Category: Abstraction

FINAL PHOTOS

Composition:

The elements of the display supports the subject well. The subject’s gaze even if blurred are able to be seen. In the photo where the subject’s looking at the camera, through the darkness you can see the directness of their gaze. Even if some of them eyes which you cannot see. For the side glance images, the direction of the subject’s eyes and the surrounding space helps lead the viewer’s eye toward the focus point.

Where do your eyes immediately go?

In the photo where the subject looks directly at the camera, your eyes are immediately drawn to their face. In the side-glance photos, your eyes might follow the subject’s eyes which helps direct the attention to areas they are looking at.

Are there distractions?

The background is a simple white or black with no distractions. There is contrasting light with the white and black in both pictures which allows for better point of focus.

Storytelling Quality:

The use of light and shadow in the images, especially the added light falling on the face adds depth to the storytelling. The contrast creates a feeling of both warmth and distance. Reflecting the emotions I’m trying to covey.

Emotional Impact:

How well does the audience identify with the picture?

The connection in the image where the subject faces the camera makes it more powerful and identifiable. The direct gaze creates an intimate relationship between the subject and the viewer, making it easier for people to relate to the emotional tone you’re portraying. The side view photos show longing for something more.

What emotions will the audience respond to?

In the first image, the audience might feel a sense of vulnerability or quiet strength. The contrasts between light and shadow mirror the inner conflict or emotional depth the subject is experiencing. The contrast between the smiling more bright one and the quiet black one shows that difference of happiness and darkness. I intentionally made the lighter one take up more space on the photo, showing resilience.

Olga Karlovac’s work is all about blurred, dreamy visuals that make you feel like you’re caught between reality and a memory. Her use of motion blur draws people into the scene without revealing everything clearly. It makes you look closer at what’s hidden beneath the surface

Added: Key Characteristics:

• Blurred Motion: Her styles is the use of blur and motion, which often creates abstract, almost ghostly images. This intentional blurring of the image captures the emotional nature of the moment. It makes the viewer focus on
• Black and white: She takes shoots in black and white which enhances the emotional depth of her photos. The loss of color allows her to focus on the contrasts, light, shadow which gives the images a timeless feel
• Instead of documenting clear scenes, she transforms everyday moments into a dreamlike feeling
• Emotional ambiguity: Her images are ambiguous, which leaves the viewers to interpret the emotion and stories behind them.
• Minimalism: Her compositions are minimalist which emphasizes negative spaces. It gives this feeling of isolation or solitude

Keith Dotson’s industrial photography set is particularly interesting for its abstract interpretations of industrial areas

Paint Curls on an Antique Machine, Keith Dotson

Two Rusty Pipes, Keith Dotson

Row of Rusty Rings, Keith Dotson

Window of an Old Southern Textile Mill Built 1902, Keith Dotson

Round Door, Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, Keith Dotson

Rusty Red Star – Wheel from an Antique Firetruck, Keith Dotson

Pipe Networks at Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, Keith Dotson

Why I choose this image?

I chose this image because it highlights the beauty that is found in the forgotten elements of industrial spaces.

What do you find surprising or unusual about this photograph?

The details of the rivets and the contrasting textures of dust and metal challenges the viewer to see the aesthetic value of industrial materials.

Formal Elements: Texture

I think the most important element in the photograph is texture. The rough, aged surface of the rusted surface can be seen even under the dust layered on top of it. The visible layers of rust and wear shows time, showing the countless interactions it has endured. It makes the viewer look more closely, with details that is likely overlooked. The texture of the pipe shows how it endured neglect, weathered elements, etc. This makes the viewer think that it’s not just the physical state of the object.

01: The element best represented is line, shape, and depth.

What worked: Finding symmetry in a space with a clear divide. Contrast between the sides in terms of structure and color. The light acting as a division line.

02: The element best represented is shape, color, and size

What worked: The light source is the square, the square light makes it noticeable around the background.

03:  The element best represented is texture, form, and depth

What didn’t work: The grain didn’t not work as it made the shot noisy and distracting. The lighting also make the image uneven.

04: The element best represented is lines (repetition of the lines too).

What worked: The lines are distinct, sharp, and well-defined by the lines. It draws attention to the structure and geometry of the lines on top of the cafeteria.

05: The element best represented is lines, color, and shape.

What worked: the two black vertical lines are clear and distinct. The contrast between the bold red background and the black lines works well, making both the color and the lines stand out.

06: The elements best represented is shape, size and depth.

What worked: the globe is the clear emphasizes the circle in the example. The background lighting and windows emphasizes the shape.

07: The elements best represented is shape, line (repetition of the lines too).

What worked: The rectangular shapes of the tray return were clear and consistent. The outline defines the separation and structure.

08: The elements best represented is shape, repetition, and texture

What worked: The multiple can tops creates a pattern. The metallic surface adds a reflective quality that enhances the image.

09: The elements best represented is shape, repetition, and depth. The multiple images that are pieced in a square format creates a patter. The top photos appear as if receding into the distance.

I took the photo as I noticed the organized arrangement and uniformity of the squares. I took the photo then related it to example 9.

10: The elements best represented is line and depth.

What didn’t work: The background (of the lights as the main focus) were distracting and took the attention away form the path of lights.

11: The elements best represented is depth, line, and composition.

What worked: The stairs getting darker as it moves away creates a sense of depth, that the stairs are leading up (even if it’s dark). It gives me a feel of three dimensions. The darkness gives it a eerie feeling.

12: The elements best represented is lines (repetition of the lines too).

What worked: The repetition of the football player creates a pattern. The lighting makes the table seem more smooth. The photo captures the rods to control the player.

I choose this photo as there involves a lot of lines including on the table itself as well as the rods, when I saw it, it immediately reminded me of image 12 .

Formal elements of Photography

1. Explain what the phrase Formal Elements means in photography.
2. Describe each of the 6 elements discussed so far (line, shape, pattern, texture, tone, focus)
3. Give an example that emphasizes each element (you can use your own image or an image from somebody else – but it must be cited!)
4. Can an image show just one element at a time? Justify your answer.

Formal Elements in photography is what makes up an image, it is the visual tools that photographers use to compose their shots and convey their emotion, intent, or emotion. This includes line, shape and form, pattern, tone, color, texture, and space

1. Line – Lines are what guides your eyes through a photo. It can be straight, diagonal, zigzag, it can place emphasis on the subject or convey a sense of movement
2. Shape – It can be simple and geometric, like circles and squares or it can be more organic like a shape of a leaf or cloud.
3. Pattern – Repeating elements in a photo, like repeating shapes, lines or colors, it makes the photo feel more organized
4. Texture – How things look like they would feel if you touched it. Texture can make surfaces look rough, smooth, soft, or hard.
5. Tone – Range of light and dark in a photo. It affects the mood of the image.
6. Focus – What is sharp and clear in the photo vs what’s blurry. It directs attention to the most important part of the image.

Example of Formal Elements:

Line –

Shape –

Pattern –

Texture –

Tone –

Focus –

1. PICK ONE PHOTOGRAPH FROM ONE OF THE NAMED PHOTOGRAPHERS “Abstract photography can be defined as capturing images in which the subject isn’t the most interesting element. Albert Renger-Patzsch, Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind photographed the ordinary to reveal their beauty. Uta Barth reversed the typical use of the camera, shooting out of focus and Andreas Gursky photographs the repetition of elements. During this unit you will investigate appropriate examples of abstract photography and respond in your own way..”

List 3 things the photographer might have been interested in capturing in this picture?

• Edward Weston likely sought to capture the beauty and elegance of the cabbage leaf. He transforms a simple vegetable into a work of art, emphasizing that such intricate things are found in natural forms
• He might have also been interested in emphasizing the texture of the cabbage leaf. The fine details, like the veins and wrinkles allows the viewer to image the feel of the leaf, making the image more engaging
• The play of the light and shadow across the leaf’s surface is something Weston might have explored. The varying tones created by the light helps to highlight the leaf’s depth, it almost appears as if it was sculpted.

If you were the photographer, what title would you give it? Explain why.

• I would title the image “Nature’s Veins.” This title reflects the veins visible in the leaf. It also emphasizes the way nature’s ways can mirror those of the human body.

Describe the use of line, shape, Pattern, texture, tone and focus – USE THE NOTES ABOVE AS A GUIDE. SOME EXAMPLES of WORK BELOW.

• Lines: The lines are fluid and organic, it leads the eye through the curves and folds.
• Shape: The shape in the photograph are organic and irregular, which is characteristic of natural forms. The leaf’s shape fills the frame and is faced down, creating a sense of movement and flow.
• Pattern: The veins and folds of the cabbage leaf is a very intricate pattern, which adds complexity to the image. The repetition of the natural lines and shape draws the viewer to look more closely at the detailed surface
• Texture: Texture is very significant in the photograph. The detailed capture of the leaf’s surface is smooth yet veined texture.

“Abstract photography can be defined as capturing images in which the subject isn’t the most interesting element. Albert Renger-Patzsch and Aaron Siskind photographed the ordinary to reveal their beauty. Uta Barth reversed the typical use of the camera, shooting out of focus and Andreas Gursky photographs the repetition of elements. During this unit, you will investigate appropriate examples of abstract photography and respond in your own way.”

My thoughts on this quote:

The idea that “the subject isn’t the most interesting element” challenges conventional exceptions, the subject is typically the driver of the narrative of an image. In abstract photography, the viewer’s attention is drawn to color, shape, or texture.

The quote suggests that abstract photography is about seeing and presenting the world differently, its not what you’re photographung but how you’re capturing and interpreting it.

Photographers like Renger-Patzsch and SIiskid found beauty in ordinary things, but it’s not by focusing solely on the subject but by highlighting details that are often unnoticed.

What do you think is meant by “Abstract photography can be defined as capturing images in which the subject isn’t the most interesting element”?

In abstract photography, the focus is not on the subject (or something that is not worthy of your attention) but the other aspects of the image. Its how the image is composed of what emotions or ideas, rather than a clear depiction of a subject. It wants the viewer to engage with the image on a more deeper level rather than simply identify the image and say “wow that’s a cool photo.” Abstract art is really interesting as it’s looking into the minds of an artists to see how they see the world to portray and show the world.

My definition of abstract photography:

Abstract Photography is a style of photography that highlights shapes, colors, and textures rather than recognizable and traditional objects. It focuses on creating visually interesting images that is on the borderline between reality and fantasy like look.

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