My final Piece

For my final Piece I have chosen one of my Joiners at a local river, I feel it has the most character of any of the other shots that I have taken. The sharp edges of the picture reflect the work of artists in the cubist movement. Also the way in which I have taken some of the shots in a time lapse fashion has taught me more about “Shutter Priority” and “Aperture Priority”.

This is a quote from an interview with David Hockney taken from the BBC website

"You had to be aware that I saw that photography was a mere episode in the history of the optical projection and when the chemicals ended, meaning the picture was fixed by chemicals, we were in a new era."

(source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/hockney_transcript.shtml )

To me this sums up the inspiration and for some part the main reason in which I enjoy photography, the idea that you could capture a moment in time using chemicals and once captured that moment would never be the same again.

My conclusions

In this post I would like to outline all the things that I feel I’ve learned, and achieved. Firstly I feel in that learning the initial link between cubism and cubist movements I have gained a better understanding in the way that Photo montages work. Also the work of Hockney has been a direct influence on my final piece for this project.

Commenting on my Joiners

On the post below as you can see I have gone to three more locations and taken shots of an area for a photomontage or Joiner.

One of the locations that I have used is the same location in which David Hockney took his joiner Photographs with the old women at Bolton Abbey. I have made an attempt to take a similar montage (although I’m well aware it doesn’t come close to the artists work) I thought it would be nice to take a montage in the same area.

The other two locations are of a local bridge and a view of the river surrounding the abbey. I feel that these pieces are more attempts that needed work. For example I feel that the piece using the river as the scene works to an extent. However it only really uses three or four photographs to make the joiner. Other joiners that I have been looking at usually use a lot more to create a bigger area of space.

The other Joiner using the bridge as the location uses more shots. But I feel the light settings do not work as well. Some of the shots in the scene are darker and some are lighter, for a single shot to be viewed on it’s on this wouldn’t really make too much of a difference. However when shots like this is layered up they don’t really match and appear that they have been taken on totally separate days.

Other Joiners I have taken

My Joiners

This is probably my favourite piece that I have made on the project. I feel that the piece has a nice layout to it and a really abstract feel. I have used shots from a very wide viewing angle (which would be more than the human eye could see even in peripheral vision). I have also included a figure in the lower left hand side which gives the scene a sense of realism.

Other things that I would like to point out are the way in which the water shots have been taken. Upon first starting the piece I used my camera with a slow shutter speed, this is to give the water a cloudy time lapsed effect. However for the rest of the scene I found that this would be inappropriate so I decided on using a standard shutter speed. This means that for some of scene the water is cloudy however on others the water looks sharper and more in focus.

My Joiners

My Joiners

My Joiners

After planning the area in which I wanted to take the photos I decided that the road above the abbey would be best. I choose it because of its very large views out over the surrounding river and scenary. I drafted out the area on a piece of paper, this was to help myself learn where to take each picture, (to help match them up for better results later).

Starting my own media product

After doing this I decided I wanted to create some “Joiners” of my own, I wanted to create these pieces as my final piece of work for this unit. I have decided because of the underlying influences that this art form uses. To some it’s just a bunch of pictures that have been randomly assorted on a page. However to others it’s a cubist masterpiece, using the same structure as great artists and painters like Picasso. It also has the power to convey the message of time in a completely different way.

Bolton Abbey (My own shots)

For my task of trying out this new style I decided that it would be best to go to the site of my favourite Hockney Joiner Photograph, “My Mother” which I have discovered is in Bolton Abbey, After a long period of time trying to find it, I reached the Abbey and began taking lots of different shots. Here are some of the general area shots I took that day.

Also included is the cemetery in which Hockney took the photo montage.

Different styles of Joiner photography (continued)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/93710517_3e3a23f37f.jpg
Other photographers choose to show a length of time which has passed. Like in this photo montage where two police officers are shown moving about over the course of the day. Every time they would move to a new part of the landscape the photographer would take another shot.


After looking at the artist Hockney in some quite considerable detail on a personal level I decided that I wanted to emulate his work. To begin with I decided that I would try out very simple techniques of his in an attempt to make my own “Joiner” photograph.

Different styles of Joiner photography

The styles that I have shown previously are one way of making a “Joiner” photograph, however other artists and photographers use different methods to convey different meanings.
http://www.d-vw.com/D_Joiner/d_joiner_spherical_stitch.jpg


For example in this shot here the photographer has used a computer program (Photoshop) to join all the edges of the photo seamlessly, this gives the illusions that the eye can see almost 360 degrees. The eye can tell that the purpose of the shot is to show 360degrees because of some of the key focal points of the piece. All the fences and the buildings are misshapen due to the “fish-eye” effect from the camera.

Hockney and Joiner Photographs

http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/images/0001nM-1971.jpg

Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy. 11-18th April 1986, #2.
As you can see in this joiner there are many shots which form the picture, this again is an excellent way of showing the relationship between “Joiners” and Cubism. The artist (Hockney) must have spent a long period of time in which he took the photographs and layered them together. Another thing I notice is the sharp outlines of the pictures which look extremely similar to the sharp edges of some cubist paintings.

Links to Picasso and Cubism

http://www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso/picasso_3musicians.jpg


This is another work by Picasso, with this artwork the message it’s trying to send out to its audience is quite unclear. On first glance it would just appear that the composition is only of randomly placed blocks. However upon closer inspection you can see that the blocks, create three characters all playing separate instruments. Personally I feel this relates heavily to the work of all “joiner photographers”. This is due to the correlation between the two styles,
Both use a series of blocks to create a message
The joiners use picture (with square outlines) stacked upon each other

I believe the deeper meaning of this is that the signifier (the cubism style) correlates with the abstract theory of sound in music; that such meaningless sounds can be warped into beautiful melodies that captivate generations just as seemingly meaningless shapes can be forged into interesting and thought provoking pictures that inspire.

Another thing that I notice about Hockney is his strong relation to cubism.


http://www.mdc.edu/wolfson/academic/ArtsLetters/art_philosophy/Humanities/Cubism/11-cubism_Picasso_Woman-Playing-Mandolin.jpg


Much like this art work by Pablo Picasso. As you can see there are strong links between the two forms, and the two artists.
One of the strongest links I see between the two is layering, in Picasso’s work you can see he’s almost layered the oils and paint used to create different angles and different perspectives. For Hockney I feel it’s the layering of time which leads him to create the works that he does.

During my time here I have also been too look at the Hockney Gallery which is located in Saltaire (near Shipley). I found this most entertaining and factual. A particular favourite of mine is the artists “Grand Canyon” joiner. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the exhibition as photography wasn’t allowed. However the message that the art conveys is very powerful to me. It’s a completely different style to most people’s photography and a far more abstract way to look at a particular scene.

David Hockney

http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/artes/2011796/frames/concepto_espacio/ejemplos/HOCKNEY/hockney_my_mother.jpg (source of image)

This is one example of Hockney joiner composition. As you can see the technique doesn’t work from a technical standing. Nor does it form a perfect picture in the sense that all the “lines” join up, and all the edges of the pictures don’t flow together smoothly. However it gives a far bigger view than a standard shot could ever take. The artist’s feet are even capture in the bottom of the shot.

One interpretation of this shot could be that the old woman is visiting lost loved ones such as her husband as she is alone in the picture, dressed as if she wishes to stay a while, the sky grey, cold, and lonely, signified by her a forlorn expression; her eyes glazed in the memories of a time since past. Another interpretation is that she herself is close to death. Her expression could also be that of a gaunt, withering one that excepts with a grimace that her time is coming to an abrupt, anticlimactic end.

Existing and Local Artists I admire

The first artist that I would like to look at is the local artist David Hockney I particularly like his joiner photographs. The idea that I would be taking from the Hockney Joiner photographs would be to join different pictures together to give a bigger picture.

This is the first image that I have looked at by the artist David Hockey. The first thing that interests me to him apart from his unique style is the fact he’s a local artist to the Bradford area. The picture above “My Mother” was taken in the surrounding area of Bolton Abbey in 1982 (which is 5miles from Steeton and Silsden). Looking in closer detail at the picture shows me how much more detail the artist has managed to capture by using this “joiner” technique, vast amounts more detail than just a single snap shot. This signifies to me that he’s trying to show that every picture has a its on part to play in the overall story, or effect of the artwork. I love the way the artist has covered over the face of the women with more photo’s signifying that there could be more expressions under the other pictures

My Objective

For this project I have been asked to write about visual communication in a media context, so it would seem fitting that I commented on a particular media topic that I enjoy and feel passionately about. I am very interested in photography so I would like to comment on that as well as other possible aspects of media. I have always been very inspired by local Northern artists. As is one of the reasons why I decided to go to Bradford University. So for this reason I would like to look into it in more detail. In particular I would like to look into the work of local Artist David Hockney. Hockneys work in Photography has inspired me in the past and in particular his "Photo montages, or Joiners" have sparked my interest.

Starting my Blog and Outlining my ideas

For this project I have been asked to write about visual communication in a media context, I am currently studying on the Web Design and Technologies course, so it would seem fitting that I commented on this particular media topic. However I am also very interested in photography so I would like to also comment on that too.