face to face project

Face to Face

Ben Williamson 12031

Artist Research – Irving Penn 1 Historical Photographer

Untitled Photograph 1949 Irving Penn The main subjects of the photograph are an elegant woman and a bottle. It appears to be taken in a room (maybe a bar or a restaurant of some sort). In addition to this, I think the photographer was influenced by the luxurious side of France (note the wine bottle). This is because most wines are made in France and these particular wines convey an elegant image, also the long cigarette reinforces this. Moreover I believe the photograph is good as a fraction of the woman can be seen through the bottle and the rest can be seen to the right of the bottle. I believe I could do something like this for my own work, however i’m not quite sure how I could convey a similar image. Also, I believe I would struggle in trying to make the photo look elegant without using related themes, e.g. Wine bottle, long cigarette and a female model wearing a classy dress.

Artist Research – Richard Avedon • 1 Contemporary Portrait Photographer

Untitled Photograph Unknown Year Richard Avedon The main subject of the photograph is a woman holding an umbrella and appears to be “flying”. In addition to this, this image seems to have been taken in a street which contains a pavement and a road. I think this photographer has been influenced by a manner of things, the most obvious being the humorous idea of someone being lifted off their feet on a windy day , whilst they are carrying an umbrella. Furthermore, I believe the photographer is trying to create a funny image, but also appears mysterious because as the viewer, we do not know whether the woman is just crossing the road, jumping or actually being lifted off her feet by the umbrella. Also, I like this photograph as it is humorous, and I would like to to do something similar for my own work, however I would have to come up with an idea that conveys a comical image, and that’s the process that I might struggle with, if I were to attempt to produce something like this.

Mind Map of ideas for self

• In the black studio, use the shutter speed technique and create the illusion of more than one face in the same photo. Possibly alter the facial expression, or body language when making some form of movement; turning my head, walking or making some other kind of movement.

Mind Map of ideas for other

• Dark room, neon paint round a particular facial feature; eye.

• Take three different photographs holding the shutter down, to give the impression of three faces in one photo; different facial expressions.

Self Potraits

Other Portraits

Self Portrait Evaluation Overall, I am pleased with this photograph as I believe the shutter speed technique worked successfully and I’m happy with the outcome of the photo. I believe the composition of the photograph is strong, as the subject matter is in the center of the frame, although it did require some cropping both at the top of the photograph and the sides of the photograph as there was too much negative space at the top and the side which made the subject matter appear off-center in the frame. In addition to this, the photograph has been taken at an eye-level angle however the face in the center is looking up which makes the photo appear more eye catching. When editing the photograph, I changed the colour of the photograph to red, altered the level balance, decreased the brightness and increased the contrast until the face on the left is seen in a darker light. Although pleased, if I were given the opportunity to take this photograph again, I would possibly change my facial expression every time I made some form of movement; turning my head, walking or anything else along those lines.

Other Portraits Evaluation

• I am happy with this photograph because ever since researching and studying the style of pop art, I have wanted to edit a photograph in this particular style.

• When editing this photograph, I edited each fragment separately, changing the colours and making them different from one another by creating several new layers containing different colours and filters which all helped towards the final product. For the final product, I placed the photographs carefully and together, contemplating were each one would go and were it would look best.

• I believe the composition of this photograph is strong as he is placed directly in the center of the photograph and both his face and shoulders are visible.

• I used the black studio when taking this photograph as to successfully create a pop art image, I did not want anything in the background whether that was scenery, objects or people.

• I believe this photograph does contain a few weaknesses, and if I were to re-do it, I would have asked the subject matter to change his facial expression and whilst editing, would’ve changed the colours, making them appear more eye-catching and different from the others as I believe the four colours look fairly similar to one another and may not stand out.

National Portrait Gallery Notes

• The set of Blur portraits were completed digitally by a photographer named “Julian Opie” and went on to be commissioned for the cover of “Blur: the best of 2000” album.

• “Sir Paul Nurse” by “Jason Brooks”, was made from acrylic on linen in the year 2008.

National Portrait Gallery Notes • The portrait of “Sir Paul McCartney” was by “John Swannell” in the year of 2010.

• The portrait containing comedians both “Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan” was taken by Rich Hardcastle in October 2010. This archival digital print was originally photographed for the Sunday Times and Culture Magazine.


• Barry Marsden (born in 1954) took a portrait of Actors and comedians: David Mitchell and Robert Webb, this was C-type print and was taken on the 19 June 2009. A C-type print is usually made from a colour negative, and more specifically is a colour print in which the print material has at least three emulsion layers of light sensitive silver salts.

• Barry Marsden also took a portrait of comedian Jimmy Carr on 9th of October 2006, this was also a C-Type print.


• The potrait of “Dame Judy Dench” was taken by “Alessandro Raho” in the year of 2004, and consists from oil on canvas. And is entitled “Judi Dench”

• Moreover, the portrait of Sienna Miller by Elisabeth Hoff was taken in 2011 and was a C-type digital print, which was also the case with the Barry Marsden examples that I listed.

Other Portraits

• Here is an example of photography which I believe are similar to my set of other portraits, in terms of the subject matter and the way in which I have chosen to edit the image.

Other Portrait Comparisons:

StrongPhotography

Untitled Photography

09 June 2008

This image was found online.

I believe this image is similar to those in my set of other portraits. The subject matter is a young individual, and is taken at an outside location, presumably a field or a garden which is the also the case with my photograph. On the other hand, this subject matter is slightly to the right of the frame whereas in my image, the person is centre of the frame, however both mine and this example are taken from eye level. Additionally, I think the photographer is trying to convey a happy and joyful mood, which is shown through the use of bright and vibrant colours (green, pink and white), these have connotations of joy, peace and happiness. I believe my photo contains a humorous mood as the facial expression is not serious. In terms of the editing, I could also link this in with my own work, much like this one, I have decided to add a vignette border to some of my other portraits and I believe this technique draws people into the subject matter significantly more, and therefore will catch their eye, it also hides some of the image that photographers may not want to show.

Other Portrait Comparisons:

Other Portraits:

Artist Research – Julian Opie

Julian Opie is a contemporary English artist and was born in the year of 1958. He was born in London and raised in Oxford, and is a graduate of Goldsmiths College (1979-82). He achieved some gallery success at an early stage, which almost acted as a motivation for slightly younger artists in the same college including Damien Hirst to do something along the same lines.

Julian Opie – Blur: The Best Of

Blur: The Best Of 2000 Artist Name: Julian Opie

• I saw this photograph of the Band: Blur at the National Portrait Gallery and it instantly caught my eye, being a fan of the pop art style, this really appealed to me. In addition to this, I believe that it could be linked to my own work as mine consisted of four different coloured photos which were placed together similarly.

• Furthermore, I think the artist was trying to convey an original image and one that stands out which I believe works successfully however the album cover is considered similar to Queens album cover: Hot Space (1982).

• Julian Opie was asked to produce these four portraits for the cover of the album Blur: The Best Of in 2000. Showing the four band members: Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, these images were originally photographs however were created digitally with the use of a computer by Julian Opie. The images convey the key information about their selves with the minimum of detail, reducing the subjects to black outlines and block colours. This set of Opie's portraits was bought by the Art Fund in 2001 for the National Portrait Gallery, where it is currently on display.

Street Portraits

Street Portraits Evaluation

• Overall, I am pleased with my street portraits and believe it went successfully as I managed to stop several people in the street and take photos of them.

• Also, I used a variety of different angles when taking peoples photographs, in order to ensure that I collect a range of images, and therefore could pick between different ones.

• In addition to this whilst taking the photograph, I considered the background, whereabouts they would stand, facial expression and body language which would all contribute to the mood of the photograph, what it conveys and how it would be perceived by others.

• When editing the numerous photographs, I wanted them to stand out amongst the background and therefore I decreased the brightness and increased the contrast to make the colours seem more rich.

• Furthermore, I cropped the majority of the photos, this was to remove some of the unwanted items, people and scenery that were originally in the frame. I also altered the levelsto change some of the colours, making them both lighter and darker.

Minster Court Exhibition

• For the last task, each person in the class had to select what they believed to be their strongest photograph and print it out to an A3 size, these were then viewed in the minster block by both our class and other classes and then given feedback.

Minster Court Exhibition

This was the piece of work that I decided to submit into the Minster Court exhibition as I consider it to be one of my strongest pieces of work. And overall I would say that I’m pleased with both the photograph itself and the editing. Here’s the comments which my photo received: • “Very good, loved the use of the colour red however it’s the photograph is the same as mine”. • “I like the photograph overall, and the lighting is very sharp”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I was pleased with the piece of work which I submitted to the exhibition and other people also seemed to like it, which is evident in the comments. However, if given another chance, I believe I would pick a different piece of work, still one of my stronger ones but not the same photograph as anyone else used. Because, I chose to edit the same one as another member of my class, which is shown in the feedback that I was given. More specifically, if given another opportunity to choose a piece of work for the exhibition, I most likely would have chose one of my images which were edited in the style of popart, and I believe this would catch peoples eyes and stand out significantly more amongst other peoples work as it would be different and more unique.

Sharon Elphick’s Montage examples:

Sharon Elphick’s Montage examples:

Sharon Elphick Wish you were here

This image is made up of several different photographs, mostly of beaches and seaside towns. These locations are shown in each of the pictures and the title for the photograph “Wish you were here” is usually associated with someone going on a holiday of some sort and wishing that another person was with them, and therefore this reinforces the idea of a vacation. Each photograph is contained in a hexagon image which in turn, creates a pattern and one that catches the readers eye. Furthermore, this image is now available to buy as a postcard, it conveys both a happy and peaceful image, and this is shown through the bright and vibrant colours (blue, green and white) which have connotations of tranquility and peace. Additionally, this idea is reinforced the image of a holiday.

Sharon Elphick Work