Strand 1: Vilde Rolfson
For my first task on Change, I was inspired a Norwegian photographer, Vilde Rolfsen who extracts beauty from discarded plastic bags while raising awareness about throw-away culture. Rolfsen is a fine art photographer based in Oslo. Her series "Plastic Bag Landscapes" addresses the detrimental effects of plastic waste to our land and our oceans. Here is some of her work.
My Work
In this task, I had taken photos of 3 plastic bags and a thin pink sheet to imitate Rolfsen's work, creating an abstract feel. I had explored different techniques wuth lighting through the bags. Personally, I think the artificial light worked best as it really exemplified the colour.You explored different ways to light the bags, direct, indirect, natrual, artificial... what worked the best?
WWW: Something that I had achieved was I was able to take photos inside of the bag with elements of light for it to look interesting and peculiar, almost cloud like for some.
EBI: I could improve on these by using more of a range of different coloured bags and doing different techniques with how I arrange them
EBI: I could improve on these by using more of a range of different coloured bags and doing different techniques with how I arrange them
Best Edits
For my best edits, I had increased the colours, creating the photos to stand out better. For the second edit, I had increased the red on the channel mixer.
WWW: I still held the aspects of light in the photo, making it look mysterious
EBI: I could have experimented with a different range of colours
EBI: I could have experimented with a different range of colours
Strand 2: Gordon Magnin
Gordon Magnin was born in 1978, Nevada. Magnin is known for using photoshop, creating collages out of images. He creates his images by distorting a face by creating a pattern by rotating certain aspects of the face. Magnin usually uses different portraits and cuts geometrical shapes out. Then he rotates them in a variety of ways to create a new image, with a new personality. He creates a puzzle for the audience to create with their mind. Here are some of his pieces.
My response
For my response, I took portrait photos of two classmates and went to photo shop using the shape tools to copy Magnins work, creating a abstract art like look.
Original photos
Edits
Screen grabs?
SCREEN GRABS:
WWW: What I achieved was being able to create an abstract look using shapes, mirroring Gordin's style
EBI: Something I could improve on in using a wider range of different shapes and angles to form more abstract edits
EBI: Something I could improve on in using a wider range of different shapes and angles to form more abstract edits
Strand 3: Bubbles
Steven Green inspired my thought for my second strand. Green used to be a soldier. He went through two wars. He says “Photography has helped me document my life but more importantly, the world around me that I have been fortunate enough to witness. This journey has lasted more than thirty-five years and I have no plans to stop anytime soon” For one of his themes of photos called “Soapy things” Steven Green captures images of bubbled and places each bubble under a different light with different environments and light to show how the liquid changes. Here is some of his work.
My response
I responded to this strand by making bubbles at home and using a ladle with multiple holes to form the bubbles. I then used different colours from bottles and paper and placed it in front of a flashlight to create different settings.
Original photos
WWW: What I had achieved in these photos was being able to capture the bubbles in a different range of light
EBI: Things in which I could improve on is not getting the background of setting in the photos and trying to focus some of the photos on a singular bubble with better lighting.
EBI: Things in which I could improve on is not getting the background of setting in the photos and trying to focus some of the photos on a singular bubble with better lighting.
Best edits
WWW: Something that went well was in the first photo, I was able to get certain aspects of the photo black which imitates some of Steven Green’s photos. Something else which went well was I made the colours stand out, showing the difference in their aesthetics compared.
EBI: Something I could improve on is being able to only get the bubbles and their colour to be visible, discarding all background.
EBI: Something I could improve on is being able to only get the bubbles and their colour to be visible, discarding all background.
Development 1
For my first development, I was inspired by a South African photographer called Bruce Boyd. He was born on the 13th November 1948. He grew up in a house filled with flowers which his mother had picked and his father painted them. Boyd is fascinated by ice particularly the way that objects look distorted when encapsulated inside a large ice block. He experimented for months, throwing ice blocks into various bodies of water and observing the wrinkles and cracks that warped the once smooth surface. He said ''I came across the work of Japanese artist Azuma Makoto and Kenji Shibata.This inspired me to start experimenting'' Here is some of his work.
My response
WWW: What I think went well was I was able to arrange some of the flowers in a fixed position as they would be placed in a vase. Also how you can vividly see the flower
EBI: Something to improve is using less water so I can see the flowers at the surface of the ice and using a wider range of different flowers, shape and size.
EBI: Something to improve is using less water so I can see the flowers at the surface of the ice and using a wider range of different flowers, shape and size.
Best Edits
WWW: What I had done well was being able to change the colours unnaturally but still making it look unedited
EBI: I could have improved by changing the background to a dark colour to make the flower stand out and changing the lighting
EBI: I could have improved by changing the background to a dark colour to make the flower stand out and changing the lighting
Development 2
For this development, I had taken photos of the flower with different coloured paper to make the flower stand out. I found out that the color pink and black made the flowers stand out the most What did you find out? Which colour made the flowers 'stand out' the most?
WWW: What i had done well on was being able to find certain colours which complimented the flowers nicely
EBI: I could have improved by using a wider range of colours and experimenting more
EBI: I could have improved by using a wider range of colours and experimenting more
Best edits
WWW: What I had done well was being able to make the flowers still the main focus of the image
EBI: I could experiment using food colouring instead of editing the colours digitally to see the difference
EBI: I could experiment using food colouring instead of editing the colours digitally to see the difference
Development 3
For my third development, I have been inspired by Craig Cramer. He is an ex-magazine editor. He runs a personal blog called Ellis Hollow. Cramer takes photos of flowers and assorts them onto a photo scanner and has the background as black. He now has begun to mirror them. Every month he created incredible scans. Here is some of his work.
My response
Explain your process- ie scanning flowers
- What I had done to scan these flowers was I had placed a black sheet of paper on the scanner.
- Then I had chosen flowers that I had cut and arranged them on the paper.
- With the scanner plugged into the TV, I clicked on the scanner item
- The image that was in the scanner at the time came up on my screen
- I then cropped the image to how i wanted it
- Then I pressed scan and saved it to a folder
WWW: What I had done well was as I went on with arranging the flowers, I got better at placing them to create a more interesting and put together look
EBI: Something I could improve on is finding more creative ways to put the flowers together
EBI: Something I could improve on is finding more creative ways to put the flowers together
Best edits
Screen your process?
WWW: What i had done well on these edits, is successfully mirroring the flowers, creating am interesting pattern.
EBI: What i could improve on is being able to connect the flowers closely together for each edit
EBI: What i could improve on is being able to connect the flowers closely together for each edit
Development 4
For my fourth development, I had scanned different types of flowers included with some of the ones I had used in my previous development
Original photos
WWW: What I had done well was being able to make interesting formations with the flowers and using different contrast of colours with the flowers making each one stand out just as much as the others
EBI: I could have gone further with the heart shape formations and done different shapes
EBI: I could have gone further with the heart shape formations and done different shapes
Best Edits
WWW: What I had done well was being able to successfully reflect the images on each other making a smooth mirror line
EBI: I could have explored different ways of using the scanner with not just flowers but other objects too
EBI: I could have explored different ways of using the scanner with not just flowers but other objects too
Development 5
For this development I had gone back to the flowers I had frozen and took photos of the different stages of it melting. This links to the theme, 'Change' as it shows the stages of the ice melting as if the flowers had gone back to its original form
WWW: Something that I did well in was being able to capture the different stages of the ice melting whilst keeping the flowers in the position they were frozen in
EBI: Something I could do next time is having the background as a different colour like I had done in development two to make the flowers stand out better
EBI: Something I could do next time is having the background as a different colour like I had done in development two to make the flowers stand out better
Best Edits
WWW: In these edits, I was able to allow the flowers to stand out due to the colours I had chosen in the background
EBI: Next time, I could work on being more precise with the outlining of the flowers so it looks very neat as if the background was not even changed
EBI: Next time, I could work on being more precise with the outlining of the flowers so it looks very neat as if the background was not even changed
Development six
For this development, I had thought to put flowers into a jar instead of a container and freeze them to explore different ways of how the flowers will look. This links to the theme change as it is showing how flowers look frozen and placed into a certain shape
WWW: What I had done well on was I was able to capture the colours of the flowers well with the help of the lighting in the background
EBI: Something that I could have explored further with is capturing the flowers in different angles from the jar
EBI: Something that I could have explored further with is capturing the flowers in different angles from the jar
Best Edits
WWW: What I had done well on is being able to crop a specific element of the jar making it seem abstract
EBI: Something which I could develop on these edits is mirroring them to explore the abstractness further
EBI: Something which I could develop on these edits is mirroring them to explore the abstractness further
Edits 2
Could you make a link to Cramer again? It brings your two ideas together into the final piece.
For these edits, I had gone back to the Cramer idea and included it in these sets of edits, which then was developed further in my final piece.
WWW: In these edits, I successfully got the colours right along with being able to get what goes where to make it look neat
EBI: I could explore the mirroring technique further by doubling it and flipping it to make it look more complete
EBI: I could explore the mirroring technique further by doubling it and flipping it to make it look more complete
Final Pieces
Annotation Support
Introducing a task:
Subject matter
Subject matter
What do you think the photographer’s intentions are? There may be more than one. ‘PEC’ each intention.
P (Photographer’s name) creates (what type of images? Fantastical, surreal, objective)
E He / she does this by… (describe something in the image)
C He/she wanted us to consider ….
What wider issues is the photographer addressing?
P (Photographer’s name) is considering (is the photographer talking about a bigger issue in photography, society, politics?)
E This is shown by … (describe something in the image)
C The (Photographer’s name) was interested in this issue because (they felt it was relevant to us now…)
How do the materials and techniques used support your photographer’s intentions?
P (Photographer’s name) has used (the darkroom / multiple exposure / film / digital manipulation techniques) in creating this work.
E This creates a ______ effect. (describe something in the image)
C This helps to support (Photographer’s name) point about (showing an identity / hiding a person’s identity / the media / anonymity)
Introducing a task:
- In this task I was required to…..
- This task links to the theme, (______) as it shows....
- My intention was to respond to_______ because I wanted to explore....
Subject matter
- The subject I chose to photograph suited the theme as it……
- My composition helped to support my response to the theme by….
- I managed the exposure very well. My ISO / shutter speed / aperture settings were…..
- I prioritised my shutter speed to… (capture movement / blur/ frozen moment)
- I prioritised aperture to manipulate depth of field.
- I used a tripod to avoid camera shake.
- My images express my intentions which were…
Subject matter
- The subject I chose to photograph did not necessarily fit the brief as it was not interesting enough / appropriate / adequately lit…..
- Next time I should go to (a different location), photograph at a different time of day, organise people in advance, think more about my composition so that….. ect
- I did not create enough depth of field / sense of movement. The image is over exposed / underexposed / too blurred.
- Next time I should use a tripod / use a different type of lens (be specific) / experiment with film…
- My images do not show my intentions which were…
- The concept wasn’t clear in my images, I need to make it more explicit by…
- Next time I will consider the work of (a photographer) to inspire a more accurate depiction of what I want to achieve.
- I will experiment further with… (blur / shutter speed / composition)
What do you think the photographer’s intentions are? There may be more than one. ‘PEC’ each intention.
P (Photographer’s name) creates (what type of images? Fantastical, surreal, objective)
E He / she does this by… (describe something in the image)
C He/she wanted us to consider ….
What wider issues is the photographer addressing?
P (Photographer’s name) is considering (is the photographer talking about a bigger issue in photography, society, politics?)
E This is shown by … (describe something in the image)
C The (Photographer’s name) was interested in this issue because (they felt it was relevant to us now…)
How do the materials and techniques used support your photographer’s intentions?
P (Photographer’s name) has used (the darkroom / multiple exposure / film / digital manipulation techniques) in creating this work.
E This creates a ______ effect. (describe something in the image)
C This helps to support (Photographer’s name) point about (showing an identity / hiding a person’s identity / the media / anonymity)