Photography as a language

Trying to think of any photograph which isn’t used as a means of expression or communication is impossible. I honestly can’t think of one example.

Commercial photographs are used in such things as merchandising and adverts to promote a business or sell a product.

Wedding photographs express and document a special event/day which celebrates the coming together of two individuals in love.

Journalism, Historical and Political photography cover many things such as social issues which are usually biased, depending on who the photographer is or is working for.

Passport photographs are used as a proof of identity.

Travel photography is to showcase locations and illustrate travel literature to encourage tourism.

Medical photography is useful for educational purposes, in clinical care for patient and consultant use, to use in hospitals for posters, information leaflets, magazines and for employees identification and acknowledgment.

Every type that I can think of or come across is in some way or another used to express or convey something.

 

Assignment Three – Influnces

My personality:

http://www.astrology.com/article/zodiac-signs-pisces-sun-sign.html

Ansel Adams

Greta Tu

Jon Duenas

http://www.jonduenas.com/double-exposures

Dylan Howell & Sara K Byrne

http://dylandsara.com/canon-5d-mark-iii-double-exposure-tutorial/

Dan Mountford

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

http://cargocollective.com/danmountford/Double-Exposure-Portraits

For more examples of this technique follow the link below:

https://fstoppers.com/portraits/double-exposure-what-happens-when-exposing-same-film-or-cf-twice-3544

Technique I used to get to my final piece:

Before this I just used the simple layering technique in Photoshop and had this result:

See page ‘Assignment Three’ for the final result.

 

Research into double-exposure techniques

Page 1/3

Page 2/3

Page 3/3

Experiment

The shots I have used :

I found a link on the internet which explained how to create a double-exposure with my DLSR Nikon – (see pages above for the link).

In-camera technique:

My result with this experiment :

I then produced the double-exposure in Photoshop (see the page 3/3 at the beginning of the post for how I achieved this) using a slightly different shot of the same flowers.

This was the outcome:

The cow in the base layer of the image is one who has now been culled due to contracting the contagious disease (bovine) tuberculosis. I edited the base layer by removing it’s colour. My aim was to communicate a sense of sadness, the yellow in the flowers to stimulate thought and perhaps optimism.

Research Point (Page 56)

Word Document – Sophie C Take care of yourself 4

Sophie Calle’s work is inspired by her feelings and relationships from real every-day life and ordinary people.

Word Document – Sophie Rickett Objects in the Field

How do these two pieces of work reflect post-modern approaches to narrative?

Sophy Rickett’s approach guides the viewer to recognise the link between the narrative and the images. Within the text Rickett describes a childhood memory of visiting the hospital for eye appointments; connecting ophthalmics, the importance of vision “I must of needed glasses for a while… I would not, until that point ever seen the stars, barely even, the moon” and astronomer Dr Roderick Willstop’s telescope produced black and white film negatives.  Her use of personal memories is very post-modern, leaving unresolved endings allowing the viewer to take a more active approach to reading and interpretation.

Sophie Calle’s project began through receiving a letter ending her love relationship. To gather more understanding of it she asked over one hundred women to read, assess and interpret it. There was a wide range of media used in their responses, such as video, audio, analysis, performance (dance and actingprescriptions), prescriptions/psychiatrist notes and photographs.

Calle’s inspiration is from real life, her feelings, her relationships. Her project gave the readers a chance to put their view on the situation and explore the possibilities of human emotions.

“To better understand his feelings about being photographed and his reactions to my photographs, I asked Bert to caption small prints I kept in a pocket-sized notebook. Each speaking from our own perspective…” Deveney, K. http://www.kaylynndeveney.com/bertintrotext.htm. Accessed 27/09/2015.

Learning Log

When I began this course, I started with a paper based learning log as I work better having something physically in front of me that I can hand-write notes on . However I have transferred across to this blog as it is easier to present my work in a more organized manner as well as share it with others.

It’s difficult as a viewer especially searching through the internet to trust the source and ‘truth’ of a photograph. An image can never be wholly objective.

Can we see the whole picture? The bigger picture?

“The journalistic photographer can have no other than a personal approach; and it is impossible for him to be completely objective. Honest – Yes. Objective – No.” W. Eugene Smith. http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL5347YF

Viewing an image is a creative process of the human mind. The viewer has to depict the information from the image. However I think it is very important to remember to consider the person who captured the image, their thought process and what they are trying to translate.