Fourth Plinth - Definition Post

Ideas for the fourth plinth:

• Dinosaur
• Converse
• Glasses
• Shoes
• Watch 
• Bus
• Teddy 
• Chicken
• Flowers 
• Bus

The fourth plinth is when an object appears to be in an ambiguous situation/somewhere it shouldn't. The fourth plinth is situated in Trafalgar Square, London. It is a rolling programme of temporary sculptures, rather than having merely one figure. There's a plinth in each 4 corners in Trafalgar Square. 

Cedric Delsaux:

Cedric was born in 1974. He was first known for his advertising campaigns. He attempts to combine reality with fiction, as apparent in the following star wars based images below.  

The image on the left combines reality with fiction, as the characters placed around, and on, the car are fictional. This image is a mixture of different beiges, reflecting the dusty texture of the environment. I do not like the forth plinth, however in this instance i do like it, as it is realistic and doesn't look completely artificial. 

This image is realistic, the red of the light saver completely contrasts the black, dull colours surrounding it, this draws your eye into the image, allowing you to have a focal point. This image appears to be a still from an action movie, and it extremely believable. 

This urban-style image is captivating, as in the background you can see buildings, implying you're in London, however in the foreground the giant alien-like ship contrasts this and creates an industrialised appeal. The dim lights also imply there's a 'secretive' feel about it, creating intimacy within the image. 

Landscape

Landscape photography involves the photographer telling a story through their image. Landscape pictures are usually wide-frame images of what you see around you. 

Equipment that's needed for landscape photography:

• filters- ND and polariser
• camera
• tripod
• zoom lens 
• wide angle lens 
• rain sleeve 
• lens cleaner
• back pack
• spare batteries 
• memory cards

Ansel Adams:

Adams was a technical photographer, this can be seen in his images; whereby he includes many formal elements in each photograph. Adams preferred working in black and white, as it enhanced the colours in the images. Adams used pre-visualisation and the zone system. Pre-visualisation is when the photographer can already predict what the image will look like prior to the print. The zone system is a way of controlling your prints tonal range, you view your subject as having 9 tones (not including pure black and white,) you can then adjust these on the final prints.

In this image the river is portrayed as the leading line, drawing your eye into the image. In addition, shape is reflected in the mountains and the curve of the river, which takes your eye on a journey. I like how Adams has captured the clouds in this image, as you can see their form due to the shadows. This image looks artificial, therefore I do not like it as landscapes should appear natural.

 Again, in this image I like how the clouds are captured as it appears as though they're exploding from the mountains. Form is one of the main elements portrayed as the shadows imply the objects are 3D.

In this image line is evident through the cross. In addition the two trees either side create a symmetrical view of the image. I like how the background of the image is foggy and blurry. This image does appear natural, which I like. 

Overall, I do not like Adam's images as I believe they all appear grainy, however I do appreciate the technical advances of his images- I will strive to include some of his techniques in my images. 

Stephan Shore:

Shore was an early pioneer in colour photography in America, he uses bold bright colours in his images. Shore photographed places and objects on American streets. So used a large format camera, the advantage of this is that you can print your images bigger, with higher resolutions. Sore used Kodak colour negative films in his early photographs (e.g. American surfaces.) Negative films are where the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest, and the darkest areas appear lightest. This reversed order occurs because of the extremely light-sensitive chemicals. 

This image was photographed in a car park. The cars are parked inconsistently, this my reflect what Sore believed American's lives were like. The vertical line on the ground of the parking spaces, almost acts as a leading line drawing your eye to the sky in the background of the image. Pastel colours  are used in this image. 

This image is extremely structured, there's horizontal and vertical lines present, also many squares. This implies order and structure in American's lives, contrary to the image above. I like this image as the pastel colours all complement each other well, and the orange/blues imply it's summer time in america. The saturated colour allows us to gage the temperature of the environment, and the season.

This image is again extremely structured and organised; many horizontal and vertical lines are present. Bold colours are used, the image is extremely busy reflecting the lives of Americans. In addition, there're manufactured machines in the image (petrol station, cars, traffic lights) therefore, Shore may be highlighting the effect we have had on the earth, inventing machines. Furthermore, he may be implying how they have taken over our lives, as they're seen in all corners of this image. A lot of advertisement also used in this image, showing us what American streets look like.




Overall, I prefer Shore to Adams as I admire Shore's use of colour. In addition Shore's images are extremely clear, whereas Adam's are slightly grainy and boring due to no colour being evident. Moreover, we can receive more information about the climate/season from Shore's images, in comparison to Adam's.

Research for Documentary Photography

Henri Cartier-Bresson:

This image is photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson. He has captured the cyclist in the top left corner of the 'rule of thirds.' This captures the 'decisive moment', as if this image was photographed a second later, or earlier, then the photographer would not have got the same image. I like this image as the stairs act as a 'leading line' taking you downwards. In addition, the curve of the pavement also acts as a 'leading line'.

I like this image as Henri Cartier- Bresson has captured another 'decisive moment' as this image could not be recaptured again. The lines of the stairs are curved, which takes your eye on a journey downwards. The rushing pidgins contrast the empty, calm, quiet stair way. Furthermore, this image appears to be taken in a tube station, which are usually busy (especially in London), therefore it leads us to question why it is not busy…

This image interests me as the black, peeling paint appears almost as blood. In addition with this the boys almost pain stricken face complies with this, as it almost appears as though he has been shot? This image interests me further as it also it makes you question why only the bottom half of the wall has peeing paint? This image is interesting as a whole as it causes many questions to arise in the observers head. 






Richard Billingham:

This image is extremely  private as it's captured in their home, whilst the individuals are sharing an intimate moment. Richard Billingham therefore must have had a trust built allowing him to photograph these types of images. I like the saturation of the colours in the image, the vast amount of colours make the image appear busy and chaotic. 

This image interests me as the individual photographed is in a bright blue robe, this is the main focus of the image as the background is dark, with cluttered objects in the background, whilst the foreground is white. consequently, it's evident how the blue robe jumps out in-between the dark background, and white foreground. It's evident from this image that the individual does not live in a luxurious house, instead he perhaps may habitat in a council house. This is deducted from the cluttered surfaces in the background, which indicate a lack of pride and care in the house. Furthermore, this lack of care for the house may reflect it's owners lack of care for themselves- again this is highlighted in the fact the individual is smoking, despite obvious health repercussions. 







Richard Billingham is extremely different from Henri Cartier-Bresson. Henri's images are all in black and white, and all obtain a decisive moment. Whereas Richard's photographs are highly saturated and busy with colour. Richard's images are more private and intimate than Henri's, due to Henri's being photographed in public, in contrast to Richard's ones which are photographed in a home, with the same individuals. I prefer Richard's images to Henri's due to the colour as i believe it makes the image more interesting, also the intimacy we see in Richard's images is rare. 


Sally Mann:

In this image i believe Sally is challenging gender stereotypes. The young boy in the image appears to have a fluffy scarf around him, this would primarily be seen as a girls toy, however here we can picture it on a boy. Consequently, Sally may have been trying to portray how both boys and girls don't have 'set toys' they have to play with. In addition the boy appears to have drawing all over him, this could be interpreted as lipstick, therefore we can infer he was playing with make-up; this contrasts typical, generic gender roles as boys are meant to enjoy sport, and getting dirty- not make-up. 

This photograph is again challenging gender roles. The young girl is holding what appears to be a cigarette, however this is a candy stick sweet. This allows us to understand how our eyes can trick us. The girl appears masculine to an extent in this image, she is standing hunched over, not tall and poised, as a woman is portrayed. Furthermore, the girls expression on her face is bleak, portraying attitude. This image is one of my favourites, as the young girls hair is messy, which is seen as more of a masculine trait, as girls tend to be clean.

In this image the man appears as though he is protecting the young girls, i believe they all may be naked in the image as they're showing how they are exposed, with no front or fabrication. I admire how the background is blurred, allowing the viewer to fundamentally focus on the man, and the two girls. In addition, the image being black and white adds to the weariness of the image- as you do not know why they're in the forest?, and why they have no clothes on? Moreover, the black and white effect allows you to focus easier on the main aspect of the image (the people), rather than any surrounding objects. 

Research for Portraiture

Thomas Ruff:

Thomas Ruff is a portraiture artist. Personally, I do not like his images as I believe they're boring, and not 'art', due to the fact anyone can easily photograph images like these. 
Ruff may have used deadpan expressions to highlight the various details in individuals faces. The people in these images appear almost as dolls/not real people. Thomas would have done this using the lighting.
These images challenge norms as in the image on the right the man is on a pink background, whereas the woman is on a blue one. This is strange as blue is associated with boys, and pink with girls. 
 These images are extremely structured, and not free. Ruff used the deadpan expression to highlight how you don't know what the subject is feeling, whereas in normal portrait imagery you capture emotions. These images would have been shot on a high aperture score, due to the face, and the background being in focus (wide depth of field.)

Alec Soth:

 I like Alec Soth's images as he also captures the environment, and backdrop in which the image is photographed, as well as the portrait. This gives you a sense of perspective, as to how small us as humans are too the environment/world around us. In the image to the right, and the one below the backdrops are grand, which implies they're more than us as humans, and were merely a pinprick in the world. 
I like how in the photograph below, the man is captured with toy planes, this gives us an insight into his hobbies or likes- as clearly he enjoys planes/ building things, as his clothing appears as though he has been making objects, due to the splattered paint over it. 



Muted colours are used in Alec's photography, these imply calmness and silence as they're not saturated and extreme colours which would imply business and fun. However, the image above of the man lying down has slightly brighter colours, in contrast to the other two images. This image has more autumnal images, in the organs and browns. These images (especially the one of the man holding planes) would be shot on a lower aperture, due to the background being blurred (shallow depth of field.)

Alec Soth is considerably more interesting to me than Thomas Ruff as his images are not just on plain backgrounds, and include the environment in which the images are taken too.

Portraiture - Definition Post

Portraiture: 

Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face, although the entire body and the background or context may be included.
Different lighting can affect the sexuality of the image0- the darker the image, the more masculine. Whereas the lighter the image the more feminine it is considered. In addition portraits capture the emotion of the person, the photographer can have an impact on this. 

This image is by the photographer Annie Leibovitz, this image is of Meryl Streep. This image implies that due to Meryl being an actress and playing various roles/characters, she is attempting to remove the white mask (her character.) This image is empowering as it implies she places on lots of different masks when playing her characters, but no one knows the true her; therefore she's trying to remove these masks and show everyone the true her. 

This image is photographed by Thomas Ruff. His photographs can be perceived as passport images. All his images show a deadpan expression. I dislike his images as I don't perceive them as art due to you being able to obtain them anywhere (i a photograph booth.) No expression is captured in the portrait due to it being deadpan. 

I like this image photographed by Alec Soth as not only does he capture the persons emotion and face, he also includes the backdrop, and setting where the image is taken. This image has pastel-like colours and is soft on the eye. No saturation is used and it implies a calmness and coldness about this image as there are many greens and blues. In addition due to us seeing the background, the viewer can see the trees obtain no leaves, therefore we know this image is photographed around the colder seasons. Due to the man holding plans this allows us to interpret some of his hobbies/personality. 

I like this image photographed by David Sorrenti. The emotion of happiness is captured in the image, the girl is laughing, with her eyes shut, therefore she is not looking directly at the lens, or away from it. I like that the image is in black and white as it shows the different contrasts in colour (e.g. the girls jacket and hair.) 

My own definition: An image, usually of a persons face, which captures emotion.

• Equipment is used to help project light in photography, shown here in some of the following: 

Honeycomb- this is fixed to the front of a studio strobe, of an off-camera flash. The light shines through the honeycomb grid, creating a tight beam of light. 

Snoot- Is a tube light object which fits over a light, or portable flash, allowing the photographer to direct the direction of the beam of light, and its radius; they can isolate a subject also. 

Joiners Definition

Joiner photography- Where a whole image is made from numerous overlapping photographs. 

To create a joiner photograph, you typically stand in one place and take photos in a panoramic fashion, turning from right to left. You can create  abstract images using joiner photography. Joiners are used in order o add another perception onto reality, and create abstract approaches to images. Prior to the technology invented joiners were initially made using polaroid cameras, and physically sticking them together, however now we have tools such s photoshop, whereby we can digitally put them together. 

David Hockney- 

This is an image photographed by David Hockney of his mother, this image is extremely interesting as it highlights various angles of her face. This allows you to almost get a 3D approach to the ladies face, as it's as thought you're standing all around her face. 

This is another of Hockney's creations, this is a different take on joiner photography as the cubed pictures do not overlap. I like this image, however I am not a fan of the gaps between the images, as it creates a grid-like appeal of structure, whereas I prefer more freely organised images.


Inspiration:

The above image is one I could photograph of an urban landscape. This image has used wide shots, and a few of these to create the overall image. 

This image is different from the one above as there's more images, which are smaller than the shots above. This image has been built up more than the image above it. This image is a square itself, whereas the one above is the shape of the remaining edges of the photographs used to make the image. 

I could recreate this image in a scenic landscape (e.g. field), whereas I could recreate the one above in an urban city area (e.g. London.)