My photography- what i was asked to do and how i responded

I've been ask to produce 9 quality photos, 3 in the studio and 6 otherwise. It took me a while, but i finally came up with an idea that i felt comfortable with. I decided to go with song lyrics. As the theme is 'youth cultures', i wanted to go with meaningful lyrics that could relate to teenagers. I used lyrics that could reflect their mood or their character.

The images below were my first testers away from the studio. I wanted to try and capture colourful backgrounds and i wanted to see if the text would stand out. I like the look and character the images give, but i think the busy backgrounds are distracting from the main purpose of the image.

Comparing the images with a wall background to a woodland background. I think the woodland background looks very nice, i like the dark background tones because it makes the person holding the sign standout. Although the tree background is distracting, i think the image is very nice. On the other hand the wall background isn't to distracting, but the use of lines on the wall is more eye drawing. The image it's self is good though.

Also comparing the street background to the other backgrounds. I think it looks okay, but it's not a great background to use, as the busy background is distracting. The background does give off more character though, but there are to many overwhelming colours going on. I think the colours don't compliment each other.

Contemporary and Historical Photographers

Gillian Wearing is a contemporary photographer. Gillian takes photos of people wearing masks and holding signs,for example "I'm desperate" is one of her most popular themes. Wearing had a small art gallery based in London and she uses people from the public in her work.

"Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say". This image of a man holding "I'm desperate sing" looks depressing, but even though he doesn't look desperate there is clearly a personal matter behind the photograph. (The man in the photograph says that he is desperate, and means it, but it looks as if he doesn't want to talk about it).

I like wearings style because it has meaning, and it gets you thinking about what that main person might be going through.
It's simple and full of character. Wearing has used colour, she has used colour by making the image not negative. The right part of the background is blurry, but you can make out what it is.

The mans sign says "I like to be in the country" and the womans sign says "the last holiday abroad was nice, but i can't afford it". This photo's message is saying that the man has more and is financially fine. Maybe because of her gender, the image is trying to say that men are always better off, and that woman don't get as much as men. Like "I like to be in th country" the wording is worded, as if he goes there all the time, like it's not really a big deal and it's natural for him. Where as "the last holiday abroad was nice, but i can't afford it" the woman in photo has worded it by saying that she only gets a holiday then and there and it's like a treat to her, if shes lucky.

The photo consists of colour, the colour has been used by not having the image in back and white (negative). The background isn't blurred, everything is clear. The path that the man is standing on is clean and is cut off from the other path. The woman has more space, like that's all she has. The line to the write of the mans foot, is a leading line, which leads the eye to him.

Alfred Stieglitz is a historical photographer. He died July 13, 1946 (aged 82).

This photo by Alfred is in black and white. He has made the photo look retro, around the woman the atmosphere is smoky. The first thing that your eyes are drawn to are the womans eyes. The flowers to her right help direct, to the center, where her eyes are.
The woman is in a chilled position, but she doesn't look relaxed, she looks tired and stressed. She looks done up to be something shes not.

I like this photo because, you can see in her eyes that she has lived a dramatic life. I love the smoky effect because, it gives that vintage feel.

Alfred has used black and white. The white on the sign, instantly tells you the purpose of this photo. "Blind" the woman in this photo is blind and clearly is proud of herself. Her wearing the sign shows that she wants others to know and understand. The sign makes her look like she wants help, like she wants someone to notice her. Alfred has made her look like shes been waiting for something and still is waiting.

The I in the word Blind, drags the viewers eye up to her face, even though she isn't looking directly at the camera. Her eyes are the first thing you look at, because of the sign.

Mario Testino is a contemporary photographer.

This photo taken by Mario is fantastic! The very first thing that you notice is Emma's eyes. There is direct eye contact, which makes the photo look stunning. He has used a sepia effect for the background and Emma's hair. This brings out her face more. Emma's pose is saying "hey, you know who i am and I've done it all".
This photo is full of character and i love it. There's light reflecting on to the left side of her face, which brings out the small details around her eyes and the lines on her lips.

Mario's picture is in black and white. The black and white effect brings out small details once again. She is clearly advertising clothing, as Mario takes fashion pictures. This is clear because her clothes are nice and they are all on show (well the top half is).
Mario has used eye contact, which makes the image personal. The white on the womans top is the first thing you notice before the eyes, but the white does move your eyes upwards.

I like this image because, it's fun and happy, even though the emotion is fake.

Art Wolfe is a contemporary worker.

Wolfe has taken his photo in colour, he has focused the aperture in the middle, which highlights the main person. Wolfe's background is slightly blurred, but you can make out whats in the distance. I like the way he's captured the candles because, it gives off a warmth to the photo. As the atmosphere is cold (because it's by the sea) the lights coming of the candles, reflect on the girls face which makes her look and feel warm. The warms comes off her face.

One again Wolfe has taken this photo in colour, although there is no blur. I like this photo because where the one man is looking to his right, it reminds me of someone standing out from the crowd. I think that Wolfe might be trying to explain, that not everybody is focused on the same things that most other people are. There is kind of a pattern because, the hats are in lines, which makes it look neat.

Gerald Waller is a historical photographer.

"Six-year-old Austrian boy “Werfel” receiveing a new pair of shoes at the Am Himmel orphanage, donated by the Junior Red Cross in America." I love the emotion in this picture, as this boy didn't have much, his heart is fully content by receiving a new pair of shoes. Waller has taken the photo in black and white, the right side of the photo is slightly blurred, but you can make out what's there. The texture is smooth.

 "Katherine Switzer, the first woman to ever finish the Boston Marathon. She had to try harder than anyone else to complete the race, here you see the race organizers trying to stop her from competing, 1967." Waller has taken this photo in black and white. In the far distance the background is blurred. I like this photo because Katherine is a legend! I love the fact that she basically took a stand and said "woman are just as good as men".

Francis Miller is a historical photographer.

 Miller has taken this photo in black and white. It has been taken in a studio. From my research this photo was taken for a suitcase advert. I like the fact that Miller took it in a way, so you knew it was in a studio and not make it look really professional. The shadows on the wall dray your eye to the womans face, then followed by the mans face.

Typographic artist- Contemporary Workers

Contemporary workers

Craig ward

 Craig has used different colours that compliment each other. They are in short sentences and go down diagonally. The background is plain and white. Craig has used the same font for each word and has made the text small or larger than the other, so it looks different. I like the fact that the colours aren't overwhelming, or distracting. The colours make you feel warm.

This image has a plain background, which again compliments the colour of the text. The text says "another oil spoil" which goes with the way he's made the text look. The text looks like oil has been knocked over. 

Robert Bringhurst

 This piece shows a young boy standing on text that makes him taller. He is looking up at a spider hanging down, the spider is right by his nose. "what is the worst thing to lose as we get older" this text shows that the boy is still living while he's young. He is discovering new things and where the text pushes him up, it shows that he can be as tall as he likes and still be young. 

This piece is very much like the other one above. Robert uses character in his work. The text that he uses has meaning and the imagery with it, fits perfectly. "u r like a dream for me like a child catches a moon" on top of the text is a young boy, he his reaching for the moon. This imagery just backs up the text. I think it's fantastic.

Christopher Clark

'Every little things not gonna be alright' where Clark has used flowers inside of the text. He shows that there could be hope. He has used a dark background, which makes the bold text stand out. To make up the text Clark has used small shapes that look like leaves to make up the work.

William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896), artist, philosopher and political theorist, was one of the most outstanding and influential designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement and through his company, Morris & Co., he produced some of the most fashionable and exciting textiles and wallpapers.

 Morris image has been broken down with lines, which form a light looking grid. The lines make the image look like a jigsaw puzzle. The image consists of flowers and leaves. The stem of the flowers are curving, which makes the eye follow up the image. Morris has used colours that would normally be on a flower or leaf, Green (different shades of green) White, blue and brown. I like this because It's different, the colours go will and nothing is standing out to much. The colours sink in well together.

Morris has made this image mirror like, the birds are back to back. The colours that Morris has used are, blue, brown, white and green. The image consists of birds, flowers and stems. I love the pattern because it's full of detail. The texture is smooth.

Morris has a plain cream background, which makes the bright flowers stand out. I like the random layout, it looks like it should be in a garden. He has used, white, orange, purple and red. The back ground has little rigid lines. I love the colours, but I'm not to keen on the paleness.

Giles Miller Studio

Giles Miller-Surface Design: Using Texture and Reflection.
Giles H miller Is a historical worker Miller died (1902 or 1903 – 2005).

 Miller has used different tones of brown. The texture of the brown looks like chocolate. There is a on going pattern, the pattern turn in different directions, so that they don't face each other, the shapes reflect off one another. I don't really like this piece because i find this sort of artwork boring, but i do love it's texture.

Millers image consists of grids. The angles allow imagery with multiple shades to be drawn in the surface and resulting in a textured surface that truly dazzles the viewer. Miller has used colours of Red and cream white. I like this piece because i like the fiery red.

Miller has used the colour gold, but where the pallets are at an angle, they reflect of each other which makes the colour on some pallets look darker. There are cracks on the pallets, other than the composition of the shapes, the cracks make a pattern. The form of the cracks look like broken glass. I like this piece mainly because of the cracks on the pallets.

Timney fowler

Timney fowler's type of surface design is fabric. Fowler is a contemporary worker.

Fowler's image is blocked off in to a grid like format. The colours are plain, fowler has used white, black and a hint of Grey. The Grey around the edges compliments the statues in the image, it reflects the small pieces of detail. The Grey also draws your eyes to the statues. There's not really a continuous pattern, the only form of pattern Is the lines that make up a grid.

Fowler has used many forms of pattern. Fowler has used small scales on the fish and lines coming from where the fish tail would normally be. Fowler has used many shapes, like squares and circles. There are shapes inside of a bigger square. The square looks like a blanket, the texture is smooth, but looks rigid. Fowler has used a range of colours, the colours don't really compliment each other, they stand out all by themselves. The yellow background, makes the fish stand out because the fish is a blacky blue. Fowler has used yellow, orange, blue, black, white, pink, purple and green.

 Fowler has used two colours white and Grey. There are some leading lines in this image, the lines takes your eyes, up and across the buildings. The buildings in this image look like the have been flipped and moves a little higher than the original copy. The texture is smooth. The image looks 3 dimensional.

Songs that made a difference.

Smoke on the water- Deep purple.
Anarchy- The sex pistols
Killing in the name of- Rage against the machine.
Sing- My chemical romance
 A change is gonna come- Martin luther king
We don't have to take our clothes off- Jermaine Stewart

                                                   I have chose smoke on the water:

We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky

They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky

We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty cold and bare
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
Making our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We make a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky

Lucienne day

Lucienne Day does work on carpets, wallpapers, tea towels and ceramics as well as textiles. Day is not a contemporary worker, she died at the age of 93. She died in 2010 the 30th of January.
Inspired by abstract art, Day launched the use of bright, optimistic, abstract patterns in the post-war England and was eventually celebrated worldwide. Lucienne was a textile designer.

Day has used three colours, white, black, blue and green. There is use of leading lines, drawing your eyes to the center of the image. The use of pattern is strokes across the blocks on colour. The lines have flick and splodges over them to make them look like plants. I don't really like this because i feel that it's to simple.

The use of colours are, red, white and blue. I like the composition of the colours because, they are mirror like. The pattern is just lines diagonal from each other. The texture is smooth. I like this because it's different. I like the way it's mirrored.

The use of colour is black and white. It's simple, but the black line patterns make it stand out more. The patterns are lines that are overlapping and going in different directions. The surface texture is rough. I like the overlapping of the lines, it looks really 3D like. I love the ways the lines overlap to make more shapes. I think that Day has made a good choice of not using anymore colours I think if more colours were added then it wouldn't look good.

Rob Ryan

Rob Ryan is a contemporary worker. Ryan is a visual Artist, he does screen printing and paper cutting. He is most famous for his paper cut outs.

Ryan has used circles for his pattern around the edge of the picture. The surface looks bumpy and the texture is itchy. He has used text, which sums up the image. He has only used two colours, which compliment each other. The Black and white are simple but effective.  I really like this image, because it's very sweet. I also really like the pattern, as i do that in my own personal work.

Ryan has used pattern he has done repetition of flowers and love hearts. The texture and surface is smooth. His use of colour is nice, it's relaxed. The pattern is used to created bigger love heart, you have to look twice to notice them. I like the patten, but i don't really like the use of just one colour, my eyes don't know where to look first. It would be nice if, there was something drawing me in to the center. 

Ryan has used two colours, black and white. He has a stem pattern with leaves coming off, this if very nice.The surface texture is smooth. I like this very much. I like the composition, because it's not to distracting. There's a lot going on, but it really fits in and doesn't draw you away from anything. The writing is big and bold and i think it looks great.