Saturday, April 19, 2014

Successful TOC





Book Cover Inspiration

I


I like this cover for its boldness and uniqueness.

I like this rough, unfinished feel for a book cover.

The color scheme and shapes are the parts I like. Also the font is not bad. 

I like this font and illustration

these two covers caught my eye because of their fantasy feel. 

I like the brightness of this cover and how simple and direct it is.

I like this one because it includes a variety of pictures on it with simple text

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Concept Statement Brainstorming

What is a concept statement? It is a concise, memorable statement that tries to capture the "essence" of a project, particularly its uniqueness. The concept statement is a short, descriptive, and easy-to-remember phrase that tries to capture the intention or purpose of your project.

Conceptual 

photo collage
movement
dancing
space
morph

Physical 

arches
shadows
light
steps
dress

The woman dances under the archway as a way to capture the contrast of flexibility vs stability. light and shadows, movement, and space. With in a static, rigid form a dancer moves about with energy and excitement. Her body is a calalyst for the changing shape and form of her dress that takes on a life of its own. The dancer is the the opposite of the structured architecture by her free flowing movements 
of expression.

Reflection on Susan's Sontag's "On Photography"

Everything has been photographed since the inventory started in 1839. Anyone can have the whole world on hand because of photography. Sontag argues “To collect photographs is to collect the world.” Unlike film, photography it is an object, and the author has notices how easy it is to reproduce and to obtain pictures. By viewing a photograph, you experience whether its a picture of a child playing in a puddle or a dog catching a frisbee. When viewing a photograph, you gain knowledge of what is appropriated, and a feeling of power is received. Photographs contain knowledge of the past and most use to them reach the present. Photographs differ from other mediums like painting, drawing, and writing because they are less of an interpretation and more small fractions of reality. Photographs can take on an array of productions. They are exhibited in libraries, exchanged in stores, photoshopped, and printed in books. They do not have a long life, but in the past, books have enhanced there longevity. The “Way of Seeing” video argues that paintings lose value when they are reproduced. Sontag argues that photographs do lose quality, but far less that paintings in reproduction. Chris Marker’s created a film to guide a viewer through looking at photographs down to the second in his video from 1966. While this was a novel idea, the photograph is not able to be physically attained.
Photographs prove and justify. These features can be used by the everyday Iphone for capturing a selfie or by police to record an inconceivable truth. Regardless of the purpose, it is a useful tool to recording a visible reality.
Sontag argues that photographers impose interpretation on their subjects, just as much as painter and drawers do. The photographer will shoot a subject multiple times until their subjects meet the standard. For example Dorthea Lange’s opinion about the depression’s effect on people . Many photographers interpret the world and do not just mirror reality. Photographs have a wider scope than painting inherently. It allows a large number of subjects to capture and a wider audience to experience them. Industrialization has given society the opportunity to use photography as a art. The camera started out only being operated by inventors and buffs, but now they are used by everyone. And they also can fit inside of coat, jacket, and jean pockets. This revolutionary contraption has come so far since the early 1840’s. It has made leaps to taking on a whole new identity than it was originally created for.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Video Reflections


Ways of seeing, Episode 1: Psychological Aspects

Mechanical eye: THE CAMERA
Records complex combinations 
Has afresh perception of the world, 
  1. The Man with a movie camera
    1. It has changed paintings long before it was invented
    2. Paintings like the eye can only be in one place at a time, now any painting can be reproduced and seen in a million places at a time. They are surrounded by different objects in the context of their own place. The owner only sees them in the context of their own building
    3. Everything around the painting becomes the part of its meaning. \
    4. The icon: worshippers converge upon it. Behind the image is God. It marks the meaning. Now images come to us, not we go to them. It travels to the screen which takes away the uniqueness of painting. 
    5. Faces of painting become messages, but original painting are claimed to still unique because they are distorted, pixilated by viewing unauthentically. 
  2. Getting back what is lost
    1. The paintings lose their original meaning and multiply and destroy Leonardo’s because their replicas are bought. 
    2. Paintings are silent and still with meaning changing that are easily manipulated with sound and movement. 
    3. By the movement of the camera a religious painting can become an example of landscape painting or a straightforward 
  3. Reproductions of images can make the meaning of art ambiguous
    1. Can be used by anybody for their own purposes
    2. Makes our experiences with art easier to connect with our experiences
    3. Images can be used like words, we can talk with them
    4. House was a destitute and in debt: paints the pubic officials
      1. These are made easily accessible with reprints in a book, of details of the painting
      2. The flesh tones, jump out at the viewer, the characterization  is generalization, and meaningless
      3. He captures mystification
    5. We should be skeptical about what people say about the art they present to argues their own, but should still consider it. 


Errol Morris: ‘We’ve forgotten that photographs are connected to the physical world’- video

1.True Investigation in to the world in which the photograph was taken
a. Trench warefare
-barren landscape filled with cannonballs
- identical expect cannon balls vs no cannon balles
b. issue of posing
- What makes a photograph truthful?
- Photographers should observe at a distance
- Morris’s View there is no true and false photographs because all photographs are posed and words are used in true not photographs
- There is always an absence in a photograph, they decontextualize everything with a swatch of reality, 2-D that has been torn out of the world
- If you want to understand you much seize of little details, nature of posing, and how we understand the world through photographs.
2. Iconic Photographs
a. have a certain power over us,  that take on meaning for tons of people. 
b. Feeling are drawn about it by simply seeing the photograph, it sparks curiousity.

'A Viewers' Reflection


A viewer’s guide to LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS
  1. Understanding Photographs to gain insight and pleasure
    1. Enough time to make analysis
      1. simplest photos can not be analyzed in less than 5 min
      2. Could take up to days or weeks for full appreciation
    1. Free mind of prejudices (good or bad)
      1. all aspects of photograph 
        1. most difficult part of analysis
          1. four steps of analysis: 

2. Description
    1. whatever is in the photo: physical, psychological, etc
    2. The subject matter ex lines and color structure location And relationships between a&b
    3. shape of photo, textures, perspective, motion of subject, mood,space, lights and shadows, (quality; sharp,blurred, fogged, or grainy), reality or nonfiction, exotic or common, (time, place, locale-definite or indefinite), (known or unknown b/c its hidden or blurred), and rout of eye.
    4. formal analysis aka facts
      1. what shapes in parts and overall composition are used? Are they repeated?, What are the repetitions and parallels?, variations on a theme, contrasts? is photo enhanced? what is balanced? and it is achieved and appropriate? Is the photo united, if so what is the feature of the unity?
    5. Evaluation
  1. Interpretation
    1. Specific or Universal
      1. Universals can be abstractions
      2. Is there something specific or is there a broader message
    2. Symbolism
      1. Should stand for exactly was is seen or there needs to be solid evidence that a higher or broader meaning exists in the picture 
    3. Manner of Statement
      1. Modern times prefer subtle approach, opposed not obvious
      2. Picasso chose a violent, slashing, deadly technique in his painting Guernica
      3. Death is hard to approach effective and subtly
      4. Answer what manner did the photographer choose to make his statement? 
    4. Feelings
      1. Vision, emotion, and intellect
      2. ambiguous appeals to sense of mystery
      3. Humor is obvious 
      4. some are tactile: rough bark, smooth, cool rocks
      5. pity, love, admiration, joy etc.
      6. Bring to foreground, so you are conscious of the appeal of the photograph
    5. Metaphor
      1. What does this photo evoke about your own life?
      2. Find object metaphor not subjective so its a personal reaction to the photo
      3. requires a relaxed, inquisitive and sensitive approach
        1. subconscious needs to be relaxed so uncover their clues, and eyes need to dream of forms and lines, tones and colors like those in the photograph
        2. nothing might come and that is ok
    6. Meaning
      1. Its not a literal answer, but can be so broad or farout that it is meaningless
      2. make broadest statement possible about pic consistent with what the pic offers
      3. needs to have real evidence
      4. Meant to categorize photos into sensory, tangible, conceptual, and miscellaneous
  1. Subject Matter
    1. whether the appeal of a photo stems from sub matter or the manner of picturing the subject is the question
    2. nothing might be added by the photographer
  2. Photographer’s Viewpoint
    1. Their relationship with the subject; ironic, sympathetic, objective, sardonic...?
    2. comes through the photographs

  1. Evaluation
    1. Pick the right standards to judge it by, for what it is and around the broader ground of photography in general.
      1. When looking at portraits we are confronted with questions to consider
      2. These questions come from a variety of places ie. museum that bases off of history
      3. The questions deal with all the matters of the subject, hair, expression, clothes, etc
      4. These  should all fall in place one the  standard is set
      5. The last question: will this photo live should encompass the rest of the answers
    1. There is room for all photographs
      1. Abstract photographs can offer just as much interesting conclusions as any other kind, so keep an open mind if you personally prefer realistic ones.
    2. Dont judge a photo by whether or not you would hang it in your house
      1. The sistine Chapel by Michealangelo is considered a great piece of art but critics dont want it to be their houses. 
      1. This process set by the authorities of photography to give aid to understanding pictures. They should help viewers make educated assumptions about the characteristics of a photo. Once all the steps are complete the viewer should be thoroughly equipped to decide whether or not the photograph is significant. It teaches you what to look at when looking at a picture so your able to enjoy photography no matter what skill level.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Photo Collage Minis

 Balcony Behind Snow Hall

To show the movement and process of a photographers expierence with the subject by using distance, shadows. To show how the artist explores and sees through the lense of this balcony during different stages of the day from a 360 degree view. 
















Potters Lake

capture the appearance of spring life evolving from the cold, barren winter of the sky water, and plant/animal life. Study and display the evolution of Potters lake between the seasons of winter and spring.










Camponeal

Give the sense of space receding to give the campanile honor of being a skyscraper. Truly capture the height and scale of the structure from ground perspective to make viewer feel small in comparison to the structure from any angle, but specifically from directly below.










KU Memorial Stadium

Focusing on memorial Stadium to give the view from the hill on University of Kansas' campus. Goal would be to capture the span of days rotation of the sun from the sunrise to sunset around this place.