THE SELFIEThe first ever "selfie" was made in 1839 by Robert Cornelius. Since the 2000s selfies have become more popular over the years. The current obsession with photographic self-portraits (selfies) can be traced back to the origins of photography. Some suggest "selfies" are a form of art, others however, dislike the use of them on social media. Personally, I do take quite a lot of selfies with my friends. I think selfies are great ways of capturing great experiences/maybe bad experiences too? In my opinion, I believe selfies have become popular because of..
the increase of people with smartphones (with cameras). This makes the "selfie" process more accessible for the younger generations especially. I do not believe there are any "rules" to taking selfies. Yes, there are the typical facial expressions which can come across as boring and unoriginal. Though, I find taking a more original selfie looks more interesting and appealing. These abstract selfies (in my opinion) can include the obscured, the shadow selfie, selfies that project unrealistic proportion of scale, underwater selfies etc.
|
I found the photograph to the left extremely interesting. This was used to present the "obscured". During the shoot, I had a piece of paper in my hand and i wanted to include this in my photo somehow. I was not entirely sure where I wanted to take it. To capture this, I folded an A4 paper in half and tore a hole in the centre. Once I found the correct aperture and shutter speed settings to accommodate the photo, I held up the piece of paper in front of the lens and took the photograph. Throughout my experiment with the piece of paper, I found that the simplest of objects can be altered to create something interesting. I made sure the camera was completely focused on the model with the paper acting as an almost outline. It was as if the paper acted as a second lens.
|
What Is Structure?
Structure is the construction, organisation, arrangement of elements in a piece of artwork. Likewise, in music, structure is how different parts of a song are put together in a certain way to create a piece (verse, chorus, bridge etc). Structure can be associated with different shapes, patterns, colour and contrasts between light and dark. Structure is much about composition and how elements within the photo are arranged/structured. |
Myoung Ho Lee is a young photographer from South Korea who has produced some unusual, unnatural photographs of nature throughout his work. In some of his photos (with a large crew) he manages to fit a large white screen behind a massive tree. It is almost as if the artist is isolating the tree from it's normal/natural habitat. This looks fascinating on camera. He poses some thought provoking questions about representation, reality, art, environment and seeing. It is said that he is only able to make about 4 of these photos a year due to high production costs and the time and effort many people have to face to achieve at least one good shot.
|
It is clear from his work that Ho Lee uses the rule of thirds throughout his photographs. This creates a sense of balance within the frame. I like the fact that in every picture the weather/scenery has changed. I would assume his style of work draws a large audience as it is something we are not used to seeing. Usually, we see a tree and forget about it. What Ho Lee does is isolate the tree, simply by placing a white backdrop behind it and only then will that tree stand out. I can also appreciate the contrast in colour in each photo.
|
|
The photographs portray the before and after editing in photoshop. I thought it would look rather interesting or unusual if I edited the people holding the paper out of the photo. This was completed by taking the original photo (with the piece of paper behind the tree) and a separate image of just the background. Once photos are loaded in Photoshop, I select the paper and tree/leaves and copy and paste it onto the photograph of the background. Adjustments to levels, brightness, vibrance etc. are made afterwards to make the photo look more realistic or to stand out. The images to the left depict the before and after editing. It presents the idea that nature can presented as unnatural/unusual as well as illustrating it's traditional, natural style.
|
Depth of Field continued...
A shallower depth of field will allow the subject to be in focus with a blurry background. A deeper depth of field will mean the entire photo/background is sharp. A deep depth of field is often necessary to make the background clear and add an additional layer of information and context to a photo. This is shown in the photograph on the right. |
The photos below were taken in Coldfall Woods. I put my camera on the "Av" (aperture priority) mode. I found this a good exercise as it made me consider the effect of using different aperture settings when I take a photo. The "Av" setting helps you to decide which setting is most effective for the subject you are shooting. It enables you to set the aperture and ISO and the camera sets the shutter speed for you automatically (if you need a faster shutter speed, you have to raise the ISO). Aperture priority can be used on a sunny day where there is good light. On the day of the shoot, the weather kept alternating between sunny/overcast/rain which in some cases did not benefit my photos. Towards the end of my shoot, I chose to turn the camera to manual mode as I found it easier to capture my photos that way. As well as this, when I raised the ISO (in order to achieve a higher shutter speed) my photos became a little grainy which I did not like.
|
ISO measures the sensitivity of the camera's image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. An example of a low ISO would be (ISO 100), a high ISO would be (ISO 3200). Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds eg. an indoor sports event when a photographer wants to freeze the action in lower light. The disadvantage is that the higher the ISO you choose the noisier the shots will be. If you’re shooting an image that doesn't require a large depth of field, you can increase the aperture (thus allowing more light into the lens) and use a lower ISO. On the other hand, if a photographer does require a large depth of field, they need to use a smaller aperture which at the same time will make the image darker- less light is let into camera. Therefore, the ISO would need to be increased in order to create a correctly exposed image.
|
F/7.1, Shutter speed 1/80, ISO 100
|
F/7.1, Shutter speed 1/80, ISO 200
|
F/7.1, Shutter Speed 1/80, ISO 400
|
The White Balance setting you choose will change the colour balance in your pictures, making it warmer or cooler depending on the type of light. I used to use Auto White Balance but I found that using different white balance settings made certain colours within the scene stand out more. I also found that the white balance added extra insight as to how I want the audience to feel about the photo... ie. if I was taking a picture of the beach, I would use a sunlight white balance to illustrate a happy mood with warmer tones. The camera's White Balance presets give you more control over colour.
|
Exposure CompensationTo photograph into light, you may need to over expose your image otherwise the camera will mis-read the amount of light coming into the lens and the subject will be under exposed. This is what I did throughout the task. The setting is used to alter the standard exposure set by the camera. The dial starts at "0" balanced, you can then "+1" or "-1" to over and under expose the photographs. It can be used in any shooting mode except Manual. I used the Aperture Priority setting in my camera to capture these images below.
|
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement. The term "Brutalism" was derived from the French "Béton Brut" or raw concrete was the term used for the futurist architecture being created by Le Corbusier and others like him. Brutalism became associated with post- war British architectural offices/industrialised looking buildings and blocks of flats. Originally, tower blocks, such as the Trellick Towers were built post-war in order to accommodate for large numbers of people whose homes had been destroyed by the bombings of WWII. The architecture itself is characterised by the large size of the buildings and the use of raw unfinished concrete. They also make use of geometric forms in a way to attempt to communicate the building's function and what the rooms behind the slabs of concrete are used for.
|
Brutalist buildings are seen as very controversial in terms of appearance. Some people think of the style as 'ugly' due to its dull, dreary and negative tones. Its structure is bland and can be associated with times of misery (war). On the other hand, some people view brutalism as a fascinating style of architecture because of its uniqueness and variation in shapes and structure. One reason people are coming to appreciate it now is because of a generational shift.
|
Ministry of Highway Construction, Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim of this building was to occupy as little ground space as possible with the various floors of the building opening out like branches from the central root of a tree. Personally, I like brutalist architecture because in some ways the structures are almost like illusions. They portray a type of pattern which looks extraordinary and its not necessarily something you see in everyday life. I like to capture images of the brutalist buildings, at the same time, I can understand why some people dislike it due to its gloomy atmosphere.
|
Simon Phipps is a fine art photographer operating in the UK and has captured a wide variety of subjects. His photography provides a unique perspective and portrays Brutalist architecture in a sensitive, realistic and distinctive manner. Phipps has spent the last 15 years photographing and documenting Brutalist and buildings in the UK, creating a survey of photographic images that demonstrate the breadth of this contentious architectural style. Many of the buildings Phipps captures have been abandoned and are not in use, this leads to the areas being used as places to vandalise. Again, this portrays brutalist structures in a negative light.
|
I like the fact that the photographer carefully captures the buildings' interesting structures/shapes which make them unique and different to each other. As well as this, Phipps makes his photos black and white which may emphasise the various textures and patterns within the frame. This can be noticed in the image to the right. A range of materials can be recognised- brick- rough surface which contrasts with the smoothness of the metal hand rails. I can also appreciate that the image itself looks like an illusion. The corner of the main building is in alignment with the hand rails on the stairs. It creates an idea of symmetry and works well against the negative space (cloudy sky). The shadowing adds to the mystery and darkness of the building and may further illustrate why some people dislike these brutalist structures.
|
I also visited the Creative Unions Exhibition at the University Arts London (U.A.L- Central Saint. Martins centre). Although, this was an art exhibition that did not present any photography, I enjoyed it just as much as my first exhibition. Some of the contexts of the work on show at Creative Unions included : identity, collaboration, conflict resolution, community, alternative realities, technological innovation, social issues, the environment, activism, crossings etc. Miniature wooden structures were displayed and I found its linear structure and 3D design creative and impressive.
|
Colour Thought ProcessI set a rule to use three different colours per image. In the first set of photos I used light blue, white and black, in the second I used red, black and white. My intention was to use one vivid colour (primary colour) along with black and white to perhaps neutralise the bolder tones. This, I recognised in the artist's work on the right. Each photograph follows the same rule as mentioned above. This i felt was effective and relevant to my pop art (1950s) colour palette.
|
Both images on the left/right are pieces I found whilst researching into Pop Art Structures and Modern Architecture on Pinterest. These two photographs stood out the most due to their vivid and bold (typical pop art) colours- especially the left. In my opinion, the colours in the image on the left has been edited (perhaps to enhance the colours). I did find that this made it look rather artificial but I found it intriguing. As you can see below, I used the same palette of colours in my work because I wanted to experiment with the pop art genre. I like the use of shadowing within both photos, it brings a sense of realism to the compositions- it's not all plastic and becomes more naturalistic.
|
Marta Colmenero (Left)/(Right)- My own
Colmenero is a Spanish designer who captured Brutalist buildings and turned them into illustrations. I enjoyed viewing this artist as I like the fact there are both real and fictional aspects to their work. The photograph was taken in a real location, though it carries a cartoon-like/screen print inspired feel. I can also appreciate how a sense of structure is presented throughout Colmenero's project. The use of shadowing within the frame also allow the audience to recognise the perspective at which the photo is being taken. |
I felt I have improved my work from my previous development because I chose to return to using a 1960s colour palette which includes dull, pastel tones. Again, this was accomplished to draw a link between the reason for choosing certain colours and the Brutalist structure itself. This can be recognised to the left.
|