Yellow Photos

This is the initial contact sheet of every picture that I took in the mall. I experimented with purposely shaking my camera, and lengthening the exposure to get photos that are blurry and create a great amount of motion.

Green Photos

I narrowed the photos down to the ones that create the most dramatic sense of motion, keeping in mind my theme of quiet in a saturated and fast paced society.

Red Photos

The first two images will be overlapped to create a heightened sense of motion. Similarly, the last two will be overlapped as well. To reach the final look, I will also saturate both images and draw graphics on the images to create a sense of contrast (contrasting the still graphic with the intense motion of the background).

This is a sketch of my ideas in which the red drawings and the blue drawings are two different layers.  The red layer represents the reality of the situation, while the blue layer represents the expectations. I plan on making four out of the ten ideas.

Yellow Photos

These yellow photos are all the images I took when when if came to my idea. I look multiple images of the same situation, and tried taking them by testing out different lightings and angles.

Green Photos

In the green photos, I narrowed it down to images that I thought the lighting was clear, and the angle was interesting yet could get the message across. In narrowing the pictures, I made sure that the expectations layer (blue drawing) overlapped with the red drawing.

Red Photos

The red photos are the final images that I will use for the concept.

“Expectations Vs. Reality” demonstrates the ideal image that we want to be as shown by the clear page compared to imperfections of who we are as shown by the opaque page. For instance, when it comes to studying, our expectations are to be focused and productive as shown by the clear page of the person doing math, while the reality is being distracted as shown by the opaque page of the person playing a game on their phone. The clear page covering the opaque page symbolizes how we try to present ourselves as the ideal image, while we struggle to meet them underneath.

(Above is not the final presentation since the photographs haven’t been put up yet)

“Still.” encapsulates the way that the world has become oversaturated through social media and modern developments, where people consequently feel overwhelmed and overstimulated. Similarly, the bold colors and spontaneous movement create a sense of chaos. In contrast, the motionless and colorless figure embodies a sense of stillness, therefore, the text is “still.” The piece encourages people to take a break to breathe and think away from the many distractions of our lives.

Reflection Initial Thoughts

I feel like this course is a clean slate where I can start new. I think I am filled with ideas but it comes in spontaneous times. I hope to portray my own style and be able to make work that I am proud of. I am also curious to explore new camera techniques and better understand my camera. I also really want to go to the dark room. I have heard about it, and when I used a disposible camera, some professionals helped process my pictures in the dark room. I don’t think I have many questions right now, I’m just excited to explore.

Ideas: daily life things (small things in life with street or close up photography), also I am interested in the theme of change and coming of age, so I want to have a theme that represents time.

I think reflections are imitations of somethings, so like repititions can represent the theme.

Research the Starting Point

Lee Friedlander

Friedlander is an American photographer born in 1934 whose art was mainly based on street photography in the city. His work has many elements of reflection and a quirky and unique feel. Friedlander’s work is characterized by his distinctive use of reflections, shadows, and complex compositions. He often incorporates elements such as storefront windows, street signs, and car reflections to create layered and visually intricate images. His photographs capture the energy and complexity of urban environments, offering a unique perspective on everyday life.

Naoya Hatakeyama

Hatakeyama is a Japanese photographer born in 1958 who uses elements that explore the intersection of nature and the built environment, presenting a unique perspective on the evolving relationship between humans and their surroundings. A commonality with some of his photos is the usage of water, either as droplets on a window or water on the ground to create a reflection as shown below.

Lisette Model

Model is an Austrian-born American photographer born in 1901 that is known for frank humanism and street photography. Most of her portraits were of women and their life around New York City. She was born in Vienna, Austria, and began her artistic training as a pianist. However, she later shifted her focus to photography and moved to Paris in the 1930s to study the medium. Her photographic style was characterized by bold compositions, dramatic contrasts, and a strong sense of graphic design. Model’s work often challenged traditional notions of beauty and highlighted the raw and unfiltered aspects of everyday life.

Robert Holden

Holden is a American photographer that explores themes of traveling. His Burning House Project was about taking a photo of what is important to you and the things you would take with you if your house is burning down. Through this project, he urged audiences to think about what is really important to them.

Reflection Mindmap

 

Reflection Moodboard

Reflection Reflection

I learned that a topic can be expanded and that there are many different methods when it comes to photography, and that the more weird the photo, the more unique. I also learned that that there are many technical things that I have to learn to make a unique photo, especially when it comes to editing a photo and a bit when using a camera.

I have learned that each artist has a prominent style in that all their photos have a commonality. Most artists have a strong sense of mood in each of their photos, and they usually have one main subject.

I think the photographer that I chose had a sub theme of using glass and the effectiveness to create another layer on top of a photograph to make a photograph more interesting and compelling.

Long Exposure Mood Board

Analysis of Selected Artist and One Photograph

Alexey Titarenko is a Soviet Union-born American photographer and artist born on 1962. Titarenko was influenced by the Russian Avant-garde work and the Dada art movement. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, Titarenko purposely used long exposure to highlight the suffering endured by the people living under the Soviet Union, creating his most well known series, “City of Shadows”.

In the photograph titled “Vasileostrovoskaya Metro Station Crowd 1, from City of Shadows, 1992“, the long exposure creates a sense of rumble and chaos, depicting the fast ways of the world. The stairs which have a crisp focus contrast the chaos, showing stillness as the world moves in motion. The diagonal leading lines of the stairs show a sense of direction, one that goes up or down. The dim lighting in the background of a circle shape contrasts with the bright lighting from the left of the photograph.