Category: Photography

CONTENT:

The subject of this photograph is a boy hiding among the foliage.

The boy’s green eyes look straight into the camera. There is green and black pain on his face. He is hiding among the foliage, and the details of the leaves are very clear to the eye. The boy is not smiling, just calmly looking into the camera.

The background of this image is just leaves. Green leaves with very clear patterns and details on them.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES:

The photographer is an outsider taking photographs of people in the woods. (my guess)

When I first look at the camera, my attention is immediately drawn to the boy’s green eyes.

There are only two colors in this image, with green being dominant and black being recessive. The boy’s eyes are green, the paint on his cheeks and his forehead is green, and the foliage behind him is also green. His hair and eyebrows are black, and the outline of the paint on his face is also black. There are also dark green lines on the light-colored leaves, and the shapes are also very clear.

Light is on the boy’s face, and shadow is on the leaves behind him. The light directs my attention to the boy’s eyes and the paint on his face.

The boy’s face is in focus while the background, the leaves behind him is a little unclear and hazy.

The boy’s eyes catch my attention whenever I look at the photograph. They stand out partly because light is shed on them, and because they are so green and powerful that they grasp my attention every time.

MEANING/INTENT:

The intended effects of the photographer’s choices are probably to show us how powerful a face can be, even without a smile, and that some people like to go into the woods, and the love for the woods could not be shown by a smile. It can only be shown by the eyes. Also, the photographer showed the power of the eyes, that the eyes are the most explicit way of communicating feelings.

For my identity project, I took 14 different photographs to reflect the stress experienced by different people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of the 14 images, I chose three as my red images. The image of a little girl stressing about her homework (she goes to a Chinese public school), the image of a delivery worker intensely looking at his phone as another order is sent to him, and a community volunteer for dong the COIVD test sitting alone on an empty ground, keep expecting someone to come but no one showed up.

 

When looking at this photo more closely, we can see that the little girl has her right hand on her cheek, and is staring at the screen, disheartened, trying to make sense of her homework. A practice sheet lays before her, full of questions to answer, but she doesn’t pick up her pen. The light coming from the lamp illuminates her face and highlights her eyes, and it also is the only light source in the room. There is only darkness behind her, symbolizing her feeling of unwillingness and frustration. A small glow of sun rays peeks into the room, symbolizing a hope to escape from this boring study.

 

The delivery worker is staring intently at his phone as another order pops up. It is still bright and we can see the blue sky and the crossroad clearly. No cars are zipping around him, as everyone respects and appreciates and clears way for him. From this picture we can see the hardship of his career and the respect he his paid (stark contrast).

 

The volunteer in white is sitting alone on open ground. His job is to do Covid testing for the people living in the compound, however, nobody is showing up. He sat under the tree shade in frustration and kept on waiting. The tree shade is a reflection of his sadness.

CONTENT

The subject of the photograph is a man wearing a black scarf and a blue shirt.

In this photograph, the man is directly (as well as sadly) looking into the camera, his head is slightly tilting to the right, the black scarf covered up his chin, the light is on the top half of the wall as well as his forehead and a bit on his eyes and cheek, and he is standing rather to the right of the image and not in the middle.

The background of this photograph is all blue.  The light is only on the top half of the wall, which is a lighter blue, while the bottom half is a darker blue (the shadow).

PHOTOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES

The photographer’s point of view is as a person viewing the situation, the fact that the subject is experiencing sadness.

When I looked at the photograph, my eyes were drawn to the eyes of the subject.

The photo’s background is blue. Blue is the color that shows calmness. Blue has also the meanings of sadness and sorrow, and that maybe is what the subject is experiencing. The scarf that the subject is wearing is black, and black has the meanings of mourning, death and sadness.

When I look away and look back at the photograph again, what catches my eyes first is the eyes of the subject. I think they stand out most is because the subject is looking directly at the camera, and when I look at the photograph a feeling arises that the subject is looking into my eyes, and he is conveying the sadness to me.

MEANING AND INTENT

This picture makes me feel sad. The subject’s eyes are conveying sadness to me, the colors blue and black are also colors of sadness and sorrow. Also, the subject is not in the middle, and the light is only on the top half of the wall.

The photographer that I would like to choose is Iwona Pinkowicz.

In her photographs, Pinkowicz conveys her subjects’ emotions and feelings through the eyes, the background, facial expressions, and lighting.

There are similar techniques in Pinkowicz’s photographs. When she is photographing someone who is helpless and sorrowful, she usually shoots the image from the sides so that the subject is not directly looking at the camera. The background is usually made grey or blue, and the lighting is dark. However, when she is photographing someone who is joyful and excited, she usually shoots the image from the front so the subject is looking into the camera and smiling. The background is usually made colorful or beautiful and peaceful, and she sheds light on the subject, especially the face, the eyes.

Her photographs really inspire me because I have chosen to take photographs of people who are stressed out during the COVID-19 pandemic. These images show me the different ways that I can shoot an image, and how to reflect my subject’s emotions through the lighting and the background. In my project, I will try out the techniques of playing with lights and shadows, and the background. Also trying to shoot from various angles. Pinkowicz photographs people who are both joyful and sorrowful. Since I am photographing a group of people who are stressed out, I can use her techniques of shooting, lighting, and background.

In these four images, the photographer artfully used the lighting technique. She changed the lighting in the first image so that the light landed on the boy’s face, highlighting his eyes. In the second, the light came from outside the window, illuminating the dark room inside. The snow outside and the dark room inside skillfully reflects the despair and sadness that the little girl is experiencing. In the third image, the woman is looking down at her left shoulder, and her hair and eyelashes are decorated with different colors. The light on her face and upper body reflects her beauty. In the last image, the man is smiling at the camera. The background is blurred and dark compared to the subject. The light on his face highlights his smile and his happiness.

Task 5:

My mood board:

Task 6:

The title of my project is Stress in Everyday Life. The societal issue that I would like to explore with my photographs is stress. I want my audience to feel empathetic to the subjects that are feeling stress since it is part of our lives every day. I will get  inspiration and develop my ideas by looking at photographs that focus on emotions, eyes, body languages, backgrounds, and lighting.

Finding a focus:

For my identity project, I would like to explore different emotions using differing techniques of photography in portraiture.

Image inspiration:

On the internet, I found some photographers with various techniques of portraiture: Nirav Patel, Joe McNally, Jovana Rikalo, and Annie Leibovitz. They all have different techniques: light and shadow, colors, backgrounds, reflections, and some of them even use black-and-white contrast. Some techniques are common among them: the focus on the eyes, the facial expressions, the body language, and the placement of the hands.

Some ideas that I have about emotions are that some of the subjects can have deadpan expressions, or maybe cool poses, and for the rest, some happy, some sad, and some nervous.

 

Portraiture is a graphic and detailed description of a subject, especially a person.

If the selfie is a graphic and detailed representation of oneself, it can become portraiture.

In a portrait, the eyes, facial expressions, body movement, and background should be included. Things that do not contribute to the representation of the identity of the subject should not be included.

In a good portrait, the subject’s emotions are expressed fully, through the eyes, the facial expressions, the body movement/pose, and the background. The audience/viewer can infer clearly what message the photographer is trying to send out.

If a photo only consists of a close-up shot of a hand, unless it suggests something about the subject, it is not a portrait.

When an abstract photograph cannot clearly show the characteristics or the emotions of the subject, then it ceases to be a portrait.

Using still-life objects can surely still represent a person, though it might be a bit difficult to understand. As long as the objects can represent a person well, they can still be called portraits.

A portrait can surely be a sequence of images, as long as they are relevant to the subject and the emotions and characteristics of that subject.

 

 

 

Uta Barth, Andreas Gursky, and Albert Renger-Patzsch have all inspired my project. Uta Barth helped me to be able to shower my photos with light, and the last photo of my triptych represents her style. Andreas Gursky helped me to learn about geometric patterns and vertical/curvy lines, and I used the formal elements in the first photograph of my triptych. Albert Renger-Patzsch uses a style of black-and-white colors with geometric patterns, multiple layers, and different lines leading to one point inside/outside of the photograph to make the lines look longer and more persistent. The second photo of my triptych represents this style.

 

My images link to the inspirational images by using similar styles and using geometric patterns by different artists.

 

I have explored more in the subject of abstraction to help me with this project. I tried multiple layers, multiple lines pointing to one dot, curving cutting lines, vertical/horizontal lines, and repeating geometric patterns. I also mixed in the black-and-white- color style and the showering-photo-with-light style to add on to my previous works.

 

This triptych reflects my theme of abstraction. Abstraction is beautiful, it can provide us with a different angle to view this world, and it can also reflect the artist’s feeling very well. Adding on the black-and-white colors and the light makes the works more prominent. I chose one picture out of each of my three sets, and put them together to form my triptych, so I can compare which style works best for me.

 

My overall strengths are that I stick to the theme of abstract pictures, and incorporated different formal elements into one picture.

 

 

 

 

These are the three photographs that I want to choose for my presentation of my triptych. All three images share a common feature, the feature of abstraction, in different colors. I took the first image in a park near my compound, and there were trees lined up in geometric patterns further away, and the running/walking tracks nearer to the eye. The trees stood erect with patterns of vertical lines, and the curves of the two tracks started from the bottom of the picture and they seem like they are endless. I took the second picture at ISB when going further down the hallway near the visual arts center. The angle of the photograph reflects the endlessness of the hallway, and all lines gather together, pointing towards the same dot somewhere outside the picture, which again makes the hallway feel endless. I took the last picture last weekend when visiting a park an hour away from where I live. It was a trip to climb a mountain outside of Chaoyang, and the hill was breathtakingly beautiful. When we came down from the mountain, we visited a temple, and the photo was taken there. The line that the rock forms and the line that the trees form point to a dot outside of the photo, which makes the photo look like it is extending endlessly. Also, the photo was showered in light, which represents Uta Barth’s style.

These are the 26 “yellow” photographs that I have chosen from my album. The reason why I chose these as my yellow ones is that they all fit Albert Renger-Patzsch’s style of photography, he usually takes black-and-white photos.

Out of the 26 “yellow” photographs, I chose 10 “green” ones. Green means that they are good abstract photographs. My photographs included elements such as geometric patterns, multiple layers, and lines that all point to one dot in the picture. They are all forms of good abstract photographs, so they are my green picks.

From the 10 “green” pictures, I selected the 4 best ones that I labeled “red”. Red photographs are the ones that are really excellent, or attractive to the eye. The first photograph shows multiple layers, and the lines all point to one dot in the picture. The second picture also shows multiple layers, it is about the bushes right outside of the cafeteria window. The third picture is my favorite, because it used the one-third rule, it is black and white, and there are beautiful shapes and lines present in this photograph.

I chose this image because I really like his style of taking photographs. His tone is light, with occasional black colors here and there. A part of it is nicely blocked by the white wall, but we can imagine the staircase twirling up. A curvy line cuts neatly up the wall, forming a geometric pattern on the handle. Same for the staircase in the distance. This image has multiple layers.

This photograph is interesting and a bit surprising because the near circle on the ceiling looks like a mouth at first glance with all the columns in a geometric pattern. Also, it takes a few seconds to realize that he is photographing two staircases.

I think the most important formal element is the tone of this image because it reflects the attitude of the photographer toward the object. It seems like he really likes the staircase since the white color occupied most of the photograph, with occasional black colors. And it also looks like he adores staircases very much.

His photograph is abstract because there are geometric patterns on the handle and the stairs of the staircase. Also, as mentioned above, his staircase at the top really looks like a mouth on a ceiling.

I like his style of splitting his image following the one third rule, using geometric patterns and a clear tone in his photographs.

This piece of work really inspires me because then I know that I can photograph even the most everyday things and turn them into a piece of art. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, it can just be a ordinary staircase. I will focus more on the tone of my photos, the geometric patterns, and using rules such as the one third rule and maybe even some outstretching lines, and less on the object of my photographs.

Albert Renger-Patzsch’s photographs have 5 characteristics:

•  Very dark tones usually (black and white pictures with no color)
• Abstraction—Geometric patterns
• Multiple layers
• light and shadow
• different formal elements

 

Albert Renger-Patzsch usually takes his photographs with a very dark tone, with only black and white as his colors. He is also interested in abstraction since his photographs are full of geometric patterns. Some of his photos have multiple layers, with the nearer objects larger and the further objects smaller. The angles are also very well-picked, with light showering part of the object and darkness casting over the other side, and shadows are also behind or beside the objects. Last but not least, there are diverse formal elements, such as curve lines, diagonal straight lines, horizontal/vertical straight lines, and circles.

 

The reason why I have chosen Albert Renger-Patzsch as my photographer is that I really like his style of taking photographs. His layers are very clear, and he takes abstract photos with geometric patterns. Also, his color really reflects how he thinks. His photos are usually of a very dark tone as mentioned above, sometimes light with white or yellow as its main color, and that reflects his attitude. He is also very good at using lines. Curve and straight lines neatly cut across the image, and separating the geometric patterns from each other or from other parts of the image.

 

Nature, after all, is not so poor that she requires constant improvement. —Albert Renger-Patzsch

I particularly like this quote by Albert Renger-Patzsch because it really reflects his attitude of nature. He usually takes photographs of nature, he really loves nature and really reflects her beauty by taking different pictures. This quote tells us that nature needs to be improved constantly, just like we do. We also need constant improvement in our range of photography, to reflect the improvement of nature. I would like to follow him and take more photographs of nature, and constantly improve myself.

 

These are the 22 “yellow” photographs that I have chosen from my album. The reason why I chose these as my yellow ones is that they are all abstract pictures that I took in 798.

Out of the 22 “yellow” photographs, I chose 10 “green” ones. Green means that they are good abstract photographs. My photographs included elements such as shadow and silhouette, geometric patterns, and lines that all point to one dot in the picture. They are all forms of good abstract photographs, so they are my green picks.

From the 10 “green” pictures, I selected the 4 best ones that I labeled “red”. Red photographs are the ones that are really excellent, or attractive to the eye. The one with three silhouettes is my favorite because it only shows the outline of the subjects, so it really gives the people who look at the photographs room to think and imagine. The photos with the perfume bottles and the floor are really cool geometric patterns, very special and unique, and really grabs people’s attention. The last one is the stairs outside of the little yogurt store. It has different colors on it, and it also has geometric patterns.

 

This image’s layers are very clear, and it also has geometric patterns of ice in the sea. In my mind, this photo’s very unique because it plays very well with the light. It also shows that the photographer adores the sea and ice very much.

The most important formal element in this photograph is the tone of the photo because it shows the photographer’s attitude toward the sea. The tone of the photograph is light, since the whole image is showered in light, and the author selected the colors blue and white, with a little grey in the distance.

Gursky’s photographs are abstract because they are often of geometric patterns. Also, they are often out of focus, which makes it difficult to see the subjects of his photographs. I like his style of photographing, because the layers are very clear, and the choice of colors are very good as well.

Learning his style of photography, I can now make better photographs. I can start with making my layers more prominent and selecting my colors carefully. Incorporating geometric patterns and making my photographs out of focus can also be what I will work on.

 

Andreas Gursky Photographs

Andreas Gursky’s photographs have 5 main characteristics:

• Multiple Layers
• Rule of thirds
• Abstraction with geometric shapes and patterns
• Light tone
• Low in contrast (light)

Andreas Gursky is famous for his photographs having multiple layers. When he shoots his photographs, he often selects an angle that can illustrate the different layers conspicuously. He is also interested in separating his photographs by the rule of thirds, vertically or horizontally. Abstract photography is his main field since he usually shoots photographs of buildings, crowds, or other scenes that have geometric shapes and patterns. The tone of his photographs is light, with white in most of his photographs. The subjects of his photographs are low in contras, as they are all showered with light.

 

The reason that I have chosen this photographer is that he usually photographs crowds of people, which is related to my topic of loving your life, since when people gather together in a crowd, they usually enjoy being together, therefore they love and enjoy their lives. Also, this photographer displays abstraction and the use of light, which are the areas that I will explore in the future.

 

Quote: Vision is an intelligent form of thought—Andreas Gursky

The reason why I chose this quote is because it is true for every circumstance. Everything we think we can use vision to reflect it for other people to see. This quote helps us understand the photographer’s work by telling us that he is using his photographs to reflect his thoughts, so we can see and read his thoughts through the photographs that he has taken.

 

 

 

Statement of intent:

Love and Enjoy Life

The main message of my triptych is that we should love and enjoy our lives. There is a reason that we came to this world, and it is to enjoy the feeling of living and making our lives better. I want my audience to appreciate the fact that they are alive and to stay happy when they see my presentation. For inspiration, I will look at photographs of silhouettes and shadows, no matter if it is of people or of other objects and living souls. In my mind, we should cherish our lives and try to make lives better. By staying happy and optimistic all the time, we can see the beauty of life and we can share that with other people to let them realize the pleasure of being alive.

 

 

The first picture is best represented by lines and shapes (the two rectangles). For the second picture, there is a square, the 4 lines that formed the square, so it is best represented by lines and shape. In the third picture, there are many tiny little dots that forms a pattern, so for the third one, patterns and shape is the best representation. For number 4 and 5, lines and shape and pattern are the three elements that are the best representation, since the lines form shapes and shapes form patterns. Number 6 has a circle in the middle of the page, so line and shape are the best representations since the curved line forms the shape, the circle. Number 7 has lines that are perpendicular to each other to form squares, therefore, lines and shapes best represent this picture. There are many little circles that form a pattern for number 8, they are arranged neatly, hence, shape and pattern are the best representations of the picture. Number 9 is just like number 7, since both have perpendicular lines to form little squares. Lines and shapes will also be the two elements that best represent this image. For number 10 and 11, there are only two lines, but they successfully form a shape with parts of the two /three sides of the square, therefore lines and shape are the best representations of the images. And last but not least, for number 12, there are many horizontal lines in the photo, therefore lines are the best representation of the image.

Photos representing icons

There are certainly some pictures that I took well and some that I didn’t.  For instance, for number 1, 5, 7, 9, and 12, I gave out the correct outlines, the elements that should be represented in the 5 images. As for the other images, some of them I didn’t capture the best image to represent them (like number 8 and 12), and some were not very appropriate (like # 3)

There are three things that the photographer might have been interested in capturing: the patterns of the shadows, the curve of the table, and the contrast of different tones.

The photograph is mainly about the shadow, the table, and the patterns, hence, I would title it The Silhouette on the Table if I were the photographer.

Something unusual about the photograph is that the direction of the source of the light is interesting. It could come from the right and the top.

The photographer used mainly straight lines, and he used one curved line. As for the shape, there are many quadrilaterals in the pattern, and the shape of the table is pretty unique in the picture: it forms a nice cut. There are mainly two patterns: the pattern on the table, and the pattern on the left side of the photograph. The table seems very smooth, while the left side of the photo, maybe a wall, seems rough. The left side of the photograph is darker and the right side is lighter, and the pattern on the left seems a bit grey, while the pattern on the right is almost white. Lastly, the picture is very in focus, which makes the contrast between the two sides more obvious.

I really love how the shadow forms distinct patterns, and how the curve of the table is used to separate the two patterns.

In photography, formal elements mean the elements that can demonstrate form. Line: lines are the most fundamental elements of photography. There are mainly 3 types of lines: vertical lines, horizontal lines, and diagonal lines. Each type has a different meaning behind it. Shapes are the second most fundamental element of photography. All of the shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles) can be made into photos, as long as we have the right angle. With shapes and lines as our base, we can now make patterns or repetition, always repeating the same shape or shapes in a pattern. There are also textures that we can take photos of: rough textures like on the roof, or soft, smooth textures like the table. Adjusting the tones is also very important. Actually, tones and focus are not that different. If your tone is blurry, then it is not in focus, which contributes a lot to abstract photography. One photograph can actually show multiple elements. For instance this image below. It shows a diagonal line and a vertical line, it shows shapes in patterns, and this picture is out of focus as well.

When we take photos, we tend to try to understand the objects that we are shooting better, which deepens the bond. Pictorialism is when you reinvent photography into art and focus on beauty, tonality, and composition. Abstract art is the art that does not have a direct relationship with real-life objects. Albert Renger-Patzsch was 12 when he first started to make photographs. In the early 1920s, he worked as a press photographer for the Chicago Tribune, and then he became a freelancer. In 1925 he published his first book, “The Choir Stalls of Cappenberg”, and another book, “The World is Beautiful” in 1928. He had his first museum exhibition in Lübeck in 1927. From his photographs on DX, I guess that Albert Renger-Patzsch liked to photograph objects that are in nature (trees and flowers), objects that we normally use like glass cups, and buildings. “The World is Beautiful” was the title for his second book. I think it is because he really loves nature, and whatever he encounters, and he takes photos of them to prove that the world is truly beautiful. Edward Weston decided to move away from pictorialism to the new Straight photography movement, I guess it is because Stielgliz became more and more popular, and Renger-Patzsch and the others were greatly influenced by him, so Weston decided to join in.  Aaron Siskind combined “straight photography” (full of details) and abstraction to create a new type of photography. Henry Fox Talbot,  Louis Daguerre, and Henry Peach Robinson were all influenced by straight photography. Andreas Gursky’s photographs can be considered abstract because he never films photos of real-world stuff. He usually creates lines of all kinds, and he also creates photos of different shapes. As for Uta Barth, he usually photographs things in a blur, so his work is also very abstract. I don’t think they are straight photographers, since they do not film the photos through the lens that they see it.                                                 

 

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Abstract photography is the category of photographs that do not clearly relate to real-world objects, kind of distorted so you don’t know what the subject is. They are created using various different techniques and different equipment and materials.

Why do we need rules when we are taking a photo? To make the photo look good, and make the theme of the photo clear.

Some important rules are the golden ratio, making your subject in focus, the rules of thirds, and negative space.

But do we really need to follow the rules all the time? Not really. Sometimes it would be okay to break the rules. For example, if you want to create space in your photo, but one rule says that you should make use of negative space, it is ok to break the rule because it has limited your scope, and it can not lead to the result that you want.

It is possible to break rules if you don’t know they exist. When you don’t know rules exist, it is likely that you will do whatever you wish, but you might break rules without noticing that you are doing it because you don’t know that they are there.

There are some pictures deemed as “bad” and some pictures deemed as “good”, but I think some “bad” pictures can also be “good” because there really isn’t a rule defining “good” and “bad”, and although one picture may not look good, it might be really good at explaining the theme, so it can be a good photo.

 

Context is important. If we don’t know about the context, we do not understand why the photo is taken that way, but there must be a reason why. Without the context we will not know the reason.

Here are my cool “Wrong” photos:

Photography homework