Uta Barth’s 8 Photos
•Make a list of at least 5 characteristics (typical things) that define your chosen photographs
- In all of the photos the formal element focus is strongly empathized, as they are all out of focus
- Many of the photos had light in the background that are discombobulated
- Many of the photos – if you look pass the blurs – have converging lines.
- In many of the photos the background involves a house or a street, and the photos with these backgrounds usually look better than the ones without
- In some photos, shapes are involved as well, although it is hard to tell the difference of it, we can make out the general shape, which then allows us to make a guess as to what things are in the photo.
•Describe the work of the artist referencing these characteristics
The style of the artist is obviously out-of-focus-ness and distinct shapes shapes, the works are good, but they are not perfect, as it would be better if it was took at night, and focused on the night lights.
•Explain why you have chosen this photographer including how the photographer relates to your vision
This author relates perfectly to my current vision, as my vision is to capture colorful lights behind blurs, to represent beauty in ambiguity.
•If you can – Find a quotation
“My work never directly addresses the literal subject matter of the photograph, but attempts to ask questions about vision itself”, I chose this quote because it best represents what Uta Barth thinks, she wants the viewers to question and think about the photos. But unfortunately, that is not my goal, my goal is to amaze the viewer the moment they noticed my artwork. Because there is no beauty in over-analyzing a piece of art, true beauty is only beautiful when thought beautiful in the first glance.
The One Photo Analysis:
•Why did you choose this image in particular? – I chose this photo because it is the best photo out of all the other ones.
•What do you find surprising or unusual about this photograph? – Unlike the other photos, this photo has the most recognizable shapes and colors, a portion of the photo has converging lines also, what caught my eye is the lighting of the photo, it had a different tone of color compared to the other photos.
•Look carefully and choose ONE of the Formal Elements that you think is important in the photograph – Focus obviously, the whole point of this photo was to be abstract and out-of-focus.
•Describe why you think it is important – If it wasn’t for the out-of-focus element, this photo would not have been the same. The whole career of Uta Barth was supported by the fact that her photographs were different, if we take away this element, then this photo would just be any other photo taken by any other photographer.
•In what ways are your chosen artist’s photographs abstract? – They don’t show a direct subject for there is no subject of focus, and they have no meaning.
What do you like about the style? – I just like the out-of-focus style, I also noted that she likes to take photos of the outside, and that’s pretty good as well, because many photography rules can only be achieved best outdoors. For example: converging lines and focus.
•How will you adapt this style to your own photography? How does the image/artist inspire YOU? – I will obviously try to find something that can cover the camera and not disable the camera’s ability to capture specific objects, I will also try to incorporate horizon lines or converging lines to make my photos look even better. – the image doesn’t really inspire me that much, I pretty much already had a clear idea of what I should do even before seeing this photo.
Revising My Vision:
After seeing Uta Barth’s viewpoint in photography, I cannot help but disagree completely with her. And now I further believe that my vision is completely perfect, and need no revision. Her idea of using out-of-focus images to make people question vision is only half of what I want to show with my vision.
My vision is to show beauty in ambiguity. I will take photos in the style, but not the ideal of Uta Barth. I am particularly inspired by field #20 and will try to take pictures that emulate and surpasses her style by adding additional elements.