Task one- photographs
How do we read a photograph?
Denotative- Only seeing an object as it is, no context or inferring information simply what is seen in the frame like a bench, people or buildings.
Connotative- Interpreting what objects or a photo could infer, this includes ideas and feeling that people could connect to the photo. for example dark trees could suggest a dark and claustrophobic mood.
Connotative- Interpreting what objects or a photo could infer, this includes ideas and feeling that people could connect to the photo. for example dark trees could suggest a dark and claustrophobic mood.
Diane Arbus images:
Analysis of denotative and connotative image 1- Diane Arbus identical twins, 1967
This image at the surface seams to be a simple, white, Barron and neutralises the two girls removing all context, this makes you focus more on the girls rather then being distracted by a busy background. By doing this Arbus illuminates any knowledge of the photo forcing us to think about the image and wonder where are they? who are they? why are they posing like this? You can see that she describes the photo as including ' identical twins ' yet when you look closer you can see that one is 'happy' and the other 'sad' the twin on the right is smiling more, has neater hair and different eyes. They are not so identical and you can imply that one looks happier than the other. Both girls are wearing matching cloths, hairbands and socks this is very formal dress making a creepy or supernatural feel to the photo, reminding some people of the twins from the shining. The background is a tilted white wall that intercepts the girls at their knees, this oblique angle of the photograph suggests that something is off or wrong with the photo ( distortion )
Diane Arbus like to capture images of people in society who were different, and at first glance the twins do look identical however as we continue to look closer and analyse the photo you can see they both have dissimilar features, proving that a photograph is not identical to real life or as it always seams. |
Analysis of denotative and connotative image 2- Diane Arbus a family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, New York, 1969
On the surface this image presents a typical middle class American family on a Sunday afternoon however the more you look into it the more you see that this is a perfectly planed photo. You can see that the lawn takes up two thirds of the space, indicating the sense of isolation, emptiness and dislocation. The parents in the photo are sunbathing in the centre of the frame with a table separating them, the woman looks forced relaxed and made up looking, and the dad seams fed up with his hand over his face leaning away from the family suggesting he is distant and annoyed with them. In the background the child is playing in the paddling pool slightly hidden by mum, this could imply that he has a closer bond to the mother figure than the dad. Furthermore there are lots of play toys available to the child however when you look closer all the fun things are half of the page and in the background ( out of the picture ) and not important, the swing is also broken suggesting a broken family life. Where the parents are laying from first glance it looks like the objects on the table are closer to the man then woman, and both hands are reaching towards the table possibly trying to rekindle a broken connection but can't, the circle also represents the family as a whole unit yet the slates could make it look broken. Lastly the trees create a gloomy mood draws to people, no escape and makes the photo feel chlostrophic.
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Task two- The early years
Well done, main points have been covered. Perceptive conclusions drawn.
The Early Years
The search for realism
The Renaissance:
During the Renaissance people became much more interested in the exploration of representation the reality of nature. Leonardo Da Vinci was very well known for his anatimical drawings and took a liking to advances in science. Some conspiracy theorists argue that the head on the Turin shroud is in fact Leonardo himself. Photographer Nicholas Allen used a camera obscure with a lens and cast to recreate a identical image. This cloths was stretched and covered with silver sets and fixed with urine.
Joseph Schultz- 1727
In 1727 Schultz found that mixing chalk and nitric acid into what some silver had been dissolved in was darkened by the sunlight outside. His work did not provide a way of preserving the photo however it provided a base line for other photographers to work from.
In 1727 Schultz found that mixing chalk and nitric acid into what some silver had been dissolved in was darkened by the sunlight outside. His work did not provide a way of preserving the photo however it provided a base line for other photographers to work from.
Joseph Nicephore Niepce- 1827
In the 19th century Niepce was the first successful person to fix a projected image of his view from the window in the South of France. As he was unable to draw well, he first placed his engraving onto stone or glass plates coated in a light sensitive mixture. that was the first known photograph on metal in 1826
In the 19th century Niepce was the first successful person to fix a projected image of his view from the window in the South of France. As he was unable to draw well, he first placed his engraving onto stone or glass plates coated in a light sensitive mixture. that was the first known photograph on metal in 1826
Early inventions- Camera obscura
The camera obscure was an important part of the development of photography. camera obscuras were used to expose light sensitive surfaces materials to the projected images. It consists of a darkened room or box, this is where the image is projected onto a wall or in our case a piece of paper. The rays of light are reflected when partly absorbed by a object, they retain information about colours and brightness of the surface of that object. This small hole allows the rays to travel in and reverse the images onto the other side.
Daguerreotype and calotype
Daguerreotype- This was invented by Louis Daguerreotype in 1839. To make an image the polished a sheet of silver- plated copper till it looked like a mirror. It was then treated with fumes that made the surface light sensitive. Once slotted inside the camera it was exposed to light for as long as the photographer thought was needed depending on the day, this could be up to 15 mins or as little as a few seconds for very bright days. Though chemical treatment, rinsed and dried this gave you your final image. Because it is on a mirror like surface the image will either appear positive or negative depending on the angel of light that you view it from.
Calotype- This was introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, he used paper coated with silver iodide. The paper texture will effect the way the photo come out. The calotype process produced a translucent negative image and from this multiple positives could could be made from contact printing. This gave it an advantage to the daguerreotype as it was able to produce multiple images with only one camera.
Calotype- This was introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, he used paper coated with silver iodide. The paper texture will effect the way the photo come out. The calotype process produced a translucent negative image and from this multiple positives could could be made from contact printing. This gave it an advantage to the daguerreotype as it was able to produce multiple images with only one camera.
Louis Jacques Daguerre - 1839
He was a popular visual photographer in Paris who worked with Niepec to fix a projected image. In 1839 he announced his invention of the camera, it could make a print from a mirror like prop coated in silver nitrate. This was exposed and then developed to create a photo.
He was a popular visual photographer in Paris who worked with Niepec to fix a projected image. In 1839 he announced his invention of the camera, it could make a print from a mirror like prop coated in silver nitrate. This was exposed and then developed to create a photo.
William Henry Fox talbot- 1835
Around a similar time to the Daguerre type, English photographer Talbot developed a camera called the Calotype. This allowed multiple photos to be developed from just one camera, this was a big advantage from the Daguerre type. To create this work he used paper coated with silver iodide. the paper texture will effect the way the final photo will come out, The Calotype process produced a translucent negative image that could be made into multiple copies from printing. this gave it an advantage to the Daguerreotype as it was able to make multiple images with only one camera.
Around a similar time to the Daguerre type, English photographer Talbot developed a camera called the Calotype. This allowed multiple photos to be developed from just one camera, this was a big advantage from the Daguerre type. To create this work he used paper coated with silver iodide. the paper texture will effect the way the final photo will come out, The Calotype process produced a translucent negative image that could be made into multiple copies from printing. this gave it an advantage to the Daguerreotype as it was able to make multiple images with only one camera.
France vs England
The Calotype was a much better verson however lacked clarity and sharpness and its overall quality make it much less popular. However it emrpoved over time as technology advanced.
The Calotype was a much better verson however lacked clarity and sharpness and its overall quality make it much less popular. However it emrpoved over time as technology advanced.
Themes
In the early years lots of photographers were concerned with documentation so continued to focus on traditional fine art themes like family photos, portraits and landscapes. Over time these old themes developed as photographers begin to find the own inspirations and identity.
In the early years lots of photographers were concerned with documentation so continued to focus on traditional fine art themes like family photos, portraits and landscapes. Over time these old themes developed as photographers begin to find the own inspirations and identity.
Another thorough piece of work. Perhaps you could have put the processes with the relevant photographers in your timeline rather than keep ing them separate.
Early photography moments
Pictorialism, photo-secession and straight photography 1870-1930
Pictorialism: This era of photography was taking the medium of photography and developing it into a art form, Pictorilists thought it gave a photo more detail, beauty and variation of different tones. In the 1850's painter william John Newton suggested that photography could also be seen as a art form and from then on people wanted to elaborate photography to the same level of art. Photography critics at the time thought the medium lacked creativity as it was mainly a mechanical process however they didn't see the composition, lighting and time it took to create a photography back then. Pictorlism wanted to challenge this outlook and prove that it could also look like art, they hoped that the use of a dark room could help them develop different techniques to archive a paint like photo for example, including brush strokes, soft focus, colour tint and blurriness.
This image by Alfred Stieglitz called ' waiting for the return' 1895 included multiple visible manipulative techniques and patterns in order to archive this painting like texture. this all took place in the dark room which allowed them to have much more freedom to play and experiment with the printing process of the photo. For example the use of smudging with brushes or their own fingers can replicate brush stroked that a painted would have on the painting. They also introduced highlights to give depth and definition as Pictorlists wanted to archive a dream like state.
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Photo Secession: This movement was founded by Alfred Stienglitz in New York 1902, he aimed to still have the ideas of Pictorlism photos but concentrate on the mechanical options as they are a huge part to photography. They also felt that through the old process photography was becoming blurry and lost what made them good. Other members included Alvin Langdon Coburn, Gertrude Kasebier, Edward Steichen and Chlarence H. White, who all held great importance in the process that was created. They liked to photography amazing landscapes, figures however a very small number of they decided to photography the city around them. In 1903-7 some of the photos were printed in their magazine ' camera work' that Stieglitz edited. It also was a exhibition in a gallery, the little galleries of the photo- succession, later known as 291. These photographers listed above founded their subjects in the bridges, buildings and construction that was going on around them, they felt this was a new and exciting thing to show the world and was a opening symbol of the urban life.
Straight Photography: Straight photography emphasis with the cameras own ability to produce shape and detailed images, this can also refer to photo that have not been manulipated or edited to look a certain way without putting it through the dark room and instead photographing it as it is seen in person. Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz founded straight photography in New York, they used the camera to capture the pure bold, straight, high contrast and intense detail to show pure photography for the first time since the invention of photography.
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F64: This was formed in San Francisco and all of the 11 members of this group all had in common the way they wanted to finesse straight photography in the cast to find ' pure ' image. The group of F64 wanted revolt on the way photography was seen as a art and dismissing its true forms in the aim to find the cameras unique technical qualities. For them to create their images the aperture was set to the smallest it could go to archive a sharpness and detail that a normal image could not. The group also wanted to show the real side and make one object to look a different way, they also strived to take photos of nudes, veg and fruit, landscapes and still life.
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Well done- you have supplemented the content covered during the lesson with more independent research. Make sure that your comments are accurate and you use Photographic specific vocab. Eg. for the F64 groups you should discuss depth of field.
Herbert Bayer
Herbert Bayer was born in Haag, Austria and was a individual who closest identified with the famous Bauhaus program in Germany. He first joined the Bauhaus as a student however he stayed on to become one of the most prominent faculty members. He proceeded to leave in 1928 and moved to Berlin where he opened a graphic design film whose clients included vogue. Bayer was most well knows for his colleagues made in 1932, one was a self portrait where the viewer looks over his shoulders as he stands bare chested in front of a mirror. The other 'The lonely metropolitan' this shows two hands with human eyes staring directly at the views from the palms. Both these images are extremely powerful images that reflect ideas or surrealism and dream like realities.
- This colleague called 'The lonely metropolitan' is a photo montage made not only from sticking different images together but he used hand applied pigment to get shadows and gouache to make the separate components look like one. the images consisted on his own photography's and images from magazines. The background of the colleague is a unwelcoming, rusty, decaying and hostile Berlin residential building with darkened windows, there is an acute slant to the whole layout suggesting that something is off about the images and almost estrange. The building can reflect the feeling of entrapments and claustrophobia of the constant evolving city compared to where Bayer lived at the Bauhaus witch he felt freedom, togetherness and at home.
- The two hand facing inwards with two different and intimidating eyes in the centre of the palms. The eyes are making direct eye contact with the viewer and look slightly different as one is darker than the other, this suggests that not everything is as it seams on first glances. The hands being disconnected from any other body part could reflect how he often feels out of places and isolated as Bayer moved around cities a lot. - Bayer might be wanting to reflect his feelings of isolation, loneliness and claustrophobia through the uses of sticking different and unusual photos together. Bayer moved cities a lot due to his work and this image evokes these thoughts and the effects of moving around. At the time he moved to Berlin it was run by an over crowded economy with rich people getting richer and poor poorer getting poorer, this left many people feeling discouraged and lost in the current times. Therefor by using's different photos it helps create an effect of isolation and allows the view to see the image as separate main things instead of just one. Being misplaced and detached were also key emotions felt by the people of Berlin about the oppressing political parties and how the confusion made them feel lost. |
Daisuke Yokota- Presentation
Dorothea Lange,1895-1965
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Photographing process:
I chose to research Dorothea Lange as I, as well as many others, saw her photography as influential and enlighten to the whole world. She had always been interested in photography and what it could do, however her most famous series of photographs all happened when she passed a Pea pickers camp in March of 1936, at this time she was also working as a photographer for the resettlement administration (RA) they were a depression-era government agency who's aims were to raise public awareness and provide aid to those suffering during this era. As she was driving down this road she noticed the camp, when she decided to turn into, here she found a mother and her three children looking tired and helpless. She said ' I saw and approached the desperate and hungry mother, as if drawn by a magnet' it was a long process to capture the perfect photo of this mother and her children. Unlike many other photographers trying to capture the 'realness' Lange manipulated the objects and positions along with the composition to make it more heartfelt in the hope that the governing body at the time would want to help.
Are there any issues in terms of the photographer’s objectivity of the issue or moment they were photographing. How do you feel about the way she manipulated the scene?
Are there any issues in terms of the photographer’s objectivity of the issue or moment they were photographing. How do you feel about the way she manipulated the scene?
Framing
Thomas Hoepker
Young people on the Brooklyn Waterfront, 11 September 2001
Young people on the Brooklyn Waterfront, 11 September 2001
Context of the photo:
This photo was captured during the event of 9/11, 2001. The photographer Thomas Hoepker
My cropped images: