Cartier-Bresson Analysis.

The content of this photo is obvious to the eye. It is composed of 7 figures, sitting on what seems to be a field. The figure in the utmost foreground (an old man) is sitting completely upright, and seems to be staring down towards the ground, or his hands, depending on which way you look at it. The 6 figures behind him are all in a lying down position, or close to it, but none are fully upright in the manner that he is. A large shadow is cast by an off-camera object, and covers the top ¾ of the photo, leaving only a small part of the photo in sunlight, or what seems to be sunlight. In my opinion, the first thing that strikes me about the use of form in this photo is the use of shadow. As the shadow intensifies from background to foreground, the figures seem to be more and more upright, to the point where the one man is completely upright. This links in to the idea of a time-line, which I will talk about later on. Another thing that strikes me about this photo is the use of tone, and contrast. The jet black of the man's suit, as well as trousers, stands out from the rest of the content, and, once noticed, blends in well with the dark blacks of the figures behind him.

There are several formal elements being used in this photo, such as:
Texture
Tone
Space
and
Depth Of Field.

The texture of the surface gives the photo a much more organic and natural feel, and adds to the atmosphere of the photo; as if it was taken on a whim.. It is hard to determine whether Cartier-Bresson wanted all of these formalities to come out in his photograph, or whether it was all purely incidental. The answer to that, however, may never be known to us. The use of tone (e.g the jet black of the man's suit, dotted with mud-stains, and the black clothing of the figures around him, from centre to background) leads the eye of the viewer, and draws their attention to specific parts within the photograph. This use of tone also enables us to notice absolutely everything about the photograph, leaving nothing unseen. The space between the figures present in the photograph also leads the viewer's eye, causing them to look from the back ground to the foreground, coming to the final figure in front, and solidifying any ideas that the viewer may have about the themes of the photo. The tonal values of the photo are very differentiating, coming from the light greys present in the background, where the empty ground is fully immersed in sunlight, to the much harsher blacks of the foreground, and of the centre.

From the use of shadow present, we can deduce some form of emotional context for the man, and for the photo. For example, one way in which the form and content work together to create meaning, is creating a sense of isolation. The main figure in the foreground has a lot more space in between himself and the person behind him, in relation to the person behind him and the people in the background. This space creates a sense of isolation, and this feeling of isolation is deepened by the body language of the main figure (E.g. looking straight down into the ground, sat up straight, shoulders hunched). Another way in which meaning is conveyed is the use of tone and line combined. In the background, where the aforementioned shadow begins, there is a clear divide between the 2nd and 3rd figures, caused by the lines of the shadow. This divide could represent a metaphorical change in emotional state, or in self-awareness. For example, from the background to the foreground, the figures all have different states of “awake” (e.g. flat to the ground in the background, and fully upright in the foreground). These different states of “Awake” could represent the passing of the man’s life; the timeline from start to finish, and finally realising what everything that's been accomplished in life is all about. This idea could be re-enforced by the contemplative emotion and body language present on the foreground figure. Another way that this photo could be interpreted is insinuating a sense of awareness of surroundings. For example, just past the boundary of the shadow, one man is propped up onto one arm, as if he had noticed something in the background. The two figures past him, are both lying down, until finally, we reach the foreground figure, who looks deeply involved in feelings of remore and regret. These feelings of regret could originate from having realised that he has missed out on parts of life; parts of life that he will never be able to live again. This proposed idea ties in with the idea of several stages of metaphysical awakening.
Another way in which space is used is the scattering of figures, be it natural or set-up, from left to right. These figures could, metaphorically, represent thoughts. In a vague sense, the field could be a part of the main figure's mind, and the people behind him, are the thoughts inside his head, taking up space. The scattering of the people could represent confusion,and the deep look of consideration on the man's face could be related to him trying to figure why exactly the thoughts are so scattered, or why they are there to begin with.

Photo Project : Long Exposures

This was the product of around 7 tries at one shot. The thing that I liked about this photo in particular, was that the different levels of the "waterfall" are all represented, and the dull white of the water is broken by the individual cane of bamboo, adding a burst of colour to the otherwise dull tones of grey and white of the water.
The photo was shot with a 70-210 lens, attached to a Canon 550D. with a polarizing filter added to attain the slowest shutter speed possible, without overexposing the photo.

To create this effect, I first had to lower the ISO speed o the lowest possible value. This is so I could obtain the lowest shutter speed possible. I changed the mode to "Shutter Priority", and adjusted the aperture to the widest possible. Once I had adjusted everything, I was given a shutter speed of around 5 seconds. I mounted the camera onto a tripod, and took the photo, while the camera was completely stable.

Our Group Project: What we intended.

When thinking about our group project, we tried to imagine what our combined work would actually look like. After thinking about this, we decided on our final exhibitional method, a Prezi presentation. However, before all the presentation, we needed to consider how our combined work was going to come together. So, we decided on a sub-theme of light and dark. Between us, we had two shots that we could consider light, and two shots that we could consider dark. By using this sub-theme, we wanted to indicate that our photos are intertwinned with eachother, and that they aren't just random shots, taken in the middle of no-where, without any planning or due care taken. It is for this reason, that I believe that our group work is so effective.

What are Subject, Content and Form?

Subject : The theme of a piece of work or project which leads us to a primary meaning.
Content : The concrete, identifiable, undeniable aspects that carry the meaning of a piece or project.
Form : The means through which subject and content are unified and presented. Form Includes:
Line
Shape
Space
Value
Texture
Colour
Tone
Quality Of Light
-and-
framing.

Photographic Montage Project: Light

Photo Montage Project.

Original Idea

My original idea was based around the theme of light. When I was trying to think up a concept, I began to think a little more abstractly rather than just stick with the norm. With this, I decided to opt for a more physical way of presenting light, and so, went with my third idea, which was suspending cardboard light-bulbs from my ceiling, and coating them in tin-foil to provide a rudimentary texture. The idea worked to my advantage, because the shape of the light-bulb wasn’t too defined, so when it came to audience research, and finding out what people thought of my piece, it was open to interpretation. The idea started out as mounting the light-bulbs on a wall with picture hangers, but then evolved into suspending them from the ceiling, to give the piece a little more substance, and to add to the abstract nature.

In my own opinion, the subject of the photo was open to interpretation. I wanted to achieve this effect to give people a little more freedom in terms of what the photo actually meant to them, instead of sticking to a rigid definition of what I wanted it to mean. The subject of the photo that I wanted people to realise was light, and it’s physical representation. However, people made many different interpretations of what it was, which I believed was a good thing. When shooting, the subject came out just the way I wanted. After shooting around 30 shots, I realised that the final shot that I presented was by far the best.
The content of the photo was also subject to a lot of different interpretations. I knew, in my own mind, that the content was light-bulbs suspended from the ceiling using nylon string. However, to someone that had never seen the photo before, or had any idea of what it was supposed to represent, might have seen something completely different.
When I was coming up with my final idea, I wanted to have a defined outlook on shape. This meant that I wanted to put a little more attention into the sharpness of my lines, and making sure that everything could be seen easily.
In terms of form, the lines remained defined throughout the shoot. However, the nylon string was lost in the shooting process, which I thought was a welcome effect in the photo. Without the strings, it gives the photo a feel of weightlessness, which I thought worked to my advantage. Colour was also something that I wanted to take into consideration when shooting. This way, I could take the “dull” nature of the photo (Silver against Black), and inject it with some colour, provided by the lens flare effect.
My original audience was adults aged 31-40, who were interested in art, and contemporary photography. I chose this audience because I believed that the contemporary feel of my work would appeal to people in that field of work, or interest. My audience was niche, in the way that not many people are interested in fine art photography.

Production

When I was firmly stuck into the production, I started to work with the different elements of camera controls (Shutter Speed, ISO, etc).This gave me a lot more control over what I was actually shooting. So, instead of having a bland, simple photo, I was able to develop the elements of it a lot more, though the use of advanced functions. Another element of the photo that had evolved during the photographic process was how the light-bulbs were actually suspended. I had originally been using ordinary string, however, after one of these fell down, I sought a new method of keeping the light-bulbs suspended. And so, I started to experiment with (much darker) nylon string. By using this, I was able to achieve the fact that the bulbs were floating mid-air. Through changing the string that I used, I was able to give the photo an entirely different feel.
By changing tiny things about the photo, I was able to create new things that wouldn’t have been seen before. For example, without changing the camera settings, I wouldn’t have been able to create the lens flare effect, which consequently gave the photo a much needed burst of colour. The form of the photo was also changed by these small details, in the way that much more emphasis was placed on colour and texture, rather than the shadows created by the bulbs.
After careful consideration, I decided to change my target audience. Through audience research, I discovered that art students were far more receptive in terms of decoding the meaning of my photo, and be able to appreciate the use of colour etc at the same time.

Exhibition

As a group, we have opted to deliver our combined work via a Prezi presentation. We decided to show our work in this way, so that the audience can gain a little more information in terms of our thought processes, etc. We originally thought that we would show it in a print fashion, by printing out each of our photos and mounting them onto A3 paper. However, after further deliberation, we decided that a digital medium would be the best way to present our collaboration. We felt that a Prezi would be the best means of presentation, because of the unique way that information can spin and leap across the page. This would be a much more innovative way of showing our presentation when compared against the traditional print media, or PowerPoint presentation.
To assess our audience’s response to the presentation, we’ll ask some questions at the end of the presentation. These questions will enable us to gauge just how the audience felt after the presentation accurately.

This is my individual contribution to the group project, on the theme of light

Photo Montage Project: Light.

This is the Prezi that my group created to display our work on the theme of light.

Photography Light/ Reflection Project on Prezi