Negative Space

This week's assignment was negative space. The idea was to try to make the focus of the photo the shape of the background/space around the subject. We were encouraged to use silhouettes, shadows, and different objects to get various different and interesting styles of negative space. 

Experimental Series

Assignment 13: Experimental Series. This week's assignment was to choose a style, filter, texture, etc. from the previous week's experimental sketchbook and create a series based on it. The style I chose was from a photo where I made the entire photo block and white except for the shadow. Then I used tint in Picmonkey to make the shadow a certain color. I didn't want any faces so I could maintain a mysterious/anonymous feel to the photos. I also made them of only people and their bodies/legs. The perspective I chose had a common theme throughout the series and I tried to match the different colors with the photos/feeling of the photos.

Experimental Sketchbook

 Cross Process Filter (Picmonkey): Green

Cross Process Filter (Picmonkey): Blue

 Yester-color (Picmonkey): Faded

 Paint Texture (Picmonkey) and Accented Textures filter (Photoshop)

 Lugosi Burnish Theme (Picmonkey)

 Cross Process Filter (Picmonkey): Blue

Cross Process Filter (Picmonkey): Red

Assignment 12: Experimental Sketchbook. For the past two weeks, we have been working on using several of the pictures we already had, doing a lot of editing and adding text to convey emotion. Ideally, the emotions and feelings should be something we have, had, or currently experience. First, we used editing, tints, and mild filters as well as text to communicate the emotions. The text should be specific but also creative in describing the emotion. Our second challenge was to do the same but without text. This shifted our focus to more of the editing aspects and finding the perfect filters and textures to match our photos. I used a variety of filters and textures, and tried to "break out" of standard edited photos by adding multiple editing features and experimenting with colors, lighting and contrast. The specific filters or textures used are under the photo. Additionally there was much done with brightness, contrast, etc. If there isn't anything underneath, that means no specific filter was used, but many other simple editing techniques were combined and used. The first 6 photos include text, and the rest do not.

Best of Joan Fontcuberta Series

Somethings that I thought were best conveyed in my best photos were the irony, humor, and philosophy. Those were the goals I had all along, however, these photos are the ones that best show those aspects collectively. Also, not only do they best convey my goals, the way they conveyed them was also better than my other photos. The editing, lighting, backgrounds, and limited distractions allow the photos to reach their full potential of showing and balancing humor and philosophy. The way I set up the scenes or places the objects helped.

Joan Fontcuberta 3

Assignment 11: 3rd set of Joan Fontcuberta series. My goal this week was to reach multiple aspects of Fontcerbeta's photography in one set. From the previous two weeks, I developed an eye to look for the kind of things Fontcuberta would photograph. Instead of focusing on just one aspect, I tried to include them all. I tried to find peculiar, weird, funny and unusual objects/scenes with and undermining message. In addition, I did a lot of editing and made a lot of decisions on how to position/what to do to have less distractions. I hoped that once I eliminated the majority of the distractions, it would be easier to recognize the humor and philosophy in the photographs. I took the photos with multiple backgrounds to see which ones would best enhance the humor and philosophy I wanted to portray. I also used common photography methods in order to make the photos more visually pleasing. I experimented with angles, reflections, hanging objects, leading lines, and other general tools to improve the quality of my photos. Additionally, I decided which photos would be best in black and white or color to best portray my goals.

Joan Fontcuberta 2

Assignment 10: Second draft of the Joan Fontcuberta series. This week's assignment was a follow up of the previous set. To help convey the humor in my photos, I focused on looking at things like irony, "faces" in the environment, etc. I also tried to have an undermining serious message. I urge onlookers to look a little deeper into the picture to try and identify the humor and message.

Joan Fontcuberta

Assignment 9: Joan Fontcuberta. We chose a photographer we wanted to study, write a paper, and make a powerpoint about. About looking deeply into the photographer's work, we were supposed to create our own set inspired by that photographer. My photographer was Joan Fontcuberta. He focused mainly on simplicity and humor. The humorous aspect could be peculiar objects, set ups or scenes, or just a funny image. In addition to humor, he also sends a serious meaning through the photo that sparks contemplation. These are things I tried to imitate.