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WEEK 11:

These are the new photographs I took to receive feedback on for week 11. I have not decided which photographs I am going to use for my final as I can only use up to eight and I want to include photos from both moods. My classmates enjoyed how these photographs were taken at different depths, some close up and some further away. As I said before, my classmates also recommended I  think of a new title because body talk implies that the full body will be shown, however I think that body talk is vague enough where it could mean just parts of the body like the eyes, hands, mouth etc. For now, I will need to focus on which photographs I want to include in my final series and how I want to sequence them.

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Week 11: Feedback and Responses

1. How has the feedback that you received in week 8 from peers and tutor influenced your choices?

From week 8, I was advised to take more photographs to try and include different moods. I chose to use the same model because when I tried using a different subject I thought that it felt like the model didn’t fit in with the rest of the series. I wanted to try to take photographs of the model using his body language to give off a happier, lighter mood, which I think I was successfully able to do. I still focused on the human senses taking close ups of the mouth and eyes. After showing the class what I came up with, their feedback was very positive, as they liked how the photos still looked like they belonged in the same series, but gave off a different, happier vibe. 

2. Ideas you might have had by looking at other people’s work (during first brainstorming session, and/or by looking at their blogs);

I didn’t really have any ideas form by looking at other people’s work because nobody had decided to take portraits for their photographic series. I also was the only one who decided to use black and white to color my photographs.

3. Now show us a selection of images that you have created so far for the final project, and explain what story you want your images to tell. That is:

a. What is your photographic series of?

Photographs of different body parts of a subject.

b. What is your photographic series about?

Capturing different mood/emotions through different parts of the body; having the body parts tell a story or give off a feeling.

5. What sequencing are you are considering? Or, if you think that sequencing is not relevant to your series, why is sequencing not important?

I think that sequencing is important for my photographic series. I tried to sequence the photographs first by body part, meaning all the eyes together or mouths together regardless of the mood I was trying to portray but decided it looked to repetitive. I then decided to separate the photos based on the mood, starting with the more serious/sad mood and work into the lighter/happier mood. But, I still need to work on the final order because I have more than 6-8 photographs to chose from.

6. The text that will accompany your photographic series:

a. Are you considering giving a title to your series? What title?

Yes, Body Talk. But after the feedback I received I feel like I should re-evaluate the title because my images don’t include the whole body.  

b. Are you considering using captions? What will your captions include/exclude?

No, as I said before I want my captions to put words or ideas into the viewers mind, I want their thoughts to be raw and real.

c. How do you think that title/caption (or lack of) will contribute to telling the story you want to tell?

I think the title will give a sense of what my photo series is about, but by not giving the photographs captions it will give the viewers the ability to interpret the photographs in their own terms.

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WEEK 10: 

Photograph of Me, Taken by a Stranger: 

When at Piazzale Micelangelo, I figured it is such a tourist attraction, why not ask someone there to take my picture, as it would seem almost normal. I also figured because it was so normal to get your picture taken there, I would not have to explain my photo assignment to the stranger and as to why I was asking them to take my photograph. The interaction with the stranger was very brief. I asked a woman sitting a row of stairs above me if she minded taking my photograph. I then handed the woman who was probably a little older than I am my iPhone and she captured the photograph above. I did feel a little uncomfortable posing for the photograph, which I think is why I did not smile with my teeth. Usually, when I have a photograph taken of me it is by someone I know, like a friend or family member, and if I do have a stranger take my photograph it is a group photograph of for example my friends and me. I did enjoy how when I asked her to take my photograph, it was almost like second nature for her to say yes. I realized that when someone asked me to take their picture I always say yes, because it is “the right thing to do”. I also enjoyed how the stranger captured the photograph to include me and the background of Florence. 

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WEEK 10: 

Photograph of a Stranger:

While at dinner in Florence, I came across a man who looked around my age sitting at the table across from me. I figured it would be less awkward to approach someone who was around my age because they would be more willing to participate in my photo assignment if we could potentially relate to each other. Also, from overhearing his conversation with his friends I could tell he spoke English which obviously would be useful in trying to explain to him what I was doing. I said excuse me and tapped him on his shoulder, and explained to him what I had to do for my photography class at home. At first, he seemed sort of skeptical probably wondering if I had alternative reasoning for taking his photograph. He kept asking me how he should pose or what he should do, as you can tell in the first image I photographed to the right he seems almost a fake stressed. I told him to be himself, which is when I captured the second image. During the process of taking the photograph, I was worried I was getting too close to the subject and didn’t want to freak him out. I was also a little nervous the subject would be nervous I was using my iPhone and not a legitimate camera and I had alternative plans for using the picture. Luckily, my subject seemed to be somewhat comfortable with me and okay with the idea of having his photograph taken. In editing the photograph, I decided to crop the image because I wanted the image to be just a portrait of his face. I also decided to make the photograph black and white because I didn’t want the use of color to take away from his strong emotion and the mood of the photograph. I liked this assignment because it helped me get to know a stranger and their personality in such a short amount of time. 

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WEEK 10:

Title of Exhibition: The Photographer’s Gallery 

Name of Photographers on Show: Roger Mayne and Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2017

Style and Theme: All of Roger Mayne’s photographers were in black and white. I found majority of his photographs to include people as the subject. His photographs seemed to mostly be of everyday life, from children playing on the streets, riding their bikes around town or walking home from the store. His capturing of realistic events, happening in the moment was used to give an accurate description and representation of how the subjects were feeling at the exact time the photograph was taken. 

Name of Photographer: Roger Mayne 

Title of Photograph: Teenage Night, Parkhill

Year Photograph Taken: 1961

Photographic Attribute: The first thing that caught my eye in this photograph was the blurry girl who seemed to be dancing her way across the photograph. Obviously, the main subject, or the girl in the center of this photograph gives a sense of left to right movement. You can tell she is spinning from the left side to the right as her right shoulder is slightly positioned towards the camera and her left shoulder is very so slightly positioned to the back of the room. I love how her movement is contrasted with the still figures in the back, as it makes the girl stand out even more. I also enjoy the lines in the hardwood floor. I think that fact they are vertical helps draw the viewers eye back to the foreground of the spinning girl, even after looking at the middle ground of the other girls and the  background of the other photographs hung on the wall. The use of vertical lines in the floor also contrasts with the horizontal positioning of the girls lined up. Further, I contemplated what it would be like if Mayne used color instead of black and white in his photograph and what difference it would make. I think that the use of color would create a lot of chaos to the eye in this photograph. I think the use of black and white is helpful in creating layers and not distracting the eye in looking other places. I think the use of black and white almost guides the eyes from first looking at the foreground, to the middle ground and then finally the background of the photograph. 

Meaning: The concrete meaning of this photograph is a girl spinning her way across the dance floor while the other girls either stand and watch or talk to each other. I think the abstract meaning of the photograph is a girl trying to stand out and let loose. Instead of being like the rest, the girl in the center of the photograph dances as a way to express herself and her feelings, not caring what her bystanders think. 

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WEEK 9:

Title of Exhibition: Behind the Mask, Another Mask @ National Portrait Gallery 

Name of Photographers on Show: Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun 

Style and Theme: From the few photographs I saw of Claude Cahun, I came to the conclusion the style of her photographs are very honest. I think that the goal she has is to best capture the personality of whoever she is taking a photograph of. Her portraits are however somewhat abstract or abnormal in the way they are not what I would think to be traditional ‘portraits’ in which a photographer just takes a headshot of their model. I think Cahun really wanted her portraits to have meaning. 

Name of Photographer: Claude Cahun 

Title of Photograph: Portrait: With Nazi Badge Between Teeth

Year Photograph Taken: 1945

Photographic Attribute: The first thing I noticed when looking at this photograph is the object in the model’s mouth. I was very drawn to her face and the expression on it. Her expression is very sardonic, as it almost feels she is mocking the viewer. Her posture is very upright, with her hands in her pockets and makes her seem powerful, she is also blocking the door which helps enhance the feeling of power. I almost get the feeling she wants the viewer to think “I don’t want to mess with her.” I think the lighting of this photograph helps emphasize her posture to give that feeling. However, the lighting also leads the eye first to her face, and then almost creates a path for the eye down her body to the bottom of the photograph. 

Meaning: The concrete meaning of this photograph is a woman standing holding a Nazi badge in her teeth. The abstract meaning is a strong, independent woman telling those she is not one to be messed with. 

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WEEK 9:

Recreation of Anush Abrar’s Kofi Annan Portrait:

I found the most difficult part of this recreation to be compositionally making the photographs similar. It was somewhat difficult to get the right lighting. At first, I tried what Abrar did by taking the portrait using a flash, however it did not turn out as I wanted most likely because I was using an iPhone. I then had someone hold a light over the head of my model and took the photograph without the flash. I think the light source in my recreation looks very similar to Abrar’s. The only difference is the chin area has more of a shadow to it. I couldn’t put the light directly on my model’s face, because it was washing out the rest of the photograph, which is why I chose to put it up from above. I think the details are very similar in the fact you can see a lot of the facial markings. It was easy making the photographs similar by using black and white and getting similar contrasts in both. I really wanted to capture similar moods in both photographs which was for the most part easy. I think both photographs give off a strong feeling to the viewer. 

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WEEK 9: Photographic Portrait Analysis Sheet:

1. The Composition of the Image:

There is a strong central light source in this portrait that really illuminates the face and makes it the focal point of the picture. There is also a use of black and white, which compositionally makes the photograph more appealing and makes the details of the model’s face, including wrinkles and freckles more apparent. The black and white also helps emphasize the light source because the black is so black and the white is so light that the contrast is very strong and almost crisp.  

2. The Use of Light:

From reading the description about the picture, I know that the photographer used a flash for the light source in this portrait. However, the light is so centered on the model’s face, that I would assume the photo was taken straight on. 

3. The Pose/Body Posture of the Sitter:

The posture of the model is very straight and upright, as his shoulders are back. However, his posture is almost contrasted by the way his head is positioned. His chin is down and his eyes are closed and almost looking towards the ground. 

4. What is in the Background, Middle Ground, Foreground?:

There isn’t much to this photograph besides a very dark black background and the model as the foreground. There is a lot of depth to the photograph, but I think that has more to do with the lighting, not necessarily layers. 

5. What is the Mood of the Photograph? What Creates this Mood?:

I would argue the mood of this photograph to be strong and powerful. I think the photographer wanted to capture the personality of the model. I also feel like there is force in this photograph. From reading the blurb about the photograph, I know the model didn’t want to close his eyes. It feels almost like forced relaxation. For a powerful man, it’s hard to have time to relax and shut your eyes. 

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Photographic Series Assignment: Individual Write-Up:

Niki Boon grew up in a rural part of New Zealand. When asked how she would describe her childhood, she responded with the three following words: barefoot, wild and free. After having her four children, Niki Boon decided she wanted to raise them by recreating her carefree childhood. Boon does so by having them grow up with limited access to technology, meaning their house does not have a television or computer. She urges her children to spend as much time outdoors, reading, exploring and being curious.

To show others how she raises her children visually, Niki Boon created a photographic series titled: Discovery. Her photographic series can be found on her blog. In the past two years, Niki Boon started gaining a lot of public attention. She has won many awards including the International Photography Award (IPA) in 2016 and was a finalist in New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year. Niki Boon has also been interviewed and featured in many magazines including ABC News and the Huffington Post.

As said before, Niki Boon titled her photographic series Discovery. The general theme of the photographs is a close up viewing of children holding different objects they have found in nature. In each picture, the hands of her children are present, and usually centered. Because the pictures are all so thematically similar, there isn’t really any important sequence of the photographs. Lastly, the only text present in the photographic series is a quote from Niki Boon reading as follows: “My children’s learning of choice is full immersion...in nature this means absorbing fully in their environment. Touching and feeling everything they can, out here in nature this is not only allowed but encouraged.” I think this text helps the viewer understand her composition and purpose of taking these photos in the manner she did. With that being said, in each of her photos, the main focus is always the object that is being discovered, but as I said before, the object is visibly being held by the child. We discover using our hands, which is why I believe Niki Boon chose to make her children’s hands so prominent in the photos. I think it’s also important to discuss the fact that Niki Boon made all of her photographs black and white. In each photo in the series, the object being held is the first thing that catches the attention of the viewer and I think it is the contrast between the black and white that help to do so.

For example, in the photograph I decided to look at, the girl is holding two eggs in her hand. The eggs are captured in such a way where the white color is so prominent. I think what makes the white in the eggs stand out so much, is the dark shadows behind the eggs which almost create an outline of the shell because the field of depth is so strong. Also what I found to be interesting about this photograph is how the arms of the girl creates almost an arrow shape, which ends up pointing directly at the subject of the photograph, the eggs. I also found there to be strong repetition within the photograph of white circles in the girl’s dress, which almost replicate the shape and color of the egg. I think the repetition makes the photograph not only more visibly pleasing, but again, help guide the viewer’s eyes to the eggs. Lastly, I think it is important to note the field of depth. The foreground of this picture, as well as majority of Niki Boon’s photographs in the series, is very sharp and crisp in which details can be easily seen. However, the background of the photograph is very blurred and dark. Clearly, Niki Boon chose to compose her photographs in this manner to keep the viewer’s eyes on what is important or, the subject of the photograph.

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WEEK 8:

Recreation--What Photo Is Of:

Randomly, on a walk home I came across these two statues facing each other and it reminded me exactly of the photo I chose by Lorenzo Castore. The fact that I was recreating what the photo is of, and finding statues that I found to be very similar made the recreation process easy. However, due to the lighting of the photo, it is different than the original. Because of the lighting, it is harder to see the reflection of the glass in the picture. The composition is also different, as the face of the statue is not blurred or does not give off a sense of movement.. However, I also enjoy how the face almost looks like it’s melting, so even though the reflection isn’t present there is still a sense of movement in the photograph. I do however think the mood of this photograph is similar to the original, in the fact the statue seems to have a blank expression, which in return creates a darker mood. Overall, I think this photo recreates the concrete subject of Lorenzo Castore’s original photograph. 

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WEEK 8:

Photographer: Lorenzo Castore

Series: PRESENT TENSE 2011-2015

Composition: When I first saw this picture, my attention was immediately drawn to the blurred reflection of a female face. Because it a reflection, my eyes wandered to the right to determine what or whom the reflection was coming from. The way the reflection is blurred, almost creates a sense of movement, for example the subject’s neck seems to start in two places, as well as the ear; a layered effect. The actual face of the subject creates a sense of contrast, because instead of being blurred like the reflection, the face is very sharp and detailed, for example you can see the slight wrinkles on her forehead, and the freckles on her face.

Use of Light: I think the use of light is important in this photograph, because without a strong light source the reflection of the subject would not be as visible in the window. The light also contrasts with the dark, making the separation between the actual subject and the reflection distinct and distanced. 

Mood of Photograph: I think the black and white color choice as well as the expression of the subject creates a dark mood. Even though majority of the photograph is light, the expression of the female is overwhelmingly sad. Her eyes are looking downwards and well as her mouth can be observed to be frowning.  It is also worth nothing the fact you can see majority of the subjects face in the reflection, however only half the face of the actual subject. Being able to see most of her face allows the viewer to make a more concrete judgment on how the subject is actually feeling. 

What is the Photograph Of: An unhappy female reflected on a window. 

What is the Photograph About: A female who is unhappy with herself looking within herself for a sign or underlying meaning. Maybe she is looking for an answer as to why she is feeling the way she is, or who she is supposed to be. 

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WEEK 5:

Cropped Photograph:

What the photograph is of: the smile of my sister. 

What the photograph is about: I wanted to show that even through a cropped portrait of my sister, her smile is so prominent in the photograph the top half isn’t needed.

Captions:

1). Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Obviously because I know my sister, I know she is a happy person, but by choosing a caption like Fake It ‘Til You Make It, the audience may assume based on the title, the girl in the photograph isn’t sincerely happy, and is instead just smiling for the camera. A viewer may have trouble figuring out the feelings of the girl in the photograph because the look in someones eyes can reveal a lot about how one is actually feeling. The title of this photograph could change the perception of the viewer.  

2). Sweet Serendipity: Serendipity as defined by the Oxford Dictionary means: “the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way”. As a viewer, you have no background or underlying understanding as to why the girl in the photograph is smiling. But, with the caption, a viewer could assume the girl is smiling because something good or lucky just happened to her, and her expression is her way of showing it.  

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WEEK 5:

Original Photograph

What is this photo of: this photograph is a portrait taken of my sister. 

What is this photo about: when taking this photograph, I wanted to capture subtly capture my sisters strong personality.  

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WEEK 5:

Title of Exhibition: Wolfgang Tillmans @ Tate Modern

Name of Photographer on Show: Wolfgang Tillman

Style and Theme: Because there were so many rooms filled with photographs, I had a hard time distinguishing a central theme present in Wolfgang Tillmans photography. I did notice in many of his photographs, the style was somewhat abstract and most photographs contained color and a central focal point.  

Name of Photographer: Wolfgang Tilman

Title of Photograph: Conor Plant, Dusk 

Year Photograph Taken: 2011

Photographic Attribute: I really love this photo, because unlike a lot of the photographs I have written about with a contrast in color, Wolfgang Tillman uses a contrast of focused and unfocused in this photo. To me, the central focal point of this photograph is the plant. To make the plant and the sharp and crisp foliage of the plant stand out more, Tillman contrasts the plant with an unfocused and blurry window as the background. I also like how Tillman uses his light source in this photograph. To make the bristles on the plant more apparent, the lightest part of the photograph is directly behind the plant, which helps draw the audience to look there first, especially because the plant itself is so dark.  

Meaning: The concrete meaning of this photograph can be determined by the title of the photograph, a plant at dusk. However, because this photograph is somewhat abstract itself, its harder to determine what Wolfgang Tillman wanted his audience to get from the photograph. I think the upward growth of the plant is present in this photograph, especially the long branches that continue up towards the top of the window, even passed the blurred portion of the window with the light. To me, this photograph could symbolize growth. 

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WEEK 4:

Photographic Series: Ugly Pictures of Something Beautiful 

Explanation: When I was in Dublin, Ireland over the weekend I noticed how prominent graffiti was. I thought it was absolutely amazing and beautiful how graffiti just covered the city. Some of the graffiti I found, pictured above, I found to be very inspirational and to the words to be arranged beautifully. I wanted to contrast the beautiful artistic words with body language that was ugly and hateful. In my photographs, the people are either looking or displaying ugly body language, for example the “blood” gang sign, to signify violence and crime, which to me is ugly. I did not sequence the photos in any specific way, because I feel as though the theme is strong enough where each photo can stand on its own.  Overall, I find the photographic series to demonstrate a strong sense of contradiction between ugly and beautiful. 

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WEEK 4:

Title of Exhibition: Beetles and Huxley Gallery 

Name of Photographer on Show: Joel Sternfeld 

Style and Theme: Pictures taken throughout the United States representing the number of different issues present in society. Use of color is seen to be very important in this photographic series. 

Name of Photographer: Joel Sternfeld 

Title of Photograph: Portage Glacier, Alaska 

Year Photograph Taken: August 1984

Photographic Attribute: When I first look at this photograph my eyes are immediately drawn to the long white car, which is somewhat off-centered in the photograph. I think the contrasting dark and light colors make the car more prominent, as behind the car is a very dark mountain, or glacier which makes the white of the car pop. I find this photograph can be divided into four horizontal sections of a pattern of light, dark, light, dark; meaning the top of the photograph is a light colored sky, the glaciers of the photograph are then darker in color. Next, the water, car, and snow are prominently light, contrasted with the last section of a dark gray road. The contrast of light and dark throughout the picture makes the photograph more visually appealing. I also think my eyes were drawn to the car because the light source in the right hand corner of the photograph lead your eyes to the car because that’s what the light is hitting, and you can tell because of the shadow that is created from the car. 

Meaning: I am not exactly sure the underlying meaning of this photograph. I have trouble with landscapes and trying to figure out what the photographer wanted to abstractly make the audience see. Concretely, I see a car parked with a beautiful scenic background. Abstractly, I see a person sitting in a nice car, but in the grand scheme of things, the car is so minor compared to the giant glaciers behind it. To me, this photograph is trying to demonstrate, that a car is just a minor thing in life, but there are things in the world that are so much bigger and more important.

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WEEK 4:

Reading A Photographic Series Activity:

First Impression: When I first flipped through the photo book, I noticed a lot of landscapes and sunsets at the beach. Even if the photograph wasn’t literally of the outdoors, for example, if the photograph was an interior of a room, there was always a window in which you could see the outdoors. I also noticed there were lots of bright colors and different sources of lights. 

Themes: The images all have in common a subject matter of outdoor landscapes, mostly beaches. The technical themes include lines. Each photograph had very structured and sharp lines; mostly horizontal. Another theme I noticed was most of the photographs had a strong source of light and was usually contrasted with a dark shadow. Furthermore, there was a common theme of use of color; light and dark. The dark colors were used to make the light colors pop and become more attractive to the viewer’s eye. 

Text: In my opinion, I didn’t find the text of the photographs to be very influential to the meaning. There were captions on the left hand page of each photograph included the location of where in the Cape the photograph was taken. However, there was text in the beginning of the photo-book that helped explain the photographer’s use of techniques and background which I found to be helpful in determining why he made the choices he did. 

Sequencing: There was no formal sequencing to the photo-book. The photographer himself did not even create/publish the book, meaning someone else from the exhibit where the photos were displayed chose the order for him.

Last Impressions and Self Assessment:  I feel like my impressions stayed the same after this worksheet, only because the majority of these photos were landscapes and did not have much underlying meaning. It was interesting to read the beginning of the book and find out he was interested in lighting and colors, because when looking through the photographs it was easier to determine why he did what he did when taking the photo.