Blog prompt #2

#5 Give your thoughts on one or both of the following quotes.

“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” ~Edward Steichen




I feel that this quote is true you can almost explain more in a photograph of whats going on because you capture everything in the frame. Some emotion can't be told in words, its much revealing in an image where you capture the emotion without it being staged.

“I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.” ~Mary Ellen Mark




I believe once you have a photograph of a person you have a part of them, a moment in their life that no one else had the opportunity to capture. People are able to view your image still and they can form their own opinions. A person allowing you to photograph them, is almost an intimate moment if a person is that comfortable with you.  

#6 In your opinion, when is it beneficial, ethical, or appropriate to digitally alter photographic portraits? When do you think it is inappropriate or ethically wrong? 

I think minor changes are appropriate to digitally alter photographic images as in touch ups and lighting but to completely change the appearance of someone is too much for my liking. 

#7 Pay close attention to the types and number of photographic portraits you see in one day. Where did you see them? How do you think that the content of the portrait changes based on the context in which you see the image (news, facebook, magazine, advertisement, television, youtube, etc)? In other words, what is the difference between the portraits you see on facebook vs. those on the news? What is the difference between the “viewpoint” of the photographer in each situation? What is the difference between their “intents”?

Most of the photographs I witnessed in the news looked like mug shots. On Facebook I feel that the user shows their personality in them. They show a part of them that allows us to interpret their actions in many ways from different angles and cameras. In the news I feel the angles are typically the same, front and side views.

Please respond to the following three quotes.

#8 “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.

I can relate to this because as a photographer you want the viewers to see the world through our eyes. We want to get our opinion across and we use props and people in ways that offer a view that some may not see. 

#9 “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams



Agreed to an extent, literally you do take a photograph however you do make it because you allow yourself to stage the photo in a way.

#10 “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger


Everyone is different and everyone has their own opinion so opinions do vary from person to person. I think photos are more of an accurate memory because they capture every detail in the frame.

Contemporary Photographer Nancy Davenport

Nancy Davenport         Nancy Davenport

1965     Born Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada represented by Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery.

In 2009, she was the Henry Wolf Chair at Cooper Union NY and also teaches in the MFA programs at Bard NY, the School of Visual Arts NY and Yale University.

Her work is well know for its digital manipulation where the photo has been computerly-manipulated to create an illusion within the photo that looks real.  She creates these works by taking multiple scenes/images and digitally combines them together. I find that her piece from the Workers (leaving the factory) she combined pictures of both the Norwegian blue-collar workers and the out-sourced Chinese these are separate stills that have been digitally cropped together and set to a factory background to show the outsourcing of jobs. In some of her works the amount of manipulation is small in others its the whole still but she trys to make the scenes look natural to add realism to them.

I chose Nancy because her work was different and at first I didn't know that the work was digitally altered some I could tell but others looked so real I never would have thought they were changed.

 

Recreation

Gustav Oehme, Three Young Girls, Daguerreotype c.1845

Gustav Oehme was a german photographer who was famous for his Daguerrotype images.
Daguerreotype is an image that is a direct positive made in the camera on a silver plated copper or brass plate. The surface of a daguerreotype is like a mirror, the image is made directly on the silvered surface, is very fragile and can be rubbed off with a finger, and the finished plate has to be angled to reflect some dark surface into it to view the image properly. The image in a Daguerreotype is formed by the amalgam, or alloy, of mercury and silver.
The image is formed on the surface of the silver plate (resembling the surface of a mirror) and is unstable; it can easily be rubbed off and will oxidize in the air, so from the outset daguerreotypes were mounted in sealed cases or frames with a glass cover.
When viewing the daguerreotype, a dark surface is reflected into the mirrored silver surface, and the reproduction of detail in sharp photographs is very good, partly because of the perfectly flat surface.

Gustav Oehme, displays a feeling for grace and symmetry in the grouping of the figures and an unusual sense of presence in the direct level gaze of the three youngsters.

 Three College Students
 I kept the picture similar to the original however instead of looking at the camera we looked in a different direction than the girls did. We also didn't have to sit there for a long time like the people who were featured in daguerrotype. I feel that instead of looking in the camera it looks as if we are looking at something that makes the view want to know know more about.

Assignment 1 Final Images with written statement

After much contemplating I have arrived to six photos that I feel I have to show you. Enjoy! 

In this first photograph (^) I wanted my perspective to be evident that I was looking up. I had to adjust my aperture, shutter speed along with my ISO so the amount of light came through was just right. I really wanted to emphasize the power of the sun. It gives light and energy to everything around us. It gives strength to plants, animals, and people. I feel as if this picture might help portray the sense of hope.  I could see this picture relating to saving the environment and keeping nature beautiful. Nature gives us hope so we need to preserve it.  

People like this one because they said that they like the lighting and the way the trees framed the sky. They also like the detail in tree branches. I am a fan of this one because of the use of the sun I would like to photograph more images/people with a bright sun in the background to see what other possibilities this type of photograph can take me to.  

People like this one because the clouds look like they are coming out at you. They liked the outlined of the trees and they like the amount of contrast I used. I think if I were to launch this in a series of photographs I would continue with clouds. They make very interesting shapes and colors that allow for many interpretations. 

In this photo I wanted to capture this German Shepard's calmness yet i feel this picture has a fierceness about it. it makes you wonder what he is looking at or what is his thinking. In this I wanted to focus on lighting so we went out to capture midday lighting and I fell that I achieved that very well. The light accents the light and dark fur well I also like that I captured the movement of the wind in the fur.This picture may also portray the promotion of an animal being mans best friend.  


People like the lighting on the dog and how it shows the details in the fur. Another part of this they liked was how you can see the direction of the wind. I would like to photograph any type of animal more in depth to capture them in their environment. 

In this photo I want to present the flowers as people My intention was to keep the focus on the tulips while making the background dark. I personally like the halo effect on the flowers because it helps create an importance on them. The halo allows your eyes to be drawn to the flowers automatically and also makes the flowers appear to pop out of the flat picture. I can see this picture relating to all the natural beauty that surrounds us but you would never know it if you overlook. Sometimes we need to just stop and appreciate what's around us otherwise we may miss out on natural beauty. 

People like this photo because the detail in the flowers were so evident. They like how the lighting almost makes them look like people. The flowers are in a portrait like state. The details in the petals allow the viewer to be able to identify the texture. I would use this photo to start off a series of macro photos of flowers. 

People enjoyed this one because they liked the placement of the flowers in the frame, along with the amount of detail. Some interpreted this almost like stars or a galaxy. Mainly because of the detail inside of the flowers. Again I would use this photo to launch a series of photos that were close up images of anything really especially if there is a lot of detail. 

#1: Imagine a world without photographs. Describe what this world would be like.
A world with out photographs would be empty. No one would really know what other places look like it would be a very dull place.

#2: What does the word "photograph" mean to you?
A photograph to me means capturing a moment or event. I look at them as physical memories that anyone can look at. 

#3 “Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”~Duane Michals. Write a brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree?

I do agree with this because you set out to try and photograph a type of image that you are trying to portray a certain meaning with and I found that its never exactly how I wanted it to come out. Things we look at from day to day is never what they appear to be. There is always another meaning behind what's right in front of us. 

#4 “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine.

Write a brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree? Describe situations when photographic images reveal “the story” (as compared to words). Describe situations when words reveal “the story” (as compared to images).

I suppose this makes sense to a certain degree however, sometimes you cant really explain a moment with words. You could never do justice to an emotion of someone who has just experienced the best or worst thing of their life. You can explain what happened but you can never replicate the same initial feeling in words so that someone else can feel that too. A group of photographs can reveal a story if they are in a chronological order. Words will alway reveal a story but you will never get the full image or experience.

Photo Recreation

Anton Stanowski. Eye-Montage, 1927.

Recreation

Original 

Anton Stankowski was born in Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia on June 18, 1906. He was a decorator and church painter before attending Folkwang University of arts. The first Image above is called Eye-Montage, 1927.

Anton Stankowski's talent for combining techniques of fine and applied arts is widely recognized because he was one of the first artists to help pave the way for his unique and original style dealing with graphic art. There were rule he had to follow because he was one of the first to create the rules. This allowed him to experiment more and have more freedom. 

Anton created visual elements that communicated things that couldn't be seen. In the Eye-montage it was hard find any information that explained what he was trying to convey. From what I can tell is he focused on the eye because that is the clearest part of the photograph. However, he does create some tension by making it difficult to understand the rest. Perhaps, he is relating it to how we do not always understand everything in life.

I appreciate this particular picture because it is soothing to look at. I think I would like this more if there was more information about it. 

Recreation

I recreated the image with trying to keep the same color scheme. I also wanted to focus on the eye and create a similar shape with the black around it. I also tried to keep the same lighting because he made that very important. 

I believe my image is a recreation of the original because it looks similar to the original. I tried to keep the movement of the composition as closely as I could to the original while allowing different materials separate my image from the original.