2nd corsework project
DESCRIPTION
photog corse workTRANSCRIPT
The Photographers’ Gallery is currently under going a refurbishment and is due to open to the public in February 2012. As part of the launch, the gallery will host an exhibiEon Etled The Photograph as an Object. As a medium, photography has tradiEonally been used to document and capture ‘decisive’ moments in Eme. The aim of the The Photograph as an Object is to showcase photographs that explore the physical qualiEes of the printed photograph, thus blurring the disEncEons between photography and art. Photographers are invited to submit 3 entries and a panel of judges will select the most experimental and original imagery for the exhibiEon.
The embroidered secrets of Maurizio Anzeri
Louise B, Embroidery on print Anzeri is a contemporary arEst from Loano, Italy who works in london. He makes his portraits by sewing directly into found vintage photographs. The embroidered paSerns create elaborate disguises but they also create a psychological aura as if the disguises are the arEsts way of showing the persons thoughts or feelings. The Etle of the series is Embroidered secrets which implies that there is something hidden which makes the viewer think about what the story may be behind the photograph. I parEcularly like that the embroidery brings colour to the photographs. The paSerns and shapes formed by the coloured thread are all very uniform and create geometric shapes oTen radiaEng from the eyes of the subject. I believe this is because Anzeri is giving great importance to the eye and wants the viewer to focus on what may be going on in the persons head.
EvaluaEon of iniEal set of photographs My intenEon when taking this set of photographs was to have photographs which look like they were taken years ago like the ones Anzeri uses in his work as one of my starEng point of this project. Having studied and admired Maurizio Anzeri’s ‘The embroidered secrets of Maurizio Anzeri’s series, I wanted my photographs to include some elements found in Anzeri’s work, such as similar subject maSer, and also the evocaEve mood created by a combinaEon of composiEon and contrast. I wanted to make sure that the theme of age came across strongly in these photographs. To enhance this I edited them into black and white and sepia, and decided to use a higher contrast so that the images contain a good proporEon of monochrome and sepia but keeping a range of mid-‐tones.
These photographs worked as the photograph look like they were taken years ago. The problem with these photographs is that the focal point is not on the face but in a different place. This is a problem for the photographs on there own but when I do the developments it will be covered so then the photograph will be clear and un blurred and the sewing will draw aSenEon but cover the photograph so aTer the developments it will work.
Developmental evaluaEon
I believe that these developments have improved the photographs. As I did more I learnt more of what I had to do so then they improved. The sEtching over the photographs gives them more of a sense of mystery and brings more interest like Anzeri’s work. If I had more Eme I would improve these by doing more of them and experimenEng on different areas of the photograph. I prefer the later versions rather than the older ones which look childish and messy.
Ralf Gibson Ralph Gibson is a contemporary arEst from Los Angeles, USA. The main issue highlighted in these photographs is that the idenEty of the subject is hidden which raises the viewers curiosity. The uncluSered imagery and simple composiEon highlights the importance of the subject also the strong contrast emphasizes the main subject in the photograph. In BasEenne,s eye’ I believe that Gibson wanted to convey a sense of solemnity and maybe depression. This is because the subjects eye is facing down and the black background behind enhances a somber mood.
EvaluaEon of 2nd set of photographs
My intenEon of this set was to make it look similar to Ralph Gibson’s work. I think this set worked well as these photos have a contrast in black and white like in Ralph Gibson's work. If I had more Eme I would do another set to improve it a make the contrast stronger and the photographs more in the style of Ralph Gibson. Also to improve it I would change poses of the subject to make each one more interesEng instead of slight changes in each photograph.
Garry Gay I believe that Garry Gay is a contemporary photographer. This work shows the photograph in an unusual way and gives it a new perspecEve. The bright buSons placed on top of the photograph could resemble those found on children's clothing which gives a link to the subject maSer of the photo. I like this technique as it makes a standard old portrait which is usually just interesEng into a bright happy photograph which could represent the childs happy playful nature. The buSons on top of the photograph have also created a frame effect due to their careful placement. This has the effect of emphasizing the importance of the subject and it draws the viewers eye toward it. This technique will inspire me to do similar developments to my photographs as it should give my Ralf Gibson pieces a more pleasing mood to them. It will also give my photographs more colour and textural feel to them.
EvaluaEon of developmental photographs
I don’t think that these developments were very successful as the photo prints were not at a good quality which made the developments hard to work with. They did work in the a way that subject in the photograph is framed which highlights the importance of it. This did not work in the sense that they look like some one has passed on so it looks like funeral pictures. These do look similar to Gay’s work which is what I wanted to develop these photographs. Over all I dislike these developments as the ralph Gibson style photographs are too dark and so the buSons did not compensate the colour loss as much as I wished it to.
EvaluaEon I think that the iniEal photos were effecEve and of good quality apart from the focus being in the wrong area but aTer the developments the focus was in the right area which improved effecEveness. I do not think that I pushed my creaEve boundary far enough for my ideas and experiments if I had spent more Eme and had more interest and put more effort towards it I think that it would had worked a lot beSer. I think that my choice of Photographer and arEst were effecEve as they influenced my work and made me think more on which I wish to achieve. To make it beSer I could had sewn on to the Ralph Gibson style photographs and then placed buSons on top to create a boarder around it thus using three arEsts in one piece. This project did work but not as well as I would had wished it to. I would had liked the final outcomes to have more effect on the audience but the ones I have used are the best ones and so sEll have a good effect of happiness and memories that I wanted to create. So all in all the photographs I have as final outcomes are effecEve and so I am pleased overall. If I had more Eme I would like to look at more arEsts who sew on to photographs and maybe a few who do other things like burn photographs and other effects. This would give my photographs a sense of sadness as the viewer may think of their photographs being destroyed.