Final Evaluation: Discussion -

Final Evaluation - 

In conclusion of my surrealism project, I have completed a total of 10 photographic explorations through shoots alongside another body of work that was created from the brief of computer, physical and print experiments. The final images from each photoshoot were a combination of successful and unsuccessful with specific images resulting from shoots 7, 8, 9 and a few from 4 or 5 being my favourites. Moreover, shoot 4 and 5 were of the same subject matter with one being in a studio environment and the other being in a non-studio setting. The reasoning for this was to explore the ways in which the inspirational photographer for the shoot personally worked; Yorch Miranda captures his surreal photographs in a non-studio setting hence my reasoning for shoot 5. Depsite this, I wanted to complete a version of it in a anomaly free studio set up so that I had more control over the lighting and other such significant factors. This is evidenced through some of my lesser successful images depicted in the work diary of the non-studio setting of shoot 5 which were less aesthetically pleasing than the bright white backdrop and flash from the soft box lighting. Additionally, shoot 7 created two photographs that are personal favourites of mine in reference to aesthetic but it also resulted in a few photographs that relied heavily on the surreal connotations and inferences of meaning through the use of props such as a butterfly and empty photo frame. Photoshoot 7 created some of my more professional looking photographs that show my strong influences from both surrealism and the techniques of high fashion but also depicted my sinister interpretations of the surreal as I am heavily influenced by the work of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman. For instance, I took into account the setting and was able to create a sinister surreal final photographic outcome that utilised the weather and influenced my camera settings and use of flash. To expand, the fog that was present in shoot 7 was exaggerated when I captured the image with flash and later exaggerated in post-production as the moisture in the air reflected the lighting as was my intention. In relation to photoshoot 8, however, I believe it one of my more successful as a result of the difficult and aesthetically pleasing editing that it required and showcased as opposed to the photographs themselves pre-editing. Furthermore, the final photographs of shoot 8 also demonstrated how I was influenced by the conceptual artists John Stezaker who is an extremely influential surrealist but also how I adapted his ideas and techniques to represent my own way of approaching photographic art. For example, Stezaker uses photographs and postcards that are not his own images and combines them possibly physically whilst I used family photographs alongside my own photographs and cohesively stitched them together using the digital editing software Photoshop CC 2014. I also intended on using old family photographs as one half of my final outcomes to create more connotations and references to myself within my work as I believe that both rely heavily on one another. Photoshoot 9 was also one of my most successful photographic bodies of work in that the technique is inventive and unusual and displayed my ability to create a strong final image whilst employing physical experimentation, such as collage, photomontage, layering, which is often used by surreal photographers and artists. The extended editing process of using digit software to change the filter and then, using a scalpel, cutting away the areas that I deemed important before layering sheets of red behind them to create a dynamic yet simple final image. I think that the idea of combining physical and computer experimentation has become a technique that I enjoy and has influenced my whole body of work cohesively and also displays my strong feelings about embedding meaning into connotations within my work.

Despite this, there were some shoots that were particularly unsuccessful as a consequence of lack of experience. For example, a few pieces from shoot 5 were not representative of my desired level of work due to the poor lighting conditions and such. One specific example being the subject sat on the arm of the clock as either the image was too dark, too noisy as a result of increased ISO or disrupted by the reflection of the flash firing. In addition to this, photoshoot 6, whilst demonstrating difficult editing skills and some good examples, the difficulty of shooting on location and using models who have little or no prior experience of acting made the final images less surreal high fashion, like the work of Tim Walker, as was desired.

As a result, I believe that my photoshoots do create a mostly cohesive final body of work when taking into account skills used, techniques employed and the constant conformity to surrealism and high fashion influences even if not explicitly but instead implicitly. My reasoning for this is because specific ideas are replicated throughout such as always attempting to create an atmosphere through meaning within my work; whilst the atmosphere is not consistent in all shoots, each individual shoot has a mood. For instance, photoshoot 7 and 10 both have very sinister and emotive undertones that the audience can decode because I placed hidden messages relating to my personal life and experience in each one as I strongly believe in the surrealist Dada movement idea of art being not solely for aesthetic but also to evoke something in an audience. My life is constructed significantly around peers, mental health and poetry but not only in reference to literature but also to the artistic forms of poetry in art and photography as such I want my works to reflect that. On the other hand, shoots 4 and 5 are more lighthearted and reflect humour through surrealism and as such are an attempt to create that mood. Furthermore, the physical manipulation is evident in photoshoots 2, 4, 5 and 9 in various ways. I used collage and photomontage alongside miniaturism by cutting out subjects and placing them in scenarios like Yorch Miranda, Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida or Slinkachu. Moreover, I also used the same editing software and used similar techniques in the majority of my photoshoots; for instance, I often adjust the brightness and contrast values in all of my photographs and this is a constant despite the other editing techniques not always replicated. Most significantly, the body of work is cohesive as the ideas have originated from research combined with my own personal ideas to form a surreal exploration that also depicts experimentation.

To expand, my project has been dramatically influenced by my research into photographers and conceptual artists within the fields of surrealism and fashion with many at a cross-section between the two. Initially, the contextual research into surrealism itself, as a movement, lead to my exploration of Dada and its members who lead an artistic revolution that resulted in straying away from art as a depiction of aesthetic beauty but instead to challenge and create meaning. From Dada, surrealism was developed and expanded and allowed for many rebellions in the art world. Moreover, many photographers within the field of surrealism are also influenced by the original surreal masters such as Rene Magritte and this is evidenced through the work of photographers such as Christopher McKenney and is also replicated in my own work; this specific example being in photoshoot 7. Additionally, through my research I was able to understand my own aesthetic and influences more so by which works excited me to start my own project. I therefore began narrowing down my ideas of how important the fashion element was and realised that elements such as lighting and composition would be all that I was taking from it whilst the majority of my ideas were surreal based. Also, research was important in that I rediscovered the work of John Stezaker and his work influenced me extremely in my physical and computer experiments as I am a fan of blurring the lines between mediums and challenging how far the can each be adapted.

Throughout the course of my investigation I have learnt what my individual style is and that I am more interested in the surreal concepts than those of fashion which is in direct contrast to what I had initially planned. For example, I had stated that I would be exploring fashion with elements of surreal composition. Despite this, I soon realised that I was more interested by the connotations and meaning of the work created by surrealists. However, I did conform to some elements from my initial plan that were vital to my learning process from my photographic explorations. For example, I did explore ideas around both "reality and unreality" and "emotions" within specific shoots; photoshoot 6 was an exploration of blurring reality with unreality through editing and costume whilst photoshoot 10 was a journey through mental health and emotions. I have also learnt that I should not always confine myself to the studio for my photography as shooting on locations can provide more interesting final outcomes and lead to my improvement as a photographer using a camera in the real world with unpredictable elements such as lighting and other factors.

If I were to have selected my final portfolio using only some of my final photographic outcomes then I would have focused predominately on the previously outlined favourite photoshoots; the favourite photoshoots being 7, 8 and 9 as they are the most professional of my work and the most representative of what I wanted to achieve. However, selecting my final portfolio was difficult as the individual photoshoots do not explicitly form a cohesive body of work but do implicitly through techniques used and the themes of them. Moreover, the works from those shoots depict my aesthetic choices and as such convey part of me in them which I think is important in surreal photography.

If I had more time then I would consider completing secondary shoots to ensure that each of my successful photoshoots had the opportunity to create individual series' and so that my work would appear more explicitly cohesive to an audience. For instance, some themes that I focused on were gender, identity, family life and societal aspects with one main example being photoshoot 9 were I focused on how identity and anonymity are formed through our surroundings. If I had the opportunity, I would extend my ideas and technique from shoot 9 as it was both enjoyable and fitted an aesthetic decision that I was pleased with. If this were the case I would study into John Baldessari and Mauren Broadbeck as I discovered them after competing the shoot but I would like to experiment more so than demonstrated already. Examples of their work that I would take inspiration from can be seen below and were chosen as they accurately depict how potent an image can become once the supposed main subject of the image is removed such as the identity of the portrait or the main feature of the landscape.

(John Baldessari)

(Mauren Broadbeck)

Electronic: Electronic Portfolio -

Portfolio: Electronic Portfolio -

Electronic: Electronic Final Pieces -

Electronic: Electronic Final Pieces - 

Physical Experiment: Stitching -

Physical Experiment: Stitching - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Tools -

I used:

Scissors

Needle

White Thread

Red Thread

Influences - 

Spike Dennis

Mana Morimoto

Evaluation - 

The first photograph that can be seen above was taken as part of photoshoot 9 and was an anomaly amongst the other images. Despite that, I felt compelled to capture the original image for its depiction of art in the banal everyday situations. There was no direct meaning that I had placed within the specific image but it was given connotations through the stitching of the red and white thread that surrounds the head of the subject like a renaissance halo. Whilst the scanner did not pick up on the colures stitching the thread was in alternations of red and white. The statue is a depiction of Eve from the Christian religion and as such the white thread was to connote her innocence prior to the supposed corruption from the devil. The red, however, was intended to mimic blood and serves as a juxtaposition in that the statue is not made of flesh and blood as the subjects were in my other photographs from this series. As such, the stitching is a questioning of religion and its influence on a mostly secular society today. 

Physical Experiment: Burning -

Physical Experiment: Burning - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Tools -

I used:

Scissors

Matches

Influences -

Lucas Simoes

Christopher McKenney

Evaluation - 

The original photograph was captured within one of my photoshoots that was inspired by the "Self-Made Ghosts" series by Christopher McKenney and depicts a ghost figure in a foggy and eerie atmosphere. The original conniptions of the photographic outcome were the idea of the fine chord of life and the balance between life and death. It is also similar in its connotations to the physically manipulated painting experimentation in that I wanted the audience to understand the inferences to the anonymous ghost subject representing the people in photographs in family albums who we can no longer identify by name of relation to ourselves. The connotations of the original image were already strong and I did not want to change them only exaggerate them. As such, the narrative of this physical experiment was to distress the image like old photographs become over time in accidents as they age such as ripping or more drastically how some images are damaged or lost in fires, which allowed me to explore Lucas Simoes' technique, and emphasise the previously routed connotations of the photographs. 

Physical Experiment: Painting -

Physical Experiment: Painting - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Tools -

I used:

Scissors

Acrylic Paint

Paintbrush

Influences - 

Angela Deane

Evaluation - 

The basis photograph is a documentary photograph that I captured whilst walking through the town centre of my home. The images punctum is the two people in the left third of the compositional grid who are engaged in conversation. There was no direct meaning to be gathered from the original photograph as it was simply for a documentary purpose of depicting the people of my home town. However, the meaning of the photograph changed quite significantly once I had painted over the photograph as a physical experiment. The black and white filter that is present in both photographs was to infer a sense of nostalgia whilst the later addition of the ghosts over subject within the photographs was to develop the idea that we, as humans, live short lives and that in the not too distant future people looking back at photographs will not know who the people are. In the same respect of looking through very old family photo albums and asking older relatives who is in each photograph; the people shape who we are yet become anonymous as time goes on; as such the cloth covering to mimic a ghost is reminiscent of the anonymity of Rene Magritte paintings such as "The Lovers". 

Physical Experiment: Photomontage -

Physical Experiment: Photomontage - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Tools - 

I used:

Cutting Mat

Scalpel

Scissors

Glue

Influences - 

John Stezaker

Evaluation - 

The original image existed purely as a documentation of my family member during her school years. Post-production of the above physical experiment the meanings of the photograph have changed. For instance, the photograph is of my mother at the same age that I am now and thus I felt a strong connection with the photograph even before I manipulated it. Moreover, the second layer of the photograph that creates an element of anonymity, often employed by Rene Magritte and as mentioned above John Stezaker, is a photograph that I captured recently whilst walking in the Lake District with my mother alongside me. The secondary photograph is the connecting ayer between the photograph of my mother and me as the producer of the final outcome. As such the meaning is less connotative but is instead a documentation of nostalgia and connections between lives and art or photography. 

Physical Experiment: Collage -

Physical Experiment: Collage - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Tools - 

I used:

Cutting Mat

Scalpel

Scissors

Glue

Influences - 

Matthieu Bourel

Evaluation - 

The original image existed purely as a documentation of my family member during her school years. After the physical experimentation the connotations of the image changed and now makes reference to how identity is constructed. For example, the final outcome is a combination of three layers the first being the school portrait, the second is sections from a portrait that I captured of a friend and the final layer is a plain white background. The different layers influence how the audience infers meaning from the conceptual photograph in reference to the abstract positioning of various facial features such as the third eye. A implication of meaning that was important in the construction of this photograph, for me as the producer, was that the third eye is representative of a mothers intuition and that it implies that she is omniscient in my life. The use of combining the photograph with a peer was to imply that we are all shaped by our family and peers and as such the photograph is not only constructed by various people but so is the text producer, myself. 

Computer Experiment: 3D Duotone Illusion -

Computer Experiment: 3D Duotone Illusion - 

Original Image:

Final Image:

Technique - 

I began by creating a new file which I did so by clicking on the drop down menu 'File' followed by 'New...'.

I set the dimensions for a standard A4 sheet in the portrait layout. 

This is the blank file once created. I then unlocked the layer. 

I then opened the photographic file and unlocked the layer so that I could begin editing. 

To begin the duotone process the image first has to be transformed to black and white. To do this I moved up to the 'Image' menu, chose 'Mode' and then 'Grayscale'. 

To continue the process I had to 'Discard' the colour information. 

This is the image once it had been turned black and white using the appropriate channel to allow for duotone. 

As the final image will require two duotone I saved the grayscale file to save from having to make it a second time. 

To begin the first duotone process I moved up to 'Image', then 'Mode' and finally 'Duotone'. 

This box appeared and I changed the colours to fit my aesthetic and renamed them before selecting 'OK'. 

This is the first duotone once completed. 

Once completed I dragged the file over to the A4 sheet as a secondary layer. 

As this was not within the scale that I wanted I changeg it by heading up to 'Edit', followed by 'Transform' and then 'Scale'. Whilst holding down the shift button to keep the ratio I changed the sizing.

This is the image once scaled and aligned on the A4 sheet. 

I returned to the grayscale image to create my secondary duotone. 

I repeated the 'Image', 'Mode' and 'Duotone' process. 

This time, however, I changed the colours to white and blue and hit 'OK'. 

This is the completed secondary duotone. 

Once again I dragged the file across to the A4 sheet as another layer. 

To change the scale I once again headed up to the 'Edit', 'Transform' and then 'Scale' option and held down the shift to reduce any unwanted distortion. 

Once adjusted to size the image then covered the beneath layer. 

As such, and to create the later effect, I reduced the 'Opacity' of 'Layer 2' by 50%. This meant that the image now appeared purple due to the red showing through. 

I repeated the 'Opacity' reducing process on 'Layer 1' which now meant that more of 'Layer 0' was showing through making the photograph appear lilac. 

I then clicked onto each layer and moved them apart until they created a 3D like distorted effect. 

As I was unhappy with the white background disrupting the aesthetic I hovered over the 'Crop Tool' (C) and selected the first tool. 

After cropping the image this was the final outcome influenced by 3D and the idea of illusions. 

Computer Experiment: Crop Distortion -

Computer Experiment: Crop Distortion - 

Original Image:



Final Image:

Technique - 

I began by unlocking the layer. 

I then moved down to the 'Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer' where I selected the 'Black and White...' option. 

I was pleased with the automatic default black and white setting and thus did not make any amendments using the slider values. Initially I would not change the photograph to black and white until on the secondary file but I wanted to see how it would look. 

I then headed up to the 'File' and 'New...' option to create a background for the Erwin Blumenfeld inspired distortion piece.

Next I adjusted the 'Preset' to a standard A4 page by choosing 'International Paper' and pressing 'OK'. 

This is the background documents scale.

Next I hovered over the 'Crop Tool' (C) and selected the first option.

I cropped down the image until it was only a small section of the original. 

I then dragged the file over to the background document.

I then had to adjust the scale and therefore moved up to the 'Edit' drop down menu and chose 'Transform' followed by 'Scale'. Whilst holding the shift button to stop any ratio changes I scaled the section of the photograph down.

This is the piece once scaled to fit.

Returning back to the original file I then wanted to undo the crop; I completed this function by heading up to the 'Edit' option and choosing 'Step Backward' (Alt, Cmd, Z).

The above step returned the image to its original state as seen here.

Repeat the process until the whole image, or desired sections, have been moved across to the background file.

This is the image once all of the layers had been moved over, aligned and scaled to create a surreal portrait inspired by Blumenfeld's series entitled 'Distortion'.

I then returned to the 'Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer' on the secondary file to continue over the 'Black and White...' filter.

As previously mentioned I did not feel the need to adjust any of the values as I was satisfied with the default setting.

This is the finished file.