Shape

Shape

SHAPE (definition).

•A shape is an area enclosed by a line. It could be just an outline or it could be shaded in.

•Shapes can be either geometric, like a circle, square or triangle, or irregular.

•When drawing shapes, you must consider the size and position as well as the shape of the area around it. The shapes created in the spaces between shapes are referred to as negative space.

 

Bill Brandt has used negative space to create triangle shapes and it draws more attention to the main

picture. Also, the negative space has a strong contrast with the focus image, therefore, it attracts the

human eye a lot more. In my opinion, I am not a fan of nude photography because I don't like how

the person is over exposed. Bill Brandt has cropped some of the the woman's head and torso out to

make the photo look more abstract. 

Research

            (of artists techniques)

Andy Goldworthy

I like Andy Goldworthy's photography work because he has used natural things in nature to create
shape. Additionally, he's images contain both regular and irregular shapes, and in most if his photos,
the shape is normally placed in the centre of the frame. Andy Goldworthy has given me inspiration
because I was able to access a park near me which I could take similar photos to Goldworthy. His
photos have a variety of tone in it, the background and the main object normally contrast in tone,
which gives me a few ideas on how i can manipulate my photos later in photoshop. 

Image Bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research.

Selected Images 

                           Contact Sheets

Best Images

I choose these next images as my best photos.

I have selected these as my best because I thought that they all represented shape in different ways. 

I like my first image because it shows a rectangular and silhouette shape from the polaroid 

photograph. Also, I like how the background is in colour but the main shape is in black and white 

which creates a strong contrast. I like my second image because the leaf stands out compared to the
ground, creating an unusual shape. Additionally, I like my third and fourth image because the trees
create a semicircle shape in the background. Also, I like my last photo because the rock has formed 
a heart shape, which is uncommon to find and fits the theme of 'Shape' well. 

Images that requires improvement

I have selected these as my images that require improvement because I don't like these photos
because they do not represent any form of shape and they do not have a main focus point. Some of
these photos are not in focus, therefore, it makes my photos look less skilful. To improve these
photos, I would spend more time checking I have my photos in focus. Also, I would double check
what I am taking a photo of and see if it fits in with the title I am working on.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for recording shape was to photograph the landscape in Lee Valley Park in near me from 
natural and man-made objects. My researcher was Andy Goldworthy, who helped inspire me on
what I should takes picture on for lines. Additionally, most of my photos came out as I thought they
would come out, however, I need to make sure all of my photos are in focus and link to the main
theme of the topic (shape).

I like my image using the polaroid photo because the black and white photo creates shape due to the
rectangle photo and the silhouette in the photograph. this links to my artist research Andy
Goldworthy because he has taken a few photos of someone walking away in the distance and I
wanted to put my own twist on it. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

Due to my lack of understanding of my camera and time to take these photos, I took these photos in
automatic. Additionally, I might not of gotten the best quality of photos I could of if I manipulated
the settings on my camera. I took these photos early afternoon, however, I was constantly moving
from shade ti bright light due to the amount of tress around, therefore, it made it difficult to find the
right lighting for some of my photos. 

Manipulating my images

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artist I decided to research was Andy Goldworthy, he helped me come up with multiple ideas for
my composition. He used natural objects to create shape by repositioning them or creating a strong
contrast of colour to help make the shape stand out. Andy Goldworthy takes most of his photos in
nature, such as a park or a forest, luckily, I was able to take all of my photos in a park. 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

My intentions for my photos was to take photos of natural objects which create a shape (like Andy
Goldworthy). I decided to take pictures of natural objects because it would make my photos stand out
because it would be unusual to see natural objects create a distinctive shape. Furthermore, to make
my photos more personal to me, I decided to manipulate them slightly in photoshop using curves, to
create more variety of tone. 

I like my manipulated photos because it links more closely to my artist Andy Goldworthy. I created
all of these final images using curve which helped me change he contrast of the darker to the lighter
areas. By doing this, I was able to make the main focus of my photos stand out even more by making
the background slightly darker. However, I would of liked to use different settings in photoshop but I
would not of been able to link it to my artist, Andy Goldworthy, because he keeps his photos more
natural compared to other artists I have researched in the past. 

Texture and Pattern

Texture and Pattern
                                  Definition and Theory

• Texture refers to the the physical surface of an object, if it is bumpy or smooth. 
• Light can help emphasise the creases and bumps with in an object because the shadow will be exaggerated.
• Light is very important while taking a picture because it can make certain areas stand out due to its texture.

• Pattern is regular or irregular formations, which can be natural or man-made. 
• Pattern is a formation that organises the structure of the object. 
• By taking a photo from a different angle can make a pattern seem more unique and different. 
• Regular patterns look more pleasing to the human eye because it follows a strict formation. 

Examples of Texture:

 

Examples of Pattern:

Research

            (of researcher techniques)

Ansel Adams 

I like this photo because it seems simple but there texture and pattern from the leaves creates an interesting affect which draws in viewers. The leaves look as if they are hidden something behind which could suggest how there is many hidden secrets in nature that we still do not know about our own world in nature. Also, I like how Ansel Adams has converted the photo into black and white so the colour from the leaves does not distract from the texture and pattern.

I like this photo because the texture of the flower and the pattern from the background creates a calming and peaceful affect.

Aaron Siskind 

Image Bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research.

I have selected these for my image bank because I thought I could find something similar around Harlow College. Additionally, I thought that these photos can help inspire me to produce my own ideas by giving me some guidance.




 (AO:1.  You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued. )


Selected Images
                               Contact Sheets

My Best Images

I choose these next images as my best images.

I chose these as my best images because they identify the key term of pattern and texture clearly from man-made and natural objects. Additionally, the naturally lighting helped emphasise the texture of the objects. While I went out, I tried to find objects that regular and irregular patterns. 

I like my first image because it shows pattern by the leaves create a circular pattern and gives an illusion of a spiky texture because they all spread out sharply. I like my second image because i have tried to zoom into the flower to try and show more detail of it. the flower shows texture and pattern because you can see all of the wrinkles/ creases in the flower and the yellow ring which surrounds a green ball shows pattern. I liked my second picture because the green leaves show a green spiral pattern which gets further out as you go down the plant; texture is shown in this image by the leaves having a smooth surface. My third picture of the brick wall represents texture and pattern because it has a rough and uneven surface which shows texture and has a regular pattern by the bricks being arranged in a certain way, which I liked about it. I like my fourth picture because it has an irregular pattern and uneven texture due to the stones being different shapes and sizes. Finally, I like my last photo because it closely links to one of my research artist, Ansel Adams photo.

Images that requires improvement

I think that these photos need improvements because they were a bit too busy and there was a lot of distractions from the main focus point. Additionally, some of my photos looks like i do not gave a focus point because there is too much going on in the space. Some of my images are not in centre and parts of it are sightly cropped off, therefore, I need to practice the rule of thirds more to make my images more visually pleasing. Furthermore, to make my images better, I will zoom in more to emphasise the focus point even more.




AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea of texture and pattern was to photograph man-made and natural objects so i could et a variety of texture and regular/ irregular patterns. My researcher was Ansel Adams and he takes a lot of pictures of nature and changes them to black and white. My images came out as I expected but i need to change the ISO setting because I was taking pictures on a cloudy day.

The image of the bush leaves (last image from best images) links to my artist researcher, Ansel Adams because one of his photographs is similar to this. This demonstrates pattern because the leaves are following the same layout as each other but in an irregular way because they are pointing different directions.

My photo of the brick was (the fourth photo from my best images) links to my artist researcher Aaron Siskind because he took a similar photo to this. This photograph links to texture and pattern because it has a regular pattern and a rough surface, which the light emphasises.



AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.


When taking these photos, I tried to take them from different angles - from above and bellow - so I can expand the variety of ways I take photos. I took all of these photos in an automatic setting because I am still learning all of the new settings within my camera. 




Manipulating my images

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artists I researched was Ansel Adams and Aaron Siskind, they helped me come up with many ideas for my composition. They both use texture and pattern to help add more depth to their photos, therefore, I tried to use that in my own work to show how I understood how the artists worked an create my own compositions filled with my own ideas inspired by these two artists. To take these photos, I went around the college to find man-made and natural objects which portrayed texture and pattern. Both of my artists have images which are very zoomed in, therefore, I could of gotten similar photos to what they have with the environment surrounding me.




AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

My intensions of my photos to zoom in close to the object to emphasise the texture and pattern on it. By doing this, it makes my image look slightly more abstract because part of the object would of bee cropped out. Additionally, to make my photos even more personal to me, I have decided to manipulate them into black and white to try and portray the texture on the objects by making some areas darker and others lighter (this would highlight if the surface was smooth or uneven). Additionally, the pattern would be more noticeable because there is not colour to distract the human eye as much.

I decided to manipulate my images by changing them into black and white (like my research artists Ansel Adams and Aaron Siskind). By doing this, it helped me emphasise the texture and pattern of each object. Additionally, I think that changing my photos to black and white helps portray the texture because the creases within the objects are more visible because they are in a darker tone compared to everything else surrounding it. However, to improve my black and white versions of my photos, I would change the setting a bit more to have more varieties of tone on the picture.