Looking at three photos in depth- Photo 3: Teenage relationships

Teenage relationships:

My first reaction to this work was that I liked how the natural landscape, soft light and calmness between the couple all complimented one another and produced this sense of ‘young love’. This photo was the perfect example of the teenage essence and passion that flared and inspired Tamara Lichtenstein’s work. I think what initially made me feel the serenity of this photo was the fresh, natural light that captures the woodland around them and the paleness of their skin. I think, yet again, what I liked about this photo (and not just this one in particular) is that Lichtenstein’s work is relatable to teenagers and her work can be easily connected too. A lot of it concentrates on capturing the photo in the moment, the essence and the feeling. That’s why her work is inspired by her friends I feel she waits for the photo to make itself for her to capture and reveal it’s own form. Furthermore, much of her work captures the feelings and emotions we all endure: the strength of a friendship for example or the pure undoubted thought of being in love so young. The colours being soft and the photo capturing warm streams of sunlight brought a predominant sense of peace and stillness which was the apt tone to express and portray the feeling shared. What I liked even more so though was the contrasts of woodland with the exposure of skin. Together to me they seemed to work hand in hand, both natural and not polluted with harsh colours of tops and jumpers.

Looking at three photos in depth- Photo 2: The allure of smoking

The allure of smoking:

Another aspect of the work I am looking at is the allure and sexiness of smoking which is portrayed and favoured by a range of photographers. First of all, I found a lot of these photos originated from photographers who purposefully captured very vintage style photos with teenagers who poured out this aura of youth and bliss. They revealed smoking in a way which appears attractive and sexy but ignores the harm and damage it truly does. Instead, it seems part of this ‘false, ideal utopia’ that all the models are living in. This photo below by Solveig Selj did just that. Selj herself is inspired by a simplistic variety of ‘evocative music’, ‘playful designers’ and a ‘feminine photographic style’. Although I didn’t choose a lot of her photos, there were a couple which entwined with the selection of pictures I seemed to constantly be picking out. The one below was the perfect depiction of smoking that I wanted to photograph; the kind of smoking which seemed so sexy and cool it weaved a sticky web of deception in which we all got stuck in. By choosing an attractive model slouching back in high fashion clothes, varying from furs, laces, leathers, dolly dresses and peter pan collars painted with an expression of broody yet charming sexiness which oozes ease and hides in a frame of silver smoke, any teenage girl truly couldn’t say that doesn’t look ‘cool’ and cool is what any teenager wants to be. Therefore we become the flies tangled in the web of deceit seeing only this beautiful image of smoking but not seeing the truth which wisps away from pursed lips. That in itself is exactly what I want to draw up in my photos: the allure, the addiction and the truth.

Looking at photos in depth -Photo 1: Friendship

Friendship:

As teenagers grow up their friendships expand. Usually their friends at childhood revolve around the neighbourhood or friends from primary. But teenagers are more selective about the friendships they make. They make friends depending on interests, status, values and personality. As children, emotional needs and support come from their parents, however as a teenager unfolds they look towards peers for support. Teenage friendships are more complicated. Friendships mix into different genders, features on choosing friends become more complicated and hormones bring upon arguments, differences and the saying of being ‘two-faced’ or ‘backstabbing’. We need to work harder on our friendships, however when we do, the friendship and feeling we have for our friends is ten times more intense and we’re often inseparable from one another in high school, whereas in the transition from primary to high school, we often drift apart. That’s what I think is portrayed in this photo below by Tamara Lichtenstein. Between the image of comfort, relaxation and teenage spirit it portrays how unbreakable our friendships can be. Tamara said her inspiration came from the beauty of her friends and the splendour of femininity, teenage essence and youth. Much of her work explores a summer haze and daydream sound tracked by summer tunes and acoustic chords; though a lot of her photos seem to stand aloof to reality. What drew me into this photo initially was the beach. The question of why did Lichtenstein choose to shoot it on the beach is not an optional one as she takes a lot of her photos in the ‘moment’ which is what I do. I prefer for the photo to reveal itself to me though sometimes I have such vivid ideas I have to try them. By capturing it in the moment when the photo appears in front of you, I believe you catch the true sense of feeling and the instant itself. By using this theme of youth and this technique of capturing the ‘moment’, I think Tamara Lichtenstein’s work is easily relatable and reminds us all of a moment and time we’ve all had with our friends. That’s what I believe makes her a popular artist. Then, there’s the warmth of the sunset contrasted on sandy beaches which gives the photo comfort and portrays a sense of security that comes hand in hand with a close friendship.

What to concentrate on throughout my work

As well as studying a variety of artists and creating my own photography through my inspiration from them I would like to branch out into studying the artists work in depth, perhaps looking at it in colour, then black and white, perhaps study it with composition lines and then answer a few questions to analyse the photographs or even paintings. Furthermore, this year I need to concentrate on using a fluid vocabulary of mature language and develop a clear understanding for it throughout my work to show the examiner that I have a perceptive understanding for the correct technical terms and language of photography.

Where to take all this into my own photography.

I needed to pull together what all the photos in my photography were beginning to portray and how I could put a deeper aspect behind that for my photography AS2 work. Firstly, all my work idolised and orbited around ideas of freedom, nirvana, eutopia and teenage fantasy. So I would start my work off by looking at this, photographing it and trying to capture the same spirit of that captured by the artists I've studied. However, I will then go onto showing how this image isn't the truth. The theme I have then chosen is 'False eutopia'. Smoking isn't glamarous like it is in the photos, I could show a glamarous lady smoking on one side of the mirror and the truth is her reflection. Her reflection may be for example, an aged cancer patient. The freedom explored by teenagers can never truly be as easy as its depicted. There's recession and money issues. The cost of petrol to travel for example. I feel this idea will expand with more depth as I work my way into it.

Looking at the work of other Artists or Photographers

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Looking at the work of other Artists or Photographers

As part of both the AS & A Level courses you are expected to be looking at the work of other artists or photographers.  This can help to influence your own work and an understanding of why an artist creates a particular piece of work may help you to create your own.  In order to demonstrate to the examiner that you are engaging in the work of other artists you will need to produce evidence of this.  The easiest way to do this is to choose a painting or photograph which relates to your own work by a relatively well known artist and

using the prompts/questions below make an analytical response to your chosen artwork.  It is important that you realise that this cannot be superficial, you need to show a depth of understanding.  Print off one colour and one black/white copy of the image (min A5) on the b/w copy, draw lines to indicate the main compositional structure of the painting, photograph, image etc.

Original colour copy

B/W image with composition lines

Your Response
 What is your first reaction to the work?  Why does it make you feel/think like that?
What does it remind you of and why?
What can you connect the work to?
(e.g. Things seen on the silver screen, tv, youtube; places you have been to or things that have happened to you)


Content
What is the work?  How big is it?
What is it about?
Who is the artist?
When was it made?
Do you know of anything that would have influenced the work? 
(e.g. social/historical facts/influence of other artists.)
Does it contain any symbols you recognise?
Does its title influence how you see the work?


What can you see?
Colours-warm/cool?  Bright/muted? Predominant colour?
Tone-describe areas of light and shade/ areas of strong contrast.
Marks-what kind of marks does the artist use?
How has the artist created texture?
Are there any large shapes or forms?
Are there any imaginary lines joining different areas or creating the structural composition of the work?

A-level photography requirements

A Basic Vocabulary for A Level Photography

With all A Level subjects you will come across subject specific vocabulary, photography A Level is certainly no different.  These words can seem new and strange but we must learn to use them and where possible get into the habit of writing them in our ‘print books’ or ‘blogs’.  The moderator will be expecting to see that the,

quality of language is mature and fluid and is fully engaged with informing development of ideas and images

and that you have a

perceptive understanding and use of appropriate language.

The following is intended as a guide to get you started.

Ambient light – The natural light in a scene.

Aperture – A small, circular opening inside the lens that can change in diameter to control the amount of light reaching the camera's sensor as a picture is taken. The aperture diameter is expressed in f-stops; the lower the number, the larger the aperture. For instance, the aperture opening when set to f/2.8 is larger than at f/8. The aperture and shutter speed together control the total amount of light reaching the sensor. A larger aperture passes more light through to the sensor. Many cameras have an aperture priority mode that allows you to adjust the aperture to your own liking. See also shutter speed.

Application – A computer program, such as an image editor or image browser.

Buffer – Memory in the camera that stores digital photos before they are written to the memory card.

Burning – Selectively darkening part of a photo with an image editing program.

CCD – Charge Coupled Device: one of the two main types of image sensors used in digital cameras. When a picture is taken, the CCD is struck by light coming through the camera's lens. Each of the thousands or millions of tiny pixels that make up the CCD convert this light into electrons. The number of electrons, usually described as the pixel's accumulated charge, is measured, then converted to a digital value. This last step occurs outside the CCD, in a camera component called an analog-to-digital converter.

CD-R – CD-Recordable: a compact disc that holds digital information, including digital photos. Creating one is commonly referred to as burning a CD. A CD-R disc can only be written to once, and is an ideal storage medium for original digital photos.

CD-RW – CD-Rewritable: similar in virtually all respects to a CD-R, except that a CD-RW disc can be written and erased many times. This makes them best suited to many backup tasks, but not for long term storage of original digital photos.

CMYK – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. The four colours in the inksets of many photo-quality printers.

Contrast – The difference between the darkest and lightest areas in a photo. The greater the difference, the higher the contrast.

Digital camera – A camera that captures the photograph not on film, but in an electronic imaging sensor that takes the place of film.

Dodging – Selectively lightening part of a photo with an image editing program.

Download, downloading – The process of moving computer data from one location to another. Though the term is normally used to describe the transfer, or downloading, of data from the Internet, it is also used to describe the transfer of photos from a camera memory card to the computer. Example: I downloaded photos to my PC.

DPI – Dots per inch: A measurement of the resolution of a digital photo or digital device, including digital cameras and printers. The higher the number, the greater the resolution.

External flash – A supplementary flash unit that connects to the camera with a cable, or is triggered by the light from the camera's internal flash. Many fun and creative effects can be created with external flash.

File – A computer document.

Fill flash – A flash technique used to brighten deep shadow areas, typically outdoors on sunny days. Some digital cameras include a fill flash mode that forces the flash to fire, even in bright light.

Grayscale – A photo made up of varying tones of black and white. Grayscale is synonymous with black and white.

Highlights – The brightest parts of a photo.

Histogram – A graphic representation of the range of tones from dark to light in a photo. Some digital cameras include a histogram feature that enables a precise check on the exposure of the photo.

Image browser – An application that enables you to view digital photos. Some browsers also allow you to rename files, convert photos from one file format to another, add text descriptions, and more.

Image editor – A computer program that enables you to adjust a photo to improve its appearance. With image editing software, you can darken or lighten a photo, rotate it, adjust its contrast, crop out extraneous detail, remove red-eye and more.

Image resolution - The number of pixels in a digital photo is commonly referred to as its image resolution.

Inkjet – A printer that places ink on the paper by spraying droplets through tiny nozzles.

ISO speed – A rating of a film's sensitivity to light. Though digital cameras don't use film, they have adopted the same rating system for describing the sensitivity of the camera's imaging sensor. Digital cameras often include a control for adjusting the ISO speed; some will adjust it automatically depending on the lighting conditions, adjusting it upwards as the available light dims. Generally, as ISO speed climbs, image quality drops.

JPEG – A standard for compressing image data developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group, hence the name JPEG. Strictly speaking, JPEG is not a file format, it's a compression method that is used within a file format, such as the EXIF-JPEG format common to digital cameras. It is referred to as a lossy format, which means some quality is lost in achieving JPEG's high compression rates. Usually, if a high-quality, low-compression JPEG setting is chosen on a digital camera, the loss of quality is not detectable to the eye.

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display: a low-power monitor often used on the top and/or rear of a digital camera to display settings or the photo itself.

Media – Material that information is written to and stored on. Digital photography storage media includes CompactFlash cards and CDs.

Megabyte (MB) – A measurement of data storage equal to 1024 kilobytes (KB).

Megapixel – Equal to one million pixels.

Memory Stick - A memory card can be used as a flash-based storage for your photos.

NiMH – Nickel Metal-Hydride: a type of rechargeable battery that can be recharged many times. NiMH batteries provide sufficient power to run digital cameras and flashes.

Panning – A photography technique in which the camera follows a moving subject. Done correctly, the subject is sharp and clear, while the background is blurred, giving a sense of motion to the photo.

Pixel – Picture Element: digital photographs are comprised of thousands or millions of them; they are the building blocks of a digital photo.

RAW – The RAW image format is the data as it comes directly off the CCD, with no in-camera processing is performed.

Red-eye – The red glow from a subject's eyes caused by light from a flash reflecting off the blood vessels behind the retina in the eye. The effect is most common when light levels are low, outdoor at night, or indoor in a dimly-lit room.

RGB – Red, Green, Blue: the three colours to which the human visual system, digital cameras and many other devices are sensitive.

Saturation – How rich the colours are in a photo.

Sensitivity – See ISO speed.

Sharpness – The clarity of detail in a photo.

Shutter speed – The camera's shutter speed is a measurement of how long its shutter remains open as the picture is taken. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time. When the shutter speed is set to 1/125 or simply 125, this means that the shutter will be open for exactly 1/125th of one second. The shutter speed and aperture together control the total amount of light reaching the sensor. Some digital cameras have a shutter priority mode that allows you to set the shutter speed to your liking. See also aperture.

Thumbnail – A small version of a photo. Image browsers commonly display thumbnails of photos several or even dozens at a time. In Windows  My Pictures, you can view thumbnails of photos in both the Thumbnails and Filmstrip view modes.

USB – Universal Serial Bus: a protocol for transferring data to and from digital devices. Many digital cameras and memory card readers connect to the USB port on a computer. USB card readers are typically faster than cameras or readers that connect to the serial port.

White balance – A function on the camera to compensate for different colours of light being emitted by different light sources.

Requirements for Year 13 photography

http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/kd/ocr_9926_kd_gce_summary.pdf

My final Year 12 piece with Helen Price, inspired by Art Nouveau and Cicely Mark Barker