Taking a break...

Last night I decided to take a break from school work and so I played one of my all time favourite games. Within these games you have to search for the objects listed, within the scene shown on screen. The faster you find them the more money/hints or clues you get to help your investigation.

Here are a few examples:

I really like playing these games as they give me a thrill that I have to try and find these objects in order to get money and move on, I spend hours on them. When playing these I thought that they linked really well with the theme ' Mystery and imagination' as eventhough you are playing a game, it is still quite knowledgeable as there are many puzzles and riddles within each scene.

These games reminded me of an abandoned or mysterious place that has once had memories or movement within it and has now been laid to rest until someone finds these unique treasures again. Like at a carboot sale or in a junk yard, you never know what your going to find. Unwanted treasures can be your jewell.

Even deserted playgrounds can be of a mysterious nature as to ask the question of what happens to it or who uses it when the children have gone to bed or are having their dinner? Is it quiet? alone? or is it a subject of beauty and sacredness?

This is one of my favourite photographs from the set as I really like how the bars and rope bridge draw your eyes to the hut in the left of the photo, I also like the way the darkness of the playground apparetus contrasts well with the light blues of the sky in the background. I didn't actually spot these values until I had taken the photograph and so they appear in the photo by accident. The photographs I value the most are when they were pure accidents as this shows, to me, that you can actually, truely take a photograph without using factors such as compositional values and visual elements. They happen on their own.

I really like the outcome of this set of photos, especially with the contrasts of the blues within the sky that give the photographs that sense of mystery and an almost a moody and yet sacred atmosphere. In the first photo of the set I have burned out the bottom right hand corner as to draw the audiences eyes toward the bright red and blue swing which stands out from the paleness of the sand. I have also tried to capture the colours within the playground as to show that it does really come alive in the evening/night when the children have finished playing with the apparatus. This in my mind sparks off the thought of does the playground actually truely come alive as in the sense of 'living' and not just with colour. Who knows? When I had left who could have seen if it did or not?

Showing within from the outside

For this experiment I set each photograph in a different atmosphere as to reveal the personality of the person within it more to the viewer. This will help my set of photos flow together nicely as people will be able to see the link between them easily and understand why I have chosen to complete this experiment.
I wanted to use the most 'famous' stereotypes to complete this experiment in order to show that even though people look and dress differently we are all equal in the eyes of god and that even though everyone is unique and special in their own way, they shouldn't be singled out or abused just because they wear different clothes or have a different personality or different features to you. To show this I have pixelated the faces so that no one can judge them and it will make their inner personality shine through the environment they're in and their clothes as well as their body language, which is exactly wanted I wanted out of this experiment.

Here is the set of photographs of which complete this experiment:

''Indie''

"Goth"................................................. "Chav"

"Geek"

For this experiment I wanted to show that controversy over stereotyping and how it can affect people as well as how the person is percieved not only in the viewers eyes but in gods as well. This experiment was actually inspired by one of my first experiments; 'seeing god through an environment, object or place'. I wanted a set of images that could get the message across to people who view people as a stereotype and show how they can change their opinion, hence pixelating the face as to show that anyone could be behind the pixels as everyone is equal in the eyes of god. Don't judge a book by it's cover because until you've read it no one knows what it's really like.

Moving on to brighter ideas...

Now that I have completed my experiment on 'time' I have decided to change my idea of fashion and the tension within it. I wanted to make more of that hidden feel to my photographs, such as how John Rees hides his models behind make-up and face paint. Going back to the work of Gregory Crewdson and Edward Hopper I also wanted to include that sense of mystery and how it can set off questions and story's within your mind, how a person stands or what senery they are in as well as what direction they're heads are pointing can help with setting the atmospheric scene.
To try and get sense of my idea I looked at another artist called Luis Sanchis.
The photos below really inspired my idea for my next experiment 'viewing mystery in a different light':

I love the way Luis Sanchis can create that atmospheric sense of mystery within the character and the way he has dressed the model in white, above, as to contrast the dark shadowy tones of blues and greens in the background in order for the person to stand out, as well as how she is standing with her head pointing towards the upper left of the photograph, drawing your eyes to the corner. There is almost a beauty to the photo with that sense of timidness and thought process of how this photograph came to be.

This is what I would like to experiment with and see if I can get someone to question my photograph when they look at it.

To complete this experiment I decided to set my scene at the beach, mid afternoon in order to get that pale, almost moody effect within the sky and surroundings in order to help with the 'mystery' theme. I chose to take pictures of people who almost seem as though they are a silhouette in the photo in which will set off the question 'what do they look like' within your mind. I chose to do this as I won't know who the people are and neither will the audience in which will put me in the seat of the audience. I wanted to know what it was like to be questioned, almost as though I am looking a someone elses work and I am just as clueless to who the 'silhouettes' are as the people looking at my photos.

Below are my experiments:

I think this experiment worked quite well as I managed to capture that multi-toned sky in which is almost 'moody'. I find that how I have taken the photographs works quite well as most of the people within them appear as 'silhouettes' which has a nice contrast with the tones of the background image of the beach scenes. The only thing I would say that I don't like about my images is that I have only been able to capture one photograph of someone on there own which sparks the question of 'lonliness' and a sense of mystery of why they are there in which I was hoping to maybe get within a few of my photographs.

However, my favourite image form the set of photographs above has to be the one that has the most people within it. The 5th image in which has 5 people and five dogs within it. I feel a sense of claustraphobia within this photograph in which is quite a nice feeling as I wasn't expecting to stimulate that sense within my photographs when I set out to take them, so I was a nice suprise. I also find that by having 5 people and 5 dogs within the photo it give a balance to the image as they are not all situated within the left or right of the photo. By having the couple situated in the top-right hand corner it balances out the heaviness of the bottom left hand corner in which makes the photograph appeal to the eye.

Experimenting

After looking at the different photographers/artists that really interested me, I decided to have a go on my own and make a mini project of 'what if time stopped before the camera could click?'
I wanted to be able to see connections from the photos I produce to that of the photographers/artists I have researched.
I want my photos to have that sense of tension and awkwardness and yet that airiness of a dream like situation. A pause in time - still life. However, I wanted that uniqueness to influence my ideas by Tim Walkers and John Rees' work and so I have decided to make the models in my photos into mannequins in order to get that pause in time across to my viewers. I thought of mannequins because they are still and most of them, when you look into their faces, have an awkward face or expression as thought they haven't got their pout right or their hair right or even their pose right.

Here are the photographs in which came out of this experiment:

When I started this experiment I didn't think that I would be able to complete it as I thought that I had set myself to much as there wasn't really any evidence or any photographs that could link really well with this task as no one had any evidence of what it would look like if time stopped so I was quite nervous about doing this task.

One of my major problems was to actually be able to have the hair and clothes in the air at the point of the camera flash as she would have had to have been moving quite fast for her hair to be directly in the air. However I found a way in which I could have this effect without actually having the model blurred.

Here are the screenshots of the process of one of the photographs above to make you understand what I done to get these photographs:

The first thing I done was opened up photoshop. From this I then opened my photograph, File > open > (my photo), and selected around the model using the 'quick selection tool'.

Now I opened a new page > file > New > International paper > A4

I now added a gradient to the page using the 'gradient tool' of which there were a selection of colours to choose from but I chose a warm grey as I didn't want the background to distract away from the model. Once selected, I then had to draw a line with the 'gradient tool' from the left top corner to the middle, bottom of the page. This then set the gradient accordingly.

This was my finished result.

I then went back to my photograph. Using the 'move tool' I dragged the model from my photo to the new page.

As my model still had some of the background of my photograph within the selection I used the 'eraser tool' to rub away any of the background visable. This then left me with my model as a rough cutting so I used the 'blur tool' > opacity 23%, to lightly go around my model and make her look more 'within' the backgound.

After I had blurred the rough edges, I then decided to add a 'drop shadow' so I selected the layer I wanted the drop shadow to be present and then > Layer > Layer style > drop shadow. This then lead me to this window, above left, from here I had to decide what angle I wanted the shadow to come away from the body, what distance from the body, what spread and what size. Distance 87 > spread 9 > size 68. This image, above right, is how the shadow came out.

I then repeated my first steps, File > open > my photo. This time I opened up my photo of a blu tack blob. The image was placed directly into another layer of which I placed behind my layer with my model on. I then adjusted the 'brightness and contrast' to match that of my model.

As my model's foot didn't have a shadow on the blue tack I decided to make my own. I selected the 'eyedropper tool' and clicked on the area just below my models foot. I then clicked on the 'colours' window and made the colour about 50% darker than it was. I then painted on the colour just under my model foot using the 'brush tool'.

This is the shadow of which was created.

I then cropped the picture to a decent size using the 'rectangular marquee tool' > image > Crop.

This was my final outcome. (above)

I am actually quite happy with the outcome of this set of photos as the model looks very similar to a mannequin of which was the look that I wanted the photograph to have, that sense of movement without actually moving and the facial expression that would not have got into the likes of Vogue or Elle as they would not have been the signature pout or look of the model or brand.

Time to research...

For me to follow through with my 'time' experiment, I knew that I would need inspiration from other photographers to get my ideas into a photograph successfully.

Tim Walker's photographs stood out to me as perfect inspiration for my photos and linked clearly with the ideas inside my head.
He has worked as an assistant for Richard Avedon, as well as shooting his first fashion story for Vogue at the age of 25. His photographs have entranced readers of Vogue, month by month, for over a decade now. Extravagant staging and romantic motifs characterize his unmistakable style. Coming from a fairytale approach he mixes stories with reality to create his amazing, one of a kind photographs.
Below are some of Tim Walker's' photographs:

I like the way he can take a character from a story and place them in a real life scene and yet still have that essence of the charcater shining through the objects around them. He almost has that essence of beauty shining through every photo, as well as his own quirky style from a fashion point of view.

I found another photographer which caught my eye, John rees. Although he is not a recognised photographer, I really like the way he can capture inner beauty behind the face paint and disguises of the model's faces. Its a quirky, almost gothic take on fashion/beauty shots.
Here are some examples:

When inspiration struck!

"Simple, everyday subject matter can be visually transformed into spectacular imagery by the imaginative use of photographic techniques."

I liked this saying and how it says anything can be beautiful you just have to find the process to beauty somewhere in the viewpoint of the camera.
This paragraph sparked off the subject of 'time' within my head from the inspiration of the bubblemap. Time is something you cannot change, but thats not what I want to focus on, I want to imagine what it would be like if time stopped? From this I had an idea as to look at time from a fashion point of view and what would happen in the photographers fashion shoot if time suddenly stopped? as well as capturing the essence of Gregory Crewdson, Edward hopper and yokomizo and how they can capture that split moment of tension within their photographs/paintings. What would the photograph taken look like at that split moment in time when the clock stopped, just before the actual photo was about to be taken? that split second before the model can make his/her famous pout? The moment when tension and emotion is building within the model and photographer on whether this will be his/her famous photograph or not!

This is what I am setting out to capture.

Possible photographers/artists that may be useful?

At this point in the exam, I don't really know what I want to do. However, while filing through a few photographers within the exam paper, I came across Gregory Crewdsons work.

At first glance they appear very dark and mysterious until you actually begin to look further into them.

Gregory Crewdson seeks out the tensions between the familiar and the strange within his elaborately scened compositions.

Even though he is classed as a photographer, to me he is much more than that, he doesn't just pull out a camera from his bag and begins shooting at anything that looks interesting or that could create an interest from the public, he is an artist. He has a completely different take on photographs, he produces the scenery on set, a scened photograph. He creates the emotions of which people feel towards his photographs as well as the tension and questions that appear inside our heads when looking at them. He is an artist.

It often takes him around five weeks to create one photograph. While on location he seeks for inspiration of what could inspire him to create a masterpiece.

Below are some of his creations:

I love the way he can bring an emotion or that sense of tension within someone when they look at his work, the way he can create a question in your mind, long before you would have even thought of it, take the photo above, the questions that may appear within my mind are; where is she? is she dead? alive? is she lying on the floor, in water or is she floating in mid air? whats happened to her? these are just some of the questions in which challenge you to want to know more, the thing that makes you study the picture for more answers, but will you find them?

That feeling of whether this scene is real or unreal, the sense of finding the truth is thilling to me.

I found that Gregory Crewdson's work links well to the work of Edward hopper and how he also creates tension and that sense of mystery within his paintings.

When a human is in solitude, it tends to be a woman, either dressed, semi-dressed or nude, often reading a book, looking out of a window or in the workplace. This is because Edward Hopper wanted to portray this sense of lonliness and he thought that women were better to show emotion within a painting rather than a man. I love the way he took time to place each person/human being in keeping with the composition of the environment around them. The way he has used light and shadow effectively within the surroundings to create mood and tension, making you want to know more about the painting and the story behind it, it is genius and works well in keeping in tone with the figures within it.

Here are a few examples:

Like the photographs of Gregory Crewdson, Edward hopper also plants question within your mind which makes us search for futher clues within the paintings as to what's happened or how the story in the painting has come to this captured scene. This painting questions whether the couple have had a fight, with the woman's shoulder to the man, keeping him out, as well as the viewpoint of the painting; looking at the scene through the window as though someone is looking in on them, which gives the fish bowl sense of feeling.

This painting reminds me of a photograph of Yokomizo who uses photography and video to examine the relationship between herself and the other. Looking beyond the similarities of a usual photo to leave what remains unseen to its audience, she captures the unlikely encounter of photographer and subject in a way full of awareness and once again that sense of tension. Her series 'stranger' centers around a momentary confrontation between herself and the person within their window, in which both did not know each other, just by a note sent through the letter box of the subject saying - 'Be at your window - and what time e.g. 8:30pm'.