Moodboards.
Intentions
My original theme was going to be "surreal photography" however, my journey led me to choosing to explore people through portraiture whilst also keeping some of the surreal aspect of my previous theme.
I have named my personal investigation "people" because I am going to be exploring how I can express people in aesthetic and surreal ways. I find people very interesting as things like facial expression can show how a person is feeling or subtle changes in their posture could reveal how the person feels or what they're thinking. Portraits are where a person's whole identity lies and people can change themselves to suit how they would like to see themselves or how they would like to be seen for example, piercings, makeup or even changing their hairstyle. A lot of things that has happened in a person's life can be shown from their face which is why I believe portraiture is the way of showing this to other people. I am interested in expressing thoughts and feelings through people in my own style which would also express how I think or feel. In this personal investigation I will be looking at very aesthetic photographers such as Solve Sundsbo and Craig McDean who take surreal, commercial portraits and develop my own style of capturing people based on their photos.
There are many places that I could visit to take portraits of people however, I will start with the people around me for example, people in my age group in school. There are a wide variety of different people in school which would be interesting to explore as well as having access to the studio where I can shoot photos similar to the photographers I am going to research. Other places that I could explore are Shoreditch and other places in Central London. There are many diverse people in Shoreditch as well as colorful buildings and street art which would create aesthetic backgrounds. Central London has a lot of interesting architecture as well as being a busy place; there are a lot of people to take portraits of.
My original theme was going to be "surreal photography" however, my journey led me to choosing to explore people through portraiture whilst also keeping some of the surreal aspect of my previous theme.
I have named my personal investigation "people" because I am going to be exploring how I can express people in aesthetic and surreal ways. I find people very interesting as things like facial expression can show how a person is feeling or subtle changes in their posture could reveal how the person feels or what they're thinking. Portraits are where a person's whole identity lies and people can change themselves to suit how they would like to see themselves or how they would like to be seen for example, piercings, makeup or even changing their hairstyle. A lot of things that has happened in a person's life can be shown from their face which is why I believe portraiture is the way of showing this to other people. I am interested in expressing thoughts and feelings through people in my own style which would also express how I think or feel. In this personal investigation I will be looking at very aesthetic photographers such as Solve Sundsbo and Craig McDean who take surreal, commercial portraits and develop my own style of capturing people based on their photos.
There are many places that I could visit to take portraits of people however, I will start with the people around me for example, people in my age group in school. There are a wide variety of different people in school which would be interesting to explore as well as having access to the studio where I can shoot photos similar to the photographers I am going to research. Other places that I could explore are Shoreditch and other places in Central London. There are many diverse people in Shoreditch as well as colorful buildings and street art which would create aesthetic backgrounds. Central London has a lot of interesting architecture as well as being a busy place; there are a lot of people to take portraits of.
Postmodernism in Photography
Postmodernism in Photography Postmodernism is the name given to the artistic movement that happened in the 20th century specifically the 1970s and late 1960s. The aspects of postmodernism are surrealism, abstract expressionism and the Theatre of the Absurd. The postmodernism artists went against the rules of art and suggested that it was possible to create art whilst also ignoring the rules. An example of this would be the photographer, William Eggleston who had created colored images during a period of time when black and white images were considered to be true art by critics.
Postmodernism in Photography Postmodernism is the name given to the artistic movement that happened in the 20th century specifically the 1970s and late 1960s. The aspects of postmodernism are surrealism, abstract expressionism and the Theatre of the Absurd. The postmodernism artists went against the rules of art and suggested that it was possible to create art whilst also ignoring the rules. An example of this would be the photographer, William Eggleston who had created colored images during a period of time when black and white images were considered to be true art by critics.
The Surrealist Movement
Andre Breton described surrealism as "pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation."
What Andre Breton means by "automatism" is that the artist suppresses the conscious thoughts and allows the unconscious thoughts to guide their artwork.
The surrealist movement was started by the French poet Andre Breton who also wrote the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. Surrealism started off as a philosophical movement that suggested that the way to find the truth in the world was through subconscious thought and dreams instead of logical thought. The surrealist artists sought to unlock the power of imagination by channel the unconscious thoughts that we have and they believed that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life. One of the most influential surrealist artists was Sigmund Freud, in particular his book called The Interpretation of Dreams published in 1899. In this book Freud shows the importance of dreams as well as making a basis for surrealism.
Andre Breton described surrealism as "pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation."
What Andre Breton means by "automatism" is that the artist suppresses the conscious thoughts and allows the unconscious thoughts to guide their artwork.
The surrealist movement was started by the French poet Andre Breton who also wrote the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. Surrealism started off as a philosophical movement that suggested that the way to find the truth in the world was through subconscious thought and dreams instead of logical thought. The surrealist artists sought to unlock the power of imagination by channel the unconscious thoughts that we have and they believed that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life. One of the most influential surrealist artists was Sigmund Freud, in particular his book called The Interpretation of Dreams published in 1899. In this book Freud shows the importance of dreams as well as making a basis for surrealism.
4 Week Plan
Week 1
In the first week of my photo shoots, I will be going to taking photos of the nature I see in Greenwich park. Specifically, things like trees and their branches as well as flowers that have a bright color to them. In this shoot i might have to wait for the weather to change because I might need rain for some of the photos I am going to take. I will also have to take these photos during the daytime to get as much natural light as possible for the bright plants that I would take photos of. I might also need to wait until evening for the lighting to be suitable for taking slightly darker photos of the tree branches. This is inspired by Ade Santora as he takes darker photos of nature that he merges with portraits. In this photo shoot I would have to go to the flower garden that is also in Greenwich Park to take photos of the brighter flowers that I see.
Week 2
In this week of my photo shoots, I will be going around to Central London to shoot the interesting cars in the area. I would have to visit Mayfair as well as Knightsbridge and Sloane Street as there are likely to be super cars as well as vintage cars that pass by. I would also visit the car dealerships that are in the area as well. For this shoot I would have to go during the day as the cars would most likely be around during the daytime, they would also be much easier the see during the daytime. The weather during this photo shoot wouldn't have to be considered as much as it wouldn't matter as much if it rained or not. Another place I could go to could be any car events that are happening at the time.
Week 3
My intentions this week is to take photos of people. I will be taking photos around school as well as going to Canary Wharf as it is usually quite populated. I would have to take photos of different body parts as well as portraits so that I can combine them with mechanical parts. I would take these photos either in the studio at school or during daytime outside so that I can get the best lighting. The camera settings the I would have to use in the studio are that I would have to set the camera to a low f-stop as well as a low ISO. This is because I will be using artificial lighting like the lamps and the white background in the studio. The camera settings that I used for the studio are also the ones I'll use in Canary Wharf as I will be taking the photos during the daytime. I will also be taking photos of people in school, mostly people within my year group. And I will be using the studio in school to get the best lighting for the portrait shots.
Week 1
In the first week of my photo shoots, I will be going to taking photos of the nature I see in Greenwich park. Specifically, things like trees and their branches as well as flowers that have a bright color to them. In this shoot i might have to wait for the weather to change because I might need rain for some of the photos I am going to take. I will also have to take these photos during the daytime to get as much natural light as possible for the bright plants that I would take photos of. I might also need to wait until evening for the lighting to be suitable for taking slightly darker photos of the tree branches. This is inspired by Ade Santora as he takes darker photos of nature that he merges with portraits. In this photo shoot I would have to go to the flower garden that is also in Greenwich Park to take photos of the brighter flowers that I see.
Week 2
In this week of my photo shoots, I will be going around to Central London to shoot the interesting cars in the area. I would have to visit Mayfair as well as Knightsbridge and Sloane Street as there are likely to be super cars as well as vintage cars that pass by. I would also visit the car dealerships that are in the area as well. For this shoot I would have to go during the day as the cars would most likely be around during the daytime, they would also be much easier the see during the daytime. The weather during this photo shoot wouldn't have to be considered as much as it wouldn't matter as much if it rained or not. Another place I could go to could be any car events that are happening at the time.
Week 3
My intentions this week is to take photos of people. I will be taking photos around school as well as going to Canary Wharf as it is usually quite populated. I would have to take photos of different body parts as well as portraits so that I can combine them with mechanical parts. I would take these photos either in the studio at school or during daytime outside so that I can get the best lighting. The camera settings the I would have to use in the studio are that I would have to set the camera to a low f-stop as well as a low ISO. This is because I will be using artificial lighting like the lamps and the white background in the studio. The camera settings that I used for the studio are also the ones I'll use in Canary Wharf as I will be taking the photos during the daytime. I will also be taking photos of people in school, mostly people within my year group. And I will be using the studio in school to get the best lighting for the portrait shots.