Class Aperture performance
During today's lesson, we were asked to select a piece of cardboard of our own choice so the size and colour and texture were all up to us, we then had to cut a circle out in this piece of cardboard but again the size and position of the circle was down to our own choice. After we had done this, we walked around the classroom for 10 seconds and then stopped for 5 looking through the circle in the cardboard; by doing this, we acted as a camera and the circle in the cardboard was our aperture. After doing this in class a few times, we then went out onto the concourse to create a performance out of the experiment and we decided that to get the most out of our performance, we would walk around for 10 seconds following a general direction and pattern of a specific person in the group and then we'd stop and look around for 5 seconds to find something to focus on and then we'd hold our cardboard up for 10 seconds.
I found this really interesting to do, as I had never really done performance pieces before so this was something really new and interesting to me. I really liked the idea of a performance too as it is unique and engages the viewers a lot more so there's even more to your photographs than just your models or actors.
I found this really interesting to do, as I had never really done performance pieces before so this was something really new and interesting to me. I really liked the idea of a performance too as it is unique and engages the viewers a lot more so there's even more to your photographs than just your models or actors.
Abstraction experiment
In this experiment, I had to make a 3D sculpture out of paper and different scraps of materials based on architecture to create an abstract form. After I had made my structure, I photographed it in different areas of the classroom, trying to avoid getting much of the background in and taking them very up-close so that I could get the most shadows and detail as possible. I took my photographs in different areas around the classroom as well as leaving the classroom.
I found that the most effective photographs are the ones that I took from a birds-eye view on the table as the background is completely white so you focus more on the sculpture. These photographs were also very effect as it captures a lot of the shadows and all the different shapes created by the little bits of paper that I cut out and reshaped. From doing these kinds of photographs, I have realised that I can apply this to my portraits to make them more enticing and to create a more abstract, unusual approach to portraits.
From doing this experiment, I have learnt that not all photographs have to be perfectly constructed to end up with an interesting outcome; it is how you photograph your subject, not what your photographing and although you do have to think carefully about composition, how you photograph your subject is more important and can have a great impact on your final outcomes. I also learnt that by manipulating the formal elements, I can change the way an image is viewed, such as the focus and lighting. By adjusting the focus of my photographs, I was able to transform my photographs through selecting the areas which were sharper or more blurred out. When changing the lighting of my photographs, I noticed that I would get a completely different outcome, for example when I used the flash it blacked out the background and made the whites in my 3D sculpture very bright while creating harsher shadows in comparison to the photographs taken without flash which had very soft, gentle shadows.
I found that the most effective photographs are the ones that I took from a birds-eye view on the table as the background is completely white so you focus more on the sculpture. These photographs were also very effect as it captures a lot of the shadows and all the different shapes created by the little bits of paper that I cut out and reshaped. From doing these kinds of photographs, I have realised that I can apply this to my portraits to make them more enticing and to create a more abstract, unusual approach to portraits.
From doing this experiment, I have learnt that not all photographs have to be perfectly constructed to end up with an interesting outcome; it is how you photograph your subject, not what your photographing and although you do have to think carefully about composition, how you photograph your subject is more important and can have a great impact on your final outcomes. I also learnt that by manipulating the formal elements, I can change the way an image is viewed, such as the focus and lighting. By adjusting the focus of my photographs, I was able to transform my photographs through selecting the areas which were sharper or more blurred out. When changing the lighting of my photographs, I noticed that I would get a completely different outcome, for example when I used the flash it blacked out the background and made the whites in my 3D sculpture very bright while creating harsher shadows in comparison to the photographs taken without flash which had very soft, gentle shadows.
Class Collaboration Piece, 5 out of 300 film
In this lesson, we had to first work in pairs to select 5 out of 300 photos that had been printed out but they all had to fit well together and follow a motif. We were allowed 15 minutes to do this and then had to lay them out from 1-5 in any order and style which we felt fit them all. After talking about them all to the class, we had to arrange them all in a line on the wall to create a film sequence, we then took pictures of the joints between the pictures to create a diptych kind of photograph.
What I really liked about doing this experiment is that although we worked alone, we also got to work together as a class and really bounce ideas off each other. It helped me to understand that all photographs are a collaboration, regardless of whether it is intentional or not.
I thoroughly enjoy the outcome of this experiment and would like to consider taking it further in a way that could help me create more abstract forms and images within portraits; maybe even use some of the techniques to create new images out of portraits I have already taken.
What I really liked about doing this experiment is that although we worked alone, we also got to work together as a class and really bounce ideas off each other. It helped me to understand that all photographs are a collaboration, regardless of whether it is intentional or not.
I thoroughly enjoy the outcome of this experiment and would like to consider taking it further in a way that could help me create more abstract forms and images within portraits; maybe even use some of the techniques to create new images out of portraits I have already taken.