Mapplethorpe notes.

Robert Mapplethorpe.

- Robert Mapplethorpe was raised in a strict Catholic household in the suburbs, therefore he felt as though Catholicism had an important influence on his work.
- At age 16, Mapplethorpe moved to Brooklyn to attend training at an art school.
- He attended Pratt instate of Art
- Mapplethorpe was close friends with PattySmith and they used to live together
- His first ever portrait was of Patty Smith
- He usual used his friends as models as they were most comfortable around him
- Mapplethorpe was openly gay, which was shocking as he was raised to be Roman Catholic
- He we most known for his documentation of  Manhattan's gay community in the late 60's and 70's
- He mainly photographed black and white portraits and flowers (as in that time flower photographs were the best selling photos in the industry)
- Most of Mapplethorpes portraits were of gay couples and often contained nudity
- Mapplethorpe sold prints for $15,000
- A session with Mapplethorpe would cost $10,000
- His work was often used for album covers
- Mapplethorpe had his nipple pierced on video
- Mapplethorpe was accused of being selfish as it seemed as though his work set out to shock people, as in that time homosexuality was still a controversial topic
- Mapplethorpes work often raised issues such as sex, violence and race discrimination
-This meant that many of his exhibitions were closed down
- Mapplethorpes work was around in the 'Pre-digital age'
- He used simple, soft-lighting which meant that the details of faces were more obvious
-Mapplethorpe died at age 43 due to Aids.

David Bailey.

David Bailey.

I have chosen to look at the work of David Bailey. David Bailey mainly photographs people in the form of portraits. I like Baileys portraits as he pays a lot of attention to all of the formal elements, especially tone for and lines to create a lot of detail on the faces. Nearly all of his portraits are in black and white as it draws the focus to the persons far and not the different colours on the person or the backgrounds.

The first photograph on David Bailey's that i have chosen to write about is this black and white portrait. In this photograph we can see that he has looked closely at the way he has positioned the lighting behind him to create the shadows on his face, so emphasise the features. As wells this the lines on his face look very defined and the tone of them is darker , showing the dimensions of his face. By having half of the models face in a shadow,it helps to make the lines and details on the other side of the face more prominent and di

The second picture i have chosen is another black and white portrait, however this one differs a lot from the first picture as it has a lot lighter tones , this makes the women's skin look flawless. But we can still see the depth of the ridges in her jumper as they are darker, showing that her jumper has a bumpy texture. In this photograph the model is positioned so her eyes are in the centre of the shot, by doing this it draws the attention to her eyes rather than any where else in the shot.

The third photograph of Bailey's that i have chosen is this one that show a naked man hugging a naked women. In this photo there is no wasted space around the people and it a apparent that Bailey has payed a lot of attention to the form and shadow casted onto the two people in the shot. By using a lighter background and making the photo black and white is means that the models features stand out more as the tone of the background is a similar tone to the models skin.

The final picture i have chosen to write about is this black and white portrait of two of The Beatles members. I like this portrait as the suits are very dark in comparison to the white background  and paler faces of the people. This photograph shows a lot of attention has be payed to the form of their faces, as the shadows around their noses show that their faces are three dimensional.

Influence and summary:

Through looking at David Bailey's work i have started to look more closely at the form and tone of the photos i take in the studio. As well s this i have been influenced to look more closely at composition and making sure there is no wasted space in the frame.

David Baileys work is mainly of portraits and in black and white. Through them being black and white we can see that Bailey looks closely at tone and form,to ensure nothing on the person bends in with the background and that the facial fetters look three dimensional.

Although the photo below was taken as part of a Mapplethorpe inspired shoot as there is a bigger contrast between the person and the background in this photo, like many of Baileys portraits.

Erik Johansson.

Erik Johansson.

I have chosen to look at the work of Erik Johansson in more detail as i like how most of his work is unusual and surreal. Just from briefly looking at his work it is obvious that Johansson pays a lot of attention to the formal elements, especially the tone and form of what e is taking the picture of. Many of his photographs, like the one below, use selective colour to emphasise on the surreal aspect of his work.

The first picture of Erik Johansson's that i have chosen to write about is the one above that shows a women painting a wooden floor blue, whilst everything else is in black and white. In the photo it appears as though the blue floor looks like an ocean as there is a sky and seagulls above it. This photographs shows that Johansson looked closely at tone as the dark sky behind the lighter clouds makes the clouds look more three dimensional. On the floor, there is a small reflection of the sun, this makes the floor seem more like the ocean as the sun always reflects off of the water.

The second image i have chosen to look at is this one that shows a person looking over the edge of a steep hill. I like this photo as it shows Johansson is very precise and pays a lot of attention to detail in terms of editing the photo, as in the picture the path looks exactly the same down the hill as it is leading unto the hill. This photo is a very good example of depth as the path continues on all throughout this photo getting thiner the further away it gets.

The third photo of Erik Johansson's that i have chosen this the one above that shows a cartoon style town being zipped closed by a giant zip that runs through the centre of the town. Like the last photo it shows Johansson's flare for editing in that the buildings are all tilted at the same angle and that the grass in the open part looks at though it goes straight under the town. In this photo it shows a good attention to form, as the darker shading on the top of the buildings makes the buildings look more three dimensional.

The final picture i have chosen to write about is this one that shows a long road and a man pulling a piece of material that transitions into the road. This pictures another example of how Johansson uses editing to create unusual and surreal photographs. This image pays a lot of attention to lines as they are used as cracks in the road and creases in the material to make it look more realistic, this photo is also a good example of depth as the road gets thinner the further away from the man it is and looks like it comes to a point as it goes around the corner, this makes the road look more realistic

Influence and summary:
Erik Johansson has influenced me to look more closely at depth in my photos as a lot of his photos are of paths or roads that look like they come to a point as it gets further away. As well as this i want to look more into the editing of my photos are i like the surreal but realistic aspects of the work.
It is apparent that Erik Johansson spends a lot of time on the editing of the photographs as well as taking them as the photos, although surreal, look very realistic. As well as this, Erik Johansson's photos are good examples of depth as a lot of them are of paths or roads that get thinner the further away they are. Erik Johansson influenced me to look at lines as well as looking at depth in my photographs, so in the photo below we can see the depth of the ridges in the carpet and the lines of the material, which is sort of similar to the photo of his that shows the depth of the road and the lines of the cracks in the material and the grass.

Walk 2- Work Diary.

Evaluation of Session;
When we went out for the second walk most of the picture i took seemed very repetitive as we had already gone for a walk to the same location to take photograph of the same subjects. This made it difficult to take 'good' photos as all of the were pretty much the same as last time. In this session i still found it quite difficult to take photos that show a sense of journey o there are only a small number of journey photos compared to autumn colours and back of heads.

 I took this photo when we were out on the second walk, i like this photograph as it has a sense of journey and it looks very peaceful and serene. As well as journey this photo also shows Autumn colours as in the background there are different colour trees and bushes, made up of green, yellow and red leaves.

The second image i have chosen to write about shows the different colours of the Autumn leaves. In this photo, there is a clear contrast between the lighter green, yellow and orange colour of some leaves against the darker green leaves.








Progression;
If we were to go out for another walk i would try to go to other locations so the photos are different and i would focus more on 'journey' as the majority of my photos were either 'back of head' or 'autumn colours'. Aswell as this i would want to take more time to look for things to take photos of and to get there right shot as most of my photos were rushed.

Studio Contrast 2- Work Diary.

Evaluation of Session;
When we went into the studio to shoot contrast for the second time i found it very difficult to take a lot of photographs as i was stuck for ideas considering we had already done the shoot once and that i was partnered with all male students so i couldn't find as many contrasts as there would be if there was a girl. I think contrast would be easier to shoot on location as there is more people and a lot of contrast in nature so i wouldn't have to set them up like in the studio.

The first photo i have chosen is this one that shows a lot on different contrasts, the main one being the contrast of height between  the two people in the photo. The second is the one person is wearing a hat and the other is not and another contrast between the black and green clothes against the white background the the different between the green coat of one person and the back jumper on the other.

The second photo i ahem chosen to write about again show many different types on contrasts. The first contrast is the one person is wearing a top hat and the other is wearing a beanie hat, the second is the height difference between the two and the third is the colour difference between their dark clothes against the light, white background.







Progression;
If we were to do another studio contrast shoot i would do more research into contrast and look at more pictures so i could think of more idea to take picture of when we get into the studio. As well as this i want to take more photos that show a contrast in gender as although in one photo theres a contrast the rest are all of boys. I also want to shoot a contrast location shoot as i think there would be a lot more thing to take photos of.

Location contrast 2- Work Diary.

Evaluation of session;

When we were told that we were shooting Contrast i didn't realise just how broad the subject of contrast is but during the beginning of the lesson when we were creating a mind map of contrast ideas i realised just many different contrasts there are. That said, it was still a bit difficult to find a lot of different contrasts as this was the second location shoot that we had done for contrast. I found this shoot to be a lot easier than shooting contrast in the studio as there was a lot more things i could take photographs of.

This is my favourite of all of the photographs i has taken during this shoot as it shows a clear colour contrast between the dark stones and the lighter stones and the different sizes of stones that are all grouped together. As well as this it shows the contrasts between the stones that are dry on the left and the stones that are wet on the left.

The second photograph i have chosen from the shoot this this one that shows shadow cast onto grass. I like this photograph as it shows a contrast between light and dark (in the shade and in the sunlight) and i like how there is a straight line in the middle, so the contrast is obvious.
This photo also shows contrast between the different lengths of the stands of grass, the different lengths also creates texture, so we can see that the grass isn't smooth.





Progression; 
If i were to go out and shoot Location Contrast again, i would take more photographs of contrasts that involve people, such as height, sex or age rather than just taking photographs of the contrast between different materials, like i did during this shoot. I would try to take photos that show contrast between people as when i tried this in the studio i had a lot of ideas but what i could actually do was limited by the people in the studio with me, the background colours and the space.

Mapplethorpe- Image bank

Robert Mapplethorpe is known for his black and white portraits. In all of Mapplethorpes work we can see that he has focused mainly on tone and on the composition of the photographs to ensure that there is not wasted space and all detail is shown. Mapplethorpe is also know for his self portraits the last three photos i had found are all of Robert Mapplethorpe himself, showing how he can be serious but at the same time there is humour in his work. This is shown in the forth picture is him with devil horns, at the time that would have been a bad thing as religion was still a quite a large part of society nut as he had said himself that he doesn't men any offence by his work.

Location Contrast 2- Straight images

Multiple Imagery- straight images

Connecting essay: 2

The photograph i have found on the internet is the one below that shows a big tree trunk to the right of the picture and orange leaves scattered on the ground below it. In the photo its is obvious that the photographer has taken careful consideration to the formal elements, especially depth, as you can see path going into the distance. Lines is also taken into consideration as you can see the detail of the lines on the tree trunk. I like this photo as its very simple but it is obvious that the photographer had considered the background as well as the foreground before taking the photograph.

The photograph i took that i have chosen to write about is the one below that shows a close up of the bark on a tree trunk. I like this photograph as i think that the lighting is good as it causes shadows to form in the deeper groves in the tree and the higher points to be lighter. This shows consideration of the formal element, form. As well as form we can see the detailed lines on the tree showing that it has a very rough texture. Contrast is also shown in this picture as the moss is a light green/yellow and the tree is a dark brown/grey.

The two images i have chosen are linked though the subject of the photograph. Simply, both photographs are of a tree. Although the first one is taken from a slight distance and the second is close up, you can see in both photographs the lines and details on the tree trunks, showing the rough texture of them both. As well as this, the first photograph shows the contrast between the dark colour of the tree trunk and brighter colour of the leaves and the second photograph shows the contrast between the dark colour of the tree and the brighter colour of the moss located on random points of the tree.

Connecting essay: 1

The first photograph below, i have found on the internet when i searched for 'autumn colours'.

In this photograph we can see light green leaves, fading into yellow leaves and red leaves closer to the edge of the tree against a bright blue sky background. The brown branch of the tree contrasts with the lighter colours of the leaves and the yellow/reds of the leaves contrast with the bright blue sky. Whilst analysing this photograph i noticed that the yellow leaves in the top left hand corner reminds me of the sun. I like the contrasts in this photograph and the darker colour tones of the leaves as well as the lines of the darker tree branches.

The picture below is a photo that i had taken whilst we were out on our first walk taking photos of Autumn colours. In the photograph below we can see that there is lighter yellow leaves towards the edges of the tree and the green leaves in the centre get slightly darker, the further down the tree you look at. I think that the yellow and green leaves contrast well against the light blue sky. I like this photograph as i like the different tones of green, yellow and orange of the trees as well as the lines of the branches against the clear sky.

These two photograph are linked through their similarities within the formal elements. Both my photograph and the image from the internet show the different tones of the leaves ranging between dark green and light yellow. As well as this the branch of the tree create lines which are more noticeable against the bright blue of the background. Other than tone and lines, both pictures also are similar in he colour contrast; the main visible contrast is between the yellow leaves and blue sky in both of the pictures. A smaller, less noticeable contrast that is still evident in both photographs, is the colour of the leaves, some leaves are darker than others, which gives the leaves more depth and definition.

Location contrast- straight images

Mapplethorpe studio- straight images

Location Contrast- work diary.

Evaluation of session;

When we were told we were going to go out and shoot contrast i was looking forward to it as we had made the mind map before so i had a lot of ideas and it made me realise that there is a wide variety of contrasts. However when we had to go and shoot i found it difficult to take a lot of pictures was we had to shoot in the studio.

This is my favourite of all of the photographs we had taken for contrast as it shows a slight contrast between the black sleeve and the white wall as well as the contrast between hand and foot. A third contrast is shown agin of colour between the different colours of the different flags that surround the foot. There are a lot more colour contrasts in this photograph than there is any other types of contrast.

The second photograph that i have chosen to write about is this one that shows the contrast between to the colours, green and white. I like this photograph as it is very simple and only shows one contrast as opposed to a lot of my other photographs that have more than one contrast present.

Progression;

If we were to reshoot contrast again i would shoot outside of the studio as there will be more things to take photographs of and i would look for other contrasts as most of the photographs i took had a contrast between the colours. I would like to look more into the contrast of people such as height, gender, style and age.