Final Photographs

These 3 photographs are my final piece.

Personally it was very difficult to come up with an idea for my final piece, i had a mental block in what to do, however after a while i decided i wanted to show off some skill that i learned using photoshop. In these photographs my model is holding a little box, then i took photographs of her looking to the front and both sides. I then used photoshop to cut out her head and place it in the box. I wanted there to be the idea of her looking at herself in the box, almost like statues that you see in places like rome of heads. I think having 3 photographs was a good choice as the photographs are so similar, that if i had 5 it wouldn't look right. It was either have 3 or alot more to make a big square. I decided just to do 3 because i think it would look the most effective. I decided to make them black and white because it seemed to improve the final outcome when i placed them altogether. In colour they looked quite dull so i changed it to black and white and changed the levels of the colours for a better outcome.

Eric Kellerman Response

This is my response to Eric Kellerman, this was a very hard response to complete because of how good his work was. All i wanted to achieve with this response is how a person can mold themselves to fit into something. What i noticed about his work anyway is how it doesn't have a specific meaning to it therefore it is more open to what you can do with it.

Development

These are my development photographs. For the series of photographs that are in the garden, i wanted to build on the idea of someone that is in a box or that is trapped in a box like one of my photographers Richard Vantielcke. I wanted to try and express the mood and feeling of the person inside the box mainly without seeing their face. For example this first photograph i got my model to look like she is struggling to get out and i think by the way she is standing it gives off a good effect to the mood of the image. However, overall these set of photographs were just for development and if i were to do it again then i would pick a different and better location, like in the studio or a place with better lighting. 

With this photograph, it seems to be quite dark however i liked how my model looked in this one and the expression she is giving off as she looks worried. I purposely left the fragile sticker mark on the box as i thought it could reflect the way she seemed to look in the photograph.

During the photoshoot i decided to experiment with different angles and ended up with photographs of me looking down at my model. This was good experimentation and especially the last image of this set, has a good effect. I told my model to just look like she trying to get out of the box and then i took continuous photographs and managed to get a couple of good expressions like the one below. This development has given me ideas of what i wanted to do with my final piece and i can develop on these.

With these last 3 photographs, the mood changed from how it previously looked, to me, it seems that my model has eventually given up on trying to get out and now she is upset and in pain of the thought that she is stuck.

Also, the thing i like about these set of photographs is that you don't exactly know what is going on, in the aspect why does she feel like she is in a box? Why does she feel enclosed? Why is she stuck? This is the type of thing i like about photography in general as it can leave you guessing as to what the deeper meaning behind the photograph is.

These arrange of photographs were another idea/development that i had. What i wanted to achieve was a step by step guide into the life of a person using a box and placing things into a box so that it gradually tells a story. Even though this idea didn't really work out for me i think it was a good experiment to do. My main issues with this idea were that i didn't have the right location and the idea didn't show off any skill in my photography therefore i didn't take this idea any further.

These were my last selection of development photographs. I got a little stuck with ideas nearer the end of this project however i decided to go down the route of using photoshop, considering that i haven't used it in my work before, therefore showing another skill that i can use in my work. This idea was also about someone being trapped in a box and being stuck or enclosed in the box. These photographs however, don't have a big meaning to them but personally i don't think that matters because of the composition of the photographs.

With this photograph the expression of my model is key, and it looks like someone is looking down at her as if she is being picked on and therefore feeling enclosed and trapped and this was the main idea for this selection of photographs.

I saw a photograph that i found on the internet and it is also on my moodboard, of a head in a box and i wanted to try that out to experiment with what it looked like and if i were to carry on with the idea. I really like the way this photograph has turned out and i am quite pleased it doesn't look too over edited.

I also think this photograph is a good way of interpreting what i had previously done as it doesn't show an expression or my models face as it looks as though my model is reaching out for someone to help. This also links to my photographer Richard Vantielcke because in his photographs you don't see any expression in the photograph from the models face as there is a box over it, instead you get the see the emotion through the rest of his body and the lighting of the photograph and i think this particular photograph links to what he has done.

 

Statement Of Intent

My chosen theme is 'Boxes.' For my final piece i want to achieve a selection of 3 photographs that portray in some way a person in a box. I will have 3 images that are very similar in that it will have someone holding a box and then also in the photograph it will include a head of a person inside the box that they are holding. I will use photoshop for my final outcome. It will link specifically to my photographers Richard Vantielcke and Jay Van Dam in the aspect of someones life or feelings are enclosed in a box.

Jay Van Dam Responses

 These are my first responses for the photographer Jay Van Dam. I tried to re create the sitting in the box idea doing everyday things. So i got my model to look like she is working and listening to music. Personally i found this response quite difficult because of the box idea and having to build a box that someone could fit in that was similar to the photographer i was responding to. Following on from that, improvements obviously could be made, like a better quality box with a roof on the top aswell.

I took these selection of photographs outside as response to the image of the man running out of the box and i tried to portray this in my own way. I used the school field and however the box wasn't in good condition i think the photographs came out ok.

Richard Vantielcke Responses

These are some of my responses that i have done for Richard Vantielcke;

With this photograph i wanted to mimic some of the poses that Richards' models do. In his photographs the usual feel that i get from them is fed up and drowsy and i wanted to create this effect in one of my photographs, therefore i really like the way she is standing. I think it would be good to re do these photo's because i want to try and re create the lighting that he uses in his photographs. I think it could be better if i went on location and somewhere similar to the original photograph however i think it could be just as effective in the studio therefore i will continue to experiment with thhese responses as a whole.


With this photo i took inspiration from one of his specific photographs and was using a low shutter speed to create this effect and i am really pleased that it has come out like this however the lighting is not that good. I like the effect the light does have on the photo because of the movement however in the original photograph of Richard's his photographs are quite dark and mysterious so i think if i were to do this again i would play around with the lighting and also the composition and to whether i get more of her body, like her legs in the shot to show more of the emotion so that it comes through on the photographs.

This one is quite similar to the one above however i put this up because i really like the pose and the effect that it has wit using a low shutter speed. With these photographs i am not actually looking into the deeper meaning whilst taking these photographs, i have just experimented with the effects and trying to re create the type of thing that Richard did with his work. Later on i will try and express the type of expression into my work that is used in his.

I experimented more with my responses and changed the lighting in the studio i was using so that the quality of the photos came out better. Again i was just experimenting and this photograph doesn't really show the emotion like Richard's photographs. With his photos they show more of the body in the shot to help with the expression so i will experiment further and also get out on location.

With this photograph i tried to show more of the expression like Richard's photographs and the positions that he created with his model. The lighting has made my responses much better however i think to make them more edgy i should go out on location and experiment with that.

Jay Van Dam

Jay Van Dam is a photographer who currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. He has published his work at exhibitions, and has won many awards for his work. On his website; he has 3 main sections of photographs, the one i am most interested in is 'revelation.' It is a collection of photographs of a man practically living in a box. It shows nearly every park of the day of this guy living in a box made out of cardboard.

This is one of the images of the collection and i find this really interesting because he only has one source of lighting and it seems like that is all he needs. The fact that he is dressed in a suit and tie is like he is at work yet he seems to be stuck in this box. Also the masses of paper beside him looks like he has so much time on his hands however it could be showing what it is like in the real world. The thought clouds i love because i think it adds to the crazy idea of these photographs as he doesn't have to say anything yet we can tell he is deep in thought to what he is doing. I like the thought that has gone into these photos and it really expresses the message of what is going on. It's not too busy and i like that but there are enough things to look at and really wonder why, for example the scarf in the background and the pictures on the wall, you wonder what they could represent in the context of this photo.

This one in the selection is a couple after the previous image i have just analysed and this is really interesting because it seems to tell a story over the day or over a year as you can't really tell because he is inside a box. As you would observe the plant has grown since the last photograph and also so has the thought clouds. This makes you wonder what he is thinking about and what seems to be troubling him. Also the box seems to get much more emptier as the series of photographs go along so it seems like a part of his life where he seems to feel stuck or trapped.

This is the last photograph in the series and it really sums up the series of photos because in the first ones he seems trapped and then it gets progressively emptier and then he becomes free in the last photograph. The way he is running looks like he really needed to get out and the reason the thought cloud got bigger is maybe he was thinking of escaping and being free. I love the fact that at first look at these photos you think they are quite interesting but then you notice different things when you look at them carefully and that the story becomes clearer when you look further into it. I'd love to recreate something like this in the same sort of way of telling a story but being very subtle about it.  

This is his collection as one.