Art Night

After creating my two photo montages for class, I realized that my product did not expand upon the boundaries of an ordinary photograph to the extent that I wanted. Because of this, I was still interested in experimenting with the photo montage. After my first experimentation with photo montages, I realized how much you can capture and put into a single product. My piece is an attempt to re-create a place, through the manipulation of photographs and their layout.

After moving the schools location to Rensselaer many students including I were quickly disappointed. The narrow, gray streets of Rensselaer do not compare in any way to the layout of the South Pearl Street campus, and finding any aesthetic beauty near to school seemed to be impossible. The restlessness of fellow students led them to explore the town of Rensselaer in search of escape. Time has passed, and beauty close to school has once again been found. However, this time, in some of the most unsuspecting places.

Walker Evans #4

Artist have ranging views on photo documentation and whether it is art or something entirely different. Mr. Levy and I had conversation about this topic. It began with the question "What creates the separation between artwork and the photo document?" Pablo Picasso stated that art is something that you find or see, then show in your own interpretation. In many ways this statement is true, Picasso did just this. However, photo documentation is an exception to this theory, the artist will set out with a picture in their mind to go along with a narrative that already exists.

Mr. Levy pointed out Walker Evans' view on his photographs, which is that they are shot in

the photo document style, but are not documenting. Evan's photos were rarely paired with words to provide any recognition of a story. Even though this was the case, the viewer of Evans' photographs almost always try to create a story themselves, turning this artwork into a document. Mr. Levy said that Evans would usually set up his photos. The photo of the bed was surprisingly arranged by Evans to look the way he wanted, deceiving the viewer to think this was in some way documenting something. This arranging alone makes the distinction in my mind that his work is truly art rather than documentation.

Walker Evans #1

Throughout history, art has been used to change the publics view on the government. In almost all cases, the depiction is skewed due to the force and power which the government oppresses with. Going all the way back to the middle ages, art was often produced by an artist, under the power and direction of the church. Because of this oppression, painting almost always featured a member of the church, a biblical scene, or any combination that makes the church happy. Take this painting as an example, no bright colors, no conflict, no fun, just Matthew being a saint. If an artist did not do what the church said, they would be killed or imprisoned. Moving forward to the 1900's; the creation of art was beginning to be more so left to the artist with few restrictions. However, an artist like Walker Evans received enough publicity and attention that the U.S. government felt threatened. As an artist, this is flattering; having the U.S. unsteady because they see your power of your work.

During the span of 72 years (1903-1975) which Walker Evans lived, America was undergoing

enormous diplomatic and economic reform, mostly due to the Great Depression. Evans was said to have been under a great deal of pressure by the U.S. government to portray the country positively in his photographs. However, when viewing Walker's photographs I see quite the opposite of a positive portrayal. Evans received most of his attention because of his work during the Great Depression. He was known for photographing tenant farmers, who at this time are truly the poorest of the poor. This photo displays a battered and dirtied African American tenant farmer. The contrast of this picture displays the mans dirt, skin, and shadows graphically, almost making them emphasized. This effect is crucial to the photos visual and conceptual qualities. If all of Walker's work displayed such graphic and real subjects, I believe it would have not been long until his arrest.

Photo Document

I have never worked a job at a store, but I have thought of their workings. Working as a store clerk, I can imagine, has to be one of the most boring and least rewarding jobs. I pass a lot of stores and businesses which seem to never have any customers. Not only do I feel bad for the owner of that store, but also the stores employees. Arlen Straussman has told me about his job at a book store, and how boring it can be. He says he finds things to pass his time, like as guitar, tetris, or solitaire, however; there is still nothing to replace the loneliness.

Tilt-Shift

A few months back, a issue of National Geographic featured a article which told the story of rafters traveling down the Colorado river. Now, National Geographic is known for it's breath taking photos; however, this article was very different. It shot entirely using tilt-shift photography. This immediately fooled me into thinking this rafting trip was entirely staged on a model size scale. Once I realized that this was an effect created by the photographer, I began thinking of this article in a less serious manner, despite the intensity of the subject matter.

After finishing the article I wanted to try this effect on my own, however; to my knowledge at the time, the only way you could achieve this effect was through the power of a thousand dollar camera lens, putting these ambitions to rest. It was not until months later that I stumbled upon a DIY article on the internet, which showed how to somewhat successfully create this effect, with using only the power of photoshop.

When taking these photos, I found myself most successful in achieving this deception, when in the picture there is a clear, single subject in the point of focus. (See photo of jungle gym)

Final Tilt-Shift photos

Youtube response

Photographs can be interpreted an infinite amount of ways; however, there is one over ruling factor which sways this initial interpretation greatly, that being the photographs context. Photographs are used everywhere to tell stories or show something. Professional photographers work is most often found in either galleries, newspapers, and eventually text books. These contexts all have distinct thoughts that will come into the head of the viewer even before seeing the photograph.

Jeff Wall is a photographer who's photos often portray scenes with backstory's, which seem to be relatively unclear and questions raising. Wall's photos are primarily shot for

galleries, which only provide a title. "An Eviction" by Jeff Wall created in 1988 appeared in a gallery. It is shot in such a way that would make us, expect to see it in a gallery. The subject is this fighting group of people, which do not seem to be the emphasis of the photo. This de-emphisis in a gallery most likely would seem like a stylistic choice made by Wall. This same photo appearing in a newspaper would give different conceptual meaning to this backstory. The story this photo accompanies would probably be about the endangering of this neighborhood rather then the brutality against the police itself.

This photo by Anne Leibovitz was featured in Vogue magazine in a fashion article. "Wendy" or Keira Knightly in this photo is clearly emphasized by her white dress in contrast the the dark storm clouds. In this context her dress is emphasized to advertise. If this photo was to appear in a textbook it would be seen as a well done artistic recreation of "The Wizard of Oz." In this context, Wendy's white dress is seen to emphasize her importance in the movie.

The context of a photograph is a key part to understanding what the photographer was trying to show or tell. Open interpretation and understanding everything else that the photographer did not mean, however, is an important part of photography because a photographer has no to little control of his photos after they are produced, this context is often lost to or transformed into the internet, which in itself gives off it's own feeling.

Montage finals

The photo-book I am critiquing was created by Dylan Davis. His book is titled "A Mere Obsessions" and depicts the scene of a girls hockey game. The shell of the book feels fragile because of its string seeming and worn and dirtied cover. This reminds me of hockey itself and its dirty and weathering ways.

Dylan chose to shoot his photos in black and white. This is most likely done to affect the mood of the book and game, making them seem to be more serious. There is not any recognizable style throughout the series, but each photo emphasizes the subject which are all key parts to the scene of a hockey game. From these photos, I also get the feeling of coldness, like a hockey arena, from the gray and blueish tones.

The book follows the events of the game chronologically, which causes a build up of excitement the further you get into the book, like any sporting event. Dylan's book is successful in what I believe it is trying to do, which is to pull you into the game and feel the same action a player or fan would feel.

Photo Montage (proposal)

For my photo montage, I hope to follow the same chaotic and disordered style of this photo. In other examples of photo montages, the photographer keeps some kind of order, to create a somewhat clear picture. This example has the photos spaced out, creating confusion for the viewer which they can choose to piece together in their mind. With this style of montage, I think it would be most successful to photograph a human being. For my montage, I most likely will not be photographing a person, but when photoshopping I will still keep the style of this example in mind.

Dave Hill

Dave Hill

I specifically like this photo of David Hill's. I admire how his style is used to portray a whimsical scene, but exaggerate unnatural qualities of light and color. This technique is very successful in When I see Hill's photographs, I can't help but think they are shots taken from movies. Hill's signature technique is commonly used in similar ways in movies to intensify the mood. Also this technique further distances the connection between the universe we the audience lives in and the universe we are observing in these works. In this photo specifically, the blown out lighting of the windows allows for the immense amount of contrast of the shadows rest of the inside.

Picture Book pictures (cropped)

Scott Schuman (3 of 3)

In Schuman's interview, he draws a necessary distinction between fashion and style. Style is a very important part of what we are as humans. We can learn a lot about some one just by defining their style. Fashion is what is popular in the now. In the art form of fashion design, I see style to be a much more important factor in ones presentation. Style is based down to a persons being, their physical appearance they cannot effect. Style is also based off of a persons life events and how they have effected them. Fashion is based off of the now, and the consciousness of society. Both fashion and style are the two elements in fashion design and appearance, but to me, style seems to hold much more of an importance in ones appearance.

This woman's physical appearance is rather unreal, her style follows.

Scott Schuman (2 of 3)

Out of the photos on the Sartorialist blog, this image is my favorite. This picture was most likely taken in a studio with a plane backdrop. Usually, Schuman chooses to photograph on the streets of a city. Because this photo is not, it reminds me of a old time portrait. This choice of setting may have been a smart decision by Schuman to create a Ol' time effect. This is Schuman again matching the style of the subject matter, with a setting that matches the style.

A question that often comes into my head when I see Schuman's photos is; how much work is the model doing, and how much instructing is Schuman doing? In this photo, the model's expression is perfect in matching, the clothes, lighting and other elements of the photograph. Because of this, we the viewer truly believes that this is the models true self and style. It seems as though that if these models are actors, this perfection could only be achieved from the skill and instruction of the photographer.

Scott Schuman (1 of 3)

Schuman's skill of photographing models, comes from a great understanding of his subject. In the interview "the Making of the Sartorialist" Schuman says himself, "I have a real understanding of clothes, how they work and how they should fit." This understanding of fashion, crosses over into his photography. Consistently in Schuman's photographs, he captures and matches the style of the model with the context of the photograph. In his photos, he also displays a mood, which a certain evokes. In this photo, Schuman is photographing a older man wearing a tan coat. In my opinion, the style of this older man evokes a happy but professional feeling. The setting that Schuman photographed in somewhat matches the man's coat. This blending in effect may say something about the man's casual clothing.

Typology

Picture Book pictures

-Not in this order-

Picture book proposal

For my book, I plan on taking picture of the moment of leaving for school. I will make sure to include these qualities in the pictures:

-The bitterness of the weather outside. For this I am thinking of taking a picture of the snow or a thermometer to some how picture the cold.

-The half eaten breakfast because you didn't have enough time to eat.

-The dripping faucet head of the shower you raced out of.

-The math homework you forgot to bring to put in your backpack.

-The sun rising over the hills of Troy and Renssalaer.

-The exhaust of the car warming up in the garage.

These are just some ideas, obviously there are more. I also hope to some how display the dread of going to school everyday. Because this is not a physical quality of going to school, this will

not be easy. Because this action of going to school is rather heartbreaking, I plan on continuing this feeling through out my series of photographs. To do so, I will change my color balance setting to create a blue or gray cast on the photos.

I found this photo on the internet, the original

is on the left. In photoshop I put a gray photo filter and lowered the curve slightly

negatively. For my book I plan on

doing something some what like this to effect the mood.

This photo by Dylan Davis displays a scene. Dylan did good job displaying the mood and feeling of the scene. He achieved this by lowering the exposure and shooting in black and white. I am

considering shooting in black and white for my project for this same effect.