Tavis Morly

Tavis’s image is a low key black and white photo of a hand playing the neck of a base guitar. All that is seen is one hand, four strings, four dots, and eight vertical lines of the base. It appears to be coming out of the darkness from the corner of a soulful jazz house. The hand and only a few key elements of the guitar contrast against a black background.

Upon immediately viewing the image it appears as though Tavis has faithfully recreated an image of a close up base guitar player without deviating from it. However, there are subtle differences and it is in those differences that she has adapted new content and meaning.

Because she chose to use a darker base it immediately changes how the image is read from the original. We inherently see less shadows on the guitar and the hand seems to pop, this giving the image a stronger sense of mystery and darkness.

Most of the differences from Tavis’s image to the original stems from the subtle change in angle, at which the base is placed. From the way the fingers stretch across the neck, to the way the light wraps around the fingers. Tavis’s model is a base player and says that the model in the original image was not actually playing. The way the fingers are stretched and the angle of the guitar would render this so called musician unable to perform. Although her goal was to interpret the original with a new direction she attempted over 260 times to get the exact angle and lighting as the original, which served as a personal technical challenge.

It was about capturing the moment of making music for Tavis which is why her model was playing as she took this shot. Her image brings a sense of spontaneity that is missing in the original, that seems more contrived. Hers has a stronger essence of street photography. This becomes more apparent when she explains her motivation behind this image. She was inspired by a close friends photo that was an image of a homeless man playing the guitar. She wanted to recreate a similar image but in a different style when she stumbled upon this one on the right, she knew it was the photo she wanted to investigate.

This image relates to other successful portrayals of music in that it evokes mood and emotion, capturing music’s most important principal.

By Renee Hopper

Jenny Wyma: Wilkosz and Way

Jenny’s image reveals soft pastel colors giving the viewer a feeling of contentment along with a want to inquire and find a hidden meaning in the image. The photograph feels surreal as the color of the models skin is de-saturated, and the lighting seems to be coming from the skin rather than an off camera source. The models expression plays off of the light pink and green gradient background, as well as the situation revealed. It is a captured moment of balance with two eggs stacked on the top of the models head, illuminating a sense of play and uncertainty. In its impressionable atmosphere, the image also creates depth and maturity through the way the figure is portrayed- a young woman holding on to a sentiment of liveliness and realizing the importance in that awareness. The decisions made by the artist in the composition are very carefully considered. The placement of props directs an unease and tension as if the eggs were seconds from falling out of the picture frame; the twisted line of the figures shoulders and neck create an ‘S’ curve which reveals a feminine and classical take on structure, at the same time, this also builds on the moment of tension and movement. The balance in the composition is following the rule of thirds; the focus of the photograph is off center and allows your attention to move from detail to detail with ease. The production of the photograph shows an obvious skill and technique, which exemplifies the quality and appreciation for the work. The color palette Jenny used is very soft and simple which allows for more attention to be drawn towards the figure and situation in the photograph.

The artist’ style, in reference to this image, represents an interest in a quirkiness and refreshing originality, these are obvious traits in the work. Fashion photography also holds a place in the artists’ creative disposition, and the production of this image has embodied fashion and a new style to the world of beauty and fashion. Jenny’s attachment to the photograph titled ‘Glove Hat’ by Wilkosz and Way was used as a reference to re-interpret the style and idea behind their portrait. The likeness of the model in that original image is incredibly similar to the artist herself; the decision to photograph a self-portrait shows a closeness and interest in the work of Wilkosz and Way while also showing a confidence and the representation of a contemporary self. The production of her photograph embodies the style, technique, talent, and surreal qualities in the artists own way. The image is very successful in that it reveals a curiosity, and an everlasting impression on the viewer. It serves as a beauty and fashion narrative while also reminding us that holding on to our vitality is an important thing, as we are constantly surrounded with a violent, and degrading society. This image also successfully serves as a critique on advertisement as being realistic or manipulative in a way of playing with the consumer’s perceptions on what is reality and what is believed to be a reality. Jenny has captured a moment that reminds us of our love for life, and to allow for personal growth and metamorphosis into a refreshing outlook on authenticity.

Renee’s Crit - by Tavis

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.

Lauras Crit.

Laura

As I first approached the works Falling by Boofhead and Pushing Limits by Laura I had to admire the similarities between the two works. While looking at Laura’s work my initial response was that this is a lighthearted humorous image. My initial reaction was mainly caused by the expression of the person falling and my position as the viewer. I also got the feeling that the image was suppose to be seen as older because of the grayscale tones of the image. The technical skills are another of the many things that draws me into the image. At first I was questioning how the image was taken that’s how believable it was. Overall the image was engaging and humorous at the first encounter.

The image it’s self is composed of three main elements the camera, the person, and the building in the background. The camera is in the lower half of the image and placed in such a fashion that it appears as if the camera is falling onto the viewer. The camera is an SLR with a neck strap with clearly indicating letters about the brand of the Camera, Cannon. In the LCD screen of the camera we can see an image of a cityscape, which appears to be taken from a ledge. The person can be seen in the top half of the image falling towards the viewer. The person is female and has her hands projecting closer towards the viewer, as though to brace for impact or protect the face. One of the hands is overlapped by the camera strap, which implies that the camera has fallen first. She also is wearing a jacket, jeans, and shoes. This implies that she is outside. Her expression is happy, which suggests humor to the image as apposed to fear. In the background we see the foreshortening view of a building made of brick. The building rises to just above the halfway point of the image. On the building there are windows that reaches half way up the building from this point of view. There is also a sign that stands out. Overall there is soft lighting on all of the objects. The image is black and white in a vertical orientation.

Now that I have had time to review the image the things that I pull out that would possibly improve the image is removing the tension point between the camera strap and the edge of the frame, remove the text from the camera strap, make the background out of focus to be less distracting, make the image in the camera more relevant. The things that I found where strong are the humor, Photoshop skills, process of creation, more understandable then the original, and placement of each element.

The process was as follows: she used the school as a location because it had more of a narrative about ACAD students and their experiences within the school environment. Also she enjoyed the 3D appearance of the building from the angle of the viewer. It was relevant to the people would walked by on that path everyday. Another location was the studio. She used the studio in order to achieve the same lighting. She shot everything individually. It was important that the elements all played in the overall narrative. The image in the camera was picked because it gave the most cause for someone to fall over. She combined all the images together, which took a long time with lots of process. It was intentional for the elements to all be in focus because she wanted the viewer to look at all the elements in the image and not just one.

Laura decided to work with Boofheads Falling because she liked the concept but she thought she could execute it better then the artist had. She wanted to play on the idea of the student experience as apposed to the dumb tourist as Boofhead did. Her work also functions as a self-portrait. She found her image at a site where anyone can submit images so she wanted to work with non-professional work.

Critique of Kayla's images by Kristen

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.

Emma’s ‘Like It, Love It, Live It’ Project

By Ali Clayton

1) Immediate Response: Nailed It!! Beautiful, Peaceful, Seems very classic, Emma has captured the era of the original photo in her image.

2) Objective Description: A black & white image. A close-up of a woman smoking. Two fingers, holding a lit, un-ashed cigarette is just visible in the bottom of the image. The woman is looking to her left as she blows a whispy cloud of smoke to the right. She is wearing a mesh cocktail hat tilted over her right eye. Her dark eye make-up and lipstick contrast with the white of her skin as well as the background.

3) Formal Complaints/Formal Praise: I don’t have any formal complaints with this picture. I think it was beautifully done. Emma stuck close to capturing the original image. Although Emma pointed out some technical things from her post-production work she would like to change, they were not things that I noticed. I think some people will probably find the motion in the fingers distracting but I don’t. I feel there’s a juxtaposition between the stillness in the face and the motion in the fingers. For me, this adds narrative to the photo and maybe adds a depth that isn’t present in the original photo. I feel that the attitude of the model is different from the original. In the original there seems to be a coldness that I take from the half closed eye but in Emma’s version, there seems to be more emotion coming from the model. I think this is a strength of the photo. In the fifties, women weren’t raised to be outwardly independent. The model in the original gets her strength from her attitude. Today, in my opinion, women are raised to be strong, independent people. Women aren’t supposed to show emotion. I see real emotion in Emma’s picture and that emotion is what gives the model her strength.

4) The Story It Tells: A lot of second hand smoke, trial & error, & Febreze. Emma would have liked to have shot this in the seamless but obviously couldn’t with current laws. She shot this in her home where she blacked out her windows with foam core and placed a white curtain in front. She lit her model with one industrial light. She put a lot of time and effort into the post-production work she did in Photoshop.

5) Work in the world & how it connects to other work: Lillian Bassman portrayed women in a strong, independent way and this image illustrates that. The model gives off the air of being a classy man-eater. This attitude originally drew Emma to this photo. She felt it was a strong and bad-ass portrait. The original image is from the 50’s and at the time of the original image, smoking was more of a status symbol. The risks of smoking weren’t evident yet and those who smoked could be considered in a more elite class. There was a coolness factor associated with smoking. Nowadays, the coolness factor has changed a bit but still exists. There is a bit of a rebellious attitude that goes along with smoking.

Julya's Work

My immediate response to the work:

My first immediate response to Julya’s work is how the lamps remind me of the jumping lamp in Hayao Miyazaki’s movie, Spirited Away.   There is a surreal quality in the image and that’s why it immediately brought me back to the movie, Spirited Away.  What stand out for me in Julya’s image would be the numerous lamps and how magical it looks in the twilight environment.  

Objective description:

In Julya’s work, she has numerous lamps placed on the grassy ground by the water.  The lamps are positioned everywhere just a little below from the centre of the image in horizontal direction.  They are not in straight order.  The lamps are lightening up (like they were turned on), which creates a magical quality.  It looks like it was just before sunset and it has a twilight feeling in the image.  In the background, there are pine trees with a little blue skies peeking through.

Formal complaints and Formal Praise:

Julya’s work has surreal qualities. The original photo has red lamps and is facing the ground, however Julya’s photo has white/grayish lamps and they are facing in different directions rather than facing the ground.  The original piece has lamps placed in the centre and Julya’s lamps are a little off centre, which I liked about it.  It creates a great composition.  I wish I could see more of the lamps lighten up but it must be really difficult to do that in a wood environment.  Overall, it is a really sweet piece.  There is a twilight feel in the image.  The lighter skies in the background can be a little distracting and it would be nice to see more trees in the back. 

Does this work tell a story?

Julya was really excited about recreating her initial image, which she showed in class.  However it did not work because she was unable to find lamps that were small enough and not so modern looking.  She decided to move onto a different image by the same artist, Rune Guneriussen, who photographed the initial image.  The second image Julya picked was a light up globes placed on rocks.  After some research and visiting stores, she was unable to find light-up globes.  Her third image is 4 big lamps sitting on the frozen lake.  However, it’s not cold enough yet and there are no frozen lakes available.  So Julya moved onto her fourth image, which has antique lamps placed on the road by the lake.  But the fourth image had similar issue with her original photo: find antique lamps. So she moved onto her 5^th image, which is the image she did.  She did it because she was able to find similar style of lamp and she had several ideas to resolve the problem. 

First problem was to deal with the power an electric lamp in the forest.  She thought of using gas generator however the location Julya picked (Griffin Wood Park) required some walking to the stream.  So she decided to use LED light glued into a working lamp.  Her lamp does not have a base, just a clamp so she did some test at home to see whether the lamp would stand or not before taking it out to the wood.

She went out to the wood and was not impressed cause there were several problems.  the lamp won’t stand still because the ground is sandy rather than solid.  The solar powered lamps were okay but there was lack of lamp figure, making them invisible.  Julya decided to come back the following day after resolving some problems.

Julya made some paper cones to act as lampshades and it worked better.  Her mother suggested a situation on how to hold the lamp up – clamping the lamp to a cutting board to create a stable balance. 

The 2^nd try worked out perfectly.  She took several photos of the lamp and moved them in a different direction every time.  After many shoots, she went home and did some editing.  In Photoshop, she made selections around each lamp and pasted them into one shot. 

The Work in the World:

Julya choose the photographs by Rune Guneriussen because she likes the magical, surreal feel in the image.  It reminds her of the series, The Lion and the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It creates an almost magical feel like as if you’d arrive at when you go through the wardrobe into Narnia.