99 Cent, 1999
In the present day, Gursky shares a studio with fellow photographers, Laurenz Berges, Thomas Ruff and Axel Hütte in Düsseldorf. Andreas Gursky mainly captures modern day society, including its landscapes, people, architecture and industries. His work often shows individual or granular subjects. For example, supermarkets, football players, windows or islands, which he then submerges into the surrounding environment. Gursky was inspired by his work after learning from the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, where he began composing images he had captured of large expanses of areas in order to cause a ‘dizzying effect’ on the viewer. Gursky bears a close comparison to other members of the Dusseldorf School of photography that he attended, particularly Thomas Struth, Axel Hütte, and Candida Höfer. In this photograph, Gursky has captured an image which depicts the existence of mankind’s influence on the present day environment, without presenting man as a subject. |
Chicago, Board of Trade II, 1999
This composition has been taken of the trading floor of the Board of Trade in Chicago. The subjects in the image appear to be flurrying around, thus causing the photograph to become blurred. To help enhance this effect, Gursky double exposed various sections of the image. Around the edge of the central focus, desks have been built up, as if framing the image. This also gives a sense of coordination which juxtaposes the more busy and vibrant activities happening in the centre of the frame. |
Paris, Montparnasse, 1993
Gursky was the first photographer to produce large prints that measured up to a minimum of six by eight feet. Paris, Montparnasse is a composition made up of a highly dense apartment building which fills the whole frame. This photograph analyzes the realities of contemporary urban life, exploring the growing population and the impacts of this. Paris, Montparnasse also shows Gursky’s initial attempts at digital manipulation, of which he started experimenting with in 1992. Gursky’s process in obtaining an effective image is that he often takes a variety of chromogenic images which he then scans into a computer in order to digitally manipulate them by merging them together. His main aim in creating images like this is to portray the heightened version of something that already exists in this world, rather than creating a fictitious composition. |
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Evaluation: Overall, I feel that this task went well and I managed to photograph a range of effective images linking well to the topic title, Freedoms or Limitations. To further improve this task, I would go further with using a larger range of frames, such as mirrors, infrastructure and other abstract shapes found within the environment.
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The first image provides curiosity into the busy streets of America. There is a dark subject in the centre of the photograph creating a curious, eerie atmosphere. The contrasting colours of the vibrant red and yellow bring detail to the photograph. The background is much lighter than the foreground, of which is the inside of what seems to be a car. This contrasts and brings depth to the image, showing the difference between the dry and the wet from outside. This makes the photograph effective as different arguments can be formed around it. The second image that I have selected is similar. Again, it has been captured with contrasting foregrounds and backgrounds of wet and dry. However, with the more neutral colour selection, there is less detail to cause distraction from the main subject. The man in this photograph is dressed darkly which can be reflected on the weather which therefore brings a more interesting photograph where explanations can be obtained from. The composition relates clearly to abstraction as the steam on the window has been distorted and it is difficult to determine what is happening on the other side of the window. Both of these images show ominous atmospheres as no identity is shown.
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To capture this photograph, I set my shutter speed to around 1/2000 of a second in order to capture my entire subject in focus. After altering my shutter speed, I also had to change my depth of field choosing a high f stop number in order to allow more light into the camera so that my image did not appear dark. I also adjusted my ISO and white balance.
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For this image, I chose a slower shutter speed (around 1/80 of a second). This allowed my image to come out more blurred, allowing comparisons to be made between the faster shutter speed and the lower. As more light was being allowed into the camera, I had to adjust my f stop number in order to maintain a well exposed photograph.
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BEAUTY IN MOTION
Blumenfeld argued that beauty in motion/films is just as beautiful as the beauty in portraits and still photographs. In the 1960s, Blumenfeld became the director of the worlds first fashion films, hence 'beauty in motion'. The video on the left shows Blumenfeld's 'beauty in motion' and I feel like he represents a contrast of fashion, presenting it in a distorted way. By presenting these fashions in video form, the viewer is able to see lots of detail and the way the subject acts can show clear links with the associated fashion. Blumenfeld presents this video without any background music, placing more attention onto the subjects and composition of his work. |
For this task, I looked at the work of Willi Dorner, exploring small spaces around the school rather than in the studio. To do this, I found areas where I asked my subjects to either crouch, get in or try to fit, with the intention of linking to the photographer Willi Dorner and his 'bodies in urban spaces' project.
Willi Dorner began choreographing his own pieces of work in 1990. Dorner has been involved with film making which enabled him to develop an interest in creating events with the intention of giving the audience the opportunity for new experiences, insights and a different perception of day to day life. Much of Dorners performances and works are presented in festivals and venues in Europe, Africa, North and South America and China. |
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Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins follows the lives of communities and individuals surviving on the fringes of society in America, India, Chile and Nigeria. Throughout this exhibition, viewers are given an insight into a more complex and diverse view of contrasting societies across the globe, captured by photographers of who have immersed themselves into the way of living. The photographers included in this exhibition spent months, years or even decades documenting these representations of such deprived areas found on earth today. The images displayed in the exhibition explore communities of sexual experimenters, romantic rebels, outlaws, survivalists and the economically deprived. Another Kind of Life features the works from famous photographers Paz Errazuriz, Pieter Hugo, Mary Ellen Mark and Dayanita Singh.
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Mary Ellen Mark - Tiny: Streetwise RevisitedMary Ellen Mark was an American photographer famously known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture and advertising photography. One of her most successful projects is that of 'Tiny: Streetwise revisited'.
In 1983, Mary Ellen Mark began working with and photographing a group of independent homeless and troubled youth who were making their way on the streets of Seattle as pimps, prostitutes, panhandlers and drug dealers. Her project 'Streetwise' was published in 1988, exploring the lives of several unforgettable children, with her most famous subject being Tiny, who was originally born with the name Erin Blackwell. Tiny has many aspirations, hoping to live on a horse farm with diamonds and furs, along with having ten children. Tiny: Streetwise revisited documents Tiny's life across thirty years. This then became Mark's most significant and long term project. Throughout this project, Mark incorporates numerous images from Streetwise and the life of Tiny from the age of thirteen up to an adult. The project also presents ideas about the roots and cycles of poverty, addiction and homelessness, enabling the viewer to consider and evaluate the consequences and type of lifestyle these children lived. |
This photograph has the subject of a runaway child, named Rat, who lived in Seattle and was part of the film Streetwise. In this image, there is a clear juxtaposition of what he is holding. From the image it is clear that he is a young boy, but with the cigarette in his hand and mouth, the viewer is given an insight into the conditions of living on the street as a young child and the dangers they face. The combination of the cigarette and his expression helps to give off the feeling that he has been through more than most people of his age. This leads to a story being revealed to the viewer, enabling emotional connections to be made, which is the intention Mark has when presenting her influential photographs. The lighting used to take this image is natural. This is because Mary Ellen Mark tried to capture her images as close to the truth and reality as she could. The background of the image appears to be stone and concrete, which can be related to the idea of a prison, with the child having no ability to get out. This photograph expresses the idea and sense of isolation, resulting in the viewer being able to make connections with the subject within the frame.
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"I photograph the people I photograph because I care about them and because their lives fascinate me. In a sense you might say that they are my heroes, because I think they have such a sense of passion and feeling in their lives. They have heart and soul and that is what I want to capture in my pictures. They touch me. If I had to stop photographing people I care about, I wouldn't even want to photograph again."
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This image depicts 3 rows of cots in pairs of two. The only source of 'bright' colour is found in the faded orange coloured pillow cases in a few of the cots. You can see the rough texture of rust on the frames of the cots and on the damp back wall. You can also see some damp marks on the ceiling in straight lines where a wooden floor would be on the floor on the next level. Light is coming from two sides of the room which created a balanced and natural lighting atmosphere. This creates a natural lighting scene which is similar to the subject/ meaning of the photograph: the force of nature. The photographer has positioned the camera in the centre of one of the pairs of cots, this creates a feel of perspective in this image and also a feel of order and symmetry contrasted with the uncontrolled and disordered rust and damp. I think Kander would have used a high aperture in order to keep the back wall in focus so all the textures in the image would have been kept for the viewer to experience and see.
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This image shows an old sports hall which would have presumably been used by children in schools. The room which would have been used daily is seen to have plants and weeds growing in the corners of the room which show cases how derelict the area is. The formal element scale is shown in this photograph as the hall is very big and the image looks as if it has been taken from a low angle which further reveals the scale of the room. The light is natural and is coming from the left hand side of the photograph. The walls are a light colour and the amount of light coming out from the windows suggests they are very big, this makes the whole image look light and bright which is contrasted with the story behind the image and the sight of the plants growing which shows a serious and unhappy matter. The light would suggest that the image has a positive message behind it, yet it is the opposite. It looks like the photo would be taken on a height f stop number as it has a large depth of field.
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Kander has created a sense of mystery in this image as there is not one clear subject: in my opinion I feel that there are two. There is the piece of artwork at the background of the image which is the obvious subject as it is the only area of brighter colour found in this image. This colour is therefore contrasted with the dull, lifeless feel of the rest of the room. The other subject is the tree which is slightly to the left of the image. It is a subtle subject as it is not the first thing your eye is drawn to when looking at the image however, it is what ties this image in with the rest of the series and hence making it another subject. The textures seen in this image are rough and not smooth. This demonstrates that this room has been abandoned and therefore not up-kept. The textures in this image make up most of the composition as they are evidently rough and different on all the walls and ceilings. Therefore, I think Kander would have thought of the formal element texture when taking this image.
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Miroslav Tichy was a photographer, born in Czech Republic. Throughout his lifetime, Tichy constructed his own camera out of cardboard tubes, tin cans, dress elastic and various parts of old cameras he would come across. Between 1960 and 1985, he used these cameras to capture thousands of images around his hometown, most prominently his subjects being unsuspecting women. However, it wasn't until 1981 that one of his friends decided to gather up all these images, organising them to share with the world through exhibitions, that Tichy's unique approach to photography was discovered. In an interviewed, when asked why he changed from photography, he answered, 'all drawings have already been drawn. All paintings have already been painted. What was there left for me to do?'
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Miroslav Tichy from Ray Anderson on Vimeo. |
For this development, I decided to experiment with the use of photographic paper and old cameras I found in the photography room. Both of these cameras use film, however, I decided to load photographic paper into the back in the darkroom to see what effect that had on my images. I then brought the cameras out of the darkroom, to the studio. I asked my subjects to stay still before manually exposing my photographic paper for around seven seconds, finding that this time frame produced the best image. Following this, I went back into the darkroom, removed the photographic paper and used the developer, stop and fix in order to obtain
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Evaluation: Overall, I preferred this approach to using old cameras and photographic paper to produce abstract portraits. I particularly like the image shown on the left. This is because it is confusing to the eye, causing the viewer to come back and question the angles and subjects used in the composition. I also like how the subject is placed, with the face on portrait fitting in with the side on one. The juxtaposition of the harsher blacks and the more faded greys adds to the abstract side of the image, creating a dynamic image. To further improve this experiment, I would use other cameras from the photography room, comparing the final outcomes. I would also use a tripod or balance the camera on a table. This would therefore mean that my subjects and compositions would be more in focus, leading to a more effective link to my chosen photographer, Stefan Killen.
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