Visual Exploration 2013
POSTED ON Tuesday, 30 April 2013 AT 09:56 \\
My name is Emma Savage and I am a first year photography student at Southampton Solent University. This blog is a continuation of my studies for the first year, under the title Unit 2: Visual Exploration. This blog is a recording of lectures, forums, gallery and exhibition visits and a presentation of my own work as a result of my findings.
Credits to secondary sources for quotations and images have been provided through hyperlinks and can be found in italic brackets.
The Newer Posts & Older Posts at the bottom of this page will navigate you through my posts, most recent entries coming first.
You can see my Unit 1: Image Lab blog here.
My Own Work 29.04.13
POSTED ON Monday, 29 April 2013 AT 22:08 \\
After recieving an email from Mandy regarding helping a third year student, I decided to volunteer myself. The brief of the day was a visit from 35 school girls: 6 of which who were year 10 photography students, the rest year 9s posing as models for textiles students: modelling their garments and also with hair and make up done. My job today was to assist the photography students, guide them with the use of natural and artificial light against a backdrop while they took pictures. I also took some photographs to be used by the level 6 student who organised the event to use as part of her work. I took the following images however with the thought in the back of my mind reflecting Juergen Teller's works again.
The shots I have here are more abstract, cropping at odd angles rather than the full body shots that were required. This also provides anonymity to the subjects. Teller has often cropped his images or taken pictures from a strange perspective, the muted colours and contrasting is also something I see as an influence.
Teller's images
celine spring/summer 2010 advertising campaign (image source)
helena bonham carter by marc jacobs, fall 2011 (image source)
> cropping of heads: anonymity, keeps focus on garments
>white/grey plain backdrops
>colours & contrast
my own images
Labels: celine, fashion photography, juergen teller, marc jacobs, mine, my work, photography
My Work: Influenced by Ansel Adams
POSTED ON AT 17:00 \\
I took these photos using a digital SLR rather than the film format that would've been practiced by Ansel Adams. I took the beach photos over the Easter holidays and converted them to black and white via Photoshop. I took the photo of the pond at Southampton Common over the weekend. The subject matter of water, sea and reflection that is present in Adams' work is something that I wanted to present in my own work.
my local beach in cornwall, 2013
water trickle on the cliffside, 2013
lake at southampton common, 2013
Labels: ansel adams, beach, black and white, cornwall, digital, inspired, mine, monochrome, my work, photography, sea, southampton
Exhibition Review: A European Collagist
POSTED ON AT 15:20 \\
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Journal: Source
Issue: Spring 2011
Page: 48
Labels: european collagist, journal, magazine, source
London Trip (East End Galleries) 15.04.13 - National Maritime Museum: Ansel Adams
POSTED ON AT 14:00 \\
The first destination of our trip was the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The museum is home to a variety of historic maritime exhibits, as well as a temporary extensive gallery of the works of Ansel Adams.
the gallery space
The gallery space itself is quite decieving. From the outside it felt as though the exhibition was going to be rather small, but in fact the space was extensive and spacious, featuring prints of all sizes throughout. The exhibition starts by presenting the works at the beginning of Adams' career: a time when 'photography was in turmoil'- only photographers that made pictures that looked like paintings could be considered as "true" artists. Pictorialists used soft focus and coloured emulsions to give a handmade effect evoking feelings of literature and mythology.
The wall space was painted in warm shades of oyster, pink, grey and purple that was complimentary to the black and white prints on display: almost reminiscent of the colour of fogged paper. Small lights were used to highlight the works that were framed behind glass. Works taken on a box brownie were in a very dark room of the exhibition space, lit only using spot lights.
At the heart of the exhibition hung three large prints. They were made by hanging large sheets of photographic paper on the wall and then projecting light from an enlarger horizontally across his darkroom before being printed in sections. The three prints are coloured with a sepia tone which 'complimented the warmth of this ornate interior' where they would've been displated in a 65foot high banking room. The colour "egg yolk brown" of the prints was said by Adams himself to make the image last longer.
"I want to take pictures. I am tired of moving my fingers up and down under smug rules of past ages... I want to express myself freely, individually..." - Ansel Adams
The exhibition presented photographs of landscapes: of sky, land and sea, capturing waterfalls and waves in freeze motion with an Eadweard Muybridge feel. Other than Muybridge, Ansel Adams also took inspiration from Japanese art known as Ukiyo-e woodblock prints; where perspective is flattened. Adams believed that the photo should correspond to an artists emotional state at the time it was made.
my favourite works
Labels: ansel adams, black and white, exhibition, film, gallery, greenwich, london, monochrome, national maritime museum, photographer, photography, reflection, sea, ukiyo-e, water
London Trip (East End Galleries) 15.04.13 - White Cube: Chuck Close
POSTED ON AT 01:00 \\
The entrance to the gallery itself is a long corridor with a black griddled ceiling. Fluorescent tube lighting streaks down the corridor to a glass wall at the back of the room that reflects, creating the illusion of an even larger space.
A common theme in the presentation of Close's work was the showing of his process. The framed pieces in the above image show the progression of printing to create the final image, showing a deconstruction of how the piece of work came to be. I thought showing the process to his work was a very effective way of presenting it and it makes it even more awe inspiring to see that simple blocks of colour print can become a complex looking portrait.
"In this film, Chuck Close discusses his career-long involvement with print making. Analysing the relationship between his prints and paintings, Close explains how the intimate nature of the print medium, its demand for a closer viewing distance and its ability to “slow everything down” are key factors in his work. Close likens making a print to a meandering, experimental journey that demands active participation from both the artist and the viewer and a willingness to transcend physical reality."
Labels: art, chuck close, east end, exhibition, gallery, london, photography, photorealism, white cube
London Trip (East End Galleries) 15.04.13 - Maurene Paley Gallery: Anne Hardy Show
POSTED ON AT 01:00 \\
Anne Hardy is a photographer and artist that uses her studio space to create scenes before photographing them.
the works
the gallery space
In this exhibition, Alongside Hardy's large photographs that were kept behind glass, wooden structures containing environments created by Anne Hardy were put up and were accessible to the public. The exterior of the constructions were left unembelished, showing the wooden panels and structure of the pieces to show how they were put together. The contrast between the bland exterior compared to the intricate details of the interior was an interesting approach, however part of me feels that it looked unfinished and unrefined and I'm not used to that form of presentation in a gallery space.
Labels: anne hardy, anne hardy show, art, east end, exhibition, gallery, london, maurene paley gallery, photography
