Experimental Photography

Jamie Kessel

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Case Study

‘Scotch Tape’ – Wes Naman

Artist and bio: Wes Naman – There is very little about this man on the internet. But after various Google searches I’ve found that he was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is globally recognized due to his ‘scotch tape’ photo collection, which I will go on to analyse and discuss later on the next slide. He chooses to keep much of his identity hidden from the public eye, such as images of himself and personal information. This may be due to him wanting to remained concealed and mysterious, and even his name may be a false name which helps to add to his artistic illusion. The long and short of it is that Naman is a mysterious photographer, and no one really knows to know anything about him.

Category: Contemporary

The photograph could be seen: Internet Blogs, Google searches, Fine art Photography magazines, contempary culture magazines.

Techniques used: texture, meaning, high contrast, focal point, fast shutter speed, artificial light, controlled, medium close up shot

Technique: The images are taken from Wes Naman’s most successful and well know album, in which he adopts the strange technique of covering his subject’s faces with tape in order to achieve obscure and experimental contemporary artwork. As mentioned previously, he plays with both texture and the element of dimension by distorting the subject's facial features with tape, and this is a technique he uses consistently throughout the set of images. This in turn produces images withshock value, which are intended on drawing in the viewer’s eye, and challenges the norms of artistic conventions and agendas.Fast shutter speeds allow Naman’s subjects appear crisp and in focus, which in turn helps to add to the image’s bold nature. To add to this, the plain background (which is probably achieved by shooting in a studio) help to create bordering, thus making the subjects jump out of the image rather than simply merging with the background. The images were quite clearly shot in a controlled environment rather than a candid one, due to the tape having to be placed in specific patterns on the faces of thesubjects. This is relevant to Naman’s technique as it means he is enabled to set up the subjects specifically how he wants them to look, rather than simply taking pictures of people while forcibly wrapping tape around their face in public. Having said thishowever, Naman could have adopted a more semi-candid style of shots with these images by repeatedly taking photos whilst attempting to distract them from the fact that they are having their photos taken (which in turn would add an element of realism to the images). In terms of the lighting in the images, due to the likeliness of the images being shot in a studio, it’s also likely that these images were shot in artificial light, rather than natural light. This would’ve been important for this group of images due to their ‘high definition’ nature. What I mean by this is that the attention to facial detail may have been somewhat disrupted by sunlight shadowing areas of the faces. In terms of the images meaning, it’s not entirely clear (as is often the case with experimental photography). Naman himself doesn’t leave much in the way of explanation, but as I’ve said before, I think that he’s intended on challenging the boundaries of what is possible with photography, and add his own contemporary twist to the art of experimental photography

Wolfgang Tillmans–

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Category – Contempary

Bio – Wolfgang Tilmmans is a german contempary experinmentaland fine art photographer. He was born 16th August 1968, in Remscheid, West Germany, where he spent his childhood observing the possibilities of shapes, angles and perspective. He was successful in school, and later went on to become one of the most distinguished modern experinental photographers in the world due to this extremely diverse material and styles. He is currently a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.

This Photograph could be seen in – Internet Blogs, Google searches, Large scale photography magazines, abstract art galleries.

I will now analyze one of his Photographs.

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Technique: smoke effect

Here Wolfgang Tillmans has used a smoke effect in order to create a very abstract looking final image. He has used a macro lens to capture the subject up close. A dark room was presumably used to capture the image in a studio, with a controlled nature. By using flash, the smoke has been captured and has allowed for high contrast against the dark studio. There has been large amount of post production on this image, with the colours presumably changed around to make the smoke look black and the background look white. This not only creates a very high level of contrast, but also makes the image much less perceivable as actually being smoke, and leaves the viewer guessing more as to what the image is. A fast shutter speed will have been used for this image in order to capture each fine strand of the smoke clearly without it being blurred, and this works really well in the image, and gives it almost a slightly scientific aesthetic. Not only has the image got highcontrast to it, but there is also a great deal of dynamic range, however it still technically wouldn’t be considered to be monochrome due to the large green square on the right hand side of the image. This could’ve been done for a number of different reasons, but one thing that springs to mind is the fact that it could represent nature, but the meaning is left unclear. The subject of the image (the smoke) obeys the rule of thirds , with the smoke being positioned approximately over the bottom third of the image, adding to it’s ability to be pleasing to the human eye.

Bobby Russel

• Category – Contemporary• Bio – ‘I first started out on photography a while back in 2006 around Nov,

with too much time on my hands. The birth was quick, but the death was slow. I wasn't quite sure how it'd work out then, this photography thing, but passion must be taken at a moderate pace; too much of it and you tire quickly.What is photography to me? I guess Kafka said it best - "We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds." All my photographs are created from the vision I had when I pressed the shutter, and every single one of them is lovingly processed, especially the personal favourites.’ –This is a direct quote taken from his website bio at ‘http://sidewinding.daportfolio.com/about/’

• This photographer could be seen in: Internet blogs, Internet photography galleries, Magazines aimed at promoting amateur photography.

• I will now analyze one of his images.

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With this particular image, Russel has adopted a variety of different techniques in order to create a beautiful and intensely contemporary piece of experimental photography. The subject of the image in a sense is the whole image and it’s interpretation of the modern day commute, rather than being one particular part of the image. This absence of one particular subject is achieved by creating an out of focus and motion blurred look using a slow shutter speed. On top of this, the slow shutter speed creates a very candid, and also busy mood to the image. The fact that we can see the various subjects moving really helps to bring the image to life. The lighting of the image is presumably completely artificial due to being shot in a metro, and this in turn gives the image a fairly clinical look, and adds to the high contrast and dynamic range. The use of no colors (monochrome) could have been chosen for various different reasons, and one interpretation could be the fact that it’s been used in order to represent the dull nature of a daily commute through the metro, grey often being a color associated with mundane topics. Russel has utilized leading lines in order to add a sense of dimension to the image, and it plays with the ‘tunnel illusion’ concept, which again adds life to the image and sets it apart from more 2D looking images. As well as this, the use of leading lines works in order to create symmetry within the image, as each leading line works as a sort of reflection of one another (eg. The handrails or steps). To add to all this, the images aesthetic value is further benefitted through the usage of repetition within the tiles on the wall. The tile’s repetition addto the clinical look, as they are very geometric shapes with hard edges. This also adds further structure to the image due to the fact that geometric shapes often work well with the human eye, in order to aid the structure of images. The vantage point at which the photo has been taken adds a sense of empowerment to the viewer. This is due to the fact that the subjects are all lower down than the camera itself, thus placing the viewer in a naturally authoritative position. Another possible interpretation as to why Russel might have chosen this camera angle could be the

http://sidewinding.daportfolio.com/

My images: contact sheet 1 (zoom burst)

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Chosen image

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• What techniques were used?The zoom burst technique was used to create this image.

• How was the technique usedThe technique was used by changing focal length rapidly. An example of this was going from 18mm and zooming into 55mm. In addition to this, a slow shutter speed was required in order to create the blurred effect. I used a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second.

• What are your opinions on the imageThe set of images produced work interestingly to create distorted looking images that are very abstract and aesthetically interesting. They distort the perception of reality in a very surreal manor. The chosen image I’ve picked stood out to me due to the high contrast of the subject against the background, creating a mysterious silhouetted effect in which the subject is left to the imagination of the viewer. The mystery of the subject and the fact that none of his facial features have been exposed works well to toy with the viewer’s brain, and this was intended on leaving the viewer feeling uneasy and unsure about what they are perceiving. I also really liked the use of leading lines within the image that draw the eye to the subject instantly, and I feel that I’ve really utilized the surrounding environment in this way. There wasn’t really much to not like about this image, but one fault I can pick out is that the symmetry is slightly off. It would have been nice to have the subject centered dead in the middle of the image, and I feel that this would have perfected the image

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My images: contact sheet 2

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Chosen image:

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• What techniques were used?For this piece, I have used the double exposure technique.• How was the technique usedBy using Adobe Photoshop, I created two layers with different images on them, and manipulated their opacity in order to create an overlaid double exposure effect. I also insured that the backgrounds of both images are white in order to create the illusion that both versions of the subject are part of the same image, and also to increase the focus of the subjects against a plain looking background with no distractions.

• What are your opinions on the image• I feel that this image has a lot of beauty to it. I mean this in a very natural sense.

Everything about the image seems natural and not overly artificial in terms of it’s aesthetic. Using a female subject I feel helped me to achieve this, and I don’t think the same effect would have worked if I’d used a male. I also like how the background of the image has been made completely white by using a studio and artificial lighting, yet at the same time still seems to remain natural, almost like something you would expect to see on the advert for some herbal shampoo or a low fat breakfast cereal targeted at women. The double exposure works particularly well as it means that more of the subject’s facial features can be exposed through the use of a side profile shot and a front profile shot. This allows the viewer of the image to feel more of the subject’s emotion, and was something I also really like about the image. One thing I didn’t like about the image was that I feel it could have benefitted from being more vibrant and less washed out. This was something that was hard to avoid due to having to turn the opacity of each image down, but by playing more with the color levels I feel like I could have done a better job at correcting this.

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Idea generation

Mood board

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What types of experimental photography will you produce?

‘light painting’, Fine art experimental,

What post-production techniques will be required?

What do you intend to do?

I intend to create a set of images that represents my creativity through the medium of experimental photography. These images I hope will reflect on my personality in some ways, while also reflecting the influence of other photographers I’ve previously researched. One of my sets of images will be focused around creating ‘light painting’ style images. This will be done in a studio under dark lighting conditions using a slow shutter speed in order to create a motion blur outline lighting effect.

Proposal

What equipment is required?

What locations are required?

College Studio, drignhouses street

Plan

Time Date Equipment and Subjects

2:47 20/11/2015 Tripod, Swara (subject)

3:30 27/11/2015 Tripod, Ruby (subject) Jordan (subject)

3:10 15/1/2016 Tripod, ruby (subject), emily(subject)

3:00 13/11/2015 Tripod, mellors (subject)

Contact SheetInclude contact sheets related

to your project.

Developments for final image 1

1: Raw image 2: black and white

The first thing I did for this image was remove the color in order to evoke emotion and create tone and mood. It leaves the viewer not knowing whether the image is warm or cool, and leaves them guessing as to what the image means.

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3: rectangle tool 4: ‘ref-u-gee’ text

Firstly I created a rectangle tool as the base for mttext. This was achieved using the rectangle tool, and I used the blending options tool in order to create a grey color overlay to match with the black and white aesthetics. I then added the ‘ref-u-gee’ text. This doesn’t necessarily directly symbolize refugees, but was actually the first word that came into my head, which prompted me to use it. It adds to the random and abstract feel of the image, leaving the viewer slightly confused yet intrigued.

Developments for final image 2

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1: raw image 2: colourising

3: adjusting levels

Here I used Photoshop’s ‘select’ tool to select a colour range which consisted of the bright white lights cast. I also used the feather tool at 10 pixels in order to create a less rigid and more smooth selection as to avoid making the selection look unnatural. After making the selection, I used the levels tool in order to change the colours of the light to a bright pink colour, which to me, make It look more visually pleasing. After doing all of this, I then proceeded to use the colour rand tool to make another selection. This time of the dark studio background of the image. I played with the levels again in order to further darken the background, adding to the contrast and allowing me to achieve more bold and outstanding lights.

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Final Images

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What are your opinions regarding this image?

To me it stands out because it really leaves the viewer thinking about the meaning behind it. This is ironic due to the fact that the words literally mean nothing, but I think this works in the image’s favour due to the fact that it is meant to be ofan experimental nature. The monochrome adds to the image’s emotive properties, and gives it an almost dark and bleak feeling to it. I used the figure in front of the subject in order to represent the fact that we are all essentially just pieces of material, and I think this is a strong part of my image and will provoke lots of thought in the viewers. I also like the factthat the image is so crisp and well defined, with a very clear focal point. It all looks very professional, and I think the factthat the subject obeys the rule of thirds really helps with this. One thing I don’t like as much about this image is the factthat there are no leading lines that follow onto the subject. Leading lines have always been something that has appealed to me, so I was disappointed by the fact the I couldn’t incorporate them into this image due to the amount of blank space and the passive nature of the image.