Assignment 2 Options(2)

 Desaturated

 Film Still

Intimate

Assignment 2 Options

 Flash Lighting

 Midday Light

Light/Shadow

Short Presentation

http://angelastrassheim.com/workpages/family/family_12.html

This image is by Angela Strassheim under her "Family Study" Photograph section.  I could not find much information about her, but I really like this photograph.  She is known for using vibrant colors, and taking images of objects and figures. She identifies with the middle-class American family. She is interested in forensics and in this image she shows the ropy veins of the woman's hands. Each of the photographs in this section had something to do with family, so i'm assuming this is her mother, or a grandmother in the family. I really like the vibrant color and the detail in the old woman's hands. I also like the composition, how her body and hands are to the right and not centered.  I think she was trying to show the detail in the woman's hands, and get an image to remember this woman by, without necessarily including her face.

Prompt 5,6, &7

#5 “I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.” ~Mary Ellen Mark


.  I think to a point being direct and honest with someone that you're photographing is important.  For instance, you shouldn't take a photograph of someone and say that it's for your own use and you are the only one who will see it, and then post it all over the internet. I think it's important to have the consent of the person you are photographing to use their image how ever you actually plan to use it.  It's also important to be honest about how the person will be conveyed. For instance, there could be an issue if you took a photograph of a girl without makeup for "test shots", then had her put makeup on for the "real photos", then used the photographs without makeup without her knowledge.  However, if someone is trying to make some sort of statement and they think it would be better that the subject not know exactly why or when the photo is being taken, I think it's fine.  For instance, many of the greatest photographs have been taken of people when they don't know they are being photographed. I once read something about it taking at least 6 minutes for most people to act naturally when they know someone is taking a picture of them, so if a photographer wants to get someone in their own environment, it might turn out better if the photographer does not ask for their permission.  Obviously this is to the discretion of the photographer, and they should know that by not being completely honest with someone about what they are doing, it could cause problems.

#6 I think as long as the person being photographed know what will be done with the pictures, it is always ok to digitally alter photographs.  For instance, if you took a picture of a person that hated Obama, and you went in and added a picture of Obama with his arm around them, that might not be ethical.  However, if you explain to the person what you will be doing (even just changing colors) I think that any altering of the image would be fine.

#7 In a given day, I can think of a lot of examples where I see portraits.  Examples such as facebook pictures, advertisements, wedding pictures, mugshots on the news, posters people have in their houses and apartments, etc.  With each photograph, I feel that the photographer was trying to express something differently.  In facebook pictures, most people are just trying to capture themselves in a good, funny, or interesting way to show their friends.  In advertisements, photographers are trying to help sell something.  In wedding pictures, photographers are trying to take the best photographs of the people involved with the wedding so that those people can look back and remember how good they looked and how special the day was.  In mugshots, photographers are trying to get an image that distinctly shows what someone looks like so that the public will know what they've done, almost to make a spectacle of them, or even to tell the public to keep a look out for the person.  In most peoples houses and apartments, I've seen a lot of posters of famous people, where the photographer is trying to capture the star in a certain way either to sell the photograph or to sell the person posing.  Portraits are definitely a huge part of photography, and of our world.

Assignment 2(0): Recreation

 

I wanted to use another photographers' image to give me an idea, but not completely take their photograph.  So I changed the composition a bit, and tried to focus more on the face rather than the whole body.  I took this image because of inspiration by photographer Marketa Luskacova.  A lot of her work deals with people and portraits. Here is her image. 

Artist Statement

In the first image, I only used a small section of the faucet and tried to focus more on the drops coming out of it, and wanted the lighting to be soft.  This image is about stopping something in time, and the way that the drops are literally frozen in the image shows that time has stopped.  I constructed the scene by turning on the water and snapping shots at random times to see how each drop from the faucet looked. I first used slower shutter speeds, and then made them progressively faster, as well as using a flash.  My goal for this image was to get the drops stopped on the way from the faucet to the sink. I once saw a blog with images of colored paint dropping into other colored paints, and really liked the images where the drops hadn't completely hit the other paint yet.  It intrigued me and made me wonder how many different compositions you would be able to make with this idea.

In the second image, I was basing it off of a painting called "The Kiss". I tried to use similar lighting and composition, and framing, while changing what the subjects were wearing to make it more recent than the original painting.  I constructed this scene by showing the subjects the painting and guiding them where to stand and what to do with their hands, arms, and legs.  My goal for this image was to get the composition and lighting as close to the painting  as possible, while changing the wardrobe to make it seem current.  The artist that was shown as an example for taking a painting and making it into a photograph was what intrigued me about this particular assignment. I think my interpretation was a bit more literal than most of the photographs from that artist.

In the third image, I used the ballerina on the right side because I prefer when things are off-center, and I thought the deep red background helped to balance the almost white image of the ballerina.  My image was about capturing the ballerina moving and making the blur part of the image to represent the beauty and fluidity of ballerinas when they dance. I had someone hold the string of the ornament and make it spin and I took pictures with a very low shutter speed.  My goal for this image was to capture all movement the ballerina had in the 20 seconds that the shutter was open for.  I have seen artists who go for the "blurry" look of a slow shutter speed, and like their images, I feel that my image is more like a painting, rather than an actual photograph.

Assignment 1: Explore

This image was part of the "flash lighting" section.

This image was part of the "balance" section. I chose a painting called "The Kiss" by Francesco Hayez.

And here is the actual painting.

This image is part of the "color in motion" section.

Prompt 3 &4

# 3 “Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.” ~Duane Michals. Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Why?

I agree.  Today with all the things people can do to edit their photos, you never know what actually took place.  You don't know if a person changed the colors or the brightness or contrast, or if they added or deleted a part of the image.  Photography can deal exquisitely with appearances because images appear a certain way, but the viewer has no way of knowing if this is a real image, or if it has been changed.  


# 4 “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine

Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Why? Describe situations when photographic images reveal “the story” (as compared to words). Describe situations when words reveal “the story” (as compared to images).

I agree to an extent. An image can tell a story in a way that words can't. But at the same time, words can tell a story in a way images can't because of people's minds and imaginations.  For instance, a person could be talking about a place they visited. By looking at an image, they can see exactly what the place looked like.  They can see that at that moment in time, who the people were around the place, and what they were doing. "I studied abroad and we went to Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower.  Here is a picture of the day we went so you can see what the weather was like, how many people were around, and what they were doing at the time the picture was taken." But if a person is talking about a place they visited and tell a story that goes along with their visit, a person can imagine what happened by using knowledge that they have about the place and knowledge in general. "I studied abroad and we went to a show that was part of the Fringe Festival in Scotland. The show was really funny because it involved 4 guys who were mostly talking about their lives and making jokes about things they had been through." I could tell some of the things that they had said, but I wouldn't be able to show someone with an image what all happened during the show.
 

Prompt 1 & 2

Imagine a world without photographs. Describe what this world would be like.

No one would be able to have an actual record of anything that happened.  People could write about things, or draw things, but neither of those things are actual proof.  Now with Photoshop, pictures aren't necessarily actual proof because things can be changed and altered, but in general, a photo gives more of a realistic explanation of something that has occurred. Also, pictures help trigger memories.  When thinking of something that has happened, a person can normally remember certain aspects of the memory, but when looking at a picture a person can be reminded of things they did not remember at first.  Finally, print and digital media would be boring.  Some people like to read, but for those who don't, or those who are more visually stimulated, reading an article in a newspaper or looking through a magazine would lack something special.

What does the word "photograph" mean to you?

To me, the word "photograph" means keeping a record of something that has taken place.  I am very interested in photo journalism and catching things "in the moment".  Photography is about being able to take an object, place, or person, and artistically or "journalistically" save an image of something that was occurring. 

Jill and Polly in the Bathroom

The original image is by Tina Barney.  There are 2 women standing in the bathroom.  My thought was that the mother just caught her daughter with a boy in the house, so I shot a photograph that would capture him running away from the house. This picture is part of a series where the photographer wanted to capture friends and family in their houses in the moment.

Michelle Banaszak