Blog Prompt 2

#5 Give your thoughts on one or both of the following quotes.

“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” ~Edward Steichen




“I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.” ~Mary Ellen Mark




I agree. A photography captures a moment in someone's soul. It will forever be able to share, preserve, explain, argue, or represent that person at that exact moment. What they are feeling, who they are, and what they've been through is to me, someone's soul

#6 In your opinion, when is it beneficial, ethical, or appropriate to digitally alter photographic portraits? When do you think it is inappropriate or ethically wrong? 

I think that altering a photo afterwards can take away the mastery of the trade. It can make it easier to capture the same image in the same way without having the technical skill to do so. I can see how it would be ethical in a negative way in that sense. However, to alter a photo to help express the idea/content or otherwise totality of the photograph, I think is acceptable

#7 Pay close attention to the types and number of photographic portraits you see in one day. Where did you see them? How do you think that the content of the portrait changes based on the context in which you see the image (news, facebook, magazine, advertisement, television, youtube, etc)? In other words, what is the difference between the portraits you see on facebook vs. those on the news? What is the difference between the “viewpoint” of the photographer in each situation? What is the difference between their “intents”?


I think that it is all about the intention. The intention  of facebook photographs is to share the moment with others. the exposure, quality, perspective and lighting are all secondary to the subjects and place. The Intention of artistic leaning photographs is to express more of the concept/idea or aesthetic.  It's all about the intention of use.



Please respond to the following three quotes.

#8 “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.

It depends. If a person who is well versed in an individuals work or if an audience is looking at multiple images by one artist then sure, the portraits are more about the artist. However, more often the image contains the subject.

#9 “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams




True. End of Story

#10 “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger


I think that the painter has more interpretation as he can not successfully capture every detail, where as a camera, unaltered, captures the image how it is for what it is.

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Nick Knight

URL: www.nickknight.com

Biography: Nick Knight OBE was born in 1958 in England. He currently lives in London with his wife and three children. He studied photography at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. At 24 years old, he published his first book.

Significance: Mr. Knight is very accomplished as fashion photographer. His work has earned him an OBE.  He was awarded The Fashion Tribute Award by Moet Chandon. His accolades continue for miles.

Composition: Mr. Knight works mainly in portrait photography His work involves careful lighting, set design, make up, and highly planned and idealized images. He works with color and active movements.

Concept: He articulates fashion. Fashion concepts and ideas. He poses them in the best ways.

Method: The images produced by Nick Knight are highly produced, either post or pre-production.

Motivation: He is very unique. He has many works, I cannot say for sure what his motivation was, but rather what his aesthetic is.

Opinion: The reason why I chose Nick Knight was because I had heard so much about him, but was quite clueless as to details. I thoroughly enjoy his work. It's a fantasy of fashion, of subject, of people, of color, of motion, of idea. I love it. I feel dumb for not knowing.

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RO2

Clarence White. Ring Toss. 1899

Clarence White. Miss Grace. 1898

Clarence White. Miss Thompson. 1907

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Foto Link

www.photosight.ru/photo/alone/3981325

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/98VZiP/triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/incredible-pics-nasa-astronaut-wheelock
www.photosight.ru/photo/alone/3206369

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Critique

  

• Part 1:
• Composition: I like how I used the park's ashtray as a way to frame the parks serene beauty. The background is distinguishable but clearly not in focus. I used natural lighting with a high contgast element. Visually there is balance between the "view" and the "structure". The emphasis is on the sharpest part of the image, the ash-tray.
• Concept: My concept was to show the juxtaposition between the beauty of a fountain and the utilitarianism of the ashtray. Framing a park's fountain through the park's ashtray. A place so beautiful has ashtrays?
• Motivation: I wanted to show bad/ugly/deadly/etc. exists everywhere.
• Method: I shoot images that capture my attention. As I was in the plaza I saw these ashtrays that dotted the premise. A nice and quiet place to smoke and enjoy the beauty, as you die. I like that struggle of dichotomy of beauty and what's thought to be bad etiquette. I do not brainstorm, I do not plan, I do not test. I go, I go, I go.
• Context: I wanted to express to the viewer that dichotomy and beauty and ugly are all in everywhere.
• Part 2
• Interpretation: That I'm trying to make smoking look beautiful by placing the subject matter against the park. I'm not satisfied with our critiques. 
• Evaluation: The framing is done well. The focus and the contrast placed upon the cigarette buts is also well done. If the park content was different and the ash tray stayed the same that would be the best.
• Extension: I would use this piece as a place to jump from, to focus on areas of high contrast beauty. Cigarettes in a Park. Flowers at Chernobyl. etc.

 

• Part 1
• Composition:  I framed the subject center front.  With the perspective of an on-looker and landscape/portraiture. The contrast also suggests volume.  The lighting is natural and through the clouds and trees.
• Concept: I wanted to express serenity and relaxation through the subjects body language of grasping the plant. The bench, the wild life, the pose, and the lighting all allude to a mid day bench relaxation.
• Method: I crept in the bushes and had the subject relax as if I was not even there. I then began to  capture images as she relaxed, very candid, very real. I placed the subject behind objects in the middle ground to give depth and to take away from the identifiable shape of body posture.
• Motivation: My intention was to express through a photograph the emotional ambiance of that setting.
• Context: There is no issue. There is no worry, no war, no crime, no rain, no pain, just nature, plants, humans alike.
• Part 2
• Interpretation: The image concept is blatant. The subject is on a bench relaxing, enjoying nature.
• Evaluation: I like the concept of this photo, I don't believe however that technical skill is a strong as the concept in this photograph. Another angle, or different lighting would be help push this photograph further. The framing and perspective I like though.
• Extension: A series of Nature photos, or a series of portraiture of subject in places that bring them relaxation. etc.

 

•  Part 1
•  Composition: Ketchup. Mustard. Surprise. The overcast lighting, the black framing and the composition and perspective all help make this even better.
• Concept: I wanted to make it seem like the two bottles were involved in an explicit encounter that were interrupted, almost like a rendezvous.
• Motivation: My goal was to make voyeur a whole new level through watching and wanting and lusting after these condiment bottles.
• Method: Aperture priority mode. No lighting except the microwaves own lighting. 
• Context: There are many undertones, wanting something. Spying on something not even worth the time. etc.
• Part 2
• Interpretation: that the two bottle were caught in an explicit act. The door ajar and the lighting of shadows helps to express this poin. The balance and asymmetry also help to provide the idea.
• Evaluation: The contrast and the lighting as well as the framing is working very well in this photograph. But above all, I feel like the perspective is the strongest strength. Bottle placement, focus and actual bottle subjects could have been manipulated in another way.
• Extension: A series of played-out double entandres (sp)

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Thursday Morning

These are mostly raw unprocessed images. All photos by: Benjamin Kennedy

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Question Prompt 1

Blog Prompt for Week 1:

• #1: Imagine a world without photographs. Describe what this world would be like...
• I cannot. Photographs have been apart of this world before I came along. How culture, time, people, movements, ideas, events, art, etc. would be as important and accessible as it is today without photographs is something I would not like to think about.
• #2: What does the word "photograph" mean to you?
• "Photograph" to me means preservation. It preserves the feeling/image/idea of the scene forever 
• #3 “Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”~Duane Michals. Write a brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree?
  •  I agree. Photographs can be manipulated either before or after the fact. It can be subtle or blatant. The concept is what matters most to me. 
  #4 “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine.

Wria brief reaction to this quote. Is this quote applicable to your experience with photography? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with the idea presented or disagree? Describe situations when photographic images reveal “the story” (as compared to words). Describe situations when words reveal “the story” (as compared to images).
• That's a good argument. I find that often photography is the best way of telling a story. You can share that story more accurately and with less convolution. Photographs of worker's conditions, of famine, of war, of one's own personal trials and tribulations, of how one's face shows what they've been through in their lives. etc. Photographs are amazzzzinngg :)

~Benjamin Kennedy

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Assignment Photo RO1

Benjamin Kennedy. Assignment R01. 05/17/2011

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RO1

Benjamin Kennedy. "Earth Bound Galactic Reflection". 05/17/2011

Lady Clementina Hawarden. "Young Girl with Mirror Reflection. c. 1860s

 Recreation Assignment 01

• Original Photograph:
• Biography: Clementina Harwarden (b.1822- d.1865) worked from her home studio in London during the late 1850's and early 1860's where she quickly gained prowess as an expert portrait photographer. 
• Significance: Her work garners significant recognition for many reasons. Her prowess as a portrait photographer not only inspired Lewis Carroll but she also received an award from the Photographic Society of London in January 1863 for her stunning composition.
• Composition: The subject stands in the middle of the photograph where most of the detail and interaction is happening. The bland details around the photograph borders allows for the attention to be placed on the subject. Natural light floods the room creating a sense of balance between the subject (right) and the shadowed wall (left). Although primitive in equipment and technology, this photograph is vast in composition and technicality.  
• Concept: "Young Girl" stands against the mirror, embracing the mirror and ultimately herself. The mirror, representing the internal being, allows the viewer to establish an emotional connection with the subject.
• Method: The photographer takes the composition head one. The split between tangible subject and represented subject takes place at the photographs center, being split by the mirror post.  The lighting of the window allows for natural highlights and shadows, as well as the mirrors ability to shed light upon the face.
• Motivation: I believe that the motivation of the artist was to instill into the viewer more than just an aesthetically pleasing image; the goal was to use the mirror as a tool for inspiring true emotion and connection between the subject and the viewer.
• Opinion: I thoroughly enjoy this work for many reasons. I enjoy how the mirror is used as more than a prop. I also favored the idea that most of the detail remains in a specific area and is flanked by imagery that compliments but does not detract from the specific area of greater detail, the center in this case. I would not entertain the way in which the mirror was placed and used, do not confuse this with the concept of using a mirror.

• Recreation:
• Composition: I placed the subject on the side of the composition. Using the light from the computer screen and the perspective, I made the work seem more three- dementional and hyper-realized. I placed the focus at a point where I could capture the detail of one element and leaving the other to be complimentary. Balance lies on the weight being on one side and the color/detail being on the other.
• Concept: A recreation to a re-invention. To state again, I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the mirror in the original composition. I used surfaces of contemporary technological objects to capture reflections and from which, hopefully emotions. This assignment was more of technical skill than artistic expression for me. I am satisfied with the outcome.

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