Final Exam

The first picture is bright, and it shows the entire scene. The lakefront, the surrounding buildings and the sky are all there. By the second picture the waterfront is no longer in view, and the overall light is a little darker. Each new picture is closer to the Hancock building and a little darker than the previous one. By the final picture, there is almost nothing except the Hancock building and darkness.

The more light there is in the picture, the more we see. There is a correlation between the range of the picture and the amount of light. As the picture zooms in closer to the Hancock building, it symbolizes that the picture is becoming darker. Not only do you see less because there is less light, but also because I chose to capture less of the scene. What was once a sunny day with a view of the water and skyline has turned into a solitary building of darkness.

The stages of light

 

At first the light is so bright that I can barely see. There are many little shapes but I cannot make out what they are. I know there are more but the light is covering them up. The light becomes smaller and the shapes get a little closer. Some of the shapes are still blocked out by the light. They each look like little clusters of three black lines. As the light dims down more I can finally see every shape in the frame. The light is no longer bright enough to block out the black shapes. They now resemble fingerprint-like designs. By this point I can see the shapes in great detail. Overall it is nearly dark, but the shadows make it clear that the light is still present. Now the scene is very dark. It almost seems as though there is moonlight rather than sunlight now. The shape’s design is clearly visible. Finally I reach the last stage. The shape is so close now that it goes past the frame. There is no visible light, however there still appears to be a shadow. Something isn’t right. Is it a shadow or part of the shape?

 

Emulation

Andreas Gursky was born in Leipzig, Germany in January 1955. He was the only child of Willy and Rosemarie Gursky. Both his father and grandfather were commercial photographers. The three moved from East Germany to the West in Essen the same year Andreas was born. He graduated from high school in 1975. After graduating, he avoided military service instead working for 18 months as a health-care assistant. In 1977 he applied with a friend to the Folkwangschule, a great school for photography. In either 1979 or 1980 he created a portfolio and went to Hamburg to seek work as a photojournalist. After failing at this, his friend suggested that he apply to the Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf. He began attending school there in the Fall of 1980. He studied for six years under Bernd Becher until he was awarded the title of meisterschuler (Master student) in 1987. That same year, Gursky held his first exhibition at the Dusseldorf airport.

Gursky’s first exhibition was approved in 1987, to be held at the Dusseldorf airport. He displayed a series of photos involving security personnel on the job at corporate office buildings. In Germany, these security employees work in pairs to allow them to look out for one another. Gursky found it humorous that these guards were guarding each other, which added to the appeal of his work. On the look out for something new, Gursky was interested in people as they partook in leisurely activities such as playing sports, taking a walk, sunbathing, bike riding, etc. These new photographs would be called Sonntagsbilder (Sunday pictures). It was around this time that artists were starting to use color photographs, as Gursky did.

When vacationing in Switzerland in 1984, Gursky photographed Klausenpass mountain range. He didn’t suspect it at the time, but this photo would be considered his first mature work. It was not until six months later that he noticed several small figures of hikers scattered among the base of the mountain. This random compilation of antlike figures made the photograph the great piece of work that it is. He got the feeling of an omnipresent eye watching over clueless people at leisure. His next series would consist of pictures of unsuspecting people taken from a detached location.

In the late 1980s, the most significant change was reducing the groups of tiny looking people to just one person or a few. This created a more personal relationship between the viewer and the picture subjects. These new photos had a romantic aura about them. One great example of this is his picture of a large open area that has a large bridge running across the top of the picture. Under the bridge, there is just one man who proportionally looks very small.

In 1990 a newspaper photograph of the Tokyo stock exchange influenced his new pattern of work. He decided to emulate what he saw. He liked getting inspiration from the media as opposed to what he sees in real life. One year later, he altered his first picture using the computer with the retouching tool. It was called “Restaurant, St. Moritz.” In 1993 he developed a new series of photos. They were pictures that contained little more than one large building spanning most of the frame. One example of such photos displays a big apartment building in Paris, which was his largest so far. That same year he created “Autobahn”, which had a horizontal and vertical structure close to the camera, and much more beyond it. A similar photo called “Happy Valley I” was made in 1995.

Finally, in 1994 he made a truly beautiful photograph called “Sha Tin.” This picture appears to have many different sections, separated in horizontal layers. As it moves further toward the background, horizontal sections include masses of people, the road, and the mountain range. Each section has its own unique color and beauty. Some might even wonder if he used a computer to clean up certain parts or improve the picture in any way.

These are my five emulation photos:

 

Extra Credit – Jeanne Dunning

The first room in Jeanne Dunning’s photography exhibit had nine photos, all sharing a common theme. They all had different variations of fruit. The fruit appeared to be rotting and growing a layer of mold. Although similar, each photo varied greatly. Two photos in particular seemed to contrast one another. The first one had a solid black background. Directly in the center of the image is a glass bowl piled high with fruit. The bowl itself is clear, short, and very wide. The fruit pile is about a foot high, almost as though it were too high to stay together. The lighting was focused on the fruit, which included plums, pears, tomatoes, radish, apples and peaches. The colors green, purple, and red stand out more than the rest of the colors. Upon first glance, the fruit is appealing. After a few seconds you notice that there are small spots covered in a layer of a furry mold-like substance. Other than that, the fruit looks mostly good and fresh.

The contrasting photograph also has a black background, but it seems to be a soft silky texture. Rather than solid black, this background shows a few ripples similar to what a tablecloth or bed sheet looks like. There is a glass bowl also filled with fruit, taller and thinner than the other one. There is much less fruit in the bowl, and it is more towards the upper left of the frame. The pile is more of a small jumbled collection of fruit than a nicely put together collection. In this picture, there is much less lighting on the fruit. It is darker and far less appealing. Overall, the fruit appears much older and more rotten. The same hairy mold-like substance from the first picture covers most of the fruit.

The second bowl of fruit is so moldy and rotten that it is repulsive, whereas the first one looks somewhat delicious. The first picture seems to be at the earliest stage of decay, while the second one is at its latest stage. In Jeanne Dunning’s press release it is stated that these pictures symbolize the inevitability of death.  I think that the fresh fruit represents human life, and the mold represents death. The fruit that is rotten and decayed is analogous to old age. As people get older, their bodies deteriorate and lose quality. The first picture that I talked about is similar to a young person because the fruit is fresh, attractive, and in good condition. It has minimal deterioration. The second picture shows what the first one will look like after some time. It symbolizes the fact that everybody dies eventually.

According to Professor Goodwin, the theme of the exhibit is related to the word veritas; another word for truth. The second picture depicts the sad truth that everybody will get old and die by showing how fresh fruit goes bad over time. The photos are beautiful because they give an honest depiction of what fruit looks like when it goes bad. They tell the viewer that nothing stays good forever. Other photos sometimes give a fake or misleading picture. For example, in class today we looked at a photo by Roni Horn. It is a picture of a beautiful open area in nature. Since the picture is taken from a distance, the details on the ground are not visible. The photographer has decided what not to let the viewer see, which is deceitful. This is just the opposite of the fruit pictures because they show the bad with the good. They show us that good things will not always stay good. The truth that the pictures are symbolic of is that death is inevitable.

Two photographic series ideas

Two ideas come to mind for the photographic series, both of which can be done within the confines of my own apartment. When I began to think about this assignment, I was focusing on making the most of what I  have available to me. I also focused on ways that I can make use of something that is not otherwise useful. Everywhere in my apartment that I looked, something stood out no matter where I would look. That is the terribly messy state of my apartment. It occurred to me that I could create an interesting photographic series with pictures of the various sections of messiness in all parts of my apartment. It should be interesting to capture the various ways in which things fall out of place. There are many interesting things to examine, such as what kind of mess is most common, why the messes occurred, and what about the mess makes it so unappealing.

The second idea that occurred to me involves my bedroom lamp. This lamp has five separate light bulbs, each of which can be aimed towards any direction. There are many different ways that the lamp can be set up by turning and curving the light directions. Also, any combination of the five lights can be on or off at any time. I think that I could develop an interesting photographic series with varying light directions and combination of on and off. Nothing would be in the pictures other than this lamp.

Quiz Screenshot

Peer comment

I like this superhero card because it is simple. I don’t know whether or not the eyes are supposed to be blurry, but it looks good. The size difference between the objects in the background and the girl makes her look bigger and more powerful. One problem with the photo is that the stars are not just seen in the background sky, but in front of the body as well.

Professor Winter

The True Meaning of Pictures

In my first picture, I was portraying the model as a laid back person. Not only is she relaxing in bed, but there are smooth and soft objects all around her. I believe that this texture emphasizes the idea of her being laid back.

My second picture portrays my model as focused. She is not in the most comfortable spot, that doesn’t matter because she is completely focused on her homework. Other than a pretty background which matches her shirt, there is nothing else in the photo. It is also significant that she is the area of focus in the picture although she is off to one edge of it. The viewer most notices her even though there is so much going on in the wall behind her and in the middle of the picture.

My third picture shows my model as an innocent girl. The couch she is on is a baby blue color which reminds us of children. There are no dark colors present in the photo. Also, there is extra light shining in from her feet which symbolizes goodness or heaven.

1. The context of a photo alters the entire perception of it. For example, if a picture is taken at a funeral, its perception will have a sad feel to it. If a picture is taken after a team wins a big game, this context will cause viewers to perceive a happy/excited mood. In the video “The true meaning of pictures”, Louise Hall talks about how photographers can alter an image based on context. She explains that a gook looking person can be made out to look bad. For example, if a person had just woken up, and the picture is in black and white then they might appear less attractive. Context was important in taking my pictures for assignment 2 as well. The lighting, color, and texture were some of the most important factors in making my photo look right. The background of the image needed to be blank or relate well to my model or else the photo would turn out wrong. Everything visible in the photo is important, not just the subject area.

Ring around collage

Take 2 of ring around collage

1. My original photo still has the best color balance.

2. This test shows how each color balance option effects a pure white picture. Some colors make a bigger difference in the appearance than others.