Custom Layouts | Monochrome

From this assignment, I learned more about juxtaposition of different images and how to use features in Photoshop. The most difficult challenge I had was what unifying theme to choose and after that, which photos to choose. I overcame this challenge by thinking about the types of photos I like to take. Since I love photographing in black and white and how it looks, I initially choose that. As I got more into the cutting and positioning the pieces, I decided to broaden my theme a bit to just monochromatic. This gave me the ability to change color schemes while staying with some black and white photos. In each piece, I decided to make the background a variation of black and white gradient. I think that doing this helped to add more variation to each piece.

Photoshop Exercises

Color Emphasis

Filter Experimentation

 Combining Images

Levitation

Reflection

     I really enjoyed this exercise. I was able to learn more about the program and how to use it to my advantage. The newest skills I gained was the introduction to filters and the steps to make someone look like they're floating. These exercises were really fun to do, especially photographing for the levitation photos. I'm very interested in pushing my knowledge and increasing my skills.

Sally Mann

Sally Mann was born in Lexington, VA, in 1951. She was given a Bachelor of Arts in ‘74 and in ‘75, a Master of the Arts in writing from Hollins College. Her first solo exhibit was in 1977 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. In many interviews, she has named her reason for taking up photography in high school was to spend more time with her then-boyfriend in the darkroom. She then spent two years at Bennington College, a liberal arts school in Bennington, VT. 
Her influences range from her  photography teacher at Bennington, Norman Sieff, to 19th century processes and portrait photographers, such as Michael Miley. Another important influence is the American South. Architecture photos she had taken from ‘75 to ‘77 of the law school at Washington and Lee were included in Second Sight, published in 1982. In these photos, she portrayed the building in an abstract, mysterious, blur. However, the most important and prevalent of all her influences is her family. She began using her family as her muse when her daughter came home with a swollen face from gnat bites. In all of her portraits, she implies many touchy and underlying themes like abuse, incest, and suicide.
I really love how striking and simple her portraits are. They also offer nostalgia with dark and dangerous undertones which I would love to explore on my own. I enjoy shooting in black and white. The opportunity to explore my abilities and mirror her portraits intrigues me. I hope to capture the nostalgia and undertones with similar lighting and subject positions.

1983-1985 | Sally Mann

1983-1985 | Sally Mann

Biography

"Art21. Sally Mann. Biography." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

Sally Mann, Extended Biography. Lexington, VA: Sally Mann, n.d. PDF.

Woodward, Richard B. "The Disturbing Photography of Sally Mann." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Sept. 1992. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

Photos of the Week (No. 2) - Hands/Feet/Body Parts

Small drops of energy,

A tiny lifeline for

a living thing

So fragile

That one mistake in its 

care could make it 

c

 r

  u

    m

     b

      l

       e

Surrealism and Maggie Taylor

Surrealism began as a literary movement that spread to art. The visuals take subjects and juxtapose them in uncommon landscapes. In addition to that, the subjects are twisted and exaggerated into something they aren’t to make a point or evoke an emotion. With the rise of photoshop, many artists have been able to manipulate photos and create digital paintings in the surreal style. Surreal paintings tend to look a bit hallucinatory and dreamlike.
Maggie Taylor is an American artist who, after earning an MFA in photography from the University of Florida, was primarily a still-life photographer until 1996. The creative director of Adobe, Russell Brown, had approached her husband, Jerry Uelsmann about using the newly created image program, Photoshop. Uelsmann had turned down the offer since he loved doing his manipulations in the darkroom. Maggie, on the other hand, was intrigued. In an interview with the New York Times, she said: “ At first I wasn’t overly serious about it. . . I thought this would just be a fun thing but not for my artwork at all”. She scans 3D items as well as old photos to create her pieces. Many of her pieces contain more than 100 layers.

Down Down Down.

   I find her color choices interesting. How the slightly different values of blue and grey work with each other and draw your eye to each section of the piece is strong. The colors affect the mood of the piece too. The blues in the foreground and the purple/blueish books in the background compliment each other and create a dreamlike and whimsical feeling. The negative space is also used very well. I like how she spread out the subjects helped to create the feeling of suspension and falling within the painting.

Wonderful.

   I love the simplicity of this piece. The clothes line with paper instead of clothes really makes the piece surreal. The similar colors, other than the crown, help to make the crown pop. I love the ground because it looks like grass, water, and a field were layer on top of one another, but to the point were it's so difficult to tell for certain. the trees in the background help with not only the negative space, but with the context. They [the trees] make the subject look as though it's in an uninhabited place.


Sources

Estrin, James. "In Her Garden of Digital Delights." Lens In Her Garden of Digital Delights Comments. The New York Times Company, 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

"Guggenheim." Collection Online. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF), n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

"Spotlight." Photoshop.com. Adobe Systems Incorporated, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Taylor, Maggie. "Maggie Taylor: Biography." :: Maggie Taylor ::. Maggie Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Voorhies, James. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Surrealism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Abstract Photography || Black & White Film

I was able to take the subjects out of context and create abstract images by tilting different mirrors into each other and by creating structures out of the mirrors. I used pieces of glass to both hold the mirrors in their place and to distort the images even more. The glass also offered an opportunity to capture more shades of lights and darks from the reflection of the sun. Glass also bent the rays a bit which balanced the hard lines of the mirror reflections. The perspectives I shot the photos from add to the abstractism of scene. It forces the viewer to really look hard to figure out exactly what he/she is looking at. 

From my first film assignment to this, I feel like my compositional skills grew. Now I feel like I pay more attention to not only the subject’s placement, but how the light plays into it. I feel like I subconsciously look for a motley of values. In the dark room, I felt less confused and I think that my focussing skills grew. I used a different camera than I was used to and I believe that alone required that my technical work grew. I think it did and now I would be able to use a few different cameras if I needed to.

Through this assignment and the film assignment before, I learned more about manual settings on both SLRs and DSLRs. I think the different cameras I used in both the assignments was a great introduction to the world of film. Before this class, I had never used a film SLR and had no clue what the importance of shutter speed and aperture was on a photo. I feel very comfortable in the dark room and almost completely comfortable with manual settings. Compositionally, on both assignments, I learned how to shoot in black and white in an appropriate way. Paying attention to light and shades and not colors and shadows was a challenge that I feel I conquered in a good way.

Hands || Black & White Film

My compositional skills are pretty good, specifically with how the wire is wrapped around the hand and how the hands stand out at the fair. I feel like my attention to light is growing stronger as we work more with manual settings, I feel like the second photo has the strongest light. If the first one had been more in focus, the photo would have been awesome in terms of both lighting and composition.

I need to pay attention to how focused my photos are. The second is fine, but the first one needed to be more in focus. I may have hit the lens slightly before capturing the scene. I need to turn my energy more towards taking the time and being completely sure that it’s perfect. I think I also need to be careful with my film so it doesn’t have any dust or scratches on it. I think in the second photo, there’s a small scratch on the bottom of it, though it may be the plastic sleeve.

Photos of the Week - Free Choice

This week, I wanted to explore the relationship between fabric and light. How different patterns play with it and the texture of the fabric itself. At first, I was focused totally on silhouette and texture, this evolved into capturing the model and the light source with it. I put my focus into more context and feel like I improved the photo because of it. I would love to reshoot this idea because I wasn't able to use natural light and it's too cold to capture the fabric I would like to. 

Photos of the Week - Destruction/Decay/Dormancy

here i stayed

forgotten

-

left 

to the

mercy

of the

wind

and

rain

-

sun

and

snow

Abstract Photography

ISO 200 | f/8 | 1/320

ISO 200 | f/5.6 | 1/200

ISO 400 | f/5.6 | 1/500

ISO 400 | f/8 | 1/400

Barbara Kasten, Abstract Photography

I love this photograph because of Kasten's use of color. The monochromatic color scheme with the white/blue tints in the glass itself is wonderfully used. The way the glass panels are lit to create the large and strong shadows behind the subject adds depth and a more abstract essence to the photo. I like the composition, the repeating lines and angles are strong and make it a bit realistic. I feel as though a touch of realism in an abstract scene is what makes people love abstract paintings and photos. It gives order to the abstract. I feel inspired to use light in a similar way and try to use a simple color scheme in my digital photos.

Photos of the Week - Culture

Culture is represented in the stadium itself and in the technology advertisements shown in these photos. The repetition of lines and color adds interest to the composition of the photo and not only the design of the stadium.

Photos of the Week - Water

Water is purifying.

The constant state of flux

bending and twisting;

creating forms that last for

a millisecond

Cumberland Fair

ISO 400 | f/5 | 1/60

Shallow Depth of Field

 ISO 800 | f/25 | 1/60

Deep Depth of Field

ISO 1600 | f/7.1 | 1/3200

Frozen Motion

ISO 1600 | f/5 | 1/60

Motion Blurred

_______________________________________

 _______________________________________

I jump and feel

as

f r e e

and

w e i g h t l e s s

as a

b  i  r  d

Manual Camera Settings #2

ISO 200 | f/6.3 | 1/160

Shallow Depth of Field

ISO 200 | f/22 | 1/60

Deep Depth of Field

ISO 200 | f/6.3 | 1/250

Motion Frozen

ISO 200 | f/16 | 1/80

Motion Blurred

Manual Camera Settings

ISO 200 | f/5.6 | 1/1,000

Shallow Depth of Field

ISO 200 | f/13 | 1/250

Deep Depth of Field

ISO 200 | f/5.6 | 1/400

Motion Frozen

ISO 200 | f/16 | 1/20

Motion Blurred

Photos of the Week - Vintage/Aged

The timelessness of poise and manners

is beautiful and strong

To hold oneself in a noble manner 

and with a humble attitude is real, raw confidence.

Goals for Semester

My goals for this semester is to experiment more with my creative thoughts and how they are captured and portrayed in my photography. I hope to really understand the manual settings on my DSLR so that when we work with film cameras I know what I'm doing. I'm excited to finally be working in the darkroom. What we've done in it so far has been enjoyable and interesting. By the end of the semester I want to be able to know the chemical mixtures and timing like the back of my hand. I want to increase my knowledge of photography terms and be able to talk about and explain my photography with fluidity.