JR Chronicles - Saatchi Gallery
JR started off at 15 as a graffiti artist using the streets of Paris for his art. 2 years later he found a camera on the metro and started to create 'Expo de Rue' (sidewalk expeditions). Later on, during the 2005 Paris riots, JR saw some of his photos he had pasted up behind a flaming car on the news. He wanted show that there was a different side to the people involved in the riots, so he pasted up photos of his friends being characters of themselves. He only has a 28 mm lens to photograph 'Portraits of a Generation' so he had to get within 10 inches of the subjects faces which gave a distorted effect. In 'Portraits of a Generation' he wanted to challenge the medias representation of the people living in Les Bosquets. His projects 'Face 2 Face' addressed the Israel Palestine conflict by pasting an Israel next to a Palestinian who had the same job to show that they're all just people. This wasn't received the best at first and was quite a shock to people both sides of the border. In his next project ' Women are Heroes' he wanted to focus on women in Rio de Janeiro, as they're always the first to suffer during conflict, and trick the media into investigating what was happening at the time. He did this by not sharing any information about the women he photographed which meant the media had to interview the women and get the real stories about what was happening at the time. JR never has permission to paste his work and in India he could be heavily punished for doing so, to get around this he pasted blank sheets with adhesive in specific area so that dust and dirt stuck to he sheet would create his photo by which time he'd be long gone. To JR the most important things about his work are the stories behind the photographs and his method of work. In my opinion art does not have the power to change the world but I think it can raise awareness about issues with acts as a gateway to change.
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Portraits of a Generation
In 2005 there were riots in the Paris suburb of Les Bosquets, the media was giving a false representation of people living in the suburb at the time. JR wanted to photograph his friends playing the caricatures of themselves but he only had a camera he found on the subway with a 28mm lens which meant he had to be within 10 inches of his friend's faces. He then asked his friends to chose which photo of they wanted pasted up. He included their names, age and even sometimes address on the photos, this showed that the people in Les Bosquets weren't just anarchists hiding but real people showing their faces.
My response
I was tasked with photographing my friend in a similar style to JR's 'Portraits of a generation'.
I then had to put up my posters in various locations around my house and also outside.
Gordon Magnin
Gordon Magnin is a L.A based artist who creates interesting works in which he distorts the faces of his subjects. He does this by cutting out areas of the image and pasting them at different angles. He wanted us to consider that there are different ways of perceiving people than what we can see.
I think Gordon Magnin is addressing the issue with beauty in the media and the idea that everyone has to be considered attractive. This is shown by him as most of his works are photos of female fashion models taken by someone else and then distorted by him. Magnin wanted to make a comment on the medias representation of how people should look in modern society.
Gordon Magnin used photoshop to create his works. This makes thew whole image look cleaner and it means he can re do it until he thinks it is "perfect". This helps support his point as to him his work is perfect as he has a different perspective than the magazines he takes the photos from.
I think Gordon Magnin is addressing the issue with beauty in the media and the idea that everyone has to be considered attractive. This is shown by him as most of his works are photos of female fashion models taken by someone else and then distorted by him. Magnin wanted to make a comment on the medias representation of how people should look in modern society.
Gordon Magnin used photoshop to create his works. This makes thew whole image look cleaner and it means he can re do it until he thinks it is "perfect". This helps support his point as to him his work is perfect as he has a different perspective than the magazines he takes the photos from.
My Response
Originals
Edits
WWW: The edits are inline with the task set.
EBI: I had done a few more edits with different people or in different settings.
EBI: I had done a few more edits with different people or in different settings.
Kehinde Wiley
Khinde Wiley takes photos of people imitating famous portraits and then edits colourful patterns over certain parts of them. In his photos his subjects recreates the photos but in their own style
In this example both men are wearing casual clothes from their respective class and era. They both stand with an air of superiority which is emphasised in the original as the horse is bowing down to him. However, in Kehinde Wiley's work, whilst the man has the air of power he has floral patterns bursting from him which gives of a less threatening effect. Furthermore the original has all familiar surroundings of tings we see in the normal world.
Painting recreation
Painting
Recreation
Edits
WWW: Edits done fairly well and did different attempts with different models.
EBI: I had edited some of my attempts more carefully.
EBI: I had edited some of my attempts more carefully.
Fragments of a Building
Paterick Cornillet
Patrick cornillet cuts out building and isolates them on a white background.
Examples
Process
My Attempts
WWW: buildings were cut out fairly well and achieved the task I had been set.
EBI: I could have rounded of the edges or spent more time cutting out areas more carefully.
EBI: I could have rounded of the edges or spent more time cutting out areas more carefully.
Mauren Brodbeck
The building and structures of Mauren Brodbeck's photos are often overlooked and unnoticed as they are so unimposing they seem pointless. We know they're there but struggle to recall them or describe what they look like. She registers this and changes them in to visual moments representing space and time.
Examples
Process
My Attempts
WWW: Details were included and used a gif wich shows photoshop skills
EBI: I had done a more varied range of building.
EBI: I had done a more varied range of building.
Thomas Kellner
Thomas Kellner creates pieces similar to David Hockney's photo joiners but he presents his fragmented buildings as a contact sheet. His intentions is not to deconstruct the architecture but to re-construct our view of it as his works are designed to give alternate views of landmarks.
Examples
Process
My attempt
WWW: I achieved the goal of the task as i have a contact sheet of the building.
EBI: I had distorted the image more of planned my photographs more carefully.
EBI: I had distorted the image more of planned my photographs more carefully.
Anastasia Savinoa
Genius Loci is a project that explores the boundary between real and fiction as she creates facades out of real buildings that keep the memories and spirit of the place.
Examples
My Attempts
WWW: My second attempt went well and I added my ideas to the piece.
EBI: I had edited the images more carefully so the sections aligned better.
EBI: I had edited the images more carefully so the sections aligned better.
2 Strands
For my independent development task I have chosen to respond to David Hockney, Anastasia Savinoa and Patrick Cornillet.
Strand 1: David Hockney
David Hockney is an artist and photographer from Yorkshire born in 1937, he was a big part of the pop art movement and is well known for his photojoiners. In the 1980s he started experimenting with photo collages he called 'joiners' they were images he created from smaller photos. Starting first by using polaroids and then moving on to 35mm prints - the work had a connection to cubism which was one his key aims. He would take photos from different perspective and at different times, some were landscapes and others portraits. I think he wanted to show the different ways that people see certain things by having a distorted images.
1st Attempt : My house from the garden
Original Photos
Products
2nd Attempt : View from Alexandra Palace
In this response I wanted to incorporate the work of Fong Qi Wei who creates fragment pieces showing the transition from day to night.
Examples of Fong Qi Wei
In these examples you can see how Fong Qi Wei creates these fragmented photos by layering the different times of day in column-like sections an effect I am going to try and re create in my David Hockney response.
This was my second attempt at doing a David Hockney style joiner of the view from Alexandra Palace, I decided to take them over 45 minutes during sunset to get a range from light to dark. I chose to photograph the view from the top of Alexandra Palace as it's an excellent view of London where I could capture the light to dark effect, I over and under exposed different photos the amplify the desired effect on top of using a range of editing techniques. Furthermore I captured the sunset to response to the work of Fong Qi Wei a photographer who created fragmented pieces in which he captures the transition from day to night which gave me the idea for this piece.
WWW: I am happy with the result and I think it's very aesthetically pleasing.
EBI: The photojoiner had been compiled of more photographs.
EBI: The photojoiner had been compiled of more photographs.
Anastasia Savinova
Anastasia Savinova is an artist from the USSR born in 1988. She is well known for making "authentic fragments and details of architectural environment" through different medias. Her most recent project 'Genius Loci' in which she compiles fragments of different building to show the character of an area.
Response: N10
Originals
Editing
Process
Product
This was my response to Anastasia Savinoa's 'Genius Loci' In which she collages fragments of different buildings to create a new one. For this task I chose to photograph a mixture of houses within a 5 minute walk of I live to show the contrast in wealth within small areas of Muswell Hill. I used a range of editing techniques to get the result I wanted and overall am happy with how it turned out. I wanted mine to look more like a block of flats as opposed to a large house as I think it better represents modern London
WWW: I am happy with the various layers of the compilation.
EBI: I had framed my original photographs better so lined up cleaner.
EBI: I had framed my original photographs better so lined up cleaner.
Further Development: David Hockney
I chose to develop my work on David Hockney because I enjoyed responding to his photojoiners and find the concept intriguing.
For my first development I chose to photograph from my road as I think it's a good view. I tried to have the contrast from night to day but it didn't come across as well as I hoped so that is something I will work on in my next development. However it still turned out well and shows a decent colour gradient above the the skyline.
Editing Process
Development 1
Originals
Edit
In this joiner I used a small camera to capture the view from my road. I managed to show some of the vivid colours present but i am neither pleased nor displeased with it.
Development 2
Originals
Edit
This was my attempt to create a joiner of the palace itself. I'm not very pleased with this attempt as I don't think it looks very good as the lighting is unideal and the perspective is fairly warped.
Development 3
I've decided to focus my project on Alexandra Palace as I think the view is stunning and want to do a more detailed piece with a better camera with a zoom lense.
Original
Edit
This was my 3rd development of this task and I am fairly happy with how it turned out. I wanted to capture the view from my first strand but captured on a camera with a zoom lense, which I accomplished, however I could have captured the contrast from day to night far better as my photos were taken at twilight.
Development 4
In my final development I wanted to take my photos from a different location to capture a different effect.
Originals
These were my original photos for this joiner I moved to a different location for this project to get a different perspective and I wanted to include the mast.
Edit
This is the end product for my final development. I took the photos for my joiner from a new location`as I wanted a different perspective and to include the radio mast which I think gives the image a nice concave effect.
Final Piece
I have selected my final development for my final piece. I think it shows the best composition and the extent of my skills, I am very happy with how i captured the radio mast s it cranes towards the middle which enhances the concave effect.