Digital Assignment

Shot with iPhone 5s Slow-Motion Video Recorder

For my assignment I chose to do a bouncing ping-pong ball.  How I achieved this was by taking a slow motion video with my phone then extracting all the frames onto my computer.   I set the background as the table when the ball had not yet been served so I could then add the ball later.  What I did was I opened every other frame and cropped just the ball out using the marquee tool then copied and pasted in onto the background.  The reason I cropped every other frame and every frame is because it would look very cluttered and there would be no spaces in between the ball.  I also cropped the photo to make the last ball look like its leaving the photo to bounce again rather that just stop.

The story that this photo tells is that it is the start of a ping-pong game and the ball has just been served that is why it hits the table twice.

Performance Task

For the actual photo of myself I took a picture of myself standing on a log that has fallen over a river.  I used f11 Aperture and 1/200 shutter speed to take this photo. I took this picture to represent my actual self because by standing on the log with ease to represent not just physical stability but also mental stability.  I am standing up straight which shows that I am mentally stable and healthy.  In the photo I chose to keep a calm face to show that I am not afraid of falling into the river.  The reason that I am not looking down at the river is because the river represents bad things in life and not looking down shows that I am looking ahead at good things to come instead of only worrying about the bad things that could happen. I also show composition in this photo by using lines I am standing up straight just like the trees behind me and also like the log I am standing on.  One of the techniques I used was standing far enough up the log so that the sky is behind me.  Why I did this was so that the brightness of the sky makes the photo look more happy because most of the time people associate brightness with happiness and joy.

For the photo of my other self I was lying down on the log struggling to keep myself up. I used the same aperture and shutter speed as the first photo to keep the photos looking similar. I took the picture this way to represent that I am not mentally stable and am close to falling into the river. In this photo my face has a stressed and worried look to show that my other self has taken on stress and fear.  The reason I am looking down at the river is because my attitude is only focused on the bad things and life and is not looking for the good things that could come in the future.  I show composition in this photo with lines by making the background behind me be a mess of sticks and roots which represents my mental state which has taken on all the mess and struggle I have experienced in life.  One of the techniques I used was I decided to make myself in front of a dark background which represents sadness and depression that my other self takes on.

I chose to show the photos as one because I think it is a unique and creative idea. The reason why I am standing above my other self to show I am keeping my head up high and have a positive attitude.  I decided to place my standing self with the trees because I am standing tall and straight just like the trees in the background and I placed my other self with the sticks and roots by the river because the sticks are very tangled and messy just like how i'm laying down on the log.  The reason why my photo is very long and skinny is because I think those dimensions flow with the log which is also very long and skinny.

Photo Mentor Project

Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz was born in Budapest July 2nd, 1894.  Originally named Kertesz Andor he lived with his middle-class Jewish family with his Mother, Father, and two brothers.  After earning enough money Andre disobeyed his parent’s wishes for him to pursue a career in business and bought a camera.  In his free time, Andre would take photos of things we might see on a daily basis and give them a deep meaning.  

The first photo depicts a fork leaning up against a plate.  This photo is called “the Fork” it was taken in Paris in 1928.  This photo represents a utensil people use everyday to represent their lives and the shadow represents the dark secrets they keep from other people.  This relates to his main style of taking a photo of things people see daily (the Fork) and adding a deep meaning to the photo.  This photo is one of Andre's most famous pictures.  The fork was used in the ‘Salon de l’Escalier’ (Paris, 1928) and at ‘Film und Foto’ (Stuttgart, 1929) and was used in an 
advertisement for the silversmiths Bruckman-Bestecke.

The second photo is untitled and it was taken in Meudon, France in 1928. The photo depicts a street leading under a bridge with a train going on top.  People could say the photo that the photo looks like an average day walking in town at this time period. The meaning of this photo is thought that the man in the foreground could be the German painter Willi Baumeister, and the package he is carrying the stretcher of a canvas. Kertész had known him since 1926 when he took a photo of him.  This photo was taken with a Leica.  This camera first appeared in Germany in the 1920s. Kertész began using one in 1928, the reason this camera is used so often by photojournalists is because it was light and easy to handle.

The final photo is named Mondrian's Pipe and Glasses, it was taken in Paris in 1928.  The photo was first shown in 1927 at the Au Sacre du Printemps gallery.  Andre portrayed this by taking a photo of two pairs of glasses, one on its side and one standing up on the lenses, and a pipe sitting in an ashtray.  The objects are owned by famous painter Piet Mondrian who painted very abstract paintings hence the name “Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses. This goes back to his main style of showing everyday objects (The pipe and glasses) and giving them a deep meaning of placing them in abstract ways to show the style of the owner’s paintings.

Andre was a photojournalism legend and many photojournalists today give credit to him for inspiring them.  Many try to replicate his style but very few are able to recreate his sense of perspective on the world and its creations.  In an interview with the famous photographer, Henri-Cartier Bresson he said; “We all owe something to Kertesz, Whatever we have done, Andre did first”.

My Photo Interpretation

My photo was taken with a Nikon D3100 with a f2.6 Aperture and a 1/100 Shutter speed.  The photo is of a door with the number 19 on it.  Just looking at it you would not think it would have a very deep meaning but that is not the case.  The meaning of this photo is that the door is to entrance to adulthood.  I showed that it was the door to adulthood and not just a random door because of the number.  The number is 19 which represents the age you are considered an adult and not a minor any more.  I think this imitated Andre Kertesz photos because it is a simple object (A door) and it has a deep hidden meaning (The entrance to adulthood)

References

Lafer, Sarah, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2016 from http://cargocollective.com/arthauslondon/Andre-Kertesz

Andre Kertesz, Retrieved December 20, 2016 from https://sites.google.com/site/andrekerteszphotographs/photography/the-fork

Wikipedia, Andre Kertesz, Retrieved December 20, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Kert%C3%A9sz

Wan, Leo,  2016. Artist Mentor Project, Retrieved December 20, 2016 from http://nexusvaporotart.blogspot.ca/

Marketable Object

For my marketable object I chose to do silk screen.  The reason I chose silk screen was because you can easily print a photo onto an article of clothing or any fabric like a bag or a t-shirt.  The photo I chose to use was one I took a ticket I found in my house.  The reason I chose this photo is because it looks like it could make a cool logo for a brand.

How I would market this logo is by printing it on clothing and branding it as "Admit One".  The logo is printed in the colour red and not placed right in the middle or on the side but just a little bit off those areas which makes the print unique to the brand.

There are two different styles to the print:

#1: Solid Print,    The solid print is when the logo is fully filled with colour and looks brand new.

#2: Worn Print,   The worn print is when the logo looks like it is very old.   How I achieved this print is by using a thin layer of paint and sliding the squeegee once across the silk screen so the paint runs out before it reaches the end.


These 3 Following Photos are of the Solid Print.

These 3 Following Photos are of the Worn Print.

Alternative Processes

#1:  Gel Medium

The Theme for my gel medium photo was Balance.  On one side of the photo there is a tower of rocks which has many different sizes of stones forming the sculpture but is still able to balance with ease.  The other side has a picture that i took of a buddha sculpture i found in the class, Balance is a bit deeper in this part of the photo but it still follows the theme.  Buddhism, the religion that believe buddha to be god is very often associated with the art of yoga.  Performing yoga poses requires a lot of balance to hold the position without toppling over so thats why I included a photo of this statue.  How I made this photo was by first photoshopping the rocks into the photo with the statue and I also made the rocks more opaque so they would blend better into the background.  Once the photo was finished I printed it out taped it down to a wooden board and started the process and painting on the layers of gel medium and drying.  Once applying around 10 layers I washed off all of the paper off of the back and the gel medium photograph was complete.

#2: Photogram


The photogram is a process of exposing photo paper to light while placing various objects on them so that those certain areas would stay white.   What i used for my photogram was: A lid of a glue stick, a lid of a film canister, popsicle sticks cut into sword like shapes, pieces of construction paper i cut out to look like bodies in a fighting stance, and paper letters i cut to form the word on the bottom of the photo.   The meaning of my photogram is "Fighting over Nothing".  Basically what this means is nowadays people fight over such minimal things such as who gets the last playstation on a black friday sale or who gets to control the remote.  How I portrayed this meaning in my photogram was by having two stick figures fighting over the word "nothing".  I think I showed the theme pretty well because it is very literal and simple,  but also would take a few seconds to understand what it really means.

Photo Journalism

Photo Journalism

Shot with Nikon D3300

f12 Aperture

1/100 Shutter Speed

It is very unusual to see a photo from this angle in Oakville.  You normally do not get a look down on the street from up above and being able to see the roof of buildings and shops you have entered.  The street in the photo is Randall street a road parallel to Lakeshore.  The sun is setting and the sky is starting to turn an orange color.  In the day we went to many places like Gairloch Gardens and the train tracks by the go station and took many shots which can be found below. How we came upon this spot was we were on our way to the park by the lake when we saw the parking garage and decided to go up to the top and take some photos of the streets and buildings below.

This picture was taken a top of a parking garage in downtown Oakville.  Why I chose this photo for the front cover of the newspaper is because the photo has perspective and depth.  The other reason why I chose this photo for the front page is because it gives you a different angle on a familiar street and gives a good example of what the day was like.  Another reason why I chose this photo is because it follows many rules of composition such as Rule of Thirds, and the road draws your eyes down the photo.

Breaking The Rules

Breaking The Rules

The aim of this project was to break the rules of composition while still keeping the photo visually appealing.

Rules of Composition

• Fill The Frame / Cropping.
• Don't Cut Off Limbs.
• Understand The Rule Of Thirds.
• Use Frames.
• Make The Most Of Lead In Lines / Shapes.
• Simplify – Know Your Focus.
• Watch The Background.
• Look For Symmetry/Patterns.

    This photo is of a tree with branches sticking out randomly all over and a squirrel sitting on top of one.  This photo was shot with f5.6 Aperture at a 1/100 shutter speed with the Nikon D3100.  The rules of composition I broke was a Simple Background and Lines.  How I broke the rule of keeping a simple background was by taking the photo under the tree so you can see all of the branches and leaves from other surrounding trees.  How I broke the rule of lines was by having branches poking out in all different directions.  How breaking the rules made this photo better was the messy background gives the effect that you are in a big forest and surrounded by trees.

The Photo above is of a brach with a small swirly twig wrapping itself around the branch.  This photo was shot with a f2.8 Aperture and a 1/60 shutter speed also with the Nikon D3100.  The rules of composition I broke are: The rule of thirds, Lines, and Cutting off limbs.  How I broke the Rule of thirds was by having the main focus (the swirly twig) right in the middle of the photo completely breaking the rule.  How I broke the rule of lines is the branches in the photo do not specifically lead your eye anywhere.  Finally the way I broke the rule of not cutting off limbs was by cropping off the branch so you can not see where it attaches onto.  How i think breaking the rules made this photo better was not having rule of thirds implemented made the twig more emphasized,  Also cropping the branches off made it so your eyes do not get drawn to other objects.

The last photo I shot was a picture of a padlock locking a fence with a rusty chain.  This photo was taken with f4 Aperture and a 1/100 shutter speed with the Nikon D3100.  The rules of composition I broke in this photo was:  The subject is out of focus, and a simple background.  How I broke the rule of not keeping my subject (the padlock) in focus was by focusing on the chain and then your eyes gets lead to the lock.  I broke the rule of a simple background by taking the photo if front of a big object.  How I think breaking the rule of a simple background made the photo look like the lock and chain was keeping something safe and secure and if it didn't have that object behind it it would just be a locked gate. 

All of the photos above were taken with the nikon d3100.  The photo of the Squirrel and Tree were taken with a f16 and f22 aperture and a 1/100 and 1/250 shutter speed while the rest were taken with f5.6 aperture and 1/60 Shutter Speed.