Assigned: October. 20, 2010.
Open Studio: Oct. 27, 2010.
Due Date: Nov. 3, 2010 (2 weeks).
Description:
With Like It, Love It, Live It, you are asked to research and present an image you like (or love) from popular culture. The image should be iconic and relevant to you. You are then required to recreate the image you’ve selected as best you can and within your means. You should make every effort to be as accurate as possible in your reproduction and consider lighting, style, textures, patterns, etc… all the key elements that you can identify and find relevant to the image.
Concept and Structure:
After reading Photography and Fetish by Christian Metz, you may begin to understand the indexical nature of the photograph; that the signifiers in the image are bound by some real connection to the world. You are about to undertake an exercise whereby you must account for that “realness” by attempting to re-create and understand the framing of an existing image.
Objectives:
· To consider blocking and staging of an image.
· To select objects and environments that the subjects can interact with (lighting, colour, sound, textures, etc).
· To reference an existing image in an attempt to copy it or pay homage to it.
Process:
· We will be discussing the text, Photography and Fetish by Christian Metz on October 20th.
· You will be asked to research and select an image and speak to your interest/engagement with it with the group.
· During the afternoon of October, 20th you are to begin to visualize your shoot by brainstorming, sketching, researching, and planning your schedule. The instructor will be available to meet and discuss your ideas with you.
· Studio time will be provided on October 27th. You are required to work in the studios at ACAD on the 27th unless you have prior approval from the instructor.
· Please bring all required materials to the studio on the 27th
· Booking of equipment and studio times are the responsibility of the student.
· You can work in groups to assist one another but each member of the group will have to produce one unique work for submission.
4 comments:
In response to some of your questions today:
No you don't have to print out your image... but you should consider the projection quality (rm456) and the variation between the projector's colour profile and your monitor. Also, please have both of your images (the original and your reproduction) ready to display.
Please also remember (as with all of your assignments in this class) to submit all of your research and process work (sketches, notes, clippings, etc).
The first thing I noticed while looking at Kristen’s photo was the monochromatic colour pallet. The image is very fantastical and similar to the original, yet different in an original way. Throughout the photo there is a dream like sense and it is very atmospheric, and contains a lot of areas of contrast that draw your eye.
Within the photo is a fair woman in a dark medieval Celtic type dress, standing on a rock while holding a white snake. In the background there are mountains that are gently surrounded by dense fog. The saturation is slight and there is a grey-green tint to the image.
Her image is so imaginative and fantasy-like that it would be hard to pull the image together nicely, but she incorporated a fog that echos from the background to the foreground unifying the photo and rooting her subject to the space. There is an excellent S-curve in the form of fog that leads your eye through the composition, and a wonderful use of light and dark areas to draw your eye to focal points. The only thing that this image lacks that the original has, is drama. The lighting is washed out in comparison while the original has dynamic, wrap around light that defines the subject.
Kristen has a love for the fantasy world and came across a fantasy photographer, Margaret Dean, who uses all her own images in a composite, not stock photos. The original has a romantic quality within it like the myth, legend, or like a Celtic world. It would be difficult to come across some willing barn owls and because of the nature of her chosen photographer, Kristen chose not to use stock photos and instead use another animal, common in fantasy, her snake. Another object of interest was the mask in the original photo, and because Kristen could not find or did not own a mask that matched well, she chose to eliminate that aspect.
The background in the original photo was epic with high contrast and dramatic clouds, so Kristen went into the mountains but the original site was covered in fog, so that didn’t quite work out. Luckily on her drive home she found a place and took a photo using that photo in her final composite.
She shot her subject photo on another day, it was very cold and she was barefoot, because in the original the woman was barefoot. Since it was cold the snake was restless and uncooperative.
In the composite there are three photos, the subject, foreground, and background. There was lots of photoshop which Kristen is not accustomed to so she found difficulty in cutting out her components, and getting the contrast right on all three to match. She also added fog to the foreground to add unity to her image.
This image is not as graphic as the other image but Kristen claims that her image has a different mood, yet keeps the romanticism and the fantasy. Her image is more of a dream world while the original is more epic, like before the storm or what is to come.
Kristen chose this image because it takes you to a different place, and you imagine a narrative, almost like a movie still. So my title for this piece would be “Imagination”.
Renee’s Crit
1. The immediate response I had with Renee’s piece was shock simply because it is a nude photo, right after it was respect. Because there is a trust and a relationship that has to be in place for a photographer to take a nude shot of someone. I also notice the obvious differences in the work, however I appreciated those differences. What stood out the most to me was the two different poses the models posses, the original photo has that first impression of hopelessness, where as Renee’s photo has that body language of freedom, no boundaries and a big breath of fresh air.
2.A woman sitting nude atop a cliff, with a light snow fall around her. In the edge with complete serenity and empowerment to jump or stay. A power line sweeps the top of the photo from top right slopping down left to disappear within the tree line. A lake under the cliff, and a small city in the far background.
3.Renee’s effort in this image triumphs and complaint I would have. After talking to Renee she felt that the lighting was the technical part of the photo she felt she failed at. However I feel that with the diffused light in a natural setting she achieve a great affect for what she had to work with.
4.Renee was drawn to the image because of the lightning and the organic quality’s of the female figure. She felt at first glance that the woman was venerable and suicidal. However the more she looked at it realized that in fact the woman was not tied down and nude, meaning she was in control of the situation. There was a sense of empowerment from the woman lying on the tracks, nude completely within her will to get up and leave or stay. What also drew Renee to the photo was the train track and the fine line that was between that sense of nature and man. That because the woman is nude she fit more organically with nature than with the train tracks. The power line in her recreation show this sense of danger for not only is the model on a cliff but she is close to a urban area where someone could walk by and that sense of secluded nature has disappeared.
5.Renee’s work could be a piece of art on someone’s wall or a postcard depicting a serene place, or even an advertisement for the great outdoors or how someone would feel after retreating to a secluded spa. Renee’s photo has lots of versatility. It can connect with the classic portraits and paintings that included the female form and yet have a context to in which fit in the modern world.
Tavis
Kayla's Photo
If I had not seen the original photo that this image is based on I would have instantly recognized the inspiration anyway, the Afghan girl from National Geographic. The red is the most prominent colour in the photograph. There was great attention to detail, as the white paint that is on the scarf is also on the recreated photograph. However I do not see the green material underneath the rips in the scarf. The lighting on the face is very dramatic, and more intense then in the original photo, but I enjoy that, as they eyes are not as intense or as piercing as in the original photo. The dramatic lighting makes up the intensity that the eyes are lacking. It was a great recreation of a very famous photograph.
The image is a portrait of a young woman with a red scarf wrapped about her head. Some of her light brown hair is still visible near the top part of her head. The scarf has bits of white paint on it close to the right side of the girls face. (from the viewers point of view). The eyes of the girl make direct contact with the viewer, with intensity. The eye colour is a mix of hazel and green. The background is a light brown fabric, which does not over power the subject. The lighting in the image is coming from the right side (from the viewers perspective), and creating a very dramatic effect on the face.
The portrait is well composed, with no tension points to distract the viewer. The background is very muted and does not detract from the subject. However I would have liked to have seen a green background, as it would make the red of the scarf stand out more. The folds in the scarf wrap around the subject in a way that keeps the eye within the frame. The lighting on the face is well executed. There are no odd shadows, and the light wraps nicely around the face.
Kayla has always loved this portrait; no image has stuck with her like this one has. Kayla began her process by starting to research the photographer, and how the image was taken. She looked at the type of lighting was used, the camera, film, lens if there was any filters used, and much more. Kayla took a lot of inspiration from the vibrant colour of the original image. The model used in this image is a friend of Kayla’s who has really expressive eyes, and is also very passionate about National Geographic. The mood in the image was really important. The intensity in the recreation is a different type of intensity then in the original image, as the girl in the original image has had a much more traumatic life then the model. In order to create the intensity Kayla used more dramatic lighting to create harsher shadows on the face.
Kayla chose to recreate this image because the portrait of the Afghan Girl has always been an image Kayla admired. It is possibly her favourite image, and is definitely in her top five.
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