Research Log

This image looks like a reflection in broken glass or jewellery. I like the way the reflection is repeated several times, but it shows the different elements of the image. I chose this photo as it links to my idea of using the reflection in a broken CD so that my image is fragmented. The image itself could connote that this woman's life is shattered. As you can see some of the reflections show her with her eyes closed which could suggest she is crying or turning a blind eye to her issues.



What we can see from the image is a kiwi against a pink background with glasses of water positioned purposefully in front of them. I think that the water was placed in front of the kiwi to create the illusion of there being more slices of kiwi than are actually there. I feel like this has a strong link to my response as I am looking to do something similar with the manipulation of material objects. The simplicity of the image makes it more effective as there are not too many elements to the image so it doesn't become over whelming. I will not be manipulating food and the structure of food but I will bear in mind the way the glass of water is used to bend and distort the light and image. This image could connote how people are greedy and ask for more than they can actually have.



This is a fashion photography image which shows a man with a mirror in front of his face so that we can only see the shoes. I feel like this is making a comment on how it doesn't matter who is wearing the shoes the identity isn't important. The simplicity of the image is similar to the image above it and is a way that I am going to approach the exam. I like having the physical aspect of the mirror instead of photoshopping or editing in a reflection to make it seem as if there is a mirror there. The image I find is rather intriguing and I hope to produce something along the same lines as is seen here.

Image Bank

Shoot 1 Work Record

SHOOT 1

Framing devices using material possessions, for technique I will be fragmenting my images and superimposing one image on top of another. Shoot date, 12/02/18.

CONTACT SHEET 

EVALUATION

 I went out to shoot with the intention of experimenting in the style of Saul Leiter. The first images I took where of the reflections of cars driving past in the dirty bus shelter window. I liked the way the grime masked the image of focus and makes you study the photo. 

 

If were to change anything about the images it would be to reduce the effect of the dirt on the image as I feel like at times it can be too much and takes away from what I'm trying to achieve in taking the pictures. The images on my contact sheet marked in red are the image ideas I wish to take forward. The reason why I have not included any of the bus shelter images is because I believe I have stronger ideas to take forward. However, the idea of using physical elements to manipulated and mask my images appeals to me and so I may revisit this in the future. 

These images where taken in the reflection of my phone. These were again done in response to Leiter's work, I like the way he uses negative space and has the minority of his images in focus. As seen above, I've tried to replicate the style of having most of the background unsharp and out of focus so that not only does it add an interesting dimension it helps draw focus to the main image. The first image is an example of a photo that I'm not that happy with. This was one of the first images I took and so I had not quite got a handle on the camera settings I should have been using for the location I was shooting in. Because my shutter speed was too high it captured the movement I didn't want to see and so it made the whole image look out of focus, where only the background being out of focus was intentional. 

This is one of the ideas I will to take forward, instead of just showing reflections of whats in front go the mirrored object, I will look to incorporate portraiture and self-portraiture. 

 This first image is my experimentation with different materials to develop on my research from Saul Leiter. Here I have tried to encapsulate landscape within a CD, in future I will look to do portraiture but the message was to show that inspiration and, more specifically in the case of this image, musical inspiration can come from anywhere. I will look to use empty CD cases as well to frame my images, to give the impression that the image behind the case is in fact the album art. For more of a physical representation I may even shattered CD's and records and fragment my images accordingly to fit.

Here I would look to use what is already on the landscape to frame my images. So instead of using objects, like the CD, to manipulate the framing of my images I will use the lines and shapes provided by natural as well as unnatural landscapes. 

PROGRESSION

All the images I have displayed could benefit from editing within photoshop whether it be sharpening my image to make the contrast between the foreground and background greater, or changing the levels to increase or decrease the exposure of an image. The images shot in the reflection of my phone where shot without a tripod. On my next shoot I will be using a tripod to increase my image stability which will help reduce the movement in my images. As well as this I will look to use composite image making when constructing my improved images in photoshop. This style preference has been inspired by the work of the DADA movement and so I wish to experiment down the abstract route. 

EDIT 1

EDIT 2

EDIT 3

EDIT 4

Discussion of Exam Paper

FRAMING DEVICES
For my exam piece I have chosen to take forward the idea produced from my Framing Devices blog post. I would look to produce a set of work around the idea of using material possessions to frame my images.
ARTIST RESEARCH 
The first artist that has influenced my work is Saul Leiter. Leiter was an American photographer and painter whose early work across the 40s and 50s contributed to what is now known as the New York School of Photography.

It is only recently that he has been credited with being a pioneer of colour photography in the postwar era. Despite bing interested in photography it was only after he met abstract expressionist artist, Richard Pousette-Dart that Leiter expanded his interest in photography. 

Leiter's work has peaked my interested in the way he uses composition and framing his images. Using material possessions and any angle he can find to create an intriguing frame around his work. The image on the left is just one example. The way the out of focus curtain is used as a framing device really works, it helps draw more attention to the sharper images  within the photo as well as adding another dimension to the photo. This would be an aspect I try to add to my own work as having the object in the foreground out of focus makes for a more interesting image to look at.


















The image on the right is another good example of how Leiter has taken a risk in framing his image. Most of the photo is covered by darkness and there is the slightest crack for light, where the scenario can be seen. This puts the audience in a position where they cannot really make out what they are supposed to be looking at.  This is something that has rarely been seen in photography but would be something I would like to replicate and take further as an Idea. It is quite ironic for a pioneer in colour photography to cover most of his image in darkness and shows the levels of risk and experimentation I hope to bring through in my own work.

















From Leiter I will take the unique style in which he frames his images, as well s trying to create the abstract atmosphere.  As well as shooting in colour Leiter produced images in black and white and so I will make sure I am shooting using the different mediums as well.

IMAGE BANK

Mind Map Framing Devices

When I saw this exam title I thought it was quite a loose topic and so it was open to a number of interpretations. I opted for listing quite obvious ideas such as, picture frames, windows and door frames as well as thinking outside the box in terms of my image composition, maybe using a collage or breaking up one image into several segments (making it look like broken glass). I will try and follow the broken image and CDs/ Records ideas. I may even merge the two ideas together as I quite like the thought of using material possessions to frame my images. The idea would be to have a CD or Record of a band and have people framed in them dressed in the stereotypical way for a follower of that genre of music.

Mind Map Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition again is quite an open title, when brainstorming my ideas I was thinking composite image making as juxtaposition can be things in places they don't belong as well as, polar opposites. I would like to take the ideas of culture appropriation and social class forward as they are thing with in society which are displayed as natural. I would produce them in a documentary style and try to make social comments on our 'multicultural' society. For example how we may have a mix of ethnicities as a nation, but local homogeneity and little integration in these 'Cosmopolitan areas'.