C O L L A G E
A collage is a form of art, it is made by sticking various different materials and objects such as photographs, paper, wood, fabric, etc.
It is a combination where things may be added or cut out to create a new image. It's a technique of composing 'things' to express and explore the ideas of creation and recreation. This is used for narrative purposes, e.g fantasy because of the unrealistic images that can be made. Layers were used in printing to create scenarios and photomontages.
The main themes of collage's are:
Modernism
- double exposure was used in a different way
- different elements were used to put across points
- motion was used to create a certain effect that showed different points of view
- takes photography forward because of the departure from more traditional forms
It was used in propaganda in the UK, Soviet Union, and Germany because of how well the commercial use conveyed points and opinions. Collage was able to capture images that were out of the ordinary, they were eye catching and this was used to persuade and defend people.
Surrealism
- this element of collages was about not being in control, and letting your emotions run wild and being able to express them through the images
- you can choose random images in any way to create images that don't necessarily make sense
-used in fairy tales because of the unrealistic element
-artists that used this include Dora Maar
The first typed of collages that were used were combination printing in the 1880's, where double exposure was used.
In the 1860's collaged portraits were introduced. Two pictures would be taken, one of the background, and one of the person (subjet)
The background picture would be used as a template while the other image would be cut out and they would be stuck together.
It is a combination where things may be added or cut out to create a new image. It's a technique of composing 'things' to express and explore the ideas of creation and recreation. This is used for narrative purposes, e.g fantasy because of the unrealistic images that can be made. Layers were used in printing to create scenarios and photomontages.
The main themes of collage's are:
Modernism
- double exposure was used in a different way
- different elements were used to put across points
- motion was used to create a certain effect that showed different points of view
- takes photography forward because of the departure from more traditional forms
It was used in propaganda in the UK, Soviet Union, and Germany because of how well the commercial use conveyed points and opinions. Collage was able to capture images that were out of the ordinary, they were eye catching and this was used to persuade and defend people.
Surrealism
- this element of collages was about not being in control, and letting your emotions run wild and being able to express them through the images
- you can choose random images in any way to create images that don't necessarily make sense
-used in fairy tales because of the unrealistic element
-artists that used this include Dora Maar
The first typed of collages that were used were combination printing in the 1880's, where double exposure was used.
In the 1860's collaged portraits were introduced. Two pictures would be taken, one of the background, and one of the person (subjet)
The background picture would be used as a template while the other image would be cut out and they would be stuck together.
A mindmap about Collage:
A B I G A I L R E Y N O L D S
Abigail Reynolds lots of pictures from different angles in different time and printed them differently, most of the same things but capturing different elements of light from angles. The collages are made by layers in the photos and cutting and folding shaped to cause the effect of looking through an object or place. It gives the illusion of looking through the image which creates a three dimensional collage.
Abigail's work is very unique because of the patters and colours created by cutting and folding each layer. She spreads the angles to create geometrical lines and patterns.
Her interest in books prompts her collages which are often composed of found photographs spliced to create fresh narratives . As a research strategy, Abigail is recently created her own digital catalogue of the Guardian newspaper's picture archive.
Her work is usually of landscapes, and in this image there is a tower that has has been created from different photographs. The images have been layered so that they are overlapping and in line with each other to create a new image made out of others. You can see the different colours from the background from where Abigail has cut and folder the pictures and the blue stands out and was a good choice of colour because it contracts with the white.
This type of collage is unique because it gives you a different point of view when you are looking at it. For example when you look at the picture below you don't just see a tower, you see colours, patters and one main feature (the tower) made out of different photographs throughout time of the same picture. If you look at it you can see the different angles from which the pictures were taken.
The meaning of these types of collages is seeing behind the first image into the second and vice versa, it gives you a chance to see in depth every aspect of the image which creates an interesting three dimensional collage.
Abigail's work is very unique because of the patters and colours created by cutting and folding each layer. She spreads the angles to create geometrical lines and patterns.
Her interest in books prompts her collages which are often composed of found photographs spliced to create fresh narratives . As a research strategy, Abigail is recently created her own digital catalogue of the Guardian newspaper's picture archive.
Her work is usually of landscapes, and in this image there is a tower that has has been created from different photographs. The images have been layered so that they are overlapping and in line with each other to create a new image made out of others. You can see the different colours from the background from where Abigail has cut and folder the pictures and the blue stands out and was a good choice of colour because it contracts with the white.
This type of collage is unique because it gives you a different point of view when you are looking at it. For example when you look at the picture below you don't just see a tower, you see colours, patters and one main feature (the tower) made out of different photographs throughout time of the same picture. If you look at it you can see the different angles from which the pictures were taken.
The meaning of these types of collages is seeing behind the first image into the second and vice versa, it gives you a chance to see in depth every aspect of the image which creates an interesting three dimensional collage.
The image below was inspired by Abigail Reynolds and the image besides it is another example of her work.
It was made by firstly choosing the first image, I chose a woman with a dark background because it contrasts with the green and pink. Then I used a stanley knife to cut triangle shapes and folded them, I did this in random places over the woman. Next I chose the background image in which i would be able to see bits off through the triangle holes. I then stuck them together and this is the image I made.
It was made by firstly choosing the first image, I chose a woman with a dark background because it contrasts with the green and pink. Then I used a stanley knife to cut triangle shapes and folded them, I did this in random places over the woman. Next I chose the background image in which i would be able to see bits off through the triangle holes. I then stuck them together and this is the image I made.
J O H N S T E Z A K E R
In John Stezaker's work, he used already existing images that had their own context and meaning and merged them with other photos to create an image with a whole new meaning. In his collages, he uses pages from books, magazines, and postcards to turn them into new images of modern culture. In using stylistic images from Hollywoods's golden era, Stezaker engages with his interest in Surrealism. Placed in context, his portraits retain the aura of glamour.
His work is very clever in how he used faces and landscapes that work precisely with each other. Stezaker uses images instead of taking them, because of the effect of creating a whole new type of world by just merging two or more images from different times/places/people.
In the first image below Stezaker used two cliffs as faces for the man and woman. The slight different colour in the middle draws the attention into the centre of the picture, I think that using a cliff in this picture shows the relation between love and natural beauty within landscapes, he's cleverly combined them which looks quite natural. They line up really well which leaves the image with a clean cut impression.
His work is very clever in how he used faces and landscapes that work precisely with each other. Stezaker uses images instead of taking them, because of the effect of creating a whole new type of world by just merging two or more images from different times/places/people.
In the first image below Stezaker used two cliffs as faces for the man and woman. The slight different colour in the middle draws the attention into the centre of the picture, I think that using a cliff in this picture shows the relation between love and natural beauty within landscapes, he's cleverly combined them which looks quite natural. They line up really well which leaves the image with a clean cut impression.
How to make one:
To make a John Stezaker inspired collage you have to firstly fine two images, they can both be people, or you can use an object like the image above with the cliff.
Then you can cut anywhere in the image so that you can see as much as one of the images you want, you can do the same with the other image and line them so the features stay in line. Another way to do this instead of cutting is to place another picture to make it look like the two images become one.
This is my John Stezaker inspired collage
To make a John Stezaker inspired collage you have to firstly fine two images, they can both be people, or you can use an object like the image above with the cliff.
Then you can cut anywhere in the image so that you can see as much as one of the images you want, you can do the same with the other image and line them so the features stay in line. Another way to do this instead of cutting is to place another picture to make it look like the two images become one.
This is my John Stezaker inspired collage
G O R D O N M A G N I N
Gordon Magnin is a Los Angeles based artist. He uses photographs and distorts them using different shapes which leads the image to look more surreal. Magnin uses various different shapes and photographs to do his work with, each completely new and portraying different things. I think that his work is very interesting because the different layers shapes hides the faces, but at the same time gives you a new way of looking through the image. I really like his work because of the way he defaces subjects by removing and replacing shapes, and how destroying one images creates another, I think that his work is a very strange but interesting form of photography.
This image is effective because the man's face has been distorted in spirals. The simple grey colour of the man sets a good background while the three circles which moves his features around gives the image an interesting effect, I like this image because it hides his face but you can also see through the shapes to see the whole image in a distorted way.
The image above was done by Gordon Magnin and the image below was done by me, inspired by him.
How to make a Gordon Magnin inspired image:
Click the image to view the steps.
H E R B E R T B A Y E R - T H E L O N E L Y M E T R O P O L I T A N
About Herbert:
Herbert Bayer was born on April 5th 1900 in Austria, and died on September 30th 1985 in California. Bayer was both a student and a teacher at the Bauhaus and worked in a wide range of fields including painting, sculpture, typography, advertising and architecture. After serving in the Austrian army (1917–18), he studied architecture. Although he considered himself mainly a painter, throughout his career he combined geometric and organic abstract forms in an imaginatively suggestive way.
Herbert Bayer was born on April 5th 1900 in Austria, and died on September 30th 1985 in California. Bayer was both a student and a teacher at the Bauhaus and worked in a wide range of fields including painting, sculpture, typography, advertising and architecture. After serving in the Austrian army (1917–18), he studied architecture. Although he considered himself mainly a painter, throughout his career he combined geometric and organic abstract forms in an imaginatively suggestive way.
Herbert Bayer this created this photo in a surrealism era in 1932.
The image contains two hands with a pair of eyes on them, floating. There is a shadow of the fingers behind the hands which implies that there is some sort of light coming from in front of the hands. In the background there is an old dark building, the photo is in black and white which gives the impression of something slightly old and frightening. Because the photo is so unordinary I think many people interpret in many different ways. Two of the five senses are presented which may have something to do with reading deeper into the image, or it might just be completely random. I think that the meaning of the photo has something to do with always being watched because the eyes are in the centre of the image which gives the impression that it's an important aspect of the picture., which causes people to feel uncomfortable, trapped and claustrophobic. The building in the background adds to the feeling of claustrophobia because of how tightly everything in the image is packed, and the colour portrays the feeling that it would cause.
The image contains two hands with a pair of eyes on them, floating. There is a shadow of the fingers behind the hands which implies that there is some sort of light coming from in front of the hands. In the background there is an old dark building, the photo is in black and white which gives the impression of something slightly old and frightening. Because the photo is so unordinary I think many people interpret in many different ways. Two of the five senses are presented which may have something to do with reading deeper into the image, or it might just be completely random. I think that the meaning of the photo has something to do with always being watched because the eyes are in the centre of the image which gives the impression that it's an important aspect of the picture., which causes people to feel uncomfortable, trapped and claustrophobic. The building in the background adds to the feeling of claustrophobia because of how tightly everything in the image is packed, and the colour portrays the feeling that it would cause.
More examples of Herbert Bayer's work
D A V I D H O C K N E Y
David Hockney is connected to the Impressionist art movement. This movement was interested in responding to popular culture. Hockney has also created photomontages. Photographs are taken from different perspectives and at slightly different times of the same object. The images are then collaged to recreate the place, person or object even though they may look distorted. This work connects with the cubist movement, which was one of Hockney's major aims. Hockney called them "joiners".
David Hockney took these pictures and placed them in this particular way, this is because of the effect the image has by portraying many fragmented viewpoints which aren't necessarily joined, but how our minds manage to join even the small details of the image together.
Hockney's work was influenced by Picasso's, both artists use cubism. Cubism abandons the use of a single viewpoint in an image and uses interlocking, geometric and collage, with images taken from many various different viewpoints. Hockney uses Picasso's work as an inspiration and you can see many similarities in the work of both artists. David Hockney has been using cubism in a lot of his work, including his most recent experiments which are based on the conception of space and time.
David Hockney took these pictures and placed them in this particular way, this is because of the effect the image has by portraying many fragmented viewpoints which aren't necessarily joined, but how our minds manage to join even the small details of the image together.
Hockney's work was influenced by Picasso's, both artists use cubism. Cubism abandons the use of a single viewpoint in an image and uses interlocking, geometric and collage, with images taken from many various different viewpoints. Hockney uses Picasso's work as an inspiration and you can see many similarities in the work of both artists. David Hockney has been using cubism in a lot of his work, including his most recent experiments which are based on the conception of space and time.
The image on the left (above) is called "Factory, Horta de Ebbo", painted in 1909 by Pablo Picasso.
The image in the middle (above), "Place Ferstenburg" by David Hockney
The image in the middle (above), "Place Ferstenburg" by David Hockney
The image in the middle was made by David Hockney and it's of his mother. It was made by taking pictures of the same woman from different angles and putting them together in a collage that used different pictures of the same image. He used a variety of different greens which made the image seem neutral and cool. The way that he placed the images intrigues the viewers because of the unusual composition, therefore making you look deeper into the image because of the position of the photographs. I really like how this image was created because it allows you to look at the image and see something new every time, even if there's not much there. I think Hockney's "joiners" images are really effective because of the way they are presented and what they capture.
Below is my image created on photoshop, inspired by David Hockney:
Below is my image created on photoshop, inspired by David Hockney:
How I did it:
Firstly I chose 9-10 pictures of the same person taken from different angles, I then put them all onto photoshop and selected certain parts of the face, copied them and pasted them all to create another image. I overlapped parts of the selected image and used different sections to create certain aspects of the face. I think creating portraits like this is very effective because you can see the different elements of each picture used and I think it creates something that looks more out of the ordinary and interesting, which initially draws your attention in and lets you analyse the whole image. |