Pinterest Board of ideas for the rest of the topic to reflect on and catch inspiration from to further expand on my work.
White paper test
The task was to photograph a piece of paper with a white board background and use a flashlight to create interesting shapes and shadows to embody abstraction. I used different colours of light and different angles of taking photos to get interesting angles.
Best 3 - Before editing
Best 3 - After editing
Evaluation
WWW: I managed to create interesting shapes and contours of the shadows to produce a cool silhouette. In photoshop I popped the colours with different hues being pushed and dragging others back to create a harsher contrast of colour. I also succeeded in a compositional aspect using the rule of thirds and leading lines to create a more abstract and appealing picture for the viewer.
EBI: I could've Taken more interesting angles of the shapes and taken them outside of the compositional norms and explored more drastic techniques. Although the composition I implemented worked well i feel it had some to improve on.
WWW: I managed to create interesting shapes and contours of the shadows to produce a cool silhouette. In photoshop I popped the colours with different hues being pushed and dragging others back to create a harsher contrast of colour. I also succeeded in a compositional aspect using the rule of thirds and leading lines to create a more abstract and appealing picture for the viewer.
EBI: I could've Taken more interesting angles of the shapes and taken them outside of the compositional norms and explored more drastic techniques. Although the composition I implemented worked well i feel it had some to improve on.
Brendon Austin
Brendan Austin creates imaginary landscapes out of crumpled pieces of paper. He calls them 'Paper mountains'. Austin examines what we mean by nature and the way humans have impacted upon it. "The isolated desert city running on oil generators, the mars like landscapes of a volcanic environment and the mountains made from paper all attempt to start a conversation concerning the loss of meaning and reality." The resulting images appear both recognisable as landscapes but also suggest a sense of artifice. Humble materials are made to carry an important message.
One of Brendon Austin's projects was creating landscapes with paper. He would use different types with different patterns, transparency's and different light levels and editing techniques to get an abstract finished product.
To set up I had a white background made of card and a white floor panel made out of card to create a backdrop. Once that was set up, I crinkled a piece of thin semi-translucent paper I organised it in different variety's. I had a friend hold a torch at different angles to play with the shadows and to try and get interesting results. When taking the photos I used a camera on a low ISO around 400 and a shutter speed at around 1/50 to avoid motion blur but still get sufficient amount of light through the lens. Once I was happy with the results I uploaded them to photoshop and edited some of them to black and white and changed the exposure and noise reduction to reduce the static on the photo. Then to develop on the pictures on some of them I copied the image behind it and inverted the colours so the whites where black and the blacks where white and then I cut it in an interesting way to expose the inverted layer below.
Evaluation
WWW: I managed to capture the artists ideas and create my own version and adapt to my materials and create a cool replica and progression of the artist.
EBI: It would have been better if I had used a higher variety of materials to elevate the composition of the photos.
WWW: I managed to capture the artists ideas and create my own version and adapt to my materials and create a cool replica and progression of the artist.
EBI: It would have been better if I had used a higher variety of materials to elevate the composition of the photos.
Jaroslav Rössler
Jaroslav Rössler was a Czech avant-garde photographer who became known for combining different styles of modern photography including cubism, futurism, constructivism, new objectivity, and abstraction. His photographs often reduced images to elementary lines and shapes, exploring the contrast of light and shade. He experimented with a wide range of techniques and processes including photograms and double exposures.
The set up was identical to the previous set up. Then to make an fascinating shape I got a hard piece of card and cut it and bent it to create a new wild shape that was abstract as possible. Then I cut a whole in a piece of card and shone a light through the square hole to create a square light to frame the object in to replicate the artist. Once I was happy I began to shoot on similar camera setting to the last as they had an equal amount of light and where similar distances and shots. Piece I was happy I went into photoshop and made them black and white increased the exposure increased the contrast and again increased the noise reduction and the final results are below.
Evaluation
WWW: I adapted my torch and composition to allow a more realistic example of the artists work Moreover, after putting the photos in photoshop it improved them massively by lowering the exposure and the contrast to get a more washed and hazy look. Also lowering the saturation and making it black and white also helped create a higher example of the artists work in my opinion.
EBI: I should have created more structures and explored more compositional angles.
WWW: I adapted my torch and composition to allow a more realistic example of the artists work Moreover, after putting the photos in photoshop it improved them massively by lowering the exposure and the contrast to get a more washed and hazy look. Also lowering the saturation and making it black and white also helped create a higher example of the artists work in my opinion.
EBI: I should have created more structures and explored more compositional angles.
Edward Weston
Edward Weston, a photographer from the 20th century, is considered one of the most innovative and influential American photographers. He was a master of photography, capturing various subjects like landscapes, still-life, nudes, portraits, and genre scenes during his 40-year career.
One of Weston's famous works involves taking close-up pictures of vegetables and fruit. He photographed them in a way that revealed the true "essence" of the objects, removing them from their usual context. Weston played with light to emphasize shape, texture, and form, helping photography establish itself as a legitimate art form independent of painting. Through his skilful manipulation, he turned his subjects into abstract shapes and patterns.
One of Weston's famous works involves taking close-up pictures of vegetables and fruit. He photographed them in a way that revealed the true "essence" of the objects, removing them from their usual context. Weston played with light to emphasize shape, texture, and form, helping photography establish itself as a legitimate art form independent of painting. Through his skilful manipulation, he turned his subjects into abstract shapes and patterns.
Edward Weston worked on his pepper for a week. Finally, he put the pepper in a tin funnel to bring out its contours. Pepper No 30 was one of several peppers that Weston photographed in the series. It is a gelatine silver print dimensions 19.1cm x 24.1cm. One of 60 different versions. F64 did not produce an adequate field of view. Weston created his own aperture equivalent to F240, a pinhole. The soft chiaroscuro < light to dark > effect dramatized the image. It took his so many takes because he had cars driving by which disrupted the exposure causing blur and as a result he would have to start photos again which could sometime be between 4 - 6 hours like the pepper shot.
Attempt 1 : Artificial Lighting
The first task was to use artificial lighting from torches to create abstract shadows on the objects. I brought in a piece of coral from Thai Land and a shell also from there. Moreover, I also took pictures of a mushroom.
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: Overall the shoot was successful in the fact that I managed to capture some shots that mimicked the artist and overall presented what his vision was. Furthermore, I used a macro lens to get extreme detail with a high aperture, exactly how the artist did it - they actually had an extremely small aperture of F240, of course mine wasn't as small but the detail captured was immense. Also I think the way I cropped the photos added mystery and depth the photos.
EBI: On some of the photos I feel the background should have been slightly more plain and not as noticeable as it is on some of the photos.
WWW: Overall the shoot was successful in the fact that I managed to capture some shots that mimicked the artist and overall presented what his vision was. Furthermore, I used a macro lens to get extreme detail with a high aperture, exactly how the artist did it - they actually had an extremely small aperture of F240, of course mine wasn't as small but the detail captured was immense. Also I think the way I cropped the photos added mystery and depth the photos.
EBI: On some of the photos I feel the background should have been slightly more plain and not as noticeable as it is on some of the photos.
Attempt 2 : Natural Lighting
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: I accurately depicted Edward's style with black and white shots of vegetables this time with natural light. I used a macro lens again to get intricate detail that he would get with his long exposure photos. As I was using natural light this shoot I had a chance to get some smoother shadows and a more clean outcome on how the vegetables looked. Also I managed to get rid of the background to help them stand out and the detail to pop out more.
EBI: Overall I think it was a very successful two shoots with very good out comes. One thing to improve on would be to make some of the photos more washed to get the aura similar to his.
WWW: I accurately depicted Edward's style with black and white shots of vegetables this time with natural light. I used a macro lens again to get intricate detail that he would get with his long exposure photos. As I was using natural light this shoot I had a chance to get some smoother shadows and a more clean outcome on how the vegetables looked. Also I managed to get rid of the background to help them stand out and the detail to pop out more.
EBI: Overall I think it was a very successful two shoots with very good out comes. One thing to improve on would be to make some of the photos more washed to get the aura similar to his.
Abstract Comparisons : Body + Nature
Alicja Brodowicz
Alicja Brodowicz was born in Kraków, Poland. Graduate of the Faculty of English Literature at Universiteit Utrecht (the Netherlands). Translator by profession. Graduate of the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic.
Agnieszka Lepka
In her ongoing series titled "Human Vs Nature", Lepka works with the similarites between the human being and Mother nature. Veins are put into relation with Topographic maps, fingerprints resemble a tree trunk and cacti are compared to scrubby beards
My Photographs
Photoshop Explanation
Final Edits
Evaluation
WWW: I think the project was overall very successful in captures the artists' main theme and adapted it to my own way as well. my inspiration was mainly Alicja Brodowicz as inspiration of her black and white comparisons although I also used Agnieszka Lepka photos as inspiration what to take photos of and how to compare nature to the body. another thing I think I did successfully was the photoshop stage and organising the photos similar tov how they did it as well.
EBI: I could have taken more concise photos of the body to help match the nature photos more.
WWW: I think the project was overall very successful in captures the artists' main theme and adapted it to my own way as well. my inspiration was mainly Alicja Brodowicz as inspiration of her black and white comparisons although I also used Agnieszka Lepka photos as inspiration what to take photos of and how to compare nature to the body. another thing I think I did successfully was the photoshop stage and organising the photos similar tov how they did it as well.
EBI: I could have taken more concise photos of the body to help match the nature photos more.
Abstract Portraiture
Bill Jacobson
Bill Jacobson, born in 1955 in Norwich, Connecticut, is a renowned artist recognized for his distinctive out-of-focus photographs capturing both the human figure and landscapes. His notable contributions to the art world have earned him a place in prestigious collections such as the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. In 2012, he was honoured with a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
Jacobson embarked on his artistic journey in 1989, introducing his signature style characterized by indistinct images. Over the years, he has showcased his work in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe. His early creations, known as Interim Portraits, date back to this period and feature ethereal, shadowy figures that poignantly resonate with the collective loss experienced during the peak of the AIDS epidemic. The deliberate blurring of subjects in these works serves to emphasize the challenges of capturing a genuine human likeness in both portraiture and the imperfect nature of memory itself. Jacobson's art stands as a powerful reflection on the complexities of identity, loss, and the ever-elusive quest for truth in the realm of visual representation.
Jacobson embarked on his artistic journey in 1989, introducing his signature style characterized by indistinct images. Over the years, he has showcased his work in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe. His early creations, known as Interim Portraits, date back to this period and feature ethereal, shadowy figures that poignantly resonate with the collective loss experienced during the peak of the AIDS epidemic. The deliberate blurring of subjects in these works serves to emphasize the challenges of capturing a genuine human likeness in both portraiture and the imperfect nature of memory itself. Jacobson's art stands as a powerful reflection on the complexities of identity, loss, and the ever-elusive quest for truth in the realm of visual representation.
The Set Up
This set up included 2 studio lights to explode the features onto the paper. Although the paper was crumpled a little bit i found it added a cool effect to the photos. The paper was held up by 2 stands out of view. A projector was also implemented to add more patterns colours and textures to the photos - although i ended up preferring the black ands white versions.
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: For this shoot I thought it was overall successful exploring all the different patterns to recreate the artists work of a misty feel whilst also adding my own twist on it that I personally preferred.
EBI: I should've made the photos a bit brighter whilst taking them to thus increase the contrast and adapt them more to the artists representation.
WWW: For this shoot I thought it was overall successful exploring all the different patterns to recreate the artists work of a misty feel whilst also adding my own twist on it that I personally preferred.
EBI: I should've made the photos a bit brighter whilst taking them to thus increase the contrast and adapt them more to the artists representation.
Erwin Blumenfeld
Erwin Blumenfeld was a high prestige photographer. Born in 1955 he was known for his prolific portraits of many famous woman and covers of countless Vogue magazines. his work was abstract from other artists and proved to show emotion and character in his portraits. Some of the work I was inspired is below where the image is taken behind a translucent warped piece of glass. To do this I simply held up a pane of glass and took the shot through it, other times I found an already constructed window with the same pattern ideas as previous to get a wider variety of shots.
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: I managed to recreate Erwin Blumenfeld's work with different mediums and compositions. I used different light levels to find a point at which created the mystery of his work but also provided a clear image. Also tried to keep the pictures as abstract as possible to keep them interesting.
EBI: To create a less cropped photo and get more body rather than just portrait to better replicate the artist.
WWW: I managed to recreate Erwin Blumenfeld's work with different mediums and compositions. I used different light levels to find a point at which created the mystery of his work but also provided a clear image. Also tried to keep the pictures as abstract as possible to keep them interesting.
EBI: To create a less cropped photo and get more body rather than just portrait to better replicate the artist.
Johnny Kerr - Ambiguity
Johnny Kerr is a fine art photographer based in the West Valley of Arizona's Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Johnny is self-taught in the craft of photography but entered into his study of the medium with many years of art education and design experience.
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Matthieu Venot
Matthieu Venot left the world of music and being instinctively creative took up photography… at the ripe age of 35.
Matthieu Venot started out with a strong desire to rediscover his town of origin, Brest in Brittany and captures it from his perspective.
Focusing his lens on architectural details and adopting fairly constructivist angles, the artist succeeds in creating abstract geometric images. He only photographs when the weather is incredibly good and thus Matthieu uses the immaculate sky like the background in a studio. This, he maintains, is his way of not disturbing the composition of his pictures : simple and graphic. Lines cross over and overlap. shapes stand out from this blue background and have us forgetting what we are observing : a roof, a wall, a railing, a balcony.
Matthieu Venot started out with a strong desire to rediscover his town of origin, Brest in Brittany and captures it from his perspective.
Focusing his lens on architectural details and adopting fairly constructivist angles, the artist succeeds in creating abstract geometric images. He only photographs when the weather is incredibly good and thus Matthieu uses the immaculate sky like the background in a studio. This, he maintains, is his way of not disturbing the composition of his pictures : simple and graphic. Lines cross over and overlap. shapes stand out from this blue background and have us forgetting what we are observing : a roof, a wall, a railing, a balcony.
Photoshop explanation
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: I thought I very accurately replicated the artists work of creating block shapes of a building to make them oversimplified. I also think leaving the sky the same increased the contrast of simplicity to complexity.
EBI: One thing to improve on would be to have explored in colour a little more and adapted the buildings more wildly.
WWW: I thought I very accurately replicated the artists work of creating block shapes of a building to make them oversimplified. I also think leaving the sky the same increased the contrast of simplicity to complexity.
EBI: One thing to improve on would be to have explored in colour a little more and adapted the buildings more wildly.
Photography Exhibition
To expand my knowledge on the subject and find further inspiration on subsequent projects. In the gallery I looked through Raul Canibano's work which really expanded my ideas on abstract photography playing with different perspectives and interesting photography techniques. Also his lack of of colour leaves an mark of mystery for the viewer and leave them captivated and interested. Canibano will be a heavy influence on my final pieces.
Abstracting The Environment
Saul Leiter
Since he first arrived in New York, Leiter has been documenting street life in black and white, intriguing the eye with his use of obstructions, blurred movement and half-concealed details. In 1992, his work came to the attention of the curator Jane Livingston, who included him in her “New York School”: a group of noteworthy midcentury photographers, including Robert Frank and Diane Arbus, with a film noir vision of the city.
Leiter was also a pioneer of colour photography: He developed a distinctive, dreamy style that played with shallow depths of field and a vibrant palette. Erb argues that these images are closely related to his love of painting. “You can see influences of abstract expressionism in his colour work,”
Leiter was also a pioneer of colour photography: He developed a distinctive, dreamy style that played with shallow depths of field and a vibrant palette. Erb argues that these images are closely related to his love of painting. “You can see influences of abstract expressionism in his colour work,”
Stephen Calcutt
Stephens unique form of street photography is a consequence of frequenting bus stops and shelters around the City of Birmingham. Graffiti can be great art, however he feels the graffiti scratched into the plexiglass windows of the bus stop feels like a violation. He has yet to see any of these etchings that look great in their own right. The graffiti etched and scrawled in the bus stop windows seem to be expressions of frustration, anger, love or hate. However, unlike its cousin the more colourful graffiti that is emblazoned across the walls of buildings and is often seen as art, it is very mundane. He feels a windows full potential as a clear barrier between yourself and the elements are compromised when the view beyond is obscured, distorted and blurred by the scratches. Stephen uses the graffiti etched windows as a lens. he merges the graffiti and the view beyond, focusing his camera on the etched lines putting the view beyond out of focus. The graffiti and view to merge into a single plane. He creates a new perspective that retains and emphasises the energy of the graffiti. Its swirls, zigzags, lines and curves, slash across the
Nick Turpin
On The Night Bus. Originally titled ‘Through a Glass Darkly” this series of London commuters travelling home to the suburbs from the financial district of London, was shot over three winters. Long lenses were used to achieve an intimate portrait of the cities workers returning home, capturing them in a kind of no mans land between work and home where they are, perhaps for a brief period, themselves. The series was published in November 2017 by Hoxton Mini Press and exhibited at The Museum of London.
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Evaluation
WWW: For the first shoot I thought it went really well and resembled some of the artists inspired. I tried to find natural frames in London to compose my photos. After I finished my shoot I edited the photos in photoshop and added some tints to further resemble the artists' work.
EBI: I should have tried to get more interesting photos in the style of Stephen Calcutt.
WWW: For the first shoot I thought it went really well and resembled some of the artists inspired. I tried to find natural frames in London to compose my photos. After I finished my shoot I edited the photos in photoshop and added some tints to further resemble the artists' work.
EBI: I should have tried to get more interesting photos in the style of Stephen Calcutt.
Strand One
Bill Jacobson
My Photographs
Edited Photos
I thought of continuing this project however I decided to leave the project as I was struggling to build on the ideas and I felt restrained by the motif of the artist and the style, as a result i moved on to a new artist. However I will still use the skills gained through this project and the compositional skills I gained.
Strand Two
Development One
Saul Leiter + Nick Turpin
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Photoshop Explanation
Evaluation
W: I think for my second response I worked on my problems from the previous shoot and had a much better outcome. Also I photoshopped my work better to further fit the artists' work and overall vibe they were going for.
EBI: One thing to work on would be when taking some of the photos I need to adjust my camera settings to not rely on photoshop to fix my problems.
W: I think for my second response I worked on my problems from the previous shoot and had a much better outcome. Also I photoshopped my work better to further fit the artists' work and overall vibe they were going for.
EBI: One thing to work on would be when taking some of the photos I need to adjust my camera settings to not rely on photoshop to fix my problems.
Development Two
Francesca Woodman
My Photographs
Edited Photos
Development Three
Saul Leiter + Francesca Woodman
On this shoot I used; a tripod to secure the camera and avoid any unnecessary shake as I was dealing with a slow shutter speed. The parameters of the shoot and the camera settings included a high F stop of F22 and an extremely low ISO of 100.
Evaluation
WWW: This shoot was extremely successful and expended my expectations on how the pieces would turn out. I thought on a compositional aspect lots of the photos worked very well using natural frames and the rule of thirds and leading lines to produce high quality images.
EBI: One thing to improve on in future shoots would be to decrease the blow out on some of the images as some of them were far to bright and thus unsuable.
WWW: This shoot was extremely successful and expended my expectations on how the pieces would turn out. I thought on a compositional aspect lots of the photos worked very well using natural frames and the rule of thirds and leading lines to produce high quality images.
EBI: One thing to improve on in future shoots would be to decrease the blow out on some of the images as some of them were far to bright and thus unsuable.