Unit 2 - OpeningsOpenings such as doors and windows are important parts of the composition in some of the photographic work of Lee Friedlander and Andreas Gursky. Dragan Todorovic often uses the light that comes from openings, such as doors or windows, to emphasise a subject or to create a silhouette.
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Lee FriedlanderLee Friedlander would most times focus his work in street photography but there are some pictures that go into the theme of openings. I analysed these in order to get ideas. I started looking at a photographer because I didn't really know what to do so looking at someone else's work to get a thought.
I like the way he uses doors and windows to frame views of the world. A lot of his images are taken through car windows as he drives around the States. There are three types of opening here:
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Set #1 Triptych
I photographed the sky as the sun shined between the clouds. I liked the way the clouds opened up to reveal the light behind. I like the way the three pictures look together. I like the patterns made by the clouds and the light. I was inspired to do this by Alfred Stieglitz's famous Equivalents series (below). I've decided to keep my pictures horizontal rather than vertical. I think my pictures look more dramatic.
'Equivalents' by Alfred Stieglitz:
Typologies
Click the image below to visit my Typologies Pinterest board where I have gathered examples of photographic typologies:
Typology is a term used to refer to series of pictures about the same kind of thing in a repetitive fashion. Some photographers who have used this technique are Bernd and Hilla Becher and Ed Ruscha. Bernd and Hilla Becher photographed German Industrial Architecture (top and left), Ruscha did a typology of petrol stations (bottom right). This kind of approach to taking photographs interests me. It's like gathering lots of information which can then be compared and contrasted. You begin to notice small differences between things that seem very similar.
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Here is a short film about Ed Ruscha talking about his photography books. I wanted to explore the subjects dead ahead, straight on without much emotion. |
Set #2 Doors
I took these pictures around London. I was interested in collecting examples of doors from different buildings. I tried to stand in a similar position each time so that when the pictures were arranged afterwards I would be able to compare them. This wasn't always very easy.
Refining of Set #2
First I choose the picture that I liked most, then I imported it into Photoshop. I started trying different tools to improve the picture. First I tried tempering with the black and white tool to see how it looked with out colour. I didn't actually like the picture in black and white because it took away the vibrancy of the photo and I felt that it made it boring. Then I used the Threshold tool just to see how it looked with out any kind of shade, just the silhouette of the shapes in the door and the wall. This way you could see clearly what was going on with the paint, which helped me to understand what was painted because when you look at it at a first glance you are not sure what is it. Then I used the Hue tool which is used to change the hue and I created this series of pictures which I actually really like.
Development of Final Piece - Sri Lanka
I was lucky enough to visit Sri Lanka in the Easter holidays with my family. Whilst I was there I decided to photograph as many different doors and other openings into buildings as I could. I wanted to see how many different types I could find. Based on my experiments in London I tried to stand in a similar position each time photographing straight ahead. I took lots of images. When I got back to school I selected those that worked the best. I printed them in a range of sizes and experimented with different ways to arrange them for the exhibition. I decided not to change the colours too much in Photoshop because the sunshine helps to make the real colours vibrant anyway and I wanted to be able to compare the colours and shapes of the real buildings. Here are the most successful pictures.
Final Evaluation
I personally liked this theme because is the one that I represented best how I am and my style of photography.I chose openings over the other choices available because I liked the wide range of possibilities within the theme. I researched photographers that used the concept of typology, Bern and Hilla Becher and Ed Ruscha which focused on photographing a series of the same kind object such as petrol stations
At first I had no idea where to start but after brainstorming I realised that "Doors" was what I wanted to focus my ideas on so I approached the theme quite straightforward just by making sure that everything I photographed was a door or it had the same characteristics. To make my work consistent I have always used the same camera a Canon 600D and also something really important is that always that it was possible take the picture exactly in front of the door, this just helps my photos to be more consistent. The work of photographers Bern and Hilla Becher and Ed Ruscha helped me to correct my technique like standing always from the same angle and standing to a similar distance to the subject. I have also used the web page Pinterest which showed me the work of other people for better understanding.
The use of techniques has been a strong part of my work eve though I have not probably shown it that much. I mainly use Photoshop to do all the editing and tweaks, I like playing with contrast, brightness and HUE; but as well I use really light filters to improve pictures, I don't use strong filters because I like to leave the photograph as natural as possible and not artificial. I have also used an iPad app called Blux because I can change all the mentioned settings above while taking the picture so I can see how the picture is going to look like even before I have even take it. Another app that I have used is SnapSeed just because it has many settings like sharpness, noise level and edges.
I have used Weebly to record and organise my work in every way, this is a great way of keeping all work ordered and it's always there when you need it. I have not really been able too keep my blog up to date this is something I will improve.
Through out Unit 2 I have improved my technique and knowledge about photography. I'm really pleased with the outcome specially because its so unique and special because the photographs are from Sri Lanka which I took when I was on holidays. I love the colours of the final piece and I'm really proud. I think the sun brings out the best of the country and its beautiful landscape. At the start of the unit was hard and I had to do a lot of trial and error but I learned along the way from my errors and that's how I got to my final pieces. I will keep improving my photographic techniques to become the best that I can be so next time I can do even better.
At first I had no idea where to start but after brainstorming I realised that "Doors" was what I wanted to focus my ideas on so I approached the theme quite straightforward just by making sure that everything I photographed was a door or it had the same characteristics. To make my work consistent I have always used the same camera a Canon 600D and also something really important is that always that it was possible take the picture exactly in front of the door, this just helps my photos to be more consistent. The work of photographers Bern and Hilla Becher and Ed Ruscha helped me to correct my technique like standing always from the same angle and standing to a similar distance to the subject. I have also used the web page Pinterest which showed me the work of other people for better understanding.
The use of techniques has been a strong part of my work eve though I have not probably shown it that much. I mainly use Photoshop to do all the editing and tweaks, I like playing with contrast, brightness and HUE; but as well I use really light filters to improve pictures, I don't use strong filters because I like to leave the photograph as natural as possible and not artificial. I have also used an iPad app called Blux because I can change all the mentioned settings above while taking the picture so I can see how the picture is going to look like even before I have even take it. Another app that I have used is SnapSeed just because it has many settings like sharpness, noise level and edges.
I have used Weebly to record and organise my work in every way, this is a great way of keeping all work ordered and it's always there when you need it. I have not really been able too keep my blog up to date this is something I will improve.
Through out Unit 2 I have improved my technique and knowledge about photography. I'm really pleased with the outcome specially because its so unique and special because the photographs are from Sri Lanka which I took when I was on holidays. I love the colours of the final piece and I'm really proud. I think the sun brings out the best of the country and its beautiful landscape. At the start of the unit was hard and I had to do a lot of trial and error but I learned along the way from my errors and that's how I got to my final pieces. I will keep improving my photographic techniques to become the best that I can be so next time I can do even better.