shone through or put in front a light box.

Transition project tasks - Passon For Photography Scrapbook

For my scrapbook I have decided to display it digitally on Pintrest so that I am able to edit and add to it easily over a period of time. It will also allow me to add audi and videos if I want to.
Passon For Photography Scrapbook