SHAPE-
Shape Mind Map-
Shape Definition-
A shape is an area enclosed by a line. It could be just an outline or it could be shaded in.
Shapes can be either geometric, like a circle, square or triangle, or irregular.
When drawing shapes, you must consider the size and position as well as the shape of the area around it. The shapes created in the spaces between shapes are referred to as negative space.
The way subjects connect to each other in a photo forms shapes that draw the eye from subject to subject. If a photograph's composition lacks shape, the photo becomes too busy or awkward to fully appreciate.
Some shapes are more effective than others in providing an interesting frame for your photo. For instance, squares and circles tend to be too symmetrical and leave too much empty space around the subjects. The shapes that work best for composition are triangles and diamonds.
Moving your objects around until your find these pleasing shapes enables you to add dramatic effects to subjects that would otherwise be seen as ordinary. A silhouette of a chair can be identified as a chair because its an object just about everyone can identify. Same with any other subject or shape of familiarity. Shapes that are abstracted either by blur, shadow, distance or scale begin to have a more dramatic effect as they might hit the viewer on a more subconscious level. In other words they might not be the first thing the viewer sees or recognizes on first glance. This can often create interest and a stronger visual impact.
Negative Space-
Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space occasionally is used to artistic effect as the "real" subject of an image.
Negative Space in Photography. Negative space is the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph which is left unoccupied. Put simply, it is the space around the object itself that helps define the positive space (or main focus).
Positive space refers to areas where the subject is positioned. Negative space is the area surrounding the subject. Or in other words, positive space is the main focus area whilst negative space is the background. For example, if you take a cloudscape, the clouds are the positive space and the blue sky is the negative space.
Examples of Negative Space- These photos could be cropped to focus on the item more upfront however with this space it’s a wider perspective on the image to show the detail across rather than just the sky or the field with the tree on it, most photographs the negative space is so wide that your attention goes towards the first thing it sees.
These photos are examples of positive space because they use the background to contradict the image and give it a sense of direction, and it also works with the photo to add effect on to it to prove a point, like on the first image the space has shadows which show light in the darkness and on the second image the space behind is the sky which you can’t really take away.
Bill Brandt Research-
Brandt has used negative space in this photo to create a contrast between the light and the dark, from showing the woman as the part that you want to focus on because the space makes her stand out.
From the artist-
Brandt uses tight composition cropping the image creates three negative spaces.
He creates an intriguing composition because the black is quite harsh as it is much darker than the white which is kind of shadowed out into grey.
From the artist-
Sexual objectification or Art?:
Brandt's approach: Brand is associated with representing the body as a landscape or an abstract geometric form.
To some extent in working often with the female form he is also creating images within a sexualised context in much the same was as a Classical sculptor portrays a nude.
I feel this image both represents sexual objectification and art because the angle which the photo has been taken at and by the way the colours contradict with each other, showing that it makes an effect on the viewer.
I can see the sexual objectification of this photo because it is revealing and throughout centuries that’s how men portrayed women, which is kind of the idea of patriarchy in a sense. The use of the negative space from the tight composition really encloses what the photographer/artist wants you to focus on leading to objectification because at the bottom it shows a woman’s breast giving off a vibe of that’s what people focus on, also meaning that, that area is not blurred/faded however if you go to her face its quite faded away with grey shadows. It is difficult to create images of women without being sexualised because there is always a critique about in, someone will find something to make it sexualised.
However I can see where this fits into art as well because it’s the type of work you would find in a gallery along side other images that look like this portrait. Brandt represents the body as an abstract geometric from which is shown in the image with the lines sculpting the areas which he has found to be important in that way I see it as art.
Edward Weston-
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his 40-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still lives, nudes, portraits, genre scenes and even whimsical parodies. It is said that he developed a "quintessentially American, and specially Californian, approach to modern photography" because of his focus on the people and places of the American West. In 1937 Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and over the next two years he produced nearly 1,400 negatives using his 8 × 10 view camera. Some of his most famous photographs were taken of the trees and rocks at Point Lobos, California, near where he lived for many years.
In these photos I see images of sea shells and the occasional photo of the inside of kale. It makes me realise that when you go to the beach they are altogether but when you separate them it’s a different perspective on the shells. I think the photographer Edward Weston is trying to communicate the message of how the little things in nature are beautiful and how fragile these particular objects are. The images communicate this message by the back story behind what these items go through like throughout the sea.
The emotions represented are quite tranquil and mind easing as the negative space contrasts with the item which work well with each other to make the item which in this case is a sea shell or a vegetable stand out. I would like to know why the photographer Edward Weston chose to take photos of these items and why it is in black and white. I like the use of the space around the item because it really adds in a different viewpoint towards the photo and creates a unique style. I dislike on the 5th image as it is quite zoomed in there isn’t any space around meaning the effect is not the same as the rest of the pictures shown.
I think these photos has been achieved by either exposing the photo or taking a picture of shells on a black background and then change some settings in Photoshop with the shadows and brightness.
I like how on the first photo the lines really stand out as well as the curves on the perimeter of the shell, on the second one I like how the front of the shell is clear but when it goes further back its more blurred, on the third one the surface is more smooth and rounded, on the fourth one it shows a lot more detail, the fifth one is more zoomed in and shows a lot of detail too.
Contact Sheet
(AO1. You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued. )
Shape is important in photography because-
Shapes are defined by contrast of differing light or colour areas. Shapes exist in nature and we see these high contrast areas defined as lines. We see shapes visually and as they are emphasized by lines, they can have very complex effects in composition.
My intentions for this shoot was to take photos in the style of Edward Weston in which I got some seashells from a local beach and I placed them on some black card with a black backdrop, I also dimmed the lights so the flash on the camera would expose the shells making them brighter and the background darker which links to the photographers work. I feel I replicated them quite well but with editing it makes them look more and more like his photos, only difference is I had different circumstances regarding the shells and the background of it.
I chose images 0003, 0006, 0021,9954 and 9997 as my best photos because out of all of them I see the most similarities between mine and Edward Weston’s work from the use of the light and the zooming in showing detail more clearly.
I chose images 0022, 9955, 9964, 9982 and 9991 as my photos that I need to improve because I feel that if I got a bit closer and enhanced the brightness it would of possibly gone under the best photos but these are the raw photos without edits, leading to why I put them under need improvements.
Five Best Photos-
AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
My idea for recording shape was to photograph sea shells in the inspiration of the artist Edward Weston, from the use of his seashell photographs and the way he makes the curves of the shape stand out which I wanted to imply in my own work.
I chose these photos as my best five because I feel as though they represented Edward Weston’s work very well through the use of detail and the zoomed in shots following a black background, these photos are all unedited so they are all raw, in editing I’m going to enhance the lighting on some of them to increase the amount of detail in the lines and curves and maybe make them stand out and keep the background dark. The fourth photo is quite different in the context compared to the other ones as it focuses on more than one shell whereas in Edward Weston's it's mainly on one so i went on a bit of a different approach towards it.
5 Photos that need improvement-
I chose to improve these five photos because even though they are in the style of Edward Weston they don’t really suit his work in the way of lighting and angle, like on the third and fourth photo I chose to go a bit different with the background instead of black however it didn’t really work out that well when I was going through the images. When talking about the angles I'm relating to the last image where the angle should have been from above or more of the side. In editing i'm going to change the light on the first image because i feel that it could really represent his work when the light has been altered compared to it not being altered.
Edits Of Edward Weston-
I edited my photos like this to portray the work of Edward Weston, on these photos I didn’t want to majorly edit them as they were like his photos already I just wanted to enhance the shells to make them stand out while making the background darker to contrast with the shapes. The first photo is quite different to the rest of the images because its more shadowed over the whole shape whereas the others are more focused on only the shape which is kind of the idea but I wanted to try something different. On the 4th photo I enhanced the contrast to add a bit of colour and warmer tones while still giving the effect of his work. On the second photo i wanted to change it to a higher exposure rate which then made all the detail stand out more really in the crevices, on the third photo i made the shell the most important object leading to why the background is so dark compared to the shell which is bright.
Editing Process-
AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
To edit these photos I used Photoshop to create a brighter/lighter exposure to link towards Edward Weston’s work. Firstly, I went onto adjustments and pressed curve, this is where I changed the line to make the shape a bit brighter and the background darker, following that I moved onto exposure where I increased the exposure to 1.15 and I slightly decreased the offset to -0.0709 and increasing the gamma correction to 0.89 making darker parts stand out and the detail becomes more effective. You can tell how little I have edited the photo but I think it’s the right amount because I didn’t want to over expose it or show no detail. I used a high aperture of f/8 on wards which doesn't let as much light in which I needed in this shoot.
Final Photos-
AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
I believe that i have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of shape and the images of Edward Weston. The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and converting the exposure to a higher level.