Selfies
There are lots of photographers who took self portraits or 'selfies', as we now call them, and some of them have captured themselves creatively and with such imagination its hard to think that they were created by the photographers without any assistance. It is obvious that some of the photographs are self portraits and some make us more curious. Vivian Maier is a photographer who we have looked at extensively and we have discovered that shop windows, mirrors and other reflective surfaces were used to make her self portraits.
Vivien Maier
Ilse Bing
Lee Friedlander
I decided to try and photograph a series of photographs as a response to the photographers listed above. I used shop windows, gallery windows and some windows from homes as a mirror' for my selfies. I also tried bathrooms and bathroom mirrors. Inspired by Lee Friedlander I also took a few photographs when I was a passenger in a car. I found that it is quite difficult to take interesting and creative photographs and I think this is because I was quite conscious that these were photographs of myself. I was more comfortable taking photographs of my shadow or concentrating in taking photographs of objects within shop displays. The more photographs I took the more comfortable I became with the subject-myself. Some photographs I am just visible and others are obviously self portraits.
This is my favourite 'selfie from the series. I think that it was inspired by the photographers Vivian Maier and Lee Friedlander, I would say more Lee Friedlander because of the way in which it is framed. It is mainly the window in the frame and the shapes, colours and textures are highlighted with just a little of me in the frame. My favourite photographs are the ones framed by windows or mirrors. Both 'frames' are readily available and easy to find I may experiment with taking more photographs with myself reflected in a mirror as my project develops.
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This is my least favourite photograph from the selection. I didn't think carefully about the image and I look awkward, the stance, the framing of the image. I also find that there is such a combination of colours. I will not discard this image though but rather edit it during the project as there are elements of it which I like. I edited it slightly making it black and white and cropping it but although it was much better with the absence of colour it will have to be developed in another way to make it interesting.
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Tasks
- What can you find out about the 3 photographers mentioned above? Find 7 facts about them which should include:
- Where they practised.
- What type of cameras they used.
- Their subject matter.
- How they took selfies (did they use a remote control or did they point the camera at a reflective surface?)
- Did they use black and white or colour.
- Describe the framing of their images and the composition.
- What you like about the images.
- Create a set of 12 images inspired by one or more of the photographers. Think inquisitively and imaginatively about your images-don't just point and shoot. Think about framing, composition, distorting the images, using mirrors or windows to frame the image. How can you make this image different from any other selfie that has been taken? Perhaps you could crop your self or crop the mirror or window capturing just half of you? Could you distort the image in anyway, making the image out of focus or add too much light making it over exposed? Do not delete any of your photographs. We will use the discarded ones for another project next week.
- Choose your most successful images and write a short paragraph about why you think that it is successful. What is it that stands out about the image?
- Choose an image which you find is the least successful and write a few sentences about why you find it unsuccessful and is there something within the image that you like?
- Create a set of 12 images based on the success criteria of the image that you find the most successful.
I started to think of how I can develop the photograph which I didn't want to use. I don't like the images above but I don't dislike them entirely so I thought that I'd develop them inspired by the image above that I'd taken some time ago. Below is a selection of images that I have created using just a circle cutter and some off-cuts, lots of images that were already around near the photocopier, these were all discarded images that I used. With collage it is not simply about putting images on top of each other but it is also thinking about composition, framing, colours and still keeping the self portrait slightly visible.
Threshold Concept No. Photo 4 Photography is the art of selection rather than invention
I had fun by using the images and changing them completely, some I left as collages and some I photocopied so that the images remained flat, some of the images I changed the colours using the single colour option on the photocopier. Some of the photographs were copied onto another type of paper such as cartridge paper or tracing paper in order to explore different textures. I was pleased to see how the images have changed, improved even, they are still self-portraits but by adding different colours, textures and shapes I have another image. Throughout all of this experimentation I still thought about the composition, I tried not to make the images to literal, by this I meant I wasn't using the words or images to direct my images so that the end result was obvious or predictable, I used colours and shapes, and lines, and contrasts instead within the images rather than words or trying to make an secondary image using found photographs. In order to create an abstract image I focused only on the formal and visual elements; framing, composition, line, shapes, colour, and texture.
I had fun by using the images and changing them completely, some I left as collages and some I photocopied so that the images remained flat, some of the images I changed the colours using the single colour option on the photocopier. Some of the photographs were copied onto another type of paper such as cartridge paper or tracing paper in order to explore different textures. I was pleased to see how the images have changed, improved even, they are still self-portraits but by adding different colours, textures and shapes I have another image. Throughout all of this experimentation I still thought about the composition, I tried not to make the images to literal, by this I meant I wasn't using the words or images to direct my images so that the end result was obvious or predictable, I used colours and shapes, and lines, and contrasts instead within the images rather than words or trying to make an secondary image using found photographs. In order to create an abstract image I focused only on the formal and visual elements; framing, composition, line, shapes, colour, and texture.
Tasks
- Choose carefully 3 of your images that you think have not worked that well. You should have already described how and why these images have not worked well. Write about what you find works well within the image, many its ; framing, shadows, lines, composition or the colour. Write about what ruins the image? Is there an obstruction with too many people in the image, a flash light, an image bing over exposed, or out of focus? Maybe it has been framed well but its out of focus? Maybe the lines within the image frame your portrait well but someone else is in the frame?
- Decide how you'd like to 'edit' or change this image. What is it about the image do you want to 'hide' ?
- Start to play around with various compositions-be imaginative. Try not to be too literal with words and images. Use shapes, colours, angles and lines to frame your portraits.
- Once you have a composition that you are please with use the screen to 'frame' the image-decide whether you want the photograph landscape or portrait. Do you want to zoom in or would you like to select a larger area? Remember it is at this stage that you are making your composition-with the camera.
- Create a minimum 6 different compositions using the available resources, that can be photocopied, torn, cut up etc. If you have more time create more images but again, think carefully about the composition of your images. Change the secondary image so that you use something different to form a composition.
- Evaluate what you have. What has worked well ? and what could be even better? Which is your most successful image and why in terms of the composition, and all of the other formal and visual elements.
- Have fun exploring the varied compositions that you create. Be imaginative and inquisitive.