extraordinary beings project
DESCRIPTION
A powerpoint presentation of my photos and artist research.TRANSCRIPT
Extraordinary Beings
Tolu Kehinde
JR Pepper-‐ SPIRIT The <tle of the Image is Spirit. In the image there appears to be a ghost-‐like being holding on to the railing of a staircase looking down. The image appears to have a sepia edit and you can clearly see two doors and the edge of one in the photograph. The way that the spirit has been placed makes it seem like the used to live in the house. She looks quite comfortable in the house and doesn’t seem like a stranger. Her body language also seems like she posed for the image as she is looking directly at the camera. The image appears to be dark which could be implying that there is no light in the house at that moment. This could be to represent the fact that ghosts don’t usually appear in the day, but in fact in the night. The woman appears to be wearing a long black dress though it is not seen clearly. This could be to represent death as black is a symbolic color mainly at funerals. It seems like the light is coming from the boIom of the stairs. From the way the light is reflected, it appears it is a flashlight or something along those lines. This paints a picture of the possible scenario the picture could be portraying. One possibility is that the owners of the house heard some strange noises and crept up the stairs to see where the noises where coming from. That’s when the spirit itself was caught off guard. This relates to my ini<al ideas as it is spooky alike mine and loo ks at the supernatural.
Ar<st research
James Insogna
TITLE: My Imperfec<on
TITLE: The Awakening
Evalua<on The theme I chose for this project was Extraordinary Beings. The photos I took were for my AS Photography coursework. I took a literal approach to the photographs and made them evidently relate to the theme rather than photo’s that you’d have to read in-between the lines. I took many shots but ended up shortening it down to 8 images. These varied from images of my model wearing a scream mask, smoking, and looking like a scary dolly. These all successfully related to my theme and I achieved the task set. The lighting in my pictures are artificial and the flash has been used for all the images. This created the darker, gloomy extraordinary feel I was going for with the images. All my images are in focus. I did this intentionally as I wanted to pay attention to all the detail in the images. I used Photoshop to blur some of the images deliberately. This gives the images a more unrealistic, creature like effect that I was going for. One of my photos has my model sitting down and I have used Photoshop to edit off her nose,. This made her look more extraordinary and inhuman. It makes her look like a super natural being and this gives my image a more extraordinary feel to them. In this picture there isn’t natural lighting. All my photographs lack bright colours. This is because of my chosen theme. I decided that if I was to use bright colours it wouldn't work as effectively as dull colours hence the reason why my model is dressed in all black. Her makeup is made to look like an evil dolly. When editing the photos I took into account the artistic feel they had to have. I used layers which gave the images different textures etc. It also created the evil side of the images that I portrayed in the first set. The visual impact my images most likely have on viewers is quite a shock reaction because of how deep they are in the sense of how surreal the images are. In one of my images I have an evil dolly that stares into the camera. This creates the shock reaction at first but once looked into the photo it creates deep thought. Also using the scream mask also relates to humans being extraordinary, linking it back to my theme. Seeing as all my images have a literal impact to them then I do believe that the pictures reached the level of symbolism needed. The images related to my theme Extraordinary Beings as all the images are not ordinary and question realism. The viewer would be able to decipher the symbolic meaning behind the image.
I am quite pleased with my piece of work as a whole. The images have good quality and and are very effec<ve. It is not too difficult to understand it is quite simple to read into the images also they relate to the Theme very well. The angles, colours, shape, textures, ligh<ng, posi<oning etc. . of the images all add to the success of the images. The props used in the images make the image come together, also the models body posi<oning and facial expression. The images look realis<c which was what I was going for. Though I do feel like my Images are a success there are some things that could be improved and there were some difficul<es I faced along the way. At first the images were quite repe<<ve and I thought I wouldn’t have much to choose from when shortening the images down, I was also having difficul<es finding the right props to use and I was also struggling to give the model the right direc<ons to bring out the facial expressions I wanted for the images. I do believe that pushed my crea<ve boundaries in my ideas but I don’t think that I pushed them as far as I am capable of. I did find it hard where to start and what exactly I was going to do. At the start of the project I had 2 ideas which wasn’t enough as I didn’t want all my images to look similar, I wanted them to vary from idea to idea. As <me went on I began to come up with more ideas and had a good star<ng point for the project which later became what my images are now. I made it clear to my model that her facial expressions were key in the images as they were the main aspect that would help relate to the Theme. Looking back at my work now I could've gone out of my comfort zone and found somewhere else to take the photos that would have a good surrounding/background rather than taking all the photos in my house and back garden. If comparing the start of my work and the ending point you’ll evidently be able to see the improvement. Some of ar<sts I chose for inspira<on really helped me in rela<on to my work. The ar<st that helped me the most was James Isogna. His image of the scream mask in a field related to my work perfectly as I was using the scream mask also so it gave me ideas on my posi<oning, ligh<ng etc.. In my Images, his work inspired me as you can see my scream shot is fairly similar to James. In general I do believe that my project went surprisingly well and I was pleased with my outcome. The way my pictures vary from shot to shot shows my wide spread of ideas and the interes<ng way I portrayed them. If more <me was given for the project then I believe that there could've been much more improvement, especially on the edi<ng of the images. I could've made the pictures have a more ar<s<c feel to them. If I had more <me on the project then I could’ve taken the images on the next level of Extraordinary Beings. There could've been more ideas throughout also a more ar<s<c feel to the images. There would’ve been beIer ligh<ng (more natural) and the photos I did take outside would’ve been taken on a sunnier day to create beIer ligh<ng I also would've researched much more photographers as that would’ve given me much more ideas which could’ve resulted to beIer off photos in general but as a whole I believe the images were a success though could be improved.
Ar<st Research BARRIE HARWOOD
Katherine PoIer Walter Schels
TIM FLACH
Joshua Hoffeine Most of Hoffeine’s photography is not compa<ble with reality. It takes on an a^erlife context in which demon’s, zombies and witchcra^ come to life. In this specific image he is portraying a half human/half animal being. The image has a blue <nt, this could be because he is trying to relate the actual animal on the face of the human into the image (fishes are sea animals, the sea is blue/green). The background is quite scaly to represent the fishes' skin. The ligh<ng in the image is quite minimal and there are shadows. It appears that there is a light source that is displaying light unto part of the image leaving the rest with shadows. The image is portraiture and the man is in the middle of the image. This is showing that he is the main focus of the image. The photographer is trying to experiment human and animals as one. The photo appeals to me because of how surreal the image is also how unique it is. In rela<on to my work it stands out to me as my images are going to be based on half human/half animal images. My images are also going to be portrait.
Walter Schels The image is portraiture and it is displaying a monkey. The background is black and the image is black and white. The image is portraying the image as a human. Schels could be trying to portray the idea that human came from monkeys as the monkey is si_ng just as a human would in a portrait image. The monkey is looking away from the photographer and appears to smiling. The image seems to be taken with flash (regarding the ligh<ng). The photo appeals to be because it is interes<ng to look at. It also shows animal in a different sense/view. It is also very rare that an animal is taken into a black studio to be photographed. They are usually taken in their own environment. The monkey is in the center of the image. This shows that the money itself is the subject of the image. The photo stands out to me as it relates to my own work, not only is it in black and white similar to mine, but it is portraiture and it is of an animal.
MaIhew Barney MaIhew Barney’s photography consists of him meshing animals and humans into one. In the image he has created a goat like human being that appears to be combing their hair. The being is wearing clothes just as a human is but has animal features. This brings up many ques<ons about the image including what the image is portraying. The image was possible taken in a white studio as it has a white background. This makes the subject of the image (the man) stand out from the rest of the image itself. The ligh<ng used in the image appears to be natural ligh<ng. Barney’s image has inspired me with my own piece of work as I want to portray a half human/half animal picture. He has portrayed it in such an effec<ve way. The edi<ng use has not been done to look obvious and that is the sort of approach I myself are going for so this is the reason I look to Barney’s work for inspira<on.
Development Set
Evalua<on My task was to look at our chosen theme in a different way and take another set of ini<al photos and then develop them in an ar<s<c way. I took 30 shots and shortened it to 8 photos. For my first set of photos I looked at my theme Extraordinary Beings in animal approach whereas for these set of photos I took a more demonic approach to my photos. I took close-‐up portraits of my models which I then edited in Photoshop to create half animal/half human beings. I used flash on my camera to create the ligh<ng in my photos. The photos are quit dark and glum. This is because I wanted the photos to be in black and white and quite simple as the edi<ng would of the photos themselves would be very surreal and over the top/drama<c. There has been no use of natural ligh<ng with the photos. I used layers to edit the photos (several different textures). I took into account the ar<s<c feel the images had to have. The layers made the images look tarnished and old. It also created the feel I wanted the images to have. It also darkened them and created the half animal look I was going for. The visual impact my photos have on the viewers is quite a shocked but interested impact. It makes them look deep into the images for the meaning especially because of how dark and gloomy the images are. Most of the images ques<on realism as they look human like but have that elemeb=nt of them that does’nt The images seem quite unique and strange. So the viewers may be freaked out. I believe that my images reached the level of symbolism needed. I believe this because the model in the image blends well with the animal features added to the images. This is essen<al as it relates to the theme itself (Extraordinary Beings). Therefore the viewer will be able to decipher the symbolic meaning behind the image. I am very pleased with the outcome of my work. Comparing my first set I took for the project to this set of photos I see a major improvement. I also believe that I developed the images very well rela<ng to the theme and my images have an edge to them. This helps it go into depth and seeing different views of each image instead of them all being similar. The dark colours, shapes, texture, ligh<ng, posi<oning, etc. all add to the success of the images. The props that I used created the feel of evil etc. The model I used was posi<oned well for the images though most of them are close-‐ups. Though I believe my photographs are a success, there is room for improvement. There could’ve been more diversity as most of the images are similar. I could’ve taken it to another level with the developments also rather than using layers for most of the images. Other than the points I made I believe the images have good outcome.
I do believe that I pushed my crea<ve boundaries as my images are quite crea<ve in rela<on to the props and my ini<al ideas itself. At the start of the project I had difficulty deciding on what exactly I was going to do. I had many ideas and I couldn’t make my mind up on what would work beIer and what would relate to my brief the most. It took me a while to make the decision a^er careful considera<on. My ar<st researched really helped me with my ini<al ideas and when developing them. MaIhew Barneys half animal half human photography truly inspired me with my work as it is the exact sort of photograph I was looking to create and it helped widen my ini<al idea to shape shi^ what my photos turned out to be. In general I do believe that my project went surprisingly well and I was pleased with my outcome. The way my pictures vary from shot to shot shows my wide spread of ideas and the interes<ng way I portrayed them. If more <me was given for the project then I believe that there could've been much more improvement, especially on the edi<ng of the images. I could've made the pictures have a more ar<s<c feel to them. If I had more <me on the project then I could’ve taken the images on the next level of Extraordinary Beings. There could've been more ideas throughout also a more ar<s<c feel to the images. There would’ve been beIer ligh<ng (more natural) and the photos I did take outside would’ve been taken on a sunnier day to create beIer ligh<ng I also would've researched much more photographers as that would’ve given me much more ideas which could’ve resulted to beIer off photos in general but as a whole I believe the images were a success though could be improved.
Final Outcomes
Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas looked at Photography in a more ar<s<c way, meshing the images with pain<ngs giving it a more ar<s<c effect. This image is of a woman. Marlene has made the image look like a pain<ng though the image started from a photograph. Marlene has used a human form (portrait) of a woman who looks quite young and vulnerable. Her eyes appear to be searching for help. The woman's finger is on her chin which could be indica<ng that she is in deep thought. She has used the colour red boldly across the whole image, This could be to represent danger and could be ques<oning whether this woman is who she appears to be portraying herself to be in the image (vic<m, innocent, vulnerable). Marlene’s artwork relates to mine as it has an ar<s<c, pain<ng look to the photograph, similar to what mine will have. The use of colours which brightens the images as has also inspired me in my final outcomes photographs to make the images more bright and colourful to really bring out the beauty of the image itself.