LO-FI ZINE Assignment : Task 5 : Presentation to staff & peers

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 3 & 5 : Examples of Photographs influenced by Art

1:

This is an example of how art has influenced photography. The photographer has copied the original painting of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci almost exactly. They have used a barbie to represent the Mona Lisa, fashioned her clothing in the same style and positioned it in the same pose as the original painting. I think that they have painted the background image and used it as a set to photograph the doll. The photographer has done a great job of modernising the iconic painting using the children's toy. 

2:

This photograph isn't an exact representation of the painting Crucifixion by Salvador Dali. I think the photographer has put quite a dark twist on the imitation of the painting. It is darker because the original image has quite a lot of yellows and browns in it, and this photograph by Bill Viola is mainly black with blues in it. The original painting shows how Jesus died on the cross, and this photograph could be representational of someone dying by drowning, in the same position that Jesus died. This photograph clearly shows a man jumping into water with his armed positioned like he was on a cross - this may have been the photographers intention or it may have just been a particular shot he liked and made the connection to the Crucifixion after the photoshoot.

3:

Here is an almost exact replica of the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. This was created as advertising for the film Girl with a Pearl Earring which was based on a book inspired by the painting. The book was written by Tracy Chevalier. Since they have tried so hard in making an exact representation of the original image, I think it's a shame that the model in the photograph (Scarlett Johansson) is slightly too face on to the camera and doesn't have as red lips as the girl in the original painting has. 

Here is another Barbie version of the painting.

4:

Here Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' has been adapted into a Vogue magazine photograph. It has been changed slightly as the colours are more purple than the traditional orange tones. This may have been to fit in with the fashion colours and trends that may be featured in the issue of vogue. I think this is very interesting and almost comical. Seeing this photograph makes me think that the person who originally inspired the painting by Munch could have been Asian like the model in this photograph, however, it's impossible to know and it was most likely just inspired by Munch's imagination. Like the Mona Lisa Barbie image, I think the background has been painted especially for this photograph and used as a set for the photoshoot. 

5.

Here is the 'Violin of Ingres' - another representation using the Barbie Doll. I have found from my research there are quite a few of these images around where photographers have used barbie's to imitate pieces of artwork. They are great modern representations of the timeless pieces and I find it fascinating how they seem to almost duplicate the image in modern form and manage to create almost the exact same backdrop and lighting that the original image had. I personally don't like the original image, I think it is very strange that the artist has seen the woman representational of a Violin. Oddly, I think the two images together (original painting and modern imitation photograph) work quite well.

Here is an interesting page on how Barbie has been used in a few imitations of art - called the Barbie As Muse series : 

http://dollhood.tumblr.com/tagged/barbie%20as%20muse

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 4 & 5 : Examples of how Art has been influenced by Photography

1.

These images were all created by Andy Warhol. I think they are screen prints of photographs of famous people - Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. Warhol had seen the photographs and screen printed them using different layers of colour to create these vibrant representations of the celebrities. He will have used the original images and traced different areas to create different layers of the mesh screen print templates. He has then layered them up to create these vibrant versions of the photographs. 

2:

Here is an artists impression of this photograph of Twiggy in the 1960's. Unfortunately I don't know the artist of the painting/illustration or when it was created. I like how they haven't just copied the photograph, they have changed the angle of Twiggy's face, changed her pose to leaning on her hand, etc. I like how they have used pastel colours and simplistic lines to create the outline of her face, the different strands of hair and her iconic eyelashes. They have imitated the photograph well as it is representational of her - as soon as I saw it I knew it was Twiggy.



3:

Here is another example of how photography has influenced art. This poster was part of Barrack Obama's campaign when running for President of America - it was iconic and widely seen all over the world. I believe this poster was created using screenprinting. The artist has used the colours from the american flag to create different layers of the President's head and shoulders. I really like this image and think the blending of colours works really well and makes the image aesthetically pleasing. I also like how the artist has altered the composition of the original photograph and the angle of Obama's head - making it more straight up than at an angle, this improves the aesthetics of the image. I think this image will remain iconic for centuries and everyone will recognise it as Barrack Obama. 

4:

Here photography has influenced art by Francis Bacon imitating the photograph of his partner and lover George Dyer. He has accurately represented parts of the original photograph - the angle of Dyer's head and neck, and parts of Dyer's face. He has made it abstract and quite dark by almost disfiguring the middle section of his face. I think this is partly representational of Dyer's life which heavily involved crime and alcoholism. This image says to me that Dyer was quite troubled by the things he got involved in, and he was lost and slightly a mess because of it. His early life largely involved crime, with him spending a lot of time in juvenile detention centres and jail. Later in life George Dyer became an alcoholic and would often go on big benders with friends. I think this image is quite sad because it reveals that Dyer's life was a bit of a mess and he was troubled with his problems.

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 9 : Impact of Photography on Art

Traditionally artists were employed to paint pictures of people as a way of remembering them and preserving their appearence for years to come. The painter would ask the sitter to stay in the same place sometimes for hours or even days. Painting was also used for creating art pieces for the church, documenting the worlds political and historical events, and capturing areas of the world on paper which could then be shown to other parts of the world.

When photography was invented and went public in 1839, it was a huge threat to the livelihood of painters as people and things could be captured more quickly and cheaply than painters could. This was a huge disappointment to artists/painters as they felt their jobs were no longer wanted. However, photography gave them the freedom to express themselves using different styles of art and experiment with different techniques. They weren't constricted to having to truly represent people any more, and didn't have to rely on accuracy to make their money.

When the camera obscura was invented, artists used it as an aid to painting to help correct and perfect perspective. This enhanced the quality of artists work and therefore helped them develop further in their skills. They would transport the camera obscura around using sedan chairs, this meant that they could capture landscapes in more detail as well as people.

Because of photography, artists were able to express themselves more, which lead to lots of different art movements. The first art movement that came about where artists really started expressing themselves in different ways was Impressionism (around 1870-1880). One of the biggest names in the impressionist movement was Claude Monet. He branched out from the traditional representational style of painting and used expressive brush strokes and thicker amounts of paint than what would be considered normal at the time to create his beautiful images of water and landscapes. His pieces were still slightly representational but less accurate and showed off colour and texture rather than show an accurate life like representation of the subject.

Here is an example of one of Monet's most famous paintings. It was after this style was invented that artists really started thinking outside the box, and letting their imagination have no limits when it came to art and expressing themselves. 

Photography meant that paintings didn't have to be mass produced and time and money didn't have to be spent creating the same pieces over and over again, an original piece could be photographed and printed millions of times to cater to a mass audience. This way artists could create more publicity for themselves as their artwork could be seen by people further away than who could attend a gallery or exhibition of their work. Someone in a different country may see an artists work because of a photograph that had been taken and want to buy more of the artists work. 

Digital technology impacted photography when the digital camera was invented. Photographer's no longer had to be so frugal with their shots, they could take as many as they wanted and not have to worry about wasting film. If they didn't like an image, they could just delete it. They also no longer had to rely on printing in the dark room. This was both time consuming and expensive. Before digitalization, photographer's would spend hours and hours in the darkroom developing and printing negatives, this was no longer necessary as they could just take photographs onto a memory card in the camera and upload them straight to the computer.

The internet also made a huge impact to the life of a photographer. They could create websites to advertise their work and use emails to contact clients. The internet is also a great way of photographer's gaining more publicity and therefore hopefully more work for themselves, enabling them to create a better career and lifestyle for themselves.

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 8 : De-constructing Images : Jim Patterson

The image that I have chosen to de-construct is of a seascape with water running over the rocks. The composition shows three free standing large rocks quite central in the image - this is aesthetically pleasing as things generally look better in odd numbers. The photograph was either taken at sunrise or sunset - this creates a gorgeous orange and purple light within the image. The image has been taken using a long exposure creating the soft water flowing over the rocks (almost looking like a painting). It was either taken on a very long shutter speed or the water was quite rough/moving quite fast as a lot of movement has been captured within the waves. I think Patterson is very likely to have actually been stood in the water with his tripod in the sand to capture this image. 

This photograph by Dennis Reddick is quite similar as it shows a moody sky with the silhouettes of the windmill and the flowers. It is similar to Patterson's photograph because the main focus of both of their photographs is the sky - they have both captured a beautiful hazey sky (either at sunrise or sunset), with a foreground subject which is darker to not draw too much attention off the sky.

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 8 : De-constructing Images : Phillipp Klinger

This photograph is of a tunnel/walkway. It reminds me of the type of walkway you would find at an airport or underground station. This photograph looks very modern with all the metal and glass. The photograph has been taken from a straight on central point of view. Because of this, the tunnel seems to disappear off into the distance, this leads the eye into the image. I think that the composition of the image makes it very strong, and a slightly off centred composition wouldn't have such a big impact. There isn't much colour within the image - it is quite dark/eerie with mainly hints of black, blue and grey. The image must have been taken with a small aperture (around F22) because there is a large depth of field and all of the image is in focus. I love the symmetry that has been created in this image. 

Here is an image of an impossible waterfall structure designed by M C Escher. Although this image looks nothing like the photograph taken by Phillipp Klinger, I am interested to look at his work because, like Klinger's work, Escher's work makes me want to look at it closely, and it amazes me into staring at it for a long time.

PAINTING2PHOTOGRAPHY Assignment : Task 2 & 7 : Research : Jim Patterson

Jim Pattersons work is mainly focused on landscapes and seascapes. His images are often very colourful but moody at the same time. I love how his images with water in are captured on a slow shutterspeed so the water looks almost seamless, softly flowing over rocks/sand. I think he often must choose to go to these places that he photographs either at sunrise or sunset. This helps him to capture the beautiful pinks, purples, blues and oranges. I think that his passion for seascapes and water really shows through his work and he does an excellent job of showing the Earth's beauty. From the way he captures colours in the sky, combined with the compositions and the time exposures, Patterson portrays these places as very quiet and tranquil, and almost mysterious. I think the thing that attracts me to Patterson's work the most are the stunning colours in his imagery. I also love his photographs taken underwater. The images fascinate me as I look at the interesting creatures that live down there. It's like Patterson is showing us a hidden world which we may forget about whilst we are living on land. He also uses lines quite a lot in his images of landscapes, from the lines in the sand on the dunes to the cracks in the dry land in the desert.