Component 1 Evaluation During component 1 I have researched artists such as : Lee Friedlander , Werner Bishcof , Anna Atkins and Martha Rosler . I discovered them from work in class and further researched them by looking at images of theirs from google images where I researched images according to the formal elements , for example I looked up images with play of light and images with interesting composition , this meant that I was able to imagine what thought process went into their work and also from studying their work , I found out what techniques and processes the artists used . Through research I have learned how to edit my photos after I have taken them and also how to position the camera so that I could get what I wanted in the frame and ensure that I got the message that I wanted to across to the reader . I explored themes such as : abstraction , photograms , edges and openings , One theme explored in depth was taking images that are out of focus , I began experimenting with this project because I came across some images of Martha Rosler's in abstraction , they had a very brightly lit feel to them and the they were not entirely in focus . I then experimented further when I found another photographer called Uta Barth whose images were completely out of focus , to get my images to be out of focus I played around with the settings of the camera by putting it in auto and also zooming in very closely on my subject matter .
In this project I have also explored many of the threshold concepts , I have explored threshold concept two because I have learned that photography is a capturing of light ; camera is optional by creating pinhole photographs and photograms . From this experience I have experimented by creating my own pinhole camera and adapting it because my images were not clear enough , in addition to that I changed around the seconds of the exposure and the amount of paper during photograms as well . I learned that you can create unique images without a camera because with photograms I have created images by simply exposing photographic paper to light , I have also tackled threshold concept 5 - I have learned that photographs are abstractions shaped by technology because during the theme of abstraction I edited my images to make them more saturated and also add filters to them to look like the image had been splashed with rays of light . Artists such as Martha Rosler showed me how over edited images can look very abstract because you can use very bright colours to make an impact on the viewer and give your images a dream like quality , this lead me to get more experienced with photoshop and understand that editing can completely change an image .
I have experimented with different media , techniques and processes during this project , I started out the project with simple online editing programs such as befunky , which allowed me to change the size and tone of the image for example . To refine my work I began to experiment with photoshop to explore a wider range of editing options . I used the equipment such as , enlargers , pinhole cameras and the photoshoot equipment during component 1 to create outcomes in response to the artists we studied . I also began to use different equipment to get a more professional finish to my work , an example would be using a circle cutter instead of a scalpel to refine my work and make it look like gallery quality . During this project what worked well would be the experiments that I did with photograms including using a range of materials on my photograms such as mesh and tracing paper as well as some of my experiments in photoshop that I did with geometric shapes in the topic of openings . What was challenging was completing an extended project and keeping inspired so that I could develop new ideas constantly and refine my final piece .
From component one I have created final outcomes for my projects : openings , abstraction and edges . I was hoping to create a meaningful response to each of the projects that we did . For my project of abstraction I edited my images by placing dots over the faces of the people in the images , I thought that when I explored the topic of abstraction there were often a contrast between dark tones and bright neon colours as this made a very effective image that makes the image stand out to the viewer . That is why I used the Tallis habits stickers on top of the black and white images to make a sharp contrast . For openings I created 4 images of my friends face with cut out circles on the face with photograms behind , I think that I wanted to explore openings in a more abstract way and instead of photographing doorways I thought the face is seen as the main opening to a person often so I thought cutting out parts of the face and revealing the photograms beneath would be a unique way to interpret the theme of openings . Along the way I did lots of experiments in photoshop and also in the dark room , some of the results of these images were successful and were not . I recorded all of these experiments by taking screenshots , uploading them evaluating them . The ones that were successful I refined by doing them again and using new techniques and narrowing my images down to only include the best ones .
What is personal about my work in unit 1 is that I have still been inspired by many artists but have still made my work look like my own and my work does not look exactly like the artists I have studied , even thought my work is a combination of all the artists I have studied . I was hoping to create something different in each of my final pieces and also challenge myself to experiment alot before I would come to a final piece . I think i have successfully explored the themes because i have studied many artists in each of the themes and have tried each of the each of the techniques they have in order to achieve an experiment that I could use in a final outcome . If I had more time I would liked to have tried to have used photoshop more and asked the technicians to have helped me more in photoshop as I did a lot of hands on work more then digital work . What I hope viewers will understand from my work is that you can interpret an artists work how you want and that if you think very carefully you will be able to create a meaningful response that is well developed and explored .