Digital Manipulation Series
"Astrobleme" |
Digital Photography
|
Exhibition Text
"Astrobleme" is a digital manipulation series comprised of three photographs. It belongs to a series of work exploring the unique stages of grief. Inspired by the work of artists Rashid Johnson and Dorothea Lange and psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross , the series explores the muddled sense of identity experienced during and after grief. I aimed to make the audience uncomfortable and to ask what grief does to one's sense of self.
Process
Planning Sketches
Portrait Photography
Before any digital manipulation could occur, I had to photograph three people. The three featured in this piece are people I have been through trials and tribulations with. They all have distinct features that I wanted to manipulate. My process for photographing them involved finding unique locations that suited their personalities. Compositionally, they are all balanced in the center of the rule of thirds grid. For the sake of presentation, I photographed two images in portrait and one in landscape. When I photographed them, I asked them how they felt in the seconds before the shutter opened and closed. They gave me genuine emotion.
Post Processing
I processed the three portraits in Adobe Lightroom. Each photograph has a distinct look in terms of tone and mood. I emphasized the rich hues of their skin and their respective backgrounds. Overall, the edits are deeply saturated and focus heavily on dark tones and shadows.
Digital Manipulation
Once the photos were edited, I opened copies of each portrait in Adobe Photoshop. I started the manipulation by duplicating the images. From there, I used the Polygonal Lasso Tool followed by the Move Tool to cut the images and shift pieces around. Each photo was cut and moved differently based on how I viewed their personalities and the emotions they expressed.
Experimentation
|
The entire process of crafting “Astrobleme” was rooted in experimentation. This idea of cutting and moving parts of an image to create distortion came after weeks of playing around in Photoshop. I tried using the Liquify Tool and the Lasso Tool but the distortions those created were too soft. When I started using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, I immediately gravitated toward it because of the sharp edges it creates. This sharpness is reminiscent of puzzle pieces or broken glass. I started this series experimenting on the official portrait of former United States President, Barack Obama. Before I had any images of my own, I wanted to see what forming a puzzle out of a face would do or say. By working with such an iconic figure, I learned that the distortion does not change one's ability to recognize the person, but rather, the distortion changes the mood and message of the portrait. With that particular figure, I unintentionally created a politically charged piece. My initial idea involved cutting the images and instead of having a duplicated portrait layer underneath, the photos would rest on top of layers of white. This way the cuts would appear less subtle and the contrast between positive and negative space would increase. However, this juxtaposition between the photo and white space distracted from the message and introduced an unnecessary conceptual layer.
|
Artistic Inspiration
The piece “Astrobleme” draws inspiration from the work of artists Rashid Johnson and Dorothea Lange and psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. A famous American contemporary artist, Rashid Johnson’s work focuses on themes of race, escape, and personal identity. Through his use of unconventional yet culturally significant mediums such as black soap and mirrors, Johnson comments on society and the African American experience in the United States. In his piece “Falling Man” he uses broken mirrors to distort the reflection of the viewer, placing them in the shoes of the falling man. He bridges the gap between art and audience and makes them a part of his work.
Dorothea Lange was a documentary photographer most famous for her photographs of America during the Great Depression. One of her most iconic images, “Migrant Mother” illustrates the candid nature of Lange’s work. Despite the photojournalistic nature of her photography, Lange’s work was dynamic compositionally and in terms of the monochromatic gradations. She contextualized her images without harshly contrasting her subjects and their surroundings. Her images are raw and emotionally pure.
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was one of the driving forces behind the Kübler-Ross model, a set of five stages detailing the typical responses to grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These stages were developed initially to describe the grieving of patients with terminal illness. But it later was used as a model for all grieving. The common misconception society has of these stages is that they represent the “right” way to grieve. This is not true as grieving is a unique process for everyone. Some experience all five of the stages, some of the stages, or none of the stages. At the end of her life, Kübler-Ross stated that her model had been misinterpreted as grief is an individualistic process through which people reestablish normality. There is no constant or formula to dictate how to do it.
Dorothea Lange was a documentary photographer most famous for her photographs of America during the Great Depression. One of her most iconic images, “Migrant Mother” illustrates the candid nature of Lange’s work. Despite the photojournalistic nature of her photography, Lange’s work was dynamic compositionally and in terms of the monochromatic gradations. She contextualized her images without harshly contrasting her subjects and their surroundings. Her images are raw and emotionally pure.
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was one of the driving forces behind the Kübler-Ross model, a set of five stages detailing the typical responses to grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These stages were developed initially to describe the grieving of patients with terminal illness. But it later was used as a model for all grieving. The common misconception society has of these stages is that they represent the “right” way to grieve. This is not true as grieving is a unique process for everyone. Some experience all five of the stages, some of the stages, or none of the stages. At the end of her life, Kübler-Ross stated that her model had been misinterpreted as grief is an individualistic process through which people reestablish normality. There is no constant or formula to dictate how to do it.
Meaning
“Astrobleme” is a three piece digital manipulation series that focuses on a personal stage of grief through skewed faces and identities. This piece is part of a larger series regarding my experience with grief and how I traverse through it. I call this stage “Astrobleme” because it is defined as “an eroded remnant of a large crater made by the impact of a meteorite or comet.” To me, grief and its catalysts are the meteorites and comets whilst the crater remnants are the people affected by them. When grief strikes, it changes us whether we want it to or not. It changes the way we see and treat others. And as such, it also changes the way people perceive us. Grief distorts our sense of self. We question who we are, why we’re here, and what lies ahead of us. The pieces of our identity are shifted around but I argue that the goal is not to return to the image we once were. Because through all distortion, we are still us at the core. No matter how much our features shift or distort, we are us. Travelling through grief is never about returning to how we were before grief. Rather, the journey is about finding ourselves in the rubble and being able to see ourselves in our reflections again.
Reflection
Throughout the completion of this piece, I have improved my digital manipulation and storytelling skills. Prior to “Astrobleme” I didn’t manipulate or distort my images. Instead, I focused on the traditional side of photography and storytelling via subject matter and composition. This piece challenged me to work with photographs and manipulate their stories in unconventional ways. I am satisfied with the outcome of this piece. “Astrobleme” does what I intended it to do. The process was a success as I distorted the faces of those close to me while still retaining their essence in the underlying photograph. The cuts, while jarring, effectively distort the expressions of the figures.
Overall, “Astrobleme” emulates both Rashid Johnson’s and Dorothea Lange’s work successfully. I introduced themes of identity and contextualized images with backgrounds and settings. Johnson's work, specifically his series of falling men, engages the audience and places them at the forefront of the work. I established a similar sense of audience engagement by distorting the images to ask the audience questions about identity and their personal sense of self. Dorothea Lange’s work focuses on dramatically documenting raw emotion whilst contextualizing the subject with their immediate surroundings. The unmanipulated portraits do this well as the subjects and backgrounds add character and story.
Overall, “Astrobleme” emulates both Rashid Johnson’s and Dorothea Lange’s work successfully. I introduced themes of identity and contextualized images with backgrounds and settings. Johnson's work, specifically his series of falling men, engages the audience and places them at the forefront of the work. I established a similar sense of audience engagement by distorting the images to ask the audience questions about identity and their personal sense of self. Dorothea Lange’s work focuses on dramatically documenting raw emotion whilst contextualizing the subject with their immediate surroundings. The unmanipulated portraits do this well as the subjects and backgrounds add character and story.
Connection to ACT
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I am able to identify the cause-effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect upon my artwork by analyzing the emotion and distortion in my piece. It is clear that my emphasis on candid and raw emotion draws from Dorothea Lange’s work. Furthermore, by utilizing distortions to question identity, my piece emulates Rashid Johnson’s work.
2. What is the overall approach of the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration.
The author's point of view regarding Rashid Johnson is that he is an American contemporary artist focused on exploring race and identity. In regards to Dorothea Lange, the author's point of view is that Lange is a documentary photographer who captured candid emotions and created a bond between subject and background.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While researching, I've come to the conclusion that distortions cannot change the identity of a person. Rather, distortion can only change how people perceive an individual and their emotions.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme of my inspirational research was distortion and grief.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading my research, I inferred that Rashid Johnson utilized mirrors to bring the audience into his work. Furthermore, I inferred that Dorothea Lange contextualized her photographs by bringing together subject and background.
Sources
Websites
Milwaukee Art Museum. “Rashid Johnson: Hail We Now Sing Joy | The Artist.” Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, mam.org/rashid-johnson/the-artist.
Smith, Roberta. “In 'Fly Away,' Rashid Johnson Keeps the Focus on Race.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/arts/design/in-fly-away-rashid-johnson-keeps-the-focus-on-race.html.
The Art Story Foundation. “Dorothea Lange Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, 2017, www.theartstory.org/artist-lange-dorothea.htm.
Feldman, David B. “Why the Five Stages of Grief Are Wrong.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 7 July 2017, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/supersurvivors/201707/why-the-five-stages-grief-are-wrong.
Jennifer Latson, Jennifer. “Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and the Stages of Grief: How She Changed Dying.” Time, Time, 8 July 2015, time.com/3946458/kubler-ross-history/
Books
Lange, Dorothea, et al. Dorothea Lange: a photographers life. Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Litwin, Laura Baskes. Dorothea Lange: a life in pictures. Enslow Publishers, 2008.
Milwaukee Art Museum. “Rashid Johnson: Hail We Now Sing Joy | The Artist.” Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, mam.org/rashid-johnson/the-artist.
Smith, Roberta. “In 'Fly Away,' Rashid Johnson Keeps the Focus on Race.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/arts/design/in-fly-away-rashid-johnson-keeps-the-focus-on-race.html.
The Art Story Foundation. “Dorothea Lange Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, 2017, www.theartstory.org/artist-lange-dorothea.htm.
Feldman, David B. “Why the Five Stages of Grief Are Wrong.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 7 July 2017, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/supersurvivors/201707/why-the-five-stages-grief-are-wrong.
Jennifer Latson, Jennifer. “Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and the Stages of Grief: How She Changed Dying.” Time, Time, 8 July 2015, time.com/3946458/kubler-ross-history/
Books
Lange, Dorothea, et al. Dorothea Lange: a photographers life. Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Litwin, Laura Baskes. Dorothea Lange: a life in pictures. Enslow Publishers, 2008.