Photographs of London Crowds

When I was in London Victoria Train Station, I decided to take pictures of crowds as they are encountering eachother. Looking at my photographs, they didn't seem very interesting to me so I decided to upload them onto photoshop and edit them. I put the original photograph before each experiment so you can see the difference the editing made.

I uploaded my photograph on to Adobe Photoshop so that I could easily edit it. I firstly edited the contrast of the photograph so that there was some more hard light. I then clicked on 'Filters' and clicked on 'Glowing Edges'. After playing around with the adjustments, I was happy with the way my image looked and applied it to the photograph.

I wanted to try out a different technique on Adobe Photoshop so I clicked on 'Filters' again, but this time I chose to use 'Stamp'. This made the image black and white, and very simplistic. I played around with the adjustments so that I retained some detail of my photograph and finally, edited the hue so that it didn't remain black and white.

My Response to Jason Travis

From looking at Jason Travis's persona series, I decided to take a few photographs of friends and then I laid out their belongings that they had in their bag on a table. Even in just these three images, you can identify a similarity to all of them; all three have a phone and keys, and both the first two images have makeup. Unfortunately, I was not able to find vibrant and interesting backgrounds for each of the photographs of the portraits so I found different coloured plain walls to show some sort of variation.

Jason Travis Analysis

Jason Travis Persona Series Analysis

http://we-are-awesome.com/blog/2010/08/persona-jason-travis/

Jason Travis started taking photographs for his Persona series in 2007.  Originally, he wanted to catch up with old friends which lead to him wanting to learn more about new friends and capture what each individual carried around with them everyday that they considered to be essential.

In this image, on the top half you can see a woman with what could possibly be her bedroom wall or a wall where she lives as there are various images attached to the wall along with a corkboard; suggesting that she has left a personal touch on it. On the bottom half of the image, you can objects taken from the woman’s bag; some of which includes: sunglasses, photographs, a pencil and a camera. Behind all these objects, various images of people can be seen and by the style of the images themselves, it indicates that they are famous in some shape or form.

By looking at this photograph, it is clear that it shows the individual’s relationship with their objects that they carry with them but also allows the viewer of the image to make a connection with the person as some of the objects in the photograph might be in the viewer’s own bag. The objects would seem to present a part of their personality or an aspect of their life that might not always be so obvious by just looking at them. By placing her objects onto an area covered in posters of some kind, it shows a more in depth view at her personality and what she likes compared to other photographs taken in this series where the objects have been placed on a wooden table.

I personally like this photograph as it shows a part of her personality in her true colours without dressing her up and overdoing the whole process. By placing the objects that were in her bag underneath a portrait of her makes this image seem a lot more detailed and personal to her as you can see what she values to carry in her bag.

Concert Photographs - Asking Alexandria

On January 21st this year, I went to an Asking Alexandria concert in the HMV Forums in London. I decided to upload these photographs as going to a music concert is an experience in itself. I really like the lighting in these photographs as you only really see these sorts of lights at concerts or festivals. I was able to get clear, non blurred images as I was sitting upstairs so was not being squashed by the crowd at the front of the stage.

My Response To Johan Thornqvist - On Trendland

After looking at Johan Thornqvist's work, I felt inspired to try it out an draw on some photographs I had taken. I used an ordinary black,  biro pen to do this. Before I began to draw on the photographs, I felt that they seemed quite bland and boring so using them to draw on was quite perfect as I could make them as interesting as I wanted to. In Thornqvist's work, he mostly draws cities and people, now as I am not a fan of drawing either, I started out by drawing plants, clouds and then even fairies. I have uploaded my original photographs before each one that I drew on so that the difference is visible.

Johan Thornqvist Analysis

Johan Thornqvist - On Trendland Analysis

http://www.snarlik.se/

Johan Thornqvist, born in Sweden, started out by creating websites. This involved designing print materials for businesses and also designing logos. Following on from this, Thornqvist studied at Hyper Island and started his own business, taking inspiration from a variety of sources, comic books being one of them.

This photograph is of a fire hydrant. The whole image can be seen in various hues of green. In the background of the image you can see a plain wall with stains and gathered dirt at the bottom of it. The fire hydrant, being in the foreground of the image, makes this the focus point of the image as this is the first thing noticeable on the photograph. At first glance, it looks like the fire hydrant is becoming rusty, but after looking again you can see that the top few layers of paint have peeled off the hydrant; in some places more than others. At the base of the hydrant you can see brown as the green paint has almost completely come off. At the top of the fire hydrant you can see where Thornqvist has drawn a mini city. Along with the tall skyscrapers and the spaces with a few trees in them, you can see a hot air balloon to the top left of the hydrant and a crane to the left, lower side of the hydrant with what looks like two people inside.

I was not able to find a specific meaning to this photograph. Initially, I thought that the photograph could mean that the various buildings on top of the hydrant represent houses and also public buildings that have been saved and or will be saved by fire engines attaching hoses to the fire hydrant. Another interpretation that comes to mind is that as there is a city sitting on top and around the hydrant, it could represent that we as individuals and as a civilization has always needed water to survive, no matter how remote. The wall behind the fire hydrant and the ground around it looks rather dirty along with the hydrant as the paint is peeling off which could suggest that this area has been forgotten about. However, shown by the buildings drawn around the hydrant, it shows how even in bad living conditions, people will still settle and try to build somewhere secure to live. Another meaning could be that the buildings around the hydrant, assuming there is meant to be people living inside, could represent all the workers and engineers that keep the hydrant working and also the firemen who use the water inside to help others. All in all Thornqvist might of just wanted us to imagine that there are small people living inside and around fire hydrants in invisible cities.

I really like this image as it leaves so much to the imagination. I love how Thornqvist came up with the idea of drawing a city, similar to modern civilization, on top of a fire hydrant. I also like that the fire hydrant itself is not in pristine condition as it contrasts to the clean city residing around it. The drawings themselves are almost childlike which also makes a nice contrast to the cold stonewall behind the hydrant and the dreary ground.

My Response To Rankin Destroy Using Adobe Photoshop

Like before, I used photographs that I had taken of myself and experimented with them after looking at Rankin's work. However, this time I decided to edit my photographs on Adobe Photoshop to see what different effects could be achieved. For me, using the macs to edit my photograph took me longer than it did when I was painting onto a photograph or ripping it up.

 With this image, I played around with the hues of the image to make it look almost black and white with hints of brown seeping through. I then coped the image of the swirls into a separate Photoshop tab, used the magic wand tool to remove the white background that was on the image. I copied the swirls into the document where my photograph was in and added the swirls to the stamp tool. This allowed me to use the swirls like a pre-set stamp that are already loaded on Photoshop. Once I placed one, I rotated the other so that it matched the other swirl image like a mirror.

I firstly selected a pre-set stamp and changed the colour of it to a pale blue colour. I then clicked on 'Filters' so that I had a drop down of options to choose from. Once I had played around for a little while, I decided on choosing an effect from the 'artistic' section which was 'cartoon'. I played around with the settings so that I looked a little less real. I changed the contrast of the image also, so that the image seemed more vibrant. 

Just like the first photograph, I copied the image of the pocket watch into Photoshop and edited it so that the background could not be seen. Once I had added the clock to the stamp tool, I played around with the blending effects so that one clock looked darker than the other one. I then chose a pre-set stamp which is that of leaves as I though it would add a nice effect next to the pocket watches. I finally chose a pen tool that had a broken stroke and changed the colour to a faded red to add some colour to the image.

My Response To Rankin Destroy

After looking at Rankin's work and analysing one of his photographs, I decided to experiment with the idea of taking a photograph and 'destroying' it. I took some pictures of myself using a mac webcam and did face expressions that showed different emotions. By me doing this, it helped me come up with ideas for how I was going to 'destroy' my photographs.

 I decided to rip this image up and put it back together with gaps in-between the pieces to show the feeling of being broken. By covering my face with my hands, it allowed me to come up with that idea as usually the first thing people would think if they saw someone covering their face is that they were crying.

 This image is filled with joint emotions. On one hand it could look like blood is spurting from my mouth and head, but what the true meaning I wanted to portray was that of a memory. The red from the lips shows wearing lipstick the night before and the bronze/red colour from the hair is the blurred memory of the hair flowing about whilst dancing.

 It is quite clear when first looking at this image that the feeling is of fear. I cut a zigzag in my photograph in the middle so that when I placed it down on the painted paper, it looked like I had cracked in half. I did this represent what fear does to people, whether from a nightmare or reality.

The emotion in this photograph is that of confusion, stress, sadness and other negative emotions that can have a negative impact on a person. The erratic scribbling that I did in permanent marker represents the thought process when the mind is in a bad place. I created leaking blues and greens in the background to help build an atmosphere for the picture as blue is often seen as a 'cold colour'.

Rankin Analysis

Rankin Destroy Analysis

http://www.idoapprove.com/?p=100

In 2009, Rankin had gotten together with a variety of artists and musicians to create a new project, known as ‘Rankin Destroy’. Rankin took photographs of various musicians and then, along with other artists, ‘destroyed’ them by means of scratches, paint smudges and dripping coloured liquids. Rankin made his name in 1992 by founding and publishing with Jefferson Hack, the magazine ‘Dazed and Confused’.

This photograph is of the singer Kyle. She can be seen wearing overhead earphones and a crop top. At first glance it appears that paint or ink has been randomly splattered onto the photograph. However, to the centre of the photograph the paint or ink has been done in what seems to be various circular motions. On some parts it is clear that a lot of materials have been used as you can see the dripping effect created by this. In the upper left hand of the photograph, more paint / ink can be seen. This section is different from the paint / ink in the centre of the photograph as this section looks almost like a signature; in a very abstract way. The original photograph itself is black and white which makes the paint / ink stand out even more and make more of an impact on the overall image. The paint / ink are in hues of deep reds to light purples and pinks which draws our attention to the lines and drips made.

I was not able to find a direct meaning for this photograph but my initial thought is that the paint / ink represent music. The big, overhead earphones help with this idea as the circular lines and the drips could be the different parts of the music the model, Kyle is listening to or even her own music. From the specific colours used for the paint / ink (reds and pinks), there could be a theme to this photograph, love. The swirls and the circular lines representing the feelings felt through love and also music again, both lyric wise and instrumental wise. The paint/ink, not necessarily relating to feelings of love, but also other emotions and could represent music being used as a release. Following on from this idea, the photograph could also be attempting to show how people ‘zone out’ to music, by this I mean forgetting any troublesome factors and just enjoying the music for what it is. It could also represent when people use music to meditate.

I like what Rankin has done with this photograph as it is open to many interpretations. I like the idea that the ink / paints used on this image represent the sensations felt and created from music and adds a more dimensional effect. Personally I would have preferred a more variety of colours as it would make the piece more interesting for me but his use of texture and line thickness adds depth to the emotions that are, I’m assuming trying to be portrayed.