ニセモノガタリ

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Final Project: Immersers

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Week 12 / Photography in London

During the semester, I learnt the basic terminologies in photography and knew how to analyze photos more critically and professionally with these terms. I also gradually understand that the images are the carriers of the photographers’ emotions and feelings. All the light, the frame, the angle and the choice of subject helps to present a certain idea. And with such a critical analyzing view, I also become more careful in taking my own photos. I will consider what technique I need to use to emphasize my subject and what I want to convey through my photos. This course enables me to perceive the beauty in life and spread it to people around me.

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Week 8 / Photography in London

Reflection

I plan to take photos of people who are concentrated on their own business, as if they are immersing in another world. The band playing on winter nights, the art students copying world-famous paintings in the museum or the chorus singing outside the church. These are all common-scenes in our life, but together, they depict a virtual world where they enjoy themselves.

Inspired by Aneta Ivanova’s We are All Made of Flowers II, I plan to create a relation between the virtual world and the person I portray by double exposure. Sara suggested that it would be fine to focus on a very narrow area such as students working in the Japanese Gallery at the British Museum. However, during the weeks of my visits to British Museum, I only met them that once and took only 4 photos, which were not enough for the final series. So I plan to try my best to find such students in other museum in the following weeks and if I couldn’t fine more, I will still work on a broader aspect.

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Week 10 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

Exhibition Analysis

1.   Why and for whom do you think Vishniac took these photos?

Since I was not quite familiar with the anti-Jewish history, I did some research to help me understand the exhibition. After the World War 2, Nazi Germany and its ally countries began persecuting people in other races, especially Jews. Vishniac was commissioned at this period by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to take photos of poor and pious Jews as a fund-raising initiative. Therefore, these photos were taken for the JDC. However, I think Vishniac’s aim was much ambitious. Roman Vishniac was a Zionist who sympathized with those suffering Jews. By taking these photos, in my view, he not only wanted to preserve the memeory of Jews as a race on the verge of extinction but also tried to reveal the brutality and dictatorship of Nazi Germany. His photos attracted the attention of the rest of the world and hoped other countries and their leaders might do something to stop these monstrous Nazis.

2.   What, overall, can you understand about the lives of Jewish people in Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th Century from this exhibition?

Since I was not quite familiar with the anti-Jewish history, I did some research to help me understand the exhibition. After the World War 2, Nazi Germany and its ally countries began persecuting people in other races, especially Jews. Vishniac was commissioned at this period by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to take photos of poor and pious Jews as a fund-raising initiative. Therefore, these photos were taken for the JDC. However, I think Vishniac’s aim was much ambitious. Roman Vishniac was a Zionist who sympathized with those suffering Jews. By taking these photos, in my view, he not only wanted to preserve the memeory of Jews as a race on the verge of extinction but also tried to reveal the brutality and dictatorship of Nazi Germany. His photos attracted the attention of the rest of the world and hoped other countries and their leaders might do something to stop these monstrous Nazis.

3.   What aspects of their lives has he chosen to highlight?

Vishniac has chosen to present the everyday life and living conditions of the Jews under  persecution. Parents taking their children to the cinemas, couple coming back from the market, young people learning skills at factories, families contesting in basements.... All these images reflected the poor living conditions of Jews.

4.   How do the information panels (the larger texts, and the labels beside each work) affect the way you read/understand the photos? To what extent can you understand what is going on in the images without the texts?

First, the large texts at the beginning of each section informed me of the time, place and social background of the photos. Such information was of great help to me since I was not familiar with this part of history. What’s more, the labels beside each work also played an essential role in helping me understand what each photo was of and about. Take the photo of teenagers in a factory as an example, at first I thought that these Jewish teenagers were working to support their families. However, they were actually under occupational training for future emigration since “many host countries would only admit Jewish immigrants with artisanal, agricultural or engineering skills”.

5.   Is there anything in this photographic project that you find problematic or that you think is worth of praise, or both? What makes it so – style, subject itself, a combination of both, other?

In many of the photos, the faces of Vishniac’s subjects were shown clearly, which might made those hidden Jews in danger and under search. Besides, the labels of some of the photos exposed the information of Jews, such as where they were living, when they usually went out and etc. Such information would made it easier for Nazi to find them.

6.   Choose one section of the exhibition and analyse more closely how Vishniac has depicted the subjects in that section – what has he chosen to include/ exclude from the photo? Look at camera angle/lighting/focus etc. How does this influence the way you understand the message of the photo?

I thought that the section - Berlin in Ruins, was quite shocking to me. The ruins of different architectures presented the serious damage brought by the war. One of these photos even depicted the mangled platform that had once been Vishniac’s living room. In this section, Vishniac took most of the photos from eye level, which shorten the distance between the photographer and his subjects. In Ruins of the Large Tropical Greenhouse, Berlin Botanical Garden, Dahomey, Berlin, 1947, the withered plants, the bare trunks of giant palm trees and          those cool and relentless steel construction were presented to me as if I were in that particular scene. The miserable scene in this greenhouse made me feel pity for those destroyed plants. I think Vishniac also had the same feeling and wanted to reveal this to the world, so he   took the image from his perspective.

7.   What is the relationship between the photographer and his subject(s) in these photos?

As a Zionist himself, Vishniac took snap shots of what he observed in the everyday life of Jews. He might had already become a part of the communities in which he took these photos. Some of his subjects might knew him well since he even got access to the basements where these Jews hid.

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Week 10 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

My Documentary Assignment

During the two and a half month exchange life in London, I find that the lifestyle here is almost the same as that in Shanghai. However, one of the only few differences exists in the aspect of night life. In China, the shops and commercial plazas will not close till at least 10 pm, while in London, most stores close around 6pm, so I thought that the night life might be a little bit boring at first. However, this is not the case. Pubs constitute an indispensable part in British culture and in British people’s night life. It is quite common and interesting for me to see groups of British people standing outside pubs, discussing news, and sharing anecdotes. Therefore, I chose to take photos of how British people spend their spare time at night in pubs by spending several days to observe the pub “GLOBE” near our residence hall.

I took three phots in all. The first one was taken on a rainy Thursday night. Even the rain did not stop British people to come out for a drink. And since there were no seats left inside the pub, many people just stood outside and chatted. The second photo was taken when I went for a drink with my friend at Sunday night after 9 o’clock. Many people had just left home since there were some empty glasses on some tables. They might have a good time with their friends or families and needed to go home early to prepare for a brand new week. The third photo was taken when I went the pub the next night. It was only half past seven and many people were standing outside, enjoying the good weather while the inside was almost full. The three bartenders were busying getting new glasses of beer or wine for customers as can be seen in the photo.

During the process of taking these documentary photos, I felt deeply emerged into the British culture and British lifestyle, and got more convinced that pub is a unique socializing center as well as a source of legends since I used to heard that a literature society was formed in a pub at Oxford which had members such as J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Pubs witness the night life of Londoners and has become a symbol of it.

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Week 10 / Photography in London

Activity 1

Working in groups of 2 or 3, read the following short article, published on The Telegraph (11 July 2011):

“Horn of Africa famine: Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya suffer worst drought in 60 years”

The worst drought in over half a century has hit parts of East Africa affecting more than 10 million people. Thousands of families have travelled for days across scorched scrubland from Somalia to Kenya, including barefoot children with no food or water after their crops and livestock were destroyed by drought. More than 10 million people have been affected across the Horn of Africa. Acute malnutrition has reached 37% in some parts of north east Kenya and child refugees from Somalia are dying of causes related to malnutrition either during the journey or very shortly after arrival at aid camps.”

1.     What aspect of the article does the image illustrate? That is to say, does the image help you visualise one particular part of the text? Which one?

a. The first image illustrates the migration of the refugees, which corresponds to “Thousands of families have traveled for days across scorched scrubland from Somalia to Kenya” in the text.

b. The second image illustrates the health conditions of children during the migration, which corresponds to “child refugees from Somalia are dying of causes related to malnutrition either during the journey or very shortly after arrival at aid camps” in the text.

c. The third image illustrates the living conditions of children in drought areas, which corresponds to the description of “barefoot children with no food or water” as well as “Acute malnutrition has reached 37% in some parts of north east Kenya” in the text.

d. The fourth image illustrates the migration of refugees and their stocks conditions, which corresponds to “Thousands of families have travelled for days” and “their crops and livestock were destroyed by drought” in the text.

2.     In what light does the image present that aspect of the article that it illustrate? That is to say, what comment does the image make about that aspect of the written text?

a. In the first image, the refugees were walking in large groups and passing through an ancient church. The old lady in the foreground also had two sticks in hand which indicated that she was very tired and needed physical support for the long migration journey.

b. In the second image, the doctor was giving medical aid to a little boy. There was also a perfusion tube stretching from the boy’s nose along his cheek to the top, which indicated that the boy might suffer from certain disease, such as disease caused by malnutrition.

c. In the third image, a naked child was in a half-broken basket so it was obvious that there was no water inside. The child seemed to be very small, too, which might be caused by malnutrition.

d. In the fourth image, a large stock of sheep were traveling together with refugees. However, all these sheep were extremely small in size, so it was not hard to imagine that those even smaller ones might have died due to the drought only these relatively healthy sheep survived.

3.     How does the image help you engage with the written text? That is to say, in what ways does your chosen image influence how you understand the text?

a. In the first image, the photographer knelt down to create a from-below angle. Such a shooting angle made the subjects in his photo has a stronger sense of authority. The refugees seemed to be proud of themselves as well as their journey. By shooting from below, the photographer might also want to strengthen the tenacity and toughness of these people.

b. In the second image, the photographer also knelt down, but this time, he knelt to make his lens at the same level of his subject, the little boy. The photo was also framed by the hand of the doctor and the hand below, which might be the photographer’s hand. Such a framing indicated support to these children. It revealed that things would get better because of western intervene, which made the image of these children even more vulnerable and weak.

c. In the third image, the photographer adopted the same angle as the one in the second photo. The photo gave a detailed depiction of a child suffered from malnutrition and lack of water. The child was looking away to the sky, which indicated his isolation with the better-off world and his hope for getting rid of such kind of misery. The broken basket also symbolized his vulnerability and weakness.

d. In the fourth image, the photographer took a picture of refugees and their livestock migrating in some part of Africa. The photo gave a full background of where they were and gave a sense of motion that they were on a journey to get away from the miserable life back in the drought area.

Now choose 1 leader image for the story out of the 4, and justify your decision.

I’d like to chose the third one since it gave me the greatest shock when I looked at these photos the first time. It not only depicted the hard living conditions for children in drought area, but also presented his hope in better life and brighter future.

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Week 9 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

Captions:

1.      The Marylebone High Street on a rainy night

2.      Woman attracted to the fantastic tableware in shop

3.      An appealing Christmas set offer

In this photo, color plays an important role since the bright colors inside the tableware store form a sharp contrast with the cold dark colors on the street. The photo is of the Marylebone High Street on a drizzling day. The passengers either opened their umbrellas or put on their hats, hastening home or pubs. That’s where the first caption derived from since it objectively included the information of the location, time and weather. However, this young couple just wandered along the street. The woman got attracted to the goods displayed in the show windows from time to time, so I took pictures of the process and chose one to present and add the second caption. After the couple stepped into the store, I went to see what the woman was looking at and found that it was a quite fascinating Christmas set with a large collection of various tableware. Thus I got the third caption which would help my viewer better understand why the woman stood still at the show window.

I cropped the above picture to only include the couple. The man was facing ahead, turning his back on the woman (he was actually waiting for her and later even came to accompany her into the shop) while the woman facing the right side. There was also a several-meter-long distance between them, which indicated their current unhappy moods. The cropped photo might be seen as a photo showing the relation between the couple after a quarrel, which is totally against the reality.

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Week 9 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

IN THE GALLERIES:

Edward Burtynsky

Oil Bunkering #4, Niger Delta, Nigeria

The photo I chose from the first exhibition is Oil Bunkering #4, Niger Delta, Nigeria. It is found in the brochure on the reception desk. The photo is composed of different green colors. The land part is comprised of darker green dots and the liquid is in reed green color. And since Edward preferred to take photos from 1500-1800 feet above his subjects, the white and red rectangular subjects might be roofs of houses and rocks. Before reading the captions at the bottom of the page, I thought that the photo is just of a polluted and contaminated river or a swale. However, it is actually a oil bunkering site in Nigeria. This can be seen from the “rainbow” colors reflected on the surface of the liquid which I have marked out. Without these “rainbows”, it will be hard for viewers to know whether the liquid in the photo is river, marsh or oil since they are a characteristic of oily matters only. Therefore, the colors play an important role to help viewers better understand the subject of the photo, so does the title. Edward said that: All of my landscapes aren’t disaster landscapes - these are business-as-usual landscapes. These are the things that we creat. That’s quite true. The oil bunkering landscape is a result of human exploitation. The green colors and the rainbow circles warn us of our overdevelopment on these sites.

Miles Aldridge

I Only Want You to Love Me #1, 2011

From Huxley Parlour Gallery, I picked Miles Aldridge’s I Only Want You to Love Me #1, 2011. Miles used three bold colors: bright yellow, pink and red. And I think Miles also increase the degree of saturation which made the color more outstanding and eyecatching. At first sight, I found that the woman’s sad, desperate facial expressions (which can be seen from her pale white face) formed a sharp contrast with the surrounding colors (cupboard in bright yellow and red, ceramic tiles in bright yellow and pink, plates and tray in scarlet). With the help of the tittle, my guess got confirmed: she was sad because the person she loved didn’t love her. The title informed me of the reason why she looked so helpless and desperate and why the plates and food was turned over on the floor. The bold use of extremely bright colors remind me of Martin Parr, whose photos we have seen in Tate Modern Museum.

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Week 8 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

The image is of ordinary subjects in the photographer’s house in Krakow, such as wooden-framed window, empty wine bottles and a plate of coins. These together composed the foreground, while the scenery outside the window served as the background of the photo. And with the help of the window frame, the image is quite symmetrical. We could dimly see outline of the houses outside quite clearly, but we could still know that the photo was shot from a flat in a certain neighborhood. The photographer made use of the natural light. The outlines of two bottles and the surface of coins are shining. It is just like the image of what the photographer might see when he got up and looked out of the window on a sunny clear day. Therefore, the mood is quite cozy, showing a corner of the photographer’s daily life.

To recreate this photo, I faced two problems: the windows of my “house” are modern ones; I have no wine bottles. Therefore, I asked my friend who rents a house here in London what was the windows in his house like. I’m know that he drinks often, so as long as his windows fulfill the requirements, I could overcome the above two problems at once. Fortunately, his windows were quite similar to the one in the original image, so I go to his house and took the picture. I chose two empty bottles and placed them according to the arrangement in the photo. And while shooting, I try to take the same angle as the photographer did. The recreating process taught me to take an careful observation of the details of the components in the image and the arrangement and angle of it.

The photo I took was inspired by the content and mood of the original photo. I took the window of my dormitory room. I have my green tea box and pencil box on the platform so that I can easily fetch them. The photo reflects what I see whenever I turn up my head while I am sitting in front of the table. The tea and the pens consist of pat of my everyday life just as the wine did to the photographer perhaps.

Reflection after Class

1. the lens used should be adjusted.

2. the light from inside the room of the second photo should be turned off to make it more similar to the original photo.

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Week 7 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

Reflection on Group Presentation

We chose the Fallen Angel by Duane Michals for this week’s presentation, which consists of the biography of Duane, analysis of individual images, the sequencing of the series and its theme. In the process, I was responsible for the part of the technique used in each photo.

In terms of the adoption of slow shutter speed and its effect in several of the photos in the series, the photographer blurred the figure of angel. For instance, in the 6th photo of the whole series, the angel was kneeling and crouching on the bed, blurred because of trembling. Such a blurred figure indicated his ambivalence and struggling as well as his transition from purity to corruption. 

In terms of the light and shadow arrangement, the arrangement of light and shadow is quite alike and the deep shadow on the “angel” indicated his corruption.

We allocated the task quite reasonably and our presentation covered a wide range of aspects. I thought the signals Ziyi and I marked on the photos to help other classmates understand the pattern were very useful and unique. However, the connection between the four of us seemed to be a little bit unnatural and awkward, so I think this is what needs to be improved and be remembered as a lesson.

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Week 5 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

My photograph is inspired by VERITY BARGATE’s (1940-81) portrait, which depicts her desperation brought by the diagnosis of cancer. In the portrait, Verity looks into the room from outside the window and there is a frame with a photo of a little girl, which I think was photographed when Verity was young, and the title of her first book, No Mama No written on it. The window is just like the cancer which blocks her future. By such a composition and framing, we can sense Verity’s gradual separation with the real world. Therefore, I try to create such a feeling in my photo, too. I took a photo of my acquaintance here in London. The original photo was framed across a glass door and I used Photoshop to put it into the screen of my phone. Therefore, it seems as if she was trapped in the digital world. Besides, I added the icons of the apps she frequently uses in the photo by double exposure to show what make up a large part of her spare time and strengthen the idea that she has immersed into the virtual world. The screen of her phone separates her from the real world and keeps her in the virtual world, reflecting the current situation among young people who spend a large amount of time skimming Ins, Facebook and other socializing apps. Therefore, it is not just a portrait of a certain person but a reflection of the young generation as a whole, too.

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Week 5 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

Taylor Wessing Exhibition

Judging the Winner

PORTRAIT OF ‘STRONG’ JOE SMART

Joey Lawrence

Before we entered the Taylor Wessing Exhibition gallery, we decided to select the winner by three criteria: point of view, focus and meaning. The point of view shows no only the photographer’s stance to take the photo but also his/her attitude towards the subject. The focus is a certain part of the photo that the photographer want the viewers to pay most attention to. And the meaning is a more conceptual criteria which entails the idea the photographer wants to express. Based on our criteria, we began to judge the pictures. We finally chose different photos as winner. The one I picked was PORTRAIT OF ‘STRONG’ JOE SMART photographed by Joey Lawrence. This is a photograph of a young boy who lives in a remote village of Tombohuanun and under the threat of dirty water and Ebola virus. However, even in poor living conditions, the boy still held such an empowered look and resolved gaze. The photographer tried to focus on the boy and his grass mask by blurring all the background. Therefore, we can clearly see the facial expressions of the boy. The photographer shot the photo from eye level, which greatly helped to emotionally connect the viewers to the subject – the young boy. From such an angle, the boy’s clear but resolved gaze shocked me at my first sight. And finally, the meaning of the picture is, in my opinion, quite profound. Though this photo, I see a strong and tough boy with maturity that far exceeds his actual age. I think by this contrast, the photographer wants to call for the public’s attention to districts under poverty and shortness of clean water. I think this photo perfectly meets all the three criteria we chose, so I ranked it as the winner.

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Week 4 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

My Photographic Series

The photos I took for this week’s photographic series mainly featured subjects from the nature and I think they are ugly pictures of something beautiful. All the three photos were taken in the garden outside my dormitory building.

The first picture features the mud of the potted plants and the tender shoots nourished by it. Mud, which can be seen almost everywhere, is considered as something dirty. If one’s hand or clothes is blotted by mud, he/she will just wash it off. However, although seemingly ugly, the mud is, in my opinion, beautiful since it is mud that brings up various striking blossoms and sources of staple food for us human beings. It symbolizes motherhood or matrix in nature.

The second photo depicts the buds on the branches of the potted bush. Although dark, brown and ugly, these buds will later grow into leaves or maybe flowers, bringing a sense of vitality to the garden. Therefore, in this perspective, the ugly buds are actually beautiful and sacred as a symbol of life and vigor.

The third photo takes the withered and dead leaves on the potted plant. These leaves are all in color of loess or dark brown, which make the viewers feel that it is now approaching winter and most plants begin to decay in this period. Besides, the decayed leaves, which will fall on the mud in the pot, will become the nutrients of the new leaves and flowers in the coming year. Therefore, the subject, although a little bit ugly, is of something really beautiful and carries the symbolic meaning of reborn or nirvana.

Commonly seen but normally ignored subjects connect the three pictures and make them a series. These subject all play an important role in nature and symbolize something, which is quite interesting.

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Week  4 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

Reading a Photographic Series

FIRST IMPRESSION

The Atlantic Basin Project presents me with the power, abstruseness and beauty of nature. The photographer, Thomas Joshua Cooper, took the Atlantic Ocean as his subject and included elements like waves, rocks, cliffs and etc. in his pictures.

THEMES

In terms of subject matter, the photos depicts the Atlantic Ocean from various perspectives, angles and time in the day. Although I am quite poor at geography and don’t know exactly where the photos were taken even if the names of places are printed under the photos, I can still feel the power and grandeur of the nature. The waves are either striking against the rocks and cliff or staying in extreme peace.

In terms of technical choices, the photographer made these photos in black and white, which strengthened the sense of solemnity the photos present. The black-and-white images also sharpened the contrast between the waves and rocks, and between the rocks and sky, so the tone of 5 photos are similar to one another.

TITLE

After looking at the title, I learn from it that these photos were taken around the Atlantic Basin and that Thomas wanted to capture the scenery of the “world’s edge”. Therefore, when I read the photos, I feel as if I were facing the high waves, the boundless sea and the precipitous rocks and cliffs in different parts of the Atlantic Ocean, experiencing the beauty and power of nature.

SEQUENCING

The seven photos are, in my view, sequenced in meteorological arrangement. The first two photos are blurred with fog, which are also reflected in their titles. And then, in the following two photographs, the subjects gradually get clearer, with the moonlight as the source of light in the photos. The last three photos are the clearest. They are well-lit and are not blurred by fog or something like that. Therefore, the photos are arranged according to the meteorological changes, which give the viewers a better and all-round depiction of the Atlantic Area.

LAST IMPRESSIONS and SELF-ASSESSMENT

I just felt that the photos in this series were pretty cool at first, but I had a more comprehensive understanding of them after considering their sequencing. The photographer gradually unveiled the mysterious and magnificent Atlantic Ocean to his viewers and conveyed a sense of power and beauty of the nature.

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Week 4 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION ANALYSIS SHEET

British Food 1995

24 photographs, c-print on paper

Martin Parr

Born and works in Britain

What is the artist trying to do/ show/ say with this work?

The artist is trying to present us with a close observation of various kinds of food and human figures, which are two main aspects of a culture.

What is the effect of seeing a lot of his images together (as a series)?

I think that the whole series is extremely high-saturated, making the food on the photos more attractive and seemingly delicious when they are put together as a series.

What do the images have in common, in terms of subject matter?

All the subjects in this series are food, drinks or edible things such as cigarettes, which echo with the title of this series – British Food 1995.

What do the images have in common, in terms technique and style?

In terms of technique, the photographer used high saturation to make the food in his photos more appealing in color. He also used macro lens to feature his subjects in great detail and close distance. Besides, just like surgeons use surgical shadowless lamp during a surgery, Martin adopted ring flash, which minimizes the shadow of the subject, to enhance the brilliance of the photo. Therefore, the lightning adopted by this series is, in my view, artificial. By using so many bright, exaggerated colors, Martin’s photos are bold and creative.

Is the sequencing of the images relevant? If yes, why? If not, why not?

No. Not really. Viewing either from left to right or top to down, the subjects (types of food) of the photos do not repeat in a given pattern and they just consist of chicken legs, bread, cake, coffee and etc. Therefore, I think that the photographer just put all the food-featured photos together without allocating them in a certain pattern.

Consider the title of your chosen display and the captions

The title “British Food” tells me that the subjects featured in the series are all British food, rather than food of other countries. Also, it may contain cultural meaning, reflecting the unhealthy lifestyle of current British people.

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Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1

WEEK 3 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

What is the photographic series of? (Concrete subject: this is what you see in the image)

The photographic series is of regular patterns composed of lines and arcs. All these images are symmetrical and well-regulated, and are in black-and-white, which forms a sharp contrast.

What is the photographic series about? (Abstract subject: this is how you interpret what you see in the image)

To be honest, I thought that the photographic series is about the repetition of lines to present a sense of simplicity at first. However, I later found that it is actually about the movement and rhythms of signal voltages, which is really interesting and creative. No wonder I felt familiar with this series at first glance. The electrical currents can been clearly seen and they, with different intensity, frequency, distortion and amplitude, reflect the electrical microcosm. Since I majored in physics when I was in senior high school, I think such images are quite interesting.

What unities these photos as a series? What choices has the photographer made to make this work?

The photographer uses oscillography, which is now called oscilloscope, to observe the signal voltages and capture what he sees. Through the photos, he presents us the beauty of currents and of the patterns they create. The “currents”, therefore, unit all the six photos together.

The Photograph I choose:

Alexandre Vitkine 1910-2014

Untitled c. 1960

Identify and describe one compositional aspect or photographic attribute (e.g., framing, point of view, shapes, lines, use of light or b & W etc.)

The constant “waves” of lines reflect the vibration of signal voltage, and we can see that the vibrating range gradually expands from left to right, showing that the currents get stronger. Besides, the photographer makes the photo black and white to clarify the lines, highlighting the patterns created by the currents.

Explain how you think that your chosen compositional aspect/ photographic attribute influences the meaning of the photo.

The use of repeated arcs and lines greatly simplify the contents of the photos. Instead of capturing the lightning in the sky or other forms of currents, the photographer shot what he saw through an oscilloscope. Such images allow us to have a closer observation and deeper understanding of the currents and to feel the beauty and simplicity of the microcosm of currents.

Do you think this photo was taken with a big or small aperture (e.g. F12 or 16)?

As far as I am concerned, the photos are of 2-dimensional signals, so it is hard to tell which kind of aperture the photographer used.

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Week 3 / PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON

The first photo is of a passageway located near the exit of the exhibition. I was attracted to it at the first sight because it gave me a sense of mystery and uncertainty. The shadow (which was strengthened by the deep green color of the wallpaper) in the passageway contrasted sharply with the light on the white wall in the front as well as the glimmer of light from the far end of the passageway. Such a contrast made the passageway seem to be longer and allured people to explore what the passageway led to.

The second photo is taken on the balcony outside the exhibition rooms. I tried to make the outlines of the architecture lying on either horizontal or vertical direction. As far as I am concerned, the repetition of these bricks could gave the viewers a sense of endless extension, since the white borders of the bricks on both walls were stretching high to the sky. And this extension also conveyed the beauty of the architecture and the wit of the architects.

The third photo is the night scene outside the Marylebone Campus and I tried to take photo of the motorcycle. I used low shutter speed function in my app to capture the movements of it and to create a sense of vagueness, but the other vehicles were also blurred because of their high speed. From this photo, one can feel the heavy traffic at about 17:00 pm in central London when people are rushing back home or to parties or dates. Such a vagueness, in my opinion, creates a sense of busyness and vigor, and prosperity of the city.