eleonora-vostanisspring2021

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Assignment Five (Portraiture Series Final)

“Outside VS Inside Corona Edition”

by Eleonora Vostanis & Nour Ashraf

In our project, “Outside VS Inside Corona Edition”, we will be doing a portraiture series with its theme being attributes, visuals and demonstrations people took as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic that has rapidly spread all over the world since the very beginning of 2020. During life in the Covid-era, people have adapted to constantly wear masks to cover their mouths and noses to prevent getting sick and were told to keep a safe distance from each other, preventing close physical contact and interactions and are constantly needing to stay clean and washing their hands either with water and soap or hand sanitizers. We will depict photographs of similar appearance, being a person with a mask on and with different items related to keeping someone safe from getting infected. We will also go further by depicting photos showing people expressing emotions that came as a result of the pandemic. The photos are eight in total, they show two persons with a mask covering their mouth and nose and holding different items of similar nature in each shot; mask, gloves, sanitizer and wipes. In the remaining four photos, depicted are the emotions of what the person is going through being Frustration, Sadness, Fear and Suffocation. Our purpose with this theme and choosing portraiture series is to show how our lives are like now due to the pandemic. Depicting the precautions necessary to protect ourselves in order to survive the ordeal of the Coronavirus, even if people are doing it unwillingly as well as what people are going through mentally as a result which is not a positive outcome, this is what the Covid-19 pandemic has caused to people on the outside and on the inside. The way we did our photos is using minimal light focused on the person in the photo with a dark background behind them, the intention was to showcase how Covid-19 has brought upon darkness and negativity to the world and what people are going through externally and internally. We shall depict the precautions taken against Covid-19 and the emotions tied to them.

WEAR YOUR MASK ON”

“NO PHYSICAL CONTACT”

“WASH YOUR HANDS”

“ALWAYS STAY CLEAN”

“Suffocation”

“Frustration”

“Depression”

“Anxiety”

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Assignment Five (Portraiture Series) by Eleonora and Nour Ashraf

In our proposal, we will be doing a portraiture series with its theme being attributes, visuals and demonstrations people took as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic that has rapidly spread all over the world since the very beginning of 2020. During life in the Covid-era, people have adapted to constantly wear masks to cover their mouths and noses to prevent getting sick and were told to keep a safe distance from each other, preventing close physical contact and interactions and are constantly needing to stay clean and washing their hands either with water and soap or hand sanitizers. In our project, we will depict photographs of similar appearance, being a person with a mask on and with different items related to keeping someone safe from getting infected. The test shots show a person with a mask covering their mouth and nose and holding different items of similar nature in each each shot; mask only, mask with gloves, mask with liquid sanitizer and mask with alcohol spray. Our purpose with this theme and choosing portraiture series is to show how our lives are like now due to the pandemic. Depicting the precautions necessary to protect ourselves in order to survive the ordeal of the Coronavirus, even if people are doing it unwillingly. Similar projects by different photographers were also made with similar ideas to how life is portrayed during the pandemic, works such as “My Body in a a Box” by Penny Slinger which depicts the psychological effects caused by the pandemic and is also illustrated in a portraiture style. Other projects with similar ideas such as “The Self-Isolation Photographic Diaries” by several photographers allows them to document their lives during lockdown when people had to stay indoors all the time. We shall do the same, in depicting the precautions taken against Covid-19.

Test shots:

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Assignment Four (Original + Copy)

Original:

“Twenty Six Gasoline Stations” by Ed Ruscha, 1962

This photograph is one of a collection of 26 similar photographs of gasoline stations all taking located on Route 66 taken in the years 1962-63, certain subjects in each photograph taken differ, some have people in it while others don’t. In this particular photograph of one of the gas stations on Route 66, it appears as a landscape showing a gasoline station with a background of trees, hills and houses shown behind, there are no people shown but cars surround the station. Photo is all black and white so it was made using an old camera and the point of view is directly towards the gas station across the road, focal length is focused and the type of light comes from the daytime.

Copy:

Reflection:

In what makes a photograph iconic depends on several factors. How a photograph is even perceived as being iconic depends on what is shown in the photograph itself, the circumstances of the photograph like how it was made or if there is a story behind it that is intriguing for the audience to learn. Another factor is if something in the photograph stands out that leads to thinking of it as being iconic or how graphic the photograph is such as that photograph of the starving girl in Sudan during the famine that invokes a powerful message and display of the reality of the situation. This is an iconic photo that is both graphic and tells a story, another factor of how iconic a photograph can be is how much worth it is. The photograph of the Pond while it depicts a pond with an group of trees, it is worth 2 and half million dollars and is the most expensive photograph. That is how well-known or iconic photographs can be.

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Class Activity #2

3-Photography is now part of a capitalist market, worth a lot of money. Has this made photography more interesting or not? (William Klein said in the film: “It amazes me”)

Give examples from the documentary

For years, Photography has been used to capture moments in time, used for historical evidence and create memories, Photography is a valuable craft that humans have invented. When people started seeing what photography was capable of and how valuable it can be, they began to integrate it in the market for profit, doing so has made the craft of photography more well-known and piqued more interest that exhibitions and galleries were made to display works of photography. This has indeed made photography much more interesting considering the rules and how much worth a photograph is decided.

It is told that the more rare a photograph is, the more valuable it’s worth. Printing is used to make copies of the original photograph, used to sell for profit and for notoriety. The photograph shown above is a print of the original photograph made into copies, it has subtle differences to the original and the way its pictured shows an eye-catching image. The appeal of the subject within the photographs is what can determine how popular and profitable it can be.

The photograph shown is titled “The Pond-Moonlight” by Edward Steichen is the most expensive photoshop to date, having been sold at an auction for about 2 and a half million. This photograph is seen in the same way or compared to the painting of “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci at how valuable it is, there are very rare copies which factor into the value. Photography has become more of an art celebrated and sought out for around the globe.

The two images are works of foreign photographers who’s work became well-known thanks to international interest which helped bring them the notoriety and celebration they would likely not have received in their home countries for varied reasons. In Wang Qingsong’s case, photography was heavily restricted due to political reasons and so he went to the UK and opened an exhibition to demonstrate his work and he also mentioned how he wanted people to really appreciate his work and not just see it for profit. The photographer of the second photograph named Seydou Keita, his work caught the interest of a foreigner who wanted to display Keita’s photos on a larger display, this particular photography is especially of interest due to its similarity to a famous painting. Following Keita’s passing, there was a lawsuit to determine who would own the rights to his work. Thanks to photography being placed in the capitalist market, it helped people gain more interest and amplify the use of the craft of photography.

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Assignment Three (3b) (How to read a Photograph)

In some cases, Photos can have meanings hidden within them. Depending on the interpretation from viewers or the intention of the photographer’s own interpretation, hidden meanings are there and can be found and can be understood differently on a deeper level than just the surface level. In the photograph taken above, a picture of two different houses built next to each other. On the surface level, it appears to just be a landscape or background photo but upon closer inspection, there is a hidden meaning of contrast especially between the two houses. The house on the left has it’s fence covered in green bushes and plants along with two cars parked infront of it, if you look closer to the house building, it is painted with a window showing light coming from inside. The house on the right though has no plants growing around it or any sign of life, as well as it appears destroyed or unfinished, left completely barren. These two houses while they are next to each other and are architecturally similar because they are built in the same area and in close proximity, they have have completely different states with one house radiating with the signs of life while the house next door is devoid of life. What is also to take notice of is the different color of lighting from the two night lambs standing infront the houses, one is blue for the lively house, one is Orange near the empty house. Blue and Orange are opposite colors on the color scale further symbolizing the opposite nature of both houses. The hidden meaning can be the opposite nature of Life and death or the cycle of life symbolized in these houses. A house being built to being occupied by living people to one day becoming empty, that is the hidden meaning in this photograph.

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Assignment Two (A2) Reflection

Composition basically means what makes up a photo, the objects and shapes in the photo make what is called composition. Composition is like a painting, there are subjects stationed within the frame and make up the visual that is the composition. Composition can transform objects within a frame of a photo to take on a certain visual, like a painting and it can form anything with any subject like objects, people or even the landscape. The Objects or forms in the composition would form the image but there areas where the eyes tend to focus on in the image, something that catches the viewer’s attention more than the rest of what’s in the image or visual. Many of my images use the rule of thirds, how objects can make a visual and where the attention is more focused on certain elements. Depending on different tasks, all were composition and the rule of thirds applies to all, later edits were made to make the images more advanced and more focused to allow more clear attention to certain details.

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Assignment Two (Composition)

Photo 1. Rule of Thirds

Photo 2. Shape

Photo 3. Texture

Photo 4. Color

Photo 5. Frame in a Frame

Photo 6. Creative Light Movement

Photo 7. Light Direction

Photo 8. Point of View

Photo 9. Black & White (plus Original)

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Max Hirzel Talk Review

During the talk with Italian photographer Max Hirzel, the main topic was about Migration discussed with how it is dealt with politically and how it is treated in the media. In Italy, the main issues regarding the topic of migration when it comes to photojournalism is the people want stories they hear to be short, another issue is how the media depicts stories about migration and refugees. Quite often the media displays double standards when comes to reporting news on issues like migration of refugees and people when they receive the news, Hirzel mentions how overall, they hardly know much about the plight of refugees who lost their homes. This is tied to how photographs taken and published in the media impact the reaction and knowledge about refugees from the sea. Hirzel’s project details a more thorough depiction of the aftermath of a shipwreck that carried more than 700 refugees who perished and only 28 survived. Among his photographs depict the process of recovering the remains of the shipwreck and the bodies of the deceased, shown in clear detail of graves, the recovery of belongings that once belonged to the dead as well as giant boxes and trucks carrying many corpses put in coffins. The whole process of the recovery was made so that the bodies be identified and many were given identification numbers and were buried with them on their gravestones, not knowing their true names except for their relatives who survived. These pictures depict the tragedy that befalls on many homeless refugees and sheds light on how little is known about them, photography is best used to bring forth this knowledge and make it more well known to the masses and it depicts it in graphic ways that can leave many in shock. Sadly many people are either ignorant or fear refugees due to political agenda. In one instance, the media would frame a shipwreck and drowning of refugees as “the boat of innocence” but they were still alive, they’d simply call them “illegal migrants”. The purpose of photography in journalism is so people know the truth and as proof something happened and in this case about migration issues, it should be used to fully depict what is really happening and so more people would know and not be kept in the dark about it and the media’s perception of these issues should not be one-sided or hypocritical.

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Assignment One (A1) Reflection

In the beginning, it was hard to fully understand how the settings of the camera worked until I learned that the goal is to get good exposure based on aperture and shutter speed. All photos are set with ISO being 200, the only things that would change are aperture, shutter speed and Lens Focal Length. When using brackets, the Aperture was the deciding factor in how exposed the image is with the same focal length and shutter speed. If the aperture was one-stop lower than the aperture giving good exposure, it would be overexposed, if it was higher, the aperture would give a dimmer underexposed photo. Also learned how different settings can give good exposure while their calculations are similar, aperture and shutter speed can be different but if their calculated to be ex; 3 stops apart, they both get the correct exposure. Even the lens focal length can determine the difference of aperture and shutter speed, all depending on getting the correct exposure even if the focal length is different, it can cause the aperture and shutter speed to change in order to adjust the exposure. It also becomes clear that the higher number of the aperture is, the more focus led the subject of the camera is more clear, if it is less, it becomes less focused and blurry. The higher the number of the shutter speed, it instantly captures the subject in the image, freezing it in time essentially, if the shutter speed was lower, it can capture a blur, especially if the subject is moving.

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Assignment One (Intro) Part 2

Photo 5 (Above, Level & Below)

A. Above

Aperture = F4

Shutter Speed = 1/8

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

B. Level

Aperture = F4

Shutter Speed = 1/15

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

C. Below

Aperture = F4

Shutter Speed = 1/30

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

Photo 6 (Sunlight & Shade)

A. Direct Sunlight

Aperture = F22

Shutter Speed = 1/125

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

B. Shade

Aperture = F5.6

Shutter Speed = 1/125

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

Photo 7 (3 Different Focal Lengths)

A.

Aperture = F8

Shutter Speed = 1/60

Lens Focal Length = 35 mm

B.

Aperture = F11

Shutter Speed = 1/15

Lens Focal Length = 45 mm

C.

Aperture = F22

Shutter Speed = 1/4

Lens Focal Length = 55 mm

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Assignment One (Intro) Part 1

Photo 1 (Correct Exposure)

A.

Aperture = F22

Shutter Speed = 1/60

Lens Focal Length = 55 mm

Photo 2 (Brackets)

A. Correct exposure

Aperture = F16

Shutter Speed = 1/125

Lens Focal Length = 55 mm

B. Underexposed

Aperture = F22

Shutter Speed = 1/125

Lens Focal Length = 55 mm

C. Overexposed

Aperture = F 11

Shutter Speed = 1/125

Lens Focal Length = 55 mm

Photo 3 (F4 & F16)

A.

Aperture = F4

Shutter Speed = 1/2500

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

B.

Aperture = F16

Shutter Speed = 1/250

Lens Focal Length = 24 mm

Photo 4 (1/30th & 1/250th)

A.

Aperture = F29

Shutter Speed = 1/30

Lens Focal Length = 35 mm

B.

Aperture = F11

Shutter Speed = 1/250

Lens Focal Length = 35 mm

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A1 Canon Simulation photos

Photo 2 (Brackets)

Photo 1:

Aperture = F5.6

Shutter Speed = 1/15 sec

ISO: 200

Photo 2:

Aperture = F8

Shutter Speed = 1/15 sec

ISO: 200

Photo 3:

Aperture = F 11

Shutter Speed = 1/15 sec

ISO: 200

Photo 3 (F4 and F16)

Photo 1:

Aperture = F4

Shutter Speed = 1/8 sec

ISO: 200

Shallow Depth of Field

Photo 2:

Aperture = F16

Shutter Speed = 1/125 sec

ISO: 200

Wide Depth of Field

Photo 4 (1/30 and 1/250)

Photo 1:

Shutter Speed = 1/30 sec

Aperture = F8

ISO: 200

Shallow Depth of Field

Photo 2:

Shutter Speed = 1/250 sec

Aperture = F22

ISO: 200

Wide Depth of Field

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Class Activity 1 (Foundations in Photography 2230)

1. The type of Genre Khalik Allah depicts in his work is Portrait photography, his photographs consist mainly of black people or people living a poor lifestyle putting emphasis on their expressions, the details of their appearances as well as depicting certain actions they are seen doing in the photographs.

This photograph summarizes the kind of photography Khalik depicts in most of his work, focus on the faces and expressions of the least privileged people surrounded in darkness.

2. What Khalik means by “Purpose in life is to extend the light into peoples’ lives”, while he says it from a personal point of view, it is meant to say that human beings should have the need to help and guide each other as well as make their presence known to others so they wouldn’t be sidelined or forgotten. Khalik does this by using his skills in photography to depict the harshness and struggle of Black people. They are not meant to glorify their struggles but extending light into people’s lives is Khalik using his photography to show the world what the subjects in his photos are like and experience. He is telling their stories for them through photography, that is his purpose as he says.

This photograph of a black man emphasizes the life he has lived, he is missing some teeth and yet he grins widely, it appears strange and raw, a man who has lived a difficult life still manages to smile showing the results of a harsh life he lived.

This woman is also showing similar emotions as the picture of the man, although her circumstances might be different, she is in the same environment as the man and they share being able to smile despite harsh circumstances.

3. Khalik uses his photography to make Knowledge born as he says. Photography is an art that takes instances from real life moments and keeps still in time, physical manifestations of memories but Khalik utilizes photography to bring attention to those he is photographing.

In this image, a dark-skinned woman is smoking a cigarette while gazing upwards. Light is focused on her face drawing attention to her expression where it conveys her looking towards the sky with a hopeful look in her eyes while smoking. This is what Khalik means as he wants to make known who she is and what she appears to long for. People like her tend to be forgotten and abandoned so Khalik is using photography to bring attention to people like her and make her known more.

4. Khalik finds it is his duty to use his skills as a photographer to depict and show people who have lived difficult lives. He sees it from a spiritual perspective, talking about peace, compassion and love. Photography is a craft Khalik is passionate about, he associates it with his spiritual beliefs such as mentioning God and how humans should be compassionate to each other, to love and not fear each other.

This photograph is of a man who appears to be yelling, his face is obscured yet his expression is clear, a look of agony as he yells. The red shirt he is wearing gives a striking contrast to the dark background and the dark shadows on his face.

5. Khalik’s type of photography can indeed bring out understanding because he puts so much emphasis on showing the emotions and reactions of the people he photographs and how raw it all appears. In order for those who gaze at his work gain a better understanding by seeing firsthand what he saw as he took photographs of people who show agony, suffering, exhaustion and frustration.