The photographer that I chose is Alex Web because he usually takes photos on the streets and has a aesthetic array of colors that make it look vintage. His photos also have a strong contrast that makes the blacks stand out against the colors.
Category Archives: Abstraction
Red Photos
These three final pieces ultimately highlight the style of Aaron Siskind: the blurry, bold, and organic style as shown through the pieces above. Eventhough I think these photographs are well done and really capture the variety of styles that are included in Siskind’s work, I think that for my triptych, I could focus on collecting pieces that fit one of the three styles rather than just a variety so that it would look more cohesive. For my next shoot, I would want to improve on the cohesiveness of the pieces and to emphasize Aaron Siskind’s close-up abstract style even more.
Green Photos
I chose these photos as my green photos because I think it captures Aaron Siskind’s style better than the yellow photos since these photos have a better focus on contrast and close-up texture. Therefore, when choosing the green photos among the yellow ones, I made sure that the photos that I chose would have the most standing-out elements as shown with Siskind’s work.
Yellow Photos
I have selected these photos as yellow because I think it include a large variation of the style from Aaron Siskind. Many of these photos have the close-up, unable to identify aspect as shown with Siskind’s pieces. Although my photos aren’t black and white, many of these photos have a strong contrast as if they were in black and white.
Aaron Siskind Inspiration for 798
5 Characteristics
-Close-up composition: The photos are fairly close-up to the point you can see the details of the subject taken.
-Black and white colors: The colors in his photos are all colorless to emphasize the forms of the objects. The use of black and white shows greater contrast, the usage of colors in between like different shades of gray shows less contrast.
-Unclear focus: What makes the photos especially abstract is the fact that the photos are so close-up that it is hard to depict what it is, therefore, having an unclear focus.
-Interesting and a variety of textures: Some photos have a crinkly texture, some photos are smooth, and some are organic.
-different forms: Similar to texture, Siskind’s photos emphasize the different forms where some are flat (which are more graphic), and others are more three-dimensional (which have more depth).
I have chosen Siskind because I love his usage of texture and form to make the photographs feel very organic and raw. I hope by doing so, I can pursue photographs that can be very reflective of the raw city life.
People, Nature, and The City
The message of my photographs is about capturing life in the city, especially with close-ups of the little things that make up the big picture of the experience in the city. I would like the audience to feel reflective on their experience in the city, and I would like them to be more mindful of the little things in life, like nature, a smile, or even a coffee cup. I want the audience to take a breath, and stand back and look at life. For inspiration, I have found photos from the Straight Photography movement along with some close up photography in mostly black in white that captures the form and details of objects. Overall, people, nature and the city is collectively shown to describe an experience, and I hope that I can be able to capture the truth of the reality and show the fun and alive spirit of the city.
Mind Map
Photo Safari
The first photo has contrast, second has printer as the square, third texture is legos, fourth picture is books as the line, two horizontal lines, light as the center, the thirds composition, square for the aligned circle composition, side of a drying rack for the grid style, ISB performing art center as the lines, row of lights, trees as texture.
The second one at the end of the lights work because it creates a cool contrast in a creative way. The lego one didn’t work too well because the texture has no focus.
Elements
Formal elements are the different aspects and styles in photography that includes line, shape, pattern, texture, tone and focus.
Line are the clear or imaginary lines that lead your eyes. They can be straight or at a angle (diagonal).
In the photo below, the diagonal line of the road leads your eyes as the motorcycle is riding on the road.
Shape is the combination of geometric and/or organic shapes.
In the photo below, the silhouette of the cactuses show organic shape.
Pattern is the repetition of a object to create rhythm.
In the photo below, the bokeh repeat and reflect down ward.
Texture is what the photo would feel if you could touch it, for instance, the texture could be rough, smooth, sharp, etc.
In the photo below, the wild plant has a rough and natural texture as it flows through the wind.
Tone is the shades of lightness and darkness.
In the photo below, the sky has a gradient of shade from dark to light.
Focus is what is leads the viewer to see, this usually creates contrast to the rest of the photo.
In the photo below, the hole in the center is the focus because it has the greatest contrast.
A image can show one element at a time, for instance if it is just a black and white photo of a line, line is just the only element shown.
The Pictorialism Movement and The Straight Photography Movement
According to Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com and Britannica.com, the Pictorialism Movement was the movement that focused on beauty, tonality and composition of a photography rather than the documentation of reality.
According to the Art Story, the Straight Photography Movement emphasized the camera’s capability to produce images in sharp focus and rich detail. It means that the photographs aren’t manipulated but are just taken sharply to what the camera sees. It was popular amongst photographers because it was a new way, a avant-garde way of art.
According to the Art Story and MoMA, Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind have been influenced by the Straight Photography Movement through their use of sharp focus and detail in a way that wasn’t used to simply document reality, but was a new way of art.
According to the Art Story and MoMA, Andreas Gursky’s photos are distinguishable but “random” while Uta Barth is close up and almost undistinguishable. Through these unique styles, it both conveys messages that are not on the surface, making it abstract.