Reflection
Outcome
For this next project I have chosen reflection. I have chosen this theme because of the multiple ideas I had for my final piece. I have thought about using puddles/water and reflective materials such as glass jars or mirrors.
I want to experiment by producing different photo shoots related to certain artists. I will experiment with each of these ideas individually and include buildings to add texture and pattern, I will look for buildings that repeat it's architecture or structure, like it is reflecting itself.
For my final piece I want it to be based around architecture and how buildings have a pattern/reflection repeated. I want it to be bright and colourful and include a feature such as water to add to the theme of 'reflection'.
I want to experiment by producing different photo shoots related to certain artists. I will experiment with each of these ideas individually and include buildings to add texture and pattern, I will look for buildings that repeat it's architecture or structure, like it is reflecting itself.
For my final piece I want it to be based around architecture and how buildings have a pattern/reflection repeated. I want it to be bright and colourful and include a feature such as water to add to the theme of 'reflection'.
Mindmap of Ideas
Mood Board
Naoya Hatakeyama
'Shadow / River Series' - 2002 Terril #02607' - 2009 'Slow Glass / Tokoyo #056' - 2006 'Blast #11009' - 2004
Critical Analysis
Naoya Hatakeyama was born in Iwate, Japan on the 19th of March, 1958. He studied at the University of Tsukuba, school of Art and Design and graduated in 1981. Hatakeyama works and lives in Tokyo, Japan. The photographs above were part of his 'River Series / Shadow' photo shoot from 2002. His nine-part photoshoot was taken in cement canals and Naoya Hatakeyama became famous over night because of them. With this successful outcome the photographer's work was placed in the board room of the Deutsche Bank in Tokyo.
The photograph displays a reflection in the water of the buildings/structures around the canal. It contains the lights and colours of the buildings too. It is difficult to tell what time of day it is. This is because the sky looks as if it is blue but could be a blue building as the rest of the picture is so dark, which resembles night time. It also shows plastic cups and bottles in the water, along with the ripples of water. The work was influenced by Hatakeyama's interest in things that are constructive and of substance. Pieces of his other work is based around man-made structures, such as factories.
To take the photograph Naoya Hatakeyama would have used a camera with the setting on movement and perhaps the flash on because of the bright white light that reflects off the water. He would have used a fast shutter speed and probably a tripod as the photograph is level. The photographer would of either rotated the image or taken it upside down, to achieve the upside down feature. Naoya Hatakeyama is also known for taking images that lure the viewer in an illusion to believe they are in the photograph.
The key formal elements used are colour, line (with the sides of the canal) and texture (of the water). The mood of the photograph is negative as it shows how scenery is ruined by litter, I know this because of the plastic cups and bottles that are in the canal. The photographer's work is said to have an 'element of the universal '- Ulf Erdmann Ziegler. I believe this quote means that he believes that Naoya Hatakeyama's work has a space appearance to it, which I agree with.
I like this photograph because of the bright colours that are featured from the lights. I also like how unusual the image is as it is up-side down. It is very original and seems to have a meaning behind it which is not to litter and ruin the environment. I also like how the image looks like a painting rather than a photograph. However, I dislike how the buildings being reflected are not clear and focused, I think Naoya Hatakeyama could of improved this piece of work by doing this.
The photograph displays a reflection in the water of the buildings/structures around the canal. It contains the lights and colours of the buildings too. It is difficult to tell what time of day it is. This is because the sky looks as if it is blue but could be a blue building as the rest of the picture is so dark, which resembles night time. It also shows plastic cups and bottles in the water, along with the ripples of water. The work was influenced by Hatakeyama's interest in things that are constructive and of substance. Pieces of his other work is based around man-made structures, such as factories.
To take the photograph Naoya Hatakeyama would have used a camera with the setting on movement and perhaps the flash on because of the bright white light that reflects off the water. He would have used a fast shutter speed and probably a tripod as the photograph is level. The photographer would of either rotated the image or taken it upside down, to achieve the upside down feature. Naoya Hatakeyama is also known for taking images that lure the viewer in an illusion to believe they are in the photograph.
The key formal elements used are colour, line (with the sides of the canal) and texture (of the water). The mood of the photograph is negative as it shows how scenery is ruined by litter, I know this because of the plastic cups and bottles that are in the canal. The photographer's work is said to have an 'element of the universal '- Ulf Erdmann Ziegler. I believe this quote means that he believes that Naoya Hatakeyama's work has a space appearance to it, which I agree with.
I like this photograph because of the bright colours that are featured from the lights. I also like how unusual the image is as it is up-side down. It is very original and seems to have a meaning behind it which is not to litter and ruin the environment. I also like how the image looks like a painting rather than a photograph. However, I dislike how the buildings being reflected are not clear and focused, I think Naoya Hatakeyama could of improved this piece of work by doing this.
Gerhard Richter
'Abstraktes Bild (809-1)' - 1994 ' Abstraktes Bild (780-1)' - 1992 ‘ Abstraktes Bild (809-3)’ - 1994 'Firenze (28/99)' - 2000
Critical Analysis
Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist who was born on the 8th of February 1932. The artist produces abstract paintings using bright colours. Richter also takes photographs and creates glass pieces. Gerhard Richter has experimented with paint and photographs. This has enabled him to produce more abstract artwork by using brightly coloured oil paints and a photograph as a canvas.
The painting here is called 'Abstraktes Bild (809-1)' and was created in 1994. The artwork was created by detailed under-painting followed by thick oil paints on top. Richter uses a squeegee and sometimes wide-headed brushed to smear the oil paint over the under-painting. By applying more oil paint along the length of the squeegee the artist then uses this to create a smooth effect over the surface.
Richter creates his work because of a lifelong interest in painting and is known to have gained much of his painted imagery through newspapers and family albums. The artist looked at how people captured the 'truth' in pictures. The key formal elements of the painting are colour (paint), texture and line (aspects in the painting technique).
I like the paintings because of the bright, vibrant colours that are used and how varied painting techniques are applied to create different textures. However, I think the painting could be more interesting if more materials were used.
Gerhard Richter's painting technique reminds me of Naoya Hatakeyama's smudging effect that is created by water and light. The two photographers or artists both have similarities in their work as they both take photographs and both use the same effect/style as each other in their work but in their own unique way.
The painting here is called 'Abstraktes Bild (809-1)' and was created in 1994. The artwork was created by detailed under-painting followed by thick oil paints on top. Richter uses a squeegee and sometimes wide-headed brushed to smear the oil paint over the under-painting. By applying more oil paint along the length of the squeegee the artist then uses this to create a smooth effect over the surface.
Richter creates his work because of a lifelong interest in painting and is known to have gained much of his painted imagery through newspapers and family albums. The artist looked at how people captured the 'truth' in pictures. The key formal elements of the painting are colour (paint), texture and line (aspects in the painting technique).
I like the paintings because of the bright, vibrant colours that are used and how varied painting techniques are applied to create different textures. However, I think the painting could be more interesting if more materials were used.
Gerhard Richter's painting technique reminds me of Naoya Hatakeyama's smudging effect that is created by water and light. The two photographers or artists both have similarities in their work as they both take photographs and both use the same effect/style as each other in their work but in their own unique way.
Experiment - Gerhard Richter and Naoya Hatakeyama
By looking at Gerhard Richter's work with paint and photographs I decided to try it out myself by working onto a piece of Naoya Hatakeyama's ('River Series / Shadow') photographs. This was my result of using watercolours and a printed image, inspired by Richter.
Photoshop Edit
The photograph below was the top left one from above. I edited the image below using Photoshop. First of all I cropped the image down by using the button on the left side bar that resembled a square with a line through it. Next I clicked on Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance. The colour levels resulted in being +100, +100, +66. I then clicked on Image -> Adjustments -> Levels and made the image darker. The following was my result.
SHOOT 1
For my first photo shoot I wanted to recreate Naoya Hatakeyama's 'River Series/Shadow' images myself to try and achieve how the artist produced the light/painting effect with the water. With my other main theme being architecture, I introduced man-made structures with Hatakeyama's work such as boats, bridges and buildings. I also experimented with puddles and lights to see if I could create the same result with a smaller mass of water.
WWW:- My photographs are related to the photographer Naoya Hatakeyama like I wanted.
EBI:- If the water ran through the middle of the photographs rather than the side, so the style was more like the photographer.
WWW:- My photographs are related to the photographer Naoya Hatakeyama like I wanted.
EBI:- If the water ran through the middle of the photographs rather than the side, so the style was more like the photographer.
3 Best Images From This Shoot
I chose these 3 images to edit as they related to Naoya Hatakeyama's work the most. I rotated 2 of the images to suit Hatakeyama's 'River Series' by making them upside down. The first image below is not rotated as it represents Hatakeyama's other work, in which the main theme was line, featured going in the centre of the photograph. I achieved this as the fence follows this direction.
Photoshop Edit
The photograph below was the top one from above. I edited the image below using photoshop. First of all I cropped the image down by using the button on the left side bar that resembled a square with a line through it. I then clicked on Image -> Adjustments -> Levels and made the image lighter. The following was my result.
Painting Onto My Photographs
I decided to paint on one of my photographs from the shoot above like I did with Naoya Hatakeyama's work. I painted onto a printed version of the edited image above. I used the same materials as before, thick layers of bright water colour paints.
Photoshop Edit
I edited the photograph of the paint experiment above in photoshop. First of all I inserted the left hand-side image and then clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to 105 and the contrast to 100. Next I clicked Image -> Adjustments
-> Levels and changed the levels to 46, 0.95 and 225. Then I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance and changed change the colour balance to +100, +9 and -31. This was the result.
-> Levels and changed the levels to 46, 0.95 and 225. Then I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance and changed change the colour balance to +100, +9 and -31. This was the result.
Experimental Shoot
With this shoot I experimented in the dark room with light/object reflection in water similar to Naoya Hatakeyama. I wanted to test with glass objects and how they create different colours and shades of light in the water. I thought of this idea as in Naoya Hatakeyama's 'River Series' work plastic cups are featured as shown circled to the left. The cups are reflected/mirrored in the water. I was also inspired by the upside-down wine glass that reflected a city in my mood board of ideas.
Knowing this I used available glass coloured jars/bottles to create a more colourful approach to the idea. I also used a half full plastic blue tray of water to allow objects around the jars/bottles to reflect off them and also reflect in the water. This was the outcome.
WWW:- I achieved what I wanted to achieve. Reflections in the water and on the jars.
EBI:- If my photographs were more focused as some of them seem fuzzy.
Knowing this I used available glass coloured jars/bottles to create a more colourful approach to the idea. I also used a half full plastic blue tray of water to allow objects around the jars/bottles to reflect off them and also reflect in the water. This was the outcome.
WWW:- I achieved what I wanted to achieve. Reflections in the water and on the jars.
EBI:- If my photographs were more focused as some of them seem fuzzy.
3 Best Images From This Shoot
I believe these are my best 3 images because they best display reflection of light and objects in the water.
Photoshop Edit
I edited the first image of this experiment shoot to make it more vibrant and refined. First I cropped the image. Next I selected Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed it to brightness 53 and contrast 100. Then I clicked on Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance and changed it to -100, -100 and +100. After that I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Vibrance and then changed it to vibrance +100 and saturation +31.
Painting Onto My Photographs
SHOOT 2
For this shoot I went to Keynsham to take photographs of the water. I used a green beer glass held up to the light so that the light would reflect through it.
WWW:- The photographs are how I wanted them to be like. Most of them are focused.
EBI:- If the photographs were clearer.
WWW:- The photographs are how I wanted them to be like. Most of them are focused.
EBI:- If the photographs were clearer.
3 Best Images From This Shoot
I believe these are my best 3 images because they are the most interesting/unique. I liked the last one as it is a reflection of a building in the water but looks distorted because of the water movement. I liked the other two as they are slightly blurry and gives the effect of a painting - Gerhard Richter.
Photoshop Edit
I edited the first photograph above using Photoshop. First of all I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to 150 and the contrast to 100. Next I clicked Image - > Adjustments -> Vibrance and changed the vibrance to +100 and the contrast to +50. I then cropped the image.
Painting Onto My Photographs
Shoot 3
For this shoot I wanted to work with glass more. I positioned a blue glass in different ways to see how light reflected off it. I want to experiment further with this idea for my next shoot and find a way of reflecting objects in the water more successfully.
WWW:- I found an idea that I want to experiment further with. In the middle of the photoshoot I managed to capture Hatakeyama's style with the orange object and white light.
EBI:- To experiment more with this idea. To make it more colourful.
WWW:- I found an idea that I want to experiment further with. In the middle of the photoshoot I managed to capture Hatakeyama's style with the orange object and white light.
EBI:- To experiment more with this idea. To make it more colourful.
3 Best Images From This Shoot:-
I chose these because they are the most similar to the work I have been doing. They are along the lines of what I want to look into with more colour and reflections on the surface of the water.
Photoshop Edit
I edited a image above using Photoshop. First of all I cropped the image and rotated it to the side. Next, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to -21 and the contrast to 100. After that, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Vibrance and changed the vibrance to +100 and the saturation to +7. Then, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance and changed the colour levels to -100, -27 and +100. Next, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Shadows/Highlights and kept the shadow percentage the same, 0%, but changed the amount of highlight to 100%.
Painting Onto My Photographs
Shoot 4
With this shoot I was thinking of taking pictures of light in puddles until I discovered that the water could reflect the image above it if a light was near. I then experimented with capturing the reflections of objects in the water, much like a mirror. I used different objects to hold the water in, to get a range of results. I worked with clear glasses, bowls and cups. I found that the coloured objects worked best. I worked with glasses inside the coloured bowls too as the glasses made the reflected objects look distorted in the water. I also worked with capturing lines of light on the glasses similar to the previous shoot. I tried to hover glasses of water around light sources too. This was the result.
WWW:- I successfully found a way of reflecting surroundings in water.
EBI:- I tried to use different colours of light to make the results more colourful.
WWW:- I successfully found a way of reflecting surroundings in water.
EBI:- I tried to use different colours of light to make the results more colourful.
3 Best Images From This Shoot:-
I chose these images as they were the result of what I wanted to achieve with the experiment of reflections of the surface of water. I also thought they were the most unique and original.
Photoshop Edit
I edited the photograph of the blue bowl above using Photoshop, the following information are the steps I preformed to achieved the result below. Firstly, I cropped the image. Next, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to -93 and the contrast to 100. I then changed the vibrance to +100 and the saturation to +100 too.
Painting Onto My Photographs
Interim Review - 764 Words
For my project I chose the theme reflection. I chose this theme because of the broad range of ideas I had for my final piece. I have thought of using water as well as reflective materials such glass jars and mirrors. I want to include architecture and structured buildings/features. I created a mind map to show what I was most interested in using Popplet. I supported the mind map with a mood board on my favourite variety of work, based on reflection by other photographers I had seen.
My next focus was to research one of the given photographers from the sheet we were handed when we were asked to choose a theme. I chose Naoya Hatakeyama, a Japanese photographer, who is known for capturing unique light reflections in water (‘River Series’). I looked into the photographer’s work in detail by writing a critical analysis of a piece of his work. With this research I discovered how similar Hatakeyama’s work is to the work of artist Gerhard Richter. With this discovery I critically analysed Gerhard Richter’s artwork. I linked the two researched artists by printing out one of Hatakeyama’s photographs and paintings onto it using thick watercolours. I did this due to finding that Gerhard Richterpaints onto photographs.
For my first photoshoot I went to the Bristol Harbour side. I liked the effect of the water Hatakeyama had and wanted to experiment further into the technique. From the research it helped me to recreate similar work to Naoya Hatakeyama as the location had a river and lit up buildings that reflected in the water, much like the photographer’s ‘River Series’ of 2002. The shoot was successful in what I wanted to achieve, which was to understand the techniques different photographer’s used in order to create a certain effect. I rotated certain images to obtain the upside-down feature which resembles Hatakeyama’s style. By learning how to achieve the blurred, coloured water effect this helped me to achieve the same look in future shoots, which would link my research to my work. After taking the shoot I printed out one of my photographs and painted onto it, as done before.
From looking at Naoya Hatakeyama’s work I noticed that plastic cups and bottles could be seen in his photograph. With this knowledge I planned another shoot based around the bottles and used jars to create the same reflections in the water as the photographer’s image. In this second shoot I also focused on capturing different colours of light in the jars such as the red light in the dark room.
I then went into Keynsham and placed a green beer bottle near light to expand my idea of colours of light on glass/see-through objects. With this third photoshoot I managed to create the same light effect as Hatakeyama’s but on glass rather than water. Next, I edited a photograph like I had done with the previous shoots to show my progress.
For shoots 3 and 4 I discovered a new technique while taking the photographs. I found out that by placing a source of water under a source of light the surroundings of these two features will be displayed on the water’s surface much like a mirror. I realised this in shoot 3 and liked the technique therefore I developed it in shoot 4.
My next steps are to look back at what my original ideas are and develop them too. I want to research into a photographer that takes pictures of buildings that show a pattern. From my mood board at the start of the project I selected an image to go on it, which was a distorted image of a building. This looked as though it had been done with water and so I want to look into that technique. Other than that, I want to research into 2 new photographers that relate to my ideas.
My final steps for this project are to combine my ideas that I have so far together. I will link Hatakeyama’s blurred water style and Richter’s painting on photographs to my final piece. I will add glass bottles and objects along with my work and use the other techniques learned to add to it as well. I want my outcome to be colourful and show a clear link to the researched arists. I am thinking of overlapping photographs for my final piece in order to display/feature all of my ideas as a whole. On the other hand, I am thinking of merging images together using Photoshop, I am still undecided of how I will combine my work.
My next focus was to research one of the given photographers from the sheet we were handed when we were asked to choose a theme. I chose Naoya Hatakeyama, a Japanese photographer, who is known for capturing unique light reflections in water (‘River Series’). I looked into the photographer’s work in detail by writing a critical analysis of a piece of his work. With this research I discovered how similar Hatakeyama’s work is to the work of artist Gerhard Richter. With this discovery I critically analysed Gerhard Richter’s artwork. I linked the two researched artists by printing out one of Hatakeyama’s photographs and paintings onto it using thick watercolours. I did this due to finding that Gerhard Richterpaints onto photographs.
For my first photoshoot I went to the Bristol Harbour side. I liked the effect of the water Hatakeyama had and wanted to experiment further into the technique. From the research it helped me to recreate similar work to Naoya Hatakeyama as the location had a river and lit up buildings that reflected in the water, much like the photographer’s ‘River Series’ of 2002. The shoot was successful in what I wanted to achieve, which was to understand the techniques different photographer’s used in order to create a certain effect. I rotated certain images to obtain the upside-down feature which resembles Hatakeyama’s style. By learning how to achieve the blurred, coloured water effect this helped me to achieve the same look in future shoots, which would link my research to my work. After taking the shoot I printed out one of my photographs and painted onto it, as done before.
From looking at Naoya Hatakeyama’s work I noticed that plastic cups and bottles could be seen in his photograph. With this knowledge I planned another shoot based around the bottles and used jars to create the same reflections in the water as the photographer’s image. In this second shoot I also focused on capturing different colours of light in the jars such as the red light in the dark room.
I then went into Keynsham and placed a green beer bottle near light to expand my idea of colours of light on glass/see-through objects. With this third photoshoot I managed to create the same light effect as Hatakeyama’s but on glass rather than water. Next, I edited a photograph like I had done with the previous shoots to show my progress.
For shoots 3 and 4 I discovered a new technique while taking the photographs. I found out that by placing a source of water under a source of light the surroundings of these two features will be displayed on the water’s surface much like a mirror. I realised this in shoot 3 and liked the technique therefore I developed it in shoot 4.
My next steps are to look back at what my original ideas are and develop them too. I want to research into a photographer that takes pictures of buildings that show a pattern. From my mood board at the start of the project I selected an image to go on it, which was a distorted image of a building. This looked as though it had been done with water and so I want to look into that technique. Other than that, I want to research into 2 new photographers that relate to my ideas.
My final steps for this project are to combine my ideas that I have so far together. I will link Hatakeyama’s blurred water style and Richter’s painting on photographs to my final piece. I will add glass bottles and objects along with my work and use the other techniques learned to add to it as well. I want my outcome to be colourful and show a clear link to the researched arists. I am thinking of overlapping photographs for my final piece in order to display/feature all of my ideas as a whole. On the other hand, I am thinking of merging images together using Photoshop, I am still undecided of how I will combine my work.
MInd Map Of FInal Piece Ideas:-
Shoot 5
For this shoot I experimented further with my idea of distorted buildings in water. I went to Bristol Harbour side to complete this photoshoot. I wanted to focus on water reflections with light and the buildings. With the buildings in Naoya Hatakeyama's work I created the following photoshoot based on my own idea and research/critical analysis.
WWW:- I managed to capture a large amount of photographs (127) based on the theme of reflection. They are all different.
EBI:- If there were more coloured lights featured to make it more colourful.
WWW:- I managed to capture a large amount of photographs (127) based on the theme of reflection. They are all different.
EBI:- If there were more coloured lights featured to make it more colourful.
3 Best Images From This Shoot:-
I chose these 3 images because they were the most clear and focused. They are more colourful like I wanted. I will edit an image and rotate it upside-side to achieve the Hatakeyama styled photographs.
Photoshop Edit
I edited an image from my photo shoot above using Photoshop. First of all, I cropped the image down. Next, clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to 21 and the contrast to 100. After that, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Vibrance and changed the vibrance to +100 and the saturation to +100.
Photoshop Edit
I edited another image from the photo shoot above using Photoshop. Firstly, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and changed the brightness to 83 and the contrast to 100. Next, I clicked Image -> Adjustments -> Colour Balance and changed the colour levels to -100, -56 and +100. I then rotated the image upside-down.
Painting Onto My Photographs
Experiment With Layering Photographs On Photoshop
I wanted to experiement further with Photoshop and thought of the idea of merging images together. I used the Edit -> Fade tool to blend the layers/photographs together. I also layered some of the images such as the two red cars edit. I will use these techniques in my final piece to add to the idea of bright distorted images. This will represent the unsual/abstract water reflections that are created by the movement of the water.
Saul Leiter
'Walk With Soames' - 1958 'Taxi' - 1957 'Taxi' - 1956 'Snow' - 1960
Critical Analysis
Saul Leiter was an American painter and photographer. Leiter was born on the 3rd of December 1923 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. He died on the 26th of November 2013 in New York City, New York, United States. The artist's early work of the 1940s and 50s made a crucial contribution to what was seen as the New York school of photography.
Leiter first went to the Big Apple to launch his career, he then met his mentor Richard Pousette-Dart, who was the founder of the New York School of painting and an Abstract Expressionist. Leiter became inspired by the bizzare and dramatic work of his tutor which propelled him further into the theme. His work is based on reflections in windows, people and buildings. However, fame for Saul Leiter did not come until the late 1990s, but thanks to Howard Greenberg, a gallery owner, he was discovered.
The photograph above is called 'Walk with Soames' and was taken in 1958. The image is abstract and includes features such as traffic lights, people, rain, buildings and window reflections. The colours include are orange, yellow, red, white, grey and black, (the silhouettes of the people). The name of the photograph does explain the image as the photograph looks as though it was taken on a pavement which Leiter was walking on hence the verb 'walk'.
Leiter probably did not use a tripod for the photograph. I can tell this as the traffic light is not straight and looks as if it is leaning. The photograph makes it look as though the world is tilting. I believe Leiter did this to add to the abstract feel of the image. The formal elements used would be colour, line, texture and shape. Adjectives to describe these elements would be colourful, smooth and circular/curved.
I chose this artist because I started to experiment with layering images on Photoshop, which reminded me of his work as it is similar. The photograph above contains all of the aspects I am looking at for the moment such as lights, water, reflections and buildings. The image also resembles the painting style of Gerhard Richter as the colours look smudged. Leiter's work links all of the artists I have looked at and includes elements from the artists in the photograph above.
I like the photograph because it is abstract and different/unusual. I also like how Saul Leiter has included a range of colours. To improve the photograph Leiter could have featured more of the buildings in the background or more of the scenery in general to make the image more interesting. I will use Leiter's layering style of work in my final piece. For my next shoot I will experiment with window reflections and the rain/condensation effect on the buildings.
Leiter first went to the Big Apple to launch his career, he then met his mentor Richard Pousette-Dart, who was the founder of the New York School of painting and an Abstract Expressionist. Leiter became inspired by the bizzare and dramatic work of his tutor which propelled him further into the theme. His work is based on reflections in windows, people and buildings. However, fame for Saul Leiter did not come until the late 1990s, but thanks to Howard Greenberg, a gallery owner, he was discovered.
The photograph above is called 'Walk with Soames' and was taken in 1958. The image is abstract and includes features such as traffic lights, people, rain, buildings and window reflections. The colours include are orange, yellow, red, white, grey and black, (the silhouettes of the people). The name of the photograph does explain the image as the photograph looks as though it was taken on a pavement which Leiter was walking on hence the verb 'walk'.
Leiter probably did not use a tripod for the photograph. I can tell this as the traffic light is not straight and looks as if it is leaning. The photograph makes it look as though the world is tilting. I believe Leiter did this to add to the abstract feel of the image. The formal elements used would be colour, line, texture and shape. Adjectives to describe these elements would be colourful, smooth and circular/curved.
I chose this artist because I started to experiment with layering images on Photoshop, which reminded me of his work as it is similar. The photograph above contains all of the aspects I am looking at for the moment such as lights, water, reflections and buildings. The image also resembles the painting style of Gerhard Richter as the colours look smudged. Leiter's work links all of the artists I have looked at and includes elements from the artists in the photograph above.
I like the photograph because it is abstract and different/unusual. I also like how Saul Leiter has included a range of colours. To improve the photograph Leiter could have featured more of the buildings in the background or more of the scenery in general to make the image more interesting. I will use Leiter's layering style of work in my final piece. For my next shoot I will experiment with window reflections and the rain/condensation effect on the buildings.
Photographs For Final Piece
The photographs below were taken at my home and were inspired by Saul Leiter's water droplet/light photography. I used a champagne glass and filled it with water in and then tipped it out to create droplets around the glass. Then, I held the glass up to objects that had lights on them. I will use these photographs in my final piece to create an abstract photograph on Photoshop.
WWW:- All the photographs are different, they are abstract.
EBI:- If I had taken photographs of glass reflections too.
WWW:- All the photographs are different, they are abstract.
EBI:- If I had taken photographs of glass reflections too.
Evaluation
For my Photography December PPE I had a total of 5 hours to complete my project and produce a final piece. For the first 2 hours of the exam I spent the time editing my photographs on Photoshop and then merging them all together, until I was happy with the result. I increased the brightness and contrast of each photograph used and split parts of photographs up. By selecting the image and clicking Edit -> Fade I blended the photographs together. This was the result.
Final Piece
I created the image above using the images below
After that, I printed out the photograph to A4 size. Then, I put the landscape photograph into a black A4 photo frame. Next, I painted onto the glass using water colour paints. I used the paint without adding water to keep the paint in the style of Gerhard Richter. This made sure the paint did not become thin and translucent. I outlined the blue boat slightly with some purple paint and white paint to make it stand out more. Once I finished painting onto the glass I added a few drops of water over the glass and the frame. The water created a stain effect on the photo frame.
WWW:- My final piece links to all researched photographers (Naoya Hatakeyama, Richter Gerhard and Saul Leiter). The experiment with paint onto glass worked successfully. My final piece also links all of my ideas, experiments and shoots. The outcome was how I wanted it to be.
EBI:- I could have used less paint on some areas of the glass as it obscured parts of the photograph.
EBI:- I could have used less paint on some areas of the glass as it obscured parts of the photograph.
The main theme of my work is about distorted images. In the image there is a boat that has been rotated upside-down, this links to Naoya Hatakeyama's theme of upside-down images. The photograph of the multi-coloured lights also represent this artist with his smudged effect of photographs looking like paintings. There are faded photographs of buildings, this represents my idea of looking at architecture. Lamp-posts are featured which represents Saul Leiter's common use of them. The idea of merging all the images together came from Saul Leiter with his abstract photographs that are created from window/glass reflections. The idea of painting onto glass came from this too as I wanted to link Richter and Leiter.
The glass represents Leiter's window reflections, I used water droplets on the glass to represent him as well as Hatakeyama's theme of water.
The idea behind my work was inspired by Naoya Hatakeyama's 'River Series/Shadow', Gerhard Richter's abstract paintings and Saul Leiter's distorted window reflections as shown below. I loved the bright colours featured in each artist's work and wanted to take it further to produce my final piece with.
The glass represents Leiter's window reflections, I used water droplets on the glass to represent him as well as Hatakeyama's theme of water.
The idea behind my work was inspired by Naoya Hatakeyama's 'River Series/Shadow', Gerhard Richter's abstract paintings and Saul Leiter's distorted window reflections as shown below. I loved the bright colours featured in each artist's work and wanted to take it further to produce my final piece with.
The formal elements used in my final piece are colour, line and shape. I used these formal elements because I wanted my final piece to be colourful much like Richter's use of vibrant colours. My inspiration for vibrancy came from Gerhard and images on my moodboard.