Portrait Transformation
For our first task, I went out and took photos of three people including myself. First I looked on the internet for images of old people. I wanted the ones that had a lot of wrinkles and a similar facial structure to the models. after taking the image I went into photoshop and merge the two faces together. what went well for this task is that i liked the way the wrinkles transformed the models faces. however this was a difficult process as the facial features did not always line up with each other. Most of the time there would not be enough neck for the image to fit perfectly. If I were to do this task again further in the project I would maybe look at two family members so they would b sort of similar when merging them together.
Here are my end result:
Here are my end result:
The Process
Inspired Artist Bobby Neel Adams
In Adams "Age Maps" he takes a photo of the same individual when they are older. He puts it against a photo of them when they are younger. My favorite thing about the image is that the torn line in the middle of the image. I liked the fact that it’s represents a time passing and how each person has changed but still somewhat the same. The process: He obtains the photos of when the individual is younger by using portraits that were professional taken by the school. He then positions the model with the same clothes. He has to have the same focal length as the image of then when they are younger.
Bobby Neel Adams born in Black Mountain, North Carolina now lives and works in Arizona on the Mexico Border. Adams has exhibited worldwide. His photos collections resides International Center for Photography, NY, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Station Museum, diRosa Foundation, and the Norton Family Foundation and many more. He published his book "broken wings in 1997 by Greenville Museum. Aaron Siskind Foundation, LEF Foundation, MacDowell Art Colony and the Hermitage have all given grants and awards to Adams.
Bobby Neel Adams born in Black Mountain, North Carolina now lives and works in Arizona on the Mexico Border. Adams has exhibited worldwide. His photos collections resides International Center for Photography, NY, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Station Museum, diRosa Foundation, and the Norton Family Foundation and many more. He published his book "broken wings in 1997 by Greenville Museum. Aaron Siskind Foundation, LEF Foundation, MacDowell Art Colony and the Hermitage have all given grants and awards to Adams.
My Response
Here are my responses to the work of Bobby Neel Adams. The top picture is of a mother and her son. First i took the picture with then put against the an white wall. like Adams i printed the photo and them physically ripped then. One thing that could be improved is firstly the quality of the printed image and also the faces didn't line up completely as I used different focal length.
Object Transformation
For this task we went around the local area to pick up objects that were neglect and embed to the floor. I then took a picture of the of the object in that environment before taking it back to the studio. in the studio i lifted the objects status. it went from something that is normally over looked on the street to being the only thing in the image. Putting the object in as the only focal point in the image it transforms how a person looks at it from something that was considered litter and rubbish to art object that shows of the beauty of abandonment.
key words: decay, dirty, breath.
key words: Shiny, reflection, hard, muddy, curved, in shape, used, metallic.
Key words: bruised, round, rotten, orange, orangic, natural, mouldy, rotting, texture, mature, destroyed.
key words: white, life within, circular, glass.
Inspired Artist: Irving Penn
Penn found the buds on the street and brought them to the studio, by doing this he raise the subjects status. They are no longer seen as widely consumed and discarded product of society but now a 'elegant yet direct expressions of post modern artistic practice.' He started doing this series in the 70s. Penn printed the series Cigarettes in the platinum palladium process. This creates soft, broad tonal range. The contrast between the cigarette and the white background gives the impression that the cigarettes is floating infant of the paper adding to the increased status. The high quality image allows the viewer to see the thick black ash that the image on the far left has this adds a sense of the life that the cigarette had and the delicacy of how each ash has to the beauty of the cigarette.
|
Transformation of the camera
For many years men have tried to figure out the best way to fix an image. which gives the best quality and life to the image. for this task i used three different type of cameras to take an image of the same person. The different techniques give a different texture and quality to the print. the pinhole does not give as a clear image compared to the film and the digital.
Experimenting
As an extension task i experiment with two different types of ways to fix an image. For the Cyanotype
Exhibition Vist: Saul Leiter, Retrospective
"Photographs are often Treated as important moments, but really they are little fragments and souvenirs of an unfinished world." - Saul Leither
Over the half term i went to the Saul Leither (1923- 2013) Retrospective exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery in central London. Leither was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. he moved to New York in 1946. He drew his inspiration from the streets of New York city. What Leither was interested in was how "seemingly insignificant or fleeting impressions of everyday life, captured and intensified in atmosphere photographs". He never photograph something because of its social situation or wether it was an important moment.
His photography started of in 1947 was visiting the exhibition of Henri Cartier- Bresson. He then went out and brought a 35mm Alecia camera and without any training started taking pictures of the streets of New York. Most of his picture focus on one individual around the streets he use strong contrast, light and shadows. with his black and white photos Leither experiments a lot with out of focus shots. Leither later started taking colour photography. he was concidered on of the very few serious photographers who did not reject colour photography. colour film has been on the market since 1936 but it was only until 1948 bought his first 35mm Kodachrome colour slide film. Leither used to buy film that had passed its sell by date so he could save money. HE felt that the film produced muted and delicate colours. He took colour photography for 12 years.
Despite Leither amazing photographs that transfer their mood and atmosphere to the person that views the image. Saul images makes the viewer feel like as if they were in that era themselves. Leither only got recognition for his black and white photography later in his life in 1993 where Howard Greenberg gallery held its first exhibition. four years later Leither's colour photography was exhibition.
His photography started of in 1947 was visiting the exhibition of Henri Cartier- Bresson. He then went out and brought a 35mm Alecia camera and without any training started taking pictures of the streets of New York. Most of his picture focus on one individual around the streets he use strong contrast, light and shadows. with his black and white photos Leither experiments a lot with out of focus shots. Leither later started taking colour photography. he was concidered on of the very few serious photographers who did not reject colour photography. colour film has been on the market since 1936 but it was only until 1948 bought his first 35mm Kodachrome colour slide film. Leither used to buy film that had passed its sell by date so he could save money. HE felt that the film produced muted and delicate colours. He took colour photography for 12 years.
Despite Leither amazing photographs that transfer their mood and atmosphere to the person that views the image. Saul images makes the viewer feel like as if they were in that era themselves. Leither only got recognition for his black and white photography later in his life in 1993 where Howard Greenberg gallery held its first exhibition. four years later Leither's colour photography was exhibition.
Landscape Transformation
For this task i went out on the streets to take pictures of the strangers. the reason why i chose to take picture of stranger was because i wanted to display a picture of someone that lives within my communities. the task was based on the work of JR flyposting. Here we were meant to transform the envrionment by flyposting the.
one of the things i could improve on was getting the model in front of a white background. this would make the model the only focus of the image. however with the picture i chose to put up was one where the model was standing infant of a phone box where there was graffiti and a poster behind him that takes away the focus from just him. however i am please with how i capture someone of that represent the community.
one of the things i could improve on was getting the model in front of a white background. this would make the model the only focus of the image. however with the picture i chose to put up was one where the model was standing infant of a phone box where there was graffiti and a poster behind him that takes away the focus from just him. however i am please with how i capture someone of that represent the community.
JR is photographer that flyposts huge black-and-white photos on the street. By enlarging the images into posters on the street. JR intends to brings the art to people that never go to galleries. In may 2012 he collaborate with Cuban-American artist Jose Parla on the 'Wrinkles go the city- Havana'. Here the takes photos of 25 seniors citizens who lived through the Cuban revolution. He wanted to draw attention to the people who lived it, instead of only the leaders that are mention in the books. After taking the photos he paste then on run down building that have a story of their own. Parla then comes and draws his graffiti around the subject. the unstructured pattern are meant to represent the thoughts, memories and experience that each person had in that time of change in Cuba.
Tate Modern: Performing for the Camera
This week I went to the exhibition 'Performing to the camera' at the Tate Morden. the exhibition has 14 room to show over 50 photographer's works. Most rooms had a different theme of performance. Documenting performance was the first one with artist like Yves Klein. this type of performance is revealed to the photographer to capture and document this specific moment. they must make their creative decisions in a instant, whether it is camera angles, the camera settings etc. Another theme was performing icons, this mostly showed work by Cindy Sherman 'Untitled Film Still'. Here the exhibitions was commenting on the identity shown in the performance to the camera. Identity has been questioned about how physical traits, like gender and race that are inherited define the person's identity. Performing real life was the last the room of the exhibition. With posting pictures on social media has become a norm for the new generation artist in the room explore the elements of performance that are shown in people's social media accounts.
|
Around the Tate
with transformation as the exam theme. i went around the Tate to look at what is transformed. on the river bank there was a guy blowing bubbles around. i like how when i looked through the bubbles the buildings behind it looked more 3D and it drew attention to that area. Also the shape of the bubbles added texture and shape to the image. |
Three strands
First Strand
For my first strand I experimented with drawing patterns on people bodies. Here I wanted to transform how the body looks and how the shape's that i put on the body makes the viewer look at it differently.
WWW: the first image with the triangle wold have to be the most successful out of all three. this is because i felt that the triangles fitted with how the face is formed. they were also easy for connect on triangle to another. i also like the fact that not all the image in covered with the shape. before looking at the image it would only shows a model with there hand in fornt of their eyes. However by adding the triangles it makes that body look more sharp and the fact that it is white contrasts with the colour of the persons skin colour.
EBI: As much as i like the boldness of the triangles, one downfall of drawing it on photoshop is that it doesn't follow how the body is. For example if there is a crease on the person face the triangle would also crease. Therefore if i do it again i would draw on the person physically.
WWW: the first image with the triangle wold have to be the most successful out of all three. this is because i felt that the triangles fitted with how the face is formed. they were also easy for connect on triangle to another. i also like the fact that not all the image in covered with the shape. before looking at the image it would only shows a model with there hand in fornt of their eyes. However by adding the triangles it makes that body look more sharp and the fact that it is white contrasts with the colour of the persons skin colour.
EBI: As much as i like the boldness of the triangles, one downfall of drawing it on photoshop is that it doesn't follow how the body is. For example if there is a crease on the person face the triangle would also crease. Therefore if i do it again i would draw on the person physically.
Second Strand
Third Strand- Time Photography
For this strand i wanted to focus on time transformations. Here I positioned a camera in my living room. using a intervalometer I made it take a photo every 3 minutes. I documented a four year old boy playing around with his toy. one of the advantage of using a intervalometer is that the boy was not expecting when the next photo was going to be taken so the he would just play normally. i wasn't sure whether i wanted to document how people spent their time or how the environment changes in a matter of minutes. i experimented with both so i could choose an understand when the
|
The Process
|
here is the image that i drew inspiration from for this strand. In the image it shows six shots that were taken over a 2 hour time period.
Differences one thing that i did different from the artists is that i did not use shadows every time a new time is introduced in the image. i felt that even though this added a 3D effect to the image i wanted it to be more subtle. ThIs worked well on the images of the boy playing as he did not move the background objects and light. Similarities when looking that this picture, i knew i had to keep the camera really still and in the same place using the same focal length. therefore when taking my pictures i used a intervolemter like the artist. |
First Development
For my first development i mixed both strand one and two together. i wasn't sure whether i wanted to draw patterns or tattoo. To draw that tattoos i used a liquid eyeliner. this provided a extremely blackened inked result. I had two design the first a wolf and the second a symbol. i liked how the tattoo gave a permeant feel to body. For this project i would like to focus on how the body is a canvas for the person. For the pattern picture i wanted a more abstract photos even though i only drew on the arm and hand. i zoomed in on parts like the knuckles and the wrist. For my next development I will focus on the tattoos, I like how the idea of having it grow on the body.
|
Second Development
For this development again I looked at how tattoos changed the body. This time instead of having the finished product I wanted to see how the process of the way the tattoo is constructed slowly affect the way the body part looks.
WWW: the transformation that is visually seen of how the body goes from plain to something that is all about the what the image on the tattoo is.
EBI: for the two gif at the top, the only thing that would have made it better was if the model did not move. as they moved the whole image. however to make sure that the drawing wasn't moved when creating the gif in photoshop i put the tattoos on top of another so only the background would move and the tattoo would be in the same place in the image. another thing that made it hard take a picture is that the eyeliner reflected the light so in some of the image there are light spot.
EBI: for the two gif at the top, the only thing that would have made it better was if the model did not move. as they moved the whole image. however to make sure that the drawing wasn't moved when creating the gif in photoshop i put the tattoos on top of another so only the background would move and the tattoo would be in the same place in the image. another thing that made it hard take a picture is that the eyeliner reflected the light so in some of the image there are light spot.
Third Development
For this development i went away from tattoos but i still wanted to keep the elements of the having something permeant and still having the body as a canvas. therefore here i went with physically alternating the appearance of the photo.
WWW: The shapes that I used that was inspired by the Dion. The shapes provided a fluent and feel to the image, they also followed the way the face was structure.
EBI: The images were not the best quality due to the printer. Another thing that was a struggle was that it was hard to cut the piece out of the paper as it was really thin. To try and solve this problem I stuck all the photos onto cardboard to make them stronger.
WWW: The shapes that I used that was inspired by the Dion. The shapes provided a fluent and feel to the image, they also followed the way the face was structure.
EBI: The images were not the best quality due to the printer. Another thing that was a struggle was that it was hard to cut the piece out of the paper as it was really thin. To try and solve this problem I stuck all the photos onto cardboard to make them stronger.
Myriam Dion
The French-Candian artist collects newspapers to use for her art. She cuts into them to transform the original content into her own messages. “By cutting the newspaper, I’m putting off the text and the information, the object loses his utility and the viewer is therefore pushed to see it in another way,” She is inspired by the ancient Chinese tradition of paper cutting and creates detail intricate design. “By crafting thoughtful mosaics out of the world events, I question our appetite for sound-bite news and sensational art, showing the quiet power of a patient hand and an inquisitive eye,” Dion said. “I am creating a new newspaper that can be interpreted, that encourages people to think more deeply about the news that we consume too easily.” Her detail in the image make viewer look twice and thing about why she choose each individual article to chose to transform it.
In the Financial Times there was an article on Indian election. the oriningal image shows a line of citizens waiting to vote. However Dion adds similar textures and patterns to the voters to shows that they have each individual has the power but all want the same thing. Dion makes the background bold and authentic to contrast with the desperation of the voters.
|
Here in this image she takes a image from the newspaper that features the a lot of woman wearing head dress with loads of different colours. Each person has a different pattern on them to make them unique. Here she wants the viewer to think and sympathy with the suppression of women.
|
Fourth Development
The Process |
For this development I was inspired by the work of Odette England. Again keeping to the theme of the bodying being the canvas, I wanted to control what parts of the face the viewer can see. Like England work I used circle as the shape of the image and the parts I wanted to cut out. The picture I choose to photograph are portraits of a subject in a garden where there was a lot of greens, Trees, leaves etc. The reason being that I like how the background, which has a lot of different shades of green contrast with the subjects skin tone. The end result: I like how it how by taking the image apart completely and reconstructing it with something as simple as circle, transformed it.
|
Inspired Artist: Odette England
England gets inspiration from the Ishihara Color Test. The test is the common red-green clinical test for colour blindness. Like the test he uses randomised size dots to construct the image. This whole project was inspired by her grandfather who had the monochromacy which is the rare version of colour blindness that cannot be cured. Her grandfather could only see in different shades of grey. so white and black.
Here England uses a family portrait. She breaks it down with the dots. The dots follow no pattern make the picture successful from complete random. A difference between mine and her work is that she used circle that were larger than mine making her image easier to look at and more like the colour test. England changes some of the dots to grey and some with extreme saturation.
|
Again this is a family photo. It is of the same girl as the photo on the left however more of a landscape photo. There is more of a pattern to the dots. The dots are more separated at the ground and then the sky but at the part with the girl and the the cows they are more together meaning making it easier to see the image. This image does not have a huge contrast between the grey dots and the more coloured dots.
|
Fifth Development
From the last development I wanted to look at how deconstructing an image transforms it. For this development I wanted to alter the image physically instead of using Photoshop. I searched for an artist that cuts the image physically. I found David Adey. I liked how he spaces them out and how delicate each piece of the image looks. In my response I cut out more graphic shape whereas he had animals.
WWW:
The images turned out the way that I wanted. There whole image came together and fitted with transformation and the theme of having the body as the canvas.Another thing that i really like about this development is the space that the image has.
EBI:
Another difference between my work and the artist is that his shape fit more fluently, however mine were just shape that didn’t always fit together. I will also want to change the pins that I used. They are bold and black this makes them the first thing the viewer see. also the fact that they are so big and some of pieces are small they cover the whole part of the image.
For my next development:
I would like to still carry on with physically transforming the body the way I did with these set of images. However next I will make sure that the shape are closer together so it gets more of the image in. I will also make the shapes connect more with one another. What would be interesting is if I cut up the whole body. A dancer would be ideal as they can create interesting shapes using only their body.
WWW:
The images turned out the way that I wanted. There whole image came together and fitted with transformation and the theme of having the body as the canvas.Another thing that i really like about this development is the space that the image has.
EBI:
Another difference between my work and the artist is that his shape fit more fluently, however mine were just shape that didn’t always fit together. I will also want to change the pins that I used. They are bold and black this makes them the first thing the viewer see. also the fact that they are so big and some of pieces are small they cover the whole part of the image.
For my next development:
I would like to still carry on with physically transforming the body the way I did with these set of images. However next I will make sure that the shape are closer together so it gets more of the image in. I will also make the shapes connect more with one another. What would be interesting is if I cut up the whole body. A dancer would be ideal as they can create interesting shapes using only their body.
David Adey
David Adey spend 200-300 hours on each piece. He carefully cuts out the each piece of the images and using a single pin he places it on a foam board. Aden only uses the skin and leaves out the eyes and the clothes. He takes his images from magazines of celebrities and models. What draw me to his work is that each piece is like a puzzle piece making a whole picture when the viewer steps out and looks at the picture as a whole. Each piece is perfectly cut out and connects with the other piece around it. the image as a whole is very impressive. A difference between my work and his is that all of my piece are further away from each other. However his doesn't have that much space between all the pieces. When i attempt this again I would like to print a bigger image this would make it easier to cut bigger piece that are closer together. The artist also used sliver pins that were a lot smaller making it easier to see the smaller pieces. They also weren't distraction from the whole piece itself unlike the black pins.
This image is called 'Misha Barton for Bebe'. The image comes from Bebe bus-shelter poster. What truly inspired me to response to his work was how prefect and complex his work looked. The image itself looks like it is hovering above the board as the viewer from a distance cannot see the small pins. Adey is good at putting the best shape to a part of the face. For example the cheeks he uses big shape that follow how the cheeks are shaped.
|
"Britney's Mental Illness". He created this image in 2008 when Britney spears shaved her head due to her mental illness. I like how the image connects with her mental illness by her suffering from mental health she becomes a distorted image of herself. He perfectly captures this in his image. What I really like about this photo is the shadow that the piece create on the board.
|
Sixth Development
Selects for Final Piece
Here are the images both the images that I was considering using for my final piece. However I felt the image that I went with had a better body shape and it wasn't a classic dancer picture. The picture I choose to go with is the image underneath these two. I liked how the subjects face capture the light and it highlight her face structure like jaw line and cheek bones. I also liked the energy that flows with the subject. Her whole body is elongated and performing to the camera. Another reason why it was the photo I chose was because when the picture is cut up it will be clear what part is what. also because there won't be any background the body shape has to speak for the elegance and authenticity of the body.
|
Final Piece
Final piece
Overall the final piece was very successful. I like how I transformed the image from how it looked originally to when it is all in piece pinned together. I like the fact that whether I am close or far away from the piece it still looks delicate and authentic. By taking it apart and them putting it together it creating a more of a distorted image of the original one. The final piece complete all of mine intentions for the project. It fitted with how I interrupted transformation. However I did face some struggles while making the piece. One of them being that the image was meant to come at A0 size but ended up being a A1 print. so I was expecting to cut bigger shape than I did. Another struggle was that when I finished it completely any movement of the board, some pins would move meaning the piece would twist so they would not line up with the body shape. |