Thursday 14 May 2015

is photography art?

           

                              Is photography art? 







what is art?

"the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."


"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." 
Pablo Picasso









in this essay i plan to present an argument on how photography is and isn't art.

Photography, in my opinion is and isn't art because in a way with photography you can just take a photo and edit it and class it as art. Now a days you could use Photoshop and add a few effects and merge some photos and class it as art because you made it yourself and it cant be copied so in that way it is classed as art. 

In another way its not art because you could just go out and capture an image and someone else could have the same image and edit in the same way as you.

 With paintings they will never be the same because of the way it has been drawn or painted, but also with photography you could recreate an image say by painting or modelling it and photograph it then that way it could be art. Because say if you had a model and you done a photo shoot with them and they didn't let no one else photograph them then if your the only one who has that image then it is art because you made that image by editing or making the model look how you want. 

"Andy Warhol was a successful magazine and ad illustrator who became a leading artist of the 1960s Pop art movements. He ventured into a wide variety of art forms, including performance art, film making, video installations and writing, and controversially blurred the lines between fine art and mainstream aesthetics. Warhol died on February 22, 1987, in New York City" .Andy Warhol takes photographs then makes them into art by adding different effects and making them look painted and such which is classed as art but it started as a photograph. 

 with photography its art in a way because the way the naked eye sees things is different to how camera lenses see things because you could make things darker or lighter with a camera lens and it is never the way the naked eye sees it. You could also edit it and add different colours and that way if someone went to that location they could copy that image without using technology to do so. 

it is also art because say if you took an image and edited something into it that is art because that's not how the real thing is or how people see things and also if you done a photo shoot in a studio and for instance say have a person thinking and have thought bubbles coming out of their head then that's are because that's something you cant actually see and with technology now a days and photography you can create things like that. 


example




You can create things that you cant see by the naked eye so that is art. It also isn't art because someone could also draw or paint what they think or see and that is art as well but also art is what people create by sculpting or creating and if you recreate something and photograph it that is classed as art because you created it by hand or without using a camera that photographed it. 

Also photography is and isn't art because the first ever photograph was in "remote antiquity with the discovery of the principle of the camera obscura and the observation that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light.
 As far as is known, nobody thought of bringing these two phenomena together to capture camera images in permanent form until around 1800, when Thomas Wedgwood made the first reliably documented although unsuccessful attempt. In the mid-1820s, Nicéphore Niépce succeeded, but several days of exposure in the camera were required and the earliest results were very crude. Niépce's associate Louis Daguerre went on to develop the daguerreotype process, the first publicly announced photographic process, which required only minutes of exposure in the camera and produced clear, finely detailed results. It was commercially introduced in 1839, a date generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography"   

in the 1503-1517 the famous Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci and back then it was found to be a vary famous valuable painting and was put up in the Louvre Museum and this painting was very famous and there couldn't be another one like it to replace it where as with photography it isn't the same because famous photographs don't have as much value as paintings because with paintings you get all the original paint and type of feeling of the painting but with paintings if they go missing or get destroyed there's nothing you can do and its gone because you couldn't make one the same but if a painting was to go missing or get stolen like the Mona Lisa did it would be a serious crime but whereas if a photograph got stolen it wouldn't be as such as a big crime because if it gets destroyed or something you could 

easily  re take or re print the image off again, with the first ever 

portrait photograph that was more valuable then a normal 

photography 

because although that one was still a photograph and classed as 

photography it was painted so kind of have more value.


With photography its no just another piece of equipment making 

the photograph its the person behind the camera because they are 

the ones who have to set the exposure and ISO and so on, the 

camera is just the equipment that takes the photograph of the 

person. Behind the camera is the one who plans and creates up that 

kind of image by choosing the angle and lighting and stuff. 

Sometimes photography isn't art because you could just go out and 

take an image and be lucky first time and have a really good image 

but to me, photography is only art if you have worked at it and 

actually spent some time and put effort into making it. Art not just 

taking the image on for example say a phone and class it as art, if 

people do that then that should be classed as effortless art and not 

proper dedicated hard worked at art, to plan a photograph to 

actually class it as art you have to organize everything before the 

photograph. the kind of planning you need is to plan who your going to take the image of, make sure you know what camera settings you need, the location where your going to take the pictures.

 for instance like who will feature in the photograph or 

what kind of photograph it will be. Sometimes effortless art 

actually  is art as well because the 

iconic image of Marilyn Monroe was not 

planned and happened by accident which someone captured 

but now has turned out to be an iconic successful image and is art.

 “The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed.” 

Anne Geddes


this is the famous image of Marilyn Monroe




This is an example of art that has been photo shopped

Photography also isn't art because with photography its kind of hard of say weather it is art or not because photographers and artists used to work side by side. With art such as painting or drawing it takes time to do and practice and with photography in a way its all automatic and all you have to do is press a button, learn a few techniques and done, photography is quite easy and possible for almost everyone to do.

In my opinion though photography is art but only if you dedicate your time and hard work into it such as editing the image or making it to its best quality not just taking a picture then done.


 so in my opinion photography is art but the photography that is 

painted is more valuable than photographs you could just print of 

because they cant exactly be re painted or such that easily and 

people appreciate them more if time is taken into doing the image.


Tilly O'Dell

Thursday 5 February 2015

location images

                                                                                                                                  Samantha O'Dell

location images



this is an image of a swan and this image was taken half way through the day time in Stafford upon Avon and the main focal point is the swan which is in the center. this image doesn't have any thirds or much composition because it is a quiet basic image and it doesn't capture any particular moment in time and i could of improved this image by cropping out the duck in the background to make the image more effective

this image is an image of a tree that sort of sags and this image was taken in Stafford upon Avon and the focal point is the tree island . this image doesn't capture any moment in time as this is a still image and it is an inanimate object so it wont move or do anything interesting. this image  doesn't really have much space in it and the background of the ground is kind of a rule of third and on a hot spot. i could improve this image by adding more space to the photo which would be the sky to make it look more effective.
this image is of a piece of a statue and it looks like the statue thing is kind of puking out ribbons and this was also taken in Stafford upon Avon and the main focal point is the stuff at the bottom because that is all in focus where the face isn't in focus and that is the composition of the image and the lines of symmetry is down the face because its all even and follows the symmetry rule.





this image is an image of the ends of a tree but it also shows the sun hitting the water in the background which gives off a  nice effect and the main focal point is the water but it isn't so clear that that is ment to be the focal point and i could improve this image by making the focal point clear and straightening the image




this picture is one i took in Sutton park and the trees look animated in a way and adds effect to the photo and gives off the feeling the trees are fake, this image also has the rule of repetition and the main focal point is the trees as they stand out and i could improve this image by  editing out the trees in the back as its too crowded 

this image is quiet like the other one but the tree on the left is the focal point and draws attention to the image and uses the rule of repetition  and the odd rule as the tree on the left isn't like the others so it is the odd one out. this image could do with improvement by putting the main tree in focus and blurring out the others. the trees are on a third using the rule of thirds




this image was taken of a wilted tree and was taken in  Sutton park again and the focal point is the tree but isn't so clear so o could improve on that by making it more obvious and this image uses the rule of space and the horizon is on a third. 


this image is taken of a street sign and was taken from sitting is a moving car and shows the way to go to things and the focal point is the sign and doesn't really have any thirds but uses the rule of repetition how the cars carry on down the road 


this image was taken in a church in Birmingham city centre and this is an image of something in a church and the focal point is the 4 things in the image, this uses the rule of repetition how they follow each other down and i could improve this image by taking it from a different angle
this image is an image of lit candles in a church and this church was in Birmingham city centre and the focal point is the candles and it uses the rule of pattern as there is multiple candles and i could improve this by cropping out the candles showing in the background and the image has rule of thirds where the corner of the stand is and where the candles stand


this image is an image of tinsel during Christmas time and the focal point is kind of the tinsel and the balls on it and i have made the focal point clear by blurring out the back of the image to add more effect to it and could improve it by adding more space. it was taken in the new Birmingham library


this image is is of the railing of a barrier and it was taken in the Birmingham new library and the focal point is the railing and this is clear because the background is blurred out and the railing is on a third using rule of thirds.






edited 











Location photographers


                                                                                                                                  Samantha O'Dell

                    location photographers research




Garry Winogrand 


Garry Winogrand was a street photographer known for his portrayal of the United States. John Szarkowski called him the central photographer of his generation.

Winogrand was known for his portrayal of American life in the 1960s. 
In 1964, Winogrand was given a Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to travel for photographic studies of American life. Winogrand worked as a commercial photographer between 1952 to 1954 at the Pix Photo Agency in Manhattan, and from 1954 at Brackman Associates. Between 1971 and 1972, Winogrand taught photography at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and between 1973 and 1978 at the University of Texas at Austin.

Pete seaward


Pete has been a photographer for over 30 years. Working mainly on advertising campaigns.
His experience from client pre-production meetings through to final post-production has resulted in many successful campaigns winning numerous industry awards including being voted one of Luerzer's Achives 200 best Ad photographers in the world and won 'travel photographer of the year 2011' by the British Travel Press.Whether it's studio or location he has experience for them all
He works regularly for Lonely Planet magazine.
Pete has recently been shooting in Bali, Jakarta, Delhi and the UK. He is also working on a major exhibition and book showing the 'real' side of travel photography, featuring imagery of the world rarely seen.

Location photography explained (3 examples)

                                                                                                                                  Samantha O'Dell

                      What is location photography?

Location photography is where instead of the location coming to you in the studio you go to the location and photograph it, possibly with natural lighting. e.g.. forensic photography or landscape photography.



               3 different types location photography

1. Forensic Photography
Forensic photography is the art of trying to produce photographs of an accurate, permanent measurement to use as evidence in court to show what happened in the crime scene and help to find out what and how it happened. For example, forensic photography can be from photographing a crime scene to photographing an autopsy to cleaning up the crime scene.
This is just basic forensic photography of simply photographing the finger prints but isn't as much classed as forensic photography

This is a different side of forensic photography as this is a picture of a crime scene after the outlining of the crime scene and blocking off of the scene

This is yet another simple example of forensic photography but not as such the main side of it
Now this is an image of the autopsy side of forensic photography but this is just the light side of it.

This is like the full autopsy and this is the horrifying side of it which may also be used to train other doctors on how to do things and how things work


Where as this image is the near end of the forensic photography which I'm not sure if it counts or not but this is the cleaning up of the crime scene after they have under taken the whole evidence thing and investigative part.





2.Environmental Photography
Environmental photography may be quiet confusing for some because when they think of environmental photography they think just trees and grass and streets as such. Where as it could be that but it could also be something such as the way people live in that certain environment but all in all environmental photography is taking photos of the environmental surroundings to explain and show what the environment is like and this could also contribute to how people feel in that environment. for example this could count as something as simple as taking a picture of a leaf or a insect to something such as photographing a scene in a third world country or showing images of a rubbish tip.
This is a simple photograph of nature in environmental photography. 

Where as this is a picture of nature but the animal side of it.
This is a picture of people in India in nature so I think this would count as nature photography.

This picture is a picture of I think huts in India but the nature has grown over it and now it has become apart of it which is different to the other examples.


3.Advertising Photography
Advertising photography is basically photographing products such as a new phone and using them photos to sell that product and make money from it. advertising photography can cover all sorts of photography genres from fashion to architecture photography and with advertising photography this can be used to even advertise a holiday or a home so either way they are using advertising photography to make money in every which way. advertising photography may come under commercial photography as well because they are both using there photos to make money for there company or business.


This is an example of an advertisement photo for a pair or trainers which is quiet simple

This is another image of advertisement photography but this one is advertising food products


Advertisement photography can change from one thing to another like this image, this image is advertising a new perfume and has used a model to do so.

This advertisement photograph is advertising a new camera and is different to the other examples because in the first two they just use the product only where as in the third example they use a model to help advertise there product but this photo is using wildlife to help them but it may also be on a green screen .

Friday 17 October 2014

Edited pictures (Taste of Digbeth)


                                        Edited pictures


This is another one of my images I edited using picmonkey and used the texture effect called space

This is an image I have edited and I have used the effect invert on www.ribbet.com
This is an edited image an all I have done to this image is rotate it and use auto fix.
This is my image that I have edited on www.picmonkey.com and I have used a texture called water to make it look like I have taken the picture of the water but has the refection.

This is an image i have edited using picmonkey again and I have used a texture effect called paint.


This is one of my images i have edited using www.fotor.com and the effect i have used is called sun kissed.



This image i have edited using fotor again and have used the effect colour splash.




This is another one of my pictures i have edited using pic monkey and have added my own background to the light.

Light in photography (Taste of Digbeth)

                   

                     Light and tone in photography

This is an image i took off Google which shows light in photography.


This is one of my images that is taken in the style of the one above and i chose to photograph this image because its very dramatic with the lighting.
This is an image of the one above but lighter with the f number at f/7.1 and the exposure time at 1/100 sec and also the ISO at 800 where as the darker one above had the f number at f/7.1, the exposure at 1/125 sec and the ISO at 100


                       Odd and even in photography

This is an image I found off Google of light bulbs but these is an odd one out.

This is an image i took which has the rule of odd and even which is kind of matching the image above. ( f stop - f/7.1, exposure time - 1/30 sec, ISO speed - ISO - 160)