AS Photography Exam: Secrets,Codes and Conventions
SECRETS, CODES AND CONVENTIONS is the 2018 title for the AS Photography exam project (Unit 2). You will have a period of 8-10 weeks (plus the Spring half term and Easter holiday) to develop your ideas through preparatory studies before spending a day in the studio realising your final outcome as part of the 8 hour, controlled assessment. You should aim to be ambitious in your final outcome and presentation.
The exam paper is full of ideas to help you get started. Your photography teachers will also set class and home work tasks that will enable you to have the best start possible for your exam project. Make sure everything is documented clearly on your weebly.
SECRETS, CODES AND CONVENTIONS is the 2018 title for the AS Photography exam project (Unit 2). You will have a period of 8-10 weeks (plus the Spring half term and Easter holiday) to develop your ideas through preparatory studies before spending a day in the studio realising your final outcome as part of the 8 hour, controlled assessment. You should aim to be ambitious in your final outcome and presentation.
The exam paper is full of ideas to help you get started. Your photography teachers will also set class and home work tasks that will enable you to have the best start possible for your exam project. Make sure everything is documented clearly on your weebly.
|
Here are some other suggestions that may stimulate your imagination:
• rules, rituals, etiquette, procedures, conformity, oppression • masks, disguises, camouflage, costumes • oceans, forests, caves, smog, night • hieroglyphs, codes, Braille, runes, fonts • single-celled organisms, parasites, cocoons, shells, dens • the Underground, tunnels, cracks, catacombs • magic, theatre, espionage, Bletchley Park • lies, deceit, tragedy, romance • exploration, discovery, archaeology, metal detecting • science, knowledge, astronomy, space exploration • diving, caving, orienteering, cellars • hide and seek, pass the parcel, gambling dice |
Starter Homework
Create a pinterest account and a new board on the exam theme. This is a brilliant way to search for inspiration. You simply search for different, related themes, photographers or techniques and 'pin' them. Here is the link to the Fortismere board for the exam theme: SECRETS, CODES AND CONVENTIONS
Zoom out, screen shot your collection of images and present on your weebly as an image and embed as a link (you will have to make the 'board' public to do this). We will come back to this once the set tasks are complete. Keep adding to this board over the course of the project. You will see more and more AS students and teacher boards on Pinterest as the project progresses.
Create a pinterest account and a new board on the exam theme. This is a brilliant way to search for inspiration. You simply search for different, related themes, photographers or techniques and 'pin' them. Here is the link to the Fortismere board for the exam theme: SECRETS, CODES AND CONVENTIONS
Zoom out, screen shot your collection of images and present on your weebly as an image and embed as a link (you will have to make the 'board' public to do this). We will come back to this once the set tasks are complete. Keep adding to this board over the course of the project. You will see more and more AS students and teacher boards on Pinterest as the project progresses.
Exhibition Visit: Andreas Gursky Retrospective @ Hayward Gallery
Driven by an interest and insight into ‘the way that the world is constituted’, as well as what he describes as ‘the pure joy of seeing’, Andreas Gursky makes photographs that are not just depictions of places or situations, but reflections on the nature of image-making and the limits of human perception. Often taken from a high vantage point, these images make use of a ‘democratic’ perspective that gives equal importance to all elements of his highly detailed scenes.
|
Watch these two clips and use the information combined with the notes made in the exhibition to complete a review of Gursky's work.
Task 1 - Glitch
Glitch art takes temporary pixelations, interruptions and glitches and turns them into visually arresting pieces, questioning the forms and traditions of art using digital techniques.The idea is that visual artefacts and distortion from data corruption can look even better than the original. Follow the link below to see more examples of Glitch art.
Glitch art takes temporary pixelations, interruptions and glitches and turns them into visually arresting pieces, questioning the forms and traditions of art using digital techniques.The idea is that visual artefacts and distortion from data corruption can look even better than the original. Follow the link below to see more examples of Glitch art.
|
Ataxia "Glitch" from bif on Vimeo. |
Before you start...
Take a series of portrait images- a 'truthful' representation of your peers. Using the tutorial below take one your images and glitch them altering their reality.
Take a series of portrait images- a 'truthful' representation of your peers. Using the tutorial below take one your images and glitch them altering their reality.
Glitch art method (using audacity)
Preparation: To import the photo into audacity, you need it in a RAW format, I've found TIFF works best, you can save jpegs to tif on photoshop. 1. In audacity, click File > Import > Raw Data, select the photo and then select U-Law or A-Law and import. 2. When the photo is imported, it loads in the track as shown in the image below. To databend or 'glitch' it, select a section of the track, click Effect and then any of the effects. I've only used the recommended effects for databending so far; echo, equalisation, phaser and reverse. All of them will give different effects to the image, and the best databending will use multiple effects in different sections and layer up. 3. When finished with the effects, click File > Export Asand then select Other uncompressed files. Then click options and verify you import settings (U-Law), finished! |
On your weebly
- Include the contact sheet for the original portraits. Include at least one, large un-altered image.
- Describe the intention and processes involved during the task.
- Comment on the work you have created bearing in mind the intentions.
- Screen shot the processes you go through to alter your image.
Task 2 - Hidden Beauty,perfection in the inperfect.
Penn's approach to the still life evolved over decades; from the 1930s onwards, he arranged everyday objects to create assemblages, which transcended their origins context and original purpose to become conceptual works of art.
In the case of Cigarettes however, Penn literally found his subjects on the street. By bringing them into his studio and carefully creating these minimalist compositions, he challenged the conventions of art and transformed one of the most widely consumed and discarded products of consumer society from that of pure detritus into a symbolic representation of contemporary culture. This defiance of original convention resulted in one of the most elegant yet direct expressions of post-modern artistic practice.
Cigarettes sheds light on the development of the still life under Penn’s lens, whereby something as disposable and worthless as a cigarette butt is endowed with artistic value.
Penn's approach to the still life evolved over decades; from the 1930s onwards, he arranged everyday objects to create assemblages, which transcended their origins context and original purpose to become conceptual works of art.
In the case of Cigarettes however, Penn literally found his subjects on the street. By bringing them into his studio and carefully creating these minimalist compositions, he challenged the conventions of art and transformed one of the most widely consumed and discarded products of consumer society from that of pure detritus into a symbolic representation of contemporary culture. This defiance of original convention resulted in one of the most elegant yet direct expressions of post-modern artistic practice.
Cigarettes sheds light on the development of the still life under Penn’s lens, whereby something as disposable and worthless as a cigarette butt is endowed with artistic value.
|
American Beauty - Directed by Sam mendes - 1998
Ricky Fitts: It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in. |
Task
Using the work of Penn and Mendes as inspiration create a series of images that create beauty out of the everyday objects that you have brought into the studio. Think about the lighting colour of the background and the relationship between the objects in your set up. Shoot the work both on digital and anologe cameras in colour and B/W.
Homework
Look for items of beauty in the world around you spend time simply looking at everyday places and objects in your local area. Capture on film cameras images of beauty that require the viewer to look deeper and beyond the apparent imperfection of the object before them to realise its inherent perfection. These images will then be developed and printed using different darkroom techniques.
Using the work of Penn and Mendes as inspiration create a series of images that create beauty out of the everyday objects that you have brought into the studio. Think about the lighting colour of the background and the relationship between the objects in your set up. Shoot the work both on digital and anologe cameras in colour and B/W.
Homework
Look for items of beauty in the world around you spend time simply looking at everyday places and objects in your local area. Capture on film cameras images of beauty that require the viewer to look deeper and beyond the apparent imperfection of the object before them to realise its inherent perfection. These images will then be developed and printed using different darkroom techniques.
Task 2 - Compromises
Dust marks, light leaks and scratches are traditionally seen as blemishes that impede a photograph’s depiction of reality. However, some photographers have taken advantage of creative opportunities to explore the relationship between these unforeseen elements and the image captured by the camera.
In her work 11 Mariah Robertson creates both a photograph and a sculpture, 11 is made on a single roll of commercially available photographic paper, one hundred feet long and thirty inches wide. Robertson makes her pictures using analog darkroom processes—combining and enlarging negatives, placing objects directly on the paper and then exposing them, dripping or painting chemicals onto the paper, and exposing it to coloured gels (sometimes with a flashlight) and to other lights. The installation of 11 may vary; the print can be draped over walls or structures, piled up on itself, or suspended from the ceiling, possibilities limited only by the architecture and the properties of the photographic paper. In Robertson’s work, the materiality of photography is called into question, at a time when digital techniques are drastically changing the face of the medium.
Dust marks, light leaks and scratches are traditionally seen as blemishes that impede a photograph’s depiction of reality. However, some photographers have taken advantage of creative opportunities to explore the relationship between these unforeseen elements and the image captured by the camera.
In her work 11 Mariah Robertson creates both a photograph and a sculpture, 11 is made on a single roll of commercially available photographic paper, one hundred feet long and thirty inches wide. Robertson makes her pictures using analog darkroom processes—combining and enlarging negatives, placing objects directly on the paper and then exposing them, dripping or painting chemicals onto the paper, and exposing it to coloured gels (sometimes with a flashlight) and to other lights. The installation of 11 may vary; the print can be draped over walls or structures, piled up on itself, or suspended from the ceiling, possibilities limited only by the architecture and the properties of the photographic paper. In Robertson’s work, the materiality of photography is called into question, at a time when digital techniques are drastically changing the face of the medium.
Task
Using the images taken in the previous task and the work of Robertson experiment in the darkroom using different paper and artistic techniques. The paper provided is old and may have unexpected outcomes when developed. As well as developing the image try exposing certain parts of the paper to light and different chemical as a way of showing experimentation.
Below are some examples of work created by former A level students using different darkroom techniques
Using the images taken in the previous task and the work of Robertson experiment in the darkroom using different paper and artistic techniques. The paper provided is old and may have unexpected outcomes when developed. As well as developing the image try exposing certain parts of the paper to light and different chemical as a way of showing experimentation.
Below are some examples of work created by former A level students using different darkroom techniques
Task 3 - The group shot - codes of behaviour
The group photo has powerful underlying conventions,wheteher a family portrait or a gathering of friends. These reflect codes of behaviour that shift over time. In the early 1990s Paul M Smith explored the convention of the "Team Photo" and the "Night Out" - photographs so often taken by the group of lads which he took to be anything but spontaneous.
|
|
Using the technique used for the conversation take a series of images that illustrate the codes and conventions of your school life. Break time in the common room , Learning in the classroom are all routines that you carry out on a daily basis and reflect codes of behaviour.Use the concepts shown by Paul M Smith and create a series of images that challenge these conventions and have one person caring out all the roles portrait ed.
H/W
Photograph different scene at home that illustrate your conventions and behaviour. This could be Sunday lunch or Saturday night watching the Tv. As above use the concepts shown by Paul M Smith and create a series of images that challenge these conventions and have one person caring out all the roles portrait ed.
H/W
Photograph different scene at home that illustrate your conventions and behaviour. This could be Sunday lunch or Saturday night watching the Tv. As above use the concepts shown by Paul M Smith and create a series of images that challenge these conventions and have one person caring out all the roles portrait ed.
img_0061.jpg | |
File Size: | 1221 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
img_0051.jpg | |
File Size: | 1212 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
img_0048.jpg | |
File Size: | 1586 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
img_0049.jpg | |
File Size: | 1245 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
img_0057.jpg | |
File Size: | 1332 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
Half term
1) Secret Locations - Bomb Sites
The Bomb Sight project is mapping the London WW2 bomb census between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941. Previously available only by viewing in the Reading Room at The National Archives, Bomb Sight is making the maps available to citizen researchers, academics and students. You can now explore where the bombs fell and discover anecdotes and photographs from the period.
The project has scanned original 1940s bomb census maps, geo-referenced the locations and digitally captured the geographical locations of all the bombs recorded on the original map.
The site enables us to go back and see the landscapes across London that were bombed and consequently had their meaning and context changed through regeneration, building and, as a result, lost memories of a past generation.
Task
Using the site, look at your local area and photograph the different sites that were bombed during the second world war. Take a series of landscape photographs that capture the essence of the location now and if possible any remnants of what it looked like before the bomb.
http://www.bombsight.org
Below are two examples of sites photographed recently by Theo Heidensohn
The Bomb Sight project is mapping the London WW2 bomb census between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941. Previously available only by viewing in the Reading Room at The National Archives, Bomb Sight is making the maps available to citizen researchers, academics and students. You can now explore where the bombs fell and discover anecdotes and photographs from the period.
The project has scanned original 1940s bomb census maps, geo-referenced the locations and digitally captured the geographical locations of all the bombs recorded on the original map.
The site enables us to go back and see the landscapes across London that were bombed and consequently had their meaning and context changed through regeneration, building and, as a result, lost memories of a past generation.
Task
Using the site, look at your local area and photograph the different sites that were bombed during the second world war. Take a series of landscape photographs that capture the essence of the location now and if possible any remnants of what it looked like before the bomb.
http://www.bombsight.org
Below are two examples of sites photographed recently by Theo Heidensohn
Extension task
On May 11, the United Kingdom will mark the 75th anniversary of “The Longest Night,” the final horrible night of the Blitz—an eight-month-long aerial bombing offensive launched by Nazi Germany during World War II. More than 40,000 British civilians were killed in the Blitz, 1.5 million Londoners were left homeless, and the city’s landscape was left shattered.
Photographer Jim Dyson recently travelled to locations across London to make comparisons between scenes from the Blitz and present-day images, laying one on top of the other. The secrets that have now been covered are laid bare and the locations past lives are shown for all to see.
Task
Go to different locations in London and photograph the scene then using images found on the internet photoshop the old ruins of the city over the top of the new picture. If you do not have Photoshop, you could print and physically collage the images together.
On May 11, the United Kingdom will mark the 75th anniversary of “The Longest Night,” the final horrible night of the Blitz—an eight-month-long aerial bombing offensive launched by Nazi Germany during World War II. More than 40,000 British civilians were killed in the Blitz, 1.5 million Londoners were left homeless, and the city’s landscape was left shattered.
Photographer Jim Dyson recently travelled to locations across London to make comparisons between scenes from the Blitz and present-day images, laying one on top of the other. The secrets that have now been covered are laid bare and the locations past lives are shown for all to see.
Task
Go to different locations in London and photograph the scene then using images found on the internet photoshop the old ruins of the city over the top of the new picture. If you do not have Photoshop, you could print and physically collage the images together.
Hidden from normal view
Any walk through urban or rural landscapes will yield secret places hidden from normal view, such as side alleys,garages and mews or the inside of hollow trees and caves. These can contain unusual forms and provide powerful visual imagery for artists seeking inspiration.
In his project White Night Giles Coulon takes photographs of hidden places that invite us to imagine the atmosphere of different parts of the city and of each spot lit place. Be it in a restaurant, in the entrance hall of a building, in the street or in an underground car park, each photograph inspires the viewer to look at these very familiar and unfamiliar places under a whole new light.
In his project White Night Giles Coulon takes photographs of hidden places that invite us to imagine the atmosphere of different parts of the city and of each spot lit place. Be it in a restaurant, in the entrance hall of a building, in the street or in an underground car park, each photograph inspires the viewer to look at these very familiar and unfamiliar places under a whole new light.
Task 1
Look for interesting places that may be hidden from the normal view alleyways, garages, the back of shops and carparks. Take a series of photographs that show these hidden landscapes. Think about how light, colour texture can create atmosphere within your photographs giving the viewer an insight into an unseen world.
Look for interesting places that may be hidden from the normal view alleyways, garages, the back of shops and carparks. Take a series of photographs that show these hidden landscapes. Think about how light, colour texture can create atmosphere within your photographs giving the viewer an insight into an unseen world.
Colour FieldsThis series is in stark contrast to the idea of photography as a ‘decisive moment’. It presents views that cannot exist naturally. There is no natural lighting circumstance that would render a field gradating and falling into blackness. These are manmade views lit by manmade light.
Simple planes of colour and texture are brought forward, greatly reducing any reference to nature. These abstractions are made with the aim of being sensuous and expressive.
Grant Simon Rogers in his series Trees breaks the convention of using direct flash at night and focuses on the foreground of the image. His intention is to highlight small aspects of the landscape and leave the background in dark mysterious tones
Task
Take a series of landscape photographs at night and use the flash on your camera to light up just the foreground of the picture. Put your camera on a high ISO and put the setting to flash mode. Look for colour texture and form when photographing the different landscapes
Take a series of landscape photographs at night and use the flash on your camera to light up just the foreground of the picture. Put your camera on a high ISO and put the setting to flash mode. Look for colour texture and form when photographing the different landscapes
2) Exhibition Visit
2) Exhibition Visit
Visit an exhibition that genuinely interests you. Do not be overly concerned about linking it to the exam theme- we can make a connection later.
Use the usual analysis framework and also consider how the exhibition has been curated.
Use the usual analysis framework and also consider how the exhibition has been curated.
The codes of nature - The thames Nadav Kander