F O R C E
A R T I S T A N A L Y S I S
B I L L V I O L A
Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist from New York, his work focuses on human experiences such as birth, death, and aspects of consciousness. He is known for video, electronic and new media art, all of which lead other artists to express themselves via these means. The three photographs below are from Viola's video work.
This image is of a man being hung upside down by a rope and there is water coming down from the ceiling. The main focal point is the man and this is because there is light behind the water which creates an aurora, and highlights the man, this also contrasts with the pitch black background. In most of Viola's photographs there are only dark colours shown because of the water and this creates a sense of mystery - this is also because of the fact that faces are rarely shown clearly. The man is in the centre of the photograph and his arms create a symmetrical image and this immediately catches your eye.
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This photo consists of two people in separate frames with their faces in water. Their faces catch your eyes straight away because they are in the centre of the water and are a different colour from the blue. The photo is effective because of the contrasting smooth and rippling textures, not only do they make the image more interesting because of this, but it also makes the photo more intriguing because you cant see the faces of the subjects. The photo has been taken with a fast shutter speed, we can tell this because the movement of the bubbles and splashes have been frozen in motion.
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In this photo a man is shown underwater, his hands are facing upwards and there is a pool of light above his head. This means that he is the main focal point because of this and also because he is in the centre of the composition. The position of his arms make the image look staged and artificial, however the fact that he is in water contrasts with this and makes it look realistic. Unlike the other two photos, the man in this one is fully clothed, which makes the image seem real and as if the is drowning,
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S H I R I N N E S H A T
Shirin Neshat is an Iranian visual artist from New York, the three images below are from a body of work named Woman of Allah; conceptual narratives on the subject of female warriors during the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979.
This photo is of someone's hand, covered with Arabic writing. This could be seen as a message or as the writing hiding the hands. There is a gun at the top of this which shows a more severe and emotional meaning of the photo. The main focal point is the line where the two hands meet, as the pale hands contrast with the black writing. The person's hands take up most of the photograph which may suggest the writing on the hands are the main message of the photo.
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This photo is also of a hand with Arabic writing on it, but unlike the first this hand is covering a mouth, this could been seen as silencing her or telling the viewer to focus on the writing. The main focus point of this image is the hand because it is in the center and contrasts with the black surroundings.In Neshat's work not only the writing is considered, the whole composition means something, from the placement of the body to the distant look in the women's eyes.0.
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The composition of this image contains an Iranian woman in the center of the photograph, with an object right in the middle of her face, this is effective because it divides the images into two equally, which makes the image look very neat and symmetrical, and draws in your attention. The writing has been edited onto her face and the black and white effect makes the image look more sincere.
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T I M T A D D E R
Tim Tadder is a commercial photographer who photographs mainly celebrities and intense sports images. This series of photos are called 'water wigs' and involve water balloons being placed/dropped on people's heads, and Tadder capturing it as soon as it bursts.
This photo consists of a woman having a balloon popped over her head, and then been edited. Tadder's photos are very effective because the subjects' faces always look very normal and neutral, this makes us look at the florescent water more and how the lighting of it effects the face. The main focal point of this image is the water popping because the colours are much brighter than the background and stand out.
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This image is of a man underneath a pink balloon popping. The main focal point is at the bottom of the balloon where the water is spraying, To capture this, the photographer must have used a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion and produce a sharp image. The lighting used creates a sort of aurora because next to his head the light is white and then it gets darker nearer the edges of the photograph, this also makes the lighting on his face unequal, but has a nice effect on the image.
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This third image is different to the first two because the water used is curled around the model's head. The water spray is weaker but takes up more of the image because it is coming off a longer object. The subject's lips catch our eyes because the black contrasts with the surroundings, whereas her makeup blends in with the surroundings and this makes the photograph look more complete and natural.
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F O R C E O F N A T U R E
For this task we looked at places where nature over took man-made structures. I took a range of photos exploring different areas where this occured.
I N I T I A L R E S P O N S E
S E C O N D R E S P O N S E
R E F I N I N G M Y W O R K : For my second response I went to different places to capture the force of nature and progressed from plants on walls to more unique representations of the task, like decayed cars and old buildings. To improve my work I need to take a wider variety of photos showing nature vs man and take some from different angles.
N A D A V K A N D E R
Nadav Kander's 'Half-Life' project involved him taking pictures of the surroundings, where Chernobyl's Nuclear Power exploded in 1986 leaving the area deserted for hundreds of years. He photographed the effects in what was once a model Soviet city. He took photographs of the debris which marked past lives and left a disturbing sense of uneasiness.
In this image there are many desks that look decayed and have debris all over them. The main focal point is the peeling wallpaper at the back of the room, this is because it contrasts against the green wall and the sun coming in. The light shining in contrasts with the decaying wallpaper because it could be seen as happy, fun, and light, whereas the rotting wall could portray destruction, and loss. Nadav Kander has used natural light in this photograph to show the contrast in the image, in a way which shows no manipulation and the pure effects of the Nuclear Power explosion. The focus has not been specifically drawn to one object, this is because the whole image shows the effect of the explosion, each item in the room has been affected, much like the lives of past residents. The colours in the image are very dull and neutral, and again, this links to the destructive occurrence.
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This photograph consists of what looks like hospital beds in a room. The abandoned space is full of decay and looks like it has been left in a rush because people's belongings have been left, this highlights the sense of urgency and fear. This contrasts with the urgency and panic as the beds are all in perfect order. The main focal point is the row of beds in the middle of the image, this is because they are in the centre of the photo so it immediately draws in your attention, especially because of it being in a perspective viewpoint and this also adds to the orderly effect of the beds in the midst of the decay. This image in particular creates a dark atmosphere because it seems like something out of horror film, the hospital beds remind me of innocent children, and the fact that everything looks abandoned creates a sinister environment.
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Nadav Kander has captured an image of an abandoned building in a deserted area that has been knocked down in the middle. The part of the building on the left where the wall has been knocked down is shot in a perspective view and this catches your eye when you first look at it. The main focal point is the gap between the walls and this is because it emphasises the destruction caused. The fact that the wall is in the middle of nowhere makes it seem surreal as it looks like it has been edited in because it looks unnatural, however the debris everywhere also contrasts with this and makes the effects seem much more realistic. The image is very sharp with no blurred areas, and this is to show the pure, raw abandonment. The grey sky also adds to this and also the feeling of darkness and loss.
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A P P L I E D F O R C E
In this task we photographed applied force, the results shown are from the force applied by a person or by another object, we also took pictures inside bags and paper, to make a response to Francois Delfosse's work.
I N I T I A L R E S P O N S E
S E C O N D R E S P O N S E
T H I R D R E S P O N S E
T H E P R O G R E S S I O N O F A P P L I E D F O R C E
R E F I N I N G M Y W O R K : I refined my work from initial to second response by using different materials and I also used different methods of applied force which included using objects. To further my photography work, I did a third response exploring even more materials and chose three photographs which showed the progression of applied force.
F R A N C O I S D E L F O S S E
Belgium architect Francois Delfosse captures abstract images of the inside of crumpled up, used bags, trying to recreate images of Antarctica. He says that the images were taken in a "glacier cave just North of the South Pole", before adding that they are "viewed from the inside of a plastic bag".
These three photographs are part of a series called "Antarctica In a Bag". Delfosse has captured the insides of plastic bags to try and recreate icy areas. He did this by creating appropriate lighting and positing the bags accordingly so that he could make them look similar the the caves of ice and creases of snow in Antarctica. All of these images are very similar to each other so they are not that interesting or unique, however they have been taken to precisely replicate Antarctica and don't look like plastic bags at all which is very clever and intriguing.
I M P O S I N G A R C H I T E C T U R E
This task involved taking a variety of pictures of large buildings from different angles to enhance the 'imposing architecture'. Taking the pictures from low angles creates the effect of the buildings towering over you and making them seem bigger than they are,
I N I T I A L R E S P O N S E
S E C O N D R E S P O N S E
T H I R D R E S P O N S E
R E F I N I N G M Y W O R K : From first to second response, I have refined my work by taking my photos in Ally Pally where the building is more imposing than my initial response. I have also taken images from birds eye view and from different angles.
B E R N D A N D H I L L A B E C H E R
These images consist of a series of different buildings/houses where windows or objects or the whole building has been slightly altered to show the differences in the photos. At first glance the images look the same, but you can then recognise that the altered aspects of the image is due to the photo being taken at different angles or stages of development. They are in black and white and this adds to the intriguing effect of their artwork.
3 S T R A N D S
For my first strand I have decided to photograph the force of expectations - focusing on women and beauty. I will take a series of photos exploring this through barbies as this strand is inspired by Cecile Plaisance as she similarily photographs things she finds beautiful.
My second strand consists of the force of multiculturalism, inspired by Bettina Von Zwehl. I will take images of different races and cultures and put them together on a grid to show the variety of people around us.
The third strand will be the force of time, I will take pictures of the sky at different times of day and put them together in one image to show the stages of time changing the colour of the sky throughout the day, this stand is inspired by Fong Qi Wei who did this but showed her work as GIFs.
My second strand consists of the force of multiculturalism, inspired by Bettina Von Zwehl. I will take images of different races and cultures and put them together on a grid to show the variety of people around us.
The third strand will be the force of time, I will take pictures of the sky at different times of day and put them together in one image to show the stages of time changing the colour of the sky throughout the day, this stand is inspired by Fong Qi Wei who did this but showed her work as GIFs.
F O R C E O F E X P E C T A T I O N S
C E C I L E P L A I S A N C E
"As Cécile’s work progressed, she linked « Barbie » to the woman of today, playing with her femininity and taking on many lives at once..beauty icone in magazines, juggling with the real life « Ken » while remaining an accomplished housewife, flirting in her convertible, cheeky at the beach, extactically happy for « Spring break », exécutive woman at the office, autonomous, ageless and in the end…terribly alone."
Cécile Plaisance strips the idole of our childhoods, supporting the challenges of woman today to defend their rights , their desires and maintain their gained freedom .
Cécile Plaisance strips the idole of our childhoods, supporting the challenges of woman today to defend their rights , their desires and maintain their gained freedom .
1 S T S T R A N D - M Y R E S P O N S E
For these images I chose a black Barbie that is missing one arm - although this could just be seen as a broken doll, as a response to women's expectations it can also be portrayed asbeing a black and disabled woman representing the women of today.
F O R C E OF T I M E
F O N G Q I W E I
Fong Qi Wei uses images captured at different times of the day and merges slices of them together onto one print, they're not videos or photos as she then makes the images into a GIF of a series of moving images throughout the day.
3 R D S T R A N D - M Y R E S P O N S E
To respond to Fong Qi Wei's work, I placed a tripod with my camera on it on a roof terrace and took 16 pictures throughout the day capturing the changes in the sky. To do this I used the landscape mode on my camera, however not all photos focused properly which is why my result didn't turn out the way I had hoped. As it got darker the less my camera focused and made the bright light into a blur, however I did capture the different changes in the sky colour which was my main aim.
I will develop my force of time response as I find it interesting to take pictures of and edit. I'm going to take my photos from my roof as I can't go back to the same place as my first response, this way the focus of my pictures will be more on the sky than the surrounding buildings. This concept shows the force of time through one day, contrasting between day and night. For the first strand of this response I used my camera in landscape mode, however I will use the same setting but put my camera onto manual focus to try make my images more focused than my first response, I'm also using a tripod to ensure that my pictures are all taken in the exact same place to get more refined results. In addition to this I'm going to take more images so that when I photoshop them together there will be more layers - I'm doing this to develop my image as it will me more similar to Qi Wei's work, also I will change the shape of the image. My force of time development is inspired by the images taken by Fong Qi Wei - to further develop my work I would turn my series of images into a GIF to replicate her work without resorting to a video or time lapse.
D E V E L O P M E N T
F O R C E O F M U L T I C U L T U R A L I S M
B E T T I N A V O N Z W E H L
Bettina Von Zwehl constructs captivating photographic portraits which have many of the same attributes as traditional still life paintings .Bettina von Zwehl has built an international reputation for her subtle and unnerving photographic portraits. Her concise series of images are highly controlled both int erms of their minimalist aesthetic and the extracting conditions she imposes on her subjects. Von Zwehl photographs them as they wake from deep sleep, hold their breath, recover from physical exertion, are drenched in rain or listening to music in a darkened room.
2 N D S T R A N D - M Y R E S P O N S E
For this response I took 12 photos of people of different races and from different cultures to show the diversity of people that are around us. Although they weren't taken after/under the same conditions as Zwehl's' they weren't told what face to do so the images capture their natural expressions.
I developed this strand to use portrait transformation techniques, for my final piece I'm going to use an artist called Chrisoffer Relander's work as inspiration.
C H R I S T O F F E R R E L A N D E R
Christoffer Relander applies a technique inspired by multiple exposure to create ‘We Are Nature’: a series of dreamy, surreal images based on the ambiguous relationship between man and nature. I will try to replicate his images below using a similar technique for my final pieces.
I'm using this strand as my final piece because I found there are many more techniques available, and different variations of them. Although my final pieces have slightly moved away from the force of multiculturalism, I am focusing more on the portrait transformation aspect. To develop my photos I will take several images on my camera against a white background so I can photoshop them more easily. Incorporating images of nature I'm going to use Relander's double exposure technique on photoshop.
F I N A L P I E C E
E V A L U A T I O N :
I enjoyed photographing elements of force because it's a concept that covers many different things. My favourite topic that we did was Imposing Architecture or the strands, this is because I really liked the results I got for them and I could take them in lots of different places, and I found the strands topic interesting because we got to chose what we wanted to go and develop those images. The topic that I found least interesting was Applied force because there isn't a variety of images that show force being applied without it being repetitive, and I found taking the images quite boring.