Composite Image Making Straight Images

  I made this image by combining two images together using Photoshop. I took some pictures of cards in the studio and placed it on a background of London. I think that the idea of playing cards and London as a destination work well together because cards may firstly be classed as more of a British game. I like how the cards look life sized and one even looks bigger than the surrounding people. I used Photoshop to crop an edge of the card so it looks like it was sticking out of the ground. I like this image because the cards look solid and large in size (even though we are aware the they are actually flimsy and smaller than our hand in real life). I could possibly try converting this into black and white  in Photoshop. 

Connecting Essay 4

Faye Godwin



  I chose this piece of work produced by Godwin because it is similar to my focus when looking at landscape photography. She loved to photograph pictures of natural land areas such as fields, forests and so on. I took a similar focus when looking at landscapes because I enjoy finding new areas which I can photograph. It opens up many windows rather than just photographing similar things such as buildings (they all look similar and therefore it would get boring). I like how she has found a spot whereby the pathway which is created by the separation of the trees is broke up by a fallen tree which curls round. She has shown how nature is unpredictable. Furthermore, by photographing static objects such as buildings, the shape/ presentation of them never changes where as, a photographer could walk through a forest and find several spots to take images which would all differ from each other.



 The image pictured to the right is one which I took when searching for interesting places to photograph which involved the presentation of natural land. I used Photoshop to switch the image into black and white to further represent similarities between mine and Godwin's work. This image is similar to the one shown above because I have captured a similar walk way whereby the trees lead into a pathway. I took a similar approach to that of the photographer by taking landscapes of groups of trees rather than individual ones. I also did not photograph the whole tree, mainly just the bodies of them as did Faye Godwin. I like this image because it has a mysterious feel to it because our eyes are lead towards the end of the 'pathway' created by the positioned trees which makes us want to devour deeper into the forest.

Connecting Essay 3

Imogen Cunningham

   I chose this image taken by Cunningham because she has taken a photograph of flower, which is an object popularly photographed due to it's representation of life and growth and she has added strong contrasting tones to highlight the form of flowers. I think that flowers are an interesting object to photograph within form photography because there are so many varieties and therefore they all hold different forms. For example, here each of the three flowers holds a different form because this is the way that they have naturally grown. Imogen has consciously presented the flowers in the light of such contrasting tones (bright whites and dark greys etc) to hide areas which were not important. I think that she is trying to encourage viewers to look at the smooth and unique form that the flowers hold rather than the details such as the colour of them or the details on the petals because we rarely acknowledge the natural shape each flower has and instead, we look at if it 'looks pretty'. The flowers all smooth and spiral shaped. I think that the close compact of the flowers create an all round more interesting effect than if we were looking at just a single flower. The dark background makes the white flowers stand out more.


   I chose this image from my selection of form/shape images to present the similarities between our work. Although the flowers in my image are a small amount brighter, it is easy to see the similarity between the extreme contrasted tones in each image. I also like this image of mine because the other flowers in the background are blurred, similar to Cunningham's work where the flowers further towards the back are less visible. You therefore focus on one or two individual flowers rather than a whole bunch (which we may be used to seeing more rather than singular flowers). Again, the dark background makes the flowers in the foreground stand out better due to the extreme contrast.

Composite Image Making Work Diary

Planning

Evaluation

   
  Here I took two images: one a playing card which was photographed against a plain background in the studio and another which is a landscape which I took in London which we can see the London Eye presented in. I wanted to put these images together because I think it would create an interesting look. Using playing cards to play games at family parties for example, Christmas could be perceived as a British activity. This is why I liked the idea of merging these two specific images together because London is a popular place which is well known. I thought that the image of the London eye which I had taken held a good amount of space to place the picture of the playing cards in there. I liked the fact that there were people in the landscape because it makes the picture more abstract.





Progression



   To create this image I used Photoshop to  combine the two images together. First, I had to rotate the images of the cards and crop an edge off because I wanted it to seem as if the cards were stuck into the floor. I then copied and pasted the images of the cards onto the background of London. I made the cards fairly large because I wanted it to look as if they were as big/ bigger than the people standing in the landscape. I like this image because the cards look solid and stuck into the ground which I feel, makes people look twice to question if they are supposed to be there. Also, I like this image because it almost reminds me of a fantasy lifestyle.


Evaluation


   Pictured here is two images which I took to complete the following image: one of a bouncy ball which is alumnus yellow with black spots and another of a grain station. I thought that these two images would work well together because the image of the train station is dark and consists of muted colours where as the bouncy ball is a saturated yellow colour. Furthermore, I thought that these would contrast and create a good composite image. The train station is quite empty in this case and therefore I thought that it would be a good opportunity to work with this image.

Progression

  Here I used Photoshop to create this composite image. I used the quick selection tool on Photoshop to cut out the object which I wanted to place onto the background. I then copied and pasted it onto the image of the train station. I arranged several copies on the bouncy ball in a way that looks like they are falling and bouncing around the image. I really like the final image because the two corresponding images contrast against each other. To progress this image further, I could try out different backgrounds and create some variations of this image.

Progression

    I think that I could progress this image by exploring different objects rather than the ones previously used - possibly more unique and abstract objects and place them on more unusual backgrounds to really create a set of images which show my full potential within this project.

Connecting Essay 2

Ansel Adams

  This is a photograph taken and manipulated by Ansel Adams. His photographs of picturesque landscapes all contain a large range of tones. However, I chose this image because I like how the sky is filled with dark tones because I feel as if it creates a mysterious effect. I also like how the reflection of the sky on the water looks as if the picture has just been flipped and repeated because of the extremely clear reflection. It is hard to see the land in the distance because of the heavily overcast sky which makes the image more interesting. I like how the bright white tones in the sky are contrasted with one half of the sky which is heavily contrasted. I think Adams wanted to focus on landscapes when incorporating tones because in my opinion, they have a lot of potential to present a range of tones due to the natural contrasts within the environment. For example white snow laying upon a dark grey rocky mountain etc.



   I chose this image from my selection of work for tone photography because I think that the two images are fairly similar in terms of the sky. In this image there are heavy dark tones in the sky, as in the one above. In both images, the sky seems to go from darker to lighter as our eyes are lead further into the image. There are also bright white tones peeping through the overcast sky. I think that this image would have been better if I had took it as a landscape image rather than portrait because then the images would be extremely similar. In the image above, the photographers' idea was to obviously present natural landscapes and elements such as the sky. In my opinion, this is interesting because the clouds can move so quickly and within a matter of minutes, the picture would look completely different.

Connecting Essay 1

Thomas Ruff




  This image is one of many pieces of work produced by Ruff. Most of his work is based around the same idea which he never sways from. He photographed portraits of people mostly all in the same way. They were never smiling so remained emotionless, they wore ordinary clothes and they were photographed against a plain background. His portrait images therefore did not display any individuality. This is because he believed that a photograph could only show the surface of the object within it. Furthermore, by photographing them this way he swapped things around and actually made portrait imagery more interesting. For example, if we were to view an image whereby a person was smiling/laughing, we would automatically think that this person may be happy or in a good mood. However, they are more than likely portraying this emotion solely because the photographer told them to. Therefore, how do we really know that the person is really feeling happy? - they could really be feeling sad but smiling because this is what they have been told to do. Ruff therefore decided to photograph people as plainly as they could be. By doing this, it makes us think more about what they may be feeling on the inside. It opens a gate to many things which they may be thinking or feeling which we cannot simply tell. The image pictured above I feel is a good example because she is dressed in plain clothing which is a soft colour which is not bright (again not expressing individuality) and she is pictured against a white background which is also a similar colour to her clothing. She also has light coloured hair and pale skin which makes the image even more plain. Ruff really wants viewers to think deeply when looking at his images such as the one pictured above.




  I chose his image as one to represent the link between my own work and Ruff's work because I feel like it is easy to see the similarities between the two images that I have shown. Here, she remains totally emotionless, her skin is also pale and she is wearing ordinary clothes (she is not wearing anything to vibrant or she is not dressed smartly) so we cannot make assumptions surrounding her mood etc. I personally feel like because the background makes her pale face stand out, that we are led to her eyes which we focus on for some time, trying to figure out what it is that she is feeling. Similar to the image above, however hard we try, we simply cannot make assumptions surrounding her thoughts and feelings because there is little or nothing to work with. This image reinforces the idea that a picture show merely the surface of an object within a image.

Research Post (Barbara Kruger)

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1945. She layers found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, classicism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire. She took up photography in 1977, producing a series of black-and-white details of architectural exteriors paired with her own textual ruminations on the lives of those living inside. 

  Barbara Kruger created this piece of work in 1989. This is an example of one of Kruger's famous pieces of work. The fact that the image is in black and white makes the red dash with white writing stand out more. The term 'your body is a battleground' may mean that you are constantly fighting and doubting yourself. The fact that half of the image is in black and white and the other half is negative may link to that idea that we are constantly fighting the other 'negative' side of us which causes us to doubt ourselves. I like this image because she has presented the self consciousness a woman may feel but she has used this message to mask the real meaning. This means that we have to think deeper into what the message may mean and think about the conflicting thoughts and feelings a woman may have of herself. It also makes us wonder why a women may feel this way in society. Is it because of the image society has of a 'perfect' woman? Furthermore, I like her style of work because her smart one liners cause us to think about the problems within society that effect people.




  I picked this image as one which I wanted to explore because it looks at how boys/men may feel about the roles which they are expected to fulfil. Here a girl appears to be poking his arms, while he is tensing.The caption 'we don't need another hero' says a lot about how boys may feel they have to grow up to be strong and protect others. The photographer may be trying to convey that the idea of fitting into the two different moulds society holds for men and women is outdated. Furthermore, she may be trying to suggest that there are no more 'heros' needed in society and we no longer should be obliged to fit within these moulds society holds for us. Young boys may look at super heroes in the magazines, books, tv programmes etc and aspire to be like them because they are 'strong' and 'save people'. In my opinion, this image is promoting individuality because it is suggesting that we do not need to try to grow up and be like everyone else, especially sticking to our gender roles. This again causes us to look at the reasons why boys may feel obliged to fulfil the role of being emotionless and 'big and strong'. We may think about how the media may enforce these roles. I can use a similar idea when I develop my own work in this particular style.

Physical Images Image Bank

Physical Images

•       How does Gilliam’s animations link with Hannah Hoch’s photo-composites?

      

    His animations are similar to Hannah Hoch's work because they both involve the manipulation of images. They both form distortions of an original image which creates an unique and interesting outcome. Gilliam and Hoch both use similar processes when producing their work. 

•       How is meaning changed through creating photo-composites?

   The meaning of a particular image is changed through photo-composites by combining images together to create a different outcome. Parts of an original image may be taken from their original context and put into a different image which may not relate. 

Research Post Composite Image Making (George logan)

 George Logan was born in Belshill, near Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at Blackpool college of Photography before moving to London. Even as a boy, George's fascination with the animal world was evident as he regaled classmates with stories of the African farm he'd been raised on and the exotic surroundings he'd left behind. Tall tales these might have been, but the imagination and passion that inspired them is clear to see in George's fine art work today.




   I really like this piece of wok produced by George Logan because it displays an idea which I am passionate about. The photographer has placed an animal within a context that we would expect to see a human in. It makes us question if we would care as much if it was a 'homeless' animal than if it was a homeless person. The idea of a monkey (who obviously belongs in the wild being able to roam freely) becoming homeless, emphasises the idea that the actions of the human race destroy their 'homes'. It is not difficult to realise that many animals are driven from their natural environment solely due to the things we do to make this happen. Many people may not think about the scale of the problem because we never actually witness this happening. Therefore, the photographer has consciously placed the animal on the side of the street with a sign and some rubbish laying around them. We would usually expect to see a human who is homeless in this position but the fact that it is an animal instead, highlights the immorality of the situation. I could possibly use a similar idea when I produce my own work.




  I really like this photograph taken by Logan because elephants are an animal which I find interesting due to their simplistic beauty. Logan wanted to explore his interests surrounding safari animals, which he discovered when he was a child. He wanted to picture what these animals would look like in a rural area such as Scotland. You would usually expect to see an animal such as this in a area filled with the warming orange tones (golden grass, sunset in background etc) as we have always seen animals such as elephants in that context. Therefore, Logan challenges the imagination of people and encourages them to think outside of the box. We may find it particularly hard to imagine animals such as elephants, lions, hippos etc in this context which is why I think that Logan has created something unique which guides our imagination to picture the elephants actually walking across this bridge with the green fields in the background. Logan also wanted to present the animal with traits he knew they had. For example, the elephants here are travelling in a pair which causes us to think about the traits particular animals posses.

Composite Image Making Image Bank

Composite Image Making

Composite image making is how an image made using several other images which has been manipulated to form the image.

  I think that composite image making is acceptable in some circumstances such as pictures in magazines. The pictures are only deemed as acceptable if they are used in a unharmful way. For example, creative purposes. In contrast, it could be used to create fake headline stories or to edit an image to present something in a desirable way which fits society. For example, putting the head of someone of a different body, to make them look desirable. Therefore, I think that composite image making is only acceptable in the right context.

   

  I used two Photoshop to combine two images together: one of the river Thames in London and an image of a yellow duck. I first placed resized and copied each of the three ducks and pasted them onto the background. I then used the

Simon Roberts Landscape Research Post

  Simon Roberts is a British photographer who focused on landscape photography. His project 'We Britain' proved to be a extremely popular project. He often employed expansive landscape photographs, his approach is one of creating wide-ranging surveys of our time, which communicate on important social, economic and political issues. He has published three critically acclaimed monographs, Motherland (Chris Boot, 2007),We English (Chris Boot, 2009) – voted as one of the best photography books of the past decade – and Pierdom (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013).

   This image was taken by Simon Roberts and was part of the 'We English' monograph. It was taken in Golden Horn Bay, VIadivostock in 2004. I like this image because of the natural environment. The trees represent line photography also. Vertical lines present power, direction and change. The trees are tall and cover most of the image. I like this image because it presents feelings of freedom and being enclosed within a peaceful environment. I could use the idea of photographing forests and natural environments in my documentary project because I really like photographing the natural world. This image is interesting because we can see a person walking amongst the trees in the background. We are unable to tell from this image what they are exactly doing there but it may show that people use this area to find peace and quiet. The sun looks warm shining through the trees which also radiates positive energy and calm feelings. 

  The image presented was taken in Herbedens Farm, Hampshire - 2007.  This image was also taken as part of Simon Roberts monograph 'We English'. The photographer clearly wanted to present the stereotypical ideas that English life involves living on a farm, shooting as a sport, drinking tea etc. This image presents a man, shooting a bird/clay disc which is a popular sport in England. Not only this, but they are shooting in a golden yellow field filled with crops ready to harvest. Roberts has presented here the rural parts of England and there is a very little amount of houses that can be seen in this image, only some in the background. The sky is clear blue and 'perfect'. This image looks like a a scene which could be a painting because it is picturesque  and peaceful. there is not very many people around in comparison to a heavily built up city such as London. I again could use this image to inspire me when taking pictures for documentary photography. I could take images of various fields similar to this image or stereotypical picturesque landscapes which are associated with English life. 

   I like this image because it is unusual. It is not common to see a red double decker bus in the countryside amongst fields because we would usually expect to see them in a heavy populated area in England such as London. As we can see, there are not many places for a double decker bus to go because there are not very many houses or buildings around. the vibrant red colour of the bus contrasts against the green of the fields. These are an example of complimentary colours. 

Documentary shoot One Work Diary

Planning

Evaluation and Progression

Evaluation

  I chose this image as one which I wanted to explore and progress because I like how this shows London from above and because it is not something I would usually photograph. I took this image on the London Eye which is a popular place in London. It shows the city from high which means that people can see across London. I therefore seized this opportunity to capture a great landscape image whereby the extremely built up city can be seen. I like this image because you can see the Big Ben which is another popular object in London. Due to there being so many popular places in London which large groups of people visit daily, it means that the city is constantly busy. I wanted to photograph this because from what we can see of London from above, there are buildings/houses covering the entire area which again highlights just how busy the city is.

Progression

      To edit this image, I used Photoshop to enhance the colours because the original image was too dark and it was hard to see the buildings well. I had noticed that the colours were very plain and muted, even the water was a grey colour. The colours we may see in a rural environment such as greens, oranges, yellows etc such as in forests are not visible here. There are barely any trees or greenery as everything has been built upon. Furthermore, there is not really any interesting colours presented here as they are all dull blues, greys, browns etc. Therefore, I adjusted the vibrancy, exposure, saturation and brightness options on Photoshop. This has made the buildings more outlined and made the picture brighter as a whole. I like the developed image because it is a good landscape of London from above.

Evaluation

  I took this image in Canary Wharf, London. This is another popular place in London which again, many people visit daily. I like this image because of the orange tones in the skyline. I also like how the buildings are arranged against the skyline which acts as a good background. I like how the picture is fairly dark but the background illuminates the outlines of the buildings. I also like how we can not see any details of the buildings because it prevents us from distractions and helps us to focus on the buildings as a whole and what they mean. There are lots of cars parked and a group of buildings in the background which suggests that even in different parts of London, it still is busy and built up. I like this landscape because it looks like something which would be used as a picturesque background.

Progression

           
  To develop this image further, I used Photoshop to adjust the colours because although I liked the dark mask in the picture, I wanted the orange tones in the skyline to be vivid also. I liked the edited image better because the buildings are darker but the background is brighter which makes a better base of the buildings' silhouettes. I also cropped out the moving car from the image because I felt like it was unnecessary in being there. It split the image up which is not what I wanted to the image to present because it distracted us away from what I wanted the eye to focus on. If I were to take this image again, I would possibly try to get closer to the buildings, to the point where I could still present them against the skyline but cut out distractions.





Evaluation


  This image shows one of London's many busy underground train stations. A large amount of people use train services daily. In the picture, there are crammed escalators and many people are rushing to reach their destination. I wanted to take an image such as this one to present life in a busy city like London, not only because it is not a typical picture of the buildings/tourist attractions, but because it shows how there is a high demand surrounding train/bus services due to London being such a wide spread, highly populated area. Here you can see that there is little space to manoeuvre because of how busy it is. I like this image because I was able to capture how busy the underground stations in London can be on an ordinary day. I was also able to capture a small amount of motion blur because people were rushing and walking fast.

Progression

  To progress this image, I used Photoshop to make only subtle adjustments to it such as: turning it into black and white, making the vibrancy higher and making it more contrasted. I think that the black and white version of this image is better at presenting the business of the underground station because it merges the commuters together rather than our eyes focusing of certain individuals. Our eyes are also better lead towards the centre of the picture and therefore, the busy escalators. The black and white I think, also highlights the emotions the people are displaying. For example, we may now notice the fact that there is no one in sight who is actually smiling, possibly because everyone is rushing to where they want to get to.

Documentary - Shoot One Straight Images

I took this picture in Canary Wharf, London. I like this image because it shows the built up and busy part of London that I wanted to present. I like this image because the tall buildings in the background are muffled and not vivid. We cannot see any details of the buildings, only the outlines which means that we focus on the group of buildings as a whole and what they mean rather than individual buildings. I like how the sky is a mixture of soft orange and blue tones because it creates a pleasant background. I will use Photoshop to makes adjustments to the image such as cropping etc.

I took this picture on the London Eye. I seized this as a great opportunity to take a landscape photograph of the extremely built up city that London is. As you can see, there are lots of buildings and houses. London is a very busy and popular place and the London Eye is just one of the many things in London that people visit on a daily basis. I like this image because it really does show how built up London is. I think that this picture is really interesting because it is unique and it is unusual to see London from above as a take on landscape photography.

 

  I chose this image as one of my favourites because again, it shows how busy London is. I took this in one of London's underground stations. I was able to catch people rushing around the train station to get to where they want to be. I like it because within this freeze frame, I was able to present just how busy London can be on a average day. I was also able to catch a small amount of motion blur when people were walking and rushing. Furthermore, I think that this image is interesting because it would not be what you think of when imagining landscapes.

I took this image in Oxford Street, London which consists of many popular shops which large groups of people visit often. Oxford Street is constantly busy due to the large demand of people wanting to shop there. Therefore, I wanted to photograph how busy it is.