Work Record Shoot 1

Work Record Shoot 1

Research Influence(s)

Man Ray

Photographer Information

Man Ray ( Emmanuel Radnitzky ) was and American French photographer. he belonged to the Dadaism and Surrealism movements. He specialised in multimedia but mainly considered himself a painter. He also was the pioneer the Rayograms ( photograms ) named after himself, where objects were placed on light sensitive paper and were exposed to harsh light to create a negative.



How was The Image Made?

The image was made using the process of 'photograms'. This is where you use light-sensitive photogenic paper, and you place multiple items on top of it, exposing it to a strong light so that the paper captures the reflections of the light, creating a negative. 


What's in the image?

In this image we see a spring in the background, with circular wires, and a large circle with a sphere in the centre, at the centre of the photo in the midground, with a ring of wire in the foreground, and spots of something in the top left corner.

How does the image make you feel?

The image makes you feel alone and isolated due to the image being composed of everyday objects, but also as there is a lot of black negative space in the photo, installing the idea of loneliness.


How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

This image links to circles and curves because there's a spring going from bottom left of the image towards the top right of the image, there is also a large disc with a hallow centre in the centre with a sphere in the centre of that. There is also multiple wire circles dotted around and a dew circular spots around.

How was The Image Made?

The image was made using the process of 'photograms'. This is where you use light-sensitive photogenic paper, and you place multiple items on top of it, exposing it to a strong light so that the paper captures the reflections of the light, creating a negative. 

What's in the image?

In this image we see two spheres in the top left corner, then a tube under the second sphere, with grows out larger in intervals and grows downwards. There is also more circular wires dotted around the image.

How does the image make you feel?

This image also makes you feel alone and isolated, because the image is populated only by white positive space and black negative space, being a minimalist style, making you feel disjointed.

How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

The image links to circles and curves because there's multiple loops going around each other in the image with spheres in the top left.


How was The Image Made?


The image was made using the process of 'photograms'. This is where you use light-sensitive photogenic paper, and you place multiple items on top of it, exposing it to a strong light so that the paper captures the reflections of the light, creating a negative. 

What's in the image?

In this image we see a spiral of wire colliding into the centre of the image. There is also smudges of something in the centre and the bottom left.

How does The Image Make You Feel?

The image makes you feel alone and unnerved as there's a high amount of black and white positive and negative space, but also as the rope spiral is reminiscent of a spider's web, which makes people feel unnerved due to arachnophobia.

How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

The image links to circles and curves because Man Ray can composed the image so that the wire spirals around in circles to the centre of the image, and that there is spherical spots around the image.

How has Man Ray Inspired my Work?


Man Ray's use of everyday objects has inspired me to use everyday objects in my work; in my case regular A4 paper. He has also inspired me to have jarring contrasts between the positive white spaces in my work compared to the black negative space to accentuate the curves on the paper.

Edward Henry Weston


Photographer Information

Edward Henry Weston was an American born photographer, who is known as, 'one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century'. He specialised in still life photography, being one of mis most famous photos of a pepper that looked like a picture of someones back. He knew he wanted to be a photographer from  a young age and ended up being one for a career expanding 40 years and had an extremely large set of subjects, including but not limited to; landscapes, nudes, still life, portraits, genre scenes and parody work. 




How was The Image Made?

The image was likely made by placing a shell in a dark room, and using a method of focusing strong light in  a focused way i.e using a snoot.

What's in The Image?

In this image we see a close of a sea shell being hit by strong lights and on a dark background.

How Does the Image make you Feel?

This image also makes you feel alone due to the excess of negative space in the background, but also makes you feel a sense of grandeur due to the amazing amount of detail in the ridges in the shell.


How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

This image links to circles and curves because the hell has a circular spiral form, to the point the theory of 'The Golden ratio' in maths science and art was made due to the perfect complexity of the ratio in things such in shells, therefore showing the theme of circles and curves.

What's in The Image?


In this image we see sand dunes in a arid landscape in the fore and midground, and in the background we see another large sand dune and a cleat sky with only one cloud at the very far back.


How does the image make you feel?

The image makes you feel isolated from the world, as the desert is a arid lifeless place and little to no one resides in deserts all around the world, and the image is shot so it makes it look like it sprawls on indefinitely, as its in the fore, mid and background.


How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

The image links to circles and curves, as sand is a very free substance, so this causes the dunes to look curved and irregular,

What's in The Image?

In this image we see a cabbage leaf being hit by strong lights in a dark backdrop.


How Does The Image Link to Circles and Curves?

The image links to circles and curves as the cabbage is made to look as if it's free flowing and so; it looks curves in parts.

How has Edward Henry Weston Inspired my Work?

Edward Henry Weston inspired my work through his landscape photography; because the images are made to look as if the desert continues on indefinitely, through having the landscape in the middle, back and foreground, showing little amounts of the sky. This inspired me in my paper photography to try to recreate the look of ever continuation through having the subject in all three grounds.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy


Photographer Information

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy ( Laszlo Weisz ) was a Hungarian born multimedia artist, specialising in; painting, illustration, collage, drawing, sculpture, film, theatre and literature. He was a strong advocate for constructivism and held a belief of the integration of industry and technology in to the ( fine ) arts, his style was extremely modern, temperamental, and experimental due to his beliefs.

What's in The Image?

In this image we see presumable a piece of paper or film rolling in a spiral to the centre where there is a cylinder.

What mood does the image create?

The image creates a mood of intrigue and loneliness as there is a lot more negative space than positive space, but also we don't really know what the subject of the image is.

How does the image link to circles and curves?

This image links to circles and curves because the subject is coiling around a cylinder at the centre of the image.




In this image we see another spiral in the image, with the end this time having a cylinder.

What mood does the image create?

This iamge also creates a mood of mystery as the image looks upside down, as if the spiral is above you, making a confusing interesting image.


How does the image link to circles and curves?

The image links to circles and curves because there is a spiral coiling around to the centre, with a cylinder on the end.




In this image we see a jumble of lines coiling around each other.


What mood does the image create?

This images creates an unsettling mood because the lines are akin to a spiders legs, but also a mood of mystery as you cannot tell what the subject of the image is.

How does the image link to circles and curves?

The image links to circles and curves because the lines are curling and curving towards each other.


How has Laszlo Moholy-Nagy Inspired my Work?

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy has inspired by work because in his photos it is almost near impossible to make out what the image is of, creating an allure of mystery and intrigue in his work, which I would like to recreate by using close up's of paper, making it highly abstract.

AO1;

Contact Sheet

Will evidence the breadth of your research.  

Best Images

 Select the best images from the shoot that you might wish to take further through editing

This image is good because the image is very abstract, as in you couldn't tell it was paper at a glance. There is also a great contrast between the dark and light sections of the image, as in the section in the foreground which is most affected by the light influence, then the dark areas in the tube of paper. 
However; the image is slightly out of focus, due to being shot in Manual Mode, as it is impossible for a camera to auto-adjust onto white items as there is no tone. To fix this issue in the future i should use a tripod and ensure when using the focus ring that the image is definitely focused.
To edit this image; I will slightly crop the left side so that you cannot see the background in the top left section. I will make the image monochromatic, and darken the image and make the exposure high to draw out the shadows.



This image is good because there is a good variation of dark and light sections. Also the shadows and the paper itself create curves; which links the to the theme of the shoots; being Circles and Curves.
However; the image shows too much of the table and background, and will be needed to cut out during editing. The image is also somewhat fuzzy in areas due to the manual shooting, but also due to the light influence.
To edit this image i will; crop the table at the bottom, but also the back ground shown on the left side.



This image is good because there is clear tonal differences and the image is very abstract. 
However; there is too much negative space in the form of the table in the bottom left and the top right's dark spot.
To edit this image I will; attempt to crop out the table in the bottom left and the black backdrop on the top right, and then i will use curves to make the shadows greater and the lighter sections the same.



This image is good because there is a clear link to the theme of Circles and Curves with; the shadows and the paper itself, but also the negative space of the background. There is also a clear tonal differentiation between the shadows and the areas that are afflicted by the light.
To edit this image i will; use the contrast and curves tool to accentuate the shadows and to create a stronger tonal variation within the image.

Images That Require Improvement

This image requires improvement because you can see the sellotape binding the paper together and the image is fuzzy and inconstant.
Next time I will use a tripod, and set up the lighting features more effectively using a snoot, and use better materials i.e. card, double-sided sellotape and/or blutac.

This image requires improvement because there is no tonal variation in the image and is over exposed. There is also a view of the table on the bottom right.
In my editing I will; use curves, exposure and contrast to make the image darker and strengthen the shadows in the image. I will also use the Rectangular Cropping Tool to crop out the table on the bottom right corner.

This image requires improvement because it is also over exposed and the subject ( paper ) is blemished, ruining the abstract style.
Next time I will check and see whether there is any imperfections and blemishes in the photo and on the subject.

This image requires improvement because the subject is dented, and there is too much negative space in the form of the background ground ( darkness and table )
Next time I will remake the composition if dented/ imperfect or has anything that may affect the final image and/or editing. In post editing however, i can crop out the excess negative space using a cropping tool.

AO2;

   Demonstrate your ability to experiment with photographic media, techniques and materials.

Demonstrate your ability to review and refine work as it develops

This includes : -

    

Computer experiments -

Computer experiments will demonstrate your ability to experiment with the medium of digital photography  This is an important aspect of the AQA assessment criteria.  You will need to explain the process used.   You can do this with screen prints and text or just use text only.

   You should evidence the photograph before and after the computer experimentation.

The image I will be using is;



To edit the photo I start by making them Black and White. To do so I select the Image Tab> Adjustments> Black and White ( Alt+Ctrl+Shift+B ).

After I plan to alter the exposure of the image, this is to pull out more shadows to have a variation in tone. To do this I go to do the Image Tab> Adjustments> Curves ( Ctrl+M ).



Then to make the photo retain the light parts ( and to make them stronger ) i pull the right side of the line up slightly



Then to make the darker areas darker I to the inverse; I pull the left side of the image down slightly.



This leaves the image as;



Now to want to make the image darker and bring out the shadows even more so I use the Image Tab again> Adjustments> Brightness & Contrast.

As i want to make the image slightly darker i drag the Brightness Wheel to the slightly slightly to -17.

I then want to make the shadows stronger in the image so I pull the Contrast Wheel to the righter to make the contrast between the light and dark areas stronger, to 19.



This leaves the image as;



I now want to crop the image to remove the back background, to do so i use the Rectangular Crop Tool ( Alt+shift+Ctrl+K ).

AO4;

Final Pieces

Show the images the best images that you have created in a single post.  Ensure that the images selected work as a series and are linked to the exam paper.

Describe how the work is linked to your preparatory work (i.e. photographers research or shoots) 

How do my Final Edited Photographs relate to my Photographer Research?

My photos relate to Man Ray's work because i used everyday objects, just like Man ray did in his photography, i also edited them to be in monochrome, just how Man ray shot as well due to using photogenic paper.
My photos relate to Edward Henry Weston's work because i shot my photos close up so that the subject, the paper, was in the back, fore and middle ground so it looks large and expansive.
My work also relates to Laszlo Moholy-Nagy because the way i shot up close, it is hard at points to identify that the subject is paper, give one or two photos.

AO3;

Reflect critically on your work and progress, (evaluate the images you have produced in what way do the images link to your initial plans/the exam paper… 

I think my final edited photos turned out extremely well; as they look really good, are extremely abstract, links closely to my Photographers methods, ideas and processes. However, there are some issues with some of the compositions, for example on one of the images there's a dent on the side of the plain paper, that wasn't so noticeable pre- edit, but post- editing you can clearly see the dent as it's been edited so the shadows are accentuated. The final images from Work Record Shoot 2 does correspond to my original ideas; being to shoot different compositions of paper so that they look abstract by folding them and curving them, and by doing this I would be adhering to the theme of Circles and Curves.

AO4;

Final Evaluation

Here you will need to summarise how your work has developed as a result of the shoots that you have undertaken.

·         How has your research (photographers research, research log) and preparatory shoots influenced the final series of images that you have created?

·         What have learnt/ how has your work developed as a result of the project, this can be:

technical (learning new techniques in camera operation, shooting)

aesthetic (new ways of presenting work)?

·         How successful were you in responding to the exam paper? Identify areas where your work is strong and areas where you might want to improve your work further.

My photographer research and my research log influenced my final series of photos because my research on Man Ray influenced my work to shoot using normal objects, but use unique methods to make the shoot look interesting, in his case using photogenic paper to create photograms ( rayograms ), and in my case using lighting, A4 paper and unique positions. Due to the exam paper my work has gotten better because I learnt how to use compositions effectively, as i needed to learn how to effectively set up a lighting setup to take my photros correctly, for example using a snoot and a harsh light or using a flash. . I think i was able to respond to the exam paper effectively; for example being able to use research on photographers to formulate my own ideas. However; I didn't produce enough content, and so to improve my work better I could need to produce more, and to have a clearer link between shoots.