Lionel Marsden AS Photography |
Portraiture
A portrait, as described by Oxford Dictionaries is a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders.
It was also described by David Taylor, Senior Curator, Scottish National Portrait Gallery who said: "I think a portrait is probably different things to different people but in general terms it’s a depiction of a person which can be idealised to flatter them or it can be an impression of their personality or it can even be an abstract depiction of some element about them".
Many people believe that portraits can be of objects as well as people.
In the poem 'Checkin Out Ma History' by John Agard the speaker expresses a desire to learn more about his own country of origin, not just the British history he has been taught in school.
It was also described by David Taylor, Senior Curator, Scottish National Portrait Gallery who said: "I think a portrait is probably different things to different people but in general terms it’s a depiction of a person which can be idealised to flatter them or it can be an impression of their personality or it can even be an abstract depiction of some element about them".
Many people believe that portraits can be of objects as well as people.
In the poem 'Checkin Out Ma History' by John Agard the speaker expresses a desire to learn more about his own country of origin, not just the British history he has been taught in school.
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This poem links well with portraiture as it expresses the desire of a man to learn more about his own background, rather than the backgrounds of other people. He wants to know who he is rather than who he isn't.
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MINDMAP
MYRA GREEN HOMEWORK
Myra Green's work has been featured nationally in exhibitions, galleries and museums in America. It can be found in the permanent collection of Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City and The New York Public Library.
Our homework was to: Take a series of images of different members of your family in the style of Myra Greene with the intention of creating a visual representation of the person without showing their full facial portrait.
I took the pictures of my mother, making sure to get a variety of different angles.
Myra Green's work has been featured nationally in exhibitions, galleries and museums in America. It can be found in the permanent collection of Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City and The New York Public Library.
Our homework was to: Take a series of images of different members of your family in the style of Myra Greene with the intention of creating a visual representation of the person without showing their full facial portrait.
I took the pictures of my mother, making sure to get a variety of different angles.
In response to the style of Georgetown we were asked to take pictures of people and there surroundings. I took pictures of the security guard at the front of our school, the Science technician room and
LEWIS KHAN GEORGETOWN RESPONSE
Georgetown is a documentary created by Lewis Khan showing the 'world' of George, a man from South London whom Khan would see on the streets when he was a kid and playing Football. He was someone that everyone in the neighbourhood knew.
It is clear from the film that George has a counterproductive personality. His house is cluttered with an assortment of things such as used coffee cups, ashtrays, lighters, pen lids and odd subjective items from his past.
In reference and response to Lewis Khans short film 'GeorgeTown' I made a video creating a visual representation of my mother who of course has a particular relevance to me. I liked how in GeorgeTown we don't see Georges face until about 3 minutes into the film and I implemented this into my piece. I thought the best way to create a visual representation of my mother was to show what she does most mornings. I experimented with DOF, using many camera angles and closeups.
I may develop this, adding a commentary from my Mother; more shots of her face like the Georgetown film and some music. I will also add increased shots of the inside of her office. To give a greater insight into her life.
It is clear from the film that George has a counterproductive personality. His house is cluttered with an assortment of things such as used coffee cups, ashtrays, lighters, pen lids and odd subjective items from his past.
In reference and response to Lewis Khans short film 'GeorgeTown' I made a video creating a visual representation of my mother who of course has a particular relevance to me. I liked how in GeorgeTown we don't see Georges face until about 3 minutes into the film and I implemented this into my piece. I thought the best way to create a visual representation of my mother was to show what she does most mornings. I experimented with DOF, using many camera angles and closeups.
I may develop this, adding a commentary from my Mother; more shots of her face like the Georgetown film and some music. I will also add increased shots of the inside of her office. To give a greater insight into her life.
Ulric Collette Genetic Portrait
Collette, a self-taught photographer from Quebec, Canada, began exploring these genetic relationships after an editing accident. “I was attempting to create something totally different with another project, and in the process I came up with the first picture, me and my then 7-year-old son,” he says. He discovered that comparing one half of a face with another half was an effective way to show the resemblance between two relatives. “I decided to try the same process with a few family members and the project was born.” The work of Ulric has been presented in many different websites, magazines and books all over the world and most recently his work on the genetic portraits series was shortlisted in the awards show 'Cannes Lion'.
Here is the process for how I created the pictures along with the pictures themselves:
Here is the process for how I created the pictures along with the pictures themselves:
Camera Lens Experiment
I experimented with taking a photo with a second lens. This proved extremely difficult as you had to match the focus of the second lens manually while keeping the lens completely still. Overall I do believe the photos were quite successful as they gave a sense of revelation, revealing something through what could be described as a 'window'.
Sayako Sugawara - Cyanotypes
In class we created cyanotypes in response to the work of Sayako Sugawara.
Method of creating cyanotypes:
Create an acetate negative of a given picture. In this case I used my face.
Place the image above some photographic paper in the dark room.
Expose it to light for 6 seconds (this time seemed the best exposure after making a test strip).
Develop the image and leave to dry.
I placed tissue paper over the top of my acetate to get this shattered effect (below).
Method of creating cyanotypes:
Create an acetate negative of a given picture. In this case I used my face.
Place the image above some photographic paper in the dark room.
Expose it to light for 6 seconds (this time seemed the best exposure after making a test strip).
Develop the image and leave to dry.
I placed tissue paper over the top of my acetate to get this shattered effect (below).
LUCAS SIMOES
The Photographic Object
Lucas Simões is a Brazilian artist based in São Paulo. Much of his photography includes burning, layering and cutting parts of printed images and arranging them in odd and quite surreal ways.
This includes reshaping and distorting portraits that he has taken, obscuring the original identity of the person in the photo.
He is also greatly influenced by his background in Architecture meaning that he experiments using a wide range of media such as wax, paper, silicon, books, paints and fire. I really like Lucas Simoes pieces because it is highly experimental and original. Many of the things that he does are destructive, such as burning and cutting. But he does it in such a way that his images don't come across as convoluted and random acts of calamity. They appear as well thought out and innovative pieces that distort the human figure in such a way that it reveals increased emotion and feeling than you would get with a standard portrait.
Lucas Simões is a Brazilian artist based in São Paulo. Much of his photography includes burning, layering and cutting parts of printed images and arranging them in odd and quite surreal ways.
This includes reshaping and distorting portraits that he has taken, obscuring the original identity of the person in the photo.
He is also greatly influenced by his background in Architecture meaning that he experiments using a wide range of media such as wax, paper, silicon, books, paints and fire. I really like Lucas Simoes pieces because it is highly experimental and original. Many of the things that he does are destructive, such as burning and cutting. But he does it in such a way that his images don't come across as convoluted and random acts of calamity. They appear as well thought out and innovative pieces that distort the human figure in such a way that it reveals increased emotion and feeling than you would get with a standard portrait.
MAY XIONG
May Xiong created a series based on portraits that surround the idea of geometric shapes surrounding the idea of the structure of the mind. Having the paint embody both the light and dark side of a person. She was fascinated by how we perceive and understand and the series is not only a representation of how the mind works, but how it is a form of structure and intangible maps that leads us to continuously wander about the things we do and why.
My Response
I created a piece using a photo of my Mother by adding geometric lines inspired by May Xiong to bring out the features of her face, adding more connections between lines at higher angles on her face such as the sides of her nose and the far left of her face.
I felt it added a 3D aspect to a 2D image and also represented the structure of my mothers face, bringing a scientific element to something natural. I began to elevate the image, folding lines and forming shapes with some of the paper forming multiple tetrahedral shapes. I contrasted my response in the picture of May Xiong with aspects of Lucas Simoes art. I did this by painting white onto the picture leaving what seems to be missing parts of the photograph. This is much like Lucas Simoes burning technique where he sets fire to parts of photographs and also reveals white beneath.
I felt it added a 3D aspect to a 2D image and also represented the structure of my mothers face, bringing a scientific element to something natural. I began to elevate the image, folding lines and forming shapes with some of the paper forming multiple tetrahedral shapes. I contrasted my response in the picture of May Xiong with aspects of Lucas Simoes art. I did this by painting white onto the picture leaving what seems to be missing parts of the photograph. This is much like Lucas Simoes burning technique where he sets fire to parts of photographs and also reveals white beneath.
I like this piece but I don't think its good enough to use as a final piece as it is lacking in substance. For this reason I've decided to develop my Georgetown response focussing around my mother. But instead of her daily life I've decided to focus on the part of her life where she was a punk in Derby during the 1970's as this is quite a unique and special thing. When she was 16 years old she created a scrapbook in which she cut and pasted multiple news articles and magazine stories focussed on her favourite punk bands. Most prominently the well known band 'The Sex Pistols' who are largely held responsible for the majority of the punk movement. Here are multiple photographs of her scrapbook and pictures of her at that time. I may use this in the video in between her talking but I would also like to keep an element of the original response I made by having shots of her daily life to contrast the subject matter she will be talking about as well as archived footage of the bands that she liked.
Here is some general memorabilia and pictures
FINAL PIECE
For my final piece I've decided to develop my response to 'GeorgeTown' by Lewis Khan. I'm going to do this by changing the theme of the video entirely and focussing on stories from my mothers childhood, specifically when she was a punk in the 1970's. Like the Lewis Khan video I'll have her talk over footage and images associated with her daily life and stock footage from live punk performances.