Monday 29 September 2014
Tone Image Bank
When photographers refer to the word tone, they are talking about the difference between the lightest and darkest areas of the environment around them. As seen in many of the photos I have included in my image bank, this does not necessarily mean colour, for it could be shades of black and white that are the same tone. There is one coloured photo of leaves, which could be described as having the same 'tone', despite them being entirely different colours. This is because they have the same brightness and vibrancy, so if the picture was edited to be a black and white photo, we would assume the leaves were the same colour due to the fact that they have the same tone.
Sunday 28 September 2014
Jerry Uelsmann
Jerry Uelsmann:
The second photographer I have chosen to write about is Jerry Uelsmann. In this detailed log, I will be writing about who Jerry Uelsmann is, what it is about his photography that I like, why I have chosen him, how his work relates to any of the formal elements commonly used by photographers and what style of photography he uses to his advantage.
The first photograph taken by Jerry Uelsmann that I saw was one of his surreal pieces of work. It depicts a person's hands cupped together, holding what appears to be a puddle of water, with droplets falling into it. This photo cannot be captured under normal circumstances, so it is evident that some effects have been put on this photograph. I particularly like photos with effects more than ordinary photos, for photographs with effects can have a much larger variety of style available.
There are two formal elements that are evident within his style of photograph. The first one is reflection. The hands in the photo have been edited with a reflection, or mirroring effect. Reflection is simply the physical replication of something, so in terms of trying to get his part of his photograph to appear reflective, I think Jerry Uelsmann has done very well. Also, the use of water is clever, because water usually shows the reflection of something. However, the background of the image is not reflected in the same fashion, so maybe the idea of reflection was not entirely the intention for this photo for Uelsman.
The second formal element evident is tone. This is because we automatically assume that we'll see blue when we see a lake, or brown and green when we see trees, but Jerry Uelsmann has flipped our initial interpretation by changing the tone of the photo to black and white. I like this style of work because of it's uniqueness, and it is quite unlike any other photographer I have seen, or included in my research log.
He uses many of the formal elements in other pieces of his work, such as depth, in pictures such as this one:
Overall, I like the style of photography that Jerry Uelsmann captures/edits, and it is very much influential to me, because I enjoy editing photos, so I can now see how to do it in a manner that is considered artistic. Another example of a photograph I am partial towards is this one:
The second photographer I have chosen to write about is Jerry Uelsmann. In this detailed log, I will be writing about who Jerry Uelsmann is, what it is about his photography that I like, why I have chosen him, how his work relates to any of the formal elements commonly used by photographers and what style of photography he uses to his advantage.
The first photograph taken by Jerry Uelsmann that I saw was one of his surreal pieces of work. It depicts a person's hands cupped together, holding what appears to be a puddle of water, with droplets falling into it. This photo cannot be captured under normal circumstances, so it is evident that some effects have been put on this photograph. I particularly like photos with effects more than ordinary photos, for photographs with effects can have a much larger variety of style available.
The second formal element evident is tone. This is because we automatically assume that we'll see blue when we see a lake, or brown and green when we see trees, but Jerry Uelsmann has flipped our initial interpretation by changing the tone of the photo to black and white. I like this style of work because of it's uniqueness, and it is quite unlike any other photographer I have seen, or included in my research log.
He uses many of the formal elements in other pieces of his work, such as depth, in pictures such as this one:
Jerry Uelsmann has inspired me greatly in terms of looking at the many ways in which I can edit a photograph that I have captured. There are many photographs that I wouldn't have thought could look nice in a black and white style had I not already seen, through Jerry Uelsmann's work, how these sorts of styles could look nice. I really enjoy the editing part of photography as well, so Uelsmann's work has been interesting to analyse. One of my computer experiments is an example of work that is similar to the work of Jerry Uelsman. I like this photograph, for the top of the pole can be said to look similar to the moon.
To summarise, I like the oddness of the work that Jerry Uelsmann creates. Nothing is predictable because it come entirely from his mind, and has never been done before. This creativity along with the surreal side of his work both really work for me, therefore making him one of my favourite photographers that I have analysed so far.
Overall, I like the style of photography that Jerry Uelsmann captures/edits, and it is very much influential to me, because I enjoy editing photos, so I can now see how to do it in a manner that is considered artistic. Another example of a photograph I am partial towards is this one:
Jay Maisel
Jay Maisel:
The first photographer I have chosen to write about in detail is Jay Maisel. In this detailed log, I will be writing about who Jay Maisel is, what style of photography he uses, why I have chosen him, what it is about his photography that I like, and how his work relates to any of the formal elements commonly used by photographers.
The first photo I saw of Maisel's work was of what appears to be the inside of a clock tower. I immediately liked this photo because of the contrast of colours used within it. The majority of the photo appears to be black and white, so I had assumed that the photo was taken with that effect in mind, or that it was taken before coloured photography was introduced, but as I continued to observe the photo, my attention was taken outside the window in the photo. There was, as I had previously missed, colour in the photo, showing the buildings and sky outside. I began looking at more of his work, and decided that due to this style of photography, I would be writing about him in my detailed log. Here is the first picture of his that I saw:
I mentioned briefly earlier about contrasts in colour, and how they are effective. These effects can be linked to two of the formal elements. The first is, obviously, colour. The fact that I had to look more than once to see that the photo was not in fact a black and white photo means that the use of colour was discreet. This is effective, because usually our attention is brought immediately to any signs of colour, yet when I first looked at the picture, the black and whiteness of the clock was the first thing I paid any attention to, meaning this photograph is quite controversial and unlike many other photographs by famous photographers.
There is a second formal element involved that is not connected to the colour or shade used within the photograph. This formal element is 'shape'. The clock portrays three circles, two of which were constructed as the outer layer of the clock face, and the other as the inner layer. In between each of the layers, there are roman numerals to, obviously, indicate the time, (although roman numerals are more 'shape-like' than numbers). There are other formal elements evident in other photographs Maisel has taken, such as the element of reflection, which is evident in this one:
The third formal element used is slightly similar to colour, yet is used in an entirely different way. This is the element of tone. Seeing as tone is basically the range of light to dark in part of an image, the definition of it suits the photograph perfectly, for that is what it is portraying. However, it could be argued that because the white is a more vibrant shade than any of the colours shown outside, the photograph is not controversial, because the whiteness is the closest thing we connect to colour due to it's vibrancy.
To conclude, formal elements have been used within Jay Maisel's work to a great extent to improve the effectiveness of his photography. I personally like these effects, and I think they have worked very much in his favour due to the popularity of his photography, and how much money he has earned from it. Here is another picture that I am partial towards by Maisel:
The first photographer I have chosen to write about in detail is Jay Maisel. In this detailed log, I will be writing about who Jay Maisel is, what style of photography he uses, why I have chosen him, what it is about his photography that I like, and how his work relates to any of the formal elements commonly used by photographers.
The first photo I saw of Maisel's work was of what appears to be the inside of a clock tower. I immediately liked this photo because of the contrast of colours used within it. The majority of the photo appears to be black and white, so I had assumed that the photo was taken with that effect in mind, or that it was taken before coloured photography was introduced, but as I continued to observe the photo, my attention was taken outside the window in the photo. There was, as I had previously missed, colour in the photo, showing the buildings and sky outside. I began looking at more of his work, and decided that due to this style of photography, I would be writing about him in my detailed log. Here is the first picture of his that I saw:
I mentioned briefly earlier about contrasts in colour, and how they are effective. These effects can be linked to two of the formal elements. The first is, obviously, colour. The fact that I had to look more than once to see that the photo was not in fact a black and white photo means that the use of colour was discreet. This is effective, because usually our attention is brought immediately to any signs of colour, yet when I first looked at the picture, the black and whiteness of the clock was the first thing I paid any attention to, meaning this photograph is quite controversial and unlike many other photographs by famous photographers.
There is a second formal element involved that is not connected to the colour or shade used within the photograph. This formal element is 'shape'. The clock portrays three circles, two of which were constructed as the outer layer of the clock face, and the other as the inner layer. In between each of the layers, there are roman numerals to, obviously, indicate the time, (although roman numerals are more 'shape-like' than numbers). There are other formal elements evident in other photographs Maisel has taken, such as the element of reflection, which is evident in this one:
The third formal element used is slightly similar to colour, yet is used in an entirely different way. This is the element of tone. Seeing as tone is basically the range of light to dark in part of an image, the definition of it suits the photograph perfectly, for that is what it is portraying. However, it could be argued that because the white is a more vibrant shade than any of the colours shown outside, the photograph is not controversial, because the whiteness is the closest thing we connect to colour due to it's vibrancy.
Although he hasn't had a huge effect on the ways in which I take photographs, Jay Maisel has definitely opened my eyes to new forms of taking photos that I don't think I could have figured out prior to discovering him. For example, the styles used in his photograph of the clock and the wine glasses are quite basic, until you look at them in more detail. At first glance, the clock is literally just a clock, but with more observation, you can see the detail outside the window. Also, the wine glasses reflect the buildings of what appears to be a city, which also requires the ability to pay attention to small detail. Jay Maisel's work tends to be very symbolic, and an example of one of my photographs that mirrors such symbolism is from my shape shoot. This is the photograph:
To summarise, Jay Maisel has had somewhat of an influence on how I view certain photographs in photography, but has not necessarily had much of an effect on how I physically take any of my photographs. Despite the fact that I do like the style used in much of Maisel's work, I don't intend to try and replicate it in any way, for it is not the style that I would like to pursue throughout my photography course.
To conclude, formal elements have been used within Jay Maisel's work to a great extent to improve the effectiveness of his photography. I personally like these effects, and I think they have worked very much in his favour due to the popularity of his photography, and how much money he has earned from it. Here is another picture that I am partial towards by Maisel:
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