unit 1 project evaluation
I've explored and researched a range of artists through out Unit 1 such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Harry Callahan, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Edward Weston and Karl Blossfeldt. I discovered some of these artists through suggestions by my teacher and the other artists were found by researching them on the internet that link towards abstraction and what I was interested in abstraction. For example, in the course of my research i discovered Meatyard by researching about photographers that specialise in shallow depth of field. I particulary liked how he used repitition and shallow depth of field. I found Callahan by finding photographers that use formal elements such as line,tone and shape within his images which are further enahnced by his use of black & white. Through this research, I acquired different types of source material that I could use as inspiration for my projects.
I have explored two themes through Unit 1 which were Abstraction and The Natural World. For Abstraction. I planned to make sets of images that consisted of different formal elements each time, however, my ideas started to evolve when I started to experiment with Abstraction in the dark room experimenting with Photograms. This was a more captivating way of making images without the need for a camera which produced some great results. I decided to develop my Photograms by cutting them up into pieces, sellotaping them together and making duotones of them in Photoshop which made them both more colourful and stand out. I was interested in obstructed views so I started taking images of views and reflections when we went on a school trip to the Southbank. This generated a large amount of images I could use.
There were some Threshold Concepts that I tackled during the Abstraction project. Threshold Concept 2 where: 'Photography is the capturing of light; a camera is optional' was one of the ideas I tackled because I made Photograms which do not require the use of a camera. I then explored the 5th concept where: 'images are abstractions'. This is used since the project is called Abstraction and all images are unique and different. The concept where 'photographs aren't fixed in meaning' was used since that is what makes an image abstact and unusual. The images are more abstract if they are not in order and if they make less immediate sense.
For my other project: 'The Natural World,' I started by researching Weston because I was interested in black and white images of natural forms which included shells and food. My ideas started to change when I started to be interested in leaves and plants so I started researching about Karl Blossfeld. I then began exploring how to make abstractions out of his images by cutting up parts and rearranging them. My idea changed as I started to become interested in tree shadows which then became very successful for me because it was an more interesting way of thinking about natural forms in which the shadows themselves are already abstractions.
There were some Threshold Concepts that I tackled during The 'Natural World' project. One was where: 'photography is the capturing of light; a camera is optional' this is because I made photograms of leaves at first but did not pursue it as it was too simplified. I also employed the concept where: 'photography is an art of selection'. I did this by choosing a couple of images to work with, refining and developing it on Photoshop. I also tackled the concept where 'photographs are abstractions' as well as 'photographs aren't fixed in meaning'. This was achieved because my final pieces consisted of parts of different images that were collaged together and many shapes were placed in different orders. Finally, Concept 6 where: 'photographs rely on chance' was used when I was making my 2nd final piece as I experimented with different blending modes in photoshop to use for each part of the image.
I've experimented with a range of techniques and processes in my projects. In 'The Natural World', I experimented with making photograms of leaves which links back to some artists I researched and I further refined them by making two seperate photograms connected to each other with the same leaves. I also experimented with using a projector, making shadows of trees by placing them where the sunlight is shone through the trees. This was very successful and I am very happy with my tree shadow images because I had no control about how much light I was going to get so the outcome was unexpected. I used Photoshop again, making duotones to further develop the compositions to make them more colourful and abstracted.
In Abstraction, I experimented with photograms to create abstract compositions of a range of objects. I refined my photograms by placing objects on top of each other and moving them during the process of shining light to the photographic paper. I developed them by cutting them up and using sellotape to stick them together and I edited them on Photoshop by making duotones to make them stand out more, expressing colour as much as I could. Photoshop helped me with changing the contrast levels of my reflection images of the car and obstructed views making them brighter and rotating the images so that the are not off-centre. I also responded to one of Saul Letier's images by painting them to try a different approach that I have not tried previously. However, I decided not take this further as the outcome was not what I wanted.
I made two final pieces for my Abstraction project. For my first final piece, I was hoping to create a set of photograms and duotones from a range of different objects. The images show the process on how I started making the photograms until the creation of my duotones. Overall, I was pleased with the outcome, however, the background of some photograms were made not completely black. This was likely caused by me not placing the whole photographic paper in the chemicals. This surprisingly, made it more interesting as it brought out a greater range of tones. This made it more colourful when the duotone layer was added. For my second final piece, I was planning to make a triptych out of the images I created on the Southbank trip. These were edited on Photoshop to make the images obstructed and the car within the image brighter as well as making the last image level. I believe that I've successfully explored this theme because all my images are unusual and different showing originality and making it hard for the viewer know what the subject is. If I had more time, I would select more images from the trip and edit them further in Photoshop by moving some parts of the images to different positions and experimenting with the results. My work is personal as I made all the photographs independently, they were all developed and refined many times to show and improvement. When my viewers look at my work, I hope that they understand that abstraction is a selection of images and they don't have to be in focus. I hope they understand that all images are abstract, all images can be slightly edited to make them more abstract.
I also made two final pieces for The Natural World project. For my first final piece I was hoping to create photograms of my tree shadows and making them colourful. I believe that results are very successful because they were developments of my tree shadows images. My first final piece shows the steps on how I made the edits in Photoshop, changing the blending mode and making duotones. There was one 'happy mistake' which was the photogram of the tree but there was a large blob of white on the top of it. The mistake went well because it makes the image more unusual and requires the viewers to think more about the subject of the image, this is why the mistake was a 'happy' one. For my second final piece I wished to create a collage of symmetrical shapes, this went extremely well because it shows a range of formal elements such as line, geometric shapes, colour and pattern. I made this by mainly making triangles in Photoshop of the collage I made (of the different parts of my tree shadows pictures) and adding colours to the image then changing the blending mode. I tried making the collage as symmetrical as it could be without making it too simple which went fairly well however the decisions that I had to make on which blending mode to use were more thoughtful and it was harder because my collages started to become more complicated as I added more layers. I believe that I have successfully explored this theme because my final pieces consists of tree shadows which are natural forms. My work is personal due to the fact that it has been developed many times from the original images that I have taken and edited them many times and I have made all the images. If I had more time, I would've tried to make a photogram out of the latest tree shadows photographs and then making a geometric collage out of those photograms. When viewers look at my work I hope that they understand that nature can be expressed digitally with the use of shadows and projections. I hope that they are clear that natural forms can be very abstract due to the use of geometric shapes.