Assignment FOUR.


For this assignment, we are use methods of photo montage/photogram to create a surrealistic piece entitled "Urban Fantasy."


I started by brainstorming what the urban life is about. I start to think about how in the urban city working people back stab one another to climb up the corporate ladder. How relationships between people are becoming less secure, where more and more young single individuals are treating relationships as a game. How urban city dwellers are trapped in the rat race of earning to live and living to earn.

I picture the suburban as the ideal. The carefree suburban lifestyle where people can escape from the rat race and truly enjoy life. Where the worries of daily living stop taking precedence over the fulfillment of personal dreams.

Thus I conceptualize where urban city dwellers are like people trapped in a cage. The cage symbolizes the urban lifestyle where every one is caught in a rat race, and where people cannot fulfill their idealized dreams.

The clouds and the sky symbolize the ideal, the unreachable. The clouds are seen to be life pieces in a jigsaw puzzle that is falling apart and downwards. This symbolizes how the people's idealistic dreams are falling apart.

In linguistic study of graphics, what is placed at the top is often seen as the ideal. And what is placed at the bottom is seen as the real. Hence the clouds are placed on top. And in traditional landscape, grass is usually at the bottom. But this time round, replacing grass is stiff wooden fence, further fencing up the cage, and preventing people inside the cage to escape.


For the making of this assignment, I used both photography and photogram.


First I took photographs of the sky.




And then I bought a tiny cage, and scanned it such that it becomes a photogram.




I also bought a miniature wooden fence and scanned it to become a photogram.




Lastly I took photographs of myself.










I then pieced the photographs and photograms together.





That's all.
:)

Blog exercise FIVE.


For this exercise, we're to tackle two questions that target specifically to the area of ethics.


1. What are the ways readers can judge the credibility of an image even in this era of digital manipulation?

As shown by the examples given during lecture, it is very difficult to judge the credibility of an image given the technologies available in this era. Even a journalistic photograph can be manipulated and passed off as an authentic photograph.

In the commercial field and in the field of fashion, I think it is important for readers to have an awareness of what digital manipulation is capable of. Even our wedding photographs are being digitally manipulated, much less to talk about fashion magazines and advertisements!

Therefore, I think it's important that readers first and foremost have an understanding of what digital manipulation is capable of, such that they may not be naively deceived by the images they see on fashion magazines and on advertisements. It is important that the mass audience should develop a healthy dosage of cynicism against the mass media, lest be naive believers of the mass media.

Next, I think it is still possible for the discerning to spot photographs that are digitally manipulated. Traits like flawlessly airbrushed skins and breasts are common among fashion magazines. Also it can prove helpful that the reader maintain a healthy and realistic perspective on beauty. This way, the reader would be able to discern unrealistic and artificial beauty.

I think the trickier part would come under journalistic photography. If a digitally manipulated photograph managed to pass off as an authentic one, how do we know for sure if all the photos we see are in fact not digitally manipulated?

The presence of many different news outlets can help provide choices for comparison. Readers can compare pieces of news they received from one outlet with other outlets, thus verifying the authenticity of a particular news information.

Also, the reputation of the news outlet is very important. This is not to say that we should blindly believe in news outlets that are reputable. However, reputation that has been built up over the years do speak a lot for themselves. News outlets that are reputable are more likely to be trustworthy as compared to news outlets with a poor reputation.


2. Imagine yourself as a reader representative for a newspaper. What would you tell a reader who complained to you about a picture of a car wreck that was particularly upsetting?

In most decent newspapers, photographs of car wrecks are seldom published online. Usually photographs of car wrecks are only published when the occurrence of such accidents are very rare and/or to warn the public from the possibility of meeting such accidents.

Sometimes photographs of car wrecks that are occurs very rarely are depicted on newspapers too. But generally, photographs of car wrecks are not displayed to bring harm or shame to the victims and families of the victims. They are mostly to educate the public on the possibility of such accidents occurring, and is they were to go on road trips in the future, they should pay attention to such possibilities.

If the purpose of the photograph is to serve as a warning to the public, I would explain to the reader the significance of such educating efforts.

For example, the government may choose to display gory footage of car accidents for the sake of educating against drink driving. I remember once seeing on "Crime Watch" the police showing recorded footages of accidents that occurred because of drink driving. Although the footages were disgusting and horrific, they did manage to drive home the message of not drink driving.

Hence, although the photographs may be displeasing to the eye, at times they are needed to bring across certain messages, such as in educating the public.

Blog exercise THREE.


For this exercise we are to analyze a photograph (journalistic, social documentary, or commercial), write about how the photograph might be read by its target audience and explain its formal elements and how they work.


I chose this commercial photograph which is advertising candy.




I presume the target audience of this photograph would be anyone who eats candy. I believe the audience would read this photograph as happy, colorful, delicious and tempting.

Color.
This photograph uses a lot of colors, as depicted by the colorful sugar balls all over the model's lips. The use of many colors best depicts candy because candy usually comes in many colors. The use of colors can help to attract children, who typically are fans of candy.

The use of colors also helps to convey a sense of happiness. Bright colors convey a sense of cheer and joyousness. Associating colors and candy would lead the audience to perceive that eating candy would lead to happiness.



Here is another commercial photograph by m&m's, where candy is also portrayed as being colorful. Here, candy is being arranged to resemble the color wheel. This simple portrayal illustrates the importance of color in making candy attractive.

Soft lighting.
The photograph also makes use of soft lighting and a shallow depth of field. The areas around the mouth is blurred out. And the shadows under the nose and around the mouth are very soft. There is no harsh lighting or shadows created.

The effect of such soft lighting and shallow depth of field is so as to create a soft, dreamy feel to the photo. This is in line with the associations candy has. Candy is often used as a distraction from the real world. The sweet taste of candy distracts the eater from the bitterness of harsh reality. As such, candy is often associated with the fantasy world and children fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel.



This photo also uses soft lighting and shallow depth of field to create a similar soft dreamy feeling. The hairs on the dandelion further illustrate the fluffy dreamy feel of the photograph.

Closed up, offering.
The photograph is a super close-up on the model's face, including only the mouth and part of the nose. As such, the audience is forced into viewing the model with a very close proximity.

The eyes of the model are not included in the photograph. Without direct gaze from the model, the photograph is said to be an "offer," where the model is offering an image to the audience, and encouraging the audience to either want or not want to become that image. In this case, the model is offering an image of eating candy. And this image is further made into a tempting one by the use of the tongue licking the candy.

Hence the photograph is offering an tempting image of eating candy, and is inviting the audience to want to be like the image. And the fact that it is up-close accentuates the offer, making the offer a more daring one.



Here is an example of an up-close offer photograph. The closeness of the model forces the audience to look closely into her features. The use of indirect gaze makes the photograph an offer, where the model is offering a state of mind, or mood, to the audience.

Blog exercise ONE.


For this exercise, we're supposed to look through featured photographs online and comment on them.


I find myself drawn to this series of photos, taken by John Moore, on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

























I've always been drawn towards journalistic photography, partly because I am very interested in journalism. I believe that both photography and journalism are very powerful tools, and when combined together, they can make much greater impact.

This particular series of photos have been seen commonly on several newspapers. I think even though there were rumors on a possible assassination, the actualization of it should still be very shocking and unreal for every one on scene.

I think to be a good photographer, he/she has to remain composed, regardless the situation. Because unlike every one else, the photographer has a mission: to capture the action real-time.

I really admire John Moore's composure and stability during the chaos. But at the same time I envy him for having the opportunity to capture the entire assassination process. In my imagination I can picture the amount of adrenaline rush going through his body and the amount of action exploding all around him.

I truly believe that once you're exposed to such a situation, your life will never be the same again.

Assignment FIVE.


In this assignment we're supposed to take conceptual photographs that relate certain adjectives. Here are my photos. :)



settled chaos. 55mm, f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO-200.



desolate. 17mm, f/2.8, 1/30sec, ISO-200.



miserable. 55mm, f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO-200.


This is quite a conceptual piece it needs some explaining. I think the circles look like tear drops, and the lines look like tear stains left on the face after crying. Though the lights are of a warm and happy tone, I somehow feel a tinge of sadness in this photo. An alternative title I think of for the photo is "tears of joy." Wonder which would be better?



gloomy/advancing? 44mm, f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO-800.


This is another controversial piece. I took this photo wanting to emphasize on the "OUT" at the end of the road. Together with the gigantic arrow in the middle, it's like asking the reader to GET OUT. It gives me a sense of rejection, gloom and despair in that sense. However some saw the arrow and thought it could apply to hope/advancement. What do you think?



progressive. 31mm, f/22, 1/2sec, ISO-800.



progressive. 55mm, f/2.8, 1/13sec, ISO-400.



solitary. 55mm, f/2.8, 1/8sec, ISO-400.



depressed. 55mm, f/2.8, 1/8sec, ISO-400.


Just put up the last two for fun. Took them for this assignment but realise that they can't be used because they involve statues. But I really like the effects emitted by the last two photographs.


That's all. :)

Blog exercise




"Mother" by David Hockney.


I've always liked portraits, because of the fact that people's expressions are always changing, and how they reveal something deep within them.

I think it's daring to do a photo montage on people. And challenging in a way, to bring out the essence of the person's emotion without distorting the face so much that it becomes ugly or distasteful.

I think David Hockney managed to do this pretty well. Despite having the face cut up into many parts, the face remained pleasant looking, probably due to the heavy emphasis on the smiling mouths.

This piece of art is surreal in the fact that it is a photo montage, and the different pieces are pieced together not in a seamless and coherent fashion. Also, Hockney included side views of the subject in the portrayal of a front view. That adds a surrealistic feel to the art too.




"Swans Reflecting Elephants" by Salvador Dali.


This is another piece of work I'd like to comment on. This painting is surrealistic in its portrayal of things, with shaped clouds and twisted tree trunks.

And as the title suggests, there are swans in the painting which, when reflected by the water, reveals three elephants. This is an optical illusion.

I don't know about you, but I think this is really really cool. Swans and elephants aren't exactly the animals I'd link together, and I wonder how on earth did Dali get his inspiration to do such a painting.

I don't know what was the original intention behind this painting. But to me, it shows that when we reflect upon some things--figuratively--we may surprise ourselves with a totally new perspective of looking at things. That many a times, things are not just what they look like at first glance.

Assignment TWO bee.


For assignment two bee, we're to take people photos of cnm students having tutorials. My project group (me, cindy, weiliang and adelyn) crashed in to an nm2208 tutorial conducted by Siti. Here are some of the photos i took. :)




1/395 sec, 28mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

Bottom-up approach. Gives emphasis to what she is presenting. I quite like this composition.




1/256 sec, 28mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

Siti was saying something like, "I don't wanna hear. I don't wanna hear." I really quite like this photo, because Siti was doing an unusual action, and blurring out the rest of the class gave emphasis to her actions.




1/128 sec, 55mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

Layering one subject over the other gives depth to this photo. And it's interesting how the left subject's neck contours fitted in very nicely with the head of the right subject.




1/197 sec, 55mm, f/2.8, ISO800

Indians have very sharp features, as compared to flat-faced chinese (like me). And i think they make very good profiles.




1/395 sec, 43mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

A very simple presenting photo.




1/256 sec, 55mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

An "action photo." I actually did some serious photoshopping to remove the people on her sides.




1/166 sec, 55mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

Again, layering of subjects.




1/395 sec, 33mm, f/2.8, ISO-800

A candid on the subjects. It's one of those photos where i'd giggle inside me and feel the kick of taking it.



That's all. :)
Comments?