Process and Brainstorming1. List of ideas and brainstorming:
While thinking of my photography piece I began to brainstorm ideas and key details I would explore in the photograph. The first thing I did was think of a theme that would be constant throughout my current art pieces. When thinking of a theme I immediately thought back to the themes we began to learn about in Literature class. When reading the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett in Literature class we discussed the themes explored through the play relating to existentialism. Existentialism has multiple key themes that I recognized would connect my art pieces very well, and is a theory many people consider and relate to. Experimenting/Developing Ideas
While thinking of what photograph I could potentially connect to existentialism I thought of experimenting with its connection to religion.This could possibly fit into the idea that there is a nothingness in people's lives or a void we attempt to fill. These images I began to experiment with display what people use to gain hope in life and be a part of something that makes them feel happier or as if they have a purpose. Many times religion is either passed on, discovered, or encouraged by others because it brings in reassurance that we in fact do exist and have a purpose. In general the purpose of the photograph is to represent the void or nothingness we feel in life when thinking of why we are here. I took multiple photographs and explored the value of each but I decided I wanted to display this idea in a detailed form. These photographs were originally meant to be my final work but believed they were simplistic/specific to a certain religion and less open for interpretation.
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Planning SketchesWith these sketches I plan on creating a loss of identity. The reason I want to hide the identity of the piece is to connect some existentialist ideas which include the void in life or the importance/purpose of religion.
Meaning of the PieceThe man in the picture represents life, many times in life we think of our purpose and our happiness. As seen through the image there is no face yet the title orders a smile. This paradox is meant to represent that many times in life we are forced to smile or be happy when there is nothing there. Like the image in life we are often thinking of our purpose and with it comes up a void we might feel at times that is hard to ignore. As the image displays many times in life we are found guilty of focusing on the things we cant see/change instead of what we can see. As the suit and tie symbolizes further connecting to the concept of existentialism, we are left wondering- Are we really happy, and what is our purpose? I intentionally took the photograph by this window ignorer to capture the light from the window and add value which represents the hope for happier days in life. The change of value is also meant to give in to the mysterious mood I hoped to present to the audience. Like the face we can't ignore focusing on this meaning towards existence is a cycle we can't ignore but chose to because it makes life a little more easy to cope with.
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Initial PhotographsExperimenting Results |
ProcessThe first step in creating this piece included taking the initial photographs. I took multiple photographs because I wanted to capture a limited color to make an emphasis to this mysterious mood. While thinking of placement for my photograph space and contrast were key elements. I wanted there to be a difference in space and color throughout the photograph in order to best display the concepts of exsistentialism. Once I gathered the best photographs I began with the use of Adobe Photoshop CS6 Program.Once opening this program I created a new page which measure 36 in. by 24 in. Afterwards I began to experiment with many techniques and different images. At first I began to further explore the use of each button since I had forgotten their functions. This then lead to the unnecessary process of selecting and cutting certain parts of the image which took up most of my time. Once I had found out I needed to use the cloning button I was quick in finishing my piece and even further experimenting this technique on other images. While working on this photograph I used photoshop to remove the fave and then began to change the color in order to create my desire photography/digital manipulation image.
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Rene Magritte was a surrealist painter from 20th century Belgium. Magritte’s style involved a lot of repetition which expanded his detailed technique and expressed motifs throughout his work. He thought of using repetition as a sign of trauma. Magritte’s work involves a kind of paradox seen as he displays a beautiful and detailed piece, but also encourages unsettling thoughts. They convey a strange feeling provoking questionable meanings towards the piece. Many people have even said his paintings of a man in a hate are representations of himself (self portraits) where he wanted to encourage the audience to not look for the mysterious since it is already in our everyday lives.
There are three main artworks by Rene Magritte which greatly inspired my piece, which were: “The Son of Man”, “Not To Be Reproduced”, and “The Lovers”. All three of these paintings are alike seen through the way in which all the faces are covered. In regards to “The Son of Man” Magritte says, “"At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present." Here he states that we always focus on what we can’t see in the real world instead of what we can see. This is an idea I wanted to represent in my piece by not showing what we consider most important- a face. The idea of limiting the most important thing and doubting what we are supposed to look for and what we are supposed to do in life is an element of existentialism that I wanted to incorporate into my photograph. |
Magritte, "The Son of Man". Web. 23 Aug. 2017.
Magritte, "Not To Be Reproduced". Web. 23 Aug. 2017.
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Having completed my photograph I believe my final outcome looked exactly as I had envisioned it. I liked the color, the original image, and the clarity in photoshop. Not only did I accomplish the physical outcome I hoped for through this image but I believe the existential connection was what I was expecting as well. I wanted to further expand my view on existentialism topics and I believe my image well represented my thoughts on the purpose of life and how it is viewed by others. Comparing my work to a few of Rene Magritte's work I felt as if my inspiration was well connected as we both used the masking of the face in order to convey a mystery or loss of identity to be explored by the audience. Although Rene Magritte used a different technique as her pieces were paintings and I did a photoshoped photograph we both demonstrated similar approaches used to manipulate the identity of the people within our piece.
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