Assessment Task My World PART A Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution. — Ansel Adams Photographers develop their own visual vocabulary to help them record and communicate what they see in the world around them. By using selected photographic equipment and applying their preferred techniques, they develop their own unique styles. Task instructions You will produce a total of three personal and creative photographic images in response to the theme of ‘My World’. You will begin by choosing ONE photographic GENRE for your work from the following list of options: Portraiture Still life Landscape Urban environment The images that you create must have a clear photographic STYLE. You will choose any ONE of the following styles: Pictorialism Romanticism Social realism High key and Low key Composition and Light Use your chosen genre and style to develop ONE set of images (a total of THREE images) which demonstrate your ability to communicate your interpretation of the theme of ‘My World’. When developing your photographic work and images you will demonstrate your skill in applying creative techniques through manipulation of camera controls and use of photographic equipment and/or in post-production using computer software, as appropriate. You will evaluate the overall success of your THREE photographic images, identifying at least one strength and at least one opportunity for improvement in your work, before presenting all of your work for assessment in an appropriate format, as agreed with your assessor. instructions 1. Thoroughly research two Photographers working in the same genre for PART A 2. Analyse 3 photographs from each Photographer (x6 total) . 3. Create a mood board/montage of image examples in line with your chosen Genre and Style. 4. Create a Plan for your imaginative shoots. 5. Take your photographs. 6. Create and review contact sheets for your images (these must be notated). 7. For PART A select your top 6 images and evaluate each one (1 star and a wish Technical and 1 star and a wish Creative) 8. Manipulate 1 or more of your photographic images in Photoshop for post-production corrections. 9. Write a Final evaluation of your 3 images with regards to : Composition, Visual Elements and Camera Technique. 10.Save your final presentation into your portfolio drive. Inform your teacher by email with link that this has been done. [email protected] OR [email protected] NAME Gemma Montgomery Higher Photography Contextual Imagery ‘My World’ ‘My World’ Part A Genre =Landscape Style =Composition and Light First Photographer Name Ansel Adams The first photographer I would like to study is Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams was a photographer and environmentalist born in San Francisco, California in 1902 in February. When Adam was only five his family fortune collapsed in the financial panic of 1907 and from then on Adams father spent the rest of his life trying to recover. Adam was an only child and was born when his mother was nearly forty. As his parent were relatively elderly, his family had a wealthy history and his life in the company of his auntie along with his aged father, all contributed to building an environment that was old fashioned socially and emotionally conservative. As Ansel’s mother spent a lot of time moaning about her husband being unable to restore the family fortunes, this left an emotional scar on Adam which could possibly be an influence of Adams later work as a photographer. Adams father encouraged and supported his son his whole life. In school Adam had problems fitting in, later in life he claimed that he might have been diagnosed as hyperactive along with the possibility that he suffered from dyslexia. In the schools he attended he was not successful so ended up being home schooled by his father and aunt. He accomplish what he called a ‘legitimizing diploma’. The most important result of Adams childhood is the joy and fascination he found in nature. The Sierra Club was vital to Adams early success as a photographer. His first published photographs appeared in the club’s 1922 Bulletin and he had his first one man exhibition in 1928 at the clubs San Francisco headquarters. By 1934 Adams had been elected to the clubs board of directors and was well established as both the artist of the Sierra Nevada and the defender of Yosemite. 1927 was the pivotal year of Adams life. He made his first fully visualized photograph, ‘Monolith, the Face of Half Dome’, and took his first High Trip, an event where you camp and travel to different beautiful locations each day. Importantly, at this time Adams came under the influence of Albert M.Bender, a San Francisco patron of arts and artists. Within the days they met, Bender started the preparation and publication of Adams first portfolio ‘Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras’. Benders friendship, encouragement and financial support changed Adams life dramatically. His creative energy and ability as a photographer developed and he began to have the confidence to pursue his dreams. First Photographer Image 1: Ansel Adams ’Roots, Foster Gardens, Honolulu’ (1948) Analysis: This photograph by Ansel Adams is the roots of a tree in Honolulu that he has manipulates to look more unnatural and intense than beautiful in nature. The most important aspect to me of the image is how he successfully using line and shape to create almost imaginary movement with the roots of the tree slithering down the image, influencing an unsettling atmosphere. The lighting contributes to this effect as the highlights it creates makes the tree branches look more like snakes rather than the bottom of a tree. To also contribute to the effect of the tree looking unnatural, Adams has kept the tones black and white which also strips away the knowledge of the image being nature and a tree. Adams effectively includes texture in the image as the floor the roots are lying on can be seen as being lumpy or rough. This is a nice contrast compared to the smoothness of the tree roots. What first attracted me to this photo is how when you look at the image, your eyes move up with the branches and invokes a disturbing feeling within you. The image makes me feel slightly unsettled due to the imagination of the branches moving but this, to me, is what makes the image interesting and so successful. This is one of Adams rare images that involves nature landscape. The message Adams was trying to convey was for people to see underneath the surface of humanity. First Photographer Image 2: Ansel Adams ‘Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar’ (1944) Analysis: This landscape photograph was taken by Ansel Adams in 1944 in Sierra Nevada, California. This image depicts a field of boulders in the foreground, leading to a dramatically lit view of Mount Williamson in the background. To me, the most important thing in the image is the light shining downwards onto the rocks. This is because without this aspect I feel like the depth of field in the image would not be as effective and the rocks in the fore ground would not stand out as much against the mountains in the background. The image has been toned to be fully black and white. I feel this is effective because the light source appears brighter more obvious piercing the clouds. What first attracted me to this image is the light pointing to the rocks on the ground. I think the way the light almost glides down the centre of the two rocks in the background makes the image much more interesting. I think the setting of the image creates a very warm atmosphere as it appears to be in a desert type of surrounding, the black and white tones don’t make this obvious however, which adds mystery to the mood. First Photographer Image 3: Ansel Adams ‘The Tetons and the Snake River’ (1942) Analysis: This is one of Adams best known photographs. Taken in 1942 in northwest Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, the photo showcases the beauty of the Teton Mountain Range and the Snake River before it, and highlights Adams’ mastery of large format photography and composition for landscapes. This iconic landscape photography by Adams is one of the 115 images included in the Voyager Golden Records — phonograph records containing sounds and images showing life and culture on Earth — which were included aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977. the most important thing in the photo is the river in the centre of the photo. It is very effective as this is what drives your eye view up toward the dark and cold mountains in the background of the image. This photograph is realistic and had not been staged as it is a real destination in the world, this adds to the images amazement. Natural light of the sun has been used for the image as it has been taken outside. The lighting is effective as it brightens the river in the centre of the image, making the subject matter more apparent. The photograph has been toned to be fully black and white. The thing that attracted me to this image was the dull clouds in the background with the effect of the sun shining through them, this highlights the dark mountains. Second Photographer Name Alex Boyd The second photographer I would like to study is Alex Boyd. Alex Boyd is a Scottish photographer born in 1985 in Germany but soon moved to Ayrshire and became a photographer. Boyd’s most famous collection of work would be his ‘Sonnets of Scotland’ series he began in 2007 which features landscape images from the most iconic locations in Scotland.