Beginning and/or End

Starting point...

1. Natural World
All living things have a life cycle. After a sensational display of colour and form, flowers lose their petals and seed heads begin to form. In the photograph 'Single Oriental Poppy' by Irving Penn the last two petals are about to drop. Is something more beautiful at the beginning of its life or at the end?

2. Objects
Objects can be used to symbolise life stories from the beginning to the end. a still life artwork which includes various symbolic objects designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and the worthlessness of worldly goods and pleasures could encourage you to think about objects that are precious to you.

Harmen Steenwyck - critical analysis

Vanitas Paintings

As you can see in this image Justin Reyes takes inspiration from Momento Mori photographs and uses the idea of using different objects together to make one photograph, the only difference is that he doesn't use a skull.

Justine Reyes

Justine Reyes takes inspiration from Dutch Vanitas paintings, She pairs personal items with objects that belonged to her grandmother exploring the idea of memory and time.
She uses modern objects and composing her shots like traditional Vanitas paintings she makes you think of your past because of the objects she pairs up. the rotting fruit and rotting plant make you think about life and death.

Still life Photos

In these photographs i used different lighting and angles to try and make the skull stand out the most. I did this because I wanted to show the people that look at my photographs to see something different and I wanted to show them that death will always come to everyone no matter who you are. Momento Mori.

Photoshop Edits

In these photos I played around with different lighting and contrast. In the second photo I changed the levels and curves to give the photo a weird neon effect. I also made a lot of the images darker and tried to make the skull stand out the most to anything else, I did this because darkness is typically linked to death and I highlighted the skull to show the people looking at my photos that death could be the most important thing in anyone's life and that you cant escape it no matter what, This is connected to my topic which is Momento Mori which means " Remember you must die " in Latin.

Momento Mori

Here is an example of what a Momento Mori photograph would look like, it would usually tend to have items that the person liked for example books or jewelry and glasses, in most Momento Mori photographs there would usually be a skull as the center of attention to remind people that everyone dies and that it could be one of the most important things in a persons life.

"Momento mori is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits."

Momento mori photos include:

Composition
Lighting
Line
Shape
Contrast
Shadow
Colour
Movement
Pattern
Texture

Self portrait with Skull

I took self portraits to show that death is in everything including animals, fruits and people, I did this to make the people who look at my photos realize that life is short and can end at any moment so you should try to live it at the fullest and try to live the best life you can because death can be very unexpected.

I used two people to show that death doesn't mean someone has died, it could also mean the death of a relationship, that is why I used a broken skull to show that the relationship is broken, I also tried to show pictures of them turned away from each other to show that the relationship is coming to an end or has ended,

Refining in Photoshop

My Vanitas Object

In these photos I used earphones to show that I enjoy listening to music which is something people usually do when creating vanitas photos, they will get an item they like and put it next to a skull to symbolize that death is always there. Momento Mori.

Responding to sources...

above in a source image. I think it is about death because it looks like a drip that you find in hospitals if someone is unwell. I also think that it could have a deeper meaning, for example the photographer uses earphones to create this image so maybe they could be trying to say that the music makes them feel better.

This is my photo response. I took inspiration from the photographers image and I try to make it myself.

Here i have edited the image further to make the colours colder and cropped the photo to more of a square format.

I have also increased the contrast to emphasise the wrinkles in the sheet.

White Balance Photos

This skull photos look a bit like Irving Penn's skull photographs, I took inspiration from his photos and the way that the skulls resemble death or Memento Mori

I have taken these photos by customizing the WB on a canon.

The symbolism of the feather is to show peace and faith
The symbolism of the skull is to show death and the end of life
The symbolism of the book is to show knowledge and education

The Ambassadors Skull

In this photo you can see a distorted photo of a skull stretched across the floor. The skull symbolizes death, so this could suggest that death is everywhere and in places where you would least expect to see them. A lot of people have different theories for this photograph as the artist wouldn't of been able to edit the image on Photoshop or anything because they didn't have that technology back then.

Hsing Wang Styled Photos

Hsing Wang

this series is called de-selfing

Mid Term

I have produced a good mid term hand in that has a nice grey background - that links to my artist. I also think that the de-saturation of the hands works well because it matches the grey tone.If you are feeling grey - you might not be happy and this symbolizes the relationship.

To improve my mid term, If i experimented with the brush tool further in Photoshop, i will add a grey back ground to more photos and try to show my message with adding text.

my piece is titled ' COMMITMENT'

This is what my Mid term hand in would look like if it was ever to be put into a gallery.

Experimenting with grey background...

these are my Photoshop edits where i have tried to copy the grey background of my artist. I did this by getting two people to try and imitate some of these images by cracking an egg in our hands and having our backs turned toward the camera whilst we stood next to each other.

image 3 is about: This photo could show that the person in grey isn't showing their true self and is hiding their emotions
image 4 is about: The relationship fading away and the relationship coming to an end.

My Meaning explained...

I am exploring the idea of using photography and taking inspiration from Hsin Wang and using her idea to try and show that having a lack of communication in a relationship can destroy it and also using social media too much and not paying much attention to your partner will make the relationship slowly start to fall apart. I have tried to demonstrate this by taking some of my own photos of people going on their phones or covering each others mouth to show that there is lack of communication in the relationship.

More about Hsing Wang

Hsin Wang is a photographer from Taiwan, her photographs usually have deep and powerful meanings behind them. A lot of her photographs usually have two people in them and she tries to demonstrate deeper meanings by showing heartbreak and relationships, For example, she could have people turned away from each other or leaning away from each other. This could resemble a relationship slowly falling apart or a bad relationship with no communication. Hsin's work has been featured in the New York Times magazine and many other influential fine art blogs and magazines. I took inspiration from her photos and made some photos myself. I tried to show that lack of communication can destroy a relationship. I try to show this by using two classmates and get them to cover each others mouth and made them look at their phones and go on social media. By doing this I am trying to show people that lack of communication and using social media instead of talking to your partner can completely ruin a relationship.

My source images

I like this image because the broken egg could represent a ruined relationship because the egg could be the heart being broken. This is also a good image because its symmetrical and the egg really contrasts with plain grey background.

The Egg

Egg Edit

Irving Penn

Re-creating Source Image

This is a source image by John Stezaker

This is a source image by John Stezaker called: love and desire 1976

Below is my Photoshop edit inspired by the John Stezaker hands photo.

HONESTY - COMMITMENT - TRUST

Mock Photographs

In these photos I took inspiration from Hsin Wang and used her idea of relationships and heart break and made my own project. I try to show that a lack of communication can destroy a relationship and social media can also play a big part in that. I first got my classmates to open their hand and put them next to each other I did this to try and show honesty in a relationship and that it is a big part in a relationship and without honesty in a relationship it could eventually tear it apart.

Secondly I got them to look down at their phone to resemble social media, I also got them to not look at each other, I did this to show that they are more interested in their phone and social media than their partner, This will also damage the relationship and will probably cause it to end. In the photograph where i had two hands together I was trying to show commitment in the relationship and that they should both be committed in a relationship. The earphones are tied around her hands to show that they are committed and are together,

In the photograph where I have them back to back and looking away from each other I am trying to show lack of communication again because they are not looking at each other or paying any attention to each other, yet again this will also damage the relationship. In the photo where I got my classmates to cover each others mouth I am trying to show that if one person isn't letting the other person in the relationship talk or communicate the relationship can become very one sided and this will make the relationship come to an end, and in the photo where they are both covering each others mouth I am trying to show that there is no communication in the relationship because they aren't talking or communicating with each other.

All of these photos are linked to a relationship and are trying to show that a lack of communication in a relationship can eventually come to ruin it or destroy it.

Helena Almeida

Information about Almeida

She was born in Lisbon in 1934 and her father was a sculptor ( Leopoldo De Almeida ) in 1995 she finished her painting course in a fine arts school in Lisbon. Later on in her life she got married to an architect called Artur Rosa. Her daughter Joanna Rosa became an artist as well, After raising her family for a while she decided to get a scholarship and go to Paris. Her work first exhibited in 1967 she would often use three-dimensional elements in her work which she would do quite often. Some of her paintings have blue paint covering a persons face or an object in her photo.

CHOOSING BLUE

"More than half of teens (54%) say they spend too much time on their cellphones, and 41% say they overdo it on social media. According to Common Sense Media, teens spend an average of nine hours a day online
23 Aug 2018"

My Ideas

I decided to use Helena Almeida's idea and mix it with Hsin Wang's theme, I am planning to paint over my ex-girlfriends face in blue paint and then colour the background grey. I am doing this to create an idea of blanking her from the photos which could also resemble me blanking her out of my thoughts. This could also show a gap or a void missing in the relationship. I could also show that I am destroying the photos by painting them over in blue which could resemble the relationship and my personal experience.

'FEELING BLUE'

MOCK EXAM

Painting experiments

BREAK-UPS

adding words and a story

I have gone back to experimenting with the grey colours

In my Mock Exam i made these pieces

FINAL PIECE

Photos for final piece

Photoshop experiments adding text

I have continued to experiment with the grey backgrounds like my artist and have chosen to use grey paint to highlight certain parts. for example over the mouth and the hands.