Freya (Before Christmas)

  Monday 7th October

Today in Freya's class we went to visit Flannels Gallery, when we were there Freya gave us two sheets that we had to fill out. The sheets were getting us to look at the work and write down what we though of it. We had to choose an image that we liked in the gallery, I chose Mint by Chila Kumori Burman. i like this image due to the array of colours within this image. i also like the subject matter on women and them handling weapons. At first all you can see is half of a womans face and pattern at the other side but on a  closer look you can see that she is looking down a gun, ready and aiming to shoot. 

Monday 14th October

Today in Freya's Class we were discussing the history of experimentation. We got put into groups and then we had to write down why and what we thought experimentation is. 

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible"

Monday 21st October

Today in Freya's class we were looking at studio in context and the various types of studio photography there are. For our task we had to look through magazines and papers and find studio shots. 

Gillian Wearing Self Portraits

 Martin Parr Autoportraits

 Fine Art

 Food/Still Life

Family/Portrait 

 

Editorial

Hair and Beauty

Fashion

Catalouge

Product

Monday 4th November

Today in Freya's lesson we were looking at image and text and how one can change the meaning of the other. For task one Freya gave us a list of words and we had to draw a picture to go with that word, once we had done this we had to move the words around so that they were with different pictures and so we could see how the word changed the meaning of the pictures, then we had to swap with someone else in the class to see if we could get their images with the correct words. After we had finished this task we looked at artists and groups that used image or image and text to create different meanings. Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Dada, Punk, Jamie Reid, Barbara Kruger, Graham Rawle, Ralp Uetlzhoeffer and Meric Algun-Ringborg. For the second task we had the create a set of instructions using mainly pictures but you could include some writing, after we had finished that we had to swap over word and see if we could word out what someone elses instructions were telling us to do.

'Punk is musical freedom. It's saying, doing and playing what you want' - Kurt Cobain

Monday 11th November

Today in Freya's class we were looking and new and old studio techniques. We looked at when studio photography began (1839 - Louis Daguerre announced the Daguerreotype), when the first studio opened and where (1841 in London on Regent Street By Richard Beard), we also looked at what the studio would have looked like and what they used to keep the same pose as it could take up to and 1 hour for a picture to take. Another thing the we learnt is that from the 1900's people started the use props and painted backdrops. the first examples of fashion photography are in 1856 when a man called Adolphe Braun published a book on Countess di Castiglione. then we looked at the image of an old studio and a modern day studio and had to point out some differences. some of these were; lighting as it can now be moved around turned up and down, be defused and reflected, windows are now fitted with blackout curtains, change able backdrops for a smooth look and computers are now part of the set up. For the task in this lesson we had to write a paragraoh comparing 2 studio photographers, one being old and the other being new. 

The image on the left hand side is by Edward Stechen in 1911, this image is shot on a film camera and would have been edited in a dark room using dodging and burning techniques whereas the image to the right is taken by David Bailey in 2013 and is shot on a digital camera in a studio and edited on Photoshop.  Edward Stechen used hard lighting and bold shapes in his images. This image looks like it could have come from a Hollywood fashion shoot as his image has an arty and glamorous look to it. The image is dark apart from where the model is so that you pay more attention to her. I can see this image been used on the front of a magazine. David Bailey has a different approach to shooting his images and he crops all most all of his image so that part of the hair or head is out of the frame. David Bailey also uses high key lighting with his image to give them a crisp finish. His images are either bright and colourful or contrasting grey scale whereas Edward Stechen’s images are black and white and they are dark images. 

Monday 18th November

Today in Freya’s class we were learning about some cameraless techniques and artists that use them.

Photogenic Drawings by William Henry Fox Talbot – 1838 – Fox Talbot put chemicals onto photo paper, placed on object over the top and left in the sun – I like this technique as is it creative yet simple and creates fascinating images.

Photograms – Christian Schad, Man Ray, Susan Dergess, Laszolo Moholy-Nagy, Floris Neussus, Adam Fuss, Broomberg & Chanarin and Thomas Ruff – 1919-2013 – laying a manner of different objects over photographic paper and using various light sources to finish the image. With this technique i do believe it is effective and can look really professional if done right  but the technique doesn't appeal to me. 

Chemigrams – Pierre Cordier – 1945 – Cordier layers different substances (glue, wax etc.) and uses them to make patterns. I really like this technique as it is creative and make beautiful pictures. 

Monday 2nd December
Today in Freya's lesson we were looking at studio photography in context. We also looked at Cart-de-visite and how and when they came about. Another thing that we looked at was what modern studio portrait photography is. we came to the conclusion that the main elements of portrait photography are: the face and expression are the main focus, communicating personality and mood, body and background can be included but the face remains the focus, composed image (not a snapshot) and the sitter often looks at the camera.

Annie Liebovitz

I think the Annie has used a close up shot of her model to create drama and get fine detail on the models face. I believe that Annie used snoot lighting the light from the right side of the model as there are no shadows on that side of her face but there are shadows on the left eye and left side of her nose. The more I look at this image the less that the models arm looks like her own, so I think that this image would look better if she didn’t have her arm in the picture. 

 of her f her face but there are shadows on the left eye and left side of her  noe Dean Bradshaw

Dean has made his model pose in such a way that her attitude is coming off as cocky. She doesn’t look like a girl you would like to mess with. Dean has used a normal studio light with a soft box facing his model with a slight down wards angle turned slightly to the left and you can tell this by her not having shadows on the face but her having them on the left hand side of her neck and under the right of her chin. He has taken the image straight on which makes this image strong and bold.   

Another task that Freya has given us is to write a paragraph about a photographer that we like. I have chosen David Bailey. 

I really like David Bailey and his photography because he is an inspiring man who takes amazing images. Althought I am not a fashion photographer I have gained a lot of knowledge learning about him. I have learnt many poses for the studio and out of the studio, I have learnt about lighting, how to use shadows and camera angles to change the perspective of my images. David Royston Bailey, (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer, regarded as one of the nation's best. Bailey developed a love of natural history, and this led him into photography. Suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia he experienced problems at school. He attended a private school, Clark's College in Ilford, where he says they taught him less than the more basic council school. As well as dyslexia he also has the motor skill disorder developmental coordination disorder. His call up for national service in 1956, serving with the Royal Air Force in Singapore in 1957. The appropriation of his trumpet forced him to consider other creative outlets, and he bought a Rolleiflex camera. Determined to pursue a career in photography, he bought a Canon rangefinder camera. Unable to obtain a place at the London College Of Printing because of his school record, he became a second assistant to David Olins in Charlotte Mews. He earned £3 10s (£3.50) a week, and acted as studio dogsbody. He was delighted to be called to an interview with photographer John French. In May 1960, he was a photographer for John Cole’s Studio Five before being contracted as a fashion photographer for British Vogue magazine later that year. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, Bailey captured and helped create the 'Swinging  London’ of the 1960s: a culture of fashion and celebrity chic. The three photographers socialised with actors, musicians and royalty and found themselves elevated to celebrity status. Together, they were the first real celebrity photographers, named by Norman Parkingson "the Black Trinity". 

Freya has asked us to compare 2 photographers that both combine image and text to consider how they communicate to the audience.

I have chosen two very different styles of image and text to talk about, I have an image by Barbara Kruger on the left and an image by Jamie Reid on the right. I do like both styles but my favorite is Barbara Kruger as it is the easiest to read, being in a box that is a different color from the background and the font that has been used is bold and in your face but still doesn't overpower the image, I would say that this image could be used for a poster, flyer, etc. Whereas on the right, the piece by Jamie Reid looks much more cut up and stuck on top of another image, I still like his work but sometimes the writing is hard to read as it is in different fonts and sizes, these images, to me, are much more fun and artistic so suit being on the cover of a punk bands album.