contact sheet

Blue, green and red photos

My work is incomplete due to the lack of resources and inspiration. There aren’t many daily activities that I can acquire images of, and the impacts of covid aren’t that significant to daily indoor life, outdoor life for me isn’t all that different either, since I don’t often go outside.

Favorite photo:

This is my favorite photo because sleeping for me is a great way to release stress built up over the past few days, and due to the impacts of covid, I have the chance to sleep a bit more during week days, and sleep in during weekends, because all classes are now canceled.

Least favorite photo:

The camera angle could’ve been better, and it’s not something that I do daily. I also found this image to be kind of creepy, because I would find it disgusting if I found out someone is taking photos of me drinking coffee first thing in the morning.

I don’t have a second set.

triptych identity

The title of my project is “Life During Pandemic”, which revolves around the issue of the global pandemic, and how it affects the daily life of an introvert (me). I took photos of activities I would do on a normal day during the pandemic, staying mostly indoors, since I only go outside to take covid tests. Other examples of things I would do include reading, feeding my cats, exercising, gaming, etc. I didn’t take photos of food, because I find that simply disgusting.

Critique:

The artist that inspired my set was Katy Grannan, who captured images of people and background to describe the impact of PTSD on the lives of Iraq war veterans. The artist inspired me because the theme of my set was to describe the impact of covid on the daily life of a high school student (me, in this case). I needed to include the people and background because I needed to show the changes that covid brought.

To be honest, I think I did horribly. Due to the lack of resources, time and inspiration, I couldn’t get that many photos done, and most of them was simply me on the computer. On the photos where I am going outside, am outside, or am coming back, I intentionally wore airpods, hoping that the audience gets the idea that I dislike interacting with the outside world, and prefer to stay cooped up in my room.

As I took photos, I realized that there wasn’t that large of an impact than I imagined, it was simply that we had to stay at home, and wear masks as we go out. Maybe it hardly impacted me, because I dislike going outside for longer periods of time.

For my final series of images, I decided to choose at least one picture that involved indoors, outdoors, and my personal favorite of all the sets. The photo involving indoors was a photo of me in class, describing how online learning worked out. The photo involving outdoors was me coming back from covid testing, hinting that at this time, covid tests are the only reason I need to go outside. My favorite photo was a photo of me sleeping, it sounds creepy, and I felt creeped out as I was taking a photo of it. This was my favorite photo because I like sleeping, it calms my mind and relieves stress that built up during the day, which is why I like sleeping.

I don’t think there were any strengths in my project. My house is big and pretty empty, so I don’t fill up the entire image, I could try cropping it so that I was in the center, but then it was blurry and simply looked strange. Also I don’t do much on a normal day, so there was hardly any inspiration.

For future projects, I definitely need more resources, time and inspiration. I could also maybe try to find ways to ensure that I don’t leave too much empty space.

Portraiture is a type of photography aimed towards capturing the personality of a person or a group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops and poses. The difference between a portrait and a selfie is that selfies are direct and people can see exactly what you want to portray through your picture; whereas a portrait is more like a story that’s open for interpretation. There are 5 core elements that make up a good portrait: location, lighting, composition, emotion and technical settings. When all 5 elements are executed, the result is a great portrait. If any of the 5 elements come up short, the portrait’s quality suffers.

Mind map:

https://padlet.com/ryanyao/s0v0955bc9n3r48f

Finding a focus:

My focus will be about the issue of covid-19, which relates to my introvert identity. The issue is connected to my introvert identity because of the concept of quarantine which confines people in their homes, which is the perfect environment for introverts such as myself, as well as having to wear masks when going out, this way I can hide my face from the public and be able to feel like a background character.

Image inspiration:

One photo that inspired me is the photo above. Not much can be inferred about the character shown in the photo, but she’s wearing a mask, which makes me come to the conclusion that this photo is being taken during the covid-19 pandemic. I think will expand on this idea of masks, maybe using different kinds of common designs, such a the one shown in the photo. In addition to this, I think I’ll also take photos at home with my computer on an app such as Microsoft Teams to represent online learning, and I might wear some sleepwear and make my hair messier for additional effects. I’ll also wear dark clothes and wear a hoodie as a means to demonstrate gloominess and reservation.

Mood board:

Statement of intent:

The title of my project will be “Life During Pandemic”, which true to its name, will revolve around the issue of the pandemic and how it affects daily life both indoors and outdoors and revolves around my identity as an introvert.

Photographer: Sara Corbett

Sara Corbett captures images of people and the background environment to describe the impact of PTSD on the lives of Iraq war veterans.

The reason why I chose this photographer in particular is because I think her style would work well with the idea I have for my first set. My first set will be relevant to the issue of covid-19, mainly how the pandemic impacts life indoors and outdoors. Because of this, I need to include the background environment to show where I am and how covid-19 affects this place.

I couldn’t find photos.

triptych

Title: Monochrome in Nature – The contrast of black and white in nature.

The reason why I chose these specific red photos is because I believe these three best expresses my vision out of both sets I’ve done. I very much liked how well they came out to be, especially the ones on the left and right. I used a filter called Stage Light Mono, which illuminates a certain region of the photo with a stage light, hence the name. I like how the use of Stage Light Mono gave the two photos a specific section of the same object stand out more.

Final evaluation:

The artist that inspired my project is Keld Helmer Petersen, my photographs adopt his photos’ use of black and white contrast. Unlike him however, I take photos of both organic such as plants, as shown in the triptych, and inorganic objects such as buildings. In my previous set, I used the idea of blurring the background to give the viewer the idea that the focused section is the main object of focus. This set, I used the same idea on certain photos, instead of blurring the rest, I used a stage light filter to illuminate the object I want the viewers to focus on. The method I used to choose my red photos were mostly to see how well the photo expressed my vision, then I chose the ones that looked best for my final triptych. I think my ideas are alright, but I don’t properly explain my full idea, and my actual photos come out differently than my initial vision. I have confidence in my ability to choose sceneries, but that’s just about it. In future projects, I think I will need to work on fully explaining my ideas, and probably use different effects to create seemingly diverse images.

Selecting an artist:

Photographer: Keld Helmer Petersen

Photo characteristics:

• Black and white contrast
• Inorganic environment
• Negative space
• Patterns
• Shape

If you can, find a quotation:

I probably can’t.

Respond to an image:

•Why did you choose this image in particular?

I chose this image because the formal elements displayed in this photo are more obvious than the rest.

•What do you find surprising or unusual about this photograph?

I find it unusual that there is only one shade of black and one shade of white.

•Look carefully and choose ONE of the Formal Elements that you think is important in the photograph (E.g. Focus, Light, Line, Repetition, Shape, Texture, Value/Tone).

I think the most important formal element in the photograph is value/tone

•Describe why you think it is important (2 or 3 sentences)

There are only two tones in this image.

•In what ways are your chosen artist’s photographs abstract?

Keld Helmer Petersen’s photos are not images of the natural environment, they’re more artificial. With the addition of black and white tones, it becomes harder to identify the object in the photo, making it abstract.

•What do you like about the style? Be specific and explain your answer.

One thing I like about this style is the black and white characteristic shared by all photos from this photographer.

•How will you adapt this style to your own photography? How does the image/artist inspire YOU?

I can try to adapt Keld Helmer Petersen’s style to form my own style of photography.

Revising my vision:

After analyzing Keld Helmer Petersen’s photo, I realize that I somewhat agree to his style. I don’t believe my vision requires any altering of any sort.

What will your message be?

My message will be ‘To create a colorless masterpiece.’

How will you show this message with your photography?

I will show this message by capturing images of various objects that lack color or have them removed through effects, applying skills I learned in photography to assist me.

What techniques, styles, subjects will you include?

My style will mainly be on tone and focus, the techniques may vary.

What will your message be?

My message is “Nothing is too plain”.

How will you show this message with your photography?

I will take pictures of very basic items such as a water bottle, and apply the skills I learned in photography to make them look beautiful.

When my audience looks at my final presentation, I want them to understand that anything and everything can look good, it only depends on how much effort you put in to make it look good. I would also like my audience to appreciate the fruits of my labor.

What techniques, styles, subjects will you include?

My style may change from time to time, but I mainly want to use tone and focus. My techniques may also vary, depending on what the object of focus is, and how I want it to look.

Selecting an artist:

Photographer: Uta Barth

Photo characteristics:

• Most lack an object of focus
• Theme of light and space
• Contrasting color
• Focus points aren’t clear (If any)
• Use of dark tones as converging lines

The artist’s style is to use out of focus pictures, mainly letting the audience focus on the quality of the photo’s lighting instead of the quality of the object, the ladder part has been shown since some of Uta Barth’s pictures don’t actually have an object of focus.

I chose this photographer because they mostly relate to my current vision, which is to prove that anything and everything can look beautiful with the help of ambience.

If you can, find a quotation:

I probably can’t.

Respond to an image:

•Why did you choose this image in particular?

I chose this image to analyze because of the unique traits shown in this image compared to other photos.

•What do you find surprising or unusual about this photograph?

I find it unusual that this photo doesn’t have an object of focus.

•Look carefully and choose ONE of the Formal Elements that you think is important in the photograph (E.g. Focus, Light, Line, Repetition, Shape, Texture, Value/Tone).

I think the most important formal element shown in this photo are the lines of this image.

•Describe why you think it is important (2 or 3 sentences)

The image mostly consists of light colors, with dark lines drawing an outline around the shapes. I feel that without these lines, the image would consist of all white.

•In what ways are your chosen artist’s photographs abstract?

Uta Barth’s are deliberately out of focus to draw attention to the quality of the image’s lighting instead of the object the photo describes.

•What do you like about the style? Be specific and explain your answer.

One thing I like about this specific style is that it’s unique and has characteristics compared to other photographers.

•How will you adapt this style to your own photography? How does the image/artist inspire YOU?

I can try to adapt this style to my own form of photography by imitating the methods Uta Barth uses for her photos.

Revising my vision:

After carefully analyzing Uta Barth’s vision, I realize that I don’t completely agree with her. Nonetheless, I believe that my vision doesn’t require any revisions of any sort. Uta Barth’s idea of out of focus photos might prove to be somewhat helpful to me.