Edward Weston
Edward Weston's took lots of images of all different subjects but within all of his images he clearly focusses on the textures of all the different subjects. In these images theres a few different subjects but all of them show all the textures but it also shows the contrast within his work from taking images of landscapes and buildings to vegetables and people, but although they are all dissimilar they are all close-ups which helps to draw attention to the texture within them. Edward Weston also uses light to draw attention to the areas he wants the focus to be on for example the image of the cabbage the light is clearly focussed more at the top of the image to show all of the shape and lines within the cabbage itself then the light is less focussed on areas of the image where the shapes and lines are not as defined. He does this with the images of people when looking at the image of the man you can see that theres light hitting the centre and one side of his face to show the texture and lines on his face and his hair then towards the back of his head and the opposite side of his face there's no light so no focus is being put there.
Aenne Biermann
Aenne Biermann also took lots of images that focussed heavily on texture however she typically took images of people wether she focussed on their hands or their whole body she focussed on the texture of the skin and the texture in the background. Most of her images focussed quite heavily on the body she takes her images as close-ups which helps her to focus on the textures. Aenne Biermann uses light to highlight certain parts of the image that she wants focus on for example the image of the woman naked she uses the light to show parts of her body like her legs and arms but makes sure the rest of her body is in darkness similarly with the mans back she has light going across one of his shoulder blades and the side of his face whilst the rest of his back and head are in darkness. She uses different angles to keep the focus on the subject like the hands its a close-up shot which helps keeps focus on them whilst the one of the woman lying on her front is quite a wide-angled shot as you can see more the background it isn't just her body.
What do you understand by the term 'The New Vision' in photography?
'The New Vision' was a photography movement developed in the 1920s it was following the First World War artists began to reclaim the mechanisms of image-making. In the 1920s and 30s photography was very experimental many unconventional methods were used such as abstract photograms, photomontages and a mixture of graphic design and photography. All of this was linked with Bauhaus, it was aimed to look at the world through a camera lens, to use it as a mirror to the reality of everyday and a framing device for documenting and being experimental.
How and why did photographers break away from the Pictorialism of the pre-war period?
Pictorialism is the movement that was between 1885 to 1915, it was a style of fine art photography where the artist manipulates the image to make it more artistic. It emerged when the growth of amateur photography came out with east to use equipment like the amateur hand held camera. Dedicated photographers believed that the point and shoot method was undermined the artistic nature of photography.
What impact did the First World War and Russian Revolution have on photographers' attitudes towards their practice?
Lots of photographers got a lot closer to the action. They began to take more personal and close up images because they had been close to such horrible events through photographs that they stopped being horrified and took images of what they wanted to truly show.
What was the influence of the invention of the Leica hand held camera?
This camera was invented in 1925 in Germany, this was the first 35mm camera. It was designed in a way that used surplus movie film then shot in 35mm format. Before this bulky equipment was required after this photographers could go anywhere and take photographs without a tripod and big lights. Before this camera many photos were staged and dramatic whereas after photographers could take images of people as they really lived, this meant a different view of the world and how people lived and what they did. This also changed the style of photography as many people could now take images easily it became more accessible to everyone.
'The New Vision' was a photography movement developed in the 1920s it was following the First World War artists began to reclaim the mechanisms of image-making. In the 1920s and 30s photography was very experimental many unconventional methods were used such as abstract photograms, photomontages and a mixture of graphic design and photography. All of this was linked with Bauhaus, it was aimed to look at the world through a camera lens, to use it as a mirror to the reality of everyday and a framing device for documenting and being experimental.
How and why did photographers break away from the Pictorialism of the pre-war period?
Pictorialism is the movement that was between 1885 to 1915, it was a style of fine art photography where the artist manipulates the image to make it more artistic. It emerged when the growth of amateur photography came out with east to use equipment like the amateur hand held camera. Dedicated photographers believed that the point and shoot method was undermined the artistic nature of photography.
What impact did the First World War and Russian Revolution have on photographers' attitudes towards their practice?
Lots of photographers got a lot closer to the action. They began to take more personal and close up images because they had been close to such horrible events through photographs that they stopped being horrified and took images of what they wanted to truly show.
What was the influence of the invention of the Leica hand held camera?
This camera was invented in 1925 in Germany, this was the first 35mm camera. It was designed in a way that used surplus movie film then shot in 35mm format. Before this bulky equipment was required after this photographers could go anywhere and take photographs without a tripod and big lights. Before this camera many photos were staged and dramatic whereas after photographers could take images of people as they really lived, this meant a different view of the world and how people lived and what they did. This also changed the style of photography as many people could now take images easily it became more accessible to everyone.
List of surfaces;
- Grass
- Brick
- Tile
- Glass
- Granite
- Marble
- Porcelain
- Slate
- Concrete
Compare and Contrast
This image was taken by Charles Sheeler. The image is quite a hard it has lots of the formal elements it has harsh lines, strong geometric shapes and stark lighting. Its a very industrial image it has a lot of machinery and it looks like a brutal picture because of the way the shadows have cast down within the image, the bar running along the top casts a shadow over the rest of the image. This picture also looks like it may not have been edited very much, it could have to cropped to focus it on one part. The colours and tones within this image are much harsher the colours are quite stark from black to more grey tones unlike the second image that has many more colours from blues to greens. However, both of these images have a similar composition they are both framed in a way that captures only what the artist wants you to see theres nothing within frame that isn't supposed to be there, this first image was cropped to look this way but the second image was created with this effect.
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This image was taken by Edward J. Steichen.This image looks like its been painted its much softer and more gentle than the other one, it doesn't have as many as the formal elements for example the image shows lines within the tree branches and within the outlines of the buildings but these lines are much softer then in the first image. Also this image doesn't have strong geometric shapes it has buildings that are being faded in with the background. This image looks very edited it has been faded out to give the whole image a much softer effect it has been edited to make it look more like a painting than a photograph. This image has much more colour within it more blues and greens it represents the colours of nature and less the colours of the industrial machinery. Both images also represent some kind of structure within the photographs they have the buildings and industrial equipment as the main focus. The first images focus was clearly to have the focus on the structures however, within the second one its much more faded and less the main focus its something within the background.
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Surface Of Things Images
Sculptures
In this lesson we made sculptures that were also going to be used as viewfinders and something that can show surfaces. I used mine to show all different surfaces in all different ways through different views obstructing part of the surface and making it look different as it was shown in a different way. The first few images are quite dark as they were taken inside and there wasn't much light, but the rest of the images were taken outside some of them have better lighting however, some of those images are quite dark. In some of the images I decided to photograph the shadows that they were casting onto something, it also showed off more surfaces.
Eileen Quinlan
Eileen Quinlan took many different images of all different surfaces. In some of her images she focussed on the texture but mostly she was just trying to show all different kinds of surfaces. Many of her images had bright colours and many lines and shapes within them which made all of her images quite eye-catching. Within these images she decides to take her images at all different angles to make some of them more interesting and confusing, her composition isn't in one place all the time she's constantly changing the way she takes a photo making all of her images very different from one another as well as other artists.
During her 'Curtains' series Eileen Quinlan mixed different types of photography there was portraiture and cameraless photography. In some of her images its noticeable that she was scratching the surface with different materials like steel wool, others she just left to develop on their own. These images of hers are a lot more composed she still has different compositions going on but they aren't as erratic as her other images, it also makes the lines and shapes within these image stand out slightly less whilst still noticeable just less movement within the images. Eileen Quinlan also has lots of tones within these images ranging from white to grey and black this also give the images more texture as the tone changed throughout the images are noticeable the texture of the people's skin and clothes is also more noticeable.