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salas.c

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:45:30 +0100

Ben Groen

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:47:07 +0100

Jimmy Dai

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:36:20 +0100

Daniel Beban

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:42:23 +0100

Figure In Landscape photography

‘Figure in Landscape’ photography encompasses two things, Figure. & Landscape. Figure includes shape, form, stature, drawing or representation & Landscape is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition, put these two together & you have Figure in Landscape photography; ‘a shape, form, stature, drawing or representation within a natural scenery.’ In the context of this photography assignment, due to artist models photos, the figure is the human body.

Photographers either choose to have figures contrasting/conflicting with the environment or molding/intertwined with the environment. Both forms are dramatic & emphasize either how the human body and natural landscape relate or how the human body and natural landscape have no relationship with each other at all.

International Contemporary Photographer:

Derek Langley Bio

Born in 1955, Langley has been passionate about taking photographs, especially black and white photographs, since the age of about twelve when he first printed his own photographs. Early on he decided that photography would lose its magic if done professionally, so he opted for a degree in Theoretical Physics, moved to Cambridge and worked in computing for some fifteen years, keeping photography as a hobby.He had no intentions of trying to sell his photographs. This came later, as a consequence of a tragic event; the death of his baby son in 1984. To raise money for research into cot death, his wife began to sell needlepoint pictures in local craft-markets, and he added a few of his photographs to her stall. To his surprise, people bought them, so he added more. With the passing years, both the photograph collection and the craft-business grew and grew, until in 1991, Langley finally let go of the computing job to give himself more time for his growing family, and for photography.

Midsummer Common 1999 Jesus green Cambridge 1982

Traditional Artist Influences:

Joseph Mallord William Turner (JMW Turner)
(23rd April 1775 – 19th December 1851)

Turner was born in, London, England. His father, William Gay, was a barber and wigmaker. His mother, Mary Marshall, became increasingly mentally unstable, possibly due in part to the early death of Turner's younger sister, and later in 1804, died, after having been committed into a mental asylum.Possibly due to the load placed on the family by these problems, the young Turner was sent to stay with his maternal uncle in Brentford in 1785, which was then a small town west of London on the banks of the River Thames. It was here that he first expressed an interest in painting. By this time he had created many drawings, which his father exhibited in his shop window.

JMW Turner
Mortlake Terrace

Robert Frank

Born November 9, 1924, in Zürich, Switzerland, Frank was born to a wealthy Jewish family. His mother, Rosa, was Swiss, but his father, Hermann, had become stateless after World War I and had to apply for the Swiss citizenship of Frank and his older brother. Though Frank and his family remained safe in Switzerland during World War II, the threat of Nazism nonetheless affected his understanding of oppression. He turned to photography, in part, as a means to escape the confines of his business-oriented family and home, and trained under a few photographers and graphic designers before he created his first hand-made book of photographs.

Robert Frank
City of London
1951

Artist Analysis
Derek Langley: Robert Frank & JMW Turner

How have they been Influenced?

Robert Frank & Derek Langley’s photographs have strong likeness by the figures fading into the fog & the lines/direction. Both use the fog to represent different aspects, and both have figures following a path. Each photo also has aspects which are emphasized by being in focus.

JMW Turner & Langley’s images have very obvious similarities. Yet again there is a path, endless in both images and both have figures merely outlined in the landscape. Sepia tone in Langley’s photo further highlights that Turner has had a big influence on him. The reflections on the water also replicate the shadows in Turner’s photo.

New Zealand Contemporary Photographer:

Victoria Ginn

Victoria Ginn is a photographer and author whose art depicts aspects of self within the intertwined contexts of landscape and culture. Her various works lead one through selected areas of the world and into the colours and rhythms of humanity—emotion, imagination and identity.Ginn’s photographs have been exhibited at the Museum for the Performing Arts, New York, and are represented in the permanent collections of the George Pompidou Art Museum, Paris and art institutes in New Zealand (Te Papa, Dunedin Art Gallery, Dowse Art Museum).Ginn’s specialty is natural light photography.

High tide                                                   First Light
Bethells Beach                                          Pauahatanui
2005                                                         2005

Contemporary Artist Emulation

Location: Bombay Hills
Model: Mary
Time: Near Sunset

While emulating my contemporary artist I was trying to have the figure working with the landscape & I was making sure I had the foreground occupied with the grass, like Ginn’s photo. Also, arm arrangement was essential in capturing the image. In hindsight, some criticisms are: not having the figure on the correct angle, not fully utilizing the costume (the white & blue clothes detract from the image) & not waiting a bit longer to have the sunset hitting the hills in the background. Apart from that, I am pleased with my emulation and managed to get the main features of the photo.

Traditional Artist Influences for NZ Photographer:

Henri Cartier-Bresson
(August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004)

Born in France, eldest of five children. His father was a wealthy textile manufacturer whose Cartier-Bresson thread was a staple of French sewing kits. His mother's family were cotton merchants and landowners from Normandy. As a young boy, Cartier-Bresson owned a Box Brownie, using it for taking holiday snapshots; he later experimented with a 3×4 inch view camera. His father assumed that his son would take up the family business, but Henri was headstrong and was appalled by this prospect.

Henri Cartier Bresson
Monument to the first governor General of Indochina, destroyed by the Germans, Martigues, France, 1932

Traditional Artist Emulation

Location: Papakura
Time: Afternoon
While replicating my traditional artist my main thought was to have the statue running the length of the image. Due to not finding any buildings near a statue, I used a tree, and looking at the photo I think, this soldier once travelled with a team, now he is a lone soldier standing by a palm tree, with only each other to keep company.

Yousuf Karsh
(December 23rd 1908 – July 13th 2002)

Yousuf Karsh was born in Mardin, a city in the eastern Ottoma Empire. He grew up during the Armenian Genocide where he wrote, "I saw relatives massacred; my sister died of starvation as we were driven from village to village." At the age of 14, he fled with his family to Syria to escape persecution. Two years later, his parents sent Yousuf to live with his uncle George Nakash, a photographer in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Karsh briefly attended school there and assisted in his uncle’s studio. Nakash saw great potential in his nephew and in 1928 arranged for Karsh to apprentice with portrait photographer John Garo in the United States.

Yousuf Karsh                       Yousuf Karsh                Yousuf Karsh
Pablo Picasso                       Romeo and Juliet            Madge MacBeth
1954                                    1933                                 1936

Francesca Woodman
(1958 – 1981)

Francesca Woodman was born April 3, 1958, in Denver, Colorado, to well-known artists George Woodman and Betty Woodman. Through 1975, she spent summers with her family in Italy. As she spoke fluent Italian, she was able to befriend Italian intellectuals and artists. She sent portfolios of her work to fashion photographers, but "her solicitations did not lead anywhere." In summer 1980 she was an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Francesca Woodman
Untitled
Macdowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1980

Artist Analysis
Victoria Ginn: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yousuf Karsh, Francesca Woodman

Henri Cartier-Bresson showed Ginn the possibilities of photography. The alikeness in these photos is having a figure run the length of the image, therefore going with the landscape. The lines in the background gives the viewer something to follow and the eye easily slips off the figure and onto the surrounding landscape.

Francesca Woodman went further and taught Ginn a combination of the two; showing a tasteful art form of this genre. The similarities again come from the posing, especially the use of the arm extended, working in the landscape. Now although not directly mentioned as an influence both artists work are extremely similar.

Yousuf Karsh taught Ginn how to capture figures with an artistic eye & further developed ideas she got from Bresson. The first two images of Karsh’s show similar posing/positioning that work with the landscape and all else that is going on. Also Ginn’s first photo uses different lighting on each figure; Karsh was considered a master of studio lights so this practice may have stemmed from inspiration from Karsh; Ginn's speciality is natural light. The third image of Karsh’s & Ginns image both have a figure slotted into their surroundings with ease. The impact Karsh left is evident with the figures placed so effortlessly & with an eye for detail/art.

Own Photo

Location: Swamp
Time: Sunset

With my own photo I was trying to keep in mind the principles from my artists work. First of all, with the clothing of the figure, I was trying to have it harmonizing with the swamp, Green on top but slowly progressing to the dark swampy depths. Next, I tried to light the figure the same way the light hits the right tree side, this is seen on the figures extended leg. When practicing with the camera I learnt that an uninteresting foreground seriously detracts from the photo so the stump right in front of the camera keeps the foreground occupied. Finally, with the figure itself I tried slotting it in, with the left leg of the figure acting as a stray branch.

Luke Scott

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:48:25 +0100

contemporary artist

contemporary artist traditional artist influence
traditional artistmy artist model emulation.

Miss Murray

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:15:22 +0100

Landscape Photography

Key Features: Shows different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic, mainly pure unsullied landscapes with little or no human activity.

Focuses Upon: Strongly defined landforms.

Technical Aspects: Large format camera and tripod, wide angle lens, maximum depth of field.

International Contemporary Photographer: Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter was born in Dresden in 1932 to a middle class family. Like many Germans of his generation, his relatives were involved in the Nazi movement; his mother's brother, Uncle Rudi died a young Nazi officer, while Richter's mentally disabled aunt was imprisoned in a Hitler euthanasia camp. Richter's first solo exhibition was held at Mobelhaus Berges, Düsseldorf in 1963. Throughout his career Richter has shrunk from giving a psychological insight into his art, leaving his admirers and critics guessing and at times confused. According to him, his work forms from structures and ideas that surround him, nothing more profound than that.

"Seascapes" 1972

Traditional Influences of International Contemporary Photographer: Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality and struggled with alcoholism all of his life. In 1945, he married the artist Lee Krasner, who became an important influence on his career and on his legacy. Pollock died at the age of 44 in an alcohol-related, single-car crash.

"Number 1" 1948

How have they been influenced?
International Photographer Gerhard Richter has been influenced by Jackson Pollock through colour. The vast ranges of colours in Jackson Pollock's "Number 1" are illustrated in Gerhard Richter's "Seascapes".

New Zealand Contemporary Photographer: Laurence Aberhart

Laurence Aberhart (1949–) is a New Zealand photographer. He was born in Nelson in 1949, along with four siblings, but moved to Lyttelton in the late 1960s, before finally moving to Russell where he still lives and works today. Aberhart travels often and has produced many collections of photographs taken around the world. Although he photographs numerous subjects, Aberhart is best known for his photography of buildings from around the world. His subject matter includes Masonic lodges, war memorials, houses and the occasional landscape.

"Taranaki 2" 2002

Traditional Influences of New Zealand Contemporary Photographer: Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was an American photographer, and co-founder of Group f/64. Most of his work was done using an 8 by 10 inch view camera. Weston was born in Highland Park, Illinois on March 24, 1886. He was given his first camera, a Kodak Bull's-Eye #2, for his 16th birthday, when he began taking photographs. His favorite hangouts were Chicago parks and a farm owned by his aunt. Weston met with quick success and the Chicago Art Institute exhibited his photographs a year later, in 1903. He attended the Illinois College of Photography.

"Grasses against Sea" 1937

How have they been influenced?
New Zealand Photographer Laurence Aberhart has been influenced by Edward Weston through their study of sea and horizon lines. You can see that by looking at the two images provided. Key features: Horizon line and the ocean. Both have illustrated the use of a vast sea and endless sky and the only difference is that Weston's has grass in the foreground.

My Contemporary Emulation:
INSERT your emulation and clearly state who you have used as your influence.

My Traditional Emulation:
INSERT your emulation and clearly state who you have used as your influence.

My Photograph:

"Industrial Landscape" 2009

What Influenced Me:
I chose to take the colour on water aspect from Gerhard Richter's work and the notion of vast sea scape from Laurence Aberharts work.

NOTE: Exerts of text and some iamges have been taken from Damien Molloy, 2009, 3.1 Assignment

Research Presentation

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:55:55 +0100

You are to present your research in the following way:

Copy and paste the information from your word document into a new post on this page (using the username and password given to you by me). Copy it under the following headings:

International Contemporary Photographer - Name and information
Insert an image of theirs - Include Title and Date of work

Traditional Influence - Name and Information
Insert an image of theirs - Include Title and Date of work

Insert your comparison of the two photographers and the supporting text

New Zealand Contemporary Photographer - Name and information
Insert an image of theirs - Include Title and Date of work

Traditional Influence - Name and Information
Insert an image of theirs - Include Title and Date of work

Insert your comparison of the two photographers and the supporting text

Insert your Emulation of your chosen Contemporary Photographer - state who you have emulated and what you were trying to achieve
Insert your Emulation of your chosen Traditional Photographer- state who you have emulated and what you were trying to achieve
Insert your photograph showing influences from your research- state what influences you have used

For further information, download the instructions from the handouts tab.

Stroboscope - Harold Edgerton

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:08:17 +0100

Harold Eugene Edgerton took the photograph we were discussing yesterday in our shutter speed tutorial. He invented the Stroboscope which made it possible to freeze fast moving objects like a bullet.
For information and a demonstration of how a Stroboscope works, go to the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroboscope

* Students please note that Wikipedia is not the be all and end all of information about everything. You need to be wise about choosing to use information from Wikipedia, it is not an academic site, it is edited by the general public and is not always accurate.

Class Forum

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:35:39 +0100

This page is designed for you to ask me questions about photography or your assignments.

It is not designed for you to social network, nor is it designed to put others down.

Remember, even if your questions sounds stupid to you, chances are someone else will want to know the same thing. By posting questions on here, everyone benefits.