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4th Jan Task -Your approach to beauty in making images that will work in a commercial context

[1] Bill Henson http://archive.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media/archives_2005/aah_bill_henson/

[2] Wolfgang Tillman http://imageobjecttext.com/2012/09/25/drawing-with-light/

[3]Torklin Gundason http://artistandagency.com/torkil-gudnason/hothouse-color#

[4]Noel McLaughlin http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/2098/noel-mclaughlin

Using the lecture as a starting point and with visual references and no more than 300 words, reflect on your approach to beauty in making images that will work in a commercial context. Consider whether beauty is important to your work or whether there are other ways that you will set out to make images that have an impact.

The beauty in my images are the effect of abstraction expressionism, from semi abstract to complete abstract. The complete abstract compositions have an impact, they make the viewer question what exactly is the work about and why they are drawn to a subject that is unfamiliar to them.   I essentially [6]“captivate the imagination” with my images that is what is important about my work. My work will fit into a commercial context just like Duchamp motive to make work, he is [6] “trying to make an art that denies all of the things that people say art should” be.  However I am taking it from a photographic context with an influence of abstract art.  I do believe beauty is important to my work as the whole aura of abstract expressionism surrounds and portrays it’s expressionistic  beauty qualities . With regard to the professional commercial context  of my work it will be naturally placed in a beauty of some kind.  This beauty I believe is not beauty of such but a beauty of mystery, discovery and of the unfamiliar.  The emotions of the audience being connected to my work.  This is due to the relationship of the audience and the unfamiliar  subject this is suggested by the photographer Bill Henson [7]“Everyone naturally finds themselves drawn into a more interesting relationship with a subject when the subject is not entirely familiar, when that subject suggests a multitude of possibilities without having clear definition”.  The beauty within my work can be viewed differently to anyone , it can be the pure abstraction of questioning what is the subject and the contextual meaning behind it. To the sublime of semi abstraction to how did I get to this outcome is what also could be questioned. My images will make thought provoking questions and debates. This is the impact of my work and why it would work in a commercial context due to the use of medium and the way I apply certain experimentations to it. The beauty of photography removes by abstraction and any other intentions I have which I believe my work is an [8]“unconscious impulse”.

Word count - 354 Word count without quotes - 302

[6]-Michael Craig martin http://www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au/a-fading-beauty/ [7]http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/24/1088046216923.html?from=storyrhs [8] (Benjamin 1992/1955. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction’ p229-30)

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Workshop 4th Jan 2016

Todays workshop we played around with the use of colour gels with HMI lighting and also studio flash. We also looked at what information a histogram shows to us. What we can tell from it.

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Workshop 4th Jan 2016

Todays workshop we played around with the use of colour gels with HMI lighting and also studio flash. We also looked at what information a histogram shows to us. What we can tell from it.

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Christmas break

The christmas break was not productive as I had hope.  Therefore my plan is do try and finish off the little bits with ba2ai and ba2aii whilst the other project is going on. Hopefully I can catch up and be up to date. 

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Group Exhibition - Final Outcome

Evaluation 

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I am really happy how this exhibition has turned out.  At first I was a bit uncertain because I could not picture it.  i could not imagine what the Undercroft would looked like and how we would fit everyones work in with the walls that were there. This is where we had a brilliant idea to buy construction fences. This gave us extra space for bigger work / creating own separate parts for the mature images.  The images above show the beginning and the final outcome for our exhibition.  The link below show the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx5eFcXDcsU&feature=youtu.be

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GROUP EXHIBITION - UPDATE (Website) 

The next set of tasks was to collect images / information for an online catalogue we were going to put on the website, instead of a physical one. This way it is easier to access and saves money. I also set another deadline with this as this would save time wasting, I needed it up and running as soon as possible as the exhibition is now open to the public. 

Same for the head shots and work in process, I created a word document with everyones file who sent me work. I then transferred the images to a folder in dropbox and then shared the files with Molly and Paige. 

Whilst this was going on I double checked if there was any problems , e.g. lack of information and the clarity of the image on the website. 

Carrie Carman - has no details, and her photos is really pixelated.. Blair Chandler Hannah Grix Leoni Lessmann Cara Liggins Eleanor Preston Kelly Simone Robertson Alex Sladden Hannah Gordon-smith Liam sielski waters And yourself No contact details for all of the above names given Cherie * sorry

These were the people I had to double check with if they  wanted their information available  on the website.

Another thing to add was that this show there was an general apathy towards  this exhibition. For example I only collected 32 peoples headshots out of the year. I feel this shows how some of the group  have been helpful and interested. Where as others have not made any effort to contribute to the Exhibtion and being part of a team. It is a shame really when we are being marked on this , the team work. 

http://rawexhibition.blogspot.co.uk/

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FINAL Self-Evaluation: Submit by 4pm Wed. 20TH May

BA3: Task 3    Group Exhibition Group - Visual Marketing 

1. Identify your roles within your exhibition team so far, your strengths and areas for improvement.

One of my roles at the beginning was to find graphic designers to help design promotional material for our exhibition. The strengths were that we work effectively to find a number of graphic designers. My own strength was that I knew quite a lot of people who are graphic designers inside / outside uni. I also had to contact graphic designers individually, asking if they would do extra work for our exhibition. Areas for improvement would be the issues of communication between leaders and our group. In this case it seemed leaders didn't listen or just seems to go with what the leaders were thinking.   I feel the main areas for improvement I feel that it should have been cleared up as to what were the roles of the project leaders and the other team leaders.  I just felt some had more responsibility than the others and vice versa in that others did not want to take the responsibility on (Even when they are project/team leaders).

Another one of my role’s was to collect date for our website, this meant I collaborated with another member to spread the work load. The date consisted of head shots, uni work in progress (behind the scenes) and then collecting images for an online catalogue.  I took this role as my strengths are in organisation and I felt no one else would do it within our group. It was not a daunting task to do as its quite simple , just annoying trying to get everyone to corporate with you.

2. Identify how you can improve the areas for improvement.

To improve areas I feel that it should have been made very clear what the roles of the team leaders and project leaders were . This is where meetings should have been held at the beginning and regularly throughout the project with the team/project leaders , they could have discussed any problems and discussed  ways of sorting them out within the group.

To improve the area of collecting date for the website , I tried many different ways to get people’s attention. This is where only social media comes in handy to promote what you are trying to do. A big majority of our year saw this and I received many peoples work / head shots. I also added a deadline to the Facebook post so if they didn't send me their work , they would not be added to the website. This was the consequence of not sending in the work which is fair in my eyes. I gave the year enough notice and with the Exhibition approaching it all had to be ready for the opening night.

3. To what extent do you feel you have effectively collaborated within your team so far?To what extent do you feel you have contributed and engaged as part of the team?

Use examples to justify your evaluations.

I have worked with my team quite effectively as I have worked with the  promotional side and also the social media side.  Working with the promotional side (Visual marketing) I worked with my team to successfully find graphic designers to help with our promotion material for the exhibition. This was a success as we found a girl within our uni who was willing to help. I have also attended a meeting to do with the final poster as there was a lot of disagreement with the final designs. I felt it was best to attend as I felt strongly about one of the designs more than the other and it helped me understand the other poster designs coming from different people.  I have also contributed to discussions on Facebook and in person to do with the exhibition and promotion material.

4. Have you attended every team meeting and project development session?     Yes / No  If your answer is ‘no’ for the above question: - What did you do to ensure you contribute more to your team at another occasion/opportunity, sharing the team’s responsibility?   

5. To what extent do you feel there have been any barriers so far to your input into the project? How might you have worked better?

I feel there has been barriers between everyone on the course due to the Facebook page and the discussion going on . I felt the downside to using Facebook as a discussion platform many things can be interpreted differently thus causing arguments and sometimes abusive behaviour. This is all due to the different manners and opinions of people on our course. I felt if they had a problem with each other that they should not discuss it on our Facebook page for everyone to see. This is where personal conversations or even face to face to sort out the disagreement would have been better.  This I felt put a barrier up as I felt I could not say what I wanted.  For example a post about the groups for VIP nights , had my surname spelt wrong. I felt I should comment just in case it was copied from somewhere. I had a fear of my name being spelt wrong on the plaques for the exhibition and even online. However it seemed that my concern was dismissed as  the response was did it really matter.  I also felt Facebook was a barrier on a whole as a lot of information was lost . This was lost due to lots of other posts coming in about the exhibition. This is where I had to keep reposting to remind everyone about it and add a deadline. An alternative to using Facebook would have been using our email. This is where I felt everyone would check and everything would reach the people who don't use Facebook.  However sometimes using email created a barrier as not everyone looks at their email. Maybe I as an individual should have suggested this earlier as i kind of guessed there would be confrontations over this exhibitionThis has also lead to another barrier of people’s personal opinions who have taken the authority over what we should do. I feel this could have worked better if we had organised more meetings for voting/discussions or even more voting on trello. This has improved since the  last self-evaluation.  This also put a barrier to my ideas and contribution to our group as i felt i did not have the freedom to say what i I wanted and to voice my opinion.

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How I have been on top of what needs to be done before hand in. I’m slowly getting there but still a lot to do 

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Reflection

Todays the deadline for hand in for our work for the exhibition. Im just slightly worried my work will not be ready in time.

However i will ring him later today or pop in his shop later to see if he can get it ready for 4 or 4:30 as its not that far to walk from the shop to the undercroft.

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How to take a picture of rock ‘n’ roll

How can a photographer capture the raw energy of a musical artist? i-D looks at the evolving world of music photography.

On February 6th, what would have been reggae revolutionary Bob Marley's 70th birthday, the Known Gallery on Fairfax in Los Angeles was jam-packed like it was a Supreme drop. Except this time the streetwear kids turned out for the opening of Revolutionary Dreams, a collection of 15 giant images of Bob Marley each representing one of his global anthems of peace and pot, shot by iconic music documentarian Dennis Morris. On meeting Marley outside a London speakeasy in 1975, Morris told Known, "I knew my life was about to change… he gave me confidence. He gave me hope. He gave me identity. He made my dreams possible. And for millions of others worldwide, he did the same."

Bob Marley by Dennis Morris

Morris' images of the reggae superstar resonate as loudly as Marley's music still plays across the world, serving as a reminder of the deep social, political, and personal impact these intimate portrayals of our idols once had. It's a world away from the blurry camera-phone pictures of faraway stages clogging our feeds today, prompting the question: is music photography still relevant? And how does one leave a legacy in the over-saturated world of images we live in?

Back in the pre-Instagram days, iconic music photographers such as Glen E Friedman, Henry Diltz, and London DJ/punk documentarian Don Letts — whose 1978 The Punk Rock Movie shot on Super 8 footage featured all the key players in the UK punk movement (The Clash, The Slits, The Sex Pistols) — were capturing a piece of history, and it was usually the only window into these worlds we had, especially if you lived in the suburbs, far away from the underground. In LA, the show From Pop to the Pit is currently showing electric, rarely seen archival portraits of the bands that shaped the city's music scene from 1978-1989, shot for the now defunct Herald-Examiner. These camera-wielding renegades were in pursuit of those vulnerable and fuck-all moments that happen backstage, in the pit, and in an infested alley behind a venue. From hazy-days with Diltz, Woodstock's official photographer who spent the 60s with Joni Mitchell and the Laurel Canyon Folk Scene, to stage-diving with Edward Colver, the gritty punk photog who chronicled the birth of American hardcore and snapped early portraits of Bad Religion and Minor Threat, nostalgic images have shaped our understanding of a formative time.

Many of today's biggest fashion, fine art, and commercial shooters have also dipped into music. In 1970, Annie Leibovitz became staff photographer (and later chief photographer) for the recently launched Rolling Stone magazine, and in 2007, Ryan McGinley exhibited Irregular Regulars, images from a two year tour through the US, UK, and Mexico with Morrissey. There's always been a dynamic intersection of fashion and music, and thanks to Opening Ceremony's autumn/winter 15 collaboration with Spike Jonze — which transformed the filmmaker's archive of unseen pictures of the Beastie Boys, Björk, and Kim Gordon into collaged graphic prints on clothing — rock history has never been a hotter commodity.

Spike Jonze's photographs of Björk and Thurston Moore at Opening Ceremony's autumn/winter 15 presentation. Image courtesy Black Frame.

And then there's Mick Rock, famous for his glam portraits of a bombshell Blondie and a gender-bending Bowie. He continues to exhibit new and retrospective work and shoot with contemporary artists including The Killers, Lady Gaga, and Alicia Keys. But despite his popularity with the Tumblr generation, Mick admits he's homesick for the "shock value" and explosiveness of the 70s. "What was once rock 'n' roll and very disposable is now art. My vision, for better or worse, has been pure music," Mick tweeted in January in a caption accompanying a vintage photo of Queen. Mick dabbles in the future and reminisces about the past, but he'll forever be synonymous with a time when it was easier for rock to be rebellious, costumes were glamorous, and faces were glittery — when history wasn't just a #tbt.

Which brings us up to speed to today, where phone photography and social media have every amateur shooter vying for that money shot. While some 35mm devotees diss the competition, others, like photographer/director Timothy Saccenti, who has worked with everyone from Miguel to LCD Soundsystem and Depeche Mode, embrace it. "It's been an undeniable shift. For my world, mystery has been more difficult to cultivate and control, but it's also been an amazing outlet for the experimental side," he says of social media. "Since the barrier to entry to be a 'photographer' has dropped so drastically, flooding the world with images, a unique process or way of seeing things has become even more important." Saccenti also stresses the need to research the subject and leverage personal anecdotes that differentiate an artist from others in that same world. "Doing research is a rewarding part of the process. You have to be psychologically investigative into it, then figure out how to make it work for their physical and emotional attributes."

28-year-old Los Angeles photographer and Odd Future Brand Manager Brick Stowell has been shooting the hip hop collective since before they got signed. But he's not trying to be the dude who documents everyone and everything just because he's got access. He keeps it curated - focusing his lens on Odd Future and labelmates Trash Talk, mounting a body of work with a distinct point of view that tells a story. His secret to not getting lost in the feed? "Do your homework. Know what you're talking about. Have knowledge and a valid opinion by going to shows and watching what people do at them. Don't just be a hater on something you don't have any knowledge on." Rather than trying to be everywhere, he's following in the footsteps of photographers like Dan Monick, who spent fourteen years photographing Atmosphere and the Ryhmesayers crew.

It's easy to discredit the digital age as a creatively infertile time devoid of originality and spontaneity, but maybe that's to be so stuck on what has been that we forget to consider what will be. Maybe Mick Rock said it best when he Instagrammed one of his famously flamboyant photos of Ziggy Stardust captioned, "There's an art to looking back - How to celebrate the past without being entrapped by it..." After all, even the fanciest camera gear is no match for raw chemistry. According to Timothy Saccenti, "The best images come out of the unknown. You can plan and build sets and have props. But when the subject is there, it's something altogether different and that's where the magic lies." We may live in the era of media immediacy, but only time will tell which images shape and make history.

_______________________________________________________________________ Credits Text Jane Helpern Photography Getty Images / Michael Ochs

https://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/how-to-take-a-picture-of-rock-n-roll

__________________________________________________________________

This article on i-D magazine was an eye opener to the music world of photography. It seems that todays photography in the music world is all recorded by our mobile phones. That we now live in a world where everything is recorded / photograph all on our phones. Does this mean that we might look at other forms of photography , e.g. smart phones like the artist Daniel Sannwald used in some of his shoots. It then questions do we need music photography today due to this. How will the future change this photography aspect to move towards an art form.

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Workshop 12/05/15

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This workshop was very helpful because at first we were changing everything to make the background darker / lighter. Where as technically we just had to over exposed or underexpose to lighten / darken the background 

A point to add was that because we were in the daylight studio it was very hard to get a black background from a white background. This was due to the ambient light that was coming through the windows. This is where we tried putting reflectors infront of the windows. 

Therefore by the end of the workshop we got the hang of what task set was. I think if we had more time we would have been able to perfect it.

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Update on Group Exhibition

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GROUP EXHIBITION - UPDATE (WEBSITE) 

As part of the visual marketing group , I decided to take a even bigger role where I would collect data for our website. The photos show I kept on top of collecting the data. 

At the start I posted on the Facebook page stating what  I needed from everyone. All I needed was one headshot and any details of websites / personal information they wanted to be included on the website.

Another thing we wanted was behind the scene / work in process to show how we got to the final outcome of the group exhibition.

At first I only got a few people submitting to the Tumblr link. This is where I decided to set a deadline and it left people with consequences if they didn't submit. Which I believe was highly acceptable, if they did not submit they would not be put on the website. This then would leave them without getting any coverage/ notifications about their work. 

To make this easier for everyone was that with the images submitted on Tumblr. I would next put them in a word document with the information on the side. This is because Molly and Paige who are making the website will not know what work belongs to whom. After making the word document I would then make a folder in Dropbox and add the photos to that. 

Then i could share the dropbox folder with Molly and Paige. This is how they could easily have access to photos / information 

http://rawexhibitionphotos.tumblr.com Password is -RawExhibition1

SOCIAL MEDIA SIDE

We also have made an event page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/events/439279546249903/444663265711531/

We have a twitter account // @Raw_Exhibition 

Instagram // raw_=exhibition 

Using the social media platforms we have managed to get a lot of coverage and visitors to our exhibition.

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Reflections

Today i had my one to one and also managed to send my print of to guntons to be printed.

Just feel slightly stressed as i don't know the outcome till tomorrow and if i want it framed or not.