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.

Eric Kellerman

Eric Kellerman is a Briton who has lived near Nijmegen in the Netherlands for just over half his life. In 2008 he retired from academia to spend more time on his photography. Specialising in the nude' he works almost entirely in the studio with a regular team of female collaborations, most of whom have serious interest in movement. Sometimes when nobody is available he photographs vegetables and fruit out of desperation. He describes his work to be distant, abstract, melancholic, 'un erotic' despite his subject matter. He emphasises line, geometrical form, texture, implicit movement, and above all, chiaroscuro. He likes to create ambiguity in his photos, so that the viewer is unsure about what part of the body is being looked at. In this way, he attempts to free the female body of its conventional associations.

This is one of his collection of images called 'The Box' where he has photographed women in a box creating weird and wonderful shapes with their bodies. This photo i love because of her position and this is what i mostly like about all his collection. The fact she is using up all the space is also very interesting, the way she is on her tip toes creates an elegance to the photograph even though her arm muscles seem tense there is a sense of calm. I think also because the models are naked it creates a feel of expression even though she is inside a box, it almost reminds me of ballet and how slender they are. I also love the fact she is bent over and her hair is covering her face because she is looking down, it's almost as if she is too big to fit in so she has to mold herself into a shape so that she can fit.

This next photo is probably my favorite in this collection mainly because of her position, even though it is a tricky position to be in, it feels and looks so elegant and also the fact her hands are caressing her foot just seems so subtle considering the difficulty of the position. Also what i love about this photograph is her hair and the way it drops down to the floor yet you can still see her face and that she looks so relaxed as if this were a regular thing she does. I just love the angle of her arm that is twisted through her legs and her left leg is almost acting as if she were walking. I would love to achieve a photograph like this because i feel that it is just so beautiful in the way it is captured and it's as if they are just making the most of the space they have in the box and they are being really creative.

This image really stands out to me because of the shaping of the arms. It's like a perfect U shape and it really emphasizes the collar bones which are just before the head comes in. I love how the head is looking up to the ceiling of the box as you can just make out the features of her face and i think it is needed to add a little detail to the photo. The legs almost contradict what the arms are doing and i think this is what makes the photograph so effective and make it stand out. Again she is trying to use up all of the space which i love about these photos, also in some other examples of his work the model has only used half of the box which i also find really effective considering the position they are in. But when they use up most of the space it's almost as if even though they are in a box, they are free, that they can open up whilst inside that box.

Some of his other work

Richard Vantielcke

My first photographer that i have chosen to analyse is Richard Vantielcke. He is a French freelance photographer currently living in Paris. He says himself that his work focuses on the light and shadows and also night photography, also he says that his work has a poetic, dreamlike often humorous approach, but always thoughtful in spite of appearances.  Richard Vantielcke has repeatedly tried a unique approach to narrative photography through "conceptual photo novels", mixing narrative cinema and meaningful photographic framing construction to serve a story. The photos i am interested in are the ones from his Conceptual Phtotgraphy section where he has used the idea of boxes through his work.

This photo below is one of many of his collection to do with his idea of boxes and through his collection they seem to all tell a story. What i really like about this photo is the use of the light and the shadows that are used. Also the use of a bulb setting on his camera he seems to get the effect of the models arms being in two places at once which i find really effective. Because the box is over the models head does not show the expression yet that is made up for the fact of how he is standing and the way his arms are placed which then fully shows the emotion of what the person is feeling and that you don't have to see the face to realise what is going on.

 

 

This image is in the same place as the previous place yet has a different story to it. Again the lighting and shadowing in the photo really brings out the message of the photograph, In this photograph the model is reaching out of a box still with the box on the head. The fact that he is in a large box really reminds me of being suffocated and trapped and with him reaching out of the box, you can see the hunger to get out of the box and it is almost like he is being dragged into the box. This could have many different meaning to do with his lifestyle and the reason that he is feeling like this. I really like these photographs because i think it is a really good way of showing emotion without looking at the face and the expression. It is like he is showing expression in his body movements and positions.

 

Now this image is also very interesting because it seems to be telling a story and this is what Richard lieks to do with his photographs and with this photo it seems to lead on from the previous photo and that he seems to be engulfed into the box. With his work i just love how he has used the box to show emotion because i think it is a really good way to show how someone is feeling with things like he has done in his work. The fact that it also tells a story is really effective as this is what i want to achieve with my work in creating a story or just one photograph is telling a story through it, and this is why i chose to analyse these selection of Richards' photographs as it gives me some ideas and inspiration for what i want to achieve in my own work.

 

Some others of his work

 

MoodBoards

These are my moodboards for my title, boxes. I have searched the internet looking for images and also linking it back to my mind map that i created. In these moodboards it gives me an idea for what i would like to achieve at the end of this project. There are a few different subject matters in these photos all expressing different things which gives me a positive view on this topic as it could be very limiting to what you could come up with. I would like to think these moodboards would help me to develop my own ideas.

Mind Map on Boxes

 

This is my mind map on my chosen title, boxes. This will help me with my initial ideas and experimenting with what to do with my project. I tried to think of different sides to boxes and what they could represent without going into much detail. These words will hopefully spark up an idea that i could potentially use.