JR Chronicles -Saatchi Gallery
The French photographer JR focuses on the humanity presented by the subjects of his photos He started off as a graffiti artist by two years later, at the age of seventeen, he found a camera on the underground. From there, his style of street art developed into pasting his work on the streets and displaying them on sidewalk exhibitions ('Expo de Rue'), as well as presenting his friends with copies. The camera he used had a 28mm lens, meaning he has to be very close to those he photographed, which required trust.
Portraits of a Generation-
After the Riots of Les Bosquets(2005) JR saw the images he had pasted of his friends in the news reports. He wanted to show a different side of the young people associated with the riots so he asked his friends who asked as the focus of his work to pull faces, essentially playing caricatures of themselves.
Face 2 Face-
During the Israeli, Palestine conflict JR wanted to show people are the same regardless of religion. He did this by photographing Palestinians and Israelis doing the same jobs and pasting it on both sides of the wall Most couldn't say who is who.
Women are Heroes-
For his next project he focused on women in places of conflict or the slums because he felt men are usually the main focus. During this project, JR tricked the media into finding out what was happening in Rio de Janeiro by not sharing any information and forcing the media to interview women in the portraits to get the true story.
JR never has permission to paste up his work. In India he couldn't have pasted up his images so instead he pasted the walls white, leaving parts of the photo sticky. The dust stuck to it and created the photos. This way they didn't get caught. He only wants to be responsible for himself, which is the reason he refuses any sponsorship or branding. The stories behind the portraits are what he considers to be most important, not including the way he does things which is as important to him as the outcome.
Portraits of a Generation-
After the Riots of Les Bosquets(2005) JR saw the images he had pasted of his friends in the news reports. He wanted to show a different side of the young people associated with the riots so he asked his friends who asked as the focus of his work to pull faces, essentially playing caricatures of themselves.
Face 2 Face-
During the Israeli, Palestine conflict JR wanted to show people are the same regardless of religion. He did this by photographing Palestinians and Israelis doing the same jobs and pasting it on both sides of the wall Most couldn't say who is who.
Women are Heroes-
For his next project he focused on women in places of conflict or the slums because he felt men are usually the main focus. During this project, JR tricked the media into finding out what was happening in Rio de Janeiro by not sharing any information and forcing the media to interview women in the portraits to get the true story.
JR never has permission to paste up his work. In India he couldn't have pasted up his images so instead he pasted the walls white, leaving parts of the photo sticky. The dust stuck to it and created the photos. This way they didn't get caught. He only wants to be responsible for himself, which is the reason he refuses any sponsorship or branding. The stories behind the portraits are what he considers to be most important, not including the way he does things which is as important to him as the outcome.
Portraits of a Generation 2004-2006
In Les Bosquets in 2005 rioters took to the streets. This event was triggered in November 2005 by the death of two teenager boys who ran away from the police and into an electricity substation. Across France the media portrayed the rioters as out of control attacking cops and looting anything they could. This inspired JR to take portraits of young people in the suburbs in 2006, and with the help of his friend Ladj Ly, allowed them to reclaim their identity and challenged media perception of them. JR used a 28 mm to shoot full-frame portraits of young people making scary faces, essentially playing caricatures of themselves. He then pasted the enlarged photos on the walls of Les Bosquets, as well as the bourgeoise bohemian districts of the city, so that the mentality of the the people passing would be challenged. The effectiveness of the photographs could be questioned as it is hard to connect to an event, past or present, even through a more personal piece of art. Because of the faces being pulled, the true personality of the people photographed isn't really shown. It might defeat the purpose because JR's project could be misinterpreted as showing what people considered to be the true nature of the rioters. On the other hand, those actually alive at the time might have been more affected by JR's work.
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In some ways I do believe art has the power to change the world because it can change people, who can then change the world with their actions. Art can also raise awareness which can help people change the world but it doesn't change it itself.
JR thinks art is not supposed to change the world, it's supposed to change perceptions of the world, which can then work towards changing the world.
JR thinks art is not supposed to change the world, it's supposed to change perceptions of the world, which can then work towards changing the world.
Portrait of a Generation Practical
In this task I was required to respond to JR's Portrait of a Generation Project. I was tasked with imitating his style and technique, including close-up shots of the face that focused on the eyes. Jr let the subjects choose their favourite photographs so they could choose how to present themselves to the wider world and take control of their identity and in this way I did the same. I asked the subject to choose the photo that would be enlarged to mimic JR's work closely and because I liked the idea of letting the subject choose how they wanted to be seen.
Why did his subjects choose the photo that would be enlarged?
Why did his subjects choose the photo that would be enlarged?
WWW: I accurately depicted JR's work in my own way, such as by allowing the subject to choose a favourite photograph and by pasting the pictures up after enlarging them. Also, the way I took the photographs is similar to JR's in the way where I focused on the face an the eyes specifically.,
EBI: This project would have benefitted from having more photos in which I pasted up my version of JR's work. I also felt like the composition of the photographs and way they were taken could have been considered more.
EBI: This project would have benefitted from having more photos in which I pasted up my version of JR's work. I also felt like the composition of the photographs and way they were taken could have been considered more.
Gordon Magnin
Gordon Magnin lives Los Angeles, which is a city influenced by advertisement and commercialism. This impacted Magnin's perception of the pictures he alters, mainly of female fashion figures. He alters them with geometric shapes, either by cutting into the picture and replacing them at a new angle or by removing the shapes completely.
Edited:
WWW: Good use of photoshop, patterns, and black and white to mimic Magnin's work.
EBI: The background wasn't the consistent white it was supposed to be, so there were lighting issues causing shadows.
EBI: The background wasn't the consistent white it was supposed to be, so there were lighting issues causing shadows.
Kehinde Wiley
In this task I was required to recreate a painting in a technique similar to Wiley's.
Half-term Homework:
Best Edits:
WWW: I successfully recreated a photograph in the style of Wiley by choosing an old painting and replicating it, as well as using a flower background similar to his.
EBI: It could be improved if there were more flowers from there background overlapping with the subject. My lighting could also have been improved.
EBI: It could be improved if there were more flowers from there background overlapping with the subject. My lighting could also have been improved.
Wiley's Intentions:
Wiley works to to recreate traditionally painted portraits and displays his work over patterns. While the traditional portraits are entirely representational, Wiley's use of patterns creates a combination of it with abstract alongside it.
He finds his models for this project on the streets of New York and gives them the choice of painting they want to copy though occasionally he already has one in mind. The pose is important because it presents a theme Wiley feels is under-represented in the traditional portrait work.
Wiley explores themes such as the representation of power, race and masculinity and how they are presented across the history of Western portraiture. He intends to provoke questions by challenging stereotypes, celebrate individuals and present personal stories of those individuals. One way in which he has challenged stereotypes is by using a soft coloured floral background in his painting Le Roi a la Chasse (2006), which is about power and masculinity.
In his work, Wiley tends to include a wider contextual meaning such as the use of the patterns he uses in culture, the history of western art and the role of the viewer. For example, many of his paintings are quite large and composed so the subject of his work looks down upon the viewer, therefore emphasising the sense of power he works to create. Because of this the role of the viewer impacts his work as well.
He finds his models for this project on the streets of New York and gives them the choice of painting they want to copy though occasionally he already has one in mind. The pose is important because it presents a theme Wiley feels is under-represented in the traditional portrait work.
Wiley explores themes such as the representation of power, race and masculinity and how they are presented across the history of Western portraiture. He intends to provoke questions by challenging stereotypes, celebrate individuals and present personal stories of those individuals. One way in which he has challenged stereotypes is by using a soft coloured floral background in his painting Le Roi a la Chasse (2006), which is about power and masculinity.
In his work, Wiley tends to include a wider contextual meaning such as the use of the patterns he uses in culture, the history of western art and the role of the viewer. For example, many of his paintings are quite large and composed so the subject of his work looks down upon the viewer, therefore emphasising the sense of power he works to create. Because of this the role of the viewer impacts his work as well.
Annotate: were you able to explore any of Wiley's ideas other than just the appearance? www and ebi
I felt like I was able to explore Wiley's ideas on power, not just the appearance of his work. I attempted to mimic the poses of power Wiley used in my own way and while it is not quite like Wiley's work, I think it worked out well.
WWW: The flowers going over my subject have clear, smooth outlines so they don't look out of place. There are no parts where the background around the subject or background of the flower are visible. The task was also completed with use of a powerful pose to mimic Wiley's work and link to power in his reimagined version of traditional paintings.
EBI: Some flowers look out of place and could have been included better. In addition, I would have benefited from more edits in general so I could explore his work more.
EBI: Some flowers look out of place and could have been included better. In addition, I would have benefited from more edits in general so I could explore his work more.
Fragments of a Building
Patrick Cornillet
Cornillet is a painter who created isolated architectural elements shown on a white background. His goal was to make people aware of the remains of human society as time passes. The architecture seems uninhabited and separated from the people that usually occupy it.
In this task I had to create a similar effect by photographing buildings instead of painting them. |
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Editing Process:
In photoshop, I used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to surround the area of the image and deleted the space selected. Having chosen 'White', it then becomes white, creating the isolated look similar to Cornillet's work.
When adding a sky background I just completely deleted what would have been the white and pasted the building image onto a sky image. |
Best Edits:
WWW: The editing was successful and looks nicely done.
EBI: Take and photoshop more photos.
EBI: Take and photoshop more photos.
Mauren Brodbeck
Mauren Brodbeck colours in her buildings to show how people skip over the unassuming, everyday buildings. In this task I was required to do the same.
Editing Process:
Best Edits:
WWW: The details of the buildings were clearly captured when covered in colour and did not go over the surrounding buildings any more than was meant.
EBI: If the base of the building was shown, the picture's composition might have been more aesthetically appealing.
EBI: If the base of the building was shown, the picture's composition might have been more aesthetically appealing.
Thomas Kellner:
Kellner's work is made up of parts of a whole split up in a contact sheet format. Kellner does this to reconstruct how people view architecture by offering an alternative to famous landmarks, intending to question how a sense of place is visually processed and developed.
Kellner creates montages through traditional process of film photography. He often takes images of the same buildings from various angles and later re-arranging them. |
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Editing Process:
The editing process started by opening Bridge and selecting output options. Then in template selection, I selected the custom option. The background must be black, and the filenames must be size 6 and yellow. I set the amount of pictures(or more which can be cropped later) in Grids and Margins. After that I selected the pictures and exported them as a pdf.
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Best Edits:
WWW: I accurately depicted Kellner's work in the editing process. The photographs were taken in adequate lighting conditions and served their purpose well.
EBI: The composition of the photographs were not as similar to Kellner's work as I would have preferred, so the photographing process could have been improved.
EBI: The composition of the photographs were not as similar to Kellner's work as I would have preferred, so the photographing process could have been improved.
Anastasia Savinova
Each work from Genius Loci is a balance of fact and fiction, composed of many photographs of buildings and collected together to bring life to memories and the spirit of the place. The project explores imaginary places and the atmosphere created by the various visual information: form, texture, and colour.
Editing Process:
The editing process started by creating an A4 document in File>New with the dimensions 21cm and 29cm. The resolution is 200 pixels per inch. Next I opened the image for the top layer and used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select the part of the building I wanted which is I copied onto the A4 document. This step is repeated with other building parts and then followed by arranging the sections on the other layers and the layers themselves. The scale of the building fragments might have to be altered in Edit>Transform as well. After the editing is complete, I just flattened the layers(Layer>Flatten Image) and adjusted the brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. to achieve the desired appearance of the complete building.
Best Edits:
WWW: The fragments of the buildings I chose fit together well and match each other so a theme of the colour white was achieved.
EBI: Savinova's work creates an atmosphere which my work did not as it seems a bit plain and could have been more imaginative.
EBI: Savinova's work creates an atmosphere which my work did not as it seems a bit plain and could have been more imaginative.
Three Strands
Strand 1: Stephanie Jung
Stephanie Jung's work is quite experimental and focuses on movement and chaotic environments. Using multiple exposures and the idea of fragmented motion, she creates a vibrant, crowded scene and sense of vertigo. Jung did this to magnify the liveliness of urban life. Jung became fascinated by the hectic lifestyle and often travels to places similar to the cities she photographed. Jung wanted to capture moments from life and still show the movement of time, as well as showing that memories fade over time. She feels that the experimental, abstract style she has developed expresses this idea well. Overall, Jung wants the viewer to see the urban life she photographs like she does.Why does she do this?
Stephanie Jung's photography project starts by shooting multiple exposures directly with a camera and repeatedly layers them over each other to create a surreal effect. Vibrant colours are also very important in her work because they help convey the vibrancy and busyness of the city life around her. This helps support Jung's ideas about motion ands time in restless, vivid environments.
Similar looking photography is created by other photographers such as Idris Khan though they explore it differently.
Stephanie Jung's photography project starts by shooting multiple exposures directly with a camera and repeatedly layers them over each other to create a surreal effect. Vibrant colours are also very important in her work because they help convey the vibrancy and busyness of the city life around her. This helps support Jung's ideas about motion ands time in restless, vivid environments.
Similar looking photography is created by other photographers such as Idris Khan though they explore it differently.
(idris khan)- is this a further development idea if you choose this strand?
Put a gallery or slideshow of all your pics before best edits.
Layer translucent copies of the same photos on top of each other to create the Jung effect. Increase the contrast and saturation slightly.
Layer translucent copies of the same photos on top of each other to create the Jung effect. Increase the contrast and saturation slightly.
My Response
Best Edits:
WWW: Jung's work was successfully replicated to capture the ideas she wanted to draw attention to. Her intentions captured in her work were also recreated in mine through the composition and editing of the photo to accurately create a sense of movement.
EBI: More best edits would have shown my attempts at replicating Jung's work better.
EBI: More best edits would have shown my attempts at replicating Jung's work better.
Strand 2: Giacomo Costa
Brief overview of Costa's work.
Costa reinterprets urban environments by manipulating city space to create claustrophobic and cramped visuals that were intended to show his fears and perceptions of humanity. The possibilities of humanity's self-defined supremacy were explored by the architecture's repeated patterns, void of people and nature, and how it creates an emotionless appearance. His love of science fiction helped to strengthen his views. Costa wanted to create reactions towards his work and to
examine their own feelings about the ideas he photographed and developed.
examine their own feelings about the ideas he photographed and developed.
My Response
Best Edits:
WWW: I managed to suitably replicate the photographer's cluttered style.
EBI: The photograph differs from Costa's work and does not have the same degree of accuracy as it could have. Costa's work creates a gigantic structure that creates a sense of awe I did not manage to recreate.
EBI: The photograph differs from Costa's work and does not have the same degree of accuracy as it could have. Costa's work creates a gigantic structure that creates a sense of awe I did not manage to recreate.
Best edits, www and ebi
Strand 3: Rut Blees Luxemburg
Brief overview of Blees' work.
Rut Blees Luxemburg work as a photographer concerns the representation of urban landscapes and how the metropolitan landscape affects humanity.
She explores mostly urban life through night time photography. The use of long exposures allow for the effect of the light which is perpetually present in her photographs, and develops the nocturnal themes that occur in them. This is to create a sense of surreality and perspective in what she photographs. Luxemburg creates a beauty in ordinary life by turning isolated urban decay into a study of colour and texture through light. Synthetic light achieves a new perspective of the city and comments on how urban development dominates even the unoccupied, remote parts of urban territory. Luxemburg intended to photograph the city and centres around light to support this idea.
Luxemburg uses the different components of photography to produce the effect in the city images. For example, Luxemburg's use of photographing the rough stone texture of urban environments enhances the overall atmosphere of dark isolation by highlighting its (literal) rough edges and the yellowish colour, contrasting with the shadows, also creates an atmosphere of mystery but remains close to the reality that residents are familiar with. Luxemburg's layering of buildings over backgrounds or ordinary stairs over pathways focuses the viewer's attention to perpetuate this atmosphere.
She explores mostly urban life through night time photography. The use of long exposures allow for the effect of the light which is perpetually present in her photographs, and develops the nocturnal themes that occur in them. This is to create a sense of surreality and perspective in what she photographs. Luxemburg creates a beauty in ordinary life by turning isolated urban decay into a study of colour and texture through light. Synthetic light achieves a new perspective of the city and comments on how urban development dominates even the unoccupied, remote parts of urban territory. Luxemburg intended to photograph the city and centres around light to support this idea.
Luxemburg uses the different components of photography to produce the effect in the city images. For example, Luxemburg's use of photographing the rough stone texture of urban environments enhances the overall atmosphere of dark isolation by highlighting its (literal) rough edges and the yellowish colour, contrasting with the shadows, also creates an atmosphere of mystery but remains close to the reality that residents are familiar with. Luxemburg's layering of buildings over backgrounds or ordinary stairs over pathways focuses the viewer's attention to perpetuate this atmosphere.
My Response
Best Edits:
WWW: The synthetic light present in Luxemburg's photos was photographed in my own and so did fit the theme in that way. I achieved a similar colour scheme, as well as photographing the rough texture of the city that Luxemburg's work has.
EBI: The subject I chose to photograph did not necessarily fit Luxemburg's work and did not show my intentions, which were to replicate how Luxemburg used synthetic light to turn isolated city settings into newly perceived outlooks on urban life. In addition, the composition of the photographs could be improved.
EBI: The subject I chose to photograph did not necessarily fit Luxemburg's work and did not show my intentions, which were to replicate how Luxemburg used synthetic light to turn isolated city settings into newly perceived outlooks on urban life. In addition, the composition of the photographs could be improved.
Best edits, www and ebi
Development: Rut Blees Luxemburg
In this task I was required to continue with developing my photographs that took inspiration from Rut Blees Luxemburg and develop it to match my own ideas, creating a set of final pieces in the end. While light was the main aspect in my development, later on I focused on colours as well.
Development 1
Best Edits:
PROCESS:
For the first two edits I focused on the effect of the light, attempting to turn it a bright yellow or orange, by altering the level mostly; as well as the colours present in the photographs. I mostly did this to explore the effect of the lighting on its surroundings.
With the third edit I took inspiration from a photographer in my strands: Stephanie Jung, meaning that I overlaid identical copies of the same photograph but displaced them slightly for an effect. In her photographs this worked to create a sense of movement in city landscapes but in this photographed the effect is less noticeable.
For the first two edits I focused on the effect of the light, attempting to turn it a bright yellow or orange, by altering the level mostly; as well as the colours present in the photographs. I mostly did this to explore the effect of the lighting on its surroundings.
With the third edit I took inspiration from a photographer in my strands: Stephanie Jung, meaning that I overlaid identical copies of the same photograph but displaced them slightly for an effect. In her photographs this worked to create a sense of movement in city landscapes but in this photographed the effect is less noticeable.
WWW: A distorted effect is created in one of my best edits which was the goal and the composition was considered more. The rough texture continued to be photographed well and improved the photos a lot.
EBI: More best edits could have been completed. I also achieved the synthetic light look Luxemburg's work is known for to a lesser extent
EBI: More best edits could have been completed. I also achieved the synthetic light look Luxemburg's work is known for to a lesser extent
WWW: I created an atmosphere using the colours and light so it helped me better grasp how these themes are fundamental to my photos.While this is a direction I did not go in, this was useful for overlaying and reflecting photos, which I explored later and was useful for my final piece.
EBI: I did not use these edits and more of them would have helped me experiment with these themes to get a better understanding of them.
EBI: I did not use these edits and more of them would have helped me experiment with these themes to get a better understanding of them.
Development 2
To continue with this development, I focused on the light aspect of Luxemburg's work but shown in different forms, such as light trails. This was done when I photographed passing vehicles using a long exposure time so that only the remaining lines of coloured light were visible. A long exposure time also worked to create an orange effect on the buildings near the light, which I also photographed.
In my best edits, I started to focus more on colour: using Colour Balance and Hue/Saturation. I did this to create a surreal environment, one that was similar but not the same to the everyday places that by themselves rarely draw attention.
WWW: I managed to create a pattern using the light in all of my best edits and used a more complicated process to achieve my result. Colour and composition were considered more carefully so the photographs improved. The colours are brighter and more noticeable and the composition created a more aesthetically pleasing effect.
EBI: I should explore the movement photographed in a way that is linked to the light streaks more and to a greater extent.
EBI: I should explore the movement photographed in a way that is linked to the light streaks more and to a greater extent.
Development 3
I continued to photograph light trails from moving vehicles, focusing on the streaks of colour left behind by vehicles; using a long exposure time.
Set 1:
Set 2:
Best Edits:
Process:
WWW: I used colours and light to create my own pieces of work, inspired by but not too similar to Rut Blees Luxemburg. The overall goal was to draw more attention to the colours and what was before a more ordinary scene, which was achieved.
EBI: The weather was not optimal during Set 1 because the rain altered the photographing process in a way that was not intended. The second time I took photos (Set 2), I took care to consider the weather.
EBI: The weather was not optimal during Set 1 because the rain altered the photographing process in a way that was not intended. The second time I took photos (Set 2), I took care to consider the weather.
Gilles Coulon: 'White Nights'
Gilles Coulon's 'White Night' is characterised by the bright, industrial lighting photographed in desolate, abandoned places at night. The places he photographs often have colours that stand out against the darker shadows and are enhanced when illuminated. The atmosphere in this work sets a mood because the fluorescent lighting defines a monotonous, yet eerie, environment. Coulon fully uses this as an advantage. In other words: familiar places are shown in a whole new light.
I took inspiration from Coulon's techniques regarding creating an atmosphere with the way light is used and a little on the coloured aspect too. Despite this, the places I chose to photograph were not as uninhabitated.
I took inspiration from Coulon's techniques regarding creating an atmosphere with the way light is used and a little on the coloured aspect too. Despite this, the places I chose to photograph were not as uninhabitated.
Overview:
While this is a direction I did not continue with throughout my developments, the bright colours in these edits inspired my next development which focuses on light trails I created myself to fit to the environment I photographed.
The vastly different exposures in the photographs depended on my experimentation with colour and exposure times, the colours were also originally very different but worked to help me get a better understanding over the theme of colour in photography.
The vastly different exposures in the photographs depended on my experimentation with colour and exposure times, the colours were also originally very different but worked to help me get a better understanding over the theme of colour in photography.
Development 4
Michael Bosanko- Light Painting & Photography
Bosanko uses light to paint objects, as well as lines, of light which interact with the environment he photographs. The use of colour is very important in his work, as it emphasises the colour tones of the surroundings. For instance, cool tones are used when the object being photographed is blue, such as in one of the examples above. the use of light and colour work together, such as to create a peaceful atmosphere in The Tidal Tree. Bosanko uses many different compositions: the rule of thirds is employed in two of the above. Besides the form of the photographs, the different textures of the lines of light and the rougher environment balance the photos.
The light trails are created by long exposure photography, which is a byproduct of a long shutter speed, and is used to achieve certain effects. Bosanko uses it to create the light trails he photographs because patterns and traces of light are left behind. This effect this creates means that a sense of movement and time is produced.
The light trails are created by long exposure photography, which is a byproduct of a long shutter speed, and is used to achieve certain effects. Bosanko uses it to create the light trails he photographs because patterns and traces of light are left behind. This effect this creates means that a sense of movement and time is produced.
My Attempt:
I experimented with light trails. The end goal was to create a piece in which I overlay the original images with light to further develop my final piece. However, I began to experiment with other ideas which I were better suited to my original work.
WWW: I created work similar to Bosanko's and started to construct different shapes like he did.
EBI: More photos would have helped to further this development in a way that would fit my work better. In addition, different settings could be experimented with to create a more developed atmosphere, which I did not explore fully.
EBI: More photos would have helped to further this development in a way that would fit my work better. In addition, different settings could be experimented with to create a more developed atmosphere, which I did not explore fully.
Final Process:
Instead, I reflected the photographs in black and white. Such as I did here:
This was to create dynamic appearance and further developed my theme of colour (which became the central theme for my final piece