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Task 2 || Rationale

Task 2 project to me was about pushing my initial understanding of depth of field. Taking inspiration from Uta Barth and learning the formalities and understanding of series from Arnaud Lesage. The approach for the 5 images were to almost copy Uta Barth’s approach to her composition. What makes these images speak, they draw attention to an out of focus content rather then the in focus, sliver of wall. The formal composition rests in a grid that is consistent throughout the rest of the photographs creating a sense of continuity making them look almost categorical. Documenting the relationship between wall and surroundings.

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TASK 2 || FINAL IMAGES

These were the final 5 images chosen from the 8 options. To mee these communicated a decent amount of care for composition, foreground and background. I tried to keep them un-edited as much as possible.

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Task 2 || Critique

Critique time!!!!! yay

After having a chat with my tutor, we discussed what is it that i like about the images. Noting the consistency between the images as well as being a very categorical. My tutor pointed me in the direction of Arnaud Lesage, a french photographer.

Anatopees

http://www.arnaud-lesage.com/en/portfolio-12835-0-40-anatopees.html

The images have a solid theme, it finds similarities in different environments which are composed in a way that connects each place together through the same motif.

Which in turn is very similar to my images, they have the same motif continuing through all of the images.

I was asked the question, what is it in the series of images made you shoot them in the same way?

So this made me think.

The common theme is abstraction. Both in my images and in Uta Barth’s. What is important to me in these images is the formality of them, which I feel makes them focus more on the background more than the small sliver of foreground.

#tasktwo

Task 2 || SDoF I like the corner of walls

So at the whim of Uta Barth’s photo-inspiration I went out to take some photos on the town.

I like the corner of walls

Out of these eight images, they communicate some aspects of Uta Barth’s images. Using the idea of abstraction as well as making the background the most important aspect of the image.

#tasktwo

Task 2 || Out of Focus or Shallow Depth of Field

So task 2 was very confusing at the beginning, It was very similar too the second task on Intro to photography in semester 1. I have always enjoyed the idea of a shallow depth of field, so I felt that I should take it further and see what i can achieve.

When i first bought my camera I was playing around and trying to emulate an artist that I have been admiring since high school. Uta Barth

^Field.23 guggenheim.org^

^Field.20 tate.org.uk^

The composition of her image exude a feeling of the sublime, the abstraction of what is reality. The use of colour and contrast in her images are something that I want to try and work into my own work especially in a man made environment.

^[no title] 1995-7 tate.org.uk^

Uta Barth’s use of small abstraction in this work from the series of “Figure” removes a sense of human from the image and only suggests that it is a figure. Focusing more on the background rather than the foreground which is in focus. I admire the play on importance in her images, usually the in focus foreground is what is the most important where as this image highlights the background to be of most importance.

Uta Barth is one of the artist that I will be learning from in terms of composition, contrast and most importantly, the focal point.

#tasktwo

Photography 1 // Assignment 1 // Rationale

400 word rationale explaining the reason for these images.

The overall theme for part one of assignment one is around the material ‘paper.’ Paper is an extremely versatile material, ranging from origami, paper clothing and being use to light a fire. One thing that is consistent with paper is its ability to be easy marked and creased. The idea behind part 1 of assignment 1 is that I wanted to create a changing abstracted landscape using the impressions and markings in the paper. The multitude of creases, dints, scratches and tire marks add too the overall texture and atmosphere of the paper. The landscape panoramic image has been taken by sectioning off each part of the paper. Each section is photographer before it is then folded underneath itself before another photo is taken. Folding it underneath itself creates a almost bouncy like soft air cushion which allows the surface of the paper bend and fold instead of laying dead pan on the floor. Each fold adds an extra layer of this air cushion, each layer getting more intense before ending the piece of paper. It shows the progression of the paper changing, however the final image is an abstraction of the image. Allowing the viewer to make up their own images and visuals within the paper-scape.

Part two of assignment one explores the similar nature of crease making and impressions but in more of a simplistic manner. The inspiration behind this image is the artist Wilson Bentley, the master of snow crystal photography. The insane amount of snow crystal photographs go beyond 5000 with 1 never looking the same. Together these singular images create an amazing series of images that form a whole image. The idea of isolation is something that is explored. Taking this object that is always seen as a clump or a bigger part and being explore in great detail. I am exploring this with paper. Paper is never the same no matter how you bend it or crumple it. So the idea was to form a collection of crumpled paper balls that haven’t had any care in its creation. Isolating them from the rest and shooting their lonely existence. The end result looks un-natural, the commonly refereed clutter has been organised and separated from each other, spacing themselves apart evenly. To me this image is beautiful and yet unsettling.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-2 // Cont~

The final 24 panel contact sheet. Creating order in something that is normally connected to a mess. Isolating the mess.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-2

Moving on into the second part of the first assignment. We are to create a contact sheet to create an image. In one of Ruth’s lectures, she mentioned a photographer that goes by the name of Bently. His 5000+ collection of snow crystal photographs really stood out to me. The idea of series to create and image. So for the second part I want to create an image using the concept of SERIES. Much like a snow flake, every bit of crumpled paper is different, never could you create the exact same crumple effect naturally. So the next step was to take photos like Bently to capture the sides and shapes of crumpled paper in a systematic form.

Wilson Bently went though a extensive process to document these snow crystals and found that never was there the same crystal formation.

The idea of isolation and order when it comes to something like crumpled paper is very un-natural. Crumpled paper is mostly thought of as being messy and un-organised. It also takes on the idea of the brain making images if things that aren’t actually there. From this set of 24 images I want to use them as the contact sheet image.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-1 // Cont~

The Panoramic image is a compilation of the segmented images put back together in the same way they were shot to capture the entire rolled out piece of paper. But instead of it being a single shots, it is combined together to create a scene that is unrecognisable and somewhat dark. It creates an almost foreboding image looking down into a deep chasm.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-1 // Cont~

This time I grabbed a long roll of paper. Took it home, got my housemate to play around on it and make some marks. Roll on it, stomp on it, ride his bike over it. For the PANORAMIC image, the idea was to create a segmented panorama that capted the change in the paper as it was being folded up into segments. The hard directional lighting creates a disconnect from the first and last joining piece. However it all links together. The next step was to re-arrange them into an order and fashion that would communicate my concept.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-1 // Cont~

I started to experiment with the ways I can manipulate paper. I didn’t want to systematically change the paper via folding and organised methods. I wanted a more organic approach. Using my own body to manipulate and transform what is normally flat into a dynamic surface. So what I did, was take some A4 pieces of paper from my Art diary and placed them on surfaces that I use. Like sitting on my chair, standing on my couch, resting my feet on the foot rest as well as other things.

These were the experiments that I did. At first it was all about just making the paper crinkle and get interesting shapes and shadows. BUT! I was in the car with one of my friends and we were chatting about the assignment and these images. She said the word “IMPRESSIONS” which stuck with me and makes a solid point when it came to looking at these images.

The group feed back from the critique session was interesting as well. People saw things I didn’t see. Which lead me onto creating scapes out of shadow, impressions and light. I wanted to explore the way the mind can create things that aren’t actually there.

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Photography 1 // Assignment 1_Part-1

Part 1 of the first assignment for Photography 1. Well I am bloody confused! Initially I had an idea for the subject/theme which was going to be night time. But I decided against that, I want to explore that in my own time instead of having assignments direct me. So I came around to PAPER being the theme for the project and eventually the theme for all the 3 tasks.

PAPER! Paper is my focus, what can I do with paper? (artist below “Sachin Tekade”)

How can paper be manipulate? what can I do with paper to make it more interesting? What is paper? How far can I push paper? These were just some of the questions I was constantly Asking myself when trying to figure out a direction to take this paper theme. Clothing has been made out of paper, there is a whole art form that uses paper called origami. What can I do?

#photo1task1

My new doo

#hairstyle #doo #hurdid #pose #fashion #black and white #eyes #faux leather jacket #scarf #loser

// Rationale //

// Bright Green Cloth // // Jack O’Toole

Shutter speed was a question between fast and long. I have previously experimented with long shutter speeds and that was fun but can result in cliché outcomes. Decided that taking the fast shutter speed option was the correct decision, also a photographer named Chris Devour was a massive inspiration. The idea behind these images was all about the making of, how to get a result similar to his photographs. I trialled a shoot atop Mt Wellington with a very long thin scarf piece that was whipping in the gale force winds. The results were very calligraphic and in response to this, I wanted to explore a large piece of cloth to capture the ripple and folds of the fabric. The results of using the large piece of cloth were admittedly more interesting and a little bit humorous. The shoot was heaps of fun, heaps of spinning, jumping, flailing and almost falling over to achieve results that I am very happy with. The end product, in my opinion did emulate Chris Devour’s photographs to a degree. I enjoyed fast shutter speed far more than long exposure.

#unishutter

f/_4.0 1/250_1/320 ISO_100 10_shot_timer 300ppi_raw_format 360ppi_print

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Finally

After a large amount of money spent on printing out testers, to get the correct contrasts and amount of detail. I want able to settle on the layout above that I pinned up around the Photography floor of the campus. Overall I have happy with the end result which was so much fun going through the process. I have learnt heaps when it comes to actually preparing for a shoot. I can now apply this into my future projects. :)

#unishutter

Picking

Ok so, these 3 images are probably the 3 that work best together to compliment the other 3 from the first trial. Looks left to right. During class I was running through some possibilities of layout for the 6 images.

or removing some

I liked the layout but I didn’t feel right to me. Something was weak. So i looked back through my photos from the Ross shoot. Which felt stronger overall than the Mt Wellington shoot.

Coming up with

These 4 felt to be the strongest as a bunch. The minimum amount of images needed were 4, and i believe that these 4 were the strongest. It just comes down to layout. How to make it look natural.

#unishutter

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