MODERNIST PHOTOGRAPHY

MODERNIST PHOTOGRAPHY

William Klen is a social documentary photographer, started out in New York, working with vogue, he did work in Paris and milan also. “William Klein is a photographer and filmmaker noted to for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism and fashion photography”

He uses his photography to so society at its better and worse, he's showing the reality and doesn't try to mask anything away. He's work is mostly in black and white, a mixture of violent looking ones and glamour beauty. 

Explore modern urban life in New York and Tokyo through the photographs of William Klein and Daido Moriyama. This is the first exhibition to look at the relationship between the work of influential photographer and filmmaker Klein, and that of Moriyama, the most celebrated photographer to emerge from the Japanese Provoke movement of the 1960s.

I do like his work. Through I think he edits his images too much and, I wished he mad more images in colour, his images do make you stop and think, they attracts the eye and I think he shows society very well although not in the uk .

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/william-klein-daido-moriyama

ttp://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=william+klein+photography&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=pe-QUbmAB5CChQeTtoCwAg&biw=716&bih=749&sei=qO-QUcrNHMKKhQfl3YGwAw

Gender Photography

Andy Karol

During my research i came across Andy Karol. He's a   Chicago Portrait and Fine Art Photographer Andy is most known for photography that explores gender, sexuality, and feminism. I had not heard about him until now, and I am very interested in his work, after looking up stuff about gender and identity, I can honestly say i may have found the most visual way to express what was on my mind. People may argue if what if he does is right or wrong,  but as a individual  I believe men and woman are equally if not women higher, and Andy's photo shows that this really well in his images by having the men dress in women clothing but not completely, its half and half. he keeps the features of the men very visible on half of his body and the other he glams up. I always say 'what a man can do, a woman can do too'. but now Andy is showing us that, what a woman can wear a man can also wear. This does not make it the normally thing for every man out there  but its giving the chance to those men who perhaps want that.

http://www.andykarol.com/portraits-andy-karol-gender-photography-gender-variant-transgender-portraits/

        City Inspiration

My personal inspiration came from here,  posted already last semester 

“The move from Manchester to London for me was, scary, important and exciting. Moving to London was  needed to give me a bigger canvas and for me to learn and experience new things.

I grow up in Manchester, grown up with the culture and the drama. The city inspired me, so when i started photography and graphic design, I had a lot to work with. I agree Manchester isn’t as full and exciting as London but that was my starting point. I have access to roof tops, high street dark corners and broken areas as well as the clean cut.

Were my family lives is medium class, but I often travelled to the main city with friends to explore, back at home in Manchester they have an area called moss side, which is perceived as the dangerous black people area, but through going there and photographing I have found that even though people believe that if you’re from there your dangerous but thats not always the case, that’s were you find the most, upset and sad people of all, but even so they still smile.” My surrounding is my inspiration.

http://a-snapshots.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/city-inspiration.html

Oliviero  Toscani

Oliviero is my one of my all time favourite photography/advertiser, hes work is great, his style is rude,bright,bold, and eye catching. That is what I hope to perceive in my own work. He works for the united colours of Benetton and he has caused his fair share to controversy. I love the fact the his work causes a stir and makes people stop and stare. This is what I hope to achieve in my work.

He takes the most simple things and advertises it in a way that send and message, regardless if its seen as negative or not.  He’s Italian and has been in the bossiness for almost 40years and even now his work is well recognized by a wide range of audience.  I have noticed that he picks his models from the streets, gets every day people into the studio and shoots, he’s models range from children, elderly, to people at their last dying moment to a new born baby freshly out of the mother’s womb.

He is really about making awareness, for example one of his larger topic was documenting an anorexic model who was told she was to fat, and asked to loose more weight.

(http://a-snapshots.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/oliviero-toscani.html)

This is a lithography of Elizabeth Taylor done by Andy  Warhol in 1964.

Warhol painted Taylor from his own photos. One masterpiece, Warhol chose the source image for this painting of actress Elizabeth Taylor from a publicity photograph of her 1960 film, Butterfield 8. He created this portrait when Taylor was at the height of stardom, but was also very ill with pneumonia. Every one was sure Elizabeth was going to die, Warhol then changed the photography by editing and adding bright colours in places,Andy Warhol quoted  “Now I’m doing them all over, putting bright colors on her lips and eyes.”  this is what made the image so successful, the painter’s retouch effect, the image has a very strong contrast because when the photo was taken Elizabeth Taylor was thought to be dieing, because of this story behind it, it gave the photography a certain sadness. however when Warhol retouched it and added the bright colours, this brought the photography to life, almost as a sign of hope to all of Elizabeth taylor fans, the image changes the mood and thoughts of her well been, even thought she was still ill. that’s the purpose of the image.

http://www.warhol.org
(http://a-snapshots.blogspot.co.uk/)

Photo Manipulation

Photo tampering has become ore famous in age of digital camera and image editing. the results sometimes look true with little changes, like slightly enlarging a models eyes, made to create a greater impact.software such as photoshop make photo manipulation  easily done and by anyone too. Often used in glamour photography , tampering with images to create that perfect look, in this sociality and culture, This through time has triggered negative responses from both viewers and celebrities.

Photo manipulation is used in different ways, creative retouching, technical retouching, adjusting, contrast, sharpness, retouching in packages, posters and all to help explain an image without words.

i have a go at manipulating an image of myself in an extreme way, i have gotten an image of myself and overlaid it this another image of just my eyes. I enlarged my lips and put a drawing effect over it and then placed that layer over the original image to create this new one.

“Give a talented and creative Photoshop user some photographs and the possibilities are only limited to the imagination. Photo manipulations are illusions created by photo editing techniques.”

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/40-jaw-dropping-photo-manipulations

(Posted by Henry Jones on Apr 22, 2010 )

Bruno Munari

 is an Italian artist, at first glance his work looks very inventive and intriguing, its a mixture of photography, typography, illustration and a little fine art. its simple and clean. He works using a lot of shapes and colour.

Munari begins:

”Today it has become necessary to demolish the myth of the ‘star’ artist who only produces masterpieces for a small group of ultra-intelligent people. It must be understood that as long as art stands aside from the problems of life it will only interest a very few people. Culture today is becoming a mass affair, and the artist must step down from his pedestal and be prepared to make a sign for a butcher’s shop. The artist must cast off the last rags of romanticism and become active as a man among men, well up in present-day techniques, materials and working methods. Without losing his innate aesthetic sense he must be able to respond with humility and competence to the demands his neighbors may make of him”. 

He using a lot of fonts and his work is quite animated and structured, i find it very interesting.

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/11/22/bruno-munari-design-as-art/

sherrie Levine

Sherrie Levine is an American photographer, she has done work including; mostly portraiture of less fortunate scenarios,  she mostly works in black and white and focuses on facial expressions with a very plain and simple background but she know focuses on sculpture masterpieces. 

“Her works have been interpreted as a commentary on the death of Modernism and its ideals, notions of artistic originality, the authenticity and autonomy of the art object and its status as a commodity.

Upon first glance, Sherrie Levine’s sculptures seem modest, calm, and uncomplicated.

Works like “Fountain (After Marcel Duchamp)” (1991) are striking in their visual presentation; however, they soon become, like the “After Walker Evans” series, muddled with potentially disparate concepts of art and its function. The confusion stems from two key places of origin: the title and the shape of the work. If one is familiar with Levine’s work in any way, the questions of authorship and authenticity remain paramount in the evaluation of any work past 1975.”

  

i personally think that the ideas behind her sculpture work is much more impressive than her photography.  

artnews.org - 480 × 480 

http://peterandjoan.blogs.wm.edu/2008/10/09/theme-inextricable-art-history-in-sherrie-levines-photography-and-sculpture/

 Banksy’s identity

Banksy is a graffiti artist, he's well known for his work but mostly be no one knows his true identity, most of his work is based in london, on the streets alone side everyday things. his work is seemingly more intriguing because his identity is so secretive. He works using stencil and spray cans mostly in black and white with the odd bits of colour. i would say his work is less graffiti and more montage of different images. His work has been seen as controversial. 

“In October 2007, a story on the BBC website featured a photo allegedly taken by a passer-by in Bethnal Green, London, purporting to show Banksy at work with an assistant, scaffolding and a truck.. In May 2009, the Mail on Sunday once again speculated about Gunningham being Banksy after a "self-portrait" of a rat holding a sign with the face of the man on the 2004 photo shot on it was photographed in East London.”

Banksy himself states: I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being 'good at drawing' doesn't sound like Banksy to me

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy#Identity)

Gender

Do women have to be naked to get in to gender roles.. behaviour, activities and attributes appropriate for men and women. Behaviour can contribute to gender inequalities. Margaret Thatcher's reign for me has ruined any women's chance who would like to be in that position of power, she abused the control in a way which has now tipped the men and women equality in the political world. Where as we have young girls such as Malala Yousufzai who is fighting for simple things like education, her courage and drive has shown the world that even women as young as 12years are not incompetent. Grant there are advantages for men too. In the old days it was very simple, men hunted and the women raised kids, but we moved out of caves and learned more about humanity and made gender suits. To me the behaviour of men and women can never the explained.

 "gender mainstreaming If health care systems are to respond adequately to problems caused by gender inequality, it is not enough simply to "add in" a gender component late in a given project’s development. Research, interventions, health system reforms, health education, health outreach, and health policies and programs must consider gender from the beginning.

Gender is thus not something that can be consigned to "watchdogs" in a single office, since no single office could possibly involve itself in all phases of each of an organization’s activities." 

(http://www.who.int/gender/mainstreaming/en/index.html)

(http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/gender)

Modernism- (Art/Architecture/Design culture)

Modernism aka visions of UTOPIA, our culture is forever developing, which is leading to rapid changes and process, process in things such as communication, fast cars and cites full of consumer goods. The evolution is clear in social and political ways in which its been produced.

"The modern movement in architecture and industrial design, which emerged in the early 20th century, responded to sweeping changes in technology and society. A new world of machines and cities forced artists to think anew about their environment, and soon revolutionized the way we perceive, portray, and participate in the world. Modernist ideas have pervaded every form of design, from graphics to architecture, as well as being a key influence on art, literature and music."

 (Written by Anthony S. Denzer, Ph.D.) (http://www.mastersofmodernism.com/?page=Modernism)

This is happening everyday, and all around us. The world of art is a fighting ring, forever looking for the best to push the evolution. The minds of the public are always been sharpened and sparked with new things, from structure in a building to television ads and even packaging of everyday things we consume.

"Today's artist live in an era of dissolution without guidance. He stands alone. The old forms are in ruins, the benumbed world is shaken up, the old human spirt is invalidated and in flux towards a new form. We float in space and cannot perceive the new order." (Walter Gropius, Berlin 1919).

Semiotics

Semiotics i understand to be a study of signs, symbols and signification rather than what has meaning, its a study of how to create meaning, using sign, signifier,denotation and connotation. together they makes up semiotics. With using signs, simply anything can be used to communicate, to tell a truth or a lie. signs where the relation combined with signifier and signified.
Definition of denotation in the dictionary is:

"the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from theideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that aword usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for anyindividual speaker because of personal experience. Compare connotation.a word that names or signifies something specific: “Wind” is the denotation for air in natural motion.“Poodle” is the denotation for a certain breed of dog.the act or fact of denoting; indication.something that denotes; mark; symbol."

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/denotation)

The basic meaning of a sign such as the word 'LIGHT' signifies brightness and something productive.

 where as connotation is the secondary meaning, signs which could be used as signifiers for a different meaning, such as the word 'LIGHT' signifies Purity.

Semiotics In An “Absolut” 300 × 300