My evaluation for Unit 1
During the entire course I have explored many different artists and their work, the first photographer that I researched was Anna Atkins and her cyanotypes. I learnt that you were able to create an image with just some paper, chemicals, light and the object itself. I discovered Anna Atkins because my teacher introduced cyanotypes to our class and used Anna Atkins as an example of someone that has made a vast collection of them. This has helped me understand photography further because I discovered that photography could be camera-less. Another artist I have explored is Keld Helmer-Petersen, I had never heard of him or seen any of his work until we were set the task of working with black light. Keld using black light to create his images using a variety of different shapes adding in a variety of the formal elements. His images have a modern style due to the objects used and the way they have been presented. Also the variety of shapes, texture and tones. Overall the formal elements within his images make them a master piece. I most enjoyed working on black light for this reason, it was enjoyable and there is no wrong picture or ugly picture. I felt all of the images I took had a reason and looked interesting. The impact of this made we try to use a wide range of the formal elements within my work due to Keld covering a lot of them.
During the course of photography, we have learnt a lot about a variety of different themes. To begin with, we learnt about camera-less photography, I think this was quite successful as it widened my horizons of what photography can be and that a camera is not needed for it to be photography. However I felt like some of the images I went onto creating were rather plain and boring which is why I didn’t take this any further. I created a lot of different images that were part of camera-less photography for example I created cyanotypes, chemigrams and photograms. I decided that I would not expand further on camera-less photography simply because I didn't have too much success in creating an image I enjoyed. Despite the fact I found it very interesting and I was intrigued to see what other themes there were to research on this topic. It turned out that there were a variety of other themes that I preferred more than camera-less photography. The theme that I think I prefer the most is black light, I think this is due to the fact that they are quite simple in technicality and it’s amazing to see the different textures everyday objects have that you wouldn't normally notice. I think that my black light work was extremely successful as it had a diverse amount of pictures exploring different shapes and textures, relating back to Keld Halmer-Petersen who used formal elements in his work to make it successful.
I have used a lot of media skills during the course of this unit, I did some work on Photoshop editing a lot of my images. At the start of the unit we began doing cameraless photography which only involved a few materials which were; paper and chemicals. When making a cyanotypes you use paper that has got a mix of two solutions painted over it, you then place an object on top of the paper which then put it in the light and the parts that are covered go back to the colour of the actual paper (white) whilst the paper that is not covered is dark blue (the colour of the chemicals on the paper). Chemigrams and photograms are also made without a camera. Chemigrams are made using light sensitive paper, developer, stop and fix chemicals whilst photograms on the other hand have to be made in the dark room, they are made by placing objects onto the paper and then turning the light on for only a few seconds or less, once this is done you then have to use developer, stop and fix chemicals and then wash the paper so that the natural light does not turn the rest of the paper black. Finally I use a self created pin-hole camera to create a paper negative. This was an easy process however getting a successful image was a challenge because you had to work out how long you had to expose the image to light. Out of all of the camera-less processes, I found producing the paper negatives most challenging difficult to get the exposure correct so that the images were just right. I spent around an hour before I got an image which you could actually see, however it was still under developed so I ended up creating a whole bunch of underexposed images.
My first outcome that I had for Unit 1 was on focus, I was hoping to create a vast amount of images that would show the contrast between dead flowers and ones that are alive. I also wanted them to show the difference in the colours that were on the flowers. I think it worked quite well considering how difficult it was to find the right flowers and having the wrong lens. However using the technique of focus I done a good job blurring the background keeping the main part of my image in focus. I think my ideas evolved a lot over the time of planning my project as I now take more time in the planning as having a good idea is the most important part to a project, the images are just the result of the idea. Without a good idea the outcome is just a pretty picture. I think the most important influences on my work were the artists that I researched when I was doing my projects however I also feel like I have been influenced by the passion of other photographers in videos and how much photography means to them. I think that my work reflects on my interests in a positive way, I try to be different within my images taking small aspects of artists and photographers that I have either researched or looked at. I also think that I manage to get across what I am trying to say quite well as my first project was about seeing the small things for the colour they are and the cycle of plants and flowers. Where as the second was about how you as a person interpret an image and how if a little bit of that image is missing your interpretation can be different to what it was before.
During the course of photography, we have learnt a lot about a variety of different themes. To begin with, we learnt about camera-less photography, I think this was quite successful as it widened my horizons of what photography can be and that a camera is not needed for it to be photography. However I felt like some of the images I went onto creating were rather plain and boring which is why I didn’t take this any further. I created a lot of different images that were part of camera-less photography for example I created cyanotypes, chemigrams and photograms. I decided that I would not expand further on camera-less photography simply because I didn't have too much success in creating an image I enjoyed. Despite the fact I found it very interesting and I was intrigued to see what other themes there were to research on this topic. It turned out that there were a variety of other themes that I preferred more than camera-less photography. The theme that I think I prefer the most is black light, I think this is due to the fact that they are quite simple in technicality and it’s amazing to see the different textures everyday objects have that you wouldn't normally notice. I think that my black light work was extremely successful as it had a diverse amount of pictures exploring different shapes and textures, relating back to Keld Halmer-Petersen who used formal elements in his work to make it successful.
I have used a lot of media skills during the course of this unit, I did some work on Photoshop editing a lot of my images. At the start of the unit we began doing cameraless photography which only involved a few materials which were; paper and chemicals. When making a cyanotypes you use paper that has got a mix of two solutions painted over it, you then place an object on top of the paper which then put it in the light and the parts that are covered go back to the colour of the actual paper (white) whilst the paper that is not covered is dark blue (the colour of the chemicals on the paper). Chemigrams and photograms are also made without a camera. Chemigrams are made using light sensitive paper, developer, stop and fix chemicals whilst photograms on the other hand have to be made in the dark room, they are made by placing objects onto the paper and then turning the light on for only a few seconds or less, once this is done you then have to use developer, stop and fix chemicals and then wash the paper so that the natural light does not turn the rest of the paper black. Finally I use a self created pin-hole camera to create a paper negative. This was an easy process however getting a successful image was a challenge because you had to work out how long you had to expose the image to light. Out of all of the camera-less processes, I found producing the paper negatives most challenging difficult to get the exposure correct so that the images were just right. I spent around an hour before I got an image which you could actually see, however it was still under developed so I ended up creating a whole bunch of underexposed images.
My first outcome that I had for Unit 1 was on focus, I was hoping to create a vast amount of images that would show the contrast between dead flowers and ones that are alive. I also wanted them to show the difference in the colours that were on the flowers. I think it worked quite well considering how difficult it was to find the right flowers and having the wrong lens. However using the technique of focus I done a good job blurring the background keeping the main part of my image in focus. I think my ideas evolved a lot over the time of planning my project as I now take more time in the planning as having a good idea is the most important part to a project, the images are just the result of the idea. Without a good idea the outcome is just a pretty picture. I think the most important influences on my work were the artists that I researched when I was doing my projects however I also feel like I have been influenced by the passion of other photographers in videos and how much photography means to them. I think that my work reflects on my interests in a positive way, I try to be different within my images taking small aspects of artists and photographers that I have either researched or looked at. I also think that I manage to get across what I am trying to say quite well as my first project was about seeing the small things for the colour they are and the cycle of plants and flowers. Where as the second was about how you as a person interpret an image and how if a little bit of that image is missing your interpretation can be different to what it was before.