Breaking the Rules of Photography 101

The first example on how to break the rules is by merging objects of the same colour into the photo.  This causes a distraction which could be on purpose, or simply a huge accident.  Nonetheless, doing it so wrong could never look SO good!

 

 

 

 

Ottawa, ON- breaking the rules by merging lines

 The next example of breaking the rules is to have the most important aspect of the photo to be on the opposite side.  So instead of having the subject in the bottom right corner, have it on the upper-left hand corner.  This offsets the photo to give it a new perspective I find!

This photo's most important aspect is the buildings and pedestrians to the upper left of what would appear to be "the most important aspect".  By realizing this, people now focus to what's really behind the scenes. Ottawa, ON

Lastly, imbalance.  In art, your teachers always tell you to have an even balance for your work-just like math, the left side should equal the right side of the equation.  To really throw everyone off, imbalance the photo.  I believe you take in different objects differently this way!

Not only is this photo imbalanced by proportion (giant buildings off-centering the smaller trees), but also an imbalance to society.  This is an example of how the industrial revolution and society have overcome our own natural environment.

Alternative Processes

Solarization by exposing the photo to white light during developing for 1 second.

Acryllic Gel Medium as my art sketch book cover

Double Exposure by taking 2 photos and 2 different enlargers to develop both photos onto the same paper using dodging and burning techniques to the developing process.

Walker Evans- 20th Century Inspiration

"Park Hall Larcom Dimple", 1937

"New Orleans Street Corner", 1936

"Mainstreet Entrance to College", 1940

Walker Evans

            Biography.com states, “Walker Evans’ influence on photography during the second half of the 20th century was perhaps greater than that of any other figure.”[1] Walker moved a lot during his childhood, jumping from school to school in Massachusetts. After leaving college after one year, he lived in NYC for 3 years until his father offered to fund his college education in Paris.  He spent a year there and even attempted writing.  People believe that even with his limited amount of photos taken in Paris, this is where his photography career blossomed.  In 1928, his photographs depicted abstract pieces through skyscrapers and machine-aged industries.  It wasn’t until 1929 when Bernice Abbott, a supporter of French photographer “Eugene Atget”, that Evans became so interested in photographing.  She brought some of Atget’s work to New York as a collection display and Walker fell in love with his artistic effects and simple, economic photos taken in the late 20^th century in Paris, France.  During the beginning of the 1930’s, Evan’s applied lessons from Eugene, to his own work offered by the United States-lacking romantic glint, shadows, and vantage points.  During the mid 30’s, Evan’s was asked to photograph the rural, southern states of America by the Farm Security Association.  This gave Walker the ability to travel independently and find subjects for his photos.  He worked with the FSA from mid 1935-1937.  This year and a half was considered some of his greatest work during the great depression.  He was more concentrated on the culture of the Americans and the products they made, compared to the people themselves.  More than two thirds of his work was created during his 18months with the FSA.  In addition, Lincoln Kirstein as a retrospect of American life put 87 of Walker Evan’s photos into the book “American Photographs” from the late 20’s to the mid 30’s.  

"Victoria Tower Bell" by Maddie Bohnsack

            This photo was taken in Ottawa, Canada-our nation’s capital.  I chose to use this photo because it had similar styles that Evan’s would have captured during the Great Depression, however, I took this photo in modern times.  Walker Evans used very simple architecture to capture photos and displayed a deeper meaning within the subject, he believes in capturing the culture, compared to the actual town’s people.  This photo of the Victoria Tower Bell captures Canadian culture from the 1900’s.  The history of the bell depicts of the time the parliament building was set fire and destroyed.  One small symbol such as a bell can hold so much history-it’s incredible.  I photographed this photo using a Nikon Coolpix L110 to capture the essence of this bell.  These styles are closely depicted by high contrast of highlights and shadows on the subject, which give the photo more of an aging look.  In addition, the type of subject is alike.  This is shown by introducing a simple object such as a bell, into something much more important, like a historical artifact in Canadian history.  Lastly, I believe Walker Evans was an inspirational photographer for: Americans, children, other photographers, and historians from the Great Depression, to many decades afterwards.  In conclusion, Evans had the largest influence on the late 20^th century and will be remembered for his efforts and his photographing history, just as the Victoria Tower Bell will be remembered for its part in Canadian culture in the early 1900’s. 

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[1] "Walker Evans." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196965/Walker-Evans>.

Mother Nature

mixed lighting: outdoor lights and flash

For this photo the main theme was mixed lighting.  By using the natural light from outside and the camera's flash, I was able to create a combination of light.  This gives my model Grace, an extra highlight on the anterior side, along with an all over light courteous of the sun. Her naturally intrigue with this plant gave me a good idea in surrounding her with nature-the place humans call home, and the thing civilization needs to survive.

Speak Now.

Painting with light, 20s exposure

     Painting with light consists of your subject standing completely still in a dark room.  With a tiny flashlight and a long exposure, the photographer "paints" light with the flashlight towards the photo.  Once the exposure has finished, you will notice that streaks of light appear throughout the photo-this is your paint.
     With Grace as my subject I decided on using text for my paint.  I set the exposure at 20s in the dark room with my subject standing with her mouth open.  Next, I pressed the shutter and stood behind her.  I flashed the light in small letters coming from her mouth backwards, and increased in size as I wrote further away from the subject.  After writing, I stood infront of Grace and shone the light on her face to make sure it appears in the photo. 
     The words "speak" represent the term to speak outloud.  I chose this in the dark room not only because I have to in order for the light to appear, but because thinking in the dark is like speaking your mind with no one else listening.  Therefore, with the words "speak" shining brightly in a dark room, it resembles speaking your mind and having the right to speak when so many don't have the opportunity.

Blast from the past

Madonnna with the Long Neck, Parmigianino
Oil on Wood, 1535-40



Sara as the Madonna with the Long Neck
2:0 light ratio






           The Madonna with the Long neck is an oil on wood painting during the 16th century, also known as, "The Renaissance."  The renaissance occured between the 14th-17th century (1301-1801) in Italy and spanned across Europe during the Middle Ages.  During this time period, "Humanism"-which is the belief of creating a universal man who consisted of intelligence and physical excellence along with the capability to function in any given situation.  This is shown commonly as god-like figures or sculptures like Greek and Roman ancient art.  Paintings in this era commonly include nature, extreme realistic-style paintings, human anatomy (it is common to have subjects in the nude), and pillar/columned buildings.  This architecture influenced Italian art prior to European literature (ie. the leaning tower of Piza).

          This painting is represented as the virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.  Six angels are seen to be looking over Mary to see the baby.  Parmigianino created a new style of painting when he added the Prophet at the bottom right corner- just  under Mary's knee.  This inproportion was the beginning of realistic paintings with an unrealistic twist. The abnormally large size of Mary and the baby Jesus are guessed to provide the perfect inharmony to the picture which was uncommon in the 16th century.
          Lastly, I adjusted my lighting to meet the same lighting as the painting by having two studio lights: both on the left side of Sara's face.  This created the perfect shadow just on the outer-left side by her chin and her cheek bones.  The right side is extremely bright, giving the perfect luminescence of Mary's angelic face, which goes the same way for Sara.  All in all, a combination of studio lights and photoshop have created a good replication of a renaissance painting.



Studio lighting portraits

1:0 lighting ratio

1:1 close up lighting

2:1 lighting

These portraits of studio lighting were shot on 3 different days.  The first day consisted of a 1:0 ratio with the studio lights off and one light placed on the left side of the model (Sara) .  Day 2 was a 1:1 lighting ratio with 1 light on either side and close to the model.  Lastly, day 3 was a 2:1 lighting ratio by moving one light with the umbrella close to the bulb closer to the model (Grace), and one light with the umbrella further away from the bulb and the model.  By moving the position of the lights, using diffusers, adjusting the height of the light stands, and changing the distance I was able to create different portrait lighting and different effects.