During my personal investigation, me and my photography class were given multiple activities to help, encourage and inspire us to do more for this project. Instead of putting all of the activities we had done onto my personal investigation page I had made this separate page.
Take a chance
To start off our personal investigation we got a sheet with 4 different activities, out of the four we have to complete two of them. The two I chose was the second task which was to select a number of printed photographs that I had previously taken and tear them up, rearranging them to make a new image. I had also chose the third task which was to delegate the creation of a series of photographs to either a fried or a classmate, describing how I want the mage to look and at the end I claim the image as my own, vice versa. Once I had chose these two tasks I thought that the first one was pretty easy however there is multiple different outcomes that could come from this single task; whereas on the other hand the second task would be the most trickiest for me because I would be taking an image and giving it to someone else to claim as their own.
|
Task One
For this task I had printed out four separate images and cut them up into squares using a paper guillotine. Once they were all cut up I had ordered them as they were originally were, to make sure I didn't have any pieces missing. I then got the squares for one single image and dropped it from a high height, standing on the table so they could land onto the floor. Once I had dropped them I flipped the ones that had turned over and made it look neater, this was the out come of them.
I then scooped them all up and threw them all together doing the same process as I had done for each image, but using all three together this time. I found the outcome of this one more interesting than the first few because there is a variety of colours that don't look like they go together which is interesting.
I didn't like the result of these images because of how I wasn't able to control the outcome of them. I also didn't like how the pictures were print out. Overall I didn't like this task and don't think I would be doing it in the future, however it was a good experience and could possibly be an idea if I was able to have more control over the outcome.
Task Two
For my second task we had to go with our partners and describe to them what we want we want the image to look like and based off that information they have to try and take the picture. I didn't make my description of how I wanted the image too hard but I thought that it was one my partner would have to carefully think about. For my description I had said, "Capture both the lightness and the darkness in one single image." These were the images she took:
I really like the idea on how she captured the lightness and darkness. When I gave that description I imagined a black and white image of a light in an empty space and black(the darkness) filling the corners of the image. It's interesting how people interpret certain instructions and all the different outcomes that arise from it. Although I think that 1 out of the 5 images were angled straight and not as tilted, this could of been one way to improve them by using a tripod. To take these images she used the back camera of her mobile phone There was no filter used or any extension lens. I would like to use this in the future; but I would go about it differently by writing down what I want the image to look like and getting more than once person to do this task, seeing how their images come out, whether it's similar different etc.
Once my partner had done taking my pictures, we had done the same thing however she gave me a list of things of what she wanted me to take images of. She had told me to, "Attempt to get everything symmetrical while having the picture at a low angle" Here was the final outcome:
Once my partner had done taking my pictures, we had done the same thing however she gave me a list of things of what she wanted me to take images of. She had told me to, "Attempt to get everything symmetrical while having the picture at a low angle" Here was the final outcome:
I didn't like how these images came out, I think that they're too over exposed and also not symmetrical as it could have been. This was my partners opinion on how I took the images that she had to claim. " They didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to because the picture wasn't angled in the centre of the chairs and they wasn't focused. If we was to do this again I would tell her more instructions and explain them in more depth so that she would get everything that I want her to get."
Inside / Out
For the inside / out project we had got ask 8 questions to do with your perception of photography.
- When is it not OK to take a photograph?
- Should you always seek the permission of your subjects before taking their photograph?
- Does it make a difference whether or not you have a personal relationship with the subject of a photograph?
- Can photographs hurt people?
- Is all photography a form of voyeurism?
- How responsible is the photographer for the way in which a subject is represented?
- Can photographs tell the truth?
In 1994 Abigail Solomon-Godeau had published a book named Inside/Out, discussing what she refers to as the Inside/ Outside position of photographers and their work. In her book she mentions photographers and their perspective onto photography. She addresses to a woman named Susan Sontag's book called,"On photography" and how Susan criticised Diane Arbus's photography, typifying her as an outside photographer. We then done a task in lesson writing why and how we feel about this image without knowing anything about it.
I was more attracted to this image because it made me want to know more about this image, what they are talking about, what was just said, so on and so forth. Although I believed that it was a staged photo because of both the background and how the subjects are positioned perfectly. I don't have a particular feeling when I look at this image, apart from curiosity. Arbus is looked to be in the 'outside' and the 'outside' is looked to be a bad position, this would mean that the perception of the inside would be good. Below is how we could present this binary relationship: |
For the first activity there was a selection of almost 300+ images and on our own we had to pick one. We then got given three pieces of paper and had to go around the class describing the image we had selected without saying object(s) that is in it. Personally I found this harder than what I had predicted because you basically had to describe the image without saying whats in the image; finding the right wording was what was difficult about this task. You had to describe your image to three people and three different people had to describe their image to you and write what you thought their image was on the pieces of paper. We then created a short presentation of what was on everyones three pieces of paper, here was the final outcome:
13D photo captions from Thomas Tallis School on Vimeo. |
Reading other peoples notes makes you wonder what the actual image is. I not only enjoyed this activity but I was also frustrated by it because we never found out what the actual image was at the end, its almost leaves that mystery effect at the end.
|
In the same lesson, using the same 300+ images, we picked partners and each group had to select 5 images from the 300 and put them into an order of our choice. Once we done that we all put our final pieces on one table and decided as a a class which group should start our photography ‘time-line’.
The first group aligned their 5 images, and as a class we decided what group should place their 5 images next, however there was a little twist, for example the first groups last image should relate or coincide with the second groups first image.
The Final Outcome
Once every group had put their 5 images across the time line, we got a camera each and took images of the time line but from where each image meets each other.
Close Up's Of The Final Outcomes
Still using the 300+ images on a table, we were given this work sheet. We had to pick between 2 or more activities to carry out and document the result(s); whether that was solo on in pairs. The first activity I carried out was number 2; making a pile using the provided images and removing each image one by one until nothing is left and vice versa, which someone is filming the process. Once we finished filming this video it was taken into Imovie to be edited. As a pair we decided it looked best to have the video in black and white, causing it to look more abstract because you are unable to what specifically is in those images itself. Personally I had felt that the original video was elongated because I had struggled with removing the images one by one, as a result of this we had sped up the video. I think it looks a lot better with the edits that were made, however to improve it I think that I could of experimented with it more but zooming in and out from the images that were on the flood. We could have also produced more than one video, to then compare them all and see which one is better and recognising that by doing simple things such as changing the angle of the camera could improve it in the slightest way. I like this activity the most and I think I may do something similar in the future, however instead of using the pictures that were given to us I would us my images; making sure that there's a continuous theme throughout them.
|
Activity 3 - Project 2 from BusraCiftci on Vimeo.
The second activity I chose was the sixth one " Choose one of the photographs. Re - photograph it in different locations at least 5 times." Here are the images I had taken, knowing that I was only limited to the school area so I had to be creative with how and where I place the image as well as the positioning of the camera.
I like how all of these images came out especially because some of them have non focused areas in it, which is something that surprised me because normally I try to get everything in focus even if it's in the background. To improve them I could have try and angled the mage so it's straight, in most of them the image is slightly tilled. I felt that this task was one of the easiest ones of that task sheet and decided to carry out the same task but using different images.
Activity Two
For the second activity we watched a music video which was created by Rodger Ballan called 'Tracks ARTE'. After watching it the task we got set was to create some sort of abstraction sculpture. The materials that were provided was: paper, both coloured and plain card, glue, tracing paper and colour film sheets. Once I had created my sculpture I had set out to take images of it from different areas of the school at different angles, below are the images I had taken of my sculpture.
I also created a short video clip of my sculpture in a fixed position while rotating a flash light around it, capturing the shadows that it creates around the sculpture. I then created a Vimeo account in order to post the video onto Weebly. Me and my partner thought it was easier to create one Vimeo account and post our videos on that account, which is why both of our names are stated on the video(s). We frequently done this when we helped each other to film one another's work, it was normally filmed via our phones, having the one account made it easier for us both to access the videos that had been taken, rather then sending it via message or email.
Experiment 1 from BusraCiftci on Vimeo. |
Experiment 2 from BusraCiftci on Vimeo. |
Activity Three
As a class we focused on performance art and how photographers have used it in the past to express their work. Performance art is an art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance, it can either be planned carefully and scripted or it could be spontaneous and random, it start in the 1960's and was focused on the body.
Often it will take place in front of an audience; which could also involve their participation. Many of these performers had risked their lives doing this type of thing and some even died.
Frank Skinner, both a comedian and an art enthusiast, explores performance art from it's origin starting from performance art in America and then performance art in Europe. Here are some performance art artists that I looked at and evaluated their work in order to help me when I'm executing my own performance. |
|
Yoko Ono - 'Cut Piece' - 1965
Yoko Ono is a performance photographer, Ono had invited the audience to cut of her clothing, while it fell from her body piece by piece she sat there on the stage hall floor. Her work was also published in a book called ' Art and feminism ' and this is what was written about her performance: " She challenges the neutrality of the relationship between viewer and art object, Ono presented a situation in which the viewer was implicated in the potentially aggressive act of unveiling the female body, which served historically as one such ‘neutral’ and anonymous subject for art." I believe that she was very brave to do this type of performance in front of a wide range of people, especially in a concert hall, this must of been quite nerve racking and scary especially as she is letting the audience see her body getting stripped down.
She had collaborated with the audience by letting them cut off her clothes, other performance artists allow the audience to touch or interact with their wok, however in this case she was her own work.
I don't think that photographs would have been as effective as the film because with images you are only able to see snip its of the performance and are restricted to only seeing that particular moment, whereas with film you are able to capture and see the whole performance from beginning to end.
She had collaborated with the audience by letting them cut off her clothes, other performance artists allow the audience to touch or interact with their wok, however in this case she was her own work.
I don't think that photographs would have been as effective as the film because with images you are only able to see snip its of the performance and are restricted to only seeing that particular moment, whereas with film you are able to capture and see the whole performance from beginning to end.
Eikoh Hosoe - 'Simmon: a Private Landscape' -1971
Eikoh Hosoe was a post - war photographer and film maker, after world war two he was a freelancer and after a while he got recognised and had done some work for photography magazines and women magazines, this lead him to gain some professional acclaim. He was also a director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts which was established in 1995. I think that the collaboration between the photographer and performer is quite interesting because, not only is the performer obviously taking part in the performance but the people that they both see and interact with during that / those days are also counted as the audience. However I think that because the performer was use to people looking at him and he was comfortable in that type of environment the outcome would be very different to say if someone |
who done the same thing but wasn't in the same line of work; I think that him having a performer made the collaboration more adequate. I admire that they are tell a story, even though they're part of the same series there looks like theres a story behind every image.
Masahisa Fukase - ' From Window' - 1974
Masahisa Fukase is most famous from his photo book called 'The Solitude of Ravens'. I found these series of images quite interesting because it's like she had posed for them instead of him taking the image(s) as soon as she left the house. Although on the other hand they don't look like they were planned as well. Some of them look like she was talking to him, maybe they were having conversations early in the morning and he took the images of her while they were having those particular conversations. Some performances are relatively mundane and a feature of our daily lives, it's quite a common thing that photographers have been doing for quite some time. |
As a class we had done an apertures performance. An aperture is used to restrict the amount of light that is exposed to the cameras imaging sensors. The reason we called this performance the ''Aperture performance'' is because each of us got given a piece of cardboard that had different sized holes; it was like we were the camera and the cardboard pieces was the aperture. To start off this activity we based ourselves in the class room and got a set of instructions "Walk around for 2 seconds, place the cardboard some where look through it for 5 seconds and then continue to walk" after having a practice session in the class room we took it outside and had done it in front of the other school students. It did take me outside my comfort zone because I'm not use to performing in front of people, however I still took part in this task.
After we had done it once we had gone back to our class room and as a class room we had discussed how we felt about it and if there was a way it could of been improved. Everyone had the same answers, that it took us out our comfort zone and didn't enjoy it that much because of the amount of people that were watching us, so we decided to repeat the process in the same location but when there is less people walking around. This lead us to do the second performance, which I believed to be a lot less frightening and had a better outcome, because we were spread out around the school instead of being clustered together. Personally I thought this activity was interesting because only we could see what we saw through the hole and there was no way to capture it, the image(s) only lasted for those 5 seconds.
Activity Four
For our fourth activity we were all given a sheet of expired photographic paper and had each created a paper airplane. We then took it outside and threw it off the link stairs, below are the final out comes of all of our airplane photograms.
I didn't necessarily understand this task because I thought that the outcome was going to be all the same, pure black and under exposed. However because everyone makes paper airplanes differently I also thought that the outcomes would be different although I wasn't entirely sure how.
Activity Five - Creating A Zine - Daido Moriyama
Before creating our zine we had done research and studied 2 photographers work, Roger Ballen and Daido Moriyama. They were both similar in some ways because they both both worked with black and white film.
Daido Moriyama is a Japanese photographer who started his career as a freelance photographer, frequently shooting his images in and around America typically based in Yokosuka. I find his work quite interesting because of the way he focuses his images, for example the image with the snow in it, quite frequently people would take the image but have the figures in the distance to be in focus and the close up snow to be out of focused, however he had done the opposite.
He would also photograph things that could be counted as inappropriate, for example the image of the car accident, the fish head and the child crouching in the middle of the road. These could be counted as inappropriate because firstly taking imag- |
es of a car accident could be seen as disrespectful especially if someone is severely injured. Similar to the image of the child in the middle of the road, he could get hurt but yet he still took an image.
Roger Ballen-'Asylum of the birds'- 2014
"My purpose in taking photographs over the past forty years has ultimately been about defining myself. It has been fundamentally a psychological and existential journey."
Roger Ballen is an American photographer and has been doing photography since the 1970's. His approach to photography has been addressed as one of the most unusual and most exciting developments within contemporary photography.
His images are one of the most interesting and disturbing images I've ever witnessed. I find them more intriguing than any other artist because his work is almost like he's telling a story of the people who live in that particular area he's taking his images. I understand |
|
that they are quite disturbing and distressing for certain viewers especially because of the conditions that those people are living in and some of the things Ballen put into the video, such us how they survive, for example a chickens head getting cut off. His images are normally considered to be 'dark' because of the contents of them and an obvious observation, that his images are all in black and white. I enjoy looking at his images because they're not the same as any other artists, maybe I'm drawn to the disturbing and sinister feeling I get when looking at it.
I didn't know what images I wanted to take for my zine so I just started to experiment with my surroundings. Below are the images I had taken. While taking these images I got an idea to follow the 'rule of three' and tried to position my models and the structures that I use in my images in one of the three vertical rows, I personally feel like I had successfully carried out this action.
However I didn't like the images as much as I thought I did so I decided to use my projection images especially because it would also relate to my personal investigation. Below is a page by page view of my zone that I had create in Adobe Indesign, unfortunately I wasn't able to print out the zine because I was having troubles with how it was printing, nonetheless here is the digital version of my zine. Overall I think the outcome of this zine came out better than expected.