Project #5 Part 1

Image 1(Constructed Identity):
Composition: I wanted the image to capture as many photographs around my face as possible. I was not sure as to what to have as the background. I wanted the audience to be able to see the pictures around my face clearly but still able to see my eyes and be able to tell it is me in the image.
Concept: The whole idea behind this image is finding out who i am by looking at who i have grown up with as a way to tell something about my personality and my life. I thought it would be interesting to have people try to figure out who i am by looking at who i know.
Method: I took a mask that i have and i attached many photos of my friends and family. I think Took a picture of myself that included some of my body and then none at all. The ones of my head you only can see my eyes. Which some people say that you can see into a persons soul through their eyes.
 Motivations: I wanted people to try and figure out the persons identity/personality by looking at everyone that is in their life.
Context: I think that this probably relates to many other artists and ways of creating identity.

Image 2 (constructed identity 2):
Composition: I wanted to create many aspects of an individuals personality. Originally i wanted the Main image to come through all the small ones but i was unable to have it look i wanted it to.
Concept: My image is about capturing many facial expressions and bringing them together in order to try and give a look at my personality or the many expressions that humans give.
Method: I took multiple images of me making many different faces and i put them over top a bigger picture. I was wanting the bigger picture to come through but it did not work how i wanted it to so i left it so that all the smaller pictures are on the top. So now this image is called hidden Identity.
Motivations: I wanted to capture the facial expressions that humans tend to make every day.
Context: This are essentially many self portraits put together in order to create an identity from them all. Many artists take pictures similar to these.

Image 3 (narrative):
Composition: I wanted the image to be a shadow of the person so that there would be no detail of them. That way all you would see is the transition of what the person would be doing. I wanted to include the background because to me it added to more to the narrative.
Concept: I wanted to created a narrative using as little detail as possible within the person them self. I wanted the focus to be more on the glass because that is the object that was moving within the frame.
Method: I had to position the lights at a specific spot behind me in order to get the shadow effect i was looking for. I also positioned the glass in a specific spot so that the light would hit it in just a specific way.
Motivations: My goal was to create a narrative through a shadow. I think that i succeed in the way that i wanted to even though the lighting is not quite what i wanted but it was the best that i could do.
Context: I do not know if this relates to any other artists.

Image 4 (miniature):
Composition: I wanted to be able to create a mouth from an orange and in order to tell that it was an orange. I originally wanted the orange to be on its own but it seemed not to work the way i wanted:
Concept: I wanted to create a double of the mouth on the orange so that the orange could kind of become a person in a way. It really was only noticeable when it was next to my mouth.
Method: I carved the orange a mouth or what looked  like a mouth and then i took pictures of it with many different angles and with different backgrounds but it only seemed to work next to mouth.
Motivations: I thought that it would be interesting to create a mouth in an orange. It made me laugh the whole time i did it.
Context: I do not think this falls into any photographers way of doing things or actually doing things.

Blog #24

A. Pick two images from any of the “constructed reality” photographers presented in class or linked on the assignment sheet. Describe how you could recreate these two images on a “smaller scale”. 

I think that it would be interesting to create both of these images through toys. It would make them that more interesting. They would be a constructed reality within a constructed reality. It would be more difficult to do but it should be possible one way or the other.

B. Describe your plans for your self-proposed final project (if the plan is the same as before, paste it here again and give a bit more detail). During the final critique for Assignment #5, you will discuss/present these ideas to the class. 

I am planning to use my smile face mug that i used in my one portrait image to do a series of them. This time instead of creating a background that would be the same for everyone, i want to capture them in there natural environment with the mug. I thing it is going to be interesting to see there eye expressions since we will not be able to see their mouth expressions. I have not decided on how many pictures i want to print or take for the final project but i know i want it to be at least 20 of them. We will see how many i can get. I also have not decided how i am going to display them. 

Project #5

Blog #23

1. In what ways do you “construct” your identity? In what ways do you “perform” in your daily life?

 Whenever people pose i feel like they are constructing their reality. It is the same things pretty much for performing in your daily life. Some people put on certain acts for different people.

2. Describe some ways in which your personal culture and social environments are “constructed”.

 My personal culture is somewhat constructed because it is influenced by my parents. I love things from the 70s and my parents grew up during this time. I mean if you think about it, it seems as though everything in out lives is somewhat constructed in one one or another.

 3. Describe some ways in which your physical environment/space is “constructed”.

 My physical space could be considered constructed because some people might look at my room and think that it is something that is constructed for the benefit for other people even though it is for my own benefit.

4. In your daily life, what would you consider to be “real” and what would you consider to be “constructed/fabricated”?

I dont know for sure what i would consider real or constructed. I think that most of what is in my world is real and not constructed but i am sure that it would change depending on who was looking at my world. 

5. Describe a narrative tableaux that you might create to be captured by a photograph. A narrative tableaux can be defined as “Several human actors play out scenes from everyday life, history, myth or the fantasy of the direction artist” ( Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler , 34).

I feel like it would be interesting to try and create a fight between too people. The first image would show them perfectly fine. but then they would get up set and things would change and their facial expressions in each of the images could show what they are feeling which in turn could possible explain what is happening. 

6. Describe an idea for a photograph that includes a miniature stage or still life. A description of such an image is “The tableaux reconstructs events as in the narrative tableaux, but in miniaturized format, using dolls and other toy objects” (Kohler, 34). 

I thought about creating a miniature stage with my nieces dolls. I would create an everyday situation with the dolls but it would be with this perfect body images that everyone typically sees.

Anne Zahalka work references Jan van Eyck

Gregory Crewdson

 He was born in 1962 in New York. where he continues to live and work.
 When he was ten his father, a psychoanalyst, took him to see a Diane Arbus exhibition at MoMA. Her work as well as his seems interesting. The thing i like about his work is that you sometimes have to take a second look at it in order to get everything out of the picture that you might not get if you only looked at it once.

"Gregory Crewdson works within a photographic tradition that combines the documentary style of William Eggleston and Walker Evans with the dream-like vision of filmmakers such as Stephen Spielberg and David Lynch. Crewdson’s method is equally filmic, building elaborate sets to take pictures of extraordinary detail and narrative portent."

 

Anne Zahalka
Marriage of Convenience (Graham Budgett and Jane Mulfinger/ artists), 1987
Ilfochrome print
80 × 80cm
Her pieces seem to have a lot more put into them then meets the eye.

Ilfochrome (formerly known as Cibachrome) is a dye destruction positive-to-positive photographic process used for the reproduction of slides on photographic paper. The prints are made on a dimensionally stable polyester base, essentially a plastic base opposed to traditional paper base. Since it uses azo dyes on a polyester base, the print will not fade, discolor, or deteriorate for a long time. Characteristics of Ilfochrome prints are image clarity, color purity, as well as being an archival process able to produce critical accuracy to the original slide.

"Zahalka’s portraits reveal more than just the individual – with an ironic and critical voice the images cleverly subvert stereotypes while capturing subcultures and a spirit of the times with acute observation."


 “Zahalka likes to explore the nature of image making and examine what a portrait reveals about a person and how the medium of photography can bend and reject the truth,” Frances Thomson explained.

 "Tampering with truth in representation, blurring the boundary between reality and fiction, Zahalka uses a variety of photomedia techniques."

Assignment #4 Part 2

Advertisement:
Interpretation: When people looked at this image they got that it was an advertisement but at the same time they just thought it was a snap shot of a college students apartment.
Evaluation: Might work better if there was a small border of white around the image itself. They said that i should increase the contrast a little bit more to make it clearer. Maybe take photos of the bottles in front of a white poster board so that it could be set up better so that it might look more professional. If i am going to leave it how it is they said that i should maybe add text that might relate it to college more.
Extension: I could go to many of my friends apartments and take snap shots of their alcohol collections. Compare them and post them as college life.

Passport:
Interpretation: People knew that it was a passport image as soon as they looked at it. At the same time they thought it could be a mug shot because he is not smiling.
Evaluation: They like that i printed it off  in the size that a passport image would normally be printed off in. Someone said that it would be better in color but understands that it cannot be since this is a black and white photography class.
Extension: It would be interesting to see a bunch of passport images from many different people next to each other. Also we were talking about how different countries require different things and it would be interesting to find this qulification out in order to create passport images from many different countries.

Yearbook:
Interpretation: People got that it is a senior picture because her name was in the bottom right corner of the image as well as her being posed in a way that is typical of senior pictures.
Evaluation: Her pose seems to be a little bit more natural then most seniors pictures. Also her choice of clothing is not something that is typical of senior photos. People like her name in the bottom right.
Extension: Maybe taking senior pictures that are not typical  like so many of them are.

TV Still:
Interpretation: people got that it was a TV show based on the fact that the image was inside a TV Frame. Although they might not know what show at first.
Evaluation: Works better with the TV frame then without. Straighter positioning of the TV or maybe having more of the stuff around the TV in the frame since it all relates to the 80s since the TV is that old.
Extension: It would be fun to recreate many different TV shows and put them in TVs from the time period that the show is from so that it could better depict the show.

Assignment #4 Part 1

Advertisement:(Alcohol bottles)
Composition: I wanted to capture the alcohol bottles as they were. Many college students display their alcohol bottles where they live. Often they will be placed some where in the kitchen. i wanted to keep everything as natural as possible. Although i tried to get a better angle but it was hard since all of it was above me.
Concept: I think my image is about the brand smirinoff and there many flavors. Most alcohol advertisements normally only have one bottled displayed and i wanted to expand on that and not only have more then one bottle but also have the varieties of the object which in my case is alcohol.
Method: I wanted to actually recreate an advertisement that i saw of a specific brand of alcohol in a magazine but they do so much editing to there images and i did not want that. So when i went to my friends apartment and saw her collection i decided that i would take that picture instead.
Motivations: I like to be different in creating advertisements. I captured what i wanted for the most part. i would have liked to set them up better but that was not possible in the enviroment that i was in.
Context: My work would be considered social. It is all about getting people to buy your product so its appeal needs to be to the general public.

Passport:(Nate)
Composition: I wanted to try and to passport photos like they do at the post office and things like that. So i made sure i had a blank background. I also made sure that i only captured the very top portion of his body. I used a flash. i could not remember whether or not they used a flash when i got my passport photos done but i think they did.
Concept: I wanted to do the typical passport photos. I wanted to show how like drivers license they dont always turn out how people would like them to but instead they are done in a way that is better by government standards.
Method: When trying to decide which prompts i wanted to do i decided my friends nate would be perfect for this prompt so i decided to use him and it turned out to be ture.
Motivations: My goal was to try and get it to look like a passport picture as best that i could.
Context: i would say that this is some what about political or like the government. i guess it could also be anthropological but i am not sure. I mean the purpose of the passport is so that other people can make sure that you are not trying to pose as someone else in order to get into a country or even out.

Yearbook:(Erin)
Composition: In this image i wanted to be able to have my friend erin who has never had senior pictures done have the opportunity. I wanted to let her be free to where what she wanted as well as to poses she would like to do. I even went as far to let her choose where she wanted to do them. Most senior pictures are posed by other people and not the person in the picture. Whereas in my image she choice the pose she wanted.
Concept: My image is about senior pictures and about how they are so important but at the same time really ridiculous. In this country it is something that is some what of a tradition but as years go on people are doing things that are more ridiculous in there images. As well as wearing clothing that they normally would not wear.
Method: I had already knew that my friend had never had senior pictures so when i saw it as one of the prompts i thought i would go ahead and ask her if she wanted to do them. The enviroment was hers as well as the clothing. She chose everything that she wanted to.
Motivations: My goal was to try to do the typical senior pictures that everyone normally do but i wanted it to be a little more free and allow her to choose things.
Context: This is cultural thing. Not all cultures to this but because graduating from high school is important in our society it is usually captured by senior pictures.

TV Still: (Three's Company)
Composition: For this one we were trying to recreate the exact pose that was captured from the TV show Three's Company. We wanted ours to be on a couch as well. I knew that my image would not exactly the same but thats because the clothing and the enviroment has changed since the 1970s.
Concept: When i was trying to think of TV Stills or Movie Stills i was having difficulty trying to decide what images i wanted to do. It was not until my friend says why do you not do one that has three people since there were three of us. So i searched shows and finally came up with threes company.
Method: we were looking at the picture on the computer and trying to get the pose that they had very close. It took us a couple times because of trying to make sure that we were all in the frame. I used a flash for these images. I ended up putting the final image into a TV screen so it relates more to the show. or the fact that it is a TV show.
Motivations: My goal was to try and capture us like the image we were looking at but it was taken a step farther by adding the TV frame.
Context: This is cultural. This was a show during the 70s and 80s that many people still know today. Artists often try to bring back ideas or themes from the past.

Blog #22

A. Series: Brainstorm various ways to make a “series” of photographic images.   

   The way that i think a way to make a series of photographic images is talking ideas that you have and expanding them a little bit farther in each direction to see what might come of them. You could take the same theme or picture and think how you could tweak it very slightly in many different ways.

B. Final Project: Your final project in this class will be designed by you. If you could tackle any photography project, what would it be? You could combine other media with photography (video, sculpture, drawing) or you could take one of your earlier assignments and expand it to create a larger project. If you are expanding an earlier project or creating an entirely new series of images, shoot for a series of at least 5 images. Describe an idea you have for your final project. 

 I don't know what i would want to tackle if i could tackle any photography project. I am always wanting to try to capture new things. I am wanting to take one of my photos from the portrait project and create a larger final project from it. I want to be able to take pictures of many different types of people holding my cup like they are drinking from it. In turn showing the face of the cup. I want to somewhat give the people somewhat of a fake emotion where ever they might be. So they might be working and not be happy but the mug would be over there mouth showing a smiley face. Maybe it would start to make people look at there eyes more to see if they can find the emotion in them. I want to get as many images as possible for this final project. I do not want them to be large in size but rather small so that there can be multiple of them. 

Project #4 mid critique