Choice
"Tadpole" |
Digital Manipulation
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Exhibition Text
"Tadpole" is a digitally manipulated photograph inspired by the photography of Andric Ljubodrag and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Through the juxtaposition of light and dark and of the real and imaginary, the piece explores themes of youth and aging. I aimed to capture a seemingly insignificant moment with great implications.
Process
Brainstorming1. Go about your daily life as per usual but carry a camera everywhere you go. While 35mm film would be optimal, digital is fine. As you go about your day, look through the viewfinder and compose photographs. Analyze and consider the moments you experience everyday.
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Planning2. Create two to three planning sketches. Rather than focusing on potential photographs, consider the emotions and ideas you wish to capture.
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Shooting
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3. When shooting, emulate the ideals of Henri Cartier-Bresson; capture the decisive moment as it happens, do not manipulate the subject of your photographs in any way. Every photograph is innately different. My photos were captured during my young cousin's birthday party. I waited for the moment to occur rather than forcing it to happen. I wanted the piece to capture reality with all of its unadulterated emotions. Ideally, the photo would be made with a 50mm prime as it captures reality as the eye would see it. In my case, I shot an m42 mount 30mm prime with an e-mount adapter to my Sony A6000. Because of this, my lens wasn't a true 30mm however it was wide enough to work with my composition. As I enjoy rectangular compositions reminiscent of medium formats, I composed my shot with the rule of thirds in mind and cropped the photo later. I shot wide open at f/2 ISO 400 at a shutter speed of 1/160.
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Editing: Lightroom
With a slight s curve I further defined the foreground and background of the image. By increasing the shadows even further, the photo emphasizes the light of the candles and the light they cast on the main subject's face. I kept the midtones as they were and increased the highlights as well. To finish the tone curve I crushed the blacks by adjusting the part of the curve associated with shadows.
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Editing: Photoshop
After importing the image with Lightroom adjustments into Photoshop, create a new layer. This layer will be used to create smoke coming from the candles as they are being blown out.
Using a brush with a flow rate of ten percent and an opacity of 41 percent, create a light layer of smoke. This first layer defines the boundaries of the smoke.
Continue building onto the layer of smoke and ensure that the smoke closest to the candle is thick and slowly fades as it travels away from the flame.
Once the layer of smoke is finished, add a Gaussian blur to the smoke layer to reduce the texture of the brush strokes. This provides a more realistic smoke effect and allows the smoke to better blend into the original image.
Experimentation
During the editing process, I experimented with several other photos I captured while my cousin blew out the candles on his birthday cake. I decided against using these other images because they were more like portraits which went against my desire to capture a dramatic and emotional moment. These images also didn't enable me to logically manipulate them either. I also experimented heavily with black and white. Henri Cartier-Bresson preferred to shoot in black and white because he deemed color to be a distracting and unnecessary element. He believed color drew attention away from the photo and made the subject less significant. I've experimented with black and white before with 35mm film and digital photography, but this was the first time I really understood the power of monochromatic color palettes. Color is in itself a powerful means by which artists communicate ideas and emotions. Because it is so powerful, it can sometimes take away from a piece. I ultimately decided to use a colored version of the photo because I felt the colors were necessary for me to successfully portray a feeling of warmth.
Artistic Inspiration
"Tadpole" draws inspiration from the photographers Andric Ljubodrag and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Andric Ljubodrag's work combines reality with the surreal through digital manipulation of his photography. His compositions maintain a certain sense of realism that questions the audience's senses and perceptions of reality. This subtlty is present in "Tadpole" as the layer of smoke coming from the candles is logically placed and blends into the original photograph. Much like Ljubodrag, I focused on creating atmosphere by juxtaposing reality with the surreal in a subtly explicit way. The original image underneath the layer of smoke draws heavily from the compositions of Henri Cartier-Bresson who believed in capturing the unscripted moments in everyday life. He often referred to photography as capturing the "decisive moment" that would only occur once and cease to occur in the same fashion ever again. My version of the "decisive moment" was the blowing out of birthday candles. Both Cartier-Bresson's work and mine share a similar candidness that uses people to tell a story. In this way, my emulation of his work is successful. However, my use of color contradicts Cartier-Bresson's philosophies regarding photography which renders my emulation a failure. In regards to my emulation of Andric Ljubodrag, it was successful as my final piece serves as a crossroad between reality and the surreal.
Reflection
Through the completion of this piece, I have come to understand more about digital manipulation and its ability to enhance an image. Prior to this piece, I only used editing as a means to refine images and I had little experience using editing to add significant elements to photos. Upon analyzing the candid photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson and the digital manipulations of Andric Ljubodrag, I've started to understand more about photography, its possibilities, and its ability to tell stories. With traditional photography, I managed to capture a decisive moment in time. By blending this with the power of digital manipulation, I managed to expand upon that decisive moment to blur the lines between reality and fiction. While my use of color contradicts the spirit of Cartier-Bresson's photographic philosophies, the underlying composition of the original photograph mimics his ability to tell a story by capturing expressions and by framing subjects with surrounding people and things. Andric Ljubodrag's work is better emulated in the piece because "Tadpole" subtly introduces audiences to a juxtaposition of reality and the surreal via the added smoke. In regards to areas of improvement, I believe the smoke could use more refining to increase its ability to blend in with the original photograph.
Meaning
"Tadpole" is the exploration of youth and aging through the juxtaposing dualities of light and dark and the real and imaginary. The candlelight contrasts with the darkness surrounding the young boy; the flame cloaks his face in a warm hue. The adults around him have no light cast upon them. The light of the birthday candles demonstrates the significance of birthdays to young children and how aging changes their meaning. The real flame juxtaposed with the fictitious smoke emphasizes the fleeting nature of life while demonstrating the imagination of the young. The young boy in the photo is, in many ways, like a tadpole. Now he is young and filled with vitality. He will undergo several changes throughout his life. His journey is measured in the number of candles he blows out each year. The piece is a reminder that life is a beautifully mysterious phenomenon that, for all we know, we only get to experience once. At some point, we all possessed the same vitality as the young boy featured in the photo. The young have curiosity, spontaneity, and a zest for life that we often lose as we grow older. We must hold on to this childish part of ourselves. For in that part of our identities lies happiness.
Connection to ACT
1. I am able to identify the cause-effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect upon my artwork by analyzing the subtle juxtaposition of reality and the surreal in my piece.
2. The author's point of view regarding Henri Cartier-Bresson is that he was a revolutionary photographer who focused on capturing reality as he saw it.
3. While researching, I've come to the conclusion that photography is an effective method of retelling stories.
4.The central theme of my inspirational research was reality and the surreal.
5. While reading my research, I inferred that Andric Ljubodrag was concerned with seamlessly combining the real and the surreal in his photography.
2. The author's point of view regarding Henri Cartier-Bresson is that he was a revolutionary photographer who focused on capturing reality as he saw it.
3. While researching, I've come to the conclusion that photography is an effective method of retelling stories.
4.The central theme of my inspirational research was reality and the surreal.
5. While reading my research, I inferred that Andric Ljubodrag was concerned with seamlessly combining the real and the surreal in his photography.
Sources
Websites
Photogrist . "Creative and Hyper-Realistic Manipulations by Andric Ljubodrag." Photogrist Photography Magazine. Photogrist , 09 Feb. 2017. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.
MoMA. "Henri Cartier-Bresson." MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art, n.d. Web. 16 Apr, 2017.
Books
Cartier-Bresson, Henri, Henri Matisse, and E. Tériade. The Decisive Moment. New York: Published ... by Simon and Schuster in Collaboration with Éditions Verve of Paris, 1952. Print.
Henri Cartier Bresson: Photographer. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999. Print.
Photogrist . "Creative and Hyper-Realistic Manipulations by Andric Ljubodrag." Photogrist Photography Magazine. Photogrist , 09 Feb. 2017. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.
MoMA. "Henri Cartier-Bresson." MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art, n.d. Web. 16 Apr, 2017.
Books
Cartier-Bresson, Henri, Henri Matisse, and E. Tériade. The Decisive Moment. New York: Published ... by Simon and Schuster in Collaboration with Éditions Verve of Paris, 1952. Print.
Henri Cartier Bresson: Photographer. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999. Print.