Identity – Portraiture
A portrait is when the subject, along with the background, connects the viewer and the photograph. It often captures a person’s identity, personality, characteristics, group of people, or object. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. They are frequently commissioned for special occasions such as certificates, weddings, or commercial purposes. However, selfies are not the exact same as portraits. Selfies not only display a picture of yourself, but it entails your own story, it is very direct, and people can see exactly what you want to portray. On the other hand, the story is shown through elements such as lights and shadows onto the subject, open to interpretation. A portrait cannot involve any complex background other than the subject, plus it should be focused. 
A good portrait draws attention to the subject; for example, have the person making eye contact with the camera so that the details can be well present. (See example on the left.) The emotion that the photographer wants to convey should be clear and significant enough for the audience to identify. Moreover, an appealing portrait also needs to include a curious location, beautiful lighting, and pleasing composition, such as following the rule of thirds. 
Portraits are paintings, photographs, sculptures, or other artistic representations of the subject, but a portrait cannot only be a small detail but it doesn’t show the subject’s characteristics. Close-up photos are considered more of the abstract field. When an abstract photo of a person transforms from blurred to clear, with many decorations to only the subject, etc., it ceases to become a portrait. (See example on the right.) Also, it is possible to represent a person photographically without them being present in the image, for example, painting or an arrangement of inanimate objects. Since portrait photographs refer to capturing the essence, personality, identity, and attitude of a person utilizing backgrounds, lighting, and posing, they can be in many forms, single portraits and a series of single portraits; they each can have a different perspective, but every one of them is called a portrait. Portraiture is a way to record the appearance of someone, but portraits have always been more than just a record. They have shown power, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, taste, learning, and many other qualities.
Mindmap:
Link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/WechatIMG786.jpeg
My mindmap is a brief view of my identity. It basically includes what form me, for example, 
my culture and the places I’ve been where I enjoy. The societal issue of my project is stereotypes. The whole idea or concept is to dispel the doubts of stereotypes of people. Every person worldwide has a different look, either based on their gender, culture, or even clothing. But many people tend to have stereotypes according to their “identity.” For example, girls are more likely to wear dresses and boys to wear suits; or the people in a specific country should not have curly hair or wear jewelry. An artist that inspires me is John Kobal, who is known as a Hollywood portrait photographer. An example of his work can be a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, a famous actress. This photo is in black and white, which matches the time period it was taken (1961), and Hepburn’s role in the famous movie “My Fair Lady.” Since John Kobal is a photographer who has taken many portraits for Hollywood movies, he has seen all kinds of characters worldwide, which corresponds to my concept of revealing the different identities of humans based on their gender, culture, and outfit. Moreover, Kobal’s collection also informs me that a person’s look can also indicate their personality, as an example, apart from posing, if a person has a smile on their face, it might show that they are an outgoing and optimistic person, compared to one that looks slightly serious.
I got my inspiration first when researching the concept of portraiture, and then I found a picture of a young lady with very short hair, and it did not decrease any artistic feeling since the stereotype for girls might be long hair. The characteristics of a person should not determine his/her roles. Every human is an independent specie, they have their own choice, and life shouldn’t be dependent on the way you look.
Be yourself!
Mood board:
file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/photograhy%20mood%20board.pdf
Artist: Tim Walker.
Timothy Walker was born in 1970; he is a British fashion photographer who regularly works for a magazine company in London. He has since become well-known for his otherworldly, surrealist, and occasionally grotesque images, both in fashion and portraiture. His message is: In a world of uncertainty, the ability to escape it all is a truly wonderful 
thing. Throughout, the artifacts are displayed alongside the photographic work that they inspired, lending the objects that ignited Walker’s imagination a certain talismanic quality. Walker rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with his highly imaginative and fantastical photographs inspired by his love of fairy tales. He thinks that: “In a world of uncertainty, the ability to escape it all is a truly wonderful thing.” Every fantastical scene is created with props, and all the meticulously crafted tableaux existed at some point. Walker strives to create his pictures with what he calls “the parameters of the impossible.” – something has to be physically, rather than digitally, possible for the picture to register with the viewer.
Among all photos taken by Tim Walker, most of them are usually with a single model that is been decorated with special clothes and props. Many of his photos are also unique because it involves abnormal ornaments and techniques such as poker, flowers, animals, etc. Inspired by the unique aura of 30 Montagne, Walker has created a series celebrating this special place; an important symbol of his photos is expressed in poetic and minimalist decoration. For example, photographs of Christian Dior are with iconic creations that embody Dior’s elegance, including the “bar” jacket.
Moreover, Walker’s unique style of photographs doesn’t only show in clothes and decorations. One of his portraits, taken in 2018, uses a very simple background of just white, murky water. Even the model wears white clothes and gloves that partially hide underneath the water, creating a pure tone for the picture. Similarly, not much makeup was added to the face of the model, no fancy hairstyle, which also generates feelings of despair, and absence. The lighting for this photo is also from natural lights, which gives a fairly calm tone, not too dark, and also not overexposed.
Tim Walker’s photography style relates to my portrait idea/concept by containing a variety of elements. Sometimes the setup and clothing are also contradictory but don’t affect much on the view of the photo. When such elements get included in photos, it generates a deeper story, which gives the audience more space for imagination. According to my own concept, which is stereotyping people based on their status, gender, and culture, this photo (on the right) clearly represents the style I want in my set of portraits. Here, the model dressed up like a nobleman and with an elegant posture. However, she had a cigarette in her mouth, which sometimes may be categorized as a male’s behavior. The picture successfully shows the contracting two sides of humans’ gender, which is analogous to the concept of my portrait set.
Set 1:
My sketch
One of my ideas (shown above) is having a girl be my model, wearing clothes that are often stereotyped by gender. The setup can be on the street, with gray walls. If not possible, then we can edit the background afterward. The model should wear ballet clothing, especially in the color pink, to show the side of girls. She also needs to wear an oversized suit in dark colors such as black or brown to show the side of the other gender. I needed to include equally arranged elements to keep the photo balanced, so I added a cap, or perhaps more of a cool cap that shows the contrast between ballet suits and men’s suits. My future photos might not be the exact same as my sketch, but I will try to use available clothes and props to create the best I can.
My photos:
Full contact sheet: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/Identity%20set%201.pdf
Starting from my vision of “the beauty of odds”, now I narrowed it down to my concept—gender stereotypes. I applied a variety of different techniques to all of my photos. For example, applying various lighting, adjusting the poses to further indicate my message, and also verifying my clothes to make sure every one of the links to my concept for this project. The reason for that is to put together gender-stereotyped values and create a mixed-gender view of the picture, which is my concept for the project. The style of this set kind of leans toward “old-fashion.” Especially in the field of lighting, many of my photos use filters of dark, yellow lighting to pretend they occurred in the 80s or 90s. Moreover, I also involved some Chinese elements within the 30 photos, such as a famous type of clothes—“Qipao” for females around 1920, which I will explain the story behind it later in my red photos. Moreover, the poses and actions in my photos are also related to the idea I want to convey to my audience and the whole concept, for example, ballet movements, and kung fu poses, some show elegance, some represent power, etc. The image is taken under a variety of different artistic conceptions, based on the character’s pose and facial expression. For example, some of the photos have the character with a smile and some without; some reveal the smartness of the character, and some are wisecracking. They were generated from the story behind it, when the photo shows modern views then the character would consider being more “cute” instead of looking prim and dignified. The contrast is also without the help of editing, I used editing skills and filters to extrude the character herself and not the background; some complementary colors also extend the tension of the picture.
Blue photos:
Contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/1%20blues.pd
My blue photos are the ones I think stand out among all; they clearly show the use of elements of portraiture such as lighting, the rule of thirds (by editing), close-up shots, etc. My photo links to my artist Tim Walker, who uses unique props to create the contrast and interaction between the main character and the background. I had props such as the toy lion to represent strength, power, and masculinity. I also had basketball and high-heel shoes on the same person, which in some ways tells people sports are also available to girls, and boys shouldn’t be embarrassed if they wore dresses. The reason for that is to put together gender-stereotyped values and create a mixed-gender view of the picture, which is my concept for the project. My purpose is to show all kinds of stereotyping in my photos, which is sometimes anti-human in most people’s minds. You often see people’s strange looks when they see somebody dressing inconsistently against their gender, age, or culture. But they are part of the world.
In this case, I absorbed Walker’s message: “In a world of uncertainty, the ability to escape it all is a truly wonderful thing.” and turned it into my own photos. Relating to my artist’s message, I generated ideas such as “escaping from the ordinary,” which is to run away from the doubts of unfamiliar clothing. Among all of my photos, I had a few that uses my sister as a model, she is 6 years old, and kids are often represented with terms such as cute, innocent, etc. Thus, I had my sister wear a suit to show the maturity of her look and have her hold two dolls which kept her “kid-side.” Having her back in the photo also indicates that people shouldn’t be judging others on their looks but more on their personality. As you can see, many of my photos involve unique props that might not fit the atmosphere. It indicates that people should be more tolerant of all the weird, strange things in the world. Another example of stereotyping presented in my photo is the picture with a camera, my character in this picture is a photographer, and the message I want to display is that not just models who can be flashy, but the person taking the picture can also be conspicuous, which is another type of stereotyping. Not just about stereotyping, the main message of my project is to persuade people to:
“Never discriminate against a “Baroque” person (weirdo); they just don’t see the world the same way you do.”
Green photos:
Contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/1%20greens.pdf
My nine green photos are the ones that I think are most related to my concept of stereotyping. Each of them contains multiple perspectives that people might have based on the view of the photos. For example, the picture in the middle shows me wearing a blue dress that has flower decorations, my hair is braided with flower clips, and I have the action of putting on makeup. In contrast, I had cool shoes and a computer in my hand that represented sports and business. Many times, people will think that girls only want beauty; they only care about their looks. However, people shouldn’t be stereotyping men as business workers and girls just doing makeup at home. The general message is that both could exist at the same time, girls are capable of running businesses, and boys could wear makeup too! There is no such thing as gender requirements. Furthermore, I also adjusted the lighting to better present the tone of my pictures, such as warm and cold lighting, exposure to the character, shining light from one spot, etc. Some create an exciting tone, some highlight the subject, and some represent the only light among the dark.
In order to have a variety of techniques and the feel of the freshness in each photo, I had different angles pointing to the subject. Some are zoomed in, for example, in the seventh photo, the face of my model almost took up all the space in the picture. On the other hand, most other photos are zoomed out to clearly show the body of the model, especially her poses, her props, and her clothes. In my set of photos, the most important thing isn’t just the look, for example, the color of clothes, types of props, har style, etc. Every picture has its own story. The picture below is of my sister, she had a black cap and a pink jacket, which are a representation of boys and girls in shopping malls, stores, markets, etc. Having both in the picture relates to my concept of having mixed-gender clothing. I also asked my sister to give a cool facial expression to match the tone of the whole picture. In which girls don’t always have to wear dresses, wearing cool clothes, being simple can also look good. In addition, you don’t even half to look good, as long as you like it, enjoy it, it becomes the best. Every one of us is independent, we are up to ourselves, and there is no need to follow what others wear, say, and do. Again, be yourself!
Red photos:
These are my three red photos that show a direct relationship with my concept. Starting from the first photo, one of the reasons for me to create this photo is because I also play basketball. I really enjoyed it, and I think it is also an unforgettable experience being on the girl’s basketball team. Connecting to my vision, I thought that maybe mixing basketball with office lady will be an interesting idea to present gender stereotypes. The basketball in my hand is a symbol of masculinity, sports, and strength. On the other hand, my clothing as a young business lady represents the ability of females to make money and take care of themselves. From the posture of the character, it is clear that she shows complete confidence. Moreover, this photo also reflects the importance of learning all kinds of skills, so you can be able live the life you want, and not rely on others. The background of this photo is pretending to be some kind of fashion show or pictures in magazines, about models on red carpets. I also used mosaic to cover my face up, which implies that people should not judge others on their faces. And this also indicates that everyone is great enough to shine, and never feel inferior about the way they look.
Moving on to the second photo, I tried to jump out of the circle of gender stereotypes, and focused on the effects of this event. The general story was to pull someone out of the dark. Whereas many people are mentally impacted by the words about gender stereotypes, for example, people would say to a boy wearing a dress “why are you so girly?”, and to girls “can’t you just dress like a girl?” Thus, I tried my best not to include any elements that might imply the character’s gender, for example, I tied my hair up, not too long, and not too short. I also wore a white jacket, which I assume not to be biased in gender. Lastly, I had a mask on, also to give no clue about the gender of this character. Moving on to the lighting of this photo, I used a special effect to shine a few stripes of light onto the character, pretending to be the only light coming through the window, in a dark room. The character’s motion is also one of the major elements that link to the concept, which is showing how she is almost falling down, but still wants to reach up and survive, the light is also a representative of the invisible hand that pulls the character up. This further contributes to the message I want to convey in this photo, of how it is trying to pull someone out of the dark, and into the “bright” world, where everyone is nice, friendly, and respectful.
The last photo among the three is mainly about girls’ power. The character, which is me, wears Qipao (a type of clothes in early China) and holds a stick (pretending to be a sword or some kind of weapon). The story behind this picture starts with the society of ancient China. Before 1907, women are in a position/status that was far below men. In ancient China, men are the first choice in each family to receive an education, earn money for the family and be easier to get promoted. Most emperors in ancient China were family members of the previous emperor, people are always happy when a boy is born. Furthermore, girls at that time were mainly maid-servants, even the queen/empress have to submit to the emperor. Girls are not allowed to go to school, they can’t fight, all they do is take care of kids, do housework, etc. And it is rare to see female teachers, female doctors, or female bosses. Most of the time, girls can’t follow their hearts, they cannot marry who they loved, and they have to maintain the relationships between two families, or sometimes even two countries. In this case, the setting of my photo was the war between the character’s country and another, a woman that is holding a weapon, facing her enemies. She is not afraid to use her little strength to protect her country, even if she would die. The lighting of this photo, which is in those old pictures’ effects, reflects the time period of the picture. As you can see, the decoration on my head is also a popular hairstyle in the same period of the photo. The color of my clothe (Qipao) was green, representing peace and hope. She stands straight and directly stares at her enemies. Therefore, my message is that girls also have the power to protect who they loved, they are brave and sincere.
In my opinion, I successfully presented my message throughout the portraits I took. In which I used several techniques such as manipulating the light, wearing specific clothes, applying unique props, etc. In this set, I learned how to organize the arrangement of my photos, especially what should be taking up more space in the photo, and what needs to be presented clearly. However, I should be focusing on the clarity of parts of the model. For example, if I had props in my hands then that needed to be clear enough for the audience to see, or else the message or the tone may be unclear, thus it drags the quality of the whole photo. So I think I can take close-up shots of the character’s face, or at least the upper half of the model’s body. If I clearly showed the clothes, props, and facial expressions of my model, then it would be much better for my intended audience to feel the way I want them to feel. I am also looking forward to using fewer filters that might ruin the quality of the photo, for example, over-exposure, too dark, blurry, etc. And focusing on the nature lights, I might consider taking photos outside, in the garden, or using the sky as the background. I believe stepping out of my comfort zone will help me improve my skills in using a camera instead of a phone.
My favorite photo is the last picture of the three red photos. Which is stating girls’ power in the perspective of ancient China. All the elements involved in this picture, such as the clothing, hairstyle, lighting, props, and posture, match and supports the subject by reflecting the time period that the photo is in. The only distraction here would be the numbers on the left bottom of the picture, which is with the filter. But although it does not contribute to the subject, it still mirrors the tone of old pictures. I want my audience to focus on how the character’s posture and position show that she is confident. To makes this photo better, I could slightly change the angle from where the camera is, to show the facial expression of the character more precisely, so the audience wouldn’t have to guess based on the tone of the picture. The exposure clearly focuses on the upper half of the model, whereas the upper half is slightly brighter than the rest of the body. Moreover, I did not include any distracting background settings, so that my audience can be attracted more by the character itself. Although the light focused on the arms and face of the model, it is not a big contrast against the lower body. So the picture is still balanced in which we can clearly see the whole body but just focuses a bit more on the character’s face and motion. I turned the saturability a little off, so it would match the era in which the photo was pretending to be taken. This also related to my vision in terms of the props, most of the time when people wear this type of clothes, they would have a fan in their hand (not those electric ones) or a beautiful umbrella. Not much would have weapons and qipao in the same view. But this is precisely what I want to tell my audience, the kind of mixed gender view.
Set 2
Artist: Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou Leibovitz was born October 2, 1949), she is an American portrait photographer best known for her engaging, dramatic, portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Adept at capturing her subject’s personality and inner life, her images reflect intimate or staged moments that reveal the playful and expressive aspects of her sitters, Annie once said: “Everyone has a point of view. Some people call it style, but what we’re really talking about is the guts of a photograph. When you trust your point of view, that’s when you start taking pictures.” In 1970, she began working as a commercial photographer at Rolling Stone magazine and soon became the first woman to be named chief photographerAnnie’s photos mostly use humans as her main subject, and with simple backgrounds. Leibovitz tries to imitate natural light as much as possible. When there’s not enough, she adds it artificially, for example using a flash—but shines it from the same direction as the natural light source. When asked what she’d recommend to beginning photographers, Annie Leibovitz always says to turn to your family and friends. Those closest to you are more likely to be tolerant when it comes to experiments, challenges, and requests of all kinds, playing with perspective and viewing angles, and long minutes configuring the camera, lights, etc.
Here are some of her photos:
© Annie Leibovitz; Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gisele Bundchen and Tina Fey from Peter Pan, in cooperation with Disney Studios.
My sketch:
For this set, I am narrowing my style of photos down to motions, specifically in the field of children. I will follow my artist—Annie Leibovitz’s steps, as mentioned before: “Turn to your family and friends. Those closest to you are more likely to be tolerant when it comes to experiments, challenges, and requests of all kinds, playing with perspective and viewing angles, and long minutes configuring the camera, lights, etc.” In order to follow my original concept, I will also dress my sister in stereotyped clothes as before, but not too obvious this time. For example, I can keep her long hair but have not really elegant skirts, instead, I can have nearly coats that don’t really show the gender feel. Similarly, since I kept her long hair, I need to balance the number of clothes for each gender type, so I might have her wear a T-shirt, short pants, and cool shoes, instead of wearing a dress and sandals. For me to show the motion in a picture, I will not have my model posing all the time. I’d rather have her do what she wants, and ask her to pause to take focused photos, or just have me catch any good views. I might also need a bit of wind to blow up her hair so that the motion can be portrayed better. Moreover, to follow some elements of portraits, such as the rule of thirds, zooming in, background, etc. I also want to take more pictures of the character’s face or upper body, and only a few full-body shots.
My photos:
Full contact sheet: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/Identity%20set%202.pdf
As planned before, I focused on the motions of my model, which is my sister, to create a “going on” style. Some of the locations for my photos are The garden, the playground, roads in our residential community, and hallways. The difference in locations can help me find more inspiring ideas. The character will also have different actions based on what she should be doing in a certain place. For example, she can smell, touch flowers in the garden, or take close looks. On the roads, she would walk, or run. In the playground, she is required to climb, hang, etc. This links back to the concept for my artist, which contains “playing with perspective and viewing angles.” Moreover, as promised, I did not use any filters and artificial lights, I took all my photos outside, using natural resources such as the sunlight shades of buildings, and reflected lights from the water. I also kept the background simple, with only a few elements, so that my character can be clearly identified, and my audience won’t be drawn by other objects. Some of my background elements are trees, grass, roads, slides, etc. In addition, I also found places that have contrasting colors against the color of my model’s clothes, this way it can better create the vivid feeling of summer, and not make the eyes of my audience sense boredness or vagueness of the subject. Compared to the previous set, this set focuses more on the personality of every gender, and not the looks. In my opinion, the brightness of the sun, with the color of trees, is a perfect setting for me to present the refreshingly naive.
Blue photos:
Contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/Identity%202%20blues.pdf
In my blue photos, I deleted repeated and similar ones from the whole gallery, to extract images that are different from one another, especially in the motion and posture. But I also kept ones that represent different moods, for example, one photo might have the character smiling at the camera, and the other looking down. Moreover, to make sure the photos are balanced, I had an almost equal amount of pictures of my sister’s back and front, so the ones with her back focus more on the view, as if how she walked, ran, claimed, etc. And her face would mostly be concentrated on her facial expression, to portray the mood of the model. Also, the use of angles in my set of photos is also abundant, some parallel to the character, some from below, some above, and some diagonal. In order to link to my vision, which is specified in terms of stereotyping children, I choose specific places that represent stereotyping in the area of gender. For example, putting my sister in a place surrounded by flowers represents the side of girls, and her facial expression also shows elegance. In addition, when talking about boys, we often think of sports, running, exploring, and climbing, so I also brought my sister to the playground to show the characteristics that people would stereotype boys as. Apart from the two genders, there are also photos that don’t really belong to any of the two, for example, close up shots of the face and sitting on the slide (see examples of the two) these are to tell people that we shouldn’t characterize a person’s personality based on their gender, but what they say, do, and think.
Green photos:
Contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/Identity%20set%202%20greens.pdf
My green photos are the ones that relate to my vision in a closer way. I selected a few from each location, and also picked the ones that generated more personality of the character instead of how she looked. They are also taken under various lighting backgrounds, for example, some are taken under the trees, where the light is slightly darker and creates shadows of the character. Moreover, you can clearly see the contrast of how brighter lighting shows the innocent of children, in which their face is brighter, and created a naive atmosphere. In contrast, when I took the photo below in the hallway, it is obvious that the lights are much darker, which makes the character’s eyes colder, therefore, it makes the whole mood more cool and mature. The use of props here also contributes to the style of the photos. Since green trees show the vivid mood of pictures, they can pair up with an action that cooperates with the background, such as running. In addition, the facilities in the playground also show the sense of cuteness of children, but this time, in contrast, I would have my model show a slightly cooler face so that it can relate to my vision, which is stereotyping children. This is also a reason why I mixed some of the styles of my photos and didn’t have them at the same pace. Lastly, when I took the last green photo in the hallway, the colors are parallel with the lighting, which generates a more mature style to the photo.
Red photos:
The first red photo of this set is how my sister runs in between trees and bushes. I caught this moment following behind her. The contrasting colors of her red clothes and the green plants portrayed a lively mood in this picture. There is also a stripe of light shining through the gaps of leaves on the trees. This photo is a great representation of the innocent feeling of children. For the image to be related to the concept of my vision, which is to take photos that somehow show the motion of my character. Therefore it is representing a child running into the bright, to find her own world. In addition, cooperating with the “motion,” part, the wind blew up my sister’s hair, which adds a “moving” feeling to the whole picture. Lastly, I also adjusted the shutter speed, so that it adds a more blurry feature to the atmosphere and surface. The background is also not very complex, so it can extrude the character clearly, and not have the audience’s eyes being drawn by other objects behind the subject. This is also following the steps of my artist, which does not contain many messy backgrounds, and even makes the background slightly more blurry than the subject.
The second red photo is slightly different from the first one, where it is taken not from the outside, specifically seeing elements of nature, but focusing on the entertainment facilities in our residential community. This time, I also captured the moment my sister reaches the ground, and right after she slides down the slide. Compared to the first red photo, this one is slightly a bit darker in lighting but contains more elements, such as using the slide as a prop and applying the technique of having the character make eye contact with the camera. Moreover, as mentioned before, this type of “capturing motion” style of photos matches my concept of taking movements in a form of unmoving / still. Here, my sister had a tired eye even when she is playing on the playground. This is also showing how stereotyping a kid can make a serious impact on their mental health. I also used techniques such as the rule of thirds, splitting the photo into three parts from up to down. The head, the body, and the legs. However, one mistake here could be that because of the angle of the slide, which is in a spinning shape, it destroyed the whole structure in which the photo is parallel and had straight lines. Another error is that my character had too many objects in the back, which is almost surrounding her head. So it turns out to be hard to focus on the subject’s face.
Last but not least, my third red photo differs from the previous two. It only contains my model’s face and the water behind her. This picture is not taken at a random moment, it is actually when my sister sees a little bug striving to fly out from the water. The character showed her empathy through her facial expression, by having her eyebrows tilt upward. The reason for me to take these photos sideways, and see the side face of my model, is to better portray the feeling of absence, where everything has two sides, not only for this vision—gender stereotype but in all kinds of situations. Furthermore, the water here is not clean, it is full of dust that made it green and brown, which creates a sense of contrast between the character and the background. The message of this photo is that “In this turbid world, being yourself is the only way to find the light.” My vision focused on one path of this message, which is that genderstereotype is a way to group people based on what they can’t decide. So you don’t always have to follow what society does. Do what you want, do what makes you happy.
In this set, I successfully presented my message clearly throughout the portraits I took of my sister. In which I used several techniques such as manipulating the light, specifying the background, applying different facial expressions, etc. For next time, I believe I can use more techniques in every photo I took, not just to apply those elements, but also to make my photos look more harmonized. To do that, I need to, as Annie, my artist said, start with simple portraits having your family and friends being your model, and choose slightly simpler backgrounds to focus on the character itself. To summarize my two sets for this portrait unit, the first set focused on more of how people would consider dressing for each gender. For example, my photo from set 1 mentioned: “The basketball in my hand is a symbol of masculinity, sports, and strength. On the other hand, my clothing as a young business lady represents the ability of females to make money and take care of themselves.” This is presenting more of the look of a person. On the other hand, photos of set two focus more on the feeling and personality of the character. And how gender stereotypes can do to a person, it can destroy their confidence, and have no sense of happiness even when playing what they enjoyed before. As if: “The lights disappeared in her eyes.” Both of my sets link to my vision of stereotyping people, one focuses on the surface, and one on the inside.
My favorite photo for set 2 is the first photo of the three red photos. It applies rules of photos such as leaving space between the person’s head and the top. The adjustment of the shutter speed also portrayed a ambiguous, misty atmosphere. The light is a little bit over-exposed according to the areas of white color and gaps in the photo. But this actually contributes to the message I am trying to convey through this photo. Which is having the girl run into a bright world. The wind had blown her hair up, which matches my goal at the beginning of this set, which is to add more “moving” photos instead of posing all the time. To make this photo look better, I can tilt my camera up a little bit, so that the audience can also see the trees, instead of having the rod taking up almost half of the photo horizontally. The color in this photo is very accurate in the way of making the contrast between the character and the background, speaking of the green and red, which each represents trees and flowers. That further contributes to the vivid feeling of children. This image will also make its audience feel very calm and relaxed since it is not complicated and doesn’t contain a messy background.
Photography Set III
Jackie Ranken
Texture, Tone, Lines, Shapes, Value.
Jackie Ranken is an Australian-born, multi-award-winning landscape art photographer. She has over thirty-five years’ experience within the visual arts and has been an international awards judge since 2002. She learned her craft by working within the photographic industry as a darkroom technician, freelance and sports photographer, wedding photographer, commercial photographer, and photojournalist. In 1996 after gaining her Associate Diploma in Fine Arts she began working as a teacher of ‘Fine art’ photography. She combines her art practice with teaching and is a presenter in workshops and seminars internationally. Exhibiting and instructing nationally and internationally. Her passion is the creation of multi-layered narratives via in-camera multiple exposures and intentional movement.
Ranken’s work clearly has a focuses, and mostly on the perspective of nature. The shapes and lines were obviously from the landscape such as rocks and trees, editing them into black and white also outline the subject, shapes, and lines. Sometimes, Jackie also uses another picture as the background of the picture in front, which adds a layer that presents a slightly different message, for example, the first picture and the second last. The multi-layers also make her work seems more complex and has a deeper meaning. Having the effect of colors and natural views, Jackie’s work demonstrates a calm and peaceful tone, which gives the audience a lot of space to imagine and feel. With a variety of different elements involved in Jackie’s work, her focus is looking more toward the message that was hidden behind the picture.
My vision contains many different branches referencing the topic: the beauty of odds. Which sometimes doesn’t need color, lights, or decorations. It concentrates on not only the picture itself, but the odd part in which people couldn’t understand the message, and would have to think about it again, or even have totally different feelings every time looking at it, but jumping out from the odd area, many of Jackie’s work seems to involve texture of plants, which gives the audience a feeling that they are able to touch it. Even though there are no colors other than black and white in Jackie Ranken’s photo series, we can still feel them as the audience, for example, the contrast between land and sky helps us identify the difference between them, darker parts are leaning towards a darker color, and lighter parts towards white. There are also transitions that cause some parts to be the gradation of colors, either from dark to light, or light to dark.
Jackie once said: “Making landscape photographs in black and white helps me to connect to the quiet side of myself. I become beautifully lost in tonal spaces, rhythmic patterns, and sensual textures. It’s as simple as that.” Even though there are no colors other than black and white in Jackie Ranken’s photo series, we can still feel them as the audience, for example, the contrast between land and sky helps us identify the difference between them, darker parts are leaning towards a darker color, and lighter parts towards white. There are also transitions that cause some parts to be the gradation of colors, either from dark to light, or light to dark. Therefore, many of Jackie’s artwork is showing the other side of herself or even the other side of humans.
Photography Set II
Angie McMonigal
Shape, Value, Repetition, Lines, Tone.
Angie McMonigal is a fine art and commercial architecture photographer in Chicago. She brings a detailed, thoughtful1 perspective to her work. She focuses more frequently on bold architectural details rather than sweeping cityscapes. Her photographs celebrate those unexpectedly iconic elements hiding in plain sight. She distills the essential lines and textures that frame the city from landmark buildings, with elements such as repetition, lines, simple colors, and amplifying details. Most of her pictures were black and white and don’t contain complicated values. There were a variety of different lines, such as horizontal, vertical, curved, or diagonal, most shapes are also based on architecture.
The values created by colors in McMonigal’s work are from natural lights, whereas the slightly brighter parts are lit by the sun, and vice versa. However, we can only predict limited overall objects, instead, the photographer captures very detailed and zoom-in areas of the main object. Although making most of them are black and white, McMonigal’s photos are made with contrasting colors, such as the sky and the building, the tree and the sky, so there won’t be any similar or unclear objects. Lines are also one of the important elements in the style of McMonigal’s photography style. Some of the windows are zoomed in and taken at specific angles, the bottom left one also had a reflection of the sky. McMonigal captures the abstract of partial scenes, usually, under the field of repetition, each set of repetitions also contains other elements such as shapes and lines. However, since the colors in McMonigal’s work are very simple, the gradation and contrast of colors here are created with a variety of arrangments: natural lighting, afterward editing, focus bright, shadows, etc. Having the effect of colors and patterns, Angie’s work involves a calm and peaceful tone, which gives the audience a lot of space to imagine and feel.
Angie once said: “My photographs celebrate those unexpectedly iconic elements hiding in plain sight.” McMonigal also had previous experience in designing and creating, where she interacts with Moving from the broader context to a detailed circumstance, I am now focusing on the architecture field of my original vision—the beauty of odds. I am seeking to research and take photos of parts of architecture and will be zoomed in to express the abstract feeling.
Angie McMonigal explores and takes photos based on bold architectures with patterns on its design. Her goal is to create images that draw out the organic interplay between design, structure, environment, and society. This really fits and corroborates with modern people’s aesthetics, in which simplicity can create a different type of feeling, a special resonance.
Uncommon in most of McMonigal’s photographs, this picture had a character in it: a person standing right in the middle of two sides of the building. And having the effect of the sunlight, the two sides also has different colors, which I think signifies the controversial individuality of a human. And how sometimes making major choices between any two is very important.
In my opinion, this picture is balanced in the use of shapes and lines, based on the design of the architecture. For example, the lines are continuing toward the top, which creates a feeling that they will intercept, and more than one line crosses over each other. The person and its reflection in the middle also create some sort of bold line there. The shapes in this photo are also contradictory, for example, the diamond shapes on top are from the photographer’s perspective, but if you stand in a different angle, it will look like squares or rectangles. The half-circle and whole “boat shape” windows also have a sense of contrast from clear angles to rounded shapes.
This photographer seeks to take pictures of architecture with repetitions which is one of the elements of the abstract photo, she also evaluates them with black and white filters, which brings us to a calm tone, stead of being distracted by the colors instead of the patterns and abstract style. Especially that the black and white create a strong contrast, which further indicates that everything has two sides.
I really liked how this photographer didn’t shoot photos of the whole view, where she only takes the details and main parts of the whole scene. And also speaking about the picture above, the lines meeting together on the top makes me feel tension, but then the half circle and slightly brighter color at the bottom make me relax, so there are more than one feeling and message in this photo.
Angie McMonigal inspired me by having a lot of repetitions in her photographs, which I will also be focusing on later. Her contrast of colors also influenced me in editing photos after taking them, even though her photos are simple, with no live colors, and only architecture, the technique she uses makes her photos look more vivid.
Blue photos:
Blues contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/set%202%20blues.pdf
Green photos:
Greens contact sheet link: file:///Users/sharon.wu/Desktop/set%202%20greens.pdf
My green photos included elements of my vision and have more similarities to my photographer’s work than the blue ones. Which then further develops the characteristics of my vision. With the inspiration from Angie McMonical, I seek to find significant areas around and out of the school, for architecture and make them abstract. In my green photos, the colors were edited into black and white, in that we can focus on the elements and abstraction of the photos. For my vision, there involves clear lines, shapes, and repetitions which are more rational than emotional. I also tried to take pictures that are fairly different from one another in which some are simple and some contain more elements.
Red photos:
With the inspiration photos from Angie McMonigal, I attempted to take photos that also draw out the organic interplay between design, structure, environment, and society. With the perspective of abstraction, I tend to zoom in on my camera to shoot the details of architecture. Through this process, I specialize in urban, abstract, reflection, architecture, street, and concert photography. Editing the photos into black and white also takes me to a brand new world from seeing natural colors in my life, but not being attracted by the design of architecture. According to Angie’s work, I tried to avoid fancy and complicated shapes in my photos, which responded to Angie Mcmonigal’s work. On my own, I also used editing apps to lean more toward Angie McMonigal’s photo characteristics.
The main message I am trying to convey in my red photos is how there’s nothing that is absolutely the same, every mind has a different thought, and thought will lead to a different design, and lastly, even the simplest shape can be developed into a superior level. Although I had successfully connected parts to my vision, the main flaw was that the photos are not as clear, and sometimes shooting higher buildings also increases the difficulty. Now I am just turning my pictures into black and white, next time, I can try to adjust different lighting according to the arrangement of the objects in my photos. For example, contrasting objects can be perfected into two colors, black and white, and not just all black or all white, lighter parts can be more light, darker parts can also be darker, this way it is easier to identify the subject and the message. To correspond to my photographer’s work, I can also focus on one type of element in the future, for example curving lines, straight lines, rectangles, or triangles. To dig deeper into my photography, I can also research his/her background such as their motivation for taking this specific type of photo. Moreover, using a more precise focus is definitely what I need to add for the future. For next time, I am looking forward to adding very simple colors, but also not destroying the tone of the picture, and maybe building objects to shoot photos on my own.
Independent reading
THE PEARL
2022.3.9 – chapter 1
Kino and his wife Juana had a son, Coyotito, with meager subsistence. They don’t have money to go to the doctor, and the doctor refuses to cure insects for “little Indians,” and he says, “I’m a doctor, not a veterinary.”
2022.3.11 – chapter 2
Kino and his family went to the beach; they pulled up an oyster that had the “pearl of the world,” a beautiful and the greatest pearl.
chapter 3
Kino wants to use this pearl to get a better life for his family, but everyone in the town covets the pearl. Juana thinks the pearl is evil and wants to throw it away. But Kino knew that it would be the only chance to become wealthy, for his child to go to school, to have enough food, etc.
Photography Set I
Seung-hwan Oh
Shape, Texture, Focus, Value, Tone.
For Seung-hwan Oh’s series ‘Impermanence'(above), he mostly took pictures and used filters and techniques to present different views of people. The use of space in these pictures is quite similar as in the people were all placed in the middle of the photo. Yet each of them was being described by different elements. For example, the face was blocked with shapes and textures of fluids.
The audience can feel the difference between humans, through photographs that don’t have normal faces, normal bodies but still form a person. However, there is very little focus in this photographer’s work, either the whole image was affected by the fluid texture, or the third picture only gave a clear focus to parts of the person. There are also values of colors fading in and out, gradation, or overlapping many different colors. The microorganisms slowly devour the film and the resulting image is a blur of abstract lines and colors. The various colors can also affect the tone of the photographers as cold colors form a calmer tone, and warm colors more enthusiastic. Lastly, not just the texture of water, the photographer also added some kind of “soap form”, in which some green-ish colors were added, and that it looks like the surface of a bubble. The message of these photographs can be to express one’s feelings, present the variety of personalities, traditions, and cultures of people around the world.
Seung-hwan states: “I use this technique to share an idea that all the matter including all the life forms collapse in this spatial-temporal dimension we belong to.” In a world saturated with idealized images that are easily produced and dispersed, Seung-Hwan Oh brutalizes and mistreats his images in order to make them “sick”, revealing not just the physicality of the photograph itself but the life of the artwork.
Why did you choose this image in particular?
The photographer explores and seeks to take abstract people’s photos, whether the face is sad, happy, the body is blue, red, or even various pieces that add up to a person. In my opinion, we have to respect the difference between people, no one can reach a standard that everyone appreciates, and the main message is to be yourself in this complex world.
This photo was different from others by having the girls’ faces not totally blocked. And has flowers and plants coming out of her head, which symbolizes a young girl’s pure heart and naivete. The use of light colors also set a brighter tone for this image, which then matches the subject—a little girl.
In my opinion, the value/tone are the most important elements in this picture, and this really depends on the situation and what message was the photographer trying to convey. This picture was presented in a slightly relaxed tone. As the girl is the main subject, I think the tone shouldn’t be too heavy and serious, maybe more vividly can be a way to present it well. Although the value of this image wasn’t the clearest, it still had the effect of having the white color on the top left, and adding shadows to it that form the atmosphere.
In this series by Seung-hwan, the focus of all our people, young, old, men, women. But it was either blurred or blocked with a similar texture. It uses these techniques such as bubble filters, coordinating with the color, and creating different feelings. (happy, sad, etc.)
The style of the photograph was set by the colors, for example, on top of the girl’s head, or coming out of her mind, is a variety of colors that represent the colorful childhood of the girl. In contrast, is the world surrounding it, (the white parts around), that everything to a child is pure.
The contrast of colors inspired me of having two extremely different subjects come together and maybe use colors to neutralize them. Or having fewer objects and colors going on at the same time, using the simplest way to present a photo.
This photo tells us that we don’t need to see one’s face to define them as a person, and that to me is the beauty of odds, nothing needs to be specific, doesn’t have to be normal, yet still looks very attractive.
Blue Photos:
Blues contact sheet link: photography blues
Gree Photos:
My green photos included elements of my vision and have more similarities to my photographer’s work than the blue ones. Which then further develops the characteristics of my vision. With the inspiration from Seung-hwan Oh, I seek to find significant areas around and out of the school, for people or objects and make them abstract. In my green photos, many were taken from the photography studio, in which we can adjust the lighting and shutter speed to create abstract photos. For my vision, there are no clear lines and shapes in the photos, more of it is the tone and message, the filters, colors, and textures creating different feelings according to the subject of the photo.
Greens contact sheet link: photography greens
Red photos:
With the inspiration photos from Seung-hwan Oh, I attempted to take normal photos that are similar to his series of ‘Impermanence’. Seung-Hwan Oh cultivates a fungus that he applies to his film before he puts it into his camera. Through this process, the microorganisms slowly devour the film and the resulting image is a blur of abstract lines and colors, revealing not just the physicality of the photograph itself but the life of the artwork. According to Seung-hwan’s work, I tried to avoid rigorous shapes and clear faces in my photos. With the support of the school’s camera, I and my partners are able to use various techniques to respond to Seung-hwan’s work. Such as constructing the models, adjusting the lighting, and shutter speed. On my own, I also used editing apps to lean more towards Seung-Hwan’s photo characteristics. The main message I am trying to convey in the last red photo is how many people are not free in many ways, all sorts of things trap us in an area, the pandemic, work/jobs, global issues, etc. Although I had successfully connected parts to my vision, my message wasn’t as clear as Seung-Hwan’s photos, in which there are not a lot of contrasting colors, and doesn’t seem so realistic. For example, my first red photo was blurred with mosaic on the bottom half of the whole image, but the mosaic was almost transparent, it had no colors, no shapes, and no details, so the message will be very difficult to identify. Seung-Hwan also included a variety of details and textures, and this can be my further improvement for the next set. Moreover, using more precise and delicate is definitely what I need to add for the future. For next time, I am looking forward to using more colors, maybe adding more elements to the parts covering the subject, or even just creating a variety of textures that fulfills the atmosphere of the photo.
Paul Strand
What do you see? Look at the photo opposite by Paul Strand.
- Copy the photograph into your portfolio.
2. List 3 things the photographer might have been interested in capturing in this picture?
The photographer recognized the interesting line-form shadow, the contrasting shape (circle and rectangle), also the value in which the left side is slightly darker that creates the background. I think the photographer likes to take simpler photos in terms of a calmer tone.
3. If you were the photographer, what title would you give it? Explain why.
I would just name it “shadow” as simple as I can because this picture doesn’t contain many colors and a variety of lines. So I think a simple name will fit its tone the best. There are also simple shapes such as circles and rectangles.
4. Name one thing you think is unusual about the photograph.
I feel like this photograph doesn’t have the main subject (it seems like the circle, but not quite sure) Instead, it had contrasting shapes, and I can’t really tell what the photographer is trying to say.
5. Describe the use of line, shape, pattern, texture, tone, and focus.
This photo contains a lot of lines, for example, the reflected lines on the top left, created by the shadow. You can either see the dark side as lines or the light parts (no shadow) as lines, thicker and also thinner. There are also various shapes created both by the object and the shadows. Some of the light strands look like leaf veins and have some sort of repetition. The texture of this photo wasn’t really shown on the surface of the view, it also had textures affected by the value, for example, the surface of the circle seems to feel like dry cement, but has been polished. However, the left bottom, whereas having a darker value, seems to have the texture of dry cement rougher. Lastly, although the circle seems to be the main subject, almost half of it was cut out, I think the photographer didn’t want to focus on the object or the shadow, it’s a combination of them. Yet the entire photo was clear and big to see, if we were to be very picky, the focus should be on the plain circle in which the back of it was kind of blurry and dark.
6. What do you think is the best thing about this photograph?
In my opinion, the best thing about this photograph is how the photographer combined the shape and shadow. I really like how it didn’t have a lot of vivid colors, telling us even the simplest color can create a fantastic photo.
Elements of Photography
- Explain what the phrase Formal Elements means in photography?
There are 6 elements in photography art that demonstrate what we see in formal languages.
2. Describe each of the 6 elements discussed so far (line, shape, pattern, texture, tone, focus)
Line: The lines that appear in photos (vertical, horizontal, curve, etc.) create some infinite tones and drama.
Shape: There are shapes used in photographs such as squares, rectangles, circles, etc. They can create the contrasting and overlapping feeling of the whole picture.
Pattern/Repetition: Repetition can be a pattern but a pattern can’t be a repetition, they are small pictures that repeat (or go in a trend) again and again in the whole picture.
Texture: Some textures of surfaces can involve rocky, spilled, which contain textural quality.
Value: Some pictures have darker values and some have lighter, some gradually change and some have more than one color.
Focus: For the audience to see the main subject, usually by setting the back blurry and the focus clear.
3. Give an example that emphasizes each element
Line: the footprints create a straight line at first, and then curves to have angles. This also established a contrasting tone between the different types of lines.
Shape: This picture had various shapes overlapping or on top which creates a comprehensive feeling when the audience sees it.
Pattern: The squares were repeated and connected in this photo, and the image trying to show on the left side defines the object.
Texture: This picture seeks to show the texture of crumpled paper, even though it’s just a picture, it somehow can convey the feeling of how the paper feels.
Value: This picture shows the value of blue in which the right top doesn’t have the sun so its darker, and the left lighter. (gradation?)
Focus: This image states the focus as the flower held by the little girl, and only the flower and her hand was clear, and the background (the girl’s face and grass).
- Can an image show just one element at a time? Justify your answer.
In my opinion, no. All pictures contain different elements, even if its just all white and a line, there are color contrasts, shapes, etc. It only depends on whether you want to extrude which element.
Engineering project
Blogpost #2: Define and Inquire
What is this engineering task?
Building a toy or device to show energy transfer.
- steam?
- windmill （spinning?)
- chemical energy – mechanical energy.
- alcohol lamp.
- making a holder for the windmill.
- Windmill: plastic, paper, aluminum foil?
- making a windmill or having one that’s already put together?
- using hot glue guns or tape?
- needed to cover around the alcohol lamp so that the air doesn’t fade away as it rises.
There is no real target audience for my design, I think it’s better for academic teaching because it’s definitely not a toy, unless the mechanical energy can turn into other energy that is able to move to light up something.
The size will need to be measured accurately, in which the height of the windmill can’t be too close to the burning alcohol lamp, especially if using plastic or paper. And the amount of steam might not be enough to pump the windmill, and it depends on how big the flask is, how much water, and how close it is to the windmill. Using the theory, when heating up the beaker, how do we know, that the windmill is spinning because of the steam rising up instead of the rising air temperature? Also, adjusting the weight of the blades is also a problem as in making it is not too heavy for it to spin without electric power.
Blogpost #2: Develop and Plan
I will need to learn how the blades of a windmill make it the easiest to spin through online research or observing those toy windmills. Maybe connecting each piece is also challenging, the use of hot glue guns, and how to make it stable enough. To be more specific, a flask with a smaller hole would be better than a beaker that releases the hot air too much, so building an open lid can also be helpful to make sure the hot air goes straight up instead of losing a lot on the way.
Class I: Finding materials and keep doing research.
Class II: Building the structure to hold the windmill/building the windmill.
Class III: Adjust the height with the alcohol lamp, and the angle of the blades to make sure it is not having too much resistance from the air.
Class IV: First test, if it didn’t work, find the error, fix it, try again. If it worked, try making it spin for a longer time in a moderate tempo, not falling off or tilting, and making the design more pleasant.
Class V: N test, try adding some art designs on, and make the final changes.
Blogpost #3: Create and Improve
Take at least 2 pictures every class of your prototypes.
Cut curved plastic out of plastic cups to make a windmill, and stick it onto the strawl. But the circled part keeps falling off.
First test, the windmill wasn’t able to spin and was even melted by the flame.
I decided to make one with aluminum foil so that it’s much lighter. Also folded the blades a little bit to reduce the resistance.
First test with tin foil, I decided to make the stand higher in case the same thing happens (although it was aluminum foil).
Didn’t really spin, and fell off after. Coral and Olivia suggested flipping it around.
Decided to flip it. So that it can catch more hot air.
Another test, I think the windmill might be too high that there might be not enough hot air, so I put my box sideways to shorten the distance between the flame and the windmill, and it worked!
Blogpost #4: Reflect and Share
Even worked better, always spinning, moderate tempo, not too tilted, and didn’t fall off.
Although I changed various versions of the windmill, I think building it is not really a problem. If we were to aim for perfection, I can spend more time to have it more accurate and more pleasant in looks. I actually had many models of windmills, just in case one broke, and I think it really helped improve the process of building another. The little wooden stick in the middle is also very important to my product, as we know triangles are the most stable shapes, and here it helps to support the stick on top so it wouldn’t shake and affect the movement, and fall off easily
As for improvements, I can use a thin cylinder to make the curves on each blade the same, or at least almost the same, so that the speed of the windmill spinning can be controlled. I can also transform the windmill’s mechanical energy into other energies, and maybe turn it into a tool or toy.
This product can be used in building toy airplanes, or just a fan, but will need to further define how to make the air come out. But it doesn’t have a good chance of surviving in big events, the hot air and blades with aluminum foil have not been proven work forever.
Researching the starting point
- How can photography change our relationship to things?
In many times, photographs are trying to convey a message, and you will almost substitute yourself into the picture. For example, when you see a desert, you might feel thirsty. And taking photographs somehow makes any regular things have an artistic sense.
2. What is pictorialism?
Pictorialists took the medium of photography and reinvented it as an art form, placing beauty, tonality, and composition above creating an accurate visual record.
3. What is abstract photography?
Abstract photography should be something that doesn’t show the message immediately. They are usually over-exaggerated that audiences will need to look through to see what the author was trying to say. Abstract images are conceived or imagined outside of “reality”, which makes us question what we see.
4. Write a (very) short biography of Albert Renger-Patzsch (just 1 or 2 sentences).
Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer and a pioneering figure in the New Objectivity movement, which sought to engage with the world as clearly and precisely as possible. He lived and worked in Essen and Wamel, Germany.
5. From looking at his images above, What types of subjects do you think Albert Renger-Patzsch preferred to photograph?
From the images above, Albert Renger-Patzsch’s photographs are usually black and white, and almost all of them follows a pattern.
6. Why do you think he entitled his famous book, ‘The World is Beautiful’?
I think in his own opinion, he took very good pictures, and he wanted to spread his devotion to the world.
7. Why do you think Edward Weston moved away from the soft-focus of pictorialism to the new Straight photography movement? – the idea that ordinary objects and scenes can be photographed to reveal their beauty
Margrethe Mather influenced Weston, and with progressive photographers of the time looking to reject pictorialism’s soft-focus and heavily manipulated process, Weston began searching for beauty in everyday objects and settings.
8. Give examples of one of his pictorialist images and one of his straight images.
The fourth on the second row can be one of his pictorialist images, and the buttons can be one of his straight images.
We have already defined abstract photography. Now we need to look at the named photographers and describe their contribution to abstract photography.
- How has Aaron Siskind (above been influenced by the Straight Photography Movement
Siskind turned the medium of photography on its head, taking pictures of found objects that were simultaneously true-to-life and abstract; he was one of the first photographers to combine what was known as “straight” with abstraction.
- Name some other photographers that have been influenced by straight photography.
Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Dody Weston Thompson, and Berenice Abbott, etc.
- What makes the work of Andreas Gursky and Uta Barth abstract. Are they straight photographers? Why?
They sure take photos from real life, but not the kind that we can easily identify the main message. Sometimes they follow a pattern, and sometimes it’s just so random.