Overall evaluation on my project

As I started my presentation, I began by researching with theme I should base my project on. I decided to go with the theme of space. Space allowed me to dive deeper into the meaning of space in photography; space in the framing, space in the foreground and background and space as in the space around us. I began starting with space in the framing of an image. I had an initial plan to create an abstract image using a subject and their face being at the brink of the frame. With my research of artists such as; David Hockney’s ‘Joiners’ and Jacob Solbol. With these artists influence I created an abstract portrait, It was a start of the project and a start of interpreting ‘space’ in photography.  After this shoot, I went into my tutorial to explain my work and from my tutors I gained more plans for future shoots and how to interpret space.

I decided to go into the studio and use the ‘space’ in the studio, I used the background of the photographic studio and I wanted to leave it in the image to show the viewer what goes on behind the scenes of a photographic shoot. These images led me to use a stool and with the use of photoshop I created the illusion that the stool was levitating. I showed this image to Heidi who was impressed with the use of surrealism in my shoot and pushed me to continue with the concept of surrealism in my shoots.

From then I wanted to create a series which compiled of surrealist minimalist images in the studio. I began researching artists who delved and in their work used surrealism. These artists consisted of; Man Ray, Philippe Hanson, Salvador Dali and Andreas Gursky. I was inspired by Dali’s surrealist work and how he was influenced by dreams, I wanted to create my own surrealist image. I photographed my self and from Dali’s influence on dreams I created a surrealist photograph of myself controlling dreams by photoshopping myself onto a brain to create the meaning of controlling your dreams.

My next step was to take a more simpler approach to creating surrealist photographs. I wanted to create similar photographs to my floating stool photograph. I photographed the studio and in post-production created a raining cloud in the studio. The final image of this shoot was exactly what I wanted and from there decided that I wanted my final photographs to be a mini series of surrealism in the studio.

I then created a new surrealist photographs based on the work of Rene Magritte’s ‘The Son of Man’ I used a television on the head of my subject using the same one light and studio back drop. I used a television because of the fact that I wanted the meaning to show the viewer that television is controlling their minds. Through my surrealist photographs I portrayed it.

My presentation of my project was exactly how I wanted, however If there was not financial restraint I would have printed them A0 to really draw in the audience. This size would have allowed the audience to really connect and respond to my photographs.

This module how allowed me as a photographer to express my skills and visions of exactly of how I want them. Its gave me freedom to express. I want to continue to work in this way and further my academic photographic knowledge and skills.

Presentation- Layout Plan

This is my planned presentation. Ive chosen to place the ‘television head’ in the centre because of the fact that its the most surrealist meaning out of all my images. This layout complements the minimalistic approach that I’ve been following throughout my project. The central image will be A2 with the other two images being A3. I will be placing my images on the corridor so that the audience will be eye level with my images.

Presentation- Financial budget

Heidi wanted me to print my images at A1 and boarded. I calculated the prices and it would cost me over £30 in total. This is a price that I cannot afford.

Ive now decided that I will be created 3 images, one that is A2 and the other two images being A3. This will make one images more important that the others but this is what I want and what would work best in the final presentation.

Presentation ideas

From my presentation I plan to print my images at A1. I talked to Heidi about printing my images and with how my images are, she said they wouldn’t fit in a phonebook or as an installation. However printed at a A1 size would do my images justice. With the size of A1 the viewer would be able to see every detail of my images and be drawn into the image its self.

I will test print different sizes and see which size and paper I want to use.

Surrealism shoot 3

Equipment:

• Canon 600D
• Tripod
• Model
• Black Backdrop
• Adobe Photoshop
• Standard Light

Step 1-Camera and lighting setting

The lighting set up is very simple. I had a single standard light directly above my subject, the light generated was enough to light my subject but also create a spot light on the backdrop. My camera settings I adjusted so that my image was well exposed and in focused. My camera settings were; ISO 100 for quality and detail, Aperture f’4.5 for shallow depth of field and for exposure and my shutter speed was 1/25, this was enough for the light to hit the cameras sensor and expose the image.

Step 2- Mood and Model direction 

The mood for my photograph was in the same style as my previous surrealism shoots, I wanted to keep to this style because of the mini series I was creating in my surrealism in the studio. My model direction was for subject to be completely still and stood up straight  I didn’t want my subjects body being the main focus of this shoot instead It would be the television on the subjects head, with this it meant that my subject didn’t need to express any emotion in my shoot as his head wouldn’t be in the final photograph.

Step 3-Editing

 

My editing was to create the black and white effect that Ive had in my previous shoots, to so this I decreased the vibrance and Saturation to have the image as a black and white. I then Increased the contrasted and the clarity to really enhance the black and white, I added more detail in the image so that it creates a more realism for the viewer and more quality to the image.

To create the effect of the tv on the head, I used a found image of a television and dragged the image on to the image of my model. I had to edit the television with the same edit as the model image so that it would look  like the television was photographed on the same shoot. I then placed the television over my models head to create the effect of surrealism.

Final Image

Surrealism shoot 3-Plan

My plan for this shoot is influenced by Rene Magritte’s painting ‘The Son of Man’.

Im going to create a surreal photograph in the same style but also not a direct copy of the painting. I will use a subject, a prob and a single lighting to keep the photograph minimalistic and use as little as possible to create this. Instead of a bird or an apple that Magritte used I will use a television over my subjects face to portray the meaning that people are controlled by televisions. So using the television over the head will produce the message that our minds are being taken over my televisions.

This is a lighting diagram of how I will set up my props in the studio. I will have a single light over the subject facing directly down, I will have a plain backdrop so there is not distractions.

Rene Magritte-Research

Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for creating a number of witty and thought-provoking images. Often depicting ordinary objects in an unusual context, his work is known for challenging observers’ preconditioned perceptions of reality. His imagery has influenced pop, minimalist and conceptual art.

These two paintings really drew my eye because of how simple and minimalistic they are, yet they are very surreal. The meaning of the painting is cryptic, but one can extrapolate some meaning from the words of Magritte himself. He spoke specifically of that feeling of human curiosity, where one seeks to see the hidden things that exist behind the other objects that we see, but one is often frustrated in this pursuit. The painting appears to capture this frustration or “conflict,” as Magritte put it by allowing us only a slight glimpse of the man’s face behind the fruit.

The process of covering the subjects face is very powerful in the terms of creating a meaning of surrealism in a photograph. The main points I can take from this is that I can use props, model and surrealism in one photograph. I can also take the very minimalistic approach of this image and only use very few subjects.

Landscapes without memory

One of Spain’s most prominent artists, Joan Fontcuberta is best-known for his exploration of the intersection between art, science, and illusion. In Landscapes without Memory, an exhibition of forty large-scale works made between 2002 and 2005, Fontcuberta harnesses a piece of landscape-rendering computer software designed for the military, which creates photo-realistic three-dimensional models based on two-dimensional sources. For his Landscapes of Landscapes series, the focus of the Aperture exhibition, Fontcuberta feeds the software images of famous paintings and photographs by Turner, Cézanne, Rothko, and Carleton E. Watkins, among others, forcing the program to interpret the landscape masterworks as “real.” The contours and tones of the pictures are transformed into three-dimensional mountains, rivers, valleys, and clouds—baroque, fantastical landscapes void of human existence that tap into our desire for unattainable paradise. Thumbnails of the original images are shown next to Fontcuberta’s work.

Through his artistic process, Fontcuberta creates new landscapes that, despite their “postcard perfect” resonance, are purely fictional­ and can never be experienced in nature. The result is “landscapes without memory.” It is this exploration of the artificial and the natural, the imaginary and the perceived, that Fontcuberta brings to the art of photography. As a conceptual artist, he questions the boundaries of the medium and its iconic status as the presenter of unquestionable truth. Landscapes without Memory is accompanied by a book of the same title recently published by Aperture, which also presents the series, Bodyscapes, in which the artist uses the same software to reinterpret photographs of his own body parts.

The way that Fontcuberta creates these surreal landscapes to make them look realistic is influential for my work in creating a realistic surreal image using digital editing. I will be using found images to create surrealism in the studio just like how Fontcuberta used images to create his landscapes.

Surrealism minimalistic idea/shoot

Following my previous work, I had an idea that I wanted to test working with my old images and creating new surreal images. I wanted to include a raining cloud in the studio with just the one light shining on it. I want to test this because if it works out ill be able to create a series out of surrealism in the studio with a more minimalistic process.

I start with this photograph of a empty studio space with just the one overhead light. I then take this into post-production to begin the surreal creation of the image.

To create the cloud in photoshop I acquired a brush template that generates clouds.

For the rain, I did the same process but with a different brush template.

I then added in rain splashing on the studio floor. I used a found image to this effect because it would be a safety risk to pour water of the flood in the studio.

I placed the splashing rain on the bottom half of the image where the floor is in the image. I then set it to overlay so that it blends into the black backdrop creating a realistic effect.

This is the final outcome. For me, this is a sleeker and more professional take on surrealism in photoshop. Its minimalistic and creates an illusion for the viewer, which ive always wanted for my images. With this success I want to create a mini-series from this type of work in the studio but instead of a cloud using different props/images to create these minimalistic surrealism images.

 

Berndnaut- Nimbus research

Nimbus
The Nimbus works present a transitory moment of presence in a specific location. They can be interpreted as a sign of loss or becoming, or just as a a fragment from a classical painting. People have always had a strong metaphysical connection to clouds and through time have projected many ideas on them. Smilde is interested in the temporary aspect of the work. It’s there for a few seconds before they fall apart again. The physical aspect is really important but the work in the end only exists as a photograph. The photo functions as a document of something that happened on a specific location and is now gone.

Here is a video of Berndnaut Smilde making clouds https://vimeo.com/67729669

Berndnaut creates cloud indoors and out but only for a precious moment and in the moment he photographs the phenomenon. Im inspired by the impossible way he creates clouds from nothing and how he uses photography to capture these split seconds of time and freezes them. With photography this is possible to capture these moments. Im inspired by the surrealism of the photographs and want to create my own version of this in the studio. I probably can’t create my own cloud in the studio but I can recreate a cloud in different ways, such as in post-production.