COLLECTIONS
I have chosen the theme 'Collections'. My initial ideas were about how collections relate to certain people and can represent part of their identity and how my own collections are a representation of parts of my personality. I was also interested in the idea of charity shops and boot sales being places where peoples collections end up when they no longer want them, the sort of places where Joseph Cornell found objects. Also about museums being collections that have grown up over a period of time and from across the world, like the Maritime museum. I will look at images by artists Todd McLellan, Olivia Parker for inspiration to arrange everyday and unusual objects in interesting ways and research other artists and photographers relating to the theme. I've made a collection of images that appeal to me on Pinterest and made a mind map of some ideas, such as exploring other peoples collections and how collections are presented.
https://uk.pinterest.com/elsafishstick/collections/
https://uk.pinterest.com/elsafishstick/collections/
Olivia Parker
Olivia Parker is an artist who taught herself photography. Many of her photographs are like still life paintings. I like how many of them are of natural forms such as the flowers and shells. In her words they are "reminders that life and death are inseparable. The images retain the formal shell of the expected, but have elements of the unexpected".(oliviaparker.com). She started out using black and white film and many different cameras and her more recent work is digital. I am particularly drawn to her black and white images taken in the 1970s as they are timeless. They are interesting because the objects are tones of white and grey on a black background that makes the objects look more 3 dimensional . Also the way the pictures are composed and the skilful way she uses light makes them look like they are floating. The objects are often unusual, like the bones which remind me of a museum exhibit, and the way she uses boxes as frames for the objects gives a sense of the objects as collections
Pods of Chance 1977
The peas in the pods is my favourite of Olivia Parker's still life photographs. The neatly ordered pea pods have lots of variation in size and tone, which is interesting because you might expect all the peas to look the same. The way the image is composed gives a sense of repetition but at the same time there are subtle differences between the pods which gives the photograph a lot of character. The black and white film gives very textured image and the black background gives the it depth |
Photoshoot 1
Olivia Parker's images made me think about possibly using black and white images, and shapes from nature and using repetition in these still life photographs. Also about making quite ordered arrangements. I tried to use these for ideas for my photos and also used a black background for some of them .I took one set on an Ipad and edited them with the black and white filter. These work best to emulate the floating effect and texture of Olivia Parker's, especially on the mushrooms. I hoped that the mushroom box would act as a frame, but it is so dark it blends too much with the black background, I think the wood works quite well as a backdrop but there is not enough contrast to the twigs and shells
I wasn't happy with the first 4 images in this gallery, I tried a colour filter but didnt like the way the greens came out. . Also there are too many shadows and the compostions don't look right. I prefer the following images of fruit as their colours and strong shapes contrast well . I used a small digital camera as I wanted to get better resolution close up than from the ipad. Where I used a green chopping board as a background contrast its interesting how the same green board has different shades according to the light. I experimented diffusing the natural light with a piece of white canvas to minimise the shadows and I wanted to see how the tulips looked shot with the canvas against the light creating a silhouette.
By angling the camera down onto the them I like how you see the bunches differently than how you would normally in the way Todd McLellan does. I cropped these to give a balance of background around the images. The pinks and greens tie the tulip and anemones together, also they foliage is a similar green but a completely different structure, and I think these would look good displayed as a pair.
The contrast of the white and yellow daisy against the green is quite luminous, I think these images would look good displayed as a tripych showing the different views and elements of the flower.
The contrast of the white and yellow daisy against the green is quite luminous, I think these images would look good displayed as a tripych showing the different views and elements of the flower.
Todd McLellan
Todd McLellan's images are made up of objects that have been taken apart, so that you look at them in a completely different way than if you just saw them in their normal state. Many of his images are of old objects and things that have been thrown away. He is very meticulous in how he arranges the pieces and tries to put them so the edges are not touching. He takes the images in a studio and uses white background which really makes the pieces stand out.
In some of his photographs objects look like they are exploding neatly ! I thought this would be a difficult effect to create, but I like the idea and how it makes the image 3 dimensional. He achieves this by dropping the disassembled objects from a low height and shooting with a super fast shutter speed and then collates the series of shots using Photoshop.
In some of his photographs objects look like they are exploding neatly ! I thought this would be a difficult effect to create, but I like the idea and how it makes the image 3 dimensional. He achieves this by dropping the disassembled objects from a low height and shooting with a super fast shutter speed and then collates the series of shots using Photoshop.
I like this one of deconstructed mobile phones as it is modern looking and simple yet with intricate details. It is neatly composed with the shapes ,colours and patterns making it looked balanced. the parts are laid out to create a kind of frame for the image and there is a good contrast of the brightly coloured pieces against the white background.
I think he is showing that an everyday object that we take for granted like a mobile phone can be fascinating when deconstructed and that there is something beautiful in the tiny parts.
I think he is showing that an everyday object that we take for granted like a mobile phone can be fascinating when deconstructed and that there is something beautiful in the tiny parts.
Photoshoot 2
The white background in Todd McLellan allows you to see the parts very clearly so I set up some white canvases to be the background for this photoshoot and this gives a nice clear image of the objects. I put together objects in my house, and things i found in the kitchen. I thought it would look interesting to group connected objects together in different ways like Olivia Parker .
I experimented with how I arranged the collections, ie in an ordered way like Todd McLellan, randomly placed, or arranged by colour or size to see what I liked the look of.
I also experimented with angling the ipad from above and from the side.
They were taken by a window where there was lots of natural light, but sometimes this caused to many reflections and shadows, like on the bowls, although the shadows look quite interesting under the glasses.
I experimented with how I arranged the collections, ie in an ordered way like Todd McLellan, randomly placed, or arranged by colour or size to see what I liked the look of.
I also experimented with angling the ipad from above and from the side.
They were taken by a window where there was lots of natural light, but sometimes this caused to many reflections and shadows, like on the bowls, although the shadows look quite interesting under the glasses.
Thinking about Olivia Parkers images I put a black and white filter on it and it brings out the grain in the wood more than the colour image.I experimented with different backgrounds - the black shiny paper gave quite a good contrast but was a bit too reflective and doesn't have the depth of Olivia Parkers photographs. I used the box as a frame to the corks as she often uses boxes to frame her objects. I think this has quite a 3d effect from the shadows. I wanted to see how they would look taking the shot from the front, by lining them up on a white canvas with a white one behind, and I think this works well as they look at bit like they are floating. I used natural light near a window, and used a thin blind to diffuse the light, there are still quite a lot of shadows though. I then cropped the images and used the edit function of the ipad to increase opacity.
Emily Blincoe
Emily Blincoe is a photographer who takes images of carefully arranged food stuffs and plants, often themed by colour. They are inventive with lovely clear bright colours and detail.
They are well composed and ordered like Todd McLellan's but she also uses natural forms and her images have a very contemporary feel. "I find inspiration in faces, shapes, colors, light and quiet little moments." (emilyblincoe.com) |
These inspired me to make colourful and playful arrangements.In this gallery I used a small digital camera to see how they differed from those taken on the ipad but I couldnt detect much difference in the picture quality, only that the small camera is easier to angle.
Photoshoot 3
I took pictures of more personal collections and experimented with different layouts. I also wanted to create a contrast of backgrounds so their colours and textures would add interest.
I put the hats on the trampoline for a black background which works well for the brightly coloured ones but the darker ones don't stand out enough. It was quite hard to make the hats and wigs look good as they are quite floppy. I think the wigs stands in the individual photographs work best.
I put the hats on the trampoline for a black background which works well for the brightly coloured ones but the darker ones don't stand out enough. It was quite hard to make the hats and wigs look good as they are quite floppy. I think the wigs stands in the individual photographs work best.
Jim Golden
Jim Golden makes careful arrangements of large and small objects. l like the one of the instruments - he uses special gantries and tripods in his studio to get the camera high enough. I also like the way the background colour allows the instruments to really stand out.His images are very simple and it is this pared down quality that makes them really effective . He lays the objects out really neatly in a way someone who obsessively collects things might do. Some of his images are of groups of vintage objects and some are of individual peoples collections. He often uses colour to theme the arrangements and also uses different background colours (jimgoldenstudios.com)
I laid out my cameras and records and photographed them from above by standing on a chair with an ipad. It was quite hard to get the lighting right, and the blue background does not show up very well under artificial light for the record pictures. Also there was a lot of reflection from the vinyl.
I edited the camera collection on iphoto, first keeping the colour and increasing contrast, light and exposure, reducing shadows and increasing sharpness. To create black and white images (like Olivia Parker) first I used the noir filter on the ipad then on iphoto I increased the exposure by 70% and increased sharpness and contrast to reduce the shadows . I like the grainier effect on the surface of the cameras, and how the first images are more like old fashioned slightly blurry ones contrasting with the modern sharper images.
I edited the camera collection on iphoto, first keeping the colour and increasing contrast, light and exposure, reducing shadows and increasing sharpness. To create black and white images (like Olivia Parker) first I used the noir filter on the ipad then on iphoto I increased the exposure by 70% and increased sharpness and contrast to reduce the shadows . I like the grainier effect on the surface of the cameras, and how the first images are more like old fashioned slightly blurry ones contrasting with the modern sharper images.
I experimented with the ipad filters, first on the white background like Todd Mcllelans then on a black background lke Olivia Parker. I think the second one with the noir filter looks most effective.
The gallery below are images that did not work as well as I hoped. The shoes look messy and the background is wrong, also the contrast and composition of the tools doesn't quite work. I experimented with ipad filters to see if this enhanced them but I don't like how they look.
Joseph Cornell
Joseph Cornell was a self taught American artist. He collected things from junk shops, objects he just found, and old things from antique shops around New York in the 1950s. He arranged collections of things inside boxes.The boxes are intriguing as they make the objects seem like a sculpture - and also the boxes act as a frame. I think they are about collecting memories and each box tells a story, as you wonder where the things come from and who they belonged to, they are almost like a little world inside the box. I find them fascinating and you notice different details every time you look at them. I like this image with the glass pharmacy bottles you have to look very closely to see the tiny unrelated objects inside the bottles.
Photoshoot 4
Joseph Cornell often used marbles and glass in his boxes and I wanted to see how my collection of marbles would look on a reflective surface so I put them on a mirror inspired by Olivia Parker's reflected pears. I let them fall randomly rather than arrange them like Joseph Cornell's. The mirror surface worked really well but the opaque box that the collection is kept in didn't let the light through that I hoped and there is also too much reflection on the top. I used the Hipstamatic app for the first two to create a vintage feel and used the process and chrome filters on the ipad to make the colours more vibrant.
Joseph Cornell often used marbles and glass in his boxes and I wanted to see how my collection of marbles would look on a reflective surface so I put them on a mirror inspired by Olivia Parker's reflected pears. I let them fall randomly rather than arrange them like Joseph Cornell's. The mirror surface worked really well but the opaque box that the collection is kept in didn't let the light through that I hoped and there is also too much reflection on the top. I used the Hipstamatic app for the first two to create a vintage feel and used the process and chrome filters on the ipad to make the colours more vibrant.
I experimented printing them on transparencies to project the images but they were not sharp enough and the projector equipment failed.
I used an old polaroid camera from my collection to take a photograph of glass beads and tiny objects. I then took a picture of the polaroid after half an hour and another one a day later to see how it had continued to develop. I like the blurry image of the polaroid because you cant really tell what you are looking at.You can also see the light is different from the evening to the morning. I could have got a better image from the polaroid if I had kept it in the dark longer when developing, also it does not focus well close up.
Favourite images...
I used the box idea from Joseph Cornell and the natural forms of Olivia Parker, and the way she uses the frame of the image to mirror the frame of the box the objects are in. I put flowers and leaves from my garden into an old frame.. I like the second one because the grass looks like a frame and the colours are more vibrant from the natural light.
I like the strong shapes and colours of the spinning tops in the round box, with the floor and grass framing them.
I like the strong shapes and colours of the spinning tops in the round box, with the floor and grass framing them.
Reflecting Todd Mcllelans subjects I dismantled an old phone and arranged the parts neatly inside the lid of a box to act as a frame, in the way that Joseph Cornell and Olivia Parker place old unwanted objects inside boxes or frames. I cropped the images on ipad and I experimented with the tonal filter and compared it to adjusting the black and white on its own. I increased the brightness to create a more textured black and white image. Using iphoto I then slightly increased the contrast and saturation and completely changed the tint and reduced the temperature by 100% to give a blue image. I increased the temperature and I quite like the effect of exaggerated pastel colours but I don't think it is a good contrast to the background.
I have taken inspiration from Jim Goldens instruments photographed from above and Todd Mclellan's deconstructed machines and took apart a broken electric guitar from my collection. I started taking it apart and put the pieces down roughly in the order I took them off in the way Todd McLellan does, and placed them on to an old black out blind, which is off white and doesnt have a reflective surface. Then I rearranged the pieces to create a more balanced image with the edges marked out by the pieces to frame it.I took some images with the ipad to see how it looked and then used the dslr with flash to get a higher resolution image. I then used Photoshop to increase the contrast and exposure and to take out blemishes from the backdrop. I enjoyed the process and am thinking I might do something similar for my final piece, mabye using time lapse film as the object is taken apart.
Other People's Collections
I was interested in how people collect different things and what their collections mean to them, and also how everybodies collection is unique to them even if lots of other people collect the same things. I asked people at school and in my family to tell about their collections and send me pictures of their collections, or let me take photographs of them.
Steve's collection of Hopi
Kachina dolls. They are made by the Hopi native American tribe in Arizona and are a representation of all living and non living things.
Ms Akinde's books:
"The reason I love books is that 'knowledge is power'. Education is important to me and professionally people don't take you seriously unless you can back up your arguments with a theorist or expert on a subject. Books have also helped me discover a lot about myself in terms of identity, my passion for Art & my own creativity. I spend a lot of money on 'real' books and love flicking through actual pages. It doesn't feel the same to me to listen to an audio book or read digitally. If I do I often end up buying the book anyway for reference!" |
My grandma has a collection of old books and toys my mum and aunt had as children. I used the box as frame idea from Joseph Cornell and Olivia Parker and the vibrant colours like Emily Briscoe and Jim Golden. I like the random arrangement of the figures contrasting with the wooden box and the old fashioned objects like in Joseph Cornell's images
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I photographed my great grandmothers brooches against blue silk material to add colour and texture and to make it bring out the shine of the gold and the pearls and to show off the delicate shapes.
This worked out quite well but you can't really make out the sparkle of the gems and there is too much shadow on the image, so I think I would improve it by increasing the light and diffusing it so it doesn't create so many shadows .
This worked out quite well but you can't really make out the sparkle of the gems and there is too much shadow on the image, so I think I would improve it by increasing the light and diffusing it so it doesn't create so many shadows .
Sophie Calle
Sophie Calle is a French conceptual artist. I am interested in the pieces she created for the series The Birthday Ceremony where she collected all her birthday presents of 13 years and displayed them in cabinets for each year. They are a bizarre collection of things including stolen objects, plastic trivia, antiques and works of art.
"On my birthday I always worry that people will forget me. In 1980,to relieve myself from anxiety, I decided that every year, if possible on 9 October, I would invite to dinner the exact number of people corresponding to my age, including a stranger chosen by one of my guests. I did not use the presents received on these occasions. I kept them as tokens of affection. In 1993, at the age of forty, I put an end to this ritual". Sophie Calle
I particularly like the first one below with the random objects including castanets, 3d glasses, tights. The strange mixture of objects are brought together by the way all the collections are displayed in the same style of medical cabinets. I was interested in the idea of eclectic objects that are linked but in a way that is not obvious and how they represent something that is important to the artist.
"On my birthday I always worry that people will forget me. In 1980,to relieve myself from anxiety, I decided that every year, if possible on 9 October, I would invite to dinner the exact number of people corresponding to my age, including a stranger chosen by one of my guests. I did not use the presents received on these occasions. I kept them as tokens of affection. In 1993, at the age of forty, I put an end to this ritual". Sophie Calle
I particularly like the first one below with the random objects including castanets, 3d glasses, tights. The strange mixture of objects are brought together by the way all the collections are displayed in the same style of medical cabinets. I was interested in the idea of eclectic objects that are linked but in a way that is not obvious and how they represent something that is important to the artist.
Car boot sale
I took these pictures at a car boot sale, as I was inspired by Sophie Calles random mix of objects and how Joseph Cornell collected things from junk shops.
The boot sale is a mixture of peoples collections and junk, and I was intrigued by how completely unrelated objects are thrown in a pile or displayed. Also how the things may once have been treasured possessions or have sentimental value
and how one person's trash can be another person's treasure
These were taken on a phone camera as snapshots, as some people weren't keen on me taking photographs. It was bright sunlight which made the colours strong and gave lots of shadows.
The boot sale is a mixture of peoples collections and junk, and I was intrigued by how completely unrelated objects are thrown in a pile or displayed. Also how the things may once have been treasured possessions or have sentimental value
and how one person's trash can be another person's treasure
These were taken on a phone camera as snapshots, as some people weren't keen on me taking photographs. It was bright sunlight which made the colours strong and gave lots of shadows.
Favourite images...
The boxes act as frames like Joseph Cornell's pieces and Olivia Parker dolls (Site 1, Lost Objects portfolio). I like the bright colour of the piggy banks in the bright sunlight. And the light and shade on the dolls - with the teapot in the background. There is also the contrast between the dolls which look like from the past and the modern plastic toys.I have cropped them to keep the outline of the box and enhanced the colours of the piggy banks.
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I like the surreal look of the little old war plane looking like its landed next to a giant donkey and a Nintendo DS. The plastic beads look quite luminus in a reflective box. think the four images below would look good displayed together as the bright pastel colours ties them together, along with the randomness of the objects: The tripods look a bit like aliens landed in the field, the Horse Racing game is next to the babies ride-on pony and Lisa Simpson is unaware of the bear behind her...
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
The museum is a place I have been visiting since I was very young. I was interested in how formal collections are displayed and how the galleries look .The lighting was either very bright with lots of reflection and shadow or very low to protect the old objects in glass cases. Where I used a flash on a small digital camera some of the images a bit indistinct because of all the reflections. Some of the cabinets were similar to Sophie Calles, but unlike hers the collections are themed and ordered by subject. It was quite hard to get a good angle photographing the glass cases.
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Photoshoot 5
Favourite images...
The figureheads are really clear with the white background and were taken in natural light . I think they would look good displayed together as they have completely different faces and styles but they are all looking upwards the same way, giving them a faraway look. The second set is edited by cropping, enhancing the colour and increasing the contrast
Some of the images that turned out well were in the gift shop where the lighting was much brighter and better diffused. I liked that things were displayed in baskets and square perspex containers and they acted as frames like the boxes used by Joseph Cornell and Olivia Parker. Also like Emily Briscoe I have grouped similar playful objects in bright colours. I enhanced the colours on iphoto, cropped them and increases sharpness to make the toys stand out more and I think these work well as a series.
Further ideas
I like the way Jim Golden and Emily Briscoe neatly arrange related objects and the bright colours and I wanted to have these elements but with a personal collection framed by the wooden trolley on a variety of backgrounds, so that the trolley acted as a frame as used in Olivia Parkers still lifes and Joseph Cornells pieces. Also these are objects that have been collected by my family over years. I wanted to emphasise the colours by repeating the reds of the wheels and the cars. also the scuffed background goes with the old cars.. I edited the blue cars to increase the exposure to make the background fade and saturating the colours
before editing after editing
Final piece idea 1
From my 1st photoshoot I like the composition and colours of these. Although Olivia Parker influenced the natural subject of the still life, I wanted to bring in in Todd Mclellans clean white backgrounds and vibrant colours of Emily Briscoe. I refined them by rotating them and greatly increased the exposure so that the background blends away, giving negative space. I then saturated the colour to bring out the pinks and greens to give the feel of a contemporary still life. I then used Photoshop to merge the two pictures by layering them and further adjusting the size, adjusting the brightness and increasing the opacity. My aim was to create a bright image that also showed the delicate nature of the flowers.
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I think the layered image works quite well, as it has created a contemporary feeling still life that has interest as the flowers fade into the edges. It has succeeded in bringing out the delicate flowers but I have over exposed it a little too much. I like the natural subject matter, the colours and composition but it does not fit with my original idea of collections that relate to people which is what I want to represent in my final piece. |
Final piece idea 2 - final outcome proposal
Taking inspiration from Todd McLellan and following my successful experiment deconstructing the electric guitar I plan to deconstruct an object from a personal collection - an old radio cassette recorder, this also relates to Jim Golden's image of the collection of cassette players. Not only will it represent an object that has been important in the family and our various music collections, but will also show the way the individual parts are interesting objects in themselves. I am taking Joseph Cornell's idea of old unwanted objects, like you might find in a junk shop and combining it with an image on a white background like Todd Mclellan's and how all the parts of it are related as a collection of pieces.