Statement of Intent
The theme of this project is 'Weird and Wonderful' my initial opinion about this assigned theme was I really interested which made me then want to aspire to acquire a high grade for this project. I plan on travelling down multiple paths to achieve a highly developed final outcome. This journey will include in depth analysis, artists research, high-standard bank of my own photographs, experiment with editing, and finally, have a good set of edited detailed photos.
For my research, I have chosen three photographers who have based their work around the theme of 'Weird and Wonderful', and two artists who focus on surrealism, which is an inner aspect in the project. The photographers that I have chosen are; Erik Johansson and Salvador Dali , I choose Johansson because his style of photography is definitely relevant to the topic. His photographs and edits are superbly well thought out, and they are a definite source of inspiration for my own photographs. Tom Ingberg is an incredibly well talented photographer and editor. I chose him as one of my inspirations because of his mysterious style which I can learn from. McKenney is my favorite photographer from the three I have chosen, as his edits and photos are incredibly done, with many photographic techniques applied to them, such as the rule of thirds, view points and white balance.Also while using Photoshop i aspire to use tools such as the clone stamp tool to duplicate a part of image, also to use tools such as the patch tool so i can edit the detail, colors and texture of my photo to ensure i get a highly edited photo.
For the routes I plan on taking, I can definitely see myself following in the footsteps of McKenney as his style is incredibly relevant to this topic, and he kind of goes along the 'fantasy' route, which I plan on going down. In order to progress, I plan on keeping a complete open and free mindset on the creativity of my ideas, sticking to a theme allowing the development to change throughout the project will allow me to achieve my end result and grade.
For equipment, I plan on using tripods of different variety to create new and unique angles to build a stronger portfolio. This will, if done correctly, can make my overall banks of photos look more professional and sophisticated. I also plan on using all props at my disposal, for example photo frames, mirrors and of course Photoshop to edit my pictures.
The knowledge that I have acquired from previous projects (i.e. campaign photography), to really boost my final grade and photographs. My analysis for this project should be strong and up to a high standard just like my previous projects. All of my analysis will be strong and bold, as this will help make my ideas and intentions clear and to-the-point.
For my research, I have chosen three photographers who have based their work around the theme of 'Weird and Wonderful', and two artists who focus on surrealism, which is an inner aspect in the project. The photographers that I have chosen are; Erik Johansson and Salvador Dali , I choose Johansson because his style of photography is definitely relevant to the topic. His photographs and edits are superbly well thought out, and they are a definite source of inspiration for my own photographs. Tom Ingberg is an incredibly well talented photographer and editor. I chose him as one of my inspirations because of his mysterious style which I can learn from. McKenney is my favorite photographer from the three I have chosen, as his edits and photos are incredibly done, with many photographic techniques applied to them, such as the rule of thirds, view points and white balance.Also while using Photoshop i aspire to use tools such as the clone stamp tool to duplicate a part of image, also to use tools such as the patch tool so i can edit the detail, colors and texture of my photo to ensure i get a highly edited photo.
For the routes I plan on taking, I can definitely see myself following in the footsteps of McKenney as his style is incredibly relevant to this topic, and he kind of goes along the 'fantasy' route, which I plan on going down. In order to progress, I plan on keeping a complete open and free mindset on the creativity of my ideas, sticking to a theme allowing the development to change throughout the project will allow me to achieve my end result and grade.
For equipment, I plan on using tripods of different variety to create new and unique angles to build a stronger portfolio. This will, if done correctly, can make my overall banks of photos look more professional and sophisticated. I also plan on using all props at my disposal, for example photo frames, mirrors and of course Photoshop to edit my pictures.
The knowledge that I have acquired from previous projects (i.e. campaign photography), to really boost my final grade and photographs. My analysis for this project should be strong and up to a high standard just like my previous projects. All of my analysis will be strong and bold, as this will help make my ideas and intentions clear and to-the-point.
Mirrors
Surrealism
"Surrealism has the definition that you give, but it doesn't describe a person or object, but instead an experience or feeling. You wouldn't normally describe someone or something as surreal, even if they are strange and unusual".
Salvador Dali
In this image I can see a clock which looks like it is melting away into the thin air. The painting shows a lot of textures and the different colors and the mood they give off. The object seems to be curving/falling off a table or an edge, this then fades into a beach in the bottom right corner. I think Salvador Dali is trying to portray the physical being of time, how you cannot hold it in your hand because it is always passing by. Dali has shown this by the clock breaking, twisting and melting into the air. Here Salvador has managed to metaphorically capture time in a painting. I believe this painting is so popular because it's something nobody has seen before ,I could use inspiration from the variety of textures Dali has used on the clock and the idea of 'melting' in my photography.
Erik Johansson
This picture that a Swedish surreal photographer created has a lot of things in the picture, things such as the color has a huge effect on me (the viewer) this is because more than two thirds of the photo is green which give off a cool and chilling mood. Also the photographer has manipulated the picture by using Photoshop to make it seem like the ground is flowing down which is really good in my opinion because its a center of attention the the person who is viewing the picture this is because of how strange the picture looks. Also the surface of the picture is smooth and calm which also adds to the mood.what I like about this picture Is that Its eye catching this is because the way the ground sinks and it looks like there is a rainfall of the grass from the field which Is extremely strange,Also what I think Is interesting Is the house with the windmill type thing how its just active on the edge of the rain fall of grass. What I want to take from this Is the eye catching.This photo has a rule of thirds this Is because 1/3 of the picture Is blue which Is the sky and the other 2/3 is green which Is the ground also the building of the wind mill type thing Is on one of the rule of third lines.
Rene magritte
Rene Magritte was born in 1898, to a wealthy manufacturer father. In 1912, his mom was found drowned in the River Sambre. She had committed suicide, and the family was publicly humiliated because of it. From 1916 to 1918, Rene decided to study at the Academie des Beaux-Art, which was located in Brussels. During the early period of his career, shortly following his marriage, Rene Magritte would spend the free time that he had, creating art forms and worked on a number of pieces; it was during this time period that he realized surrealism was the art form which he most enjoyed. The Threatened Assassin was one of his earliest pieces in 1926, which showcased the surrealist style which he had been working on; The Lost Jockey was another piece that he introduced in 1925, which also showcased this art form. Over the course of his career, he produced a number of variants on this piece, and changed the format to recreate what the viewer was experiencing.
Example of his work
Magritte painted The Son of Man as a self-portrait. The painting consists of a man in an overcoat and a bowler hat standing in front of a short wall, beyond which is the sea and a cloudy sky. The man's face is largely obscured by a hovering green apple. However, the man's eyes can be seen peeking over the edge of the apple.Another subtle feature is that the man's left arm appears to bend backwards at the elbow.
This painting was created in 1964 on a medium oil canvas, this tells us that its ins't a modern picture which means there will be a lot of differences in the style. This paintings differs to the other ones that where created during the 1960's for an example most of the other had flashy colours such as hot pink , yellow , light blue and green. The reason of using these colours where to attract the persons attention how ever with Magritte's painting they weren't eye catching , however if someone did look at the art work the mysterious idea behind them will be the attention seeker.
The apple hides the face partly well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling.
The artist Rene Magritte has done a lot of things to make the form of the painting either look weird or interesting, the artist painted this picture with regular paint which will give it the feel of it being usual however the content of the picture isn't which makes it seem weird and interesting at the same time. Also Rene also uses colors in the painting to also create effect of a optical illusion, he has done this by using colors such as blue,green,white outlines and black. At the top of the painting he uses a dark kind of blue which is a pretty color, however the painter the uses a lighter tone of blue on the lower sky with light clouds , then the painter uses a light green for the top bit of the ground the uses a darker tone green at the bottom. By doing this it makes it look like a pattern of dark to light then light to dark which shows that the artist has used the colors in order for a reason, the black right in the middle looks like a horizon which looks like the picture is more than we can see. The artist also uses techniques to make the picture seem interesting, the painter uses a lot of detail in the painting with soft strokes which makes the painting seem calm also by using the white helps show what the man is really holding it tells us that it is a optical illusion.
The artists context of the picture also make the painting look interesting in different ways. This is a painting which looks not that modern I know this from the hat painted on the mans head which is old fashioned. The artist has painted a man holding a newspaper with a regular background then has painted the background on to the newspaper so it will look invisible and strange. The painting is portrait as the painting is a rectangle. In my opinion i feel that this picture is representing how empty and see through people at that time are really are not physically but mentally, it could be because of the effect the war he on people. However i do think that this painting looks really realistic due to the perfect and soft painting. The message behind this picture can be anything how ever I think that the message behind this picture is that the effect of the war was huge.
All of these thing all will have an effect on what the person who views it. when I view this picture it makes me feel interested in what the other detail could represent, I feel like this because its a strange picture, the reason why this has an effect on me because of the theme of the picture. I really enjoy viewing these kind of pictures because of the style of painting.
Christian Hopkins
This photo which was created by Christian Hopkins, is an example of the weird and wonderful as this is an example of my ideas which is levitation through the manipulation of photoshop, by doing this the photographer wants to achieve the attention from the viewer.I really like McKenney's work, he explores dark, gothic fantasy, I can tell this is his theme because his photos don't look real, his subjects are there, but they are also not I think that his work is very inspired by things that would be found in hell . I think that his pictures represent demons, both internal and external. McKenneys use of lighting and framing are exquisite, the way that he has used positioning to bring forth his visions are inspiring. I like how he has used soil to frame the masked face, or how he has purposefully made the eye the focal point are very thrilling. I actually quite like his photos, they bend your minds perception.
Peter Mckinnon
Born : October 28, 1985
Nationality : Canadian
Professions : Filmography and Photography
Peter Mckinnon is a Full Time Photographer and Filmmaker who is self employed and takes a variety of different photos, he has taken photos for a many different Companies and Magazines as well as recorded adverts and mini films for businesses.
Photography and Cinematography is his Career so unlike most other photographers he doesn't just use one set of techniques or skills instead he uses a variety of different effects as well as takes inspiration from things he sees and makes everything as unique and creative as possible.
Plan
location: outside/park/long ford park
support: camera,mirror
time of the day : mid day
type of images; clear clean photos
I want to get pictures with mirrors and that i can Photoshop
support: camera,mirror
time of the day : mid day
type of images; clear clean photos
I want to get pictures with mirrors and that i can Photoshop
Photoshop 1
Final image
Photoshop picture 2
shoot 3
Photoshop picture 2
Photoshop picture 3
Evaluation
This year our project was 'Weird and Wonderful', and I chose the theme 'fantasy'. I thoroughly enjoyed this project as it opened up my mind to a new style of photography and different approaches to Photoshop editing techniques. Within this unit, I have experienced new ways to edit photographs (for example, how to make something that is seemingly 'unreal' appear incredibly life-like and pragmatic). I would further like to develop my understanding of photographer's intentions behind their 'Weird and Wonderful' pictures and truly understand the meaning and/or message that they are attempting to send across through their art. For this project, I researched three photographers and two artists that dabble in the 'Weird and Wonderful' area. They were; Christopher McKenney, Tommy Ingberg, Erik Johansson, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. My main source of inspiration during this unit was definitely Christopher McKenney. His pictures are incredibly well thought out and original, with a hint of mysterious nature, which I happen to enjoy. The technique that I love the most in McKenney's works is the use of common household objects to create illusions and tricks, for example, the use of a table cloth to create a ghost-like atmosphere.
I think that the most successful part of my process was unequivocally my edits. I believe that they certainly link back to my research McKenney's work, but they still have a form of originality too them. Such as my use of a stick to create a mystical feel, like what McKenney did with a table cloth and a brief case, except I took that general idea and I put my own little spin on it. I would say that the only big problem that I encountered in my project was the use of lighting in my photographs. It turned out to be quite hard to correct the lighting on my model photos to match the background images, so that when I pasted the model onto my background, it looked as though it was already like that when I took the pictures. This problem forced me to experiment with new editing techniques, which, I believe, helped shape my overall outcomes and helped me to experience new Photoshop skills that I can further develop in the near future. I think that my overall outcomes are free of faults to a certain extent. The editing is seamless, and the layers line up pretty much perfectly. However, the blurring techniques that I have used are pretty basic and unimaginative and if I was given a second chance to go back and edit these photographs, I would experiment further with blurring filters and techniques in order to achieve a more unique feel.
I think that the most successful part of my process was unequivocally my edits. I believe that they certainly link back to my research McKenney's work, but they still have a form of originality too them. Such as my use of a stick to create a mystical feel, like what McKenney did with a table cloth and a brief case, except I took that general idea and I put my own little spin on it. I would say that the only big problem that I encountered in my project was the use of lighting in my photographs. It turned out to be quite hard to correct the lighting on my model photos to match the background images, so that when I pasted the model onto my background, it looked as though it was already like that when I took the pictures. This problem forced me to experiment with new editing techniques, which, I believe, helped shape my overall outcomes and helped me to experience new Photoshop skills that I can further develop in the near future. I think that my overall outcomes are free of faults to a certain extent. The editing is seamless, and the layers line up pretty much perfectly. However, the blurring techniques that I have used are pretty basic and unimaginative and if I was given a second chance to go back and edit these photographs, I would experiment further with blurring filters and techniques in order to achieve a more unique feel.