2 Clue: what is the photographer trying to communicate?
3 TURNING THE ORDINARY INTO EXTRAORDINARY Activity:Documenting THE CHANGING/ALTERING LANDSCAPE’- reinvent, reinterpret, re-define using a camera as a toolAim:To build an understanding of point of view and to encourage you to look at a familiar setting in new ways—with the eyes of artists and photographers2. To introduce unit 2 of the AS in Digital and Lens based media
4 TREASURE HUNT! – this was the holiday homework – complete it using ONE location of your choice. You still need to complete it and present 16 final imagesExplore all viewpoints and senses, Experiment and Take Risks! Try different Points of View: A bird’s-eye viewpoint / worm’s-eye viewpoint / canted angle / point of view shot / extreme close up / macro / panoramic / rule of thirds / symmetry / asymmetry / natural or unnatural framing…. Are there other points of view that you can use?You may need to use imagination and a smart phone to research some termsTry to present a sense of place so we share what you experienceCHALLENGE: try to FIND:Impress usHidden words and letters / naturally occurring typography: signs, road markingsA Reflection within or through a transparent or translucent materialGeometric shapes: A Circle, Triangle, Square or RectangleA Tree Branch filling the frameNatural and constructed combined togetherAn environment/landscape that includes your name or identityEvidence of DecaychiaroscuroConverging perspectivesA display of colour and contrastA confusing macro image of something familiarpeople and buildings combined in an unusual wayA french cafeMovement and changeA photo within a landscapeSummer light
5 Our relationship with Technology and the landscape Our relationship with Technology and the landscape.... Modern artists often experiment in combining both this can result in images that have a child like curiosity and playHonkey Kong (Donkey Kong) by Christian ÅslundChristian Åslund found a wonderful way to still be playing in the streets. Or on it really. In his series Honkey Kong he transformed the streets of Hong Kong into a two-dimensional platform. In this amazing series he pays tribute to classic 2D platform games. The series is part of an advertising campaign for the shoe brand Jim Rickey.
6 TASK 1:INTERROGATE THE IMAGES: it is all about ‘ways of seeing; challenging perception’
7 TASK 1:INTERROGATE THE IMAGES: it is all about ‘ways of seeing; challenging perception’ Cognitive understandingFor each photograph consider:What can you see?What is the artist trying to say?How does it make you feel?Why?How was it constructed?Social & collaborativeWork in pairs to make a list of what made these images successful – put it into your books – use the key photographic language we have generated on the boardChallengeWork in pairs: include your partner in the shotUse minimal post-production editingUse the school site and try to create images that use the site, perspective, framing and camera angle to produce photographs that present the site in a fresh, innovative and intriguing wayTimescale: you have until the end of this lesson to capture images – Tuesday we will print contacts, edit the images and present outcomes in booksHealth & Safety: be careful about where you stand – do not be foolish or place yourself in danger
8 Pinhole Photography by Scott Speck There is a pin hole function in your school cameras“The unique characteristic of a pinhole camera is its ability to image with an effectively infinite depth of field. Everything from a fraction of an inch from the camera, all the way to infinity, appears at the same level of focus in the image. This means that one can record intimate textural detail across all distance scales, enabling one to explore near to far perspectives, in which nearby objects appear much larger (but in focus) relative to more distant objects (also in focus). ”TASK 2 :TAKING NOTICE: it is all about ‘ways of seeing; challenging perception, Changing Viewpoint’
9 Anamorphic effects: create the surreal from the real. Amplified sense of scale, proportion and energy, using dramatic perspectives and exploring complex scenes!Scott Specks Pin Hole photography uses an infinite depth of field (near to far perspectives) that appear in the same level of focus. This records an intimate textural detail across all distance scales. Forground AND background objects/subjects are in focus.
10 TASK 2 :TAKING NOTICE: it is all about ‘ways of seeing; challenging perception, Changing Viewpoint’ Cognitive understandingFor each photograph consider:What can you see, what can you notice?What is the artist trying to say? Why?How was it constructed?Social & collaborativeWork in pairs to make a list of what made these images successful – put it into your books – use the key photographic language we have generated on the boardChallengeWork aloneUse post-production editing to intensify contrast and edit using only crop, contrast, hue and saturation or curvesUse the school site and try to create images that use the site, perspective, framing and camera angle to produce photographs that present the site in a fresh, innovative and intriguing wayTimescale: you have until the end of this lesson to capture images –Homework – collect images from around where you live – looking up (low angle) or down (high angle) – aim for images and challenge your self to capture dramatic compositionsHealth & Safety: be careful about where you stand – do not be foolish or place yourself in danger
11 Look for contrast: light v dark, rough v smooth, circle v square TASK 3: GETTING CREATIVE: with LIGHT AND SHADOW:creating ABSTRACT patterns and forms[Stairs, Railing, Shadows and Four Men]André Kertész (American (born Hungary), Budapest 1894–1985 New York)Date: 1951
12 TASK 3: GETTING CREATIVE: with LIGHT AND SHADOW Cognitive understandingThis is a set of work that you have to do at home as well: shadow and contrast is limited in schoolFor each photograph consider:What settings were used on the camera?Where is the photographer located / how can we tell?Social & collaborativeShare skills: what skills can you share with the person next to you?ChallengeTimescale:Homework –Health & Safety: be careful about where you stand – do not be foolish or place yourself in danger
13 Observe like you never did before Walk down the street, stop randomly and look around. Pick an object, study it from different perspectives and then shootAnja BührerThink about :Contrast texture and surfaces- reflectionsOrientation, pattern, repetition, lines/diagonals, balance.Consider:How others will read your image: what is the message you are sharing – is it narrative, technical, social, political, aesthetic, fine art, journalistic…how do you want your images ‘read’?Ellie Vanhoutte :adding that extra dimension to a sometimes-mundane urban utilitarian landscape
14 TASK 4 : understanding the ‘why’ : conceptual analysis Cognitive understanding Being a photographer is about OBSERVING, noticing things and having the confidence and skills to capture them for other to share . Analysing images will help you to understand the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’. Presenting an essay will demonstrate your literacy level and support needs.Challenge1. Use the Stephen Mole images you have selected:2. Choose one starter image and cut and paste it3. Find out all you can aboutthe artist / context / style / technique / photographic elements / imagesFor each photograph consider What you see, what you notice? What is the artist trying to say? How? Why? How was it constructed? What is the message?4. present your findings as a mini-essay that has a good structure and is clear with good spelling, punctuation and grammar. Use contrasting images if you need to. Aim for depth and succinctness5. Plan practical images inspired by what you have analysed – you should complete these by the end of the Wells field trip. Keep plans in your sketchbook.Social & collaborativeUse the resilience cards wisely – this is solo work but you can ask one techie question and one knowledge question of meExtension: for a higher grade compare more than one image for comparison and contrast.Timescale: / Homework – complete all of task 1-4 to hand in on Friday 20th September – to HY by 3.30 (in CM04) – they will be assessed to influence your first tracking, your target grade and your next steps
15 Task 4 Extension Activity 2 – can you take and edit images so that they are as complex and detailed, as intriguing, experimental and innovative as these images – give it a goThe vortograph (also the vorticism movement), invented in the early 1900s by Alvin Coburn, was an early form of abstract (or “non-objective”) photography. Traditionally it uses Rotating layers, mirror imaging, symmetry/asymmetry, pattern, lines, geometries to depict industry and manufactured These contemporary shots adopt similar techniques but develop the style still further http://dornob.com/kaleidoscopic-cities-10-vortograph-inspired-urban-images/#ixzz2VoiJ2FtC
16 Task 5: presenting multiple viewpoints Harbor in Normandy: by Georges BraqueThe wedding by Fernand LegerHockney captured huge expanses with overlapped images. You could contrast this and try looking at the ‘whole’ and breaking it down into tiny macro details – how little can you capture before recognition is lost?
17 Task 5: presenting multiple viewpoints: presentation and innovation the way human vision works is amazing: we join Fractured, fragmented, patchwork, composite image togetherwith the power of our memories and our mind – we can recreate this using layers on Photoshop –but we can also do it manually through cut, glue and paste.Cognitive understanding Task 5 is about creating a longer experience of a landscapeBeing a photographer can be about presenting a split second experience: but is this reality? Hockney’s ‘joiners’ were a result of his experimental approach. The cubists took a similar approach: attempting to capture a subject over a space of time: from different angles and viewpoints – then combining the results into one final outcome.Challenge2. Choose one starter image that is Cubist / Hockney / Lewis Baker and cut and paste it3. Find out/analyse all you can aboutthe artist / context / style / technique / photographic elements / imagesevidence What you see, what you notice? What is the artist trying to say? How? Why? How was it constructed? What is the message?4.. Aim for depth and succinctness5. Create an original final image that is composed of multiple viewpoints / angles or layers showing the influences of the artists studiedSocial & collaborativeMark each others work mid-way and suggest improvementsExtension and higher level challengeCreate more variety of depth of field by including macro images and close ups as well as mod-shots, large depth of field.
18 Task 5 - Try to create a special, unique, personal and purposeful relationshipwith your landscape.“English Landscape Symetries”“I was born in the Lincolnshire fens and have a special relationship with this landscape.” “...based upon fractured images of fenland landscapes and Derbyshire treescapes, [these photos] are meditations upon scientific observations of reiterating patterns in nature which often manifest forms of symmetry of form out of what at first sight appears as complete chaos”David Lewis-Baker Influenced by Hockney Taken on: March 6, 2009 one of a series
19 Task 6: simplicity, symbolism and semiotics Keeping it simple: using objects to represent a larger object, location or concept. You do not need the whole to tell the full story – your audience will make connections.Sometimes it's all about isolating an object that you would not normally pay attention to.Another fine monochrome by Giovanni Orlando of a very basic, everyday kind of subject, yet the photograph is beautifully presented with a superb choice of depth-of-field, admirable simplicity, great tones and wood texture, and to top it all up a great black and white conversion which emphasizes and magnifies every little detail.
20 Cognitive understanding Task 6: simplicity, symbolism and semiotics Keeping it simple: using objects to represent a larger object, location or concept. You do not need the whole to tell the full story – your audience will make connectionsCognitive understandingEffective and creating photographers tell a story, engaging the audience with a place, an experience, an event. Using symbolism can mean that you only need to capture a smaller detail to represent the larger, full imageChallengeLook at the images by Giovanni Orlando – discuss what they could represent. Think moods, events, activities, experiencesPut one image in your books and annotate your thoughtsPlan and capture a range of images taken on location that represent a sense of place or an event. Combine different framing techniques, macro and wide angle or full frame, experiment with angles, balance and focal points. Present a final set that truly represent the locationComplete this at WellsComplete this is a location of your choiceConsider presentation well – this will complete the work for unit 2.Social & collaborativeDiscuss your plans with different peopleAdd reflective comments on their responses and your own decisionsExtension and higher level challengeCapture the different personalities of each locationShow the influences of tasks 1-5 and annotate both your plans beforehand and then reflect onhow well you have incorporated them
21 Shoot details to create interest Capture Light trails (adjust shutter speed), colour, depth of fieldTexture, focal point/rule of thirds and the golden section.Worms eye view of treesThink about:The space subjects do and don't ocupy.Positive space: Silhouette of the branches leaves trunks.Negative space: the shapes of the skyThe negative space can form interesting patternsAngela Jewell of Gordon, Berwickshire,
22 Tips for turning the ordinary into extraordinary Look for contrastKeep it simpleObserve like you never did beforeGo back to the basics:line, shape, form, texture, pattern, and color.Shoot details to create interestNo more than an old filthy toilet seat could from inside look like an abandoned building. The light, perspective, and black and white treatment really do wonders to this plain old view that many might not even think to photograph, let alone treat specially and bring out all these fine details and stunning effects to light with a very thoughtful and beautiful end result.Photo by Giovanni Orlando
23 Go back to the basics line, shape, form, texture, pattern, and colour.Experiment with Contrasting colours and geometriesCropping and framing a subject: what’s inside and outside the frame?
24 Try not to let traditional understanding dictate Try not to let traditional understanding dictate. How does the context and setting tell a story? Artists experiment with juxtaposition of Urban and natural / logical and unexpectedCan you document YOUR experience of the environment. HOW do you experience it?HOW can you capture this? How could you frame things in an innovative way?
25 Our universal, traditional, conditioned understanding of the landscape Our universal, traditional, conditioned understanding of the landscape. Everything on a horizontal plane. Captured at eye-level in a panoramic (or ‘landscape’ aspect ratio)These examples are idyllic, utopian but do they show the realities of the landscape around us? Or depict the artists limitations?Painting c.1928 by George H. DowningSPROWSTON MILL
26 gathered and documented experience Summary:By challenging and using traditional codes and conventions to do with landscape, you have:gathered and documented experiencepresented and arranged images in alternative waysthis encourages you and your audience to reflect and connect with your work.
27 We all struggle for inspiration and creativity, and we – as human beings – tend to take so many things around us for granted. We might see, but not observe. We might glimpse, but not appreciate. And we go on and on trying to find some source of inspiration for ideas to make some new pictures, when the truth of the matter is it’s all around us. The sky is the limit!!!!
28 SUbjECTWhat are you trying to say about the subject in this photograph?TECHNIqUEWhat techniques can you use to direct attention to the subject?How do you want to compose the photograph?Lighting: What direction is the light coming from?Point of view: Where can you position yourself when taking the photograph?Framing: How can you hold the camera? (Vertical, horizontal, parallel to horizon, ortilted?)Timing: When should you take the photograph?Motion: Should anything be moving in the photograph? Should it look blurry or frozenin space?Focus: What should be seen clearly in the photograph?Materials: What camera, film, and equipment do you need for this photograph?Tips: Create more than one photograph. Approach the subject from different pointsof view and vary how you hold the camera and frame photographs. Capture differentmoments in time, especially when photographing people or motion.