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.

First try...

This is the first try at the digital identity, taking images off the internet of myself to create/find out my digital identity. My first idea is this...

Not completed yet but you get the picture. Creating a digital collage of myself to find my digital identity. By keeping the pixels large you are able to clearly see the individual images of my identity.

I had also thought of making it a little more interesting by doing a kind of 'cubist' rendition of this, adding overtones to the images, distorting them to a degree to show how your digital identity may be distorted from the real.

My second idea goes away from my digital identity and is more personal. It involves taking images of myself that best show who i am and creating a layered image focusing on myself but through the layers you can see my interests and social life....

Project Two_People

Some initial ideas for this project...

First glance: This idea involves creating/inserting images of what first impressions you get from people, the first impression is one of the strongest links between the photographer; the subject and the viewer. It enables a deeper connection and understanding of what the photographer was trying to portray.
this could be done by either 'tattooing' images related to these first impressions on the portrait of the person which could open up two sides either a contrast from first glance to what the person is actually like or completely judging the person by their first impressions; it could also be done by completely structuring the face with these images.

Digital identity: This idea i stole from the second years first brief entailing the question 'what is your digital identity' i thought of what kind of control do you have over your digital identity? even if you don't use Internet social networking systems such as myspace and facebook you will more than likely have a digital identity made up of images that you may well be un-aware of, this is due to you peers or groups you are involved in posting, tagging, uploading images and comments about you on the net.
I thought this would be an interesting way looking at this brief as an identity what we are; what makes up what we are and who controls it.
I have considered a way of doing this which could be a collation of images of the net of you that you are unaware of which could then make up your portrait.

Final Layout Proposals...

Below is my final layout proposals with notations

I like the first one of these two as the series is more resolute having a begining and an end with similar shots but in different spaces showing different things. So series 1 has a better flow and thus a better understanding of the concept.