Statement of Intent
I aim to produce a portfolio of work demonstrating my ideas, development, creative work and reflection based around the theme of 'spaces.' At the end of my exam prep time, I will choose my best photographs and use them so they can easily be viewed.
For my initial research I will start by looking at photographers that follow the 'spaces' theme. At the moment I have two in mind which are Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. I chose Ansel Adams since he's one of the most famous photographers following this theme and I aspire to be him since he's a perfectionist and managed to get a spike in popularity after he only took one photo. A reason why I chose Eliot Porter is because he captures lots of open space images, he specifically does this with nature in forests and, while he's not exactly the most well known photographer, I personally like what he's captured during his photography career.
When I chose this theme, my initial thoughts were of doing something with art covering up the spaces of the sky, something that Thomas Lamadieu does. After thinking about it though I decided I could create meaning into my pictures, telling messages within my photos following the theme of spaces.
To show progression through my work I will start by photographing basic images of the local parks nearby. I will then use Photoshop to enhance the quality and conveying my message even stronger, this will show a journey that I'm going through as I'll initially start at the basics, then slowly but surely do something more complex right until the very end. I already have some ideas going through my head right now like open spaces and closed spaces which will propel me in the right direction for this project.
I would like to experiment with a wide range of techniques like taking a picture at the right time, the camera I'll be using will be either on a camera or on phone, however I'll mostly be using my camera whenever I can, if I can I will buy a tripod which will enhance the quality of my photos and will less likely blur the images in which I capture, I'll experiment with different contrasts between colours like soft contrasts for open spaces or maybe harsher contrasts for closed spaces.
I have eight weeks to complete this project until the photography exam comes around, meaning this is around a ten hour exam until I can finish spaces. On the first week I will be creating a mind map which will show any ideas I have currently. On the second week I will analyse one photo from each photographer, so it will be two photos I'll be analysing, after that however I will be taking photos having these ideas in mind and will manipulate these in Photoshop.
As my project progresses I will start developing my ideas into different branches, this will allow me to be creative with what I can do with the environment and a camera, this also will allow me to refine my work when I go along during this project.
For my initial research I will start by looking at photographers that follow the 'spaces' theme. At the moment I have two in mind which are Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. I chose Ansel Adams since he's one of the most famous photographers following this theme and I aspire to be him since he's a perfectionist and managed to get a spike in popularity after he only took one photo. A reason why I chose Eliot Porter is because he captures lots of open space images, he specifically does this with nature in forests and, while he's not exactly the most well known photographer, I personally like what he's captured during his photography career.
When I chose this theme, my initial thoughts were of doing something with art covering up the spaces of the sky, something that Thomas Lamadieu does. After thinking about it though I decided I could create meaning into my pictures, telling messages within my photos following the theme of spaces.
To show progression through my work I will start by photographing basic images of the local parks nearby. I will then use Photoshop to enhance the quality and conveying my message even stronger, this will show a journey that I'm going through as I'll initially start at the basics, then slowly but surely do something more complex right until the very end. I already have some ideas going through my head right now like open spaces and closed spaces which will propel me in the right direction for this project.
I would like to experiment with a wide range of techniques like taking a picture at the right time, the camera I'll be using will be either on a camera or on phone, however I'll mostly be using my camera whenever I can, if I can I will buy a tripod which will enhance the quality of my photos and will less likely blur the images in which I capture, I'll experiment with different contrasts between colours like soft contrasts for open spaces or maybe harsher contrasts for closed spaces.
I have eight weeks to complete this project until the photography exam comes around, meaning this is around a ten hour exam until I can finish spaces. On the first week I will be creating a mind map which will show any ideas I have currently. On the second week I will analyse one photo from each photographer, so it will be two photos I'll be analysing, after that however I will be taking photos having these ideas in mind and will manipulate these in Photoshop.
As my project progresses I will start developing my ideas into different branches, this will allow me to be creative with what I can do with the environment and a camera, this also will allow me to refine my work when I go along during this project.
Spaces mindmap
Who are the two photographers I'll be choosing?
There's not many photographers that specialise in open spaces, however I'll still be picking the two photographers for this project, the two photographers I'll be choosing are:
- Ansel Adams
- Eliot Porter
Mood board
This is my mood board showing examples of what I'm going to take pictures of in this project, this will include both open spaces and close spaces:
Open spaces
Parks
Fields
Closed spaces
Elevators
Corners
Ansel Adams Open Space analysis - 5Cs
Context
This photo is called "Moonrise", this picture was taken in 1st November, 1941 at exactly 4:49:20 pm in Hernandez, New Mexico by the photographer, Ansel Adams. He took this image when he was 39 years old. This is one of the most famous and iconic photographs of all time in history as Ansel was a perfectionist when it came to photography. He was returning to Santa Fe in New Mexico, however when he was returning, he saw an extraordinary situation when he was driving after a mediocre day of photography, he then stopped his car and told his crew to get his 8x10 camera ready since he was desperate, he did not know what the exposure needed to be, however with prior knowledge he already knew how bright the moon is and went along with it. He felt at the time it was an exceptional image and when he took it, he felt like it was an "almost prophetic sense of satisfaction". He wanted to take a second shot because he thought that it deserved a duplicate negative, but after a few seconds he could not take it again as the sun has set. If he was a few seconds late, this picture would not be as beautiful as it is right now and/or may not even exist.
Content
At the bottom of this picture I can see a small town called Hernandez at the the bottom of this photograph surrounded by nature like plants, thick clouds and the mountains, this photo may seem black and white at first, however you can see hints of colours like blue, grey, etc. This was taken in New Mexico at Hernandez, this picture is rather old since it was taken during the second world war. I can see that this is a structure as I can't see any people in the background, foreground and middle, the effect of this could show how isolated a village is, this is supported as there's a graveyard on the bottom right supported with lots of tombstones. In the background I can see the dark blue sky with a shining luminating moon accompanying it, I can also see snowy mountains in the background with white, thick clouds above them.
Composition
The focus point of this amazing photo is a birds eye view as we can clearly see the entire picture with all the details like the moon, mountains and town. The contrast between everything is pretty soft, only having dark colours like dark blue, jet black and luminous white, the only contrast that really stands out is the bright moon giving company to the dark, dark sky.
The photographer has used a tripod since everything is in focus and nothing in this image really stands out for being blurry.
The depth of field the photographer has used seems to be rather large as we can see everything in this photo clearly like the snow-covered mountains in the background and bright but soft moon in the deep dark skies, we can even see the harsh clouds covering the land below it.
This image has a foreground of the entire town in one image, this shows that even though the town is small, it still looks beautiful. The middle ground has the fields which seem to go on endlessly as we see no sight of any other buildings, one effect can show that even with hollow land, we have the freedom to enter these foreign grounds and make something out of it, another effect is that the town stand out even though it's rather small but in my opinion, even though the town is small it stands out the most to me. Finally, the background show the snow-covered mountains with the moon shining above it, the final effect of all this is there's a lot more out there, there's potentially other species apart from us, also it shows that we can truly go anywhere if we try hard enough.
My eyes are drawn towards the town at the bottom, however when I start moving my eyes to the top, my eyes start to being drawn to the fields, then the mountains, next the clouds and finally the luminous moon, I see it almost like a pyramid with the town being at the bottom and gradually going towards the top which is the moon.
The photographer has used a tripod since everything is in focus and nothing in this image really stands out for being blurry.
The depth of field the photographer has used seems to be rather large as we can see everything in this photo clearly like the snow-covered mountains in the background and bright but soft moon in the deep dark skies, we can even see the harsh clouds covering the land below it.
This image has a foreground of the entire town in one image, this shows that even though the town is small, it still looks beautiful. The middle ground has the fields which seem to go on endlessly as we see no sight of any other buildings, one effect can show that even with hollow land, we have the freedom to enter these foreign grounds and make something out of it, another effect is that the town stand out even though it's rather small but in my opinion, even though the town is small it stands out the most to me. Finally, the background show the snow-covered mountains with the moon shining above it, the final effect of all this is there's a lot more out there, there's potentially other species apart from us, also it shows that we can truly go anywhere if we try hard enough.
My eyes are drawn towards the town at the bottom, however when I start moving my eyes to the top, my eyes start to being drawn to the fields, then the mountains, next the clouds and finally the luminous moon, I see it almost like a pyramid with the town being at the bottom and gradually going towards the top which is the moon.
Connection
The theme of this picture, in my opinion, is spaces and this is relevant to one of my topics open spaces as it shows the freedom this picture has. The content links with both spaces and landscape, however since I'm doing spaces theme, I'll concentrate on that. In my opinion the message behind this picture is that nature is one of the most powerful things on earth, we can see this as the town is pretty small compared to the seemingly endless fields, the large, tall, snowy mountains and the clear blue sky leading to whatever is out there, the town is also at the bottom of the image, in my opinion this shows that civilization is below nature's potential wrath.
Comment
I actually really like this photo since it does everything almost perfectly, the rule of thirds, the background and even the history behind it. The strengths, in my opinion, is the composition and the leaning lines, we can see the town on the bottom which symbolizes it being at the bottom of the power pyramid, another strength it has is the reason why he actually took this picture itself, the only reason why he took it was because he saw a perfect opportunity to take a picture with no negatives in sight, he thought it was so good that he captured another image with a negative on purpose. In my opinion I have no weaknesses as for now, I have not found a single negative that I could talk about.
Eliot Porter Analysis - 5Cs
Context
Eliot Porter, in full Eliot Furness Porter, (born December 6, 1901, Winnetka, Illinois, U.S. He died November 2, 1990, Santa Fe, New Mexico, he's an American photographer noted for his detailed and exquisite colour images of birds, landscapes and spaces. This photo is called sunflower and sand dunes.
Porter, the brother of painter Fairfield Porter, trained as an engineer at Harvard College (B.S., 1924) and as a physician at Harvard Medical School (M.D., 1929). He taught biochemistry at Harvard from 1929 to 1939, when he turned his hobby of photographing birds into a career. Photographer Alfred Stieglitz praised his work and gave him a show at his An American Place gallery in 1939. Porter’s early photographs of birds were in black and white, but in the early 1940s he began using the then-new kodachrome colour film, whose slow speed required the use of large flashbulbs in order to achieve correct exposures. Porter worked with a cumbersome large-format camera, valuing the greater detail this equipment allowed. Lacking mobility because of the size of his camera and its reliance on large flashbulbs, Porter often had to spend hours and even days waiting for specific birds to perch near him. His bird photographs, much like the paintings and drawings of John James Audubon, are ornithologically important because of their meticulous detail while also artistically of note because of their fine technique and composition. His work was in the style of Ansel Adams’s “straight” photography, showing the subject in a straightforward manner, with an emphasis on tone and detail.
Gradually Porter’s colour photography shifted from the portrayal of birds to natural landscapes, which he first presented in 1962 in an exhibition titled "In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World," with an accompanying catalog. Porter was active in the cause of environmental preservation and had this and other books published by the Sierra Club. He published many other collections of nature photographs, including those in The place no one knew (1963), Baja California (1967), Galapagos (1968), Appalachian Wilderness (1970), and The tree where man was born (1972). Many of his finest photographs of birds were collected in Birds of North America (1972).
Porter, the brother of painter Fairfield Porter, trained as an engineer at Harvard College (B.S., 1924) and as a physician at Harvard Medical School (M.D., 1929). He taught biochemistry at Harvard from 1929 to 1939, when he turned his hobby of photographing birds into a career. Photographer Alfred Stieglitz praised his work and gave him a show at his An American Place gallery in 1939. Porter’s early photographs of birds were in black and white, but in the early 1940s he began using the then-new kodachrome colour film, whose slow speed required the use of large flashbulbs in order to achieve correct exposures. Porter worked with a cumbersome large-format camera, valuing the greater detail this equipment allowed. Lacking mobility because of the size of his camera and its reliance on large flashbulbs, Porter often had to spend hours and even days waiting for specific birds to perch near him. His bird photographs, much like the paintings and drawings of John James Audubon, are ornithologically important because of their meticulous detail while also artistically of note because of their fine technique and composition. His work was in the style of Ansel Adams’s “straight” photography, showing the subject in a straightforward manner, with an emphasis on tone and detail.
Gradually Porter’s colour photography shifted from the portrayal of birds to natural landscapes, which he first presented in 1962 in an exhibition titled "In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World," with an accompanying catalog. Porter was active in the cause of environmental preservation and had this and other books published by the Sierra Club. He published many other collections of nature photographs, including those in The place no one knew (1963), Baja California (1967), Galapagos (1968), Appalachian Wilderness (1970), and The tree where man was born (1972). Many of his finest photographs of birds were collected in Birds of North America (1972).
Content
This picture has a couple of sunflowers at the bottom-middle and we can see the endless dunes of sand and the sky at the top of this image with the sun about to set in the eastern part, this picture is rather old as it was taken in 1965, the actual date however is unknown, this picture is in colour as we can see yellow, blue, white and green from the sunflowers. This picture was taken in Colorado in a dessert when he was looking to take pictures in an unoccupied land. This image is a structure as it has no people in view since its a dry, emptn dessert. The background is filled to the brim of sand, sand and more sand, this can resemble creativity in a brain of some sort and that creativity can change lives. This picture was taken with a 8x10 camera lens to capture this photo. the dimensions for this are 41 × 30 cm.
Composition
The focus point of this image is a perspective as we could see this from a human's perspective. In my opinion there's no leading lines going towards the lacking, dry dessert or the sunflowers. In my opinion they used rule of thirds as the sky covers only about a fifth of this image while the sunflowers are at the bottom of this image. The lighting in this image is rather soft since light blue goes well with the yellow sand. My eyes are drawn to the sunflowers as that stands out the most because its the closest and contrasts the most. The depth of field I'll assume is pretty large as we can still see the background (sky, the entire dessert, etc). There's a strong sense of scale in this picture as we can see the small plant compared to the massive, empty dunes. The foreground would be the sunflowers, the middle would be the dessert accompanying it and the background would be the sky above the sand dunes. The photographer has used a tripod to take this image since there's nothing which is blurry in this iamge
Connection
The themes of this work is landscape and spaces, it's relevant to my work as for my first shoot, I'm planning to follow the theme of open spaces.
In my opinion I think there is a message behind this picture, like I said in content I think the dessert can represent a human brain, desolate and endless, however the sunflower represents creativity, something all of us have and how we use it is different in everyone, even though this solitary flower is small, it stands out the most since it's something out of place in an empty wasteland. I do like the colours which are used in this image since they aren't straining to the eyes, the soft yellow accompanying a calming blue sky makes this pleasing to the eyes in my opinion.
In my opinion I think there is a message behind this picture, like I said in content I think the dessert can represent a human brain, desolate and endless, however the sunflower represents creativity, something all of us have and how we use it is different in everyone, even though this solitary flower is small, it stands out the most since it's something out of place in an empty wasteland. I do like the colours which are used in this image since they aren't straining to the eyes, the soft yellow accompanying a calming blue sky makes this pleasing to the eyes in my opinion.
Comment
I like this image because of what I think the meaning is in my opinion, the strengths of this picture is the composition, the sunflowers at the bottom with the dessert accompanying it in an empty, barren dessert with the sky right above it. The weakness I would say is that it looks a little bit boring, to an average person, they would pay no attention to it as there's nothing particularly interesting about it. I can use this image to inspire me because the image has, in my opinion, a strong message behind it and because of that, I'll do everything I can to convey the messages within my first images. The reason why I would think that the photographer would take this image is because he was desperate at this point of time, he wanted to find a spot where he can take a beautiful picture and thus, he found a moment with this and took the picture, it shows a slight sense of power with the sunflowers being rather small in this while it being surrounded by the sand dunes.
Planning my first shoot
I'm going to go outside into local parks around my area to take photographs with the theme in mind about open space, this will primarily be the theme for my first shoot, for my next shoot however I will focus on closed spaces since I'll want to take my time with this project. I will focus on composition and depth of field the most in my photos since the theme for this project is open spaces. I will capture test photos during the weekend to test settings and to meet the requirements of the theme I'm following. I will show my best and worst photos and explain what I've done wrong or what I've done right and reflect upon it, this will allow me to improve and show that I'm going along a journey. I will try and add variety to my locations as capturing pictures in the same location is not very creative and can get boring quickly. I've also got to consider the weather as that can change the tone entirely.
This doesn't mean I'll just take a random picture though, I need a reason to capture pictures and convey a message within them, because of that I'll be very considerate with what I actually take pictures of, I need to be harsh on myself to successfully create a high quality gallery.
The message that I will convey is showing how much freedom us humans has as a species, with technology advancing faster than ever, we can go anywhere on the world and have the technology to do so, compared to other species we have a lot more opportunities in life and we can live life to its fullest. My second shoot will be the opposite since it's close spaces and will have a different message.
I'm going to show three examples as these will be my goal for my first shoot (Note: These images are not mine and the final products may potentially be very different compared to the gallery below):
This doesn't mean I'll just take a random picture though, I need a reason to capture pictures and convey a message within them, because of that I'll be very considerate with what I actually take pictures of, I need to be harsh on myself to successfully create a high quality gallery.
The message that I will convey is showing how much freedom us humans has as a species, with technology advancing faster than ever, we can go anywhere on the world and have the technology to do so, compared to other species we have a lot more opportunities in life and we can live life to its fullest. My second shoot will be the opposite since it's close spaces and will have a different message.
I'm going to show three examples as these will be my goal for my first shoot (Note: These images are not mine and the final products may potentially be very different compared to the gallery below):
Shoot #1 test photos
Shoot #2 test photos
Best |
Worst |
Photoshoot test (Tatton park) #3
Trees (open spaces)
Landscapes
Closed spaces shoot #2
Closed spaces #3
Photoshop shoot #1
Photoshop methods
Final outcomes
Photoshop Manipulation 2
Inspiration
This Photoshop attempt will be inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a famous photographer known for altering nature to make it into beautiful landscapes, this follows the spaces theme since it's in a open world. From this photo above, he covered parts of the tree with mud to contrast in different colours, the tree was originally green before he altered it do make it into a stripe pattern. What I'm doing to do is instead of mud on a tree, I'll be replacing it with metal by using Photoshop by removing parts of a tree and replacing it in columns of metal. This will contrast to the power of nature and modern technology, showing that nature is truly beautiful while the metal makes it look unnatural. Another Photoshop attempt will be inspired by one of Andy Goldsworthy's images, but instead of an open world, it will be in a closed space since I want it to contrast to each other.
Photoshop shoot #2
Final outcomes
These are my strengths and EBIs:
STR: I have an excellent idea, contrasting nature with metalwork showing both the beautiful sides of the countryside and the ugly side of metalwork/metals when they contrast.
EBI: I could improve these Photoshops that could look like actual metal or anything that has closed spaces like the wardrobe.
EBI: I could improve these Photoshops that could look like actual metal or anything that has closed spaces like the wardrobe.
Refining for my outcomes
What I'm going to do for my next set of outcomes is refine and overall improve shoot #2 as the concept is really good, however when I executed it, it was not to the quality that I expected. I'm going to cut the trees in Photoshop in a curl fashion as to make it look more realistic even though it's an abstract concept.
My improved final outcomes
Why I'm experimenting with different methods
I'm continuing to experiment with the theme of spaces, what I'm trying to do is create something higher quality by experimenting with different methods to convey my message, experimenting will allow me to choose the best method that I've done, this is subjective as it will be based on my own opinion and an opinion from my teacher so I can come to the conclusion on what I should do for my final shoot.
Photoshop shoot #3
Final outcome
The reason I attempted this
The reason why I decided to attempt shoot #3 is to experiment the concept of open spaces contrasting with close spaces, this is to
Photographs test shoot #4
Final outcomes
Photoshop test #5
Final outcomes
Photoshop test #6
Final outcomes
Photoshop Test #7
Final outcomes
Photo Shoot #8
Final outcomes
Photo shoot #9
Final outcomes
Facial expressions
Why I took picture of my faces for my exam prep
After this point, I'll be making spaces more personal as I'll combine my face with the environments in which I feel happy to be in or angry/frustrated. I'll be doing a mock version of one as to see if its executed correctly in Photoshop, I'll be doing a place where I'd feel happy in like in a field or my own bedroom. After I created some outcomes using Photoshop, I'll act upon it and improve it if I successfully create one. This will convey a stronger meaning as I'll be showing what I personally feel about these locations.
Shoot #1 for my face
Final outcomes
I have successfully created a contrast between open space and my face to express what I feel about the place in the background. This enhances what people will feel as you can relate to feelings if you see someone else's emotions.
Shoot #2 for faces
Final outcomes
Evaluation
Exam work
From this point on 29th of April, I will not be able to touch any of the work above (my preparation work). Any work created after this point will be for the Exam work below.
Final outcomes (ducklinked processes)
Final outcomes
The instillation
Photoshop Ducklinks for the instillation
Final outcomes for the instillation
The reason why I've done an instillation is to show how I feel about nature and closed spaces in general. In open spaces I am shown to be happy with colour in the environment, however in closed spaces I am shown to be agitated/sad and is set in black & white, this is to emphasize what I feel about that particular area/space. I have chosen those six pictures as I feel they convey my message the most out of any of the other outcomes I've produced. I have successful created an instillation with six of my best outcomes for my spaces project.
Evaluation
In my spaces project, I have researched and analyse two photographers which follows the theme of spaces, I've discovered them when I found a Pinterest page for a photograph which had exactly what I wanted: an open space landscape. This allowed me to take inspiration on what I wanted to do which is contrasts between horrible, closed spaced to beautiful open spaces. I explored these photographers' techniques and have successfully taken a variety of photos in which I can use for manipulation onto Photoshop. One photographer I have explored the most is Andy Goldsworthy, this is because one of his famous photos called "Moonrise" inspired me to create my current theme and you can see this reflected upon my work.
I have created the statement of intent which tells what I'm going to do at the start, allowing me to go of what I need to do incase if I forget. I've also created a mood board on what open and closed spaces are, I did this by showing 6 images of each category on what they are like for closed spaces: an elevator and a really closed in wooden box. this also led me to create a mind map on what I need to do and how I can do so.
Once I've analysed both Eliot Porter's and Andy Goldsworthy's photos, I went on to create a plan on what I need to do and expand it from there, the original plan was negative spaces as I loved the concept of it but was quickly scrapped as I realised how difficult it would be. I talked about how I need to get both closed spaces and open spaces and then contrast them to create an outcome, this will show the grotesque side and the charming side of spaces. I enjoyed doing this over the course of this year as I went to Tatton park to take some lovely photos and it was a nice experience. This project needed me to be creative on what I need to do and how I can contrast both spaces successfully.
Over the course of the year I have experimented with many different Photoshop, techniques and tools to produce my spaces outcomes. This included using the Edit->Align Layers for my most recent shoot is an example of what I've been using. Over the course of this project I have expanded to different ideas like using my face to show what I feel about the environment around it with emotion, this would allow the viewer to relate as humans can relate to other people's emotion when they see it. This also allowed me to be creative on what I need to do to keep it subtle but also keep the message strong.
In my exam, I will produce around 7-10 outcomes with Photoshop using the idea above and will create an instillation in which the outcomes will be printed out and then put into frames so it would be in a group of framed pictures, I will then take a couple of photos of it and then put it on my spaces page for my final piece. This will then be at a point where I know my project was successful.
I have created the statement of intent which tells what I'm going to do at the start, allowing me to go of what I need to do incase if I forget. I've also created a mood board on what open and closed spaces are, I did this by showing 6 images of each category on what they are like for closed spaces: an elevator and a really closed in wooden box. this also led me to create a mind map on what I need to do and how I can do so.
Once I've analysed both Eliot Porter's and Andy Goldsworthy's photos, I went on to create a plan on what I need to do and expand it from there, the original plan was negative spaces as I loved the concept of it but was quickly scrapped as I realised how difficult it would be. I talked about how I need to get both closed spaces and open spaces and then contrast them to create an outcome, this will show the grotesque side and the charming side of spaces. I enjoyed doing this over the course of this year as I went to Tatton park to take some lovely photos and it was a nice experience. This project needed me to be creative on what I need to do and how I can contrast both spaces successfully.
Over the course of the year I have experimented with many different Photoshop, techniques and tools to produce my spaces outcomes. This included using the Edit->Align Layers for my most recent shoot is an example of what I've been using. Over the course of this project I have expanded to different ideas like using my face to show what I feel about the environment around it with emotion, this would allow the viewer to relate as humans can relate to other people's emotion when they see it. This also allowed me to be creative on what I need to do to keep it subtle but also keep the message strong.
In my exam, I will produce around 7-10 outcomes with Photoshop using the idea above and will create an instillation in which the outcomes will be printed out and then put into frames so it would be in a group of framed pictures, I will then take a couple of photos of it and then put it on my spaces page for my final piece. This will then be at a point where I know my project was successful.