Some thoughts...

Below are a couple of quick creations just to see what they would look like...\

I think the next step will be to play with lighting a lot more to see what kind of effects/abstractions i can create. Also I need to think more about background, what is in it and how it enhances the abstraction/transformation.

Research......

Maritus Escher:

M.Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who was inspired by the mathematical world, optical illusions, impossible constructions, infinity, architecture and tessellations.

He is most famous for his early works such as his 'Drawing Hands' (1948) and 'Relativity'(1953) which feature both his intrests in optical illusions and impossible constructions.

Though the work of his that im interested in is his tessellation works which are basically patterns of which the negative space left behind form a new object (usually animals) which are often the same as the original object. His most famous would have to be 'Sky and Water I' (1938) which features detailed fish of which the negative of it forms a goose in the end through a gradation in detail and use of black and white.

Ideas for final six....

My final three objects i have decided on are: Chopsticks, Sushi mats and Spoons.
As you can see they are all linked by being kitchen utensils.

Spoons:
My first shot will be an abstracton of the spoons making a pattern similar to old school wallpaper. They will be laid out in a circular pattern and may focus on wither the obvious patern or the negative of the pattern (mass and void).

My second shot will transform the spoons, making them look like eggs . The spoons will sit inside an egg carton and all turn and face the camera. will have to be careful with what it in the reflection of the spoons.

Sushi Mats:

My first image of the sushi mats will transform them into a ninja star. I will do this by repetedly folding the mat then sliding it foward to form triangular shapes which when put togeather will make a ninja star shape.

My second shot will be an abstraction of the mat. The mat will be folded and painted black and white and will alternate in these colours in the rise and run of the pattern.

Chopsticks:

My first shot of the chopsticks will transform them into the dark lines in an abstract painting. The spaces left behind will then be filled in with coloured card to complete the painting.

My second shot will transform the chopsticks into a forested landscape and will create both the felled trees and stumps and the undulating landscape.

Time for some more experimentation.....

In this shoot I experimented with macro photography.
I'm really interested in macro photography but I don't have a macro lens, so I experimented with two lenses a regular 18-55mm attached to the camera and then a 50mm fixed lens turned backwards and held up against the 18-55mm lens. This produced some amazing effects, you can get extremely close with a tiny depth of field and by having the second lens it makes a circular black view port that feathers into the image....

Here are some of the best from that shoot....

Levi Brown....

Levi brown is a product photographer from the States who lives with his five dogs.

His aesthetic (being a product photographer) is very clean and simple. His work i find most interesting is, in his own terms, his 'Fine art' photography. But his 'Fine art' work still has the same aesthetics as most if not all of his product photography. But still his work is very interesting especially his multiplicity work where he takes multiples of the same object and arranges them in such a way that he abstracts their original form.

Project Three_Objects

First Shoot.....

This first shoot was really quite experimental as I hadn't really done much macro photography.

I set up a little studio at home and photographed some random objects from my kitchen being a sushi mat, a can opener, a necklace, some knives, and some chopsticks. I have in mind ABSTRACTION and CHANGE IN SCALE and tried to take my images from that perspective.

Here are the contact sheets from the first shoot....

Final Images

Below are the final images for Project two_People named Digital Family.....

Final Proposal

I have decided to combine the two proposals but stick with the digital identity as i really liked the aesthetic of the layered collage centered on the main persons face but wanted to make it purely a digital identity that showed through. So my images merge the many layers to your digital identity found on sites such as Facebook, this shows not only your digital self but also your digital personality and traces. It was very hard to find previous work but the likes of Ava Seymour influenced me most in the way that she creates layers through her works and also adds a layer of humor, and also Pablo Picasso to see how he portrayed people through mainly his cubist works.

Research...

Pablo Picasso:

Proberbly most renound for his cubist works which you wither love or hate. I am one that love his work especially the cubist works. Through abstracting the human form he tells a much more comprehensive story capturing their identity and emotions than a realistic image could ever do. By simpily adjusting their tone, line and shape i believe he doesn't abstract the person he makes them more realistic portraying them for who they really are not a posed dolled up image that conforms to the social ideals of beauty of that time.

Student work:

Philippa Shipley:

Philippa is a second year Digital Photographics student who has done some work on identity and use of collage approach. She looked at portraiture and identity of different eras and tried to bring in the aesthetics of that particular era's through her collages. Her collages are very simple but effective at getting the message of that era across, also her images are highly influenced by Ava Seymour for the simple yet humorous aesthetics. Phillipa's cut-out aesthetic of herself definately creates a focal points in every image and makes it very easy to read. You can view her blog here. My two favourites are the Victorian and present times as you can really grasp her idea through them...

I can take from her that creating the focal point is the key to portraiture and also the layers she creates within the image give great strength to the aesthetic she is trying to achieve.

Ava Seymour:

Ava Seymour has some halarious collages as mentioned previously they are very basic and often technically incorrect i.e. light sources of images dont match, but it this almost careless humility that gives credit to her work. I especially enjoy the images that were shown in the Sue Crockford Gallery in Auckland, you can see them here. The way she captures an everyday, "picture perfect' image and then completely makes you go "what the..." by placing other images in the scene is where her humor comes across. Though these images stand out from in the scene they are not random images they are completely relevant to the scene for instance 'Rubber Utoipa' or 'Rubber Love' from the 'Rubber Lovc' series where she has a beautiful bedroom and bathroom then placing a scuba diver and two slightly strange people dressed in rubber fetish outfits in the scene is just halarious.